winds_voice | 21

21 - [Video]

[Hello, Luceti. Today, Eley's decided to set up a little video for people to look at while he asks a few important questions. He appears to be sitting under his willow tree, as he so often is, but this time he isn't alone. And he's not joined by a fellow Lucetian either, at least not the kind of Lucetian you might expect.

Sitting in his lap is a rather resplendent and fluffy chicken who appears to be enjoying some pettings whilst turning her head to glance at the camera every so often.]

I am not sure how many would recall but sometime in the past I found myself under a shift whereby I would believe in daily messages known as 'horoscopes'. On the final day, I found myself with an irresistible urge to adopt a chicken, and with the help of a friend we found one.

...however, I do not know exactly what to do with it now. I usually allow it to roam as I would hate to rob it of its freedom yet... I grow concerned for it at the same time. I leave food for it here and it often comes back for it, yet I know little about chickens or their care, or indeed their proper diet.

I am also unsure about its gender, nor do I know what name it should go by. If anyone could help me in that regard, I would be grateful.

[He seems to be about to turn off the feed but then changes his mind.]

I have one more question. I recall that my explanation of how I care for my people could be likened to that of a parent and child. Then I must ask, what is it like to have a mother? To be a mother? Or even a father for that matter?

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[Zuko sees this and he has to think about this for a little bit before he actually replies. He's already told Eley that he doesn't really know anything about chickens but...]

If it lays an egg it should be a girl.

[That's a pretty safe bet.]

And its... nice... to have a mom.

Edited 2014-05-20 15:21 (UTC)

Hmm...I'm afraid I do not know much of chickens either. However, if it comes back for the food, it must feel at home with you.

[At least the next topic, he knows much more about.]

As for having a parent? It's actually rather essential. When we are first born, we are unable to care for ourselves, and we know nothing. We could not even walk or speak. We depend on our parents to feed us and teach us how to live.

As for being a parent, it is a grave responsibility for these same reasons.

I'd say that looks like a hen 'f ever I seen one.

[It's been a few years but Rudy's definitely handled chickens before, having worked many times as a farm hand back home. Enough for him to tell, anyway.]

Edited 2014-05-20 16:00 (UTC)

[Ah eggs. It was true that some creatures were born from them, dragons included.]

I understand. Though I have to wonder exactly how long it would take to find out about these eggs.

[He tilts his head at the next comment.]

Could you elaborate? Perhaps you could tell me more about your own.

Perhaps... It does seem to be friendly at least, though does not have any fear of the great outdoors.

[When Saleh goes into his explanation about parenthood, the Spirit listens well. Laying down each of those tasks makes it seem a lot more important than he realised.]

I see. And what of yourself? Are you a parent? Did you have a good relationship with your own?

Ah, Rudy. You are able to tell?

[Eley picks the chicken up and looks it over, leaving it looking rather annoyed.]

Then a hen would indicate a female, yes? In that case, it will need an appropriate name. Hmm...

I...have not become a parent in the biological sense...but Ewan and his sister were abandoned by their parents. The sister raised him on her own before I took him in. So I suppose I am the closest thing Ewan has to a father.

[That could be one reason why Ewan worships him so much.]

I got along well with my family. My parents have been gone for some time, so I care for my grandmother, the elder of our village.

I don't know, but chickens lay a lot of eggs, I think.

[He really has no idea, he's just guessing here. A farm boy he is not. Anyway, to the other topic. Tell him about his own mother? Well... okay.]

My mother is an amazing woman. She loved me and cared for me even when my father didn't. She risked everything to protect me.

[Whether he knows or not, Eley trusts him enough to take what he's saying on board, so he makes a mental note to look for eggs at any given opportunity.

What he says next in answer to his question intrigues him though.]

Your father did not care for your well-being? [Wasn't that the job of fathers? He couldn't imagine King Ilios wanting anything to happen to his son.] And... what did she need to protect you from exactly?

...that must have been difficult for them. I cannot imagine why anyone would wish to abandon their own children.

[Then again, he could only imagine what it was like to have children of his own. There was much he didn't know about the workings of the human mind.]

You are clearly compassionate about others, Saleh. Why else would you seek to protect others so readily and learn the healing arts? Though I have improved, I am not sure if I am truly worthy to be seen as a parental figure to another.

[He thinks back to the previous incident when he had lived another life with a family of his own. Did he even know what he was doing back then either?]

If you don't want it? It's a weight.

[Technically the only experience he has had as an actual father was when he was a piss-drunk and piss-poor kid. He weaseled his way out of that as soon as he was offered a sum great enough but to his credit he tried to renig the deal.]

[The memories are painful ones, and Zuko glances off to the side for a moment before looking back at his journal.]

When I was born, no one was sure if I was a firebender or not. My father, as a prince of the Fire Nation, did not want the disgrace of having a first born son as a nonbender. He wanted to have me killed, but my mother convinced him to give me a chance.

Then, when my father tried to usurp the throne from my uncle after his son was killed. My grandfather then ordered him to kill me. So that he would know what it was like to lose a son. In exchange for my life, my mother gave my father a poison to kill the Fire Lord. But... she was also banished.

I can only imagine because they were unable or unwilling to handle the responsibility of raising their children. In most cases, they put the children in an orphanage...but that did not seem to be the case with Ewan.

[He almost smiles at the latter.]

Becoming a parental figure is a learning experience, especially if you're doing it for the first time.

Yeah, I've handled 'em before. [There's a smile.] If it were a rooster, it'd be a lot bigger for one. Their tail feathers tend to be longer too.

[That, and they crow. A lot. His expression softens slightly in concern at Eley's handling of the hen, noting the reaction.]

Careful how you pick her up there. Looks like she's not used to being held much.

[Don't worry about the deadpan face on the video. She always looks like that.]

Are you telling me you went and did something you never would have done otherwise, because the horoscope said to?

[After a brief inner wince at the thought of some mistaken things she did after taking a horoscope too seriously when she was younger back home, Ami's thoughts are all for the last part of the message.]

Mama is someone I love very much, and who loves me very much, too. She's someone I want to be happy. [This explains it so poorly, really.]

[In a situation like this, simple seems best.]

You could ask it if it has any preferences. And if it's male or female.

[It's a lot to take in and Eley can see how painful it is for Zuko to remember and recite those memories. He almost feels guilty for asking, but part of him is glad that Zuko trusts him enough to share such important things with him.]

...to be repulsed by you simply because of a lack of power is shameful. Though I admit I have also made similar choices when it comes to accepting people. Perhaps... I was also wrong to close a select group off from the rest of the world. To view others as more 'perfect'.

And your mother showed true bravery back then. I am truly sorry for what came to pass that day.

How selfish... to abandon your own children and not even give them the courtesy of a home and a chance at a future.

[Eley still couldn't quite understand why they brought a child into the world if they could not accept the responsibility of caring for it. The least they could do was allow them to live elsewhere.]

I would... be interested in learning more, though Spirits were never made to bear or rear young. It is another aspect of life that is alien to us, as you can likely see already.

[He definitely has one seriously messed up family.]

It was hard, but it made me who I am.

[And despite it all, he turned out okay in the end. Though sometimes he still doubts himself.]

And I did find my mother again. Just before I came here.

Ah, I see. Knowing the visual cues, I am sure I will be able to tell them apart in future.

[But seeing Rudy's face and hearing those words leads the Spirit to feel a little chastened and he places the chicken gently down in his lap again.]

Forgive me. I am not used to handling animals. Perhaps you would be better suited to caring for her, given your prior experience.

...surely if you did not want it then you would not bear children to begin with.

[It seemed simple enough to Eley, being a Spirit who knew little about the complexities of human life. Even so, he was sure he was about to find out the truth.]

[He'd deadpan right back if he wasn't feeling so bemused right now. At her question though he simply nods.]

Yes. I admit that it was the first time I had come across something called a 'horoscope'. In normal circumstances I would simply have thought it strange, but these simple predictions turned into far more serious matters. On one day, I contracted a minor yet irritating disease that could not be identified. A friend found himself unable to stop dancing...

[It was all rather embarrassing really.]

Hmm... but then I have to wonder how a 'love' between parent and child is different to that of a friend, or... something more intimate.

[Yes, he's still trying to get his head around the mysteries of love and all its many forms.]

There are several individuals that I would like to be happy, yet I have no relation to them.

Ask?

[Eley looks down at the chicken and seems to think about it, nearly does it, and then stops himself.]

But I do not understand the tongue of chickens, nor can they communicate with me.

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