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has he taken their side?[break][break]

her words, manipulative or otherwise in their intentions, leave a mark on him. they sway him and his thoughts, drawing out doubts and worries that he would rather keep dormant and buried.[break][break]

"solar—"[break][break]

but he sees the way the sea moves, how the tides look to drag and drown, and without thinking twice about it, his hand finds hers, looking to anchor her (and him) to some form of stability.[break][break]

"i care about you, oracelies, and i am on your side. but i need you around and alive, yeah? so i have to keep you in check."

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Allowing his hand to interlock within hers, Oracelies sighed as her forehead pressed into his shoulder blade. The thought that he cared about her brought warmth just as his following words brought suspected pity. To need to be kept in check made her feel as if she was a monster roaming the muddy waters, spiraling out of control. Was that what others thought of her when in truth, she felt she was ultimately doing the right thing for the world? She wanted to be on the right side of history, but at what cost?[break][break]

"I dream of a world where justice shall not have to be the answer to discordant virtues, as there, iniquity will not exist," she said softly, shakily, ".. where people with dreams like myself will not have to be kept in check."[break][break]

She felt paranoid and cold as she treaded the glaciers that kissed what she thought were her mind's warm waves. Still, as she ceased her movement, his words cut through her in the name of insecurity; regardless of whether he was attempting to create sting or lighthearted resonance in her soul, it hurt.[break][break]

"Is that why you're here with me, why we've set out to clear the ash? Do all of the rangers believe me to be a monster? Did they.. send you?"

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the bitter reality that plagues them is that such a world may not exist, though his belief is built upon what he has learned from visiting other worlds through the rifts, and from his own experiences in this one.[break][break]

"you aren't a monster."[break][break]

his head shakes.[break][break]

"but your dreams have to be grounded. you'd stray too far otherwise, so let me help you. listen to me, ora, and believe me when i say that i'm on your side."[break][break]

he pulls away just enough to peer into her eyes, showing her sincerity.[break][break]

"trust me, and we'll work towards the world you dream of together."

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The ash that was cast through with the waves of the Clauncher was synonymous with the words that escaped Lance's tongue, for she found solace in his flatteries. Though he had not denied her paranoia of being sent on behalf of others to chastise her bringing of the unruly tides, her heart led her to cast out that specific insecurity with the thought that he would indeed be willing to help. But trust was needed, and in the pathetic world that they had found themselves within, was a matter which she struggled with above all.[break][break]

Peering into his eyes as water trickled down her cheeks, her hand swept upward to twirl a strand of his hair within her fingertips. "I've never been one to grapple with the idea of trusting others, Lance," she said softly, ".. my mind has led me astray, unable to let the others in. I've been stabbed too many times because of trust and naivety. It is difficult for me to believe."[break][break]

She was unable to admit to herself that she was often the one to do the stabbing, turning the tides on those around her as soon as the spires shot from the depths. It was the aspect that led her to cast her previous life aside and live as a lone shark, taking to the world with nothing but infatuation with the spirit of the sea and its angels.[break][break]

"But I'd be a fool to refute the trust you seek. Though," she paused, met with a sigh, ".. how can we bring upon a world such as that with the sacrifice of the leeches cast off the table? The usurpers wear bleak crowns of iniquity, they shine."

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"i agree, you'd be a fool," he interjects with a laugh as soft and gentle as the path he advocates for; the one he's trying so desperately to pull her towards.[break][break]

the truth is, he doesn't know, but he fears admitting as much would only push her away.[break][break]

"we do what we can with what we are given and with what we have."[break][break]

which isn't much. the rangers are resourceful but there are limitations.[break][break]

"we must embody the change we seek. so let's start small, yeah? baby steps, and all that."[break][break]

his hand moves to hold her, wiping with his thumb at the water that trickles down her cheek.[break][break]

"start with trusting me."

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To embody the change that they sought; was that the missing piece of the puzzle, the aspect that her waves had refuted from letting crash into them? A sea of dark azure crashed into waves of gold, allowing a castle to embark upward from the depths; all she knew was to fight fire with fire, not to fight fire with a ripple of softness. It made sense in theory, yet the vast openness of the seas was previously closed in her eyes, an unwillingness to be open to there being brightness in the world around her. There were moments of brightness in her craft, such as feeling the energies waver across her sternum and up to her clavicle, but she was indeed falling into muddy waters. All the more that would consume her if she were to continue on her path of retribution and false justice.[break][break]

"I've never wished to consider other than the ruthless," she said with a deep breath, leaning her head into his collar, ".. the softer waves trickle in all the same as the harsh, they can nurture just as they can drown."[break][break]

A click of her pokeball released an illuminant oceanic spirit, a golden Gyarados, which summoned rain upon the uncoiling of its serpentine body and a seabound roar. It wished to wash out the ashen stains upon the ground like any other, bringing the sea upon the land- manifestations previously whispered to it by the sea witch. Oracelies wished to use it as a means of escape, to reflect upon the idea of embodying virtues other than the cold, deeply treacherous.[break][break]

"I trust you," she said, delicately brushing her lips across his cheek as she unwound from his grasp, ".. as I trust you'll meet me by the sea when dawn turns to dusk. When I'll be ready to take the first step."[break][break]

An extended hand upon a protrusion of the golden scales and a whip brought her to rise upward onto the back of the beast, looking down upon him. Pain, and for the first time regret, washed over her eyes.

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i trust you.[break][break]

it's enough, at least for now, to placate his thoughts and the worries that build upon them like reaching vines that only entangle, perhaps never to unravel.[break][break]

he knows, however, that all he can do now is to return the same, to offer her the same trust she offers, and he knows that he has to do it on her terms or risk losing her entirely.[break][break]

meeting her pain and regret with something akin to hope but not quite, he nods, looking up at her and her golden beast.[break][break]

"i'll be there."

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