Where Are You Going Rahl?

by tinylexie

While following Darken Rahl at the beginning of "Unbroken," Richard thinks back on the time he spent with his older brother in "Extinction."

Where are you going, Rahl?

Where are you taking the Stone of Tears

Now that you finally have it?

You were so determined to have the stone

That you risked eliminating an entire species,

That you risked destroying the whole world.

Is the world's destruction your goal, Rahl?

Are you really trying to work against the Keeper?

I have to admit, Rahl, you definitely had me fooled.

I remember both Kahlan's anger and angst

When your men set fire to the night wisps' home.

You hurt Kahlan, Rahl,

Something you don't mind doing,

If it's what is necessary to get your way.

What you want is all that matters to you, Rahl.

You care for no one but yourself.

You walked towards us, Rahl,

Surrounded by smoke,

A smirk on your face,

A smirk that I have gotten use to seeing.

You were clad in rags,

A complete contrast to your usual royal red robes,

Yet those rags failed to diminish

Your air of superiority,

Your air of smugness,

Your air of arrogance.

Clothes definitely don't change the man,

And there's definitely no changing you, Rahl,

Even though there were moments

Where I foolishly thought otherwise.

I have to admit, Rahl,

You definitely caught me by surprise

When you actually released the last night wisp.

You have no problem with killing innocents.

You definitely would have no problem

With destroying the whole world.

Death and destruction are your constant companions, Rahl.

Besides, I cannot forget that you released the night wisp

Only after you had gotten what you wanted.

In your world, Rahl, you'll above everyone else.

Therefore, I can't think positively about you, Rahl,

Just because you spared all life

By not killing the last night wisp.

You have no respect for either Kahlan or Cara.

Kahlan is more to me than just a woman to sleep with.

My love for Kahlan is deeper than the flesh,

But I don't expect, Rahl,

That you would ever understand something like that.

It's clear that your idea of love is the flesh.

Cara is nothing more to you, Rahl,

Than someone you can derive pleasure from.

You don't see her as a human being.

You don't value anyone but yourself.

I think you've lost your mind, Rahl.

Why else would you think that you,

After all the innocents that you killed,

Could actually bask in the Creator's light?

The Creator's light is not for murderers such as yourself, Rahl.

You want to be the great hero,

But that's not possible.

Heroes stand for honor, peace, and freedom.

You stand for violence and glory.

You actually think that glory will make you heroic, Rahl.

Glory is something I've never sought.

Gory does not make someone a hero.

A true hero helps others because it's the right thing to do.

A true hero does not help others just to help himself,

And all you care about is helping yourself, Rahl.

Do you actually believe that you could ever be a true hero

After all the evil that you have committed?

You must have lost your mind, Rahl.

Either that or you're so self-centered

That you think the Creator herself

Revolves around your selfish wishes and whims.

You fought by my side, Rahl,

Without stabbing me in my back.

I have to admit, we do work well together,

But I cannot forget

That you only want me alive

Because I have the compass

That leads to the Stone of Tears.

You want the stone, Rahl,

So that you can save your own skin.

I'm assuming, of course,

That you really want to defeat the Keeper.

Regardless of your true allegiance, you need me alive, Rahl.

Prophecy said that I would give the stone to the Keeper.

If you're for the Keeper, Rahl,

You would want to make sure that happened

By keeping me alive.

Besides, when have you ever

Passed up a chance to kill someone else?

There's no way that any of the Sisters of the Dark

Could mean anything to you, Rahl,

So killing them was no struggle for you.

I saw the crazed delight in your eyes

After the battle was finished.

You enjoy killing, Rahl.

You could care less who you are killing

Just as long as you're spilling someone's blood.

It doesn't matter to you if the blood

Is guilty or innocent.

A true hero only kills when necessary.

Where are you going with your ruse, Rahl?

Do you really expect brotherly affection from me

After all the evil that you have wrought?

The man who raised me is dead because of you, Rahl.

Many innocents are dead because of you.

Despite all this, though,

You still expect affection from me.

You're unbelievable, Rahl, you really are.

Even sitting on the ground in your rags

You still insist on being the arrogant lord.

You would want me to bow down before you, Rahl,

And praise you for being my brother.

It doesn't matter that we've brothers, Rahl.

I would prefer not to be related to you.

You are everything that I am not.

You represent all that is bad in this world.

Did I hear you right, Rahl?

Did I actually hear you admit

That I was in the right

To think the worse of you?

Did I see regret in your eyes, Rahl,

Or is all this a cruel deception?

How am I to know

If you're telling me the truth or not?

You are a master at manipulation, Rahl.

You proved that

When you tried to turn Jennsen against me

By making her think

That you were the good brother.

While I was the evil brother.

I don't know what to think

When it comes to you, Rahl.

When it comes to you,

The truth is beyond my grasp.

You sent a Mord-Sith after Zedd and Renn, Rahl,

Just to keep the secret

Of what to do with the Stone of Tears

Inside your head and your head alone.

You've just proved again, Rahl,

That you don't mind killing

When it comes to getting your way.

You want to be the great hero, Rahl,

And you're willing to sacrifice innocents

To achieve that goal.

You're either out of your mind or extremely desperate.

Maybe you are desperate, Rahl,

So desperate that you don't take the time

To think of the consequences of your actions.

You don't exactly look happy

At the prospect of Zedd's and Renn's deaths.

However, I really don't know what to think.

Why should killing people matter to you now, Rahl?

You're not happy about Zedd dying

Because he's the only one who can save you from dying.

He's the only one who can save you from the Keeper's wrath,

And you would you do anything, Rahl,

To keep your own precious skin safe from harm.

I can't have you dying on me, Rahl.

I need to know your secrets,

Or the Keeper will win.

I thought you didn't want that, Rahl,

Yet you are refusing

To give me the answers that I desire.

You want to escape the Keeper's wrath, Rahl,

Even if it means allowing the world to be destroyed.

Once again you have placed yourself

Above everyone else.

Your life is all that matters to you, Rahl.

All other lives are meaningless to you.

You're being pretty calm, Rahl,

For a man who is about to die,

For a man who is about to face the Keeper's wrath.

I would have thought that you would be more frightened,

But you have once again surprised me, Rahl.

Perhaps you are made out of better material

Than I've given you credit for in the past.

You are the embodiment of acceptance, Rahl,

Even though what you are accepting

Is something that has to be impossible to accept,

Especially for someone who I've always seen

As being extremely self-centered.

I known since I first heard about you, Rahl,

That you are extremely power want to rule the world.

That part of your confession was no surprise to me,

But you did catch me by surprise, Rahl,

When you told me that you killed yourself

In order to obtain limitless power.

You subjected yourself to becoming a baneling.

Killing doesn't matter to you, Rahl,

But I've always thought that being a baneling

Would be below you.

Then again, I never thought

That you would actually kill yourself

In order to get what you wanted.

I'm really starting to believe

That you are an extremely desperate person, Rahl.

You were willing to kill yourself.

You were willing to do harm to yourself.

What if your conversation with the Keeper

Had not gone as planned, Rahl?

He would have never returned you

To the world of the living.

You had to have known the risks, Rahl,

Yet you were still willing to kill yourself

Just for the sake of having more power.

I would have never thought you capable of such things, Rahl.

I saw you bow your head down, Rahl,

When you admitted

That all the death and destruction that you caused

Was for the Keeper.

Do you regret all the evil

That you have brought to this world, Rahl?

Perhaps you don't like killing after all.

You killed out of desperation, not enjoyment.

At least that's what I would like to believe.

You have quickly become a mystery to me, Rahl.

You've given me the impression

That you wish that you have done differently in life.

On the other hand, though,

You're not exactly repenting.

You could save the world

By just telling me what is written on the scroll,

But you don't want to do that.

Perhaps you regret some of the things

That you have done in your life, Rahl,

But your world is still centered around you.

You are about to die, Rahl,

So why should the world be allowed to live?

If you can't be happy,

Why should others be allowed joy?

Thank the spirits for Zedd.

I know that I can always count on him,

Unlike you, Rahl.

Yet, you still manage to surprise me.

As to be expected, you are happy

That you are not in the Keeper's grasp,

But I never expected you to be so carefree

Around both Zedd and Renn.

It appears, Rahl, that you are actually genuinely happy

About the prospect

Of being able to hear Zedd's wit.

Back before we separated from Kahlan and Cara,

I thought that you were just being sarcasticAbout hearing Zedd's wit.

I really can't figure you out.

You have grass in your hair, Rahl.

Your hair is not nicely groomed

As it usually is.

You're wearing ragsInstead of your usual royal red robes.

Despite all this, Rahl,

You seem almost "happy"

To see both Zedd and Renn.

Why you were happy to see Zedd is obvious,

But Renn is a different story.

Your plan to achieve glory, Rahl, has failed,

But you really don't seem to care.

Then again, you really didn't seem to care

When you were about to die.

You didn't attempt to fight against death.

You didn't attempt to fight against Renn's power.

I'm staring to wonder

If you're capable of feeling anything, Rahl.

I thought that I was slowly starting to see a new Darken Rahl,

But you all too quickly showed your true colors.

As soon as you could, Rahl,

You made your escape,

And as soon as that rift was between us,

You immediately returned

To your smirking, smug, arrogant self.

Not long after that, you rebroke Cara

Just so that you could get the Stone of Tears,

Just so that you could get what you wanted.

You actually made me believe for a moment

That there was some humanity in you, Rahl,

But all too quickly you made me realize

That you had deceived me.

There is no humanity in you, Rahl.

If you were actually capable of being human,

You would not have wanted to cause more suffering,

Which is exactly what you did, Rahl.

You had no problem with torturing Cara.

She did what you asked of her,

She brought you the Stone of Tears, Rahl,

And that was all that mattered to you.

Her pain means nothing to you.

All that matters to you, Rahl, is your pleasure.

The agony of others does not matter to you

If it rewards you in some way.

Where are you going, Rahl?

You finally have the Stone of Tears,

But you are not going towards the Pillars of Creation,

Which is where the stone needs to be taken

If the Keeper is to be defeated.

I thought that you wanted to defeat the Keeper, Rahl.

Was that a lie as well?

Is everything about you a lie?

Are you even capable of speaking the truth?

You did a good job deceiving me, Rahl.

You really had me fooled,

If only for a moment.

I don't understand, Rahl, what was the point

Behind your ruse, behind your deception.

The only thing that I understand about you, Rahl,

Is your cruelty

And your self-centered nature.

There will forever be a rift between us, Rahl.

We may be brothers by blood,

But we will never be true brothers.

I will find you, Rahl.

You may have the Stone of Tears,

But I have the compass.

I don't know where you're going, Rahl,

But it doesn't really matter to me.

I want to find the stone,

So that I can save the world from the Keeper.

Unlike you, Rahl, I will speak the truth.

If I ever get you in my grasp,

I will have no problem with killing you again.

I will do whatever it takes

To save the world from your evil

A second time around.