Lateral Movement

by Alzrius

815 - Pay It Forward

“You could still head back to the tribe if you took to the wind. I’m sure by now the elders are panicking.”

Yotimo was already shaking his head, not looking back at her as he hopped over a small outcropping, keeping pace with her and Lex as they made their way through the winding canyons. “I’m not going anywhere without my son and the others.”

Solvei – Lex still couldn’t help but think of her as Solvei, despite knowing that it was just as appropriate...perhaps more appropriate...to call her Akna now – frowned at Yotimo’s immediate rejection of her suggestion. “We ran into Nangiannatuk a little while ago. I did my best to convince him to go back home, but he might need your help.”

“Was Nangiannatuk captured by those monsters?”

Yotimo’s blunt question made Solvei cringe. “No...”

“Toklo is,” snapped Yotimo, his knuckles tightening around his spear, Bloodletter. It – along with the confiscated weapons of his other warriors – had been in an extradimensional pack worn by Sissel. Fortunately, Yotimo had seen her put them in there, and so had made sure to retrieve it from what was left of the giant’s corpse before they’d set out. “My warriors are. So right now they’re my priority.”

“I understand that, but-”

He’s made his choice, cut in Lex. Let him do as he likes.

But he’s going to get himself killed! Frustration and anxiety came from Solvei as she crouched atop her serac, the ice-shelf easily gliding over the broken terrain of the ravine. Even if we manage to avoid fighting Hvitdod, we still have Paska to deal with! I don’t think he’ll just sit back and let us free everyone without doing anything, and if he turns into that one-eyed thing and tries to put a death curse on someone the way he did to Thermal Draft-

That’s not likely to happen, at least not initially, interrupted Lex. Remember, Paska is still following Sissel’s original plan, which is to draw us into conflict with the dragon. It’s much more probable that he’ll have placed the adlets somewhere conspicuous while he watches from concealment, ready to cause some commotion that alerts it the moment we show up.

Which would be even worse, replied Solvei sourly, her grip tightening on Belligerence in a manner similar to how Yotimo was grasping his own weapon. As it was, Lex considered it fortunate that she was able to handle the quill even with their connection having returned to normal. Once they’d ascertained that, he’d left it in her care, knowing that she was more proficient with it; if he needed it, he’d simply summon it back to himself. Then we’ll have to fight Hvitdod, all while Paska can take cheap shots at us.

The goal is to prevent it from coming to that in the first place. Presuming that I’m right about Paska’s strategy, we need to figure out where he is and kill or incapacitate him before he can alert Hvitdod. Then we recover everyone else.

At which we point the only thing we have to worry about is how to explain everything that happened to Yotimo and the elders, grumbled Solvei, glancing in the old warrior’s direction.

The anxiety he sensed from her then wasn’t something he needed to inquire into. It hadn’t escaped his notice that Yotimo had been shooting them both looks ever since he’d recovered from the spell which had kept him docile. While he hadn’t said anything about the fact that his shaman was now wearing black crystal armor and commanding ice magic, or why the pony accompanying her now looked like a hulking beast, Lex knew that those questions were eventually going to be asked.

But there were more pressing concerns at the moment.

Under normal circumstances, Lex would have sent Solvei to scout ahead, but that was out of the question now. Leaving aside that her current, emotionally-charged state meant that her judgment was compromised when it came to rescuing the others, the simple fact was that Paska would likely see her before she saw him. Even if she changed into her mist-form, he’d likely know to look for a conspicuously low-flying cloud, at which point he’d likely proceed to alert Hvitdod.

Going in blind wasn’t an option either, however. Not after the ambush that they’d just blundered into, despite his efforts. Even if Sissel was dead, Lex didn’t want to take the chance that she’d given her sole remaining sibling some sort of contingency plan that he hadn’t thought of. Which meant that a different approach was called for.

Fortunately, the means of acquiring such an approach was held in a black crystal cage carried aloft in his telekinetic aura.

Turning his attention toward Nenet, Lex brought her closer to him. The tiny sphinx still hadn’t moved, and he was beginning to grow suspicious of her continued unresponsiveness. He’d waited this long for her to regain consciousness only because he’d hoped to avoid using the Charismata any more than he already had; he’d called upon it numerous times during his fight with Sissel, and wanted to conserve its remaining uses so that he’d be able to augment Solvei as necessary when they encountered Paska.

But with Nenet still not having opened her eyes, that was a luxury he could no longer afford. Besides, decided Lex as he rose up onto his hind legs, being aware that both Solvei and Yotimo were looking at him, this eliminates any chance of her lying or withholding pertinent information.

“Look at me,” he ordered Nenet as he held his foreleg in front of her cage, letting the divine power of the Night Mare reach out and take hold of her, “and tell me, truthfully and completely, everything I demand of you. Start with your name.”

Inside the cage, the sphinx trembled as her eyelids slowly parted, swallowing nervously as she turned to look at her captor. “N-Nenet,” she stuttered. “My name is Nenet.”

“How long have you been awake?”

Wincing, Nenet tried to lower her head, but the orders she’d been given kept her from breaking eye contact with him. “Since you healed me,” she admitted in a small voice, her tail curling between her legs as she wrapped her wings around herself. “I’m sorry, I was scared. Please don’t hurt me.”

“What’s Paska going to do to my son and the others?!” Yotimo’s question came in the form of a deep growl, reaching out to grab the bars of Nenet’s cage, wrenching it free of Lex’s telekinesis as he brought Bloodletter’s tip up to the edge of the bars. “His plan is to use them as bait to draw Hvitdod out, right? How? With the same spell those monsters used on me? Tell me right now, or else-”

He stopped speaking as Lex’s claw grabbed his wrist, squeezing. “Stand down.”

In Yotimo’s grip, the runes on Bloodletter began to glow softly as he looked at Lex, his expression hardening. “And if I say no?”

Lex’s eyes blazed green and purple. “Then you’ll experience another humiliating defeat.”

“Both of you, stop!”

Leaping down from her serac, Solvei moved between them. Putting one hand on Yotimo’s chest, she lightly pressed him back while her other hand took hold of Nenet’s cage, inside of which the small sphinx was shaking like a leaf. “Yotimo, I know how you feel-”

“No, you don’t.” Despite his clipped tone, there was a rough undercurrent to Yotimo’s voice that he wasn’t fully able to hide. “You don’t know how it feels to be on the verge of losing the only family you have left. If you did, you never would have run off on that vision quest of yours when the yetis attacked.”

Her eyes widened then, and Lex registered shock going through her. “But...I saved everyone!”

“Everyone except your grandmother, who had to take up your share of the slack,” shot back Yotimo. “She had to do it all, despite her age, and she never once complained about the fact that you’d run off on some mission for personal glory, all because you hated the fact that you had responsibilities to live up to!”

Swallowing, Solvei shook her head. “But everyone told me that I was too valuable to be put in danger! That I had to stay away from the fighting because I was the next shaman!”

“They meant that you weren’t supposed to be on the front lines, but you were still going to be part of the war effort! Do you really not understand that we needed our shaman with us, reading the land and summoning ice spirits? You would have been kept away from the fighting, but not hidden away with the children and elders! That would have been your grandmother’s job, but instead you ran off and she had to take your place! The difference is that you could have defended yourself against the single yeti that broke through our lines, but she was too old to do so!”

His fingers tightening around the bars of Nenet’s cage, Yotimo put his nose an inch from Solvei’s. “You weren’t concerned about what would happen to her without you there, because you wanted everyone to acknowledge you. And you got your wish. You found a magic weapon, slaughtered our enemies, and became a hero to our people. But you sacrificed your only remaining family to do it. I will not do the same.”

Lex had heard enough, an aura springing to life around his horn as he prepared to put a curse on Yotimo-

Don’t. Master, please don’t.

Sparing a glance at Solvei, Lex paused, then let the aura around his horn die out.

Letting out an unsteady breath, Solvei kept her eyes on Yotimo. “I do know how you feel,” she repeated. “I know that you’re scared – not for yourself, but for someone that you care about – and that it’s easier to be angry than afraid. And I know that you want to lash out and hurt the people who hurt you” – she gestured toward Nenet, who had by now curled up into a ball and was whimpering in terror – “because that makes you feel like you’re making everyone else a little bit safer.”

Lex blinked. Was she...?

“But right now, you’re making the wrong decision,” she continued. “And if you keep pushing this, you’ll only make things harder, not just for yourself but for Toklo and the others too.”

“The alternative being what?” spat Yotimo. “That I trust the two of you to question this...thing?”

“Yes!” insisted Solvei. “M-, Lex has...”

She faltered then, and Lex saw her ears flick backward for a moment, before she took a deep breath and steadied herself. “Master has a special power-”

Yotimo’s eyebrows rose. “‘Master’?”

“-which lets him force her to tell the truth,” continued Solvei. “She can’t lie to him, but she can lie to you, so you have to let us handle this, the same way we handled Grisela and the others.”

The mention of Grisela’s name sent a shudder through Yotimo, and Lex saw his grip on Bloodletter waver. Slowly, he let go of Nenet’s cage, allowing Solvei to hold it as he stepped back.

As he did so, Yotimo turned to regard Lex again, this time keeping his spear pointed at the ground. “I want to know why you’re doing this,” he demanded bluntly. “You killed Panuk, terrorized my son, and did...something to Akna. Why are you helping us now?”

There were a lot of answers that Lex could have given, ranging from how the souls of ponies were being stolen to his hope that killing Paska would save Thermal Draft. But hearing his own lesson to Solvei repeated almost verbatim now was enough to remind him of why he’d chosen to admit his mistakes and accept accountability for them, rather than trying to justify them. If it had been enough to convince her, then maybe it would work for Yotimo too.

“Because what’s happened to your people is my fault.”

Yotimo’s eyes narrowed at the same time that Solvei’s widened. “What?”

“If I hadn’t dealt with your scouting party so harshly, you never would have assembled your warriors to come looking for Toklo,” explained Lex. “I could have let them all go, alive and unharmed, and if I had none of you would have been there for Sissel and the others to find. It’s because of my actions that you’re involved in this, and so I’m taking responsibility for that now.”

Solvei grimaced, looking nervously back toward Yotimo. For his part, the elder adlet held Lex’s gaze for a long moment...then nodded. “Alright. But don’t think that this is the end of it. Once we get Toklo and the others back, you’re still going to have to answer to our council of elders for the part you’ve played in this.”

“Yotimo! After everything-”

“It’s fine,” cut in Lex, silencing Solvei’s protest. “We can worry about making peace later. Right now we need to focus on rescuing everyone, ideally without fighting a dragon in the process.”

Solvei grimaced at that, but didn’t say anything against it, instead moving to hand Nenet’s cage back to Lex. But when he reached out to take hold of it, she placed one hand over his claw, meeting his eyes steadily.

You asked me before if I’m your Akna the way I am your Solvei, she reminded him. The answer is yes. I love my tribe, even if...even if I haven’t always done right by them. For a second her lower lip quivered, but she forced a shaky smile onto her face. But I’m yours. Your Solvei. Your Akna. Now and forever.

Lex knew that shouldn’t have made him happy, that it was Kara’s blessing talking. But he couldn’t help the feeling that welled up in him then, and judging from what he registered from Solvei a moment later, he’d felt it strongly enough that she had also.

When she released the cage and stepped back a moment later, her smile was no longer shaky.

He returned the expression – just for a moment – before turning his attention back to Nenet.

“Now,” he commanded her, “tell me everything you know about what Paska is planning.”

Author's Note:

Reassuring Yotimo of his intentions with Solvei's help, Lex begins to question Nenet!

While she be able to give him the information he needs to rescue the adlets without fighting Hvitdod? Or is a conflict with the dragon inevitable?

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

One deeply personal matter resolved with more external matters added to the pile 'o' things to do to replace it though it should be less of a burden to Lex to deal with though the details likely matter very little at the moment due to more pressing matters at hand.

[Booster Spice]

Lex didnt fall into one of the traps with information.

Tell me Everything.

Well, first the universe was created, which upset a lot of people, then the Earth cooled and the dinosaurs came, then they died and turned into oil...

[Alzrius]

11547618 It's one more thing on Lex's plate, but at least it's nothing immediate and hopefully won't be something where violence is a factor. As it is, it's surprising that Lex would volunteer to take responsibility for what's happened to the adlets; normally he'd mention something about how they were the ones who made the decision to put themselves in danger like that, or say that Sissel was to blame rather than him. Instead, he's actually stepping up and saying he'll bear the burden of what's happened; that's pretty impressive for him, particularly given the pressure he's under.

It's nice to see that he's finding his way back to his better self.

[Alzrius]

11547698 Fortunately, he's familiar enough with word traps and similar puzzles (part of his studying how to communicate with others, no doubt) to avoid that particular quagmire.

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

Wasn’t the adlets at fault for attacking him first tho? Why is he apologizing for exactly. Sure he could have been more diplomatic or merciful but he did his best against an enemy that attacked him unprovoked in spite of the many problems he had at that time. unless I am misremembering something.

Nenet time. How small is she exactly, using a banana for scale I am imagining her to be around one long banana high with proportionally one long and one medium banana in length. As the not-disposable but still in bullying range by Sissel and her sisters I am sure that she is told nothing of the plans but she could have overheard things.

Slovakna used her very good diplomacy skills to pacify Yotimo guess Akna getting in her added lot of diplomacy points to Slovei.

[Alzrius]

11548289 With regard to Lex's culpability insofar as the adlets go, there's a lot of nuance to take into account.

When Panuk's scouting party ambushed them in Chapter 685 - Similar Yet Different, they presented a decidedly hostile front. They had weapons drawn, demanded surrender on pain of death, and made all sorts of intimidating threats (including that they'd eat them, which we later learned wasn't true). But they didn't actually attack per se, and by demanding the ponies' surrender essentially presented themselves as being willing to hold back if their demands were met. In that regard, they were acting somewhat like local police, as they considered the mountain pass their territory and were confronting trespassers.

With regard to Lex, we know that he views a credible threat of violence as justifying a violent response in-and-of itself, so to that end he wasn't in violation of his own moral code to strike back with lethal force. If there's reason to believe that a threat of death is both imminent and credible, then you have the right to preemptive self-defense. Which, if you look back at the previous chapter, is why he specifically says that the mistake he made wasn't that he killed Panuk; he knows that his actions were justified. But he's also acknowledging that just because something justified doesn't mean it was the best option possible. You can be "not wrong" without actually doing the right thing.

Now, admittedly, there were extenuating circumstances. As Lex himself acknowledged, he was already under incredible pressure and a great deal of stress. And if we're being totally honest, there's blame to go around; Panuk didn't exactly present himself as a reasonable individual, instead trying to be as intimidating as he could. But what Lex is saying (here and in the last chapter) is that he shouldn't have gone for the deadliest option first; he could have at least tried to subdue them, and then decide if they should be put to death later (which is essentially what he did with Sissel).

Insofar as the rest of the adlets go, that Lex is telling Yotimo that he (Lex) is responsible for what happened to the rest of the warriors is something he normally wouldn't do. In most other circumstances, he'd say that he had no reasonable way of knowing that the war band would encounter Sissel, and that he's not responsible for what Sissel did; i.e. that other people's independent actions break the chain of causation. But while that wouldn't be wrong, he's saying something else here, which you have to read between the lines to interpret: that he feels guilty about how he's treated the adlets, and that he wants to help them now. Of course, he can't bring himself to admit that, or that he wants to be forgiven, but that's the crux of it.

The key thing to remember here is that Lex is used to wallowing in his own pain. That's because, in large part, his communication difficulties make it much harder for him to recognize empathy from others; he's extremely isolated, and that tends to magnify anyone's sense of suffering.

Solvei, however, is the exception to that. While her becoming Akna caused Lex to push her away, feeling betrayed by the fact that he wasn't (from his point of view) the center of her universe anymore, her being (briefly) tortured, then almost being killed again, and then his augmenting their bond helped him get past that. The result is that he was much more aware of her own pain when she had her breakdown after the battle ended.

That, in turn, helped bring Lex back to his better self; because it triggered his sense of empathy toward her. He was able to look past his own suffering and realize that he'd perpetuated hurt toward others in a way which had only made things worse for Solvei, whom he deeply cares for. Seeing her repeat his own lesson back to Yotimo, and seeing it work, was a further lesson that when he's not acting insecure, and is willing to accept that it isn't weakness to admit he didn't do as well as he could have, he can actually make things better instead of ruining lives as a byproduct of never admitting that he was wrong.

Which is sort of a lesson that he's had to learn over and over again, which isn't surprising, as that's really the whole of the struggle between his personal demons and the angels of his better nature.

Ahem.

Having said all of that, Nenet is size category Tiny, which means that she's roughly the size of your average housecat.