[Voice (morning) / Action (evening)]

[truthget]

[Voice - Locked from Al, Winry, Gracia, and Elicia]

This might seem like a weird question, but I need to ask.

A lot of people - kids, even - act like they're fine with death and killing. The draft taught me that much. And around here dying doesn't even seem to matter because you just come back anyway. Is that what makes it- [Not okay, he can't

Comments

voice

[skater_brain]

It ain't ever okay ta' kill. No matta' the reason, that hangs wit' you. Even by accident, yo. That...sorta stuff don't just get ta' be okay.

And dyin' hurts like hell, Fullmetal. Temp or not, it hurts like hell.

voice

[truthget]

[...Oh geez, that was unexpected.]

...Beat? You too?

voice

[skater_brain]

I ain't gonna hurt no one ever again. Not if I can help it.

But...the dyin' part, yeah. Even here, I ain't alive.

voice

[truthget]

[Whoa, okay. He's not... what do you even say to that?]

...What do you mean, "even here"? Didn't they bring you back?

[falenandawn]

Killing someone is always killing, whether in defense of another or in war. They'll leave behind people who knew them, family, friends. It affects more then just the life you take, but those that cared for them as well.

You cannot excuse it, it is too heavy for that. But sometimes there are things that have to be fought for.

[truthget]

I get that fighting is inevitable. I've done my share and then some, so I can't argue that. But fighting for something isn't the same as killing for it, or dying for it.

[falenandawn]

So you suggest that in war we should only take prisoners of war? [Frey only wished that was possible.]

[truthget]

I don't think it's unreasonable to try. Even an enemy's life is more valuable than an inconvenience.

[honorthecode]

I'm fine with death, because that's how I was trained growing up. [Killing is a part of being a ninja.]

But if we come back or not, there is times when it's not acceptable. Them coming back to life doesn't get rid of the guilt that you or someone else might have been able to prevent it.

[truthget]

[CHIMERA NINJA OH GOD THAT'S NUTS]

...

How do you accept that kind of guilt, though? I can't even imagine it.

[He's already felt the guilt of using life, and those souls were already dead. Taking someone's life for real... no.]

[honorthecode]

[Like you should talk, having a brother who's a suit of armor.

He's very serious about this. While he's ninja, he does have some honor and only kills those who deserve it.]

It depends on the person who died. If it's an enemy, I usually don't care. If they've killed or badly injured people. Usually they deserve what they get.

But if it's an innocent who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I usually feel guilty. I'll do anything I can to help take down the person or persons that did it.

[truthget]

[BUT BUT BUT CHIMERA oh whatever.]

We don't know enough about the enemy here to know whether or not they really deserve it. Maybe they're being sent out to kill us like we're sent to kill them. All we have is the Malnosso's word.

[voice]

[screwthegods]

To kill, or to die yourself--which would you choose?

[Homura grins from his end of the journal.] It's a horrible choice, isn't it? But a choice that many have had to make, over and over. Moreover, the consequence can kill someone as readily as any blade. But then the question becomes how long do you intend to live? For what purpose?

If the reasons and resolve of a person are strong enough, then they will accept the responsibility of ending one life, and countless more.

As for how it feels to die--I cannot believe anyone capable of describing it adequately.

[voice]

[truthget]

...No, you're right. I knew the last one was a stupid question.

[Worth asking, but... yeah. Beyond description.]

I still can't agree that there's only two choices. It's not as simple as "kill or be killed".

Why does the ability to take a life make a person strong?

Re: [voice]

[screwthegods]

I'd hardly consider it stupid. What mortal hasn't wondered that very thing

[voice]

[truthget]

[That's a lot to take in, and... Ed can't deny that it makes an awful lot of sense. Even dismissing the heaven and god talk - meeting Truth itself ruins all desire to believe in such things - the ability to overcome difficult choices and failures is a part of what makes someone strong. Watching people die is hard enough, but the ability to take a life yourself? Is the strength to overcome that pain and guilt admirable, and if so, is it more admirable than sparing the life you could easily have taken?

It's a hard concept. Alchemy is life, and to take a life, extinguish it, is a crime, even if it isn't punished by Truth the way that creating life is. And it's something he's going to have to think about a hell of a lot more.]

...Part of what worries me is that people sometimes say that it gets easier, the more you do it. Like practicing any other talent or skill. I can't even imagine killing once, but to do it over and over...

[Written]

[shadedsunlight]

If you take another person's life, you have to be willing to accept the consequences. Man, woman, child, adult, doesn't matter, all life has meaning.

So if you take a life, even if it's to protect someone, you have to be aware of the consequences of your actions and not forget it.

[Written]

[truthget]

[Sounds a lot like alchemy to him- and that's a huge part of what bothers him.]

I won't kill. Not ever. That's what I've resolved to do, anyway.

[It's often been the question of whether or not he'll be able to pull it off and survive.]

[Written]

[shadedsunlight]

Good. It's a sad state in the world when someone has to resolve not to kill because no one should ever have to in the first place.

But different times call for different measures. The drafts. One doesn't necessarily have to kill, but one must survive.

[Written]

[truthget]

I don't have any intention of dying, either. There's people waiting for me and counting on me to survive. I can't let them down.

[Besides that, Al's soul... yeah, he can't die. Not when he wouldn't go alone.]