Piper Addison (makemywayhome) wrote in nevermore_past, @ 2012-07-24 06:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | famine, saint patrick |
Who: Padraig & Famine
What: A Horseman and a Saint meet up
When: 1846
Where: Just outside Dublin
For over a year, there had been a blight spreading through Ireland's potato crop. The previous year, 50% of the harvest was lost, and there had been reports the losses were as high as 75% for this harvest. Everywhere, people were starving, and they were already starting to die. 3 million people depended on potatoes for food, and with the blight spreading, that was when Famine appeared.
She was standing on a hill overlooking the city of Dublin, her face not betraying any of her thoughts, as she surveyed her early work. Already she was hearing rumors that people were fleeing the country, desperate to make better lives for themselves. But there was also a large number that couldn't. And already they were starting to die from starvation.
When she felt the familiar pang of immortal behind her, she didn't move, didn't turn around. If what they had to say was important, they'd tell her in their own time. So she simply waited.
shamrocked_
2011-04-01 01:12 am (local) (link)
Padraig stepped to Famine's side, his features stony. For a while, he said nothing, opting to look out over the city himself, listening to the desperate prayers of the starving.
He turned his head and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Can you hear them?" he asked, his tone like ice.
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black_horse
2011-04-01 01:18 am (local) (link)
She knew who he was as he stood next to her. But she said nothing, betrayed no emotion. All things in time.
She finally turned when he addressed her. "They're not praying to me," she said quietly. "I'm a Horseman, not a Saint. More of a concept, an idea, than anything else." She cast her gaze back over the city again.
"Why have you come?" she asked at last. "I thought I'd be the last person you'd wish to speak to."
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shamrocked_
2011-04-01 02:18 am (local) (link)
"I know they're not praying to you, but surely you must hear them crying out? Or is that honor just reserved for me?" His words came out in an angry hiss. "Is this really necessary."
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black_horse
2011-04-01 02:32 am (local) (link)
"Oh, I hear them," she said softly. "Everywhere I've been, and everywhere I'll go, I hear them. It's not something you can really miss, or something that quickly leaves you. But what good is it going to do them for me to cry, hmm? My tears are the last thing they need."
"You ask that like I deliberately chose this country," she replied. "I didn't point to a spot on the map and say, 'Hmm. Let's wipe out Ireland's staple crop supply'. The conditions were right. I came. And when the time is right, I'll leave. But not until then."
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shamrocked_
2011-04-01 02:41 am (local) (link)
"And when will that be?!" Padraig hissed. His country was falling apart. People were committing crimes to get thrown in prison on purpose because at least that meant they would get one meal a day. Desperation was everywhere, and there was little relief in sight. Padraig spent his days begging his brother George for relief from the crown, but only so much was forthcoming.
"Will you wait until Ireland is wiped out and go then?" His people were suffering. Padraig couldn't stand it.
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black_horse
2011-04-01 02:50 am (local) (link)
"Do you really want the answer to that?" she asked. "I could tell you, maybe not down to the day, but would it really ease your mind? Would it make the waiting any easier? Tell me, Patrick. Do you want to know?"
"If you have a problem with the way I'm doing my job, you know who to take it up with," she hissed in return. "I am Famine. This is what I do. And I will not apologize to you or anyone else, ever, for simply fulfilling my purpose." She finished off with a glare.
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shamrocked_
2011-04-01 06:27 am (local) (link)
Padraig didn't think it would ease his mind, and if God wanted him to know, he would have been told. Patrick just felt so angry and she was the most obvious person to take it out on.
"I feel helpless," he admitted. He was running on empty, literally, and he had an entire nation's prayers to listen to. A nation of people to try to help. Was his function here really only to be a comfort while they died a terrible, slow death?
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black_horse
2011-04-01 06:35 am (local) (link)
Seeing the state he was in, Famine thawed the tiniest bit. She wasn't completely heartless, even if most of the time she came off that way.
"I'm...I'm sorry it upsets you so much," she said, the words unfamiliar on her tongue, she wasn't even really sure why she was saying them. "But I cannot be anything other than what I am, just as you cannot. I don't delight in this. It brings me no joy to practically hold the door open for Pestilence and Death. But I won't be here forever, if that's any consolation."
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shamrocked_
2011-04-01 06:45 am (local) (link)
"It does," Padraig said, breathing out. He felt weak and he let his body sink lower, sitting on the cold ground, overlooking his city. "I used to hate them. I cursed them for stealing me away from my home, now I find I would do anything for them. And I can do nothing."
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I just realized Famine totally contradicted herself. *facepalm*
black_horse
2011-04-01 06:55 am (local) (link)
She sank down onto the ground next to him, curling her arms around her knees. She laid her head on her knees, listening as he spoke.
"I honestly don't know what to tell you," she said finally. "But there will be an end, and I'll be off and out of your hair, and you'll most likely be very glad to see the back of me." She looked over at him. "It's affecting you, too. Isn't it." Not a question, a statement.
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I didn't even notice :D
shamrocked_
2011-04-01 08:13 am (local) (link)
Padraig let out a slow breath and he wished, for all the world, he could sleep. "Of course it's affecting me. I can't eat while my people go hungry." Even if he could, he would probably feel their suffering anyway. It was that widespread. His eyes were permanently shadowed and he grew weaker every day. He could feel his body shutting down slowly, though he did manage to eat a little here and there. He was no good to any of his people dead. "It's not me I worry for. I am...not important."
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black_horse
2011-04-01 05:52 pm (local) (link)
"One could make the argument you're no good to them dead. And you'll die if you don't eat," she answered. She saw the shadows under his eyes, could make a guess at how he might be feeling.
"Then worry for them and live," she said softly but forcefully. "I'm sure they think you're very important."
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shamrocked_
2011-04-01 05:56 pm (local) (link)
"Then I'll die," Padraig said wearily. "They'll only bring me back. They don't get to come back." They went on to God, and one could argue that Heaven was a better place, but so many of them were resisting going and he couldn't help but feel for them. "I don't fear death. I never have. I only ask for a pardon and that is not forthcoming."
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black_horse
2011-04-01 06:20 pm (local) (link)
Famine sighed, falling backwards onto the grass and staring up at the sky. She was silent for a while, choosing the right words to answer him with.
"Sometimes I wonder if Death doesn't get sick of repeatedly collecting the immortals," she said, finally.
"A pardon for yourself, or for your people?" she asked, turning her head slightly to look him in the face. "Because I can tell you for sure, Death won't be swayed. If it's your time, she'll come. As far as your people..."
She sat up, and the grass she'd been laying up seemed to take longer than usual to right itself. A few of the tips were already turning brown. "What's been set in motion cannot be stopped," she said, sounding much older than the teenage girl she looked. "Ireland will have to ride out the storm, like every other country before it. And who knows, once the storm has passed, perhaps they'll be stronger than ever before."
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shamrocked_
2011-04-01 06:26 pm (local) (link)
"Death and I are slightly well aquainted," Padraig said with a grim smile. He turned to watch her lying back. "I don't ask for myself. And I know the futility in asking for my people. But it is one futile thing in a list of thousands so...why not try."
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black_horse
2011-04-01 07:17 pm (local) (link)
Famine quirked one corner of her mouth slightly. Not quite a smile or a smirk, but perhaps a shared grim sort of humor. "I can imagine," she replied. "The great equalizer, she is."
"Why not, indeed," she mused. She tilted her head, studying him. "You're an odd one, Padraig. I've never met anyone quite like you. You care so much, even though it's killing you. It's difficult for me to wrap my head around."
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shamrocked_
2011-04-01 07:27 pm (local) (link)
The corner of Padraig's mouth lifted slightly as if he was going to smile, though there was no follow through. "I'm human. It's not surprising that it's hard for you to understand my motivations. I am working as hard as I can and it's not enough. This," he said, indicating Dublin which seemed peaceful, though he knew it wasn't, "seems like my failure."
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black_horse
2011-04-01 08:02 pm (local) (link)
She nodded. At least that part she understood. "You must think I'm horribly uncaring," she replied. "But like I said, I don't delight in this. I know I sound horribly repetitive, but it all comes back to me simply being who I am."
Her eyes followed him as he gestured at the city. "Expecting to be able to help everyone, everywhere, all at once, seems like you're setting yourself up for failure. Surely you must have people who can help you?"
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shamrocked_
2011-04-01 08:08 pm (local) (link)
"Forms of relief have been offered, but none to make any sort of difference. And as of yet, England hasn't stopped importing Irish food. We have nothing and they are still taking from us. And no amount of me trying to make my English brother feel guilty is helping that."
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black_horse
2011-04-01 11:54 pm (local) (link)
Famine snorted. "Same old story. Those who have plenty, always take more. And those who have nothing suffer. It angers me. I want my scales to put some balance back, but I haven't seen the thrice-damned things in several centuries. I think sometimes they have a mind of their own."
"If it were me and my sisters...actually, I have no idea what we'd do. Though I am quite gifted in guilt trips. I could talk to your brother, if you wanted." A shadow of a smile. "But I'm guessing you wouldn't really like that idea."
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shamrocked_
2011-04-02 12:33 am (local) (link)
"No," Padraig said quickly. As angry as he was with how the English government were handling this, he loved his brother dearly. He didn't want George being spoken to by a harbinger of the Apocalypse. "I'll write him another letter. Tell him the things his government is doing, they're doing to me. Someone has to help soon. This can't go on..." He wanted to believe that, but he didn't.
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black_horse
2011-04-02 03:18 pm (local) (link)
She chuckled slightly, the sound dry and lacking mirth. "I figured as much," she said. "And since that would involve getting transportation to England, tracking down your brother and then speaking to him, and since I'm fairly unconcerned with things outside of my actual duties, you're both pretty safe."
She rose, standing and looking over the city once more. "I have to go," she said. "And I'm fairly sure you won't shed a tear to see me go. But it's been...educational, speaking to you. I understand you a little better now, I hope."
She raised a hand in farewell. "May the road rise up to meet you," she said. Then she vanished.