onlyhearmusic | [the last voyages] ic inbox

Patience? Probably not, but determination and stubbornness? Yeah. And that can be the same thing in a different light.

And if I don't, well...I'll train the next generation who will. My family took five hundred years to kill something once. We can do it again.

I can admire that. [He chuckled lightly.] I like a man with drive and determination. It's more than most have.

Hmm, suppose that's one way ta go. Yer family most have been impressive ta continue a long line of warriors bent on killin' something so ancient.

So, yer determined ta stay here long enough ta get tha kill or teach tha next person in line ta make it happen. [He sighed.] I'd rather tha former, but something is better than nothin'.

Yeah. I'll stay until I'm removed or until there aren't any inmates here against their wills.

Well, I mean, why do you think we do inmate fight club? In case I get kicked off and have to train you fucks to carry on the legacy of murder.

...you would settle fer that, would you?

[No bite again, but there was less appeal to that outcome than death of the bastard in his mind. Revenge was a powerful motivator. It's what he wanted.]

Ah, well, it's not so hard ta commit murder. It's more hard ta do it right. And even harder ta kill something unnatural. [And by extension more powerful.]

Until there aren't any prisoners. That's the thing that pisses me off; that, and death not having much meaning.

Yeah. No shit. But the good news is we have plenty of time to practice.

And here I think of this ship as a prison. What makes you think it could be something else?

I suppose so. But what are ya goin' ta do about that difference? Wait fer something ta come along and even tha odds?

I don't. But other people - inmates who choose to be here - love the deals with this devil. So I might have to compromise.

Just keep getting better at dealing supernatural damage, I suppose. What do you suggest?

And how many of them are there? All tha ones I know ain't here of their own choosing.

[Collins made a noise of consideration.] I only know what I've seen others do, and I never did care fer those methods or tha people usin' them. Just their money. [Because people like that tended to hire people like him when necessary.] I hate ta suggest makin' a bargain with a larger fish just ta kill tha one that keeps gettin' away.

[But it was something he had to consider for his future. That wasn't the point here though. He still hated the "admiral" despite the potential idea of using the entity's power. And to find something more powerful than that seemed tantamount to inviting catastrophe. Admittedly, he didn't know what to do.]

How do you get better at dealin' damage ta the unnatural without becomin' that which yer tryin' ta put an end to?

A handful, actually. Newer ones: the older ones didn't get a choice before. Usually it's the ones who come on already knowing what the network is and choose to introduce themselves as inmates.

There's always the Admiral's bosses, anyway. Could try getting a message out to them but chances are they'd either ignore it or kill all of us.

You do it for the right reasons.

Hmm.

And therein lies tha problem with usin' somethin' more powerful than tha bastard 'imself. Ya never know what yer gonna get, and there's few if any at all ways ta protect yerself from somethin' so powerful it's worse than tha thing ya can't kill yerself.

[He exhaled sharply.]

I've never done things fer tha 'right reasons' in me life. [He made a resigned noise.] I suppose it doesn't matter then. Might as well make a deal with tha devil ta get it done if nothin' else matters.

Exactly. I don't feel like I can trust anyone as powerful as the Admiral, let alone his bosses.

I think things do matter. But maybe I haven't had my head smashed in enough times to make me forget about that.

I certainly don't like tha idea, even ta get what I want. If there's even a way fer someone like me ta do that.

Oi, don't make it sound like I have. I don't lose that often! [Well, he didn't before he got here anyway. He made a small noise caught somewhere between annoyed and...oddly fond. And failed not to follow it up with a sigh.] I just mean perhaps it's worth takin' a risk ta get something I want...or maybe need. I like risk I can feel. A good hunt, a brawl at tha pub. Not a wave of tha hand and an outcome I cannot see. This is all different. [He gave a fake laugh.] But I'm not like everyone else, so what does it matter if I don't follow tha rules? I can't get fur any blacker than it already is so I might as well try.

So your plan is to blacken your soul with ink?

[Collins snorted in barest of amusement.] Lad, it's already black as night. What's one more spot in an ocean of jet?

I just want to know what someone like you does when he's up against what he can't see and can't fight against.

I've never fought against something that hasn't died by my hands. Except tha last one that put an end to... tha music. [He mused silently for a moment, struck by remembering the entity's words to him. The song is over. His life followed shortly after.] I can't fight something like that.

I asked you how ta fight unnatural opponents, but I don't think this is one ta fight with conventional weapons. Hence tha questionin' of a deal with something more powerful...

I don't have ta like it. It just has ta be done.

Yeah.

A lot of that goes around here.

Part of all tha bullshite. Can't do anything about it, might as well... join it, I suppose. [He didn't sound happy about it. But resigned, yes.]

That, or drown in it all.

[Trevor too sounds resigned]

Aye. And I'd rather not drown so long as I can help it.

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