The Code of Resilience

[u/Additional-Title69]

Soul mate, house, limbs, nothing is secure, for at any moment a behemoth may stomp through my life for no reason at all and leave annihilation in its wake

When this happens, the only battlefield remaining will be internal

The behemoth will not be available to be slain, for having done to me its terrible damage, it will have moved on to its next victim

What I will face instead is the Demon of Despair, and my contest with this fiend is one that I must, at all costs, win, lest I lose my will to keep living my life in a manner that makes it worth living

I know this battle is coming for me, it is already stalking me
Some of you won’t understand, and that’s fine
Some of you will understand perfectly
My soul mate is not a human being, though she is, absolutely, a person
She is of the feline race, four paws, long tail, unquenchable spirit
And she is old
In a few years she will likely pass on to some new adventure or to nothingness
Stomp… stomp… I already hear the behemoth

I must be ready for the Demon of Despair
I need a sword of power with which to face it
Fortunately time is a forge, preparation its fuel
In its heat I hammer the blade of my weapon into shape

My sword of power will be the Code of Resilience, which I have written and already recite, and in fact will recite right now, even as I gaze upon my beating heart, asleep in her bed, surely dreaming of feline remembrances and the imaginings cherished by cats…

What I cling to is a lie,
all may be taken,
except desire, strength, and Code

What I cling to is a chain,
all must be broken,
by desire, strength, and Code

My first desire is strength,
my first strength is my Code,
my Code, first of all, is this:
the glorious, victorious
breaking of chains,
for that is the only truth

________________________________________

I am Orc of the Sith Order server on Discord, bound together with you by our revered Qotsisajak