middleofsomewhere | No Place Like Home: Outside

No Place Like Home: Outside

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: OUTSIDE

HOME SWEET HOME

You find yourself not on a wide station platform, in the clothes you last remember, holding what you were when you went through the glas door. There's no longer a train behind you, no sound of its whistle, with no other passengers around you in similar style of clothing to your own.

You're somewhere familiar, or just - the last place you remember being before your life became tethered to the Voidtrecker Express. A field, a city, a kingdom, or perhaps even a space station. You should be nowhere, yet you find yourself somewhere, despite all odds.

People - if there are people - don't at first notice you; but attract enough attention to yourself, and that will all change. Friends, family - are they near, a phonecall away? It's either everything you wanted or everything you imagined (for good or worse), and it could seem unbelievably real. But it is real - you're off the train, back somewhere you know.

Finally - the journey is over...

...If only.
You're moving away from where you arrived, for whatever reason. Who wouldn't? You may be far from home, have business elsewhere, or want to go sightseeing. It's time to return to - and live - your life, and that doesn't include sticking to one place.

But you'll find that when you reach a point, the world becomes...foggy. A fog that you hadn't seen in the distance before it appears, and when you walk through it, you'll find yourself in a place some have already found themselves in.

Because for some passengers, there was nowhere for them to return, and so the barriers lead only to fog, and then straight back onto the platform. The Voidtrecker Express may be stationed, or there may be a blanket of fog where it should be; sometimes, it can be caught trying to leave the station, only to come back a few minutes later. The doors are shut tight, and the windows are obscured, showing nothing inside.

Those who came from somewhere can go back, should they go through the turnstiles again. And if they want, they can take people along with them, too...

But sometimes, they go to a world no one knows. They go through the barriers into nothing, a black emptiness. Not space, for those that know space, and it doesn't seem to be the void either. But it is a void, devoid of anything at all. Just a darkness so complete they will not be able to see anything at all, they will only know their companion is there through touch and sound. How they are breathing, how they are living at all, is a mystery; one probably answered only by the SCA on their wrist.

Being there brings an unease deep down inside them. This place is not natural, not somewhere that they should exist in. Not a place that should exist at all. Luckily they are never there for more than a few moments before they return once more to the station, fog covering them like a safety blanket.

A DIFFERENT CORNER: LOCATIONS

In the first couple of days (whatever that means, when time doesn't match up between most places), the only way to move to another's tethered location is by them leading another there. But after that, individuals will show up in other locations when they reach close to the distance limit. Indeed as time goes on everything gets a lot less stable. They may know their five miles perfectly but still one step to another leads them back to the platform. Attempting to return to their world leads them somewhere else entirely.

And there's quite a few places to end up.

SETTLEMENTS

Buddhist Temple, China ( Koumyou Sanzo | TL )
Rebel Camp, Lothal ( Hera Syndulla | TL )
Homestead, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA ( Nell Ingram TL )
Capsule Corp ( Trunks | TL )
School Grounds, College ( Idia Shroud | TL )
City Ruins, beach ( Najaran | TL )
Hakkei Palace, Tai ( Taiki | TL )
Gusu Lan, mountain sect (China) ( Lan Jingyi | TL)
Lotus Pier, riverside, China ( Jiang Cheng | TL )
The Endless Abyss, Hell ( Shen Qingqiu | TL )
Hyrule Castle Town ( Zelda | TL )
Haven Palace ( TL )

COMMUNITIES

Spaceport ( Yondu | TL)
Mobile Station Base ( Kiyoiri )
Arkwood, Town (Ryo | TL )
Techstead, Town ( Devero | TL )
Tatsumi Port Island ( Ken Amada )
Mor Dhona / Town, Mountain, Lakes ( K'zeka Tai | TL )
Hyrule Field & Lon Lon Ranch ( Link | TL )
Ishigami Village, Japan ( Senku Ishigami | TL )
Aether Paradise/Artificial Island/Natural Preserve ( Katsuya Jonouchi )
Nautilus ( Spark/Clef TL Clef | TL Spark )
The Underworld, Hades ( Zagreus and Thanatos | TL )
Sanctuary ( TL )

CITIES & KINGDOMS

Saillune City ( Zelgadis | TL )
New Mantle, City ( Ruby Rose | TL )
Brooklyn, New York City, USA in 2017 ( Jake Peralta | TL )
Azabu-Juban District, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan ( Usagi Tsukino | TL )
Hau'oli City ( Eva Iden'no | TL )
Gauig City ( Little One/Buttercup | TL )
Kyoto, Japan ( Masumi Sera | TL )
Shinjuku, Japan ( Yosuke Otoha | TL )
Kingdom, Evermore ( Roland Crane )
Garlemad, Kingdom ( Zenos | TL )
Kingdom of Knothole ( Mina Mongoose | TL )
Domino City ( Yugi Muto | TL )
Amnity Park ( Danny Fenton | TL )
Garlemald ( TL )
Lothal ( TL )
Los Angeles ( TL )
The First - Crystarium and Lakeland ( Elidibus | TL )

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here.

LOCATION TOPLEVELS: Since it'll be easier for players to engage with settings presented by those offering them, when we see a toplevel for one of the above locations put up, we'll add it to the list! We've also included the OOC comments for settings to the side, so any questions can be left with the player, as well as extra details. Please always speak with the player first if you intend to do anything drastic to the setting!

A REMINDER: Time of log is Poi 22-25, but time within worlds can last up to a maximum of two weeks. Minimum is whatever you want it to be.

During Poi 22 and 23, characters will need to be led to a location to be able to access it. From Poi 24, people will show up in locations regardless of invitation.

The second half of the event will go up during 20th to 25th February (Poi 26-28). But as always, play around in here and do as you like!

If your character's setting isn't above, link us to it in the Questions post, along with your toplevel! We'll add it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Once again, Xichen finds himself disoriented and drifting through unfamiliar fog. It is heartbreaking, nearly, after the way seeing home had filled him with hope. He had been certain, at first, that he'd come back and that he could set things right. He'd remembered all he'd been told, the dangers ahead if his trust in Meng Yao remained unwavering.

And then he'd tried to leave the compound, make his way down the mountain only to find himself back on the platform not long after he'd set foot in Caiyi.

It had ached, but he'd gone back, and then felt himself tethered and pulled elsewhere.

When the fog clears, he finds him standing in a place he'd visited before. Not often, no, but he'd accompanied his uncle here and met with Jiang Fengmian when he'd held the title of Sect Leader Jiang. Before-- before it burned. Yet, standing here, Lan Xichen finds it looks very much like his memories of it, if not more likely than memory serves.

So he wanders, curious if he'll find the familiar face of its current sect leader or if Jiang Wanyin has outsmarted this illusion. His wandering leads him out to the docks, where he finds himself stopping to watch the lotus flowers and gentle flow of the river. He takes a deep breath, lets cool air fill his lungs as he takes it in for a few moments. When he turns around to head back toward the complex, he pauses at the end too to take it in. And if he looks awed by it, he doesn't think anyone is there to witness.

Jiang Cheng has refused to wander too far away from Lotus Pier, for fear of losing what had been right in front of him; he didn't want to slip away from the home he had missed so desperately, the place that needed him so much after the mess that had been caused not so many months ago. He can't bear to leave it behind so he refuses to walk too far, learning swiftly the bounds of his own land once again.

It's enough to haunt him, to make him feel discomforted, and he frowns as he tries to register what is going on. He doesn't really want to return to the train, but he is beginning to feel as though he doesn't have any real option in the future.

During his wandering around he has noticed a few strangers, either people from outside Yunmeng visiting or people from the train who have passed by, but he stops short when he sees someone he recognises. There's a moment of overwhelming awkwardness and embarrassment - the kind he has to temper down, just in case his Empathy gets out of control and starts to broadcast it to everyone in Lotus Pier.

Walking forward, he steps up to stand at Lan Xichen's side, forcing himself to be comfortable, as at ease as he can muster.

"Welcome to Lotus Pier, Zewu-jun."

As focused as he is, Lan Xichen does not realize that he is no longer along until Jiang Wanyin speaks beside him. His heart jumps in his chest, a flare of embarrassment and panic passes through him as he turns toward the other man.

"Sect Leader Jiang," he says after forcing calm into his own voice, dips his head in greeting to the other. They had last seen each other on that station, both set on returning home as goodbyes were said amongst other members of the train's crew.

"Thank you," he says gently, looking back at the entrance back into the main courtyard. "It looks as it did the last time I visited." Better, still, than his memory could muster.

"I did not expect to find myself here." He'd wanted to go home, to be in Cloud Recess again. That's the truth, yes, but as he realizes the strangeness of this experience and that they are not in their own worlds, it is good to be somewhere familiar with someone familiar. He's grateful for that, for Jiang Wanyin.

This is the first time they've spoken properly - or, something approaching proper - since the misfortune in the other world, and the discomfort is clear on Jiang Cheng's face. It doesn't seem as though Lan Xichen is carrying any sort of grudge or ill feelings, which is good enough, but that doesn't mean his lapse in politeness can be completely forgiven. Jiang Cheng can imagine the scolding his mother might have given him were she to find out.

At least they can be formal and polite with one another, which is something of a relief. He doesn't have the strength to put on too many airs now, not when things don't quite feel right just yet.

"We worked hard to make sure it looked as it did before," he comments, voice low, measured. Withholding the anger and frustration he feels at the reminder of what the Wen clan did to his home. It still burns under his skin - but it has been many, many years since then. The anger is embers, coal compared to the roaring fire that had once burned.

"... Would you like to walk around?" The offer comes before he can help himself and all Jiang Cheng can do is blame it on the notion of formality and politeness. "We can go to along the pier properly, or look at the lotus flowers."

For his own part, Xichen feels discomfort and a hint of awkwardness behind his smile. They have not spoken in so long, not properly, and he still remembers how readily he'd entered Jiang Wanyin's space and flirted before.

I cannot be called anything but that.

And that is all ignoring the breach in formality.

He nods at Jiang Wanyin's words, still taking it in. "You've accomplished that." He says with a gentle smile, perhaps a little fondly. He is surprised by the offer and perhaps that shows, he knows his cheeks heat at least but it would be rude to decline and Lan Xichen is curious.

"Yes," he accepts, "I would like to see either, whichever you enjoy more. My visits here had never left room for exploring before," he'd accompanied his uncle once or twice but those had been limited to business matters, to sitting with his uncle and Jiang Fengmian instead of exploring the grounds.

As he is with most over things, Jiang Cheng is prepared to bulldoze his way through this conversation. It might take him a little while to be properly comfortable with this version of Lan Xichen, considering how foolish he had been before, but he will force himself to accept it, force himself to be calm and collected, as a proper leader ought to be.

It's his fault for being embarrassed anyway; he highly doubts someone as collected and measured as Zewu-jun himself will care much for his own discomfort, or what had happened to the two of them beforehand.

"Thank you for the kind words," he replies after a moment, motioning with a hand to urge Xichen to begin to walk alongside him, Jiang Cheng prepared to lead. The pier is looking very beautiful at the moment, which is a relief; the weather can sometimes get a little poor depending on the season. They're in luck.

"We can begin with the pier and then take a boat out, if you decide you want to."

"It is not only kindness." Not merely, Xichen wishes to say but he leaves it at that. He has learned that if he pushes, he is more likely to push this version of Jiang Wanyin away than earn the smiles that he remembers from the other's youth. From his own, which is not so far behind him.

He falls in to step with Jiang Wanyin, finds himself both a bit amused and flustered by the other leading. The dynamic between them is still strange but the confidence the other projects, well, at least it takes the weight off of Xichen's shoulders for the moment.

"Will we be able to see the whole of Lotus Pier from the boat?" he tilts his head as he asks, curious at that.

Jiang Cheng isn't sure how to respond to that, so he chooses not to: there isn't anything he could say that wouldn't be embarrassing, or out of place, and given the rather nervous nature of their relationship at the moment he swallows it all down instead. He doesn't want to put his foot in his mouth as he has done already, or cause more problems by acting the fool once again.

He's sick and tired of being made to look stupid, or foolish, or brainless, especially in front of someone as strong and well-respected as Zewu-jun himself. It wouldn't do any good for his already poor reputation, and with all the Sects needing to grow in strength and rebuild in the future... Well.

Shaking his head, he motions around with his hand as he speaks, pointing.

"We can see the majority of the rivers, and the scope of the mountains, but if you wish to see more of the Pier itself we would need to walk down to Yunmeng proper. I've found that is... Difficult at the moment."

Xichen looks out toward the water and then back at Jiang Wanyin, listening carefully to his words before understanding dawns on him. "Yunmeng proper is where the limits of whatever is happening here fall, then?"

That earns a soft frown, worry in his eyes. He shakes his head a moment later to dislodge his worry, wanting to focus on what lies in front of them for the moment. If they are here, for a little bit, he'd like to see what he can. "If we cannot go to see more of it, I'd like to see what we can from the water."

"It seems so. I've yet to understand why, exactly, I cannot go any further, but I'm sure I will have plenty of time to figure it out."

It's not as if he's planning to go anywhere else, after all, no more than he's planning to wander off into the fog and end up lost elsewhere. Jiang Cheng is back in Lotus Pier and as far as he's concerned he's not going to abandon his people again.

Once was more than enough.

"Then we can go and find a boat. This way." He walks forward, only hesitating to make sure Xichen is keeping up.

"Perhaps the same reason that I am here instead of the Cloud Recesses," he'd been there, after all, only a short time before. "I had left the edge of how war I could go and when I tried to go back..."

Well, now he's here.

He nods and continues to follow, looking around as they walk. The Lotus Pier he remembers, before it burned, looked much like this but there are difference too. He's awed at them, cannot hide it as he glances around. "How long did it take to rebuild?" he asks as they walk, then feels a panic run through him -- perhaps that is the wrong question to ask.

"It must be another side effect of the train. There's nothing we can do other than keep doing what we're doing."

Jiang Cheng moves forward, guiding them to the pier, where little boats are set up with enough space for a few people. They're mostly empty now, people back in the main stronghold doing their daily work, which is fine and well for Jiang Cheng. The less people that see him entertaining the famed Zewu-jun the better, all things considered.

"Not as long as we thought," he admits, voice quiet, undoing one of the ropes holding the boats in place. They'll have to remove the other one once they're inside. "Everyone worked hard together to make sure it was as good as it used to be. Get in."

"Perhaps." Or something else entirely. Xichen doesn't quite understand how the train works, what it decides for them.

Why.

He wishes he did but trying to find reason, logic, has been difficult. It is like pulling at the threads of the reality he knows is awaiting him, what Meng Yao will do, when he cannot fully believe it.

At the end of the pier, he stands behind Jiang Wanyin and tries to focus on the man instead. He looks so familiar and yet so different, but Xichen finds himself growing more comfortable with this version of the man he once called his student. Slowly, steadily, despite the awkwardness that has already unfolded many times. He doesn't say anything at the first half answer, only nods. He has learned that more of than not, Jiang Wanyin takes genuine words as platitudes.

But then, he is still Lan Xichen. "It looks like you achieved that goal and more," he says, suddenly feeling himself flushing and a bit off kilter at the directness of what the other finishes with.

Still, Lan Xichen is familiar with boats and on the water. He doesn't need to be told twice to get into the boat and sit so it does not tip. Unlike the larger ones, the smaller boats are not always charmed. "I saw many of your disciples amongst the crowds. Some helping those operating the stalls along the streets?"

It's not something that Jiang Cheng wants to spend a lot of time thinking about.

There's a relief to be had in the fact that he is home, that he's able to see Lotus Pier again, that he was able to say goodbye and not hold too many regrets. Some of the burden has been eased from his shoulders and he feels as though he can stand a little bit taller, feel a little bit stronger.

There's no logic to any of this, he knows that, and he's wary, unsure of whether or not he can trust the train, given all that has happened, but he has a burning hope. A desperate need to be home that he could believe in, that he could enjoy, that he could have as his own.

It never is that easy, though, is it?

"That is kind of you to say," he says, voice low and careful. He's realising that he might have been on the edge of rudeness and he shoves it away, forcing himself to be more measured, more polite, swallowing it back and breathing out slowly.

Slowly, he gets into the boat as well, bringing the ropes along with him.

"Some of them do, yes. The markets in Yunmeng have always been important to the Sect and they're always happy to go to the markets and help them as much as possible. It's sometimes an excuse to escape training, but rarely. They're good disciples."

Is he smug? Maybe, just a little.

Xichen thinks for a moment, that it in this strange situation where he is the younger, he should ask if he can help with anything but Jiang Wanyin is quick as he unties the boat and they are both settled in it.

He frowns to himself, feels rather self conscious of it but then that passes as his companion speaks of his disciples. "It sounds like the are all a big part of the community here. You all are," Xichen observes, looking back out toward the direction of the markets. The Lan Sect is not so integrated into Caiyi or any city below their mountain, so he looks out that way with a hint of wonder.

There's no point in him messing around when he is the one who knows how the boats work best here, and so he does it, untying and pushing them out onto the lakes. He's not sure how far they can even go, considering the strange fog that has overtaken Yunmeng, but they might as well try and see something.

It's better than being stuck completely in the compound. That's sure to drive him insane sooner rather than later.

"They are the heart of Lotus Pier," he admits, his voice low and soft. "We would never have been able to rebuilt like this if they hadn't worked as hard as they have."

"You have missed them greatly," Xichen says but it is more of a question, a soft one that he can understand. He misses his own disciples, the members of his family and Sect that he knows. As he knows them.

"It is a testament to you all," he notices, though does not call out, that Jiang Wanyin is not taking credit for it at all. While it is the disciples who make up the success of the sect, they cannot do so without a strong leader behind them and Xichen can see that this was not only a labour of love for those who joined the Jiang Sect to rebuild it.

"Without question," he says, voice soft and quiet. The longing he has for Lotus Pier is immeasurable, especially when he's been away from it for so long. All that Jiang Cheng wants is to go back to his people, to be able to support them, ensure their survival. It was his duty and his honour to do so, and there's no going back on that.

Not that he would want to. It's the only thing he knows how to do.

Shaking his head, he adjusts the ship and reaches for the paddles, frowning.

"How far do you want to go?"

"What do you miss most?" Perhaps it can be replicated, to some measure on the train. Xichen knows it will not be the same, that that is an impossible feat, but perhaps.

He glances out at the water as the other speaks, wondering where they'll be able to go before the fog grows thicker. "To the lotus pods?"

It's growing dark now, the sun setting slowly. "If we will be able to see anything once the Sun sets?"

"The ponds, a lot of the time, and the people. I miss the feeling of being home more than anything else." Especially after having gone months without it before, especially after the loss of people he called home the most. It has led to him appreciating home itself more keenly than he had before.

The question makes him shake his head as he begins to guide the boat towards the pods. He thinks, based on his guess of time, it might be alright to pick one or two.

"The lakes will be dark," he admits, voice quiet. "But the disciples will light lanterns along the pier, so we'll be able to see well enough."

“Perhaps some things from home can be recreated if we return to the train,” Xichen says softly, looking out at the pier and then back at the man before him. He does not know if they will go back, what all of this means, but something within him wishes to ease the longing for home that Jiang Wanyin feels for home.

XIchen knows the feeling now; his time on the train now exceeds the months he’d spent away from Cloud Recess during the war. Then he’d been hiding, knowing he would one day be able to return. It had hurt, but not like the uncertainty they are all faced with now.

“Ah, that may not help us out here unless we are fortunate enough to see some stars to guide our way,” he says with a soft smile, looking back toward the pier then shines an earnest smile at the other sect leader. The smile is gentle still, but different from the polite mask he offers to most. It’s genuine, a glimpse behind the image he has cultivated of warmth that does not always reach his eyes. “Thank you for indulging me, Sect Leader Jiang.”

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No Place Like Home: Outside

LOTUS PIER PROPER.

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