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All of the lies, little fibs that didn’t change anything, all the jokes, all the pranks; they swirl around like a whirlpool of attacks in Gillion’s mind. And he feels.. Pathetic. How could he let a landwalker of all people come for his honour like that, make him look the fool. Maybe he is. It’s a terrible realisation that he might be right. That he’s just making him look like what he is, a fish out of water, and in much too over his head.
It is not a good realisation, all it does is fill him with dread, because he cannot go back to what he desperately wants to, to go back to the undersea and go home. He has been forced to find a new place to live with people who are selfish and cruel and exploitative. If the elders had been wrong about everything else, they were right about that. And his co-captain is a perfect example. Cruelly telling lies he has no way to factcheck, so must believe blindly; and laughing when it goes wrong. If any land creature is the embodiment of the teachings of the Undersea, it would be Chip.
So something must be done.
For honour, if nothing else.
For hours, he builds, and does not enjoy it. Each block of ice he places is engrained with a false truth he has been led like an ass into believing. Each fuse of the blocks is nothing but anger. And then he has a coliseum of every time his honour has been spit on, and he will claim it back.
Causally, Chip strolls right into this arena, paying so little attention that he missed it.
“Chip. I must speak with you.” his words are as lifeless and cold as the walls he has built,
“Before I came here, the Elders told me that landwalkers are selfish, ego-centric creatures, hell-bent on causing people like me pain. And now I see in you that they were exactly right. You are self-preservative by its definition, you put yourself first in every way, even for something as insignificant as your own enjoyment.”
“Gill, I never hurt you! I am self-preservative, sure, but that comes with being a pirate! You have to be to survive.”
“I was told you were torturous creatures who hurt and kill and cause nothing but pain, I was told that my entire life, and I chose to disregard that, to choose my own fate for just once. I chose to trust you, and to trust Jay, and now I see I never should have. They were exactly right, and I need what you have taken from me back. You have disregarded my honour and my dignity, lying to me for your own enjoyment so you could watch me ignore what I thought was correct for what you say, because I am naive. That is my hamartia, but there is a certain naivete you must have when you are in a new plane. So, if you care at all for me, and the pain you have caused, you will fight me. I, Gillion Tidestrider, Hero of the Deep, formally challenge you to ritual combat, for honour.”
“What the fuck, i’m not gonna fight you! You’re my friend!”
“If you were truly a friend, you would not have lied to me on my own forced ignorance, for your own enjoyment, if you are my friend, you will fight me.”
“You’re serious. You want me to fight you in ritual fucking combat.”
“If you want to prove to me that you are not a selfish creature, then you will fight me. If not for you, then for me.”
“I have never lied to you when it was important, Gill. never when any of our lives were at stake. You stand there and call me selfish and honourless, and maybe you’re right. But I never lied when it would’ve hurt.”
“Prove me wrong, then. Prove to me and to the education I got in the Undersea that you aren’t purely a creature of deceit. Prove me wrong!” he is shouting now, his feet unyielding and solid on the deck.
“Put down the sword, Gill, please. It isn’t worth tearing everything apart over some jokes.”
“I will not. I will stand here and challenge you for as long as it takes for you to fight me. Each sunrise to sunset i will stand here if i must. Because if you were really a friend you would let this happen. You would fight and you would fight fair.”
“After everything, really? Tidestrider, i did half of the shit i've done for you. I walked into the woods for you. I only did the things i did because you wanted me to. So maybe it does make me selfish, but you know what? You want to fucking kill me over this? You can fucking try. But i’m not going down without a goddamn fucking fight.” Chip says through gritted teeth, the final words blending with the shing! Of his swords unsheathing.
“Thank you, Chip.”