nonbelligerent

[shess had no issue with stabbing xion so yeah he's good.]

It seems that way. [...] Is it unusual for you? Not having an enemy right in front of you to cut down and end the conflict.

[it's not meant in mockery, but genuine curiosity. if kara is a sword, then shess can take a guess at the kind of life he's led.]

...I was in storage for a long time, before being given this body. I know what it feels like to wait.

[ he turns away from shess to watch the flowers swaying gently in the breeze. ]

But I was crafted for war. Finding the enemy and meeting them head on is what I'm best at, and the only way that will change is if I break. Some waiting may be necessary, even in war, but I never did like it.

[ inaction can kill even the best warriors if their enemies use it well, after all. ]

[...]

Well, it's not like I don't understand that.

[as he told lune, violence is the way of the sura]

Do you ever wish that wars would come to an end?

...Is something like that even possible?

[ he knows there were still wars even after the age of swords had ended, fought in a different way. the idea that there might be a day that it all ends has never occurred to him until this moment. ]

No.

[shess might be a pacifist, but he's hardly idealistic.]

But that doesn't stop some from wishing for it anyway.

[ kara can't help but wonder what that would look like... and what would happen to him, and the other swords? would they go back to being mere tools, put away in storage to be preserved and admired once in a great while?

he shakes his head, trying to clear those thoughts from his mind. ]

What's the point in wishing for something that can never happen?

I don't disagree. But for some, the act of wishing can give them strength. It's like how humans pray to gods even without proof that their calls are heard.

[ he sighs. ]

I don't think I'll ever truly understand them.

There will always be parts of a species that other species find incomprehensible. Many of the humans here would probably find it difficult to empathize with your way of thinking in return.

...Lili seems to understand just fine.

[ he's a LIAR because even she doesn't completely understand why he is the way he is, but for the most part... yeah. it's why he likes her. ]

There are always exceptions, of course. Like I said, I'm glad you have her as support, at least.

[ finally he turns back to shess so he doesn't have to talk about that, thanks! ]

You don't seem to have any problems with the humans here.

[wtf don't turn this back at him]

I've been alive long enough to learn how to interact with them.

[but part of maintaining cordial relationships is knowing not to highlight all the ways in which he doesn't think the way they do, unless asked.]

...I've never had to.

[ he can admit to that, at least, even if most of his problem is that he won't go out of his way to try. ]

Even now, with these bodies, it's too much of a risk to interact with humans on our missions. There are only a few any of us have spoken to, besides our master.

That's not too surprising. Suras rarely mingle with humans either, at least in a peaceful fashion.

[shess is atypical in certain regards.]

Does your kind as a whole get along, at least?

[he imagines that kara specifically still isn't very social, but.]

Not all of us.

[ his thoughts immediately go to kasen, and from there to ookanehira and his disdain for the tenka goken. ]

...But most of them, yes. Many of us served the same families, when we were just tools. It's... not bad, to see them again.

Like a reunion, then? That sounds nice. Is Tsurumaru one of them?

Tsurumaru had many owners, before coming to the citadel.

...But yeah, he served my masters too, for a while.

No wonder he seems fond of you.

It would be harder to find someone he doesn't like.

Maybe. But I don't doubt that he would value you above them.

[ the funny thing is what... while kara knows that? he never did really figure out how he feels about it. having a heart is so frustrating. ]

...Maybe. But he would also be one of the first to cut me down, if I stood in the way of the mission.

If you had that mutual understanding, then it's fine, isn't it?

[the sura way of thinking is pretty similar, so shess doesn't bat an eye at that.]

[ kara... doesn't know? ]

It's easier to fight alone.

Have allies never been useful when you're in a bind?

But you're not wrong that it's better to assume you'll be on your own, when it matters, rather than that others will help you.

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