voidtreckerexpress | Highly-Visible Ninja

Who: Edge and OPEN
What: A much-disliked ninja tries to choose his time and place for confrontation.
Where: The greenhouse car.
When: Egret 28.

Considering things had reached the point where open calls to murder him were expressed on the message system -- and though Edge was sure they'd be written off as jokes, he was also sure that the ones making those jokes would not show the slightest moral qualm were they to happen -- Edge believed that an actual attack was only a matter of time. Any number of people on the train believed themselves superior, didn't they? And he felt certain the Council would, if not look the other way, debate such a situation without any meaningful resolution occurring. In other words, someone who wanted to hurt him had no reason not to try.

That being the case, this called for a little strategy.

So the mid-morning found Edge in the greenhouse car, sitting atop one of those large crates full of seeds, legs folded and hands resting on his knees. His eyes were shut, and overall he gave the impression of being deep in meditation. Of course, someone who could (and did) expect an attack would be an idiot to meditate in the open with his guard down, wouldn't he? But enough people thought he was an idiot that he fully expected it would meet their threshold of belief.

In reality, he was focused entirely on the environment around him, as he perceived it through his hearing. The end of his ninja scarf, pooled on the crate beside him, in fact hid his folded-up shuriken, right where he could snatch it up easily. So he was ready.

Now to see if anyone would take advantage. He hoped, at least, that he was being excessively paranoid...

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Color Edge confused for a second, but when Glorfindel explained he relaxed and flashed a thumbs-up. "Happy to oblige! Things like that NEED their egos knocked down!"

Wiping his eyes again, Glorfindel asked," What about your world? Any insidious Evils yearning to be taken down by the forces of Good?"

"Already handled, thanks! We stopped the evil plans of the Lunarian Zemus and put paid to his spirit of hate handily some time ago!" See why he was so surprised the spider had gotten to the tree? Edge and his companions had saved the world, easily enough!

(Okay, maybe not easy, maybe it had been terrifying and nearly killed them all, but who was counting?)

"I bet that was quite the fight!" Glorfindel said admiringly. "It took us about 600 years to deal with Melkor. And longer to deal with his protege, Sauron."

Edge shook his head with a grimace. "We didn't have that kind of time. It was handle him now or our world and all its people got put to the torch." By a giant death robot, but that just seemed excessive to mention.

"There was quite a bit of that on my world," Glorfindel admitted. "It would have been nice if we could have taken care of it quickly, but there was internal dissent that made it impossible." He shook his head.

"How have things been since then?"

"We didn't have the luxury for that either. No kingdom went untouched and most were grievously harmed. If the five of us had done nothing..." Humanity (and dwarfkind, most likely) would have been literally extinguished. "But things have only improved since then! The world is on a path to peace and prosperity."

"We...didn't either, really. But some, let us just say that Dwarves do not have a monopoly on Stubborness. If you ever want a different perspective on it, you can ask Feanor or Curufin, they were more central to at least the earlier events," Glorfindel said.

"I am so very glad that things have improved since then for your people!" He tilted his head. "When you say 'us,' though, are you referring to the kingdoms, or to the heroes that did the bulk of the work?"

"Five of us went to the Moon to put paid to Zemus, but everyone in the world joined together to fight off the threat he represented. His evil touched everyone." Except maybe Mythril Town.

"Funny, I didn't think stubbornness was a standout dwarven trait, though."

"No? What do you think of when you think of Dwarves, then?" Glorfindel asked.

"Ah, I see, so you were one of the Heroes, then? That is quite admirable. I hope you survived?" Not everyone here was brought from their Happy Ending, after all.

"Yes, I did." Edge knew of the whole 'people can be dead' thing from his conversations with Nerdanel, so the question wasn't too weird. "The dwarves I knew were industrious and decent folk, very eager to lend a hand when one was needed."

"Dwarves are quite industrious and very decent," Glorfindel agreed. "The ones on Middle Earth are too, anyway. Just a bit stubborn sometimes though!"

"Did...did you have any issues after the battle was won?" he asked hesitantly. "Like, in figuring out what you were going to do with the rest of your life?"

"I'm a terrible example for that!" Edge said, cheerfully. "As King of Eblan, my first priority was to rebuild my kingdom and restore its prosperity. And then, rule well while continuing the training of Eblan ninjutsu!" But he waved a hand to brush that away. "But that wouldn't much apply to someone who wasn't born to royalty... Still, I think everyone has a part to play to advance their people."

"Ah, you had a built in job waiting for you once you were done saving the world," Glorfindel said. "That does make it a lot easier in some ways. On the other, being king is a lot of work. I've served several as Captains. There is a lot of paperwork, a lot of long nights, and a lot of dealing with upset people." He shook his head. "No one ever comes to their king to say, 'That was a great decision you made the other day, thank you!' do they?"

"Of course they do," Edge said, completely surprised. "I have advisors and so forth to do all that paperwork and boring stuff. My job as king is to lead, guide, and aid the people!"

It helped in Edge's case that his position as head of the ninja clan also kept him close and involved, that Eblan was a fairly small and close-knit nation, and -- unfortunately -- that it was recovering from total destruction.

"Every kingdom is a little different," Glorfindel said. "As is every king. I imagine your predecessor didn't do things the same as you?"

Edge's good cheer faltered slightly, not that he would admit it. "Well, my father was no longer head of the ninja clan once I came of age to take the position, so he didn't have those duties. And he had my mother at his side as well."

"Did you take over as the head of the ninja clan because you were his heir, or was it through merit?" Glorfindel asked. He'd noticed the sudden shift, and was a little curious.

"I understand having a partner does make things a lot easier."

"It disturbs me," Edge said, rather flatly, "that so many people can even conceive of a difference. An heir without merit is a failure of the monarchy to live up to its most basic of duties, yet so many seem to think it is not only inevitable, but inherent to the royal bloodlines."

Glorfindel nodded. "Among Elves, if you aren't the best for the job, you are quickly replaced, so I understand what you mean. Amongst humans...I've noticed over the millenia that those who do not value merit...those are the kingdoms that fall soon after. Failure is not inherent, in my opinion, or inevitable." He smiled at Edge. "I am glad that you feel the same way."

"I didn't even realize there were other ways to feel. Which made it all the more frustrating when everyone took up the general assumption that I believed just the opposite." It might be more understandable, now, but no less irritating.

Highly-Visible Ninja

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