Prologue-
Of Swords and Feathers.
The Light, lives in all places, in all things. You can block it, even, try to trap it. But the Light will ALWAYS find its way.
-The Speaker.
Swords-
What is a sword?
A tool of war. A large, bladed weapon, an instrument of destruction. Sharpened blades of iron meant to dispatch your foes on the battlefield. Thrusting one into your enemy would pierce their skin in burning agony, rending flesh from bone as the weapon stole the life from them. For millennia, these weapons have been the favored tool of choice for warriors and pillagers alike: from Knights to Romans, Vikings to Pirates, gladiators to mercenaries, heroes to villains.
These deadly weapons have been used by many to stab, slice, cut, and decapitate their enemies. These weapons have spilled countless gallons of blood upon the battlefield, soldiers fighting against opposing soldiers in the fires of war. A sword is a way to defend the helpless in the right hands, a tool to ward off coming threats and protect from danger. But in the wrong hands, a sword can be a way to harm others, a means to impose one's will upon the weak and frail and bring chaos, death, and disaster.
Ultimately, a sword can be both a hope and a threat, a weapon that depending on who uses it - can bring destruction or salvation.
...
Feathers-
What is a feather?
A part of a bird. The organic appendage used by avian creatures to fly. The soft, delicate plumage of a bird. Unlike the sword, which is deadly and dangerous, the feather is safe and non-threatening. A sword is a tool used to destroy everything it touches, a weapon of destruction, but a feather can be associated with the art of creation. It has been used to craft furniture for home use, as an accessory in clothing, and can be used as a pen to write with among other uses.
Although the feather has found use in weapon crafting as fletching on arrows, it still remains seen as a non-threatening object. The feather is everything the sword isn't, safe and welcoming, warm and fragile - peace over violence.
...
The Hive-
Who are the Hive?
The Hive are an ancient warmongering race. A species of darkness worshiping monsters bent on purging the universe of all the weak. They have culled countless civilizations, all in the name of their vial crusade that has spanned billions of years. The Hive are the stuff of nightmares, a dark endless plague on the cosmos, ripping apart world after world in the name of the darkness.
Hailing from the gas-giant world of Fundament, the Hive are worshipers of the dark: the deep, and have been hunting after the Traveler and its Light for numerous eons. They follow a religion known as the sword logic, which is the belief that the strongest rule to challenge the weak, and that anything that isn't strong enough to defend itself doesn't deserve to live.
The Hive are cold, heartless monsters that kill everything they see, slaying the masses as they see fit without a shred of mercy. They lay waste to everything in their path, leaving nothing unbroken behind them, as they tear apart the universe at their whim. Slaughtering innocents and butchering everyone in their wake as they seek to bring the universe to its final shape.
In this way, the Hive can be comparable to the sword. A deadly force that brings ruin to every civilization they come across, spilling blood and bringing death to everyone. A threat to everything, a destructive army that would see its will imposed upon all others, ripping all who oppose them limb from limb. Never once letting up or showing restraint, an endless campaign of death and destruction.
And it is for that very reason, that they could never play the role of a feather.
A feather is peace; a sword war.
The Hive know only war and death, all they know is to kill. They have no meaning for peace, the very concept is blasphemy to them. The Hive could never be a feather, they would never break away from their beliefs or their hatred for the light - with this, everyone would agree.
But, as the old saying goes...there's a first time for everything
It has also long been said, that the pen is mightier than the sword, but can the same be said...for the feather?