[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/x53CUK7.jpg[/img][/center]

[color=1BEFF2]Time: Morning
Location: River Port Beach
Interactions: Rue [@Potter], Eris and “Valerie”(Raven)[@Tae], Annya [@princess], 
Mentions: Inori[@Shard]
Equipment: 1 hunting knife, a flask of alcohol, a backpack, small tent, blanket, waterskin, rope, fire starting kit, lightmaker, cooking pot, a bar of soap, some drugs; skaula (8 grams) and zemak (a bit less than an ounce), rolling papers, and 191 amas. [/color]

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[color=B3E3E4]Bowyn listened to Annya speak just as intensely as she had for him. His mind combing over her every word, weighing them, desperate for common ground, for reassurance that this war would go the way he needed it to go. He saw the fire that sparked behind her eyes, a sign that this fight had a personal resonance to her as well. Their goals were the same; keep safe those around them, protect humans, kill dark elves, and that was all he needed to hear from her. At this point, diplomacy was a waste of time, but she had her hands tied by those above her. He could understand that and he could work with this elf. 

He stayed quiet as Rue spoke next. A small and tired smile crossed his face as Rue’s arm wrapped around his shoulders. 

Rue's embrace was both welcoming and painful. Like days so cold the chill crept into his bones and everything inside felt impossibly numb and going home and standing too close to a fire. When even though the fire was uncomfortably warm and the heat stung, it also meant life and warmth and sensation once more. A fire that fought away the kind of cold so brutal it forced life to fade. Rue was like that, like a fire that hurt in the best possible way, the way that kept things alive and that reminded him of everything he missed and had lost. 

Bowyn would do anything for people like that, to keep them whole and safe from what the world was capable of. 

And Rue had always been like that, someone who brought the type of energy that made the world brighter, more beautiful. She saw good in people, in the world, and while it made her too trusting, naive even, it was also why being around her made the world seem brighter. Fire like Rue spread easily, it lit up the world. 

Maybe he’d been like that once too. But it wasn’t physical pain or losing his wings that was the worst that the world, or dark elves, had done to him. It was the loss of being able to see beauty in the world; to see the good, dreaming of possibilities, of trusting people, of hope. 

So even as every part of him disagreed with her words and the sentiment they held, they sounded like the last piece of beauty left in the world. And it meant everything that made Rue, Rue, was still there, and he had no heart to argue with her, to try and smother a fire. Bowyn only leaned towards the warmth that was Rue, resting his head against her. For now, Bowyn was content to find comfort from Rue.

Eris then spoke and Bowyn found himself liking this elf much less than he had the night before. Even though her words echoed Rue’s, they didn’t sit right with him. Maybe it was that she lacked Rue’s gentle sincerity, maybe it was the emphasis she placed on the pain of the Twin-Headed Dargon, or maybe it was just the fact that she was just another elf to him. Bowyn couldn’t find it in him to care about why the twin rulers of the dark elves were the way they were, only that they encouraged the malevolence of their people.

Raven, who never looked away from the ocean as she spoke, went so far as to claim pure evil didn’t exist. A point he could sort of see, maybe the dark elves treated each other just fine but that changed nothing. They were still the purest source of evil he had seen in the world and at the end of the day they had to be dealt with. Even with good and evil subtracted from the equation, Avalia would be a better, safer, place without dark elves. Fairies, light elves, demihumans, dwarves, and orcs; all had their faults, but it was the dark elves who declared war. 

Bowyn moved away from the comfort that was Rue before he spoke again. 

[color=1BEFF2]“Evil will creep into those who let it. It is a choice, and dark elves have made their choice overwhelmingly clear for centuries. Light elves banishing dark elves was a mistake. They should have shown no mercy. Avalia would be a brighter place had they cut the rot when it was first discovered before it could fester and infect.”[/color] He spoke coldly, but honestly. He saw no need to soften the bluntness of his thoughts. 

[color=1BEFF2]"I guess our goals align as much as they can, for as long as that is true, I will follow your lead.”[/color] He added, addressing Annya, and that was true. Bowyn could take orders and he could respect the elf princess enough to trust her lead. He had no problem protecting humans and those who traveled with them, even Arn if the dwarf could behave himself. He had no doubt that diplomacy with dark elves would fail. He’d at least be around to try and lessen the damage. After diplomacy failed, he’d also be there to feed his need vengeance, to kill dark elves, and leave Avalia a better place.

Bowyn was not as oblivious to his own hypocrisy as he might sound, he knew his own hatred, desire to kill, towards the dark elves made him just as bad as his enemy. The fairy was aware of just how much of his empathy and kindness had been stripped away. But he also believed that his darker nature could be used for the greater good, and that was enough for him. After the war, if there even was an after the war for him, Bowyn had no idea what he’d do, because he also knew the darkness he carried wouldn’t just vanish. Would it redirect towards something else? Would it eat away at him from the inside? How long would he be able to struggle with it before he too was a monster? Mostly he wished he wouldn’t have to find out. 

[color=1BEFF2]“But maybe the rest of you are right, maybe’s it better to kind than to be right. I really don’t know. What I do know is that I could use a drink right about now. Anyone else?”[/color] Bowyn stood up; he no longer found any comfort or desire for warmth. The unrelenting sun of River Port was growing worse by the second and more than anything he wanted to feel numb again. He waited for a moment to see if anyone else wanted a drink or a walk before heading off. It was right about then that Bowyn noted the blue floating creature that seemed to be watching them. So, he did what he usually did, met the other man's gaze, and eyed him with suspicion. [/color]