fandomhigh | Care and Feeding of Hirelings, 2nd Period [Final!]

Hook was in a mood. It was as if he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed, then set fire to it, then taken the ashes, baked them into a pie, thrown that pie into someone's face, and then shot them for good measure. And even that hadn't cheered him up.

Once the small class had gathered in the classroom, Hook gestured with his hook. It was a little menacing, a little harder edged than the snarky old man in previous weeks.

"Each and every one of you must remember one thing. I don't trust your pretty little heads to remember more than one thing, which is why I must stress it so. No matter what, make sure whatever you do with your henchmen, your sidekick, your precious personal guard, that you feel it is right. Now, you ask yourself, what does the good Captain mean? He's a child murdering pirate, what could he possibly mean by what is right? Well I will tell you."

He gestured again. "Be true to what you are. If you're to be a ruthless pirate, you hold no quarter. You do what you want with whoever, and you don't let them question you for a moment. If you are to be queen of your lands, ruling with a gently but firm hand, you hold to the society's honor code and you stick to it. If you plan on turning on your people, do so only if it suits you, not what anyone else has to bloody say about it. So if you plan to shag your sidekick, make sure it's what is right to do. If it feels wrong, and you don't like that it feels wrong, you should probably stop bloody doing it!"

He paused at that moment, his face having gotten a little flushed.

"Be true to what you are, be true to what you want to be. Because the worse thing in this world is to see people sacrifice who they are for sake of ease. To see the mighty become fat, bloated lawyers who can't remember who they are. If any of you fail to be what you truly are, please note that I may take the opportunity to hunt you down and make you remember what you truly are."

He popped his neck, then adjusted his collar with his hook calmly. "Now. I know your names. I know how you've presented yourself in these classes. I want you all to tell me one thing, now, and that is your final. I want you to tell me who you are. Not what you will be, because circumstances can change all that. I want you to tell me with every ounce of pride you can muster, you will tell me who you are, and you better not lie to me, because you are then just lying to yourself."

He pointed at one of the group at random. "You, you start."

[ooc: OCD ~~coming~~ up! Class is a go!]

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Like You Know What You Are!

Peter Wiggin

Karla

Elle Bishop

And possibly run away from the ranty teacher.

This is a bit of a metaphysical question, yes. But Hook wants you to be true to your nature.

Peter considered lying, but after that stellar display, he erred to the side of sort-of-caution. "I'm someone with a voice, and the ability to use it to change things for the better," he said, "With the right words at the right time, not just threats of death and dishonor."

There. That wasn't a lie. The altruistic angle, surely, but true none the less.

"Better is a very relative term, lad," Hook said. "Better for whom? For what? A little clarity is called for, I think." He was calm, but his eyes were sharp and alert.

"For anyone who wants to live their lives in peace, eventually," Peter said, matter-of-factly. "I live in a very unstable world, and I do my part to make it a little more stable for everybody."

Or a lot. Peter was going to go for a lot. But 'a little' implied that he was just trying to help keep a neighbourhood safe or something, without being a lie, so he was cool with that.

Edited 2011-06-23 22:19 (UTC)

"Stability, hmmmm," Hook said. "You're sounding euphemistic, boy. But I suppose I can't press you harder. If anything, I'd say you must be true to your deceptive nature."

More than anything else, down at her core, Karla was--

"A witch. I'm a witch and a damn good one. A Healer, a Black Widow, and a Queen, yes, but a witch, first and foremost."

"And a witch has rules, does she not?" Hook said, eager to hear her response.

"We were created to be the caretakers, the stewards of the land," Karla said. "To turn our back upon that duty and to ignore the Old Ways means turning our back onto everything we are."

"And that is what you must stay true to. Until such a time as you are no longer a witch," Hook said. "Thank you, Miss Karla."

Or possibly stay far, far away.

Woe, class is over. You have all been awesome, thank you so much for being part of the class.

Care and Feeding of Hirelings, 2nd Period [Final!]

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