middleofsomewhere | The Will to Fight: Conclusion

The Will to Fight: Conclusion

The battles rage loud and ferocious at the gates of the city and off in the ruined wastelands of Erda, and on the walls a struggle of a different kind occurs. The team who stayed behind at the towers are small but determined as they move stoically across the walls to right the stones that have become misaligned, even as their friends battle not too far away.

The city begins to hum. It's a quiet hum, not loud enough to be heard out where the others are fighting but it vibrates even through stone. The recovering monks assure them that it is done, the wards are back up and no demon will be able to enter the city.

Eventually the battle is won, all three battles. The demons fought back and killed, a major blow to their gate system that will keep them back for hopefully a long time. Those waiting in the caverns return to the city and by the time they get there the illusions are gone. Everyone can see the world for what it really is.

But despite the ruins of their world the people are relieved, the adrenaline of the fight coursing through their veins and the mood is one of hope. They will build again, their people will survive.

All Voidtreckers please return to the Voidtrecker Express. Departure will be in a few hours

It has landed not too far from the city, cloaked to make it unnoticeable to the citizens, for all the good that does. No one has been particularly subtle this last week. People can begin regrouping, packing up the camp and getting any wounded not already healed to the train.

However roughly half an hour later another message appears on their SCA.

Passenger Persephone has requested we remain on system System #86525656412355 for an additional day to further assist the people of Erda. The Voidtrecker Express will depart on the morning of Day Fifteen of the month of Kazoo.

The train remains where it is, so the voidtreckers can use its facilities. There is definitely a lot that can be done to assist those of this world and the citizens will welcome any helping hands.

After an extra day they finally depart, returning to the void once more.

(OOC Note: Once the wards are up any characters who are demonic in nature will not be able to enter the city either!)

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He wants it to do something.

Something, anything -- it can't just be a random bot dropped from space and left to defend itself. There had been the woman on Nion, the Captain, but nobody on any of the teams had reported seeing any wreckage. Or bumping into anything invisible? The train did that sometimes, and how far could a voidcraft be from here?

But, you know, the fact that Inigo took to it was...a plus, he guesses. Whatever, when's it gonna do something interesting?!

Suffice to say, while the three of them were travelling the city, in search of work and how to help out, and the droid just booped and beeped and took off as it did, with one Inigo following after it? Oh, was Tidus breaking into a run too to follow the pair with a call ("Hey!"), leading to the inevitable sight of one droid perching on a...woman's? head?

Tidus slows to a stop by Inigo, surprised in his own way, but not into silence. Did the droid recognise them? Was this its owner? Sorry Inigo, looks like you lost your new best friend.

He holds up a hand in greeting, not satisfied with just standing around.

"Hey! That thing yours? It's been looking for someone!"

She looks a bit startled to see the droid followed by the three men but she gives them a slightly nervous seeming smile as the droid clambers up onto her head and vibrates softly.

"Yes, I'm sorry if they were a nuisance." The droid beeped, one of its limbs poking her in the ear, making her laugh slightly under her breath.

"This is Chiff. Thank you for looking after them for me..."

Boop
Beep Beep
Boop Beep Beep
Beep Beep Boop
Beep Beep Beep

"Tidus." She looked between them, as if trying to guess which one of them that was.

Oh, that's--!

"Me!" He raises his hand again, finger out but then turning to point at himself. He then looks to the other pair, gesturing to each as he says in introduction.

"This is Inigo, and this is Roland. He's the guy who... wait," wait, "You know what it's saying? Just like that?"

Roland sure wasn't translating that bot thing just like that!

He watches the entire exchange in silence, thoughts and sight immediately locked on to the woman where the bot attaches itself to. He hums when he's pointed to, introduced, then at the dip in the conversation, Roland finally speaks. Careful and quiet, but not lacking in any particular certainty about things. Especially when he hears it - the bot communicating in morse - so this couldn't be anyone else other than...

"...Someone other than Chiff here was looking for you, Anan." He offers, a hand up to his chin. "Are you well?"

He'll say this first, before jumping into the gory details of the transmission. She looks like she's been through the worst of it on Erda too, after all.

... well, seems like there goes his own little emotional support buddy. Apparently it was someone else's little emotional support buddy all along. So long, friend. Hope you're having fun up there as a hat.

Inigo gives a slight wave when Tidus introduces them, just so it's extra clear for this other person which one of them is Inigo and which one Roland, but he doesn't speak up otherwise. Surely she has enough questions to deal with between the ones Tidus and Roland are firing off at her.

"Yes. It communicates in an antiquated method but one I know well."

She nods at the other two as they are introduced. "One that it seems you understand if you know my name." That to Roland, with a small smile as Chiff clambers off her head to go over to Inigo and begin climbing up his leg.

"I am as well as can be expected. You say someone else was looking for me?"

"No injuries? Good. A pleasure to meet you, by the way." Roland answers, content in that assessment. He watches Chiff remove itself from her head to return to his new pal, his new buddy, drawing a small smile out of him before business takes precedence. Roland grows another shade more serious.

"Morse is pretty old where I come from too, but enough about that." As much as he'd love to discuss how a void missionary came to learn about dots and dashes... He takes a glimpse at the two before resuming conversation with Anan. "The three of us were together when our radio picked up the code." He hums thoughtfully. "But we have no idea as to who was sending it, just that we knew what was being said."

"Yeah, it was like, 'pilot missing', right?" He looks to the other two with him, won't get in the way of the budding friendship between medieval prince and a metal beep ball; rather, he's too interested in their new company, a slow growing excitement that makes him unable to keep quiet.

"Hey, so, who're you with? Are you part of some company, or what? Why'd you come here? The mission?"

Wow. Forget about the lady, Inigo's buddy is back! Even though his.. - friend? Owner? Whatever they are to each other - is right there. It's clear that she means a lot to the small metal thing, so it's kind of flattering that Chiff would still bother to come to him for a moment. Inigo quickly helps the thing off his leg, just so he can hold it with his hands again.

But in his excitement about his robot buddy not entirely having forgotten him the instant it spotted the person important to it, he isn't totally losing track of the conversation. Hence why he pipes up right after Tidus, though with something more akin than curiosity than the other teen's excitement.

"Were they the people calling out for you?" That company, or whatever group she belongs to. The one that Tidus is asking about.

Chiff vibrates in Inigo's hands, Anan keeps one eye on it in a fond way, watching for mischief.

"It is nice to meet you all too." She nods but is quick to jump to business as Roland speaks.

"Ah I thought they would not be so worried yet, I'm often gone for a while." She looked between them. "I'm a scout for a small void mission group, we work out of system #78961112094711. I was sent to investigate some weird readings. This world is one I check on quite regularly because the demons are a near constant threat so I was best suited to investigating what might be happening." She looked a bit sheepish.

"Good job by the way, you won a decisive victory here. You're one of the big mission groups, right?"

His initial instinct is to write down the system code immediately, knowing full well he won't be able to remember that at all, but it would have alerted Anan to the fact that they were not precisely from the ministry, and those were consequences Roland would rather not risk as they speak. So he dons a mask of playing along, expertly practiced and hoping his companions will follow such a slight lead in conversation.

"Ah, that makes sense." He smiles easily, casually. "Yeah, we are. It definitely wasn't easy. Though I apologize, your system isn't familiar to us. Heh, sorry, we're kind of new to the missionary game." Roland chuckles, his hand rising to the back of his neck in faux coy, hoping she would supplement that information on her own.

Roland glances at Chiff as a way to steady his thoughts before returning his attentions to her, back to form. "What kind of weird readings did you guys pick up, anyway?"

At the same time as Tidus knows what Roland's doing, he doesn't. He watches him, never so torn, never so ready to pounce on this opportunity, no latch for his mouth despite the attempt to find it. Tidus wants to go along with what Roland's doing here, to trust him, to show him that he does. But his eyes swing from him to the woman, and while Tidus knows all he has to do is shut his mouth--

"Does it matter? Is this really what we're doing? Pretending?" Playing along like everything's normal when it isn't, it isn't. "She's our first chance at help--" he looks at the woman, his face twisting into apprehension, looking back to Roland; the panic rising in his voice.

"We should tell her. We should be getting help!"

It's not as easy for Roland to be so impulsive, even if situations might call for it. He'll always err on the side of caution, especially when they're so uncertain as to who they come across from the vastness of the void. While Anan looks harmless, seems harmless, he wasn't so ready to offer the truth to her in case she was someone who would do more harm than good.

He visibly deflates. Yes, I know we should be getting help. I know that more than anyone. His silence is thick, and the only blessing he can afford the shift of tension is that he's facing Inigo and Chiff instead of Tidus and Anan. But his shoulders are curved down, his eyes are closed. His brows are furrowed deep, and the sigh he keeps to himself is tired.

So be it.

Inigo's expression gets progressively more awkward. First when Roland speaks, then when Tidus speaks - both approaches feeling like there's something wrong about it. Because Inigo can see the merit in both. Wanting to take a chance where they can have one, but also wanting to be careful. Being unsure what may happen to not just them, but everyone on the train.

Chiff gently vibrates on his hands, and Inigo kind of wishes he could just walk away from this situation, especially as it starts snowballing into something more and more uncomfortable. But it wouldn't be right to do.

So he sucks in a breath and smiles at Anan. Even if he's entirely unsure what the right thing to do here is, maybe he can at least throw a bit of water onto this dumpster fire of a situation. Please give him strength, emotional support robot buddy.

"Sorry, we don't mean to make things difficult. It must all sound a little strange, huh?" Look, Inigo is talking to a girl in an actually normal way. That's how you know he's serious. "But our situation may be slightly more.. unusual than yours, let's say. I'm not sure you may even have heard of something like it before."

That feels like the best middle road he can manage here right now. It's not like he could play this off as Tidus being crazy - it'd break his heart to do that to his friend. And he knows Tidus has a point. But maybe they can at least be somewhat more careful about this. First seeing where Anan's thoughts lie before bearing it all in one go. Make this a bit more of a drip feed.

She looks a little confused, but more curious, watching all three of them quietly as Chiff vibrated in Inigo's arms. First Roland's question and then Tidus' outburst, the silence and then Inigo's apology.

"You need help? What sort of situation? Is it something to do with the illusions here?"

Or something else? It's clear she's thinking, trying to figure this all out.

Tidus is watching Roland, hoping on some show of support. But he gets maybe what he deserves, if still some of what he asked: submission, but with nothing more than the man's back, and Tidus feels the weight of what it signifies. It's one way of tempering his mood, guilt pressing down his panic to a less erratic state, and his head hangs eventually by the time that Inigo speaks to smooth the atmosphere.

He doesn't know if he should speak, but he knows - that he can't keep silent. If he's going to go down this road, then he has to stick to his game. And if this all comes crashing down...

"It's not the illusions," he says plainly, not yet looking at her, not looking at anyone, "and it's nothing to do with voidstorms. We... we didn't choose to come here. We're--"

The letters. He has a note, his notebook, and he brings out his left hand, makes appear in it from a light gold dust the standard one that all passengers get, worn around the edges, though mostly bent. He opens it up, pulling out a folded sheet of paper, a message printed on it. He holds onto it though, holding back, reconsidering his approach.

"Every month, the train stops at platforms and picks up people: people from anywhere, everywhere. We don't choose it, we don't have training - we don't know anything about the void 'til we're there. We're just shoved into groups and we're stuck on the train until a mission comes along. We've been doing this for months--and we don't know how to stop it. We don't know how to get home or who'll even help us." Now he looks over at Anan, his desperation contained, but his brow is hard, and he grips the book tightly.

"Look, I can tell you every place we've been to, there was a report on us -- I just need you to believe me. All we want is help, someone to help us - stop this train," he shakes his head, "--or just find out what it's trying to do. Please. I promise I'm not lying."

Edited 2021-04-05 15:41 (UTC)

The energy changes when Tidus begins to spurt out details - too many details, Roland thinks immediately, his mind already racing to follow. With a composed breath, a brief yet deep inhale, he turns back around with arms crossed over his chest as if nothing happened. Poised to catch whatever either of them miss, whether it was in Inigo's attempt to smoothen the twist in the situation or the words that flow out of Tidus's mouth so naturally, so desperately.

So be it, he said to himself, and that was what he was going to do. He did promise Tidus earlier in the mission he'd take risks. That he's in.

At the drop of the beat, Roland takes a step forward and dovetails quickly. His voice is low and calm, though it was nowhere near close to the veil of nonchalance he assumed before, play-acting to gauge trust.

"Sorry about earlier. You can imagine we're cautious for a reason." He says. "What the two of them are saying is true...Though I might be able to frame it a bit better for you, so you can understand it fully." Please. His hand gestures in a closed fist, gripped tight to emphasize the mood. Eyes on Anan and nowhere else. Conviction he wears on his shoulders, like a second skin.

"We are indeed, the unwilling passengers on the train... The Voidtrecker Express." Roland finally adds, quantifies. "But none of us remember signing up to be void missionaries. We come and go in cycles, just as Tidus said, and we have no way of knowing our real purpose or how to untether ourselves safely from the vehicle. All attempts to communicate with the conductor of the train are met with silence. The void ministry seems to see the voidcraft as a rogue, a potential threat, though the people riding it are far from it. And we're eager to prove that, if given a chance."

He swallows thickly. "I guess you could say that we're effectively hostages, Anan. That's the long and short of it. This planet is just one of many planets we're sent to assist with just our wits about us." He shares a glance with the two by his side. A pause on Roland's end, as he returns to gauge the woman with a sharp eye, hoping this gamble would pay off in spades.

Inigo just watches as the other two explain so much to Anan at once - practically their whole situation. He's well aware that there's not really anything to add to it, especially since Inigo is already kind of worried that such a stream of information coming all at once may be overwhelming to the woman as-is. Especially since it's not exactly like it's easy to process information, about a train being out there that kidnaps people.

So rather than adding to the overwhelming stream, Inigo just stays quiet as he glances between the other two - Tidus's obvious desperation, Roland's attempt at calmer diplomacy - before his gaze moves to Anan and then finally lands on the small robot in his arms.

Sorry, buddy, he mentally apologizes to the thing. Guess they're holding up Chiff's pal for a bit longer than anticipated.

Her expression is concerned and that concern turns to confusion pretty quickly but she doesn't take her eyes away. She watches them all, listening intently to what first Tidus and then Roland say.

It's a lot. So much that when Roland finally finishes she is silent. Even Chiff is silent in Inigo's hands, vibrating a little and sending a metal limb to hook around Inigo's hand.

"There was a report. The Voidtrecker Express. That is you?"

She moved her hand, towards her bare wrist before remembering that she was missing her SCA. "I remember it. It said you were dangerous or in danger. That you were either part of a criminal organisation or were being trafficked by one." She shook her head.

"I also saw you save this world with my own eyes. I have never seen criminals throw themselves into danger to save unrelated civilians before." She looked at all three of them intensely.

"I... I believe you. But... Being held hostage by a train. You have truly seen no pilot? You say you know nothing of the void? You are from void inactive worlds? How..." She shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I do believe you. It is just a lot to take in."

Chiff beeped, the metal cylinder spinning around. "I will help you. Or at least try. I can't say I even understand it, or have any idea how to stop it but, you saved my life so the least I can do is repay you."

There's a pressure in his chest, raw and painful, a vulnerability waiting on her response that only grows as he has to wait. Lies led him nowhere on that snow planet when he last tried to find help, and who can predict what this woman will say to them now? About all this? Tidus expects a fight to convince her, to be met with wariness and doubt, a demand for proof; maybe the accusation that they're all pulling her leg. His fingers are numbing from how hard they're pressing against the book, but he refuses to ease his grip.

Not even as his expectations...don't come to pass.

Tidus nods once to confirm the train's name - the voidcraft, whatever - but he otherwise keeps silent, even in the moments after she says those words: I believe you. His heart hasn't pounded so heavily inside him in a long time, and relief is a funny sensation; more like an uncomfortable prickling to his skin, a breathlessness to his lungs. A strange dizziness, almost like -- he's the one in disbelief.

But, he can't let it shake him.

"We can tell you everything we know-" Tidus throws a look to the other two - what's the point of holding back?, before he returns to her, moving on despite it. He's not about to make that decision without them; not a second time. "If we just can find a way to contact people, keep in contact... we don't know how much time we have here before the train leaves, but. Do you need anything? Have you had anything since, uh..."

A pause.

"...did you get caught in the illusions?"

...so maybe Tidus is realising all the polite steps he skipped over now. At least he's looking sheepish for it.

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The Will to Fight: Conclusion

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casually ruins tag order don't mind me

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