middleofsomewhere | Fissures of Time: Start

Fissures of Time: Start

"Good Morning Voidtreckers, today is day eight of the month of Poi."
The voice echoes through the train as passengers wake up in their beds. Not long afterwards their SCA’s glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image appears...

FISSURES OF TIME: START

... BASE CAMP

THE VOIDTRECKER EXPRESS LANDS CLOSE TO A GIANT OF A FORTRESS SAT ATOP A HILL, A RIVER BORDERING THE WAY TO A NEARBY TOWN. 'Please head to the location marked on your map,' the Voidtrecker Express speaks through the intercoms before opening the doors out.

Passing the threashold, Voidtreckers are welcomed to a mild heat, accompanied by a passing spring breeze; the grass underfoot is a healthy wheat-yellow, with a few unfamiliar flowers dotted about. Checking their maps, they'll see they're at the very far southwest, and their their destination is the fortress - or temple - a small walk from way they are. They'll know they're heading the right direction when two figures dressed in their own military gear meet them halfway, neither human.

'Voidtreckers?' One greets with a nod, then jerks their head to the fortress. 'Follow us. We'll tell you and give you what you need; get you ready for the week you're in for.'

Voidtreckers that follow are led into spacious halls, a Grecian-like architecture with columns carved into flowering patterns, statues of idols lining the walls. There's a faint murmur of activity, but they don't see too many people before they're led into a nearby room filled with containers that close in the space. Even as they enter, a holographic map floats visibly mid-air like the one on their SCAs.

The two people go to either side of it, and it's the one from earlier that speaks again.

'This is Kolokifi's domain- most of it, anyway. Down here where we are is Eilifi's land. Another god, but a history lesson isn't what you need unless you ask for it. All up this way-' the person makes a circular motion in front of the map, leaving a visible mark on it. '--is where time distortions will be happening. The easy explan' of them is that points in the past get pulled into the present - echoes of them. Fragments, moments - Time here got well and screwed up, and tries to bring up points in the past to the present.

'Now, some have a problem with getting rid of the slips of the people that come through, so I'm going to get into that now. Thing is, if they can stick around? They will, but most of them can't. All of this is just Time trying to make a copy of the past appear, so thinking you can leave the distortions alone make everyone whole? Isn't going to work as well as you think. It just makes more problems, and that isn't pretty.' They snort. 'They're gonna fight and sound like people 'cause they are - real unfortunate, unlucky sods. If you're gonna have problems with it, don't deal with them. Leave 'em to whoever with you can, or send a signal for us on the maps. Double tap the area and then get out. There's no point gettin' trauma on top of what's already on your plate.'

Finally they nod to the various containers around.

'But don't worry, it isn't all sad shit. You've got fields to deal with too, open spaces. Boring work, but it's what we're here for. So if you're going, let's get you ready. And you come back here when you need anything.'

GEARING UP. They go through the different roles required, what's best to be done, what does what. They'll be shown how to work an equaliser, how to fit and wear the eye and earpieces - with other designs available if needed - to use the remote-controlled scouting drones.

Take the time to open up an equaliser box yourself, try to work a scouting drone. There are also medical kits, with boxes containing herbal medicine 'blessed by the Spring god here - make sure you can take it,' the Ministry worker helping them warns. There's devices in all of the kits, small scanners to double-check that a medicine won't react poorly to whatever it scans. Similar technology to what the SCAs use, but more advanced.

There's no rush to leave, and the group will also be shown where some spare carts and animals for pulling are outside, for packing up supplies on.

STAYING BACK. But people don't need to go. They can stay with the Voidtrecker Express, use a few facilities in the Ministry base, or wander the immediate area, so long as they don't go beyond the river that down the hill the fortress sits on. There's the train itself that people can stick to, take pillows and their blankets outside to enjoy the fresh air.

Or you could be coming back this way during the mission. The Ministry base has a kitchen free to use, water, and every day fresh fruit and vegetables come in carts from the same figure, flour and oats. If someone wants, they can take some of the food, or use it to make supplies for the Voidtreckers to receive if they come back this way, or other missionaries.

How they spend their time is up to them.

... KOLOKIFI'S DOMAIN

FOR A WEEK, VOIDTRECKERS WILL BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE SAME TORN, SCARRED LAND. Despite the skies being a clearer silver-grey nearer to the Ministry base, it keeps close to a blood-red as Voidtreckers wander its terrain. Heat clings to them in the dry air, the dirt as parched as the scenery leaves the eyes.

Those with scouting droners would do well to getting used to their new toys while they travel, watching out for what lies ahead. Though just from looking at it, there's nothing but the same drained landscape. Those who can fly may be tempted to do so, to get ahead. Those with superspeed, what's the point of hanging around? But eventually, everyone will learn what happens if you simply wander around here...

WHAT ONCE WAS. Sometimes, the time distortions are innocuous - a glimpse into peaceful times, a view of the world as it once was. A step, one single move forward into a time distortion, and the world around you changes. Gone is the suffering heat and chalky environment, and the world blossoms. Wild yellow-grass sways every-which way, the sky sits with fluffy clouds against and blushed pink than the blood-red.

You can move around, explore for a little while, but up until a point, the world just stops: you run, you fly, you walk, but it makes no difference.

...It also means you can't leave. Well, good thing your SCA still works to ask for help.

These time distortions will be the simplest to deal with, only occupied by a few wild animals, maybe fish in a stream. A good place to practice with the equaliser, and to watch as the scenery fades to the stark reality of the present day.

UNEARTHED WAR. But then, peace isn't what led this land into the state it is. The skies are a lavender and red, and sometimes:

Mother Nature

'Who goes there!'

'You're no warrior of Kolokifi! Come quietly under her mercy, or suffer her judgment!'

( MOD NOTE: Play these scenarios to whatever degree you like; people can be knocked unconscious or situations can't be helped. Choose what is best for yourself or your character. )

IDYLLIC LIFE. Except, it's not a battlefield that is the hardest to deal with. There are the instances of peace, but when it comes with those more aware than just the flowers or animals - but with people.

Sometimes, they might be moved around: a pair on a picnic, or people with tents by a lake, enjoying themselves. Or, you might get asked what you're up to, asked to join them. Perhaps it's a merchant going to the next town. 'Kolokifi may be a blessed God, but you know Silifi's fields bring their best this time of year.'

They may disappear, without knowing what you were doing - or realise something is wrong, just towards the end. Steel your heart.

The hardest are the towns, sections of them, and moving around them, trying to find the best place to set up.

But if an equaliser goes off too early, doesn't get set in the best place (was it because the best place was in a river? Where a house is, with nowhere to set the equaliser?), then fractions of this settlement will start to disappear - and the civillians will notice, and the panic will be quick.

If it becomes too tough, remember: A marker can be set on the maps and a call made for another group - non-Voidtreckers - to do the job.

HEAVY HEARTS IN REST. There will be enough for four separate camps to be set out from the supplies, the tents wide and spacious to put in simple bedding for the stragglers from the time distortions that do make it out.

It's here where they should be brought. Calm them down, reassure them, until you can find someone to take them to the Ministry base. This will be some work, depending on how panicked they are, distrustful. The less care and stealth used when setting Equalisers and getting rid of time distortions, the less reason these people will have to care about what the Voidtreckers have to offer - and they're already scared.

Kids, adults, the elderly - they'll try to make their escape, and sometimes end up in new distortions.

Voidtreckers will need to coordinate well with the different camps, with where their people are going. There's only so many Equalisers, and it is good to keep moving around.

And very likely, this will be a mission heavier on the heart than the body. Speak with one another, share in the weight of this world's tragedy.

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here. Let us know about shenanigans here. NPC requests here, set up a thread here. Rewards go here.

Reminder of goals: Red Team is to deal with the heavier war-time distortions, keeping Orange people setting Equalisers safe, who will also use scouting drones + other methods to locate distortions. Purple Team aids in the smaller, more scattered distortions (includes 'idyllic' distortions), and helping Blue locate misplaced people, keeping them safe. Blue also protects and moves the camps.

NPC fighters: Their skills vary, depending on what you want to come up against. But they have guns, swords, shielding; nature can be particularly vengeful, and even typhoons might be deployed. People will be rewound from where they're going to where they were; and warriors sometimes have their own quick means of healing.

Play with whatever obstacles you want! As ever you don't have to stick to the prompts we write, this is a setting where a lot of wildness can happen so feel free to write your own distortions to take down! Also, again: For anything traumatic, you can have your characters miss anything too distressing for them. There are a lot of time distortions in very ordinary settings.

Further Prompt Ideas: Click!

Blue Team:

You're dealing with a misplaced person, and how agreeable are they? Did they run off on foot? Or use the cart animal in the night? Now you're looking for them - and either with or without them, you've ended up in a time distortion.
The camp's moving, and you're setting up for the first time, packing away for the second. Are you used to the heat? The repetition?
You've got food from the train to work with for meals, but the Ministry has packed everyone a mix too. Some ration foods that you add water to, but also an orso-like pasta and types of chicken breast (at least, it tastes like chicken), cooking sauces, pita breads. Does your character know how to cook?
You just want a change of scenery, and someone in the camp is going to one of the time distortions. Maybe you go along, just to bring out some food, or just out of curiosisty.
There's nothing stopping you from using a scouting drone - actually, being in one place makes it easy. You can speak to people through the drone. How much can you help from afar?

Orange Team:

It's your job to set up Equalisers. How confusing are they to you? Do you get unlucky? Does it jam at a bad time?
You have to set up an Equaliser in a settlement. And if it wasn't bad enough, there's nowhere good to put them except in someone's backyard/right in front of a shop stall. These people aren't pleased. They're going to get suspicious!
This distortion is too big for the amount of Equalisers you and the other person have with you. Do you realise this? Even when it's a peaceful distortion, this can be tricky - you have to pack one up and move it! Or the worst happens when you set them off, and only erase half the place - and people notice.

Red Team:

Fire burns around you as war rages. The equalisers need to be set but to get them in place the fires need put out. Tricky when there are a whole bunch of soldiers currently lighting them.
Red's job is to deal with the obstacles of the more physical-demanding distortions, but that doesn't mean they're easy to find. You end up in scenic landscapes - and you're not the person with an equaliser.
Sometimes - or most of the time - the fighters are not match for your strength. But sometimes, these warriors have skills that can manage to get you defenceless, maybe even nullify your powers.
Do you care about murder? Sometimes, it's simple self-defence - they're attacking first. But not everyone in a war time distortion is an attacker - sometimes they're normal civillians caught up in the chaos. Maybe they even help you, take your side - and you know they're soon going to disappear.
Even Red Team needs a break now and then. Wandering around at random just drops you into distortions that you can find a way to deal with. Or are you seeing what you can do? Maybe there's more that can be done than just waiting on Orange Team.
But even so, there are camps moving around - you should head back to one. Or will you risk sleeping out where a distortion might hit?

Purple Team:

Whilst helping in a town based distortion so thing goes wrong. The market has vanished and people have noticed. Specifically these angry traders, heading towards your team with the intent to stop them in their tracks.
People aren't the only problem. A distortion has spooked a heard of animals and they are stampeding. This makes it very difficult to place Equalisers.
You stumble upon a couple of chatty locals in this distortion. The equalisers still need to be set without causing suspicion so someone needs to be a distraction. How do you make small talk with people you are about to erase from time?
Often it is the terrain that makes things difficult. Clear trees or rockfalls or find a route across a difficult river.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It rattles him, breath catching as he glances as Inigo has, watching them. Fear makes people do stupid thing. Fear makes them react, makes them blind. He shivers as he realizes his options, a last ditch effort to keep them contained.

"I c'n give 'em something t' be more afraid of." He can help. He can help! If keeping them afraid keeps them here-- his heart twists, lurching as if it had been turned inside-out-- but if keeping them afraid keeps them here...

Then he can do it. He can make them afraid. Horrify them away from the gaps in the world that is fading-- too slow. They have to stay. His boots are kicked off without a glance-- they always bothered him at the ankle anyways-- and Esteban runs.

Runs for the fissure, ripping his shirt off and tossing it aside, runs for a void of colourless nothing, and feels the shift take over him. The stretch of his wings, the sweep of his tail, keeping him balanced on feet that are suddenly misshapen, twisted in a way that grants him more speed.

He has to stop them-- he has to.

"Esteban!"

Inigo calls out for the other, even before he realises what's happening here. All he knows is that the other is suddenly tearing himself away from Inigo, starting to run back towards the crowd, and Inigo can feel his heart absolutely pounding inside of his chest with anxiety.

It doesn't help that he has so little idea of the other's actual combat ability. Would he be alright if this crowd turned on him? If Inigo lets his friend get hurt right in front of his eyes, on the very first mission they're sharing together--

But then he does see what's happening. Even in the middle of the chaos it's hard to notice something like this. Esteban's form changing as he gets closer and closer towards where the void is taking over the world.

He's turning into a dragon. He's turning into a dragon. Esteban was a manakete - or whatever his world's equivalent of those is - all along.

Inigo suddenly grows silent. He was halfway through running after the other, but that realisation makes him stop. It's like he's frozen on the spot with the crowd rushing through him, just looking at Esteban's shifting form in shock.

But the shift doesn't take him the whole way. Limbs stretch and appear, yes, but there is never a step where Esteban transforms; still human, still himself. Then he dashes into the void and turns a corner and vanishes out of direct sight.

He does catch ahead of the column. Maybe because of his speed, maybe because he took a quicker route, it doesn't matter. He catches up ahead of the column, and though he sees a few people slip by-- scrambling for their freedom outside and into nothingness-- nothing but a dry, rocky land-- he catches up to the head of the column.

Frighten them.

He hates that it's his plan. His fucked up, stupid plan, but Esteban knows a thing or two about people, knows that fear is a powerful tool. Knows how badly it influences them. Fight or flight response. He's definitely aiming for the latter. And if it's the former...

It wouldn't be the first time he's had to fight terrified civilians.

"Don't you DARE take another step!" His voice echoes down the passages, a mix of a snarl and a roar, and Esteban pounces into the path, wings spread their full height, tail lashing in a whip-hard snap. He will go down fighting if he has to. He will keep them here no matter the cost-- should have been able to keep them here before they even realized that there was anything wrong.

The wave surges and crashes against him, pulses of people scratching and scrambling at his skin- they draw a hiss, and he uses the pain to heighten his glower, his eyes growing dark. He keeps his ground by bracing a foot against the closest wall to him, and the talons on his wingtips cling to the walls, gouging deep marks in them. There's another wave-- people surging from the back who hadn't seen the threat, only heard, and when their eyes catch up with the narrow alley, the monster at it's mouth, there is a beat of silence.

And then the screams.

Caught between a monster and a fading world, people panic all the more at the trap. Some run. Some fall, and Esteban sees them stumble and vanish underfoot like a blow-- heart in his throat as he realizes that he cannot undo what he has done, and some-- some foolhardy, frightened, horrified civilians-- they reach for rocks and stones, fingers scrambling over anything into their path to toss at him, reach for anything sharp or twisted in themselves, all the wretchedness that they can find, and attack.

It only takes a few moments before Esteban is totally out of sight. And it's then that Inigo remembers he doesn't have time for this. He doesn't have the time to just stand here and gawk at someone who isn't even present anymore, even though he's still in shock, and so he quickly commands his feet to move, just move, even if it's not like he has a plan.

He has to, at the very least, find Esteban. He's not sure if he will just by following the other through the void, so instead Inigo tries to follow the sound, especially now most of the crowd has moved on from where he was standing, so he can move a big more freely.

There's obvious chaos coming from a specific direction, so he quickly runs over there..

.. only to indeed, find nothing but chaos once he's arrived there. It's not just the sound. There's really just chaos. People pushing and screaming, people having fallen, half-trampled.

And Esteban standing in front of it all, in that odd half-human, half-dragon form, getting the full brunt of the crowd's anger. It tugs on Inigo's heartstrings, and he wants to get over to the other as quickly as he can, but he's rapidly realising that there is no way he could push himself through a crowd like this.

But there's something responding to his desperation. Something emerges from Inigo's chest, in a way that the crowd isn't able to see with their backs turned towards Inigo, but Esteban himself can see it. It's like a ball of light emerges from Inigo's chest, so bright that it temporarily makes the world covered in a flash of nothing but sheer whiteness.

It's that opportunity that Inigo takes to push himself through the crowd, the ball of light now sitting on his shoulder. He keeps pushing all the way until he's right at the other guy's side. It's right then that the light fades, and that Inigo realises how quickly the distortion they're in is fading all around them as well--

So he just grabs a hold of Esteban the best he can, and pushes.

Pushes the both of them out of the distortion, that is. The next moment the two guys are landing on the hard ground of Kolokifi's domain - with a grunt on Inigo's part - and3 the distortion having vanished behind them.

There is mayhem and pandemonium, wretched emotions twisted in their eyes, fear and anger that Esteban himself has caused. The civilian's desperation keeps him far too busy to keep up with his surroundings, simply focused on this point, his only goal. Keep standing. Block them off.

He pushes them off, keeps his wings braced as a bulwark against their attempts, while he deflects punches and hooks long feet around their ankles to trip them. He's messed up-- he's fucked up so badly all across this stupid, simple mission, that all he can do is keep warding them away, allow the last of the equalizers to set up, let the world heal into its own timeline, or reality. Please.

The light surprises him.

He gasps, startled into looking up and the glare makes him recoil. A wing twists-- one less tether to keep him grounded, shading his eyes from the brightness. One person gives a rough push ahead, trying their luck and Esteban snarls as he corrects his path-- trying, trying to be gentle as he shoulders them back into the group, all of them on weak footing, stumbling back--

Someone barrels up to the front, pushing people out of his way. Esteban recognizes him in a split second, feels his heart sink to see him this far.

"Ini--" There's no time to call out, as Inigo grabs him, and Esteban doesn't even realize his wings are curling in. His friend is here-- his friend is in danger!-- and Esteban will be damned before he lets anything hurt him!

Off balance already, it barely takes a push to get him to stumble back. Steps trip him up, feet pressing flat against the ground, and Esteban curls into a roll, wings tucked tightly around his companion. The mission doesn't matter-- not anymore.

They roll. Hard rocky ground jab in uneven stabs at the cocoon of his wings, and Esteban has to bite back a wince, heart thundering in his throat and chest. He expects the blows to come soon-- a trample of feet as the civilians start rushing over them, and a breath, harsh and quick, fills his lungs as he braces himself.

But there is nothing.

No sudden kick, no pain raining down on them-- just harsh breaths and a heartbeat too fast somewhere in his throat or his ears. Esteban counts twenty more before he dares raise his head, still curled protectively around his friend as he checks their surroundings.

Red stones and rocks, with a pale sky and a relentless sun. Kolokifi's domain.

'Dians, they've made it.

Everything went southwards and sideways, but they've made it out, and damn it, the sheer relief that floods him that moment makes him entirely boneless, barely managing to turn on his back and free Inigo from the shelter of his wings. A few breaths of the dry, dusty air help him swallow back numbers of emotions and questions and confusion, too conflicted to make sense out of them other than the worry that plagued him from the moment he saw his companion rushing towards him.

"You okay?" It's breathless, but he manages to push the words through the heart thundering at his throat, focused entirely on making sure they were both fine, they were both here and okay and alive. 'Dians.

It takes a moment for Inigo to react. At first he just lays there in this harsh, oppressive air, his back to the rocky ground. For a moment there his world was basically tumbling, nothing but flashes of sound and images and chaos, and then something wrapping around him warm and tight..

And now it's all died down so suddenly, he needs a moment to return to his senses. Inigo's eyes are closed as he lies there on the ground, but then he does slowly respond. Not verbally, at first - but he does stick a hand up into the air, his thumb pointed upwards.

He doesn't want Esteban to worry about him and think Inigo got seriously hurt or something, after all.

"How about you?" Inigo briefly asks, his eyes still closed for another moment until his head will stop spinning.

The ball of light that was with Inigo, however, turns out to be a small creature, which promptly and happily starts jumping on top of Esteban.

(Don't worry, the creature is pretty much weightless. She's just excitable.)

The lack of a direct answer worries him for a moment, and Esteban pushes himself back on his side to check on his companion himself. He catches the last of Inigo's thumbs up before the hand falls back down on the ground, but he doesn't look worse for wear-- disheveled, and lungs rushing just the same as Esteban's, but not worse for wear.

He's suddenly glad he doesn't have the strength to bother lifting his arm right now. His ribs still feel fragile for the breaths that sweep through them, heartbeat soaring far too high, but the open sky and quiet landscape help, even if the stones are still jabbing their pointed edges into his side. He takes a few more seconds to recover.

"Perfectly fine~" He's upbeat in his answer, even if it comes out softer than intended. His limbs would beg to differ-- arms and chest peppered with scratches and not-yet-formed bruises. He'll have to go and find his shirt soon, but a slight shifting makes him aware that one of his wings is still pinned underneath his companion's legs-- and he's not about to throw Inigo off just to get up.

It's the pad of tiny feet that rouse him, dancing lightly across his shoulder until he forces himself to sit. The sprite that greets him is a surprise-- and his eyes widen as he stares at her-- it-- them?-- cupping both hands to give her-- them-- a place to sit.

"An' who's this lil' cutie?" They look like a little doll! Tiny feet and delicate hands, with button-small eyes and a ring of leaves around their neck, they bounce with their excitement into the offered palms. The faint glow surrounding them reminds Esteban of sunshine seen through the leaves of a tree.

"Huh?"

Apparently Inigo, still lying there with his eyes closed, isn't quite aware of what's happening on Esteban's end. He forces his eyes open, blinking against the suddenly very red-orangey landscape, and then slowly forces himself to sit up so he can look at what the other is doing. (Thankfully this also mostly free up the wing that was trapped underneath Inigo.)

"Oh.. that's Jumblie." It's not much of an explanation, but it's all Inigo can initially offer while he's still recovering. And now he's actually looking at Esteban with the other in still that half-person, half-dragon state, he can notice the other isn't doing too great either.

Ugh. Did someone really have to set off the equaliser without telling them? What a pain..

The little creature doesn't seem to share Inigo's attitude at all though, still looking happy on Esteban's palms. A warmth seems to radiate from her, though it's not overly hot - instead it's more of a soft warmth, and Esteban might feel himself feeling a little better just by holding her like that. It's like her warmth seeps right into someone's chest and heart, settling there in a comforting way.

"Hig, hiig!" At first Jumblie just makes cute sounds, but then Esteban, through his good heart, might actually be able to hear her speak. "Young friend, thank you for saving this young soul! I can sense your kind heart!"

There's worry in Esteban's eyes, a nudge from him as he curls the newly freed wing around his companion's back. It's not much, but it's support, sort of, so Inigo can use it to lean back into if he wants to-- though the warmth might be too much with the high heat of the landscape they're in.

He already couldn't get a read on him from the start of the mission, something that didn't sit well with the half-elf, and the way this fissure had turned topsy-turvy wasn't much help. Should have, could have, would have-- they don't really mean much now that it's done, and Esteban presses back the thoughts that want to churn away, trying to bring whatever comfort he can instead. He's not sure if Inigo just pushes this hard during missions, but it weighs him down to see him this way.

There is a warmth trying to loosen the tangle of his emotions, trying to comfort him and he turns back to the little sprite, her tiny voice chirping as she steps across his cupped palms. Chirp would have been a wonderful name for her, thank you.

He does startle when she speaks though-- not... not with a voice. It's gentler than that; like a long-familiar smell that wraps up memories of sunshine spilling across blankets after a restful nap, warm and soothing. He's not too sure what she is, but she clearly means to help, even with her mere presence.

She should help Inigo-- should go back to him. Esteban accepts her words with a smile, even if he feels they're inaccurate.

It's Inigo who protected him. It's Inigo who fought his way through the crowds to pull Esteban out of them, Inigo who struggled so hard to keep him safe even though there was no need to, there wasn't a reason to. Inigo who pulled him out of the way and out of danger, and Esteban can't understand why.

"Of course!" He's bright and cheerful as he answers her, pouring any sunshine he can find along with hers to bring even just a smidge of colour against the oppressive grey that has been the last few minutes. "He's my friend; I'd do anything t' protect him!"

And that includes tugging the little sprite back to his companion's shoulder, hoping she can read him well enough to understand why he does so. If her mere presence is a comfort, she should stick with the swordman; Esteban bounces back easy. He'll be fine~

Jumblie does seem to getting Esteban's gist here. It's like she can read the intentions straight from his heart or something, since she doesn't protest, nor resist. She just allows the half-elf to place her back onto Inigo's shoulder, where she immediately attempts to hug the latter.

As much as Jumblie can hug, anyway. She's got stubby little arms, they're not very good for reaching around things. But it looks like she's trying to hug Inigo's head anyway, and Inigo himself seems to realise it's what she's doing as well.

He doesn't quite smile, but he still sounds genuine as he says, "Thanks, Jumblie," before gently picking the higgledy up and putting it on his lap, where she spontaneously starts to dance.

Apparently she's in a good mood, even if Inigo still seems kind of off.

But Inigo isn't thinking about himself right now. He's staring at the creature as she dances for a few moments, but then he's quick to turn his gaze onto Esteban instead. It's still a little too serious, but there is a hint of concern in there as he reaches out to the other, putting his hand on the side of Esteban's face as he seems to study the other for a moment.

"You got hurt," he finally says. Though it's no surprise, given the way that crowd turned on him. "Do you need a potion? Or I can help you get back to camp, so someone can look at you there."

(Look, it's just easier to ignore his own issues by intensely focusing on others.)

Oh, 'Dians, Jumblie is such a cutie. She brings a smile to Esteban's face, watching her little wiggle-dance, and somehow, she helps soothe him a bit, even when she concentrates on his friend.

The touch startles Esteban a bit, his wings shivering as he turns to face Inigo properly. There's a question in his eyes, but after a blink, the half-dragon closes them quietly, allowing his companion to observe him again-- though he doesn't think there's much of a change on his face to be honest. His ears are finned rather than pointed-- and horns grow from beyond his hairline, but nothing else.

The questions surprise Esteban-- another shiver, and the tip of his tail curls a bit by his opposite calf-- but the half-dragon grins instead, still blind to the world beyond him. A very slight shake of his head indicates his contradiction before he voices it, careful not to dislodge the hand on his cheek.

There's a hum first, before he answers with proper words. "Just scratches, mostly. Y' got me outta there pretty quickly." Oh! This does make Esteban open his eyes again, trying to show his sincerity as he goes on with a smile.

"Thanks for saving me." He remembers them talking about it, back when they'd first met, that Inigo didn't get the thanks he deserves. He hopes he can make up for it just a bit.

But he's not about to take a potion when he has no idea how many the swordman has on him, and getting escorted is just a waste of everyone's time-- Esteban would gather the stragglers that made it out, and get them to the camp. He'd get a proper checkup there. He's still worried about his friend though, but he's not sure how to... help.

"I got worse bumps growin' up," he tries to reassure again, and the tangent... helps. Maybe. It gives him something to recall, and if Inigo takes comfort from it, then all the better.

It's a silly story; something about Esteban falling down branches of a Naming Tree when he was a child. He'd gotten a fair few scratches, but the fallout had been more difficult to deal with, as his mother had shifted into a dragon and tried to torch down the offending plant. It really isn't much, and they shouldn't linger like this; but the half-dragon can't... leave his friend like this.

He won't have a choice-- they have places to be, people to help, and Inigo was far busier than him, having encountered the frontlines while Esteban himself tried to use what skills he had to close up fissures. But maybe, maybe he can brighten his day, even just a bit.

Inigo glances at Esteban still, at first. Then he turns his head to look at the situation around them, noticing some of the other Voidtreckers - probably the members of the orange team who had set up the equalisers in the first place - trying to reason with some of the displaced people that were left after the distortion disappeared, none of them paying any particular attention to Esteban and Inigo over here.

He's still looking for a moment, like he's calculating the situation and Esteban's response, and then he slowly raises to his feet, holding out a hand to offer to help his friend up too. Jumblie climbs back up on Inigo's shoulder, just so she doesn't have to walk by herself.

"How about we do it like this?" He offers, helping Esteban up if the other takes the hand. "We walk back to camp together, along with these displaced people." Hopefully they'll be soothed enough to be willing to go along - or just hungry and thirsty enough in the middle of this hot wasteland.

And if that convinces Esteban to come along, then Inigo can at least keep an eye on the other along the way, to make sure he doesn't immediately jump into doing more before resting.

"And then you can tell me all about your worse bumps along the way, if you want."

Maybe that's something that'll entice the other to come along? Inigo isn't entirely sure.

There's a slight pause as the half-dragon watches his companion, quiet for once as he collects himself. The hand stretched out to him is another surprise, constantly defying his expectations and Esteban can't get a proper read on the situation. It bothers him. But he takes the hand regardless.

His wings rustle against his back, and the shift takes him as he rises, tails and horns and limbs curving close and then simply vanishing under his own skin, like the lick of a flame quelled back to an ember. It also helps disguise the bite of pain, feeling the bruises he doesn't want to admit he's collected pulse with his heartbeat. He keeps Inigo's hand in his for a moment, his hold loose that he could break it if he wants to.

"Y' know, growin' up, my fav'rite story was how the dragons hatched from the first moon." His voice is soft as he recalls it, eyes affixed to the people in the distance. "'Cause the price of learnin' how t' fly, is that first, they had to learn how t' fall."

It helps. To say the words aloud.

Esteban takes a deep breath, cups his hands around his mouth, and, ridiculously bright and chipper, his voice echoes across their small group.

"Hey guys! I'm gonna go look for my stuff!~" Warning given, he goes to take Inigo's hand again, clearly about to drag him along as his voice dances across the arid landscape. He's careful to take the hand on the opposite side of the higgledy, so as not to risk her falling.

"C'n y' just imagine the kinda attitude that gave me? I had abs'lutely no fear of heights! Houses, trees, giant cliffsides? I didn't even think," his tone rises here, taking on a suspected child-like tone, though he doesn't really recall how he sounded back then. "'Maybe I should be careful,'" or-- 'that kinda seems dangerous!' Nope! I'd get up there, quick 's a cat, an' then start wonderin' 'f I should jump down."

His smile is brilliant, tone entirely too amused as he recalls the absolute fright he used to give everyone around him, feet carrying them across the dusty stones with enormous strides. The purple of his shirt catches his eye first, and he walks over to it, shaking the dust free as he recalls.

"So yeah, bumps an' bruises; I knew them," he snickers, judging the shirt as clean as it would get before tossing it back over his head and getting dressed, hiding the worst of the wounds. "Couldn't keep me in one colour when I was a sproutling; by lunchtime, every day, I'd collected 'nother 'adventure', with a matchin' misfortune with it. Fell int' the tidal pools, gotten bitten by a crow when I got too close t' it's nest, climbed up a Naming Tree an' got scolded by its guardian; y' name it, it probably happened." His snicker scrunches his nose, mischievous again, as the prattling takes him over.

He's not too sure if he's actually helping Inigo. The blabber is easy enough to ignore, and not actually important if he doesn't want to listen, though Esteban is speaking maybe a bit too fast to get a word in otherwise. He hopes that whatever sunshine he's collected can be passed on over to his companion, through whichever means, or maybe that Jumblie is managing to soothe his thoughts.

Inigo seems find with this situation, really. He will even allow Esteban to hold his hand the entire way there if he wants, because Inigo sure isn't pulling his way. He's also not making any active movements to hold the other guy's hand in return, but at the very least that means his hand will keep resting in the other's as long as Esteban is holding onto it.

Then again, Inigo not actively holding someone's hand is very much not like him. Nor is the way he just stares ahead of them while Esteban talks, rather than actively glancing over at the other while he walks.

(He's fine with this though - Esteban just babbling on, Inigo not even needing to fill up any potentially awkward pauses with words of his own. He can just listen as he walks. It's easier to not talk right now, anyway.)

It's only when Esteban finally seems to grow quiet that Inigo slowly speaks up.

"What's a Naming Tree?"

Hey, at least it shows that he is actively listening to the other, even if it might not show much in Inigo's current behaviour and weird emotionless facial expression.

It's worrying him. He doesn't know what's wrong, but the more Inigo remains like this, the more the redhead cannot expect it to be normal, cannot understand it as it being just an effect of the mission. His attempts barely seem to help, but Esteban doesn't even have any idea how to pull him out of... of this shell of himself. He doesn't even have any other plan than to try-- and his blabber starts back anew.

"They're-- hmm, hang on." Hand grasping his companion's again, he's a bit slower now when he checks through the rubble around them. "They're the center 'f each Moon Mountain towns; literally. Kind 'f a big deal." Oh! There he gets an idea, and off he goes with it again, using the world they're in to explain himself. "Kind of like, climbin' all over the statues in the temple we went to earlier... 'Cept that the statues are made t' climb on. But not-- carelessly."

"... Not that that ever stopped me." He snickers. "I jus' got better at it." There, he finds his shoes, and Inigo's hand is dropped for a few seconds while he hops on over to shove them back on his feet with very little care. This time when Esteban comes back, he offers his hand instead of taking his companion's, with a slight tilt to his head, even as he beams at him. He'll take the hand if there is no response, but he'd rather-- he hopes Inigo will take it on his own.

"The view from the top is the best! They're closest to the Mirror Moon, Eriat, an' at midday, th' rare times she aligns perfectly with th' sun, she throws colours all over th' place! Shards of blues an' greens an' yellow all over~ Seein' it from above, y'd think the world turned 'nto a stained-glass picture!"

They're making their way back to their team now, the few stragglers looking disgruntled, but not arguing anymore, thankfully. Esteban stays back a fair few steps, out of their hearing range first.

There's a lot of terms that Inigo doesn't recognize here. But he does the best he can to try and follow along with the explanation all the same - and Esteban doing his best to compare stuff to things Inigo does know helps a lot to generate a mental image of all of this inside of Inigo's head.

Besides, it's not hard to imagine Esteban climbing things all over the place. The other is like a bundle of energy with a person skin wrapped around it. There's no way he could sit still, or see something that pretty and not want to get closer to it. That's Esteban for you, Inigo thinks - as far as he knows the other, anyway.

They should really bring these people back to camp now though, Inigo thinks once they're back at where the stragglers and their teammates are. On the other hand, he doesn't want Esteban to get the idea that Inigo isn't interested in his story, despite his lack of reaction.

And despite the fact that he doesn't reach out to the hand when Esteban holds it out to him, instead waiting for the other to grab his hand first. It's like all life and energy has left Inigo for the moment.

"Sorry that you don't have something like that to climb here," he instead replies, his tone still carefully neutral. It's so hard to find any emotion anywhere around him. It's not in his eyes, not in his expression, not in his voice.

Not even in the hand he's holding.

"But regardless, even if you're used to being hurt, we should still let someone look at you. You shouldn't head into the next distortion before you're sure you're doing fine."

The half-elf's eyebrows are furrowed, but he still keeps Inigo's hand in his own, carefully, as if he could give comfort through his gentle hold. There's a shake of his head, though at what, it can be anyone's guess. The climbing? Or the encouragement (again) to see a healer? Either of them, or maybe both-- Esteban is not addressing these concern, not right now, because he has his own, and even though he's gotten scratches, they're nothing deep and-- and--

"Inigo, what's wrong?" He doesn't dare blink in case he misses something. "You're worrying me." It... comes out in a murmured lull, at the very least, controlled in his tone so that he doesn't alert anyone else, but it comes out... all at once. He winces, realizing that he should have at least tried to soften the question, but the words had been hovering for too long and all he's done has failed so far.

He's better at cheering people up. Brushing aside grey clouds and painting them with silver lightings. Storms? Esteban doesn't know what to do with silent storms that linger underneath the skin. He doesn't know how to help, no matter how much he wants to. And 'Dians, he does want to.

He's just... clumsy at it.

Even though it's not like the question is entirely unexpected, it still feels like it's striking like lightning. It's not sudden, but the impact is big all the same. Inigo feels like he's been punched straight in the stomach. Not necessarily by just the question itself, but more just the way Esteban says it. So quietly, half-muttered.

Inigo doesn't want to worry the other. He doesn't want to worry anyone. That's exactly why he's doing this, and yet.. it seems like it's totally backfired on him all the same, huh.

".. don't worry about it, Esteban."

Inigo keeps his own voice relatively low in volume too, but still clearly audible to the other.

"It's not your fault."

That's.. not really an answer to the other's question, is it? But Inigo would prefer to never talk about what's bothering him, especially when it's something that can't be fixed.

Instead the least he can do - or maybe the only thing he can do here - is reassure the other that it's not his fault. And that much is true. Inigo is being very genuine about it. Esteban didn't cause any of this, it's just something that's been haunting Inigo for much longer than just today.

That's... not much of an answer. The comment added for his own benefit doesn't quell his worry either-- he'd thought so at first, but it was-- it hadn't seemed to stick properly the longer Inigo remained in this state. Esteban knows that there are layers upon layers to what just happened, even on his side, so he expects it's... similar for his companion.

"Can anyone help?" He offers again, and his voice is less of a mess, but it does sound a little louder now. He tampers it down yet again, before accidentally attracting anymore attention. It's a testament to Esteban's worry that, despite his voice dropping to low and hushed tones that he has not used before-- discreet is not his usual vocal range-- his words are sharper, fuller. Carefully pronounced so that they are not dismissed.

"Should I call Tidus?" Maybe the sunshine that Tidus brings along would be a better comfort than Esteban can share. He's already halfway through the motion of scrolling through the SCA's tiny, fiddly buttons he absolutely hates, searching for the call list he's just learned to use. "He can meet us up back in camp."

Esteban doesn't... He's just met Inigo a few weeks ago. Inigo is precious to him, and he wants to do his best to help him-- but it feels like he shouldn't press for more when he might only manage to hurt his friend. If Tidus can help better, then, Esteban will play the messenger, and take a step back. It's the best thing he can think of right now.

Edited (Weird sentence structure) 2022-02-10 21:56 (UTC)

"N-- No!"

The single word escapes Inigo just a little bit too quickly, but he can't help it. Especially since Esteban is already scrolling down the list of contacts, bringing the possibility that he'll call Tidus just way too close. It's not even like the other doesn't know about Inigo's current state as well, but it's just-- he doesn't want to bother him with it.

He doesn't want to bother anyone with it. It'd be so much easier if Esteban had just never asked about it in the first place, but of course the other can't just ignore it. He's way too caring.

Realising just how quickly and instinctively that 'no' escaped him, Inigo frowns, looking embarrassed and disappointed - in himself though, when it comes to that latter one.

"That's not it." Something about his voice is almost pleading, because the last, the very last thing he'd want the other to take away from this is that he's somehow not important to Inigo. Or at the very least not important enough to help him.

No one could help him, after all. It's got nothing to do with how long he has known the other.

"I'm just.." He starts, then stops. His stomach churns to a point where he almost feels nauseous. "I'm just screwed up."

It's not the most elaborate way to put it, but Inigo feels that if he dives any further into the details, he might just have a total breakdown here on the spot. And he can't afford that, not when they've got a group of still agitated displaced people to return to camp.

"And some days that's easier to deal with than others."

This isn't a good day. This entire mission hasn't been good for it so far.

At least Inigo sounds like he's being very honest about everything he's saying - though he, at the same time, sounds like he hates every single word that comes out of his mouth. But if he hadn't told Esteban, the other would have felt bad and made assumptions too--

So it's just a lose-lose situation, no matter what he says or doesn't say here.

He'd managed to stop Esteban at least. Eyes wide and staring at him, sitting still for just a moment-- long enough to let Inigo speak, and-- 'Dians, he's messed up. Pushed his big nose where it didn't belong and asked for too much and Inigo is hurting, and yet-- and yet.

"You are not screwed up!" Shit-- shit! His voice barely stays low enough to remain quiet and he has to lash down the snarl that presses across the back of his throat, tying it down and away and covering it because that's his friend who is putting himself down, that's Inigo speaking and he's not angry at him, he's angry that he's hurting!

'Dians, he's pretty sure he's not supposed to say that, he's not supposed to dismiss his concerns like this, but Esteban is already reaching for his friend and kicking aside any other thought than needing to help, needing to heal, needing to say just the right thing which he knows, he knows he can't fucking find, because he's never been smart with words, but he can't ever consider not doing anything.

He doesn't even think, doesn't have time to think anything other than burying his friend in the fiercest hug he can manage, pressing him against heart and ribs and bruises so hard that they sting, his entire side burning, but he will not let go. Not now. He barely registers the resistance of his shirt before it splits right down the back, and his wings sweep out to engulf Inigo until he is cocooned in warmth, wrapped up in as much safety as Esteban can ever offer anyone.

"Look-- no-- listen--" He breathes deeply, carefully, trying so hard not to scare him, not to hurt him further. Dead Guardians in a ditch, if he's frightened Inigo off because of how he'd reacted-- is still reacting-- he will never forgive himself. "Please listen."

He's... not sure what he wants to say. There's too much stumbling across in his mind, words and thoughts and begging that he's not going to screw this up, he can't, he can't, even though maybe he already has.

At least the one good thing for Esteban here is the fact that Inigo doesn't move away. He doesn't resist to the other pulling him into that hug, though it's questionable how well he would even have been able to pull himself away with the way the other is putting those wings around him like that. It'd be like having to wrestle himself out of a cocoon.

But Inigo doesn't try to do so. It was hard to say that, and a part of him would love to run away forever, disappear with the western sun, but he knows that it isn't possible within their current situation. He can't go anywhere, they're all stuck on the train together, on this mission together, so he'll have to live with his words.

Even if he is just doing so by passively allowing the other to wrap him up, standing there, basically a ragdoll inside of Esteban's arms.

".. Listen to what?" He slowly says, his voice so soft that it's almost a whisper between the two of them.

Esteban did tell him to listen, after all, but then didn't continue with any words that Inigo ought to listen to.

So he just stands there, waiting. Not looking the other in the eyes, though being hugged so tightly against him gives him a convenient excuse to not be able to do so.

He's bad at this. He's so, so bad at this, he knows it, he knows he has to explain, he has to try, he has to help, but he doesn't know how and it's horrifying to think that he might make this worse; he probably already is making it worse. There's a heartbeat in his throat, and he has to swallow it back, along with dust and dryness that wasn't there just a moment ago, and if Inigo wasn't so tightly held with all of his limbs, his wings would be trembling, unable to sit still.

He breathes, filling his lungs, trying to find his heart along this all.

"You-- 'Dians, Inigo. You are not screwed up." He repeats gently, because he believes it, believes it with all of his heart. Inigo is hurting, he's aching from wounds Esteban doesn't know-- can't dare ask about right now, when he's already twisted the knife in enough that his companion is back to that quiet, distant storm, but that does not make him any-- any less than the friend Esteban has grown so fond of.

He just-- he needs to say it, somehow. He needs to say it clearly, without--

"You're my friend, Inigo. You're my friend, an' you're precious to me." It's-- people usually get uncomfortable when he's that forwards, that fast, but Esteban doesn't care, it is not any less true. And these words are important to him, important to say; he's always so, so bloody aware that there's never enough time to say all that he ever wants to say and it just spills and spills, but always at the wrong time, always at the wrong moment. He doesn't know where he's going with this, but he has to-- he has to try.

"An'-- that you're hurting doesn' make you any less precious, doesn' make you any diff'rent th'n the time we danced t'gether, or the time you told me 'bout all the dragons an' manaketes of your world." He's trying, he really is, but there's words that aren't coming out right, that aren't saying enough.

"Hell, Inigo. I turned into a monster an' you came t' save me, anyways." He still doesn't understand why. He doesn't get why Inigo would risk himself for him; but it strings his lungs tight and his heart stumbled when he'd seen him.

When was the last time that Esteban had been protected at all? He can barely remember.

"How are you a monster?"

Sure, this technically isn't about Esteban. But this just works along the same lines as pretty much everything works for Inigo - it is so much easier to focus on other people than it is to focus on himself and what makes him, according to himself, so screwed up. It's so much easier to lift others up than to ever do the same for himself.

And so, when that simple word moves out of Esteban's mouth, Inigo can't help but focus on it first, still in the other's embrace.

"You're just a dragon shifter." Granted, those words might come easily to Inigo when he's used to manaketes, when he has spent so much time around Nah, who turned into a dragon like it was nothing all the time. When dragons are pretty much everywhere in his world. But it doesn't make the words any less true, or any less meant. "Does not fully being human, or not fully being an elf, make you any less of a person than the rest of us?"

He wonders if maybe people treated Esteban differently where he came from. If that's maybe where this is born from.

Maybe he's letting his thoughts drift off towards that on purpose, just to not have to think about himself.

"I.. helped you because you're my friend." He can agree with that, at least. "And because I didn't want to see you hurting. It's really as simple as that.."

No-- No!

This isn't-- he just used the wrong word, it wasn't about this, it was about Inigo, it was about his heart and his kindness, and, and now Esteban is losing his grip onto his argument, knowing, knowing it's all about to crash down. His thoughts scatter with his heartbeat even as he listens, even as he tries to catch their flutter-- a thousand words flying off, and Esteban can only try to reach to them, but it's too little, too late and he's lost them, lost them all.

"I don't-- I'm not--" 'Dians, no. He's so horrible at this, wishes he'd not said that, wishes he had not slipped up like that.

"I don't believe I'm a monster." It's just that others do. It's complicated. Esteban is confident in himself, confident in who he is; he knows himself, he does! But he does so hate be be feared, suffers from being hated just because he happens to look like a demon. He should have told Inigo this before-- he should have been more open, had already decided he was going to tell him, but he thought he'd have time-- and now.

Now Inigo is trying to help him when there isn't even a real reason to. 'Dians, he's messed up on so, so many fronts.

"It's just a thing in my world; but 't doesn't matter." The fight's taken out of him. As tightly as he'd held his companion before, it's looser now, wings sheltering them into a soft warmth that slowly unravels. Esteban's cheek presses to the top of Inigo's hair before he sighs softly, gently turning away.

The crushing hug is no longer bruising, then carefully loosened, very, very slowly, dragging every ounce of comfort he can out of it. But it was mostly for himself; Inigo didn't even return the hold, and now-- well. Esteban's piecing himself back together again. He has to.

"Thank you for saving me." He won't ever say it enough, drawing back and away just so that Inigo can see how sincere he is. He means it, he truly does, even if his voice is not as boisterous, or loud, or sunshine-bright. He still means it.

He almost trips into his own shoes when he steps away-- unlaced and sitting awkwardly on his misshapen feet. His shirt is a lost cause, even as he shifts back, wings curling and then gone, tail vanishing as if he'd never had one. The moment-- the... what he'd hoped to gift to his friend is lost, because Esteban never knows when to speak, and when to shut up.

So he shifts back and fixes his clothing, his shoes. Takes the shirt off because now it's just an awkward apron anyways, and tucks the rag into a beltloop. Takes his friend's hand into his own again, because even if he's messed up, Esteban doesn't know how to stop trying, anyways.

"C'mon. Let's get back to the others."

Fissures of Time: Start

Bad Decisions Incoming orz

esteban is just doing his best!!!

His best is being an Absolute Idiot. Also, I am never writing crowds ever again.

ssshh, you're doing fine!!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Q__Q

sorry, esteban ;;

don't worry, he's here to be the emotional support sunshine (or at least try to)

what a good little bean ;;

Pure of heart, Dumb of ass

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

Fade to black?