The Will to Fight: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

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!)

Comments

[worthallthis]

"Yeah, I know how it is." They give his arm another little pat, then start down the road from train to town. "Back in Beacon. We came back from dying, too, only... not all the time. And not always. Without any damage. So we'd wait in the church to see if the resurrection worked. If our friends were coming back, and if they were okay when they did."

[bakegarasu]

He follows along, listening to Soldat. "... Well, you missed me turning into a car and going bowling with demons." He has to lighten the mood. he's not sure he can sustain this discussion in depression town.

[worthallthis]

"Oh hell, I missed the car thing?" Look they've wanted yo see that since the first time Otoha mentioned it. "I'm going to see that someday."

[bakegarasu]

"Yeah, you did. But other than that... I mean as far as I could tell the team at the gate ended it not too long after you went down. I joined with one of the groups protecting the city after I brought you back to camp."

He wasn't going to leave Soldat there.

[worthallthis]

Soldat pauses, and suddenly a new expression flickers across their face: pained embarrassment. They don't get embarrassed often, but apparently having their dead body carted around... is one of the few triggers for it. "You brought me all the way back to camp?" Did anyone see him? Are they going to have people looking at them funny now, because somebody carted their dead body around a war zone?

[bakegarasu]

"... Pretty much everyone was busy at the time and I'm fast. The only one who really saw was Ryo who knows better than to say shit." He's a healer, they're confidential like doctors or something? Seems like it.

"... Did you expect me to just leave your body there like it didn't mean shit?" There's a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. "Did I get some shit for it? Yes. Did I do it anyway? Also yes." 'Focus on the mission' only goes so far under certain circumstances.

He's a guardian. He's not a puppet. Not anymore.

[worthallthis]

"I don't. It's. I mean." Soldat has to stop walking, collect their thoughts, focus on some origami folds for a moment. Then they can say: "It's fine. I'm not. Mad at you. Or. It's just."

They pause again, stymied, but identifying the feeling, at least. "I don't know why it bothers me. But it bothers me. Anyone. Not just you. Not just the situation. But I don't. Like the idea of people hauling me around, I think. Even if I'm dead."

[bakegarasu]

"... I was... I don't know. Afraid you were going to need your body somehow to come back. Or... something. I don't know how this works - I got real close to dying twice but never actually tipped all the way over. And it's... weird here, I guess."

He flushes very faintly pinker. "... And it felt disrespectful to not... bring you home. If that makes... any kind of sense."

[worthallthis]

They really have no idea how to respond to that. It's kind of him, sure. And they can absolutely see where he might be coming from. But they're still deeply uncomfortable with the whole situation.

So they shake their head a little, helplessly, and pick up walking again. "I appreciate the thought. I'll admit. I didn't know exactly how coming back works here, either. I guess now we all know a little more."

[bakegarasu]

"I guess so. I'm... not sure how it would work for me, considering the circumstances... I guess if I did die somehow she could renew the contract." He knows Soldat isn't going to be happy about that, but...

"I'm... just glad you're back here. It's..." Ugh, talking's already hard, putting emotions to words is way harder. "... I don't want to lose you." 'You deserve better' is what he wants to say, but he absolutely knows that'll get into an almost-argument about how Otoha supposedly deserves better, too.

[worthallthis]

"The train will bring you back if anything happens," Soldat says, firm in that belief, at least. "You and me. Probably not that different, that way. The train wouldn't have brought you here if she couldn't take care of you at least that much. No. Contracts. Are going to be necessary, I'm sure."

They reach over to clap his shoulder, gently. "You won't lose me. The train will take care of me, that way, too. And I'm not planning on doing that again any time soon. It felt weird." They've died so many times, and not a single one had felt like that.

[bakegarasu]

He's not so sure, but he doesn't want to get into an argument right now. "I could barely tell what was going on... I was focused on the demon I was fighting." They were a hell of a lot nastier inside than out. ... Though that makes sense, since people always fight harder defending their homes than not.

He pushes away the guilt gnawing at his stomach. He doesn't need that right now.

[worthallthis]

Soldat shakes their head a little. "There was nothing anybody could've done. One of the demons got their claws on my lantern before I could get out away. Didn't even. Wasn't a normal kind of death. I shoulda gotten out of the way faster." Taking claws to the chest is survivable, for someone like them; taking claws to the lantern, apparently not.

[bakegarasu]

"... We need to find a way to protect that better." They can't make that mistake again - either of them. "Make it less of a visible target. I don't know if they could sense that kind of thing, though. Not sure."

[worthallthis]

"They couldn't, or they would have targeted it," Soldat says. "Their chains couldn't do anything to me, unless they touched the lantern, so if they'd known, they would have targeted it. It was just a damn accident that it happened this time." They sigh a little. "Wouldn't mind a way to protect it. But it's already pretty bulky, more protective casing won't be helpful. And I wouldn't be able to use the light, either. Not sure what else we could do."

[bakegarasu]

"Using the light just as a light, or does it do something?" Maybe it's magic, he doesn't know.

[worthallthis]

"Oh, just as a light," they assure him. "There's nothing special about lantern light here." They look out over the landscape, rough and damaged but alive, with actual sunlight trickling down through the clouds. "Back in Beacon, it was the only light that actually worked, and the only fire that could actually catch a little. But here it's nothing special."

[bakegarasu]

Otoha's quiet. "It's special to me, I guess. Because it's part of you." Wait, that sounded - he clears his throat.

"... At least we get a day out in the fresh air without having to fight..."

[worthallthis]

Aw, Otoha. Soldat flashes him a fond little smile, for that. Walking is not conducive to wrist-hugs, and they're not up for anything remotely like a real one, so they just lean aside a little to bump shoulders.

And that's the most they're going to draw attention to it, since Otoha looks so embarrassed. "Dunno about you. But I'm already enjoying being out here. Even just for a day. I missed sunlight more than I thought I would, in Beacon."

[bakegarasu]

He'll take that shoulder bump. It's nice and just the right amount of contact. "I'm not normally a sunlight kind of guy, but I hate being restrained. I can handle trains - use them all the time - but not for weeks on end."

[worthallthis]

"I've never been on a train before. That I can remember, anyway," Soldat allows. "But the small space for so long is... not really pleasant, no. Reminds me of the bank vault with HYDRA." There's a low-level layer of stress under everything, when they're on the train. It's okay, though. They're managing.

[bakegarasu]

He bumps Soldat's shoulder again. He's here. "Used to trains being the way from one point to the other, not one of the points." He doesn't like it. It feels unnatural. "Hard to get past people, too. Not enough privacy."

[worthallthis]

"I've always had a hard time sleeping somewhere with no other people around. But I haven't had to share a room with three others before, either." It's a little, well, claustrophobic. Another little layer of stress. "There's always the quiet rooms. But you can't hear anything in there."

[bakegarasu]

"Yeah. Only person I ever shared a room with when not on the job was Reiji. ... I trust my roommates to not stab me in the back. Still." Makes him nervous. He doesn't like it. "Can barely hear anything in the rooms, either. I've lived in a city my entire life."

[worthallthis]

"I was either in a city, or in a military-style base full of scientists and soldiers," Soldat says. "Alone means being on a mission, or. Or in cryo. But being too close isn't safe, either. Ugh." They hate their brain, sometimes.