Video - Open + Private

[kill_switch]

Who: Furiosa and You!
Broadcast: Video
Action: First Breath - Furiosa's quarters
When: Today

It's been a few days since Katie and Max recovered her from the avalanche she unwittingly started. It has taken that time for her to feel like she's back in the land of the living and not teetering on some cold abyssal edge; she's still sore, her movements careful and ginger, but she's got her wits about her and she's never been so happy to be warm again. While the ship isn't anywhere near the scorching temperatures she experienced back home, in relation to the burning cold she just dealt with she's grateful for a secure, safe environment.

She's also grateful for the outpouring of help and friendship, evidenced in the aftermath with Max and Tyrion's posts to the network. She wouldn't normally go out of her way to make such a public statement, but she recognizes the effort that went in to finding her, even outside of the one who was finally successful.

The video feed opens to a view of her in her bunk. She's still recovering, continuing to let Tyrion have control of the ship until she's sure she'll be able to handle it (and, perhaps, get a replacement arm for the one she lost in her foolishness). Her face is worn, and craggy from her bout with the elements, but she looks happy, hopeful.]

Open - Video

I am back. I am safe, and it's thanks to you. [She still isn't a woman of many words, but there's careful thought put into the ones she chooses to use.]

Comments

[ video ]

[kill_switch]

[Furiosa nods, good, maybe it'll help her understand.]

Angharad died. She hasn't ever really left me, though. Not the impression she made. Not the things she taught me.

So. can you see why it's still important to get to know people? Even if they leave?

Re: [ video ]

[revengeofthemordsith]

That's no reason to entertain the possibility of loss.

I have a family. What need have I for more?

[kill_switch]

Maybe, someone needs you?

[revengeofthemordsith]

No one needs a Mord'Sith. We're useful, not necessary.

[kill_switch]

[She'd have to ask about this Mord'Sith sometime, but that's not the point she's trying to make.]

No, I mean; you. Not, what you do, but ... who you are.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ She purses her lips. ]

Who I am?

[kill_switch]

Let me find out.

[revengeofthemordsith]

Why?

[ Why would anyone want to know Cara? ]

[kill_switch]

Because we are here. For better or for worse, we are the people we have to fall back on. I want to know who's got my back, who's back I'm getting.

[revengeofthemordsith]

I keep my word.

[ But she can't deny that logic. ] But I understand what you mean.

[kill_switch]

[Well, that's something. Furiosa settles back in her bed and smiles slightly.] Good, I'm glad you do.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ She nods. ]

What would you like to know?

[kill_switch]

[She thinks about that for a moment. It wasn't exactly like you sit down and play twenty questions with someone to get to know them; she'd taken months getting comfortable with Tyrion. Then again, it hadn't taken nearly that long with Nova.]

[But, since Cara asked, Furiosa figured she could go with the obvious.]

What is a ... what did you call it, Morsith? Seth?

[revengeofthemordsith]

Mord'Sith.

[ It rolls off her tongue, sharp and unyielding. ]

We're trained soldiers under the rule of Lord Rahl. His personal torturers and assassins. Lethal and absolute. Mord'Sith reject all other emotions save for the ones that make us strong.

[kill_switch]

[Furiosa gives her a wry smile, she can't help it; that sounded so much like what she had done, under Immortan Joe. It's been a year, and sometimes, it seems it's been that long. Sometimes, it feels like it was yesterday.]

Sounds like am Imperator. That was me, not too long ago. You won't really need those skills here.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Cara scowls, crossing her arms. ]

Even if I am on my own, I cannot change what I am. What I was made into.

[kill_switch]

[Furiosa sits up and reaches out with her right hand, motioning for Cara to offer hers. There was something she knew wouldn't have the same impact if she just showed it to her; she wanted the other woman to feel it, the brand at the back of her neck, the constant reminder that she was, at one time, property. Honed in fire. What I was made into. It resonates with her, and she's saved from the anger and the pain by the healing she's been undergoing here - subconsciously, unknowingly - that she's able to even have this conversation.]

Give me your hand.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Cara unconsciously recoils. Personal contact of that kind isn't done and she has only recently warmed up to it. But this was her Captain and Cara was trained to follow orders. She needs it. She needs purpose. But Cara is not ready to make it into something more. Her life has to have order. As much as she cares for Richard, Zedd and Kahlan, she needs their direction in order to live.

Stiffly, she extends her leather-gloved hand. ]

[kill_switch]

[As long as Cara allows her, Furiosa reaches forward and tugs at each of the fingertips of the glove, removing it. What she was about to do is something she hasn't ever done with anyone - even Max - and she's not about to cut any corners. It had to be awkward, and brutal, and real.]

[No barriers.]

[She takes Cara's hand and leans forward so she can place it on the back of her neck, over the brand, and hold it there in place with hers. This way, she can maintain eye contact and hopefully drive home how important this was to her.]

I was also made into someone else's weapon. I can't forget that. Ever. But I don't let it dictate who I am now.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Her fingers jerk when they make contact with the brand, but they don't pull away. Cara's expression softens in understanding, though not in sympathy. Cara doesn't offer sympathy, not for circumstances long past. ]

I cannot cut away what I am. I am proud of what I am. Even if I was broken and made this way. It may seem like a twisted strength, but that strength belongs to me.

[ Carefully, Cara pulls his hand away, flexing her fingers. ] I'm not as lost as I might seem. I simply have a certain way of . . . doing things.

[kill_switch]

[Furiosa wouldn't have wanted sympathy. The understanding; yes. That's at least something. As Cara reclaims her hand, Furiosa leans back against the pillow once again. She hadn't fully regardlessined her strength yet and something as emotionally charged as this conversation is finally taking its toll on her.]

[She's satisfied, a little, when Cara mentions the strength being her own. Maybe she was luckier in her situation than Furiosa had been. Not that such origins were ever preferred, but you drew strength where you could.]

As long as it's your way.

[revengeofthemordsith]

It will always be my way.

[ Cara no longer bends, except when she chooses to and even then, that's not bending, that's a concession on her terms. ]

[kill_switch]

[Furiosa smiles.]

Good.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Cara isn't sure how that qualifies as "good" but she nods. ]

Is that all you wished to know?

[kill_switch]

[It's about being one's own person, and not beholden to someone else's ideals. That Cara seems to get that is important to Furiosa.]

Yes. That's all I wanted to know.