Broken Arrows

[Phoenyx]

Sacramento's last Adamantine Arrow tidied the last of her work away. Todays work was on magical connectivity - sympathetic connections, locations. She has always found them easier to approach from the magical side than thinking of things in terms of position in space or physics. She was wearing her usual parctical outfit, although no weapons. They were on the counter.

The tea was brewing in the pot, and a pair of cups had been set out in the Arrow tower. A lot seemed to be happening even as the numbers of mages dwindled, and talking things through with someone might give her a little more insight.

Phoenyx sighed a little. Talking with Kaze was... well, it had been getting easier all the time, but it didn't change that they had a fractious past, to put it generously. And with Campenella gone the number of long-standing mages was dwindling again. She needed someone reflective and in some ways it was still easier talking to him than anyone else. He knew what her life was, better than anyone.

It was another challenge to herself, in her own way.

Kaze Ruach

[Kaze]

Kaze arrives just on time with the kind of precision that spoke of either unlikely serendipity or preparation, like having arrived early and literally watched the time to knock at the exact time they'd agreed on to the minute.

Kaze knocks and says, "It's me, Kaze."

[Phoenyx]

"Come in," comes the voice from the other side.

There was something nice about knowing they had healthy boundaries again. The life training had been a bit... forthright.

"Hey," she greets as he entered, a smile coming easily. "Thank you for coming. Would you like tea? I have some water chilling as well if you would prefer." She looks him over a little. She couldn't help it. How much he was looking after himself was a sign of what bits of Arrow remained - or at least, an indicator - to her.

"I know we haven't talked much lately. But it seems like a lot is happening, and I wanted to talk about it with someone. I've talked with Aurora but I could use another perspective. Would that be alright?"

[Kaze]

Kaze enters and smiles, "Sure, thanks Phoenyx. Water is great."

He nods when Phoenyx tells him what's on his mind. "Yeah. Of course." He agrees, "I am really interested in your perspective too, I mean you're the Arrows and a Councilor, my Path Councilor actually!"

Kaze smiles, "This is almost a Path meeting, right?"

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx heads to the fridge and pours a glass of water, handing it to her guest. She shakes her head. "If I wanted that, I would have invited Winter as well. But ever since his duel and subsequant cheating.... I am not sure how much I can trust him. This isn't about a Path. It's just two people... two friends, talking about the Concillium they live in." She hoped he could understand that.

She sat down and poured herself some tea. "It sounds as though you also had things on your mind. Would you like to talk about them?"

[Kaze]

Kaze smiles. Everything in life is a battle, right?

"Well, we've been down to just four mages before, so... we're not back to that, thank God." He says.

"But as few of us as there are now... we don't have the kind of consensus that we did before."

Kaze sighs. "I have been talking to some of the newer people who don't seem to be, you know, really in one camp another about forming a Cabal. I first tried that with Naga, but it didn't go anywhere. I guess I want to be part of a group that will look out for each other without being in an actual Order, you know?"

[Phoenyx]

She nods. "I hope not. At the rate people are leaving it seems like a possibility. Now Campenella is gone too." Phoenyx frowns a little. putting how she felt about that was hard to put into words. It was like a wardrobe was gone in a small room when it had always ben there, and now there was an empty space that did not feel right. She did not know Campenella well or consider him a friend, but she respected his Wisdom.

The Arrow sips her tea. "I think we are more diverse in our interests. Even when we were at our lowest numbers, there were clear links - either longevity or Path. Of those that remain, there are links that are more tenuous. It is a part of why I wanted to talk to you. We know each other. We have been conflicted. But you understand me, and I believe I understand you. That is important to me. It's what Aurora would call a catch-up, I suppose."

She nods slowly. That he hadn't asked her tugged at her feelings in an odd way. They had a lot of history. That would work both in favor and in opposition of asking her such a thing again. The Aegis was a long time ago. "A cabal? There would be more in it than the Council." A small sigh. "On the one hand, I do not know why we have a council at all at times like this. On the other, we could double in number in six months, and need that structure. I voiced the idea when the concilium was bigger to Aurora, but a lot of the prospective members left the city. We had discussed Naga as well. Who were you discussing this with?" There were only so many options. Winter seemed unlikely, and Kaze's carefree nature did not mesh with Puck well. Corn perhaps?

[Kaze]

Kaze nods. "Do you know what Councillor Puck's interest actually is?" He asks. "I don't have a guess. I talked with him about the Free Council, and he explained a little, even asked me if I wanted to join. But I'm still confused with how he seems to get into being a Diamond Councillor, I mean, he doesn't act like it's just a thing he has to do...he kind of acts like it is a thing he is, you know? Like, his identity, seems like it's more 'I am a Councillor' than 'I am Free Council.'"

Kaze smiles. "You on the other hand are definitely 'I am Arrow' first, and 'I am a Councillor' after that. It's a pretty obvious contrast between your approach from his."

He shakes his head, "I'm still waiting for their decisions. If they agree, I don't want to steal their thunder for an official announcement." He explains his declining to name names.

Kaze looks at Phoenyx. "I am really interested, though. The job of Councillor is really 'Path' Councillor. What do you think of it, the 'Path' part of the responsibility of a Councillor? Maybe we should have an Obrimos meeting every so often?" He asks.

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx shakes her head. "No. I have had a few conversations with him but whatever he is interested in never came up. He says that the Free Council does not believe in hierarchy, but then sets a lot of store by being councilor. It is... confusing." She shrugs. "I cannot ignore my order just because I took a concillium position. I believe it is the correct approach. I hold myself to both sets of laws and my decisions are borne of both. Hopefully it will be sufficient until I am no longer needed as councilor."

Dark eyes focus back on him for a moment before returning to her tea. "That is also understandable. Have you been looking for an area to set up a common area? I believe the old Masonic lodge where Shodan set up is available again. Though I can also imagine wishing to find a space to make wholly your own."

She sips her tea. "The Path provides an intrinic remith to the role, as would an Order-based system. If we are serious, I fell into the role and I do not deny that. It is why it was so important to me I was elected. I do not particularly want to be councilor, but anyone else would have been a much more political statement as to how we were prepared to be represented as a Path. Star would refuse at every turn, and you and Winter were convicted. I do not think is is more, or less, than those I answer to." She sips her tea, looking back at Kaze. "Do you think it is something else?"

[Kaze]

Kaze nods and listens to Phoenyx. "I believe you. I mean, I believe you can't ignore your Order. It's part of your nature, I feel like." He says thoughtfully. "And I respect that. Honestly, the dual and the cheating that Winter did...I can see how he was serving his Order faithfully too, by doing it. I mean, I think he let it get personal at least a little bit between him and Shodan, but only on Shodan's end. I think part of being a Guardian is 'doing whatever it takes', you know?"

Kaze shakes his head. If Aurora could only hear him now.

"I guess what I'm saying is, we're all Obrimos, and part of that is believing in a higher cause, something bigger than ourselves, that we're totally committed to. Willing to sacrifice anything else to be faithful to." He looks at Phoenyx, "You know? Like, whatever it is...defines us."

He shakes his head, "I'm personally committed to requiring unanimous consent for decisions like that. To be honest, we haven't gotten that far, just pretty much agreed not to use anyone's personal sanctum." Kaze sighs. "I don't even know if this will work, I mean, none of the other Cabals have. I feel like it's worth trying though."