[ Like seeing a ghost. Probably how he looked when he saw Hawke in the Vice Enterprises Stasis Box that night in Palawan when everything changed. He doesn't know if he should ask anything. He doesn't know if he should even speak. So he pulls out a pack of cigarettes and offers one to An'yu ]
An'yu-sama [ So need to get used to that ], the file only had so little on Gintoki. But it did mention that you're trying to bring him back... Sir, I will help any way I can.
[ Brigade lights up his own cigarette and takes a long puff ]
He said I should speak to you about it and told me that a friend's inside. [ He gestures to the shield. Then to the pipe. ] He also told me that the broken pipe was from another friend as well.
I read up on them, sir, Gintoki and Kaien. The file was short and limited but it was enough for me to know that these, and the people who they were or belonged to, are very important to you.
[ Brig can sense the wish for more nicotine. Pulls out another pack and just lays it on the table. ]
Wherever it's easier for, An'yu-sama. Although it is no way easy, I know. [ Brigade just watches An'yu's face. He can relate. The deaths of so many VALKYRIE brothers start flashing through his mind. These are the worst times; when he can't control the onrush of memory and information. An'yu's pain is immeasurable. Nothing in the world can balm the loss of brothers that close. ]
Yes. Lily was his mentor. My arrogance made her disappear from his life.
[She is still his biggest regret. It's all over his face: the shame, the guilt, the sadness.]
Still, he took me in. He agreed to teach me. He watched over me, treated me like a brother... we only grew closer after I pursued my license with Zangyaku.
She is not dead. She has removed her connections to the Fifth World through her contracts with the True Fae. It is... complicated.
[As for that last one...]
Kaien was killed in 2047, during the Darkest Vigil. He and Makoto Kuzunoha, two members of the Searing Wind, stayed behind during an onslaught along the Russian border, giving their brothers and sisters time to retreat.
[ Brig's ears prick at the name Makoto. That was the name of the man in the gauntlets given to Josh that day with the Godslayer. ]
True Fae, sir? [ He twitches at the thought. Thinking of Brianna. And the Earthquake smackdown he wants to eventually bring down on them. ] Sorry about that. Just thought of my Blademate, sir. Durance.
Did their... our [ gotta' get used to that ] brothers and sisters get away safely, sir? And I remember Makoto's name mentioned as well to Josh that night Hikaru gave us these items. He was... very serious when he was giving them to us.
Brother [ really gotta' get used to that ] Kaien sounds like someone I would've liked to meet, sir. Someone I would've stayed behind with in that battle.
[There's a sympathetic nod when Brig mentions durance. Selene Vega. Tala Vega. He knows the feeling well.]
Yes. Every last person made it out alive, including the civilians. Hundreds, for the cost of two. [It's a little hard not to be bitter, even if he knows that it was right and probably would have done the same thing.] And yes, I do believe that the two of you would have gotten along. Few people could ever surpass a man like Kaien on the battlefield, off the battlefield, and as a friend.
[His hands clench quietly into fists.]
I would have stayed, if I had been given a choice in the matter.
You were ordered to stand down, sir? [ Something twists in Brig's stomach. He recalls the time he was asked to stand down and not go after Hawke. He went AWOL to try to save the Colonel ]
I would have... [ Brig pauses and his eyes fall to the floor ] would have liked to have met him.
I am sure that he would have liked to meet you too. [Then, in an attempt to lighten the mood and feel a little better:] He taught me how to hold my liquor the hard way.
[As for that other comment:]
It was the Darkest Vigil. We were all busy. I was... elsewhere.
[ Brigade laughs at the liquor crack. ] And hold it very well you do, sir.
I am so very sorry to hear that, sir.
[ Brigade eyes the box with the pipe in it ] The pipe, sir. Can it be fixed? Even if only to place it on his grave for him? I'm sure he would like it back. [ Brigade thinks of the photograph he burned for Rico's daughter at his initiation. He hopes it reached her, as the tales of Norse would tell. ]
[ The pain in his Sensei's eyes is immeasurable. ]
Only if you believe Brother Kaien would have wanted me to keep it, sir. Brother Hikaru also asked me to speak with you about it. It would feel wrong to keep his pipe without first getting his blessing. [ Brigade thinks of his shield and how he only really took it when the babbling old Eisenstein shoved it into his hands and vigorously insisted he bear it as his own ]
Is there anything I can do to help? I'll run to the appraisers and stay with it till they fix it, sir.
[He really, really does. An'yu himself used to keep it before he gave to Hikaru. The Blade King had known Kaien for much, much longer, and was in the habit of hiding his pain only too often.]
Inquisitor Henry Lim is good with these things. Pay him a visit sometime.
[And he trusts Henry. Henry was is a brother to him, and was technically his first teacher before they both realized that they were better as traveling companions on the journey of life. And yes, they were both dumb shits back in the day, so...]
I will visitor Inquisitor Lim, sir. I will bring it back to you when it's fixed. I hope he can. [ Brigade takes the box and carefully slides it back in his Netsach coat pocket. Taking it out of Sensei An'yu sight might be doing him a favor. He wasn't even looking at it anymore. Seemed like he couldn't. ]
And Gintoki, sir? [ He thinks on that first day in Kibo where An'yu showed him all the transmutations. ] Sadaharu surprised me, genuinely, sir. I don't often get surprised anymore. But reading up on Gintoki was... eye-opening. [ He thinks on a time when a young Pandoran took a chomp on his arm, before he cut its head off with his shield.]
Gintoki and I were traveling companions because he had traveled with my grandfather once, a long time ago.
[Time for some booze. Transmutating some of that for himself now.
That was another thing Kaien had taught him. Making decent sake on the fly.]
Hikaru was his first friend. He had been a Pandoran who had grown strong because of his grief and his rage. The Blade King had defeated him, and convinced him that there was another way of living. ...I never did find out how old he was.
They grow with age, sir, as much as I've read and learned through my encounters. I can't even begin to imagine how strong he was if he'd known your Grandfather and Hikaru.
[ Brigade stands to fetch some glasses but is surprised-not-surprised that An'yu has already made fitting cups of his own. It'd be fun to learn how to do that.
I guess, if you don't give up on someone, and treat them as a someone and not a something, you'd be surprised how different they can be. [ Brigade's thoughts flutter back to the HECATON in WWII. He was never a thing. He was as human as each one of them in their eyes. ]
I believe Hikaru told Gintoki something to that effect. It... it inspired him to change. To find a way to Redeem himself, and be human as though he were one of the Created and not a failure.
[Chuckling a little.]
He was an eccentric man. Secretive. But loyal. Loyal to the end.
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His hand moves towards his pocket before he could stop it. He still remembers the day he had to give the stone to Henry for safekeeping.
Now he's moving, and taking the box. He's almost painfully careful with the way he opens it, and stares down at what it contains.]
Gintoki.
[His voice is quiet, too quiet, and full of only too many unspoken things.]
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An'yu-sama [ So need to get used to that ], the file only had so little on Gintoki. But it did mention that you're trying to bring him back... Sir, I will help any way I can.
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He's sitting back by the end of it. Careful, considering. Trying not to be too emotional.]
The Blade King gave this to you. [A beat.] Did he say anything?
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He said I should speak to you about it and told me that a friend's inside. [ He gestures to the shield. Then to the pipe. ] He also told me that the broken pipe was from another friend as well.
I read up on them, sir, Gintoki and Kaien. The file was short and limited but it was enough for me to know that these, and the people who they were or belonged to, are very important to you.
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There is not enough nicotine in the Fifth World for a moment like this.]
They are.
[Because the dead never really leave, or so he likes to tell himself.]
Who would you like to start with?
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Wherever it's easier for, An'yu-sama. Although it is no way easy, I know. [ Brigade just watches An'yu's face. He can relate. The deaths of so many VALKYRIE brothers start flashing through his mind. These are the worst times; when he can't control the onrush of memory and information. An'yu's pain is immeasurable. Nothing in the world can balm the loss of brothers that close. ]
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[Saying that with a tiny smile.]
If there is one thing that you have to know Kaien and I, it is that I fucked up in the worst possible way with him, and he took me in anyway.
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Was this the matter of the Promethean Lily, sir?
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[She is still his biggest regret. It's all over his face: the shame, the guilt, the sadness.]
Still, he took me in. He agreed to teach me. He watched over me, treated me like a brother... we only grew closer after I pursued my license with Zangyaku.
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Is she still alive, sir? Did you ever find her?
And I'm glad Hikaru took me into Zangyaku when he did. I didn't plan to so early but it's made it easier corresponding with you and Zangyaku.
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[At least he is smiling now. Just a little.]
And no, he never managed to find her. I looked as well.
[And staring down at his hands now, just so, before bringing the cigarette back up to his lips.]
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[ Brigade takes a long puff. ] If she's alive, sir, I'd gladly help look.
How did Kaien die, sir?
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[As for that last one...]
Kaien was killed in 2047, during the Darkest Vigil. He and Makoto Kuzunoha, two members of the Searing Wind, stayed behind during an onslaught along the Russian border, giving their brothers and sisters time to retreat.
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True Fae, sir? [ He twitches at the thought. Thinking of Brianna. And the Earthquake smackdown he wants to eventually bring down on them. ] Sorry about that. Just thought of my Blademate, sir. Durance.
Did their... our [ gotta' get used to that ] brothers and sisters get away safely, sir? And I remember Makoto's name mentioned as well to Josh that night Hikaru gave us these items. He was... very serious when he was giving them to us.
Brother [ really gotta' get used to that ] Kaien sounds like someone I would've liked to meet, sir. Someone I would've stayed behind with in that battle.
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Yes. Every last person made it out alive, including the civilians. Hundreds, for the cost of two. [It's a little hard not to be bitter, even if he knows that it was right and probably would have done the same thing.] And yes, I do believe that the two of you would have gotten along. Few people could ever surpass a man like Kaien on the battlefield, off the battlefield, and as a friend.
[His hands clench quietly into fists.]
I would have stayed, if I had been given a choice in the matter.
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You were ordered to stand down, sir? [ Something twists in Brig's stomach. He recalls the time he was asked to stand down and not go after Hawke. He went AWOL to try to save the Colonel ]
I would have... [ Brig pauses and his eyes fall to the floor ] would have liked to have met him.
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[As for that other comment:]
It was the Darkest Vigil. We were all busy. I was... elsewhere.
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I am so very sorry to hear that, sir.
[ Brigade eyes the box with the pipe in it ] The pipe, sir. Can it be fixed? Even if only to place it on his grave for him? I'm sure he would like it back. [ Brigade thinks of the photograph he burned for Rico's daughter at his initiation. He hopes it reached her, as the tales of Norse would tell. ]
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[He... kind of doesn't want to look at it again just yet. Too much emotion, too soon. Too many ghosts.]
Hikaru gave it to you, though. I think he wants you to keep it.
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Only if you believe Brother Kaien would have wanted me to keep it, sir. Brother Hikaru also asked me to speak with you about it. It would feel wrong to keep his pipe without first getting his blessing. [ Brigade thinks of his shield and how he only really took it when the babbling old Eisenstein shoved it into his hands and vigorously insisted he bear it as his own ]
Is there anything I can do to help? I'll run to the appraisers and stay with it till they fix it, sir.
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[He really, really does. An'yu himself used to keep it before he gave to Hikaru. The Blade King had known Kaien for much, much longer, and was in the habit of hiding his pain only too often.]
Inquisitor Henry Lim is good with these things. Pay him a visit sometime.
[And he trusts Henry. Henry was is a brother to him, and was technically his first teacher before they both realized that they were better as traveling companions on the journey of life. And yes, they were both dumb shits back in the day, so...]
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And Gintoki, sir? [ He thinks on that first day in Kibo where An'yu showed him all the transmutations. ] Sadaharu surprised me, genuinely, sir. I don't often get surprised anymore. But reading up on Gintoki was... eye-opening. [ He thinks on a time when a young Pandoran took a chomp on his arm, before he cut its head off with his shield.]
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[Time for some booze. Transmutating some of that for himself now.
That was another thing Kaien had taught him. Making decent sake on the fly.]
Hikaru was his first friend. He had been a Pandoran who had grown strong because of his grief and his rage. The Blade King had defeated him, and convinced him that there was another way of living. ...I never did find out how old he was.
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[ Brigade stands to fetch some glasses but is surprised-not-surprised that An'yu has already made fitting cups of his own. It'd be fun to learn how to do that.
I guess, if you don't give up on someone, and treat them as a someone and not a something, you'd be surprised how different they can be. [ Brigade's thoughts flutter back to the HECATON in WWII. He was never a thing. He was as human as each one of them in their eyes. ]
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[Chuckling a little.]
He was an eccentric man. Secretive. But loyal. Loyal to the end.
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