Post by Sephiroth du Lac on Jan 30, 2010 1:58:02 GMT -6
((Author's Note: Although I am one who abhors personal or public statements I feel that tonight I should tackle a very public and personal issue. Namely the economy. This past year alone has seen the foreclosure of homes in the area and the massive influx of people to urban areas. I myself recently have found difficulties in our job market. In an effort to speak out about such things I now write this RP. Thank you.))
No one is asking what happened to all the homeless. No one cares, because it's easier to get on the subway and not be accosted.
- Richard Linklater
No one is asking what happened to all the homeless. No one cares, because it's easier to get on the subway and not be accosted.
- Richard Linklater
*The camera falls on the dirty streets of smog filled Los Angeles. The sky is warm but cloudy as night descends in silence. In the downtown section of town, mixed in with the shops and brilliant lights sit a ragged collection of humanity. As happy strollers and shoppers pass by a man who was a veteran sits shuddering, his beard long and dirty as he holds out a hand toward the nameless masses. A few drop a bit of change. One or two ignore. Some even kick over his sign with malice in their demeanor. Through it all he holds his head up mustering his dignity and with trembling hands he moves to pick up his sign but another hand drops before his. A perfectly black gloved hand. The hand lifts it revealing the man known only as Sephiroth du Lac. He stands with the soft winter wind blowing his hair in the night. The man sits in awe as this being, this living angel before him sets the sign down. The figure of Sephiroth moves down to face him. His eyes shifting slightly in the dim light like cat's eyes, makes the man sore afraid. But Seph simply smiles and leans in.*
Seph: It is not your time yet, my friend.
*With that Sephiroth leans his hand in and drops a wad of hundred dollar bills. The man grins with missing teeth and grasps Seph's collar.*
Man: Thank you. Thank you so much.
*Seph only smiles softly. A warm human look unknown to either fans or to those close to him. The man looks up at his savior with wide eyes only to have him walk away in silence. The camera then follows Seph as he walks down the streets passing by others, so ungrateful with what they already have. As he begins his long walk through the city we hear his familiar voice narrating us as he strolls down the lane.*
Seph (Voice over): Tonight an angel dies and I walk among the wretched. The societal damned lost to the annuls of their fellow men. Tonight I walk among the lost. My opponent? He's shopping at a Wal-Mart.
*Seph brings his coat collar up pulling his coat like a death shroud around him and as he turns down a dark alley one might take the flapping of his coat as angel wings on his back.*
Seph (Voice over): My opponent will tell you that what he does is amusing. That he is here to entertain. I disagree. We are here to set an example. We are here to do what we feel is right. We have forgotten that. We are more than entertainers. More than warriors even.
*He looks down at a young family huddled together under a blanket sitting by the trash.*
Seph (voice over): We are what happens when humanity dreams and hopes. Our dreams have come true. Many of them. But now I stand in a place where no one hopes and their dreams are as little as food and shelter. Even then many live unfulfilled dark lives. This is not a game. It is not a joke. This is the world we live in.
*He drops his head as he shuffles past a dark shadow on the wall, his silhouette, moves past them as the little girl of the family clutches her mother tightly. As he continues down a makeshift shanty town emerges in the canal of the water system. These systems often house many homeless.*
Seph (Voice over): Harold you make light of suffering but you know it not. You comment on pain and how you wish to destroy me. You do not know pain. To these people death is a release. To them pain is an everyday occurrence. To them suffering is all they know.
*Sephiroth steps among them moving through bodies. Some shiver in the night air huddled under makeshift blankets while others simply look on him as he moves past. He slinks like a serpent among them not laying hands on a single one. They show him a slight reverence for what can the damned say to the damned?*
Seph (voice over): See Harold I see something in their eyes that I saw in yours today. I see a weariness. The world beating down on you. You are a mockery of your former self. You are a disgrace to the sport your so keen on. You've become a jester, a clown, and to them I've become a joke. This match is nothing to me. It is less than nothing. It is less than what these poor miserable wretches have and that isn't much. They laugh at us like that poor man with the sign and we sit there and take it. Well, you can be content on your laurels resting. I shall endeavor for more. I shall strive for the best. Tonight Harold Campbell I call to you and mark your time...
*Seph raises his head as he moves down into the drains and stares at a single fire burning under it.*
Seph (voice over): But it is not tonight.
*With that he turns and walks toward the fire. His eyes gleaming in it's dim light. There a woman of accelerated years sits shivering in the fire's light. Her wrinkled features denote her advanced years. Possibly as old as seventy, maybe more. He sees her and in that moment he smiles congenially. This is the person he was meant to find.*
Seph (voice over): She sits here before me, old and ancient to others yet young and vibrant to me. The years weigh on her face. Perhaps she is a mother. Perhaps someone's sister. Just one more of the tired huddled masses that yearns to breath free. To you she maybe nothing but in her eyes I see the fire. That warrior's spirit. I see that same spirit when I look into her eyes that I do yours. Indeed when I stare into my own reflection I see the fire there burning. She has struggled. She has known hardship. I wonder, do you see it? Do you sense the kindred flame, Harold? Do you sense that this could be someone you admired once? Someone you loved? Someone you lost to the annuls of time. I wonder at her story. Marvel at her dignity.
*Just then the woman looks up. Their eyes meet. She smiles and he smiles and they understand each other. He is her savior and she his meal.*
Seph (voice over): She looks at me and I at her, and in that moment words fail. I have come to give her release. Her time has come. She knows this. But your time, Mr. Campbell... I have yet to decide.
*With that he moves in the fire suddenly dies and he raises his coat above him as a low cry calls out in the night. The camera then pans to the city skyline. The approaching dawn as his words ring out in the dim light.*
Seph (voice over): And once more, I die inside and another angel joins the choir.
*With that the camera pans down to him walking away as red liquid trickles down a storm drain nearby and the scene fades to black.*