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Whisperwind's Comb
- Thread starter Jackie Cat
- Start date
canisaries
the one draft wonder
- Pronoun
- she/her
The wall in that side of the room was no longer there. The room, instead, opened to a pitch-black void that seemed to have no end.
In that void stood a creature about ten feet tall. It had the body of a white cervid with a collar and socks of brown fur, but its neck was longer and thinner, leading the eye up to a mask-like human face with a wide, eerie, closed-eyed smile. A head of brown, wavy hair framed that mask, and from it emerged two golden antlers. From the antlers hung golden dishes, like those of ancient scales, suspended with thin golden chains. The antlers' tips looked sharp enough to stab a human with, and the fact that they were stained with blood seemed to suggest this had, indeed, occurred...
"Do not be afraid," the creature said, though its mask did not move. "I am Justice."
In that void stood a creature about ten feet tall. It had the body of a white cervid with a collar and socks of brown fur, but its neck was longer and thinner, leading the eye up to a mask-like human face with a wide, eerie, closed-eyed smile. A head of brown, wavy hair framed that mask, and from it emerged two golden antlers. From the antlers hung golden dishes, like those of ancient scales, suspended with thin golden chains. The antlers' tips looked sharp enough to stab a human with, and the fact that they were stained with blood seemed to suggest this had, indeed, occurred...
"Do not be afraid," the creature said, though its mask did not move. "I am Justice."
Hap
octopus
- Pronoun
- he/him
What was that thing? Some kind of pokemon? It looked a little like the illustrations Ridley had seen of xerneas, with its long neck and spreading crown of antlers.
Or like a deerling with a god complex. Be not afraid. And suddenly, Ridley wasn't.
"Making the world a better place?" Ridley echoed. The churning emotional turmoil inside him snagged on that moment of rage, and Ridley held fast to it. It felt good to be angry, better and easier than feeling powerless or horrified or scared or sad or increasingly aware of how it felt to have another person's blood slowly drying on his skin. "Justice? Is that how Andre justifies it to himself when he's jerking off to the sight of the people he murders?"
Or like a deerling with a god complex. Be not afraid. And suddenly, Ridley wasn't.
"Making the world a better place?" Ridley echoed. The churning emotional turmoil inside him snagged on that moment of rage, and Ridley held fast to it. It felt good to be angry, better and easier than feeling powerless or horrified or scared or sad or increasingly aware of how it felt to have another person's blood slowly drying on his skin. "Justice? Is that how Andre justifies it to himself when he's jerking off to the sight of the people he murders?"
canisaries
the one draft wonder
- Pronoun
- she/her
Justice tilted its head. "You heard what Mike was like. He abused his old girlfriend. And had you heard more from him, you'd know that he abused his team, too."
The creature leaned in. "He deserved to die. Alone, afraid, and in pain. What's so wrong with us deriving a little personal pleasure from that, too?"
The creature leaned in. "He deserved to die. Alone, afraid, and in pain. What's so wrong with us deriving a little personal pleasure from that, too?"
Hap
octopus
- Pronoun
- he/him
Ridley hadn't liked Mike. The guy had been an asshole, and it seemed doubtful that he'd improve on further acquaintance. If Ridley heard that he'd died, even that he'd been murdered, he wouldn't have cared. There was even a part of him, he could admit, which would have thought good riddance.
"I don't know if anyone deserves to die," Ridley said. "I don't know if anyone can do something so bad they forfeit the right to live, and I don't know who gets to decide that. But that -" He gestured, still holding the knife, at the bed behind him, with its occupying corpse and greyscale blood. "- what you're doing, getting off to torturing a guy, that's not an execution. That's not justice. That's evil."
"I don't know if anyone deserves to die," Ridley said. "I don't know if anyone can do something so bad they forfeit the right to live, and I don't know who gets to decide that. But that -" He gestured, still holding the knife, at the bed behind him, with its occupying corpse and greyscale blood. "- what you're doing, getting off to torturing a guy, that's not an execution. That's not justice. That's evil."
canisaries
the one draft wonder
- Pronoun
- she/her
"Evil? How can it be evil to use the deserved suffering of unrepentant scum to create art?" Some of its words were louder and more distorted than the others.
"Besides," it continued, leaning back, "you are not so pure yourself, Ridley. You often act with reckless abandon. Are you not aware of how it hurts the people around you?"
"Besides," it continued, leaning back, "you are not so pure yourself, Ridley. You often act with reckless abandon. Are you not aware of how it hurts the people around you?"
Hap
octopus
- Pronoun
- he/him
"Wow," Ridley said, "wow, sorry, I wasn't aware I had to be a perfect paragon of moral goodness and purity to say that torturing a guy to death is bad. I mean, I always thought there was maybe a difference between hurting people by accident and feeling bad about it and trying to get better so you don't do it again and, y'know, that, but it turns out those are the exact same thing actually! Well, there's me told, I guess!"
He raised his voice as he spoke; by the end he was almost shouting. "Don't give me that shit about deserved suffering! How does that make anything better? How does that help the people he hurt or heal the harm he did? How does standing there pretending that people can pay for their wrongs with suffering do anything but let you feel better about what a monster you are?"
He raised his voice as he spoke; by the end he was almost shouting. "Don't give me that shit about deserved suffering! How does that make anything better? How does that help the people he hurt or heal the harm he did? How does standing there pretending that people can pay for their wrongs with suffering do anything but let you feel better about what a monster you are?"
canisaries
the one draft wonder
- Pronoun
- she/her
"You would leave their deeds unpunished?" the creature asked. "You would show mercy to those undeserving of it?" It shook its head. "You do not understand. You are... like the others. Too meek carry out justice."
Justice stepped back. "Live your life, then. Do not worry. The Judge will do what you cannot."
The world began to darken, and the creature faded away...
...and Ridley found himself back in the cave, a mimikyu again.
Justice stepped back. "Live your life, then. Do not worry. The Judge will do what you cannot."
The world began to darken, and the creature faded away...
...and Ridley found himself back in the cave, a mimikyu again.
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