So Familiar a Gleam: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

Time to leave!

There is not much of the city left, but the park is holding together as those anchoring help those who are not voidtreckers through back to where they belong. Monsters continue to attack and a little further out there is a battle of hearts and minds being fought with the mass of colours and chaos.

Eventually, after the bulk of citizens had been evacuated everyone with SCA's on would hear Jin-Roh's voice after a few frantic beeps, as Chiff aligned everyone's SCA's. "We are almost done here, if you are with anyone not tethered to a voidcraft get them to the evacuation point, as quickly as possible."

Anan pulls out of the anchoring point to call out to any defenders in the park. "Come on! Anyone who isn't a voidtrecker! It's time to go."

Luckily those off fighting the entity headed the message and made their way to the park as Jin Roh spoke again.

"Everyone else get ready. When we call it you need to leave. If you don't have your SCA on then get to someone who does."

As the last people rushed to the park Anan calls out again, through her SCA and outloud to the park. "You need to unanchor, before you can evacuate. Everyone be ready."

She goes in again though, because there are some last people, those from the large battle, getting through as another message was called.

"Almost there. Be ready. On my command..."

Anan unanchored again. "Quick everyone unanchor."

"NOW" Jin Roh's voice came through strong on their SCA's. Hopefully those with SCA's would grab those without.

There is some outside help as well, the train pulls anyone who is unconscious or still under the entity's control, forcibly evacuating them. This includes Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and Zagreus.

Luggage Carriage

There has been a mass evacuation before and that was crazy enough but since then the population of the train has almost doubled and now it is an extremely tight squeeze as everyone crashes into the luggage carriage at the same time.

The train jerks and rolls as they enter into the void at breakneck speed and again as they seem to slow, rather than speeding off though the void.

There's a crackling from their SCA's. "Voidtreckers? Voidtreckers come in!" Anan's voice. "Please tell me you made it..."

There's only a few moments of signal and soon they are flying though the void again, away from the strange non-world, the entity sealed for now. To new adventures, but first hopefully some time to recover from all that has happened.

Comments

[essek]

Initially he doesn't hear Ryo come in or approach, but as he takes a knee, says his name, Essek's ear twitches in his direction, clearly indicating he hears the other. Still, he nods as he clings to the other's voice like a lifeline and tries to pull himself out from under the undertow that's keeping him below the surface of his mind. Feeling as if he's drowning in darkness, grief, and the agony of absolute loss.

But for every way his mind is still injured, in some ways he's better off then when he first was released from his torture. So he holds on tight to the sound of Ryo's voice and let's himself work to even his breathing the best he can, the wash of not being alone taking hold.

"I-.. I--" in-out, in-out, breathe the scent of life, of growth, not of flesh and rotting and searing pain and endless voids, "I'm okay, I just got...." pulled under, reminded of his fate, gripped with the gut wrenching grief of loss, "I'll be alright."

[fivemilesdeep]

Essek hears him. Essek hears him, and starts trying to steady his breathing in the way Ryo had helped him with earlier. It's not good, but it's at least better, and Ryo will take it for now.

"You don't need to rush it," he says gently in response to Essek's words. "Just focus on your breathing for now. In-" He takes a long, slow breath in. "-and out." He lets it out, just as slowly. For now, he stays with Essek, keeping his breathing steady in the hopes that he can help steady Essek in turn.

[essek]

Essek was trying to rush it, trying to be better so Ryo didn't see him like this again, so he didn't need to be like this again. He didn't want to be struggling through this so publicly, not where people could find him and think poorly of him. Not when he did enough of that on his own, when he was supposed to be better at repressing all of this than he is at this moment.

But instead, since he's already been caught like this, he follows the other's breathing. The sooner he showed he was okay, the sooner he could remove himself from this situation.

Eventually his breathing does even out, following Ryo's lead, letting his mind come out of the fog of panicked despair. He's let go of the planter and instead sits now. "I apologize, I-.. I'll be fine now. Thank you."

[fivemilesdeep]

Essek isn't the first public panic attack on the train, and he won't be the last. Hell, he's not even the first train panic attack Ryo has witnessed. It's a fact of life sometimes.

Eventually, Essek's breathing does calm, and Ryo sits down next to him, close but not touching - he doesn't need to anchor Essek now that Essek has come back to himself. "You're welcome, and you don't need to apologize," he says gently. "You're dealing with a lot." He pauses for a moment to consider his words and goes for it anyway. "Same thing as last time, or something different?"

[essek]

The proximity is a little much - he's someone who's always had a large personal bubble, something almost everyone had respected til the Nein came into his life - but he decided to bear it since they aren't touching. It's good enough, especially since Ryo gives him the sense of someone who wants to touch but is trying not to.

The question though does tell him that Ryo wasn't probably going to leave this alone to let him deal with his shame. He folds his hands to hide their shaking, his breath still hitched, even as he tries to mask it. "I--... Honestly, I have no clear memory of what I told you at that time. It's similar, but not... not quite the same."

It's more evolved, trauma attaching itself to a fear. He still feels the rapid thud of his heart as he shies away from the thought of his world and the people there gone, lost... and he has no way to confirm it right or wrong.

[fivemilesdeep]

Ryo is definitely someone who believes in the healing power of physical contact, in no small part because his healing requires physical contact, and working with so many people who dislike being touched has been a challenge. He's not terribly difficult to read in that regard.

"That's not surprising." Essek had been tortured when Ryo had found him - he can't blame Essek for not remembering the specifics. The mind does what it can to protect itself. He'd been hurt; he'd said there was nothing; and he'd been worried about Caleb. It's not many pieces, but it does start to paint a picture. "You know you're not alone here," he says gently, "and I don't know if you've seen him yet, but Caleb is alright." He's back on the train in one piece, at least - Ryo remembers checking medical after they'd all returned, though he doesn't remember much more than that.

[essek]

The words are soothing, eve if logically he already knew them, it's strange how being reassured of something he already knows can actually reassure him. As if his mind was unable to convince his emotions of the logical thing he was already fully aware of. Still, to hear them out loud and not just in his own head.. helps.

"I have.. seen him that is. He's been kind enough to keep me company at times.." when he knows he'll turn out like this, the times he goes to the man and asks for his time, to discuss a book, to eat. Any excuse. Though only so often, he wouldn't want to press his luck. Not after whatever is now between them... this friendship but more. "But thank you, I do know, I--" he sighs, "It's still nice to hear."