Journey

Tarot - The Hermit


Introspection

Sometimes Daniel wondered if John really knew how many times he'd saved him. There was the obvious time, of course. John had saved the entire city from the Strangers, and in doing so saved him from a lifetime of forced service against his fellow man that was slowly killing him, killing his soul.

But the less obvious threat was despair. Daniel had been almost completely lost - when the world had changed, when the Strangers had been defeated, cut off from their source of power, and killed or destroyed by water or sunlight. While everyone around him had continued with their lives, unaware of what was going on, protected by the fake memories he'd given them... Daniel had nothing. No memory of anything beyond the Stranger's brutality, nightmares that haunted him when he slept. Nothing beyond his betrayal of his own people. He wasn't even particularly sure how to exercise his practise, his title meaningless without the memories of his education so long ago. He could read people, he understood motivations and the impacts that events and history would have on various personalities, but it was hardly a skill that would re-integrate him with society.

Worse was the slow realization that even though the Strangers were gone, the city wasn't out of danger. There were fundamental building blocks of society that were missing, blocks that the strangers had taken care of, or that were simply not necessary with their control of the city, their power. Things that were far beyond the power of a strong man, let alone a cripple like him, someone that people's eyes tried to gloss over, tried to forget. He'd forced himself to become numb to the effect of their cruelty, but the truth was, it hurt far more than the wounds that had caused his scars.

The loneliness was killing him.

When John had appeared at his door, Daniel had clung to him, figuratively. Desperate for a place in the world. For company. But what he hadn't realized was how much more John would bring with him than simply company. Somehow, there was a deep connection between them immediately. The two people in a city of thousands who knew the truth. And Daniel began to feel human again. Began to feel something other than pain and fear. Even when he realized his desire for the other man, it was a good feeling, something to hold and tuck aside safely in the bottom of his heart to treasure in quiet moments when he was alone. He couldn't begin to think that a feeling like that could be felt toward him, and certainly not by someone like John - so full of life and laughter, so strong. But it was beautiful, to him, to feel that way. To feel alive.

There were many things that needed to be done in the city in order to ensure that the little society would be able to function and thrive. Things of such a magnitude that it frightened him a little to contemplate them, things that he wasn't quite sure how to tell John about. Things that he couldn't even begin to do without John's help. So, he slowly, carefully started to gather the information he needed, to form the building blocks of a plan. Hoping, trusting that when he finally knew what to do, that his new friend wouldn't turn him away.