Venom picked up his glass and began to drink when the attention was now on him. He had hoped that they would not ask him to tell his story, but it was inevitable with everyone else doing so. He gulped and gulped to there was nothing left in his glass. Pondering on what to say to them, he finally lowered his glass and wiped his mouth. His eyes turned towards Rue.
My dear, I'm sure your story is not a boring one. I would gladly love to hear it some day.... when you're ready.
A smile formed showing he knew very well why she did not want to tell her story. He then faced Captain Zaedus.
Sir... I will be honest with you. I'd rather not tell my story for numerous reasons. It is a life I am not proud of and one I would like to forget. I do apologize everyone.
Than in a joking manner he said with even a bigger smile...
Maybe if I were a little more drunk I'd tell you another story of one of my adventures. Hehe. Another glass please bartender!
One person cannot. Unless they know what brings peace to everyone's heart and acts upon those feelings and brings forth what one wants, then peace can be given.
Zaedus took another swig of his drink, draining the tankard.
Post by Sir Kerag on Sept 19, 2011 12:13:41 GMT -5
Kerag nodded his head, listening to the Worgen's words intently. Finally the orc spoke up, amused with Venom's riddle.
"I agree with Captain Zaedus; Even if this one person knew what brought peace and could satisfy everyone's desires, It is an impossible task, bent on creating something only temporary in our world. There is peace and then conflict, peace constructed once again, only to crumble beneath further turmoil and chaos."
Kerag chugged the tankard, burping afterward.
"The world is a big place brother, I know of no one man who could shoulder the immense responsibility, knowing he is doomed to fail."
Rue waved good-bye to Chaz as he made his way to the door. She turned back to Venom and thought for a second before answering his question.
"One person cannot bring peace to the world. No number of people could ever peace to the world. Somewhere, in some corner of the world, there will always be conflict. Conflict over material objects, personality clashes, differing opinions on any matter of things; the list goes on." She raised an eyebrow. "Surely you realize this. Why do you ask?"
Venom listened to their responses and didn't seem satisfied. They did not know either. Saddened he took another drink from his glass and then smiled to them. He did not want to make the night sorrow with his words so he decided to change the tone.
Thank you all for your response. It was not what I was looking for, but you all gave a good point of view. I shall tell a tale of my past then.
One day when I was much younger, I'd say I was about 13 years old, I was sent out with a few other children on a mission. At that time I did not have these tattoos. We had to earn them and this mission would give me my first ones. You see each one represents a rank within our people. As children we were raised to become the best. The other kids and I were not sent as a team. We were all competing for that mark and we are all competition to one another. The mission was to reach Ad'om, a village that was many days away, during the worst time of the year with snow that could freeze one's lungs if not well protected, and bring back the flag that was at the center of their village. Did I mention it was well protected and no one outside the village was allowed to get near it? We were not given much for this adventure, just a dagger and a thick coat to keep us warm. We set out at dawn, each his own way. I'd say there were about 10 of us, male and females. There were no rules given, which meant that we could eliminate our competition if felt like making the objective a little easier. At that age, none of us had ever shed blood of another, but that would all change...
Venom stopped and looked at Rue.
This tale is not entirely a pretty one. Should I continue?
Post by Sir Kerag on Sept 20, 2011 12:36:57 GMT -5
Kerag leaned forward, the tankard inches from his lips, forgetting to drink as the beginning of Venom's tale captivated his attention. He waved his hand, motioning for him to continue though he knew he asked for Rue's benefit. If he wasn't mistaken, the orc thought his brother fancied the girl.
"Already started haven't you? Get on with it Brother Venom." Kerag smiled, knocking the tankard back and draining it's contents. Some of it dripped down his lips and he tried wiping away as much as he could, beginning to really get drunk. His breath reeked of ale, and he chuckled for no apparent reason every few minutes or so.
Although she very much wanted to ask Venom what his answer to his question of peace was, Rue also wanted to hear the rest of his story. She nodded to him.
Venom nodded to Kerag, but as he continued he kept an eye on Rue's eyes watching for any expressions. He did not want her to think bad of him. This was just part of youth, maybe this way they'd understand him better.
Well, we all settled out on our own for days. There were days it would pour chilling rain and others it would snow. The nights were the worst. One day it was getting late and I knew I had to find shelter soon before nightfall. It would be hard to start a fire with no wood and the strong winds. As I entered the cave I noticed it went underground to some hot springs. There were many of them and the deeper I went, the warmer it got. Outside in the forest the animals hid from the cold, some even entered caves such as the one I was in. I fed off a rabit that night, when I failed to realize that one of the other children followed my tracks. His intentions were not onlyto take my meal, but my life as well. I became startled when I felt an arm behind me wrap around my neck. I quickly got up trying to unhook his arm but it was useless. I was losing air in my lungs and my eyes were beginning to black out. As my life was dying away, we hit one of the walls of the cave and he finally let go. I fell to my knees desperatly trying to take in air, when I turned around and realized my attacker was dead. His eyes were rolled back and his body was twitching. I had no idea what had happened to him, until I noticed that his arm was bleeding from the bump on the cave walls and a tiny golden toad smashed to it. It was then that I realized how venomous this tiny little creature was and made use of it. I rubbed my dagger's end to it and set out. If I didn't take the other competition out, I would have another child trying to kill me. That night, through the harsh weather conditions I spotted a few nearby by their camp fires. I did not hesitate to attack, for just a small cut of my dagger would kill them easily. As the days went on, I slept during the day and attacked at night. One by one they fell to my dagger until we reached Ad'om. That night I was planning on taking the flag when I was attacked by three of them, two boys and a girl. Apparently they teamed up to take the flag for themselves. When the first one attacked, I was able to barely cut his arm enough for the venom to take effect. The other two noticed it right away and knew they had to make sure my weapon would not reach them. The girl didn't do anything but watch when the other larger kid managed to unarm me and get in a few good punches. As he was beating the crap out of me, there were tears coming down her face. I could not understand why, until he almost dug his dagger in me. She cried out to him, and he stopped. Death was too much for her to handle, and did not want to see anybody else die. He let me live and they managed to walk away with the flag. On the way back home, it did not take me long to catch up to them. One night I snuck up on them to take the flag, and while I did so I killed the boy. The objective was important to me. I needed to gain my mark. and he was in the way of it. She saw the whole incident and did nothing but cry. When I realized it was her older brother, something in me felt wrong. It was a terrible feeling that my people did not have. It took me a while to finally walk away and turn the flag to my superior the following day. When they heard what had happened, it was then that gained the nick name "Venom". It would be ages later that I would see that harmless little girl again, but that is another tale. I gained my mark and respect that day...
Venom raised his shirt and showed them the tattoo.
... but it was not without its consequences. Her face has haunted me since.
Venom began to drink from his glass once more, his eyes looking away.
Rue didn't quite know how to react. She tried to keep her face impassive while she felt a combination of understanding, sympathy, and revulsion at the thought of a society that would pit ten children against each other. She thought about Venom's question earlier and gave a new answer.
"One person could bring peace to this world by making peace with themselves. If they accept themselves for who they are and what they've done, they will no longer have guilt and tension having a hold over their lives. I'm not sure if your story is relevant to your question but there's my answer."
Rue looked at Venom understandingly. "I hope I do not speak for just myself when I say that I do not think harshly of you. We've all done things in the past that we're not proud of, things we'd rather not admit and like to forget about. But if we can fess up to those mistakes, we can make peace with ourselves, therefore making greater peace with the world."
She wanted to know more about the girl whose brother Venom had killed, but she had already pushed him to tell this story, and she did not wish to make him talk about things he would rather keep to himself.