For #LineByLineTime : Tropes (The Wise Old Man)

Nita chuckled. “He said his name was Dark Moon Rising, but I call him Moonie.”

“That is very rude!” Minji snapped.

“He doesn’t seem to mind.” Nita shrugged.

“Probably because he’s still scared of you,” Harper suggested, shaking his finger at her with a teasing grin. “Shame on you. Show some respect for your elders.”

Nita blew a raspberry at him. “Why start now?”

Minji threw her hands up in the air. “Perhaps because we may need their help getting back home?”

“Hey, they’re not Munchkins, okay? I haven’t seen any yellow brick road around here yet, and I doubt if Glinda the Good Witch is going to show up looking for snazzy red shoes.”

(Skip)

Moonie interrupted Luthor’s retort as he stumped up to Minji and patted her shoulder with his four-fingered hand. “Be at peace, young one,” he whispered. “I have also known the betrayal of family and watched my family members die because of my decisions and words.”

Minji sniffed and looked around at him. “Did you choose the losing side and someone in your family did not?”

“What, you haven’t figured out who he is?” Harper sounded a little surprised.

Nita stared at him. “What are you talking about, Chico? He’s a toothless bald old man with some missing parts and lots of scars. What’s to figure out? What, is he somebody famous or something? And how did you find out?”

Harper shook his head. “I just observed, made a few guesses, and then asked. Famous? More infamous, I guess, to the folks around here. Tell them your story, Moonie. It will help them understand what we’re up against.”

Moonie shivered. Minji sniffed again, grabbed one of the shemaughs out of her pack, and draped it around him. He offered her a weak smile and eased himself down beside Tweety.

“So many mistakes,” he muttered. “So much pain and death. My fault, all my fault.”

“Stop that,” Harper ordered. “This is all on him, not you. You didn’t put a gun – or a knife – to his throat to force him to make the choices he did.”

“Harper is correct,” the Voice said. “To claim all fault is arrogance and pride.”

Moonie blinked and sat a little straighter. “I cannot argue with the Great Spirit. This is my tale, then.”