There is nothing in the world quite as wondrous as starlight, particularly when starlight is still a fairly new concept. Years ago when Yssen Van crawled out of his subterranean homeland, starlight was the first thing he saw. He marveled at it for much longer than he should have back then, and Yssen still cannot help being entranced by it now. Even the recent new changes he witnessed as he turned his eyes to the night sky couldn't manage to dull the experience, it always took him back to the night he first saw them. Here, now, laying down in a clearing just outside Owl's Nest, the experience was no different. Yssen had managed to even see beauty in the auroras and falling stars that had appeared in the sky lately. He also distinctively remembered when he first noticed that the stars were falling from Dalamud. Pretty little bullets falling from a big red doom sphere, Yssen had long ago given up the idea that Dalamud was in any way, shape, or form a moon. Finding the beauty in the shape destruction was a concept Yssen was fairly used to, he counted it as one of the first lesson's he learned. One must react to found beauty in the proper fashion. Admire beauty, but do not forget the nature of the thing you found it in. That was lesson number two.
Yssen turned his gaze to Dalamud and smirked. There was really nothing to be done about it. If it crashed, it crashed. The damage would be done, and the big red doom sphere would serve its purpose in the grand scheme of things. Raging against it was not the way to get the coin to land on edge in this situation. A coin has more than two sides, always remember that a coin can be made to land on edge. That was lesson number three. When you examine a situation throughly, you always find the right path out. You can rage against a storm all you want, you can fight the rolling in of the tide, and punch the side of a mountain. None of those courses of action will get you anywhere in the end. The storm will not abate until it is good and ready, the tide will always roll in, and the mountain really doesn't care when you punch it. Better to direct your energy into a more useful endeavor. Storms can be weathered, the tide will eventually roll out, and you can find a way around, over, or through a mountain. Get the coin to land on edge. After all, it isn't about saving the world. Leave that to the fools looking for personal glory. Save the ones you can, save the ones you care about. That is how you made an actual difference.
"You cannot save that one you care about."
"There it was again, that really annoying voice in the back of Yssen Van's head that cropped up from time to time. It was an ugly little voice, and it often took a great deal of time to silence.
"That remains to be seen," he replied to the voice.
"You cannot save her, she is too far gone, and it is all your fault. If you cannot save her, what hope do you have to save anyone else."
"Plenty, there is always hope. I can save her. I must."
"You cannot, and you cannot save anyone else. You will not save anyone else."
"That also remains to be seen. I am not going to stop trying."
"You are a fool for that."
Yssen decided to try to ignore the annoying little voice in his head, largely because he was unsure whether he was responding to it vocally or not. He turned his eyes away from Dalamud toward the moon. He smiled for a bit behind his mask before closing his eyes and offering a silent prayer to Oschon, and his thoughts wandered to his last trip to Ul'dah. Stolen food to fill the bellies of some street urchins, stolen gems used to help a dancer pay off her debt sooner, and stolen coin from an overly fat merchant to ease the lives of a few beggars and refugees. It was all that could have been accomplished given the current circumstances.
"It is a good thing Brass Blades never look up."
"People don't want to look up these days, it really is not that curious of a phenomenon."
"It is a confusing course of action, risking precious freedom for such small action."
"That is not too curious a phenomenon either. Consider a night of gambling, one cannot lose what you do not put in the pot. You can risk it all on the long shot jackpot, or you can risk it over and over again taking in smaller pots of winnings. Those small pots add up over time. So do small actions. Like tossing pebbles in a spring. Pebbles make ripples, create enough ripples and you get a wave. Besides, freedom is only as precious as what we choose to do with it."
"Will it all make a difference?"
"That remains to be seen. Everything is a gamble, and you have to keep playing the game to see how it turns out. Could be I'll never know, but knowing how the journey ends is not the important part. The important part is what you do along the way."
"The last lesson..."
"Hope springs eternal."
This conversation was cut short by a loud thrumming sound. Yssen rose as to his feet and watched the airships as they passed overhead. He traced their path in the sky as the slowly moved in front of the moon, the stars, even Dalamud. He smirked under his mask and reached into his pocket for his coin. With a deft series of motions he flipped it, caught it in his hand, and observed the result.
"Going to have to cut this little moment together a little short," he said as he returned the coin to his pocket, "That sound there means it is time to get back to work…"
Yssen turned his gaze to Dalamud and smirked. There was really nothing to be done about it. If it crashed, it crashed. The damage would be done, and the big red doom sphere would serve its purpose in the grand scheme of things. Raging against it was not the way to get the coin to land on edge in this situation. A coin has more than two sides, always remember that a coin can be made to land on edge. That was lesson number three. When you examine a situation throughly, you always find the right path out. You can rage against a storm all you want, you can fight the rolling in of the tide, and punch the side of a mountain. None of those courses of action will get you anywhere in the end. The storm will not abate until it is good and ready, the tide will always roll in, and the mountain really doesn't care when you punch it. Better to direct your energy into a more useful endeavor. Storms can be weathered, the tide will eventually roll out, and you can find a way around, over, or through a mountain. Get the coin to land on edge. After all, it isn't about saving the world. Leave that to the fools looking for personal glory. Save the ones you can, save the ones you care about. That is how you made an actual difference.
"You cannot save that one you care about."
"There it was again, that really annoying voice in the back of Yssen Van's head that cropped up from time to time. It was an ugly little voice, and it often took a great deal of time to silence.
"That remains to be seen," he replied to the voice.
"You cannot save her, she is too far gone, and it is all your fault. If you cannot save her, what hope do you have to save anyone else."
"Plenty, there is always hope. I can save her. I must."
"You cannot, and you cannot save anyone else. You will not save anyone else."
"That also remains to be seen. I am not going to stop trying."
"You are a fool for that."
Yssen decided to try to ignore the annoying little voice in his head, largely because he was unsure whether he was responding to it vocally or not. He turned his eyes away from Dalamud toward the moon. He smiled for a bit behind his mask before closing his eyes and offering a silent prayer to Oschon, and his thoughts wandered to his last trip to Ul'dah. Stolen food to fill the bellies of some street urchins, stolen gems used to help a dancer pay off her debt sooner, and stolen coin from an overly fat merchant to ease the lives of a few beggars and refugees. It was all that could have been accomplished given the current circumstances.
"It is a good thing Brass Blades never look up."
"People don't want to look up these days, it really is not that curious of a phenomenon."
"It is a confusing course of action, risking precious freedom for such small action."
"That is not too curious a phenomenon either. Consider a night of gambling, one cannot lose what you do not put in the pot. You can risk it all on the long shot jackpot, or you can risk it over and over again taking in smaller pots of winnings. Those small pots add up over time. So do small actions. Like tossing pebbles in a spring. Pebbles make ripples, create enough ripples and you get a wave. Besides, freedom is only as precious as what we choose to do with it."
"Will it all make a difference?"
"That remains to be seen. Everything is a gamble, and you have to keep playing the game to see how it turns out. Could be I'll never know, but knowing how the journey ends is not the important part. The important part is what you do along the way."
"The last lesson..."
"Hope springs eternal."
This conversation was cut short by a loud thrumming sound. Yssen rose as to his feet and watched the airships as they passed overhead. He traced their path in the sky as the slowly moved in front of the moon, the stars, even Dalamud. He smirked under his mask and reached into his pocket for his coin. With a deft series of motions he flipped it, caught it in his hand, and observed the result.
"Going to have to cut this little moment together a little short," he said as he returned the coin to his pocket, "That sound there means it is time to get back to work…"
