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

"Yes. There are still ministers. They are alive though most are puppets to Asen, controlled by his Youma. I don't know what the situation on the world below is."

How much of Tai has been destroyed, how many people killed? He doesn't know but his imagination can easily fill in the gaps.

He moves to the edge of the courtyard, even though people have not been able to see him before he still wishes to lay low. As low as he can lay in kirin form.

He is grateful for the arms around him, they ground him, even as they make his heart break further.

So it's basically just as Inigo thought. The situation is just.. bad. The only people who are still alive in this place are the ones working for the person who caused all of this devastation in the first place.

(He's kind of glad that Taiki can't go down below in his current state, since Inigo can't really imagine that things are faring much better there with the state of the palace.)

"Taiki.."

Inigo's voice is soft, like he's trying to draw the other's attention as much as he can here. Trying to draw it away from the scene in front of their eyes, and towards him. Just because it's better for Taiki to focus on him than on all his misery.

"We'll revert this. We'll make it better." Somehow. Inigo refuses any other possibility for the world of such a dear friend. "If you want, we can go over to Ylisse and see if we can call upon Naga. I.. I don't think she will respond to me while we're in this state," only half present in the world, that is, "but we could try. Or we can find some other way. Maybe the Ministry can help!"

Look, he's aware that he's just throwing out random ideas and left right, but there's got to be something out there in the multiverse that can fix this.

Otherwise it's just not fair. Taiki never chose to leave. This isn't his fault, and yet he has to deal with it all the same. Just because the train decided to drag him in.

It's hard to drag his eyes away from the horror that lies before him but he does when Inigo calls his name like that. Looks at him with eyes that are too hard.

Revert it? Talk to Naga, ask the ministry. He nodded though he honestly didn't think any of that would help. "I need to be able to get to the world below. If we can be here properly... I need to find the new king."

Because that was the only way anything could be solved and it won't happen when Taiki was still linked to the platform, still partly tethered or whatever was happening.

"But if you think Naga could help..."

He's desperate and clearly the gods of his own world had forsaken Tai so he doesn't feel bad about going to another.

He bites his lip, thinking. It's true that they're not going to be able to reach the world below with the way they are now, but he's also terrified of what might happen if Taiki were to try and severe the link that still connects him to the train. He's pretty sure it will make them lost in the void, like all the people who left on the platforms, rather than fully return them to their worlds.

And he won't allow Taiki to end up lost like that. Never.

Asking Naga is a safer bet, but it's hard to tell if he could do that in their current state either.. The train really is giving them the worst of both worlds here, huh? Seeing worlds in this state, but being totally unable to do anything about it.

He's got to think of something though. He can't leave Taiki with this.

"Can't we.. fool it?" He starts, cautiously. He's not sure if Taiki will like the idea, or if it's even feasible, but something about that talk of a new king is giving him an idea. "I have some of Gyousou within me, right?"

Not much. Inigo knows that. But Inigo also knows that Taiki has definitely mistaken the feeling radiating from Inigo for Gyousou before, even if it's a lot weaker now.

"Couldn't we use that to make Tai think that there is a new king?" At least enough to tide it over until Taiki can properly return home.

He twisted his head slightly. Fool it? Fool Tai? Inigo is right. He does have part of Gyousou inside him, Taiki can feel it, painful in its familiarity even if it soothes his heart, cushions it and preventing it from breaking altogether.

Could they fool people. "It would... It might work. We would still need to get to where people could see... But we could make them turn. To know Asen is false."

It could cause a shift in power. Would that be enough, when Taiki couldn't be here truly? It might help. Even a chaotic interim government was better than a false king bent on destroying the kingdom.

It would be a lie though. A huge one. A lie to the gods themselves. Was Taiki willing to do such a thing?

To save Tai? If he could? Yes. There was no question about it. Would it work though? Could he?

"Do you have a blanket?"

"Um."

That question is a lot easier than what Inigo was asking about a moment ago, yet it seems like the guy still needs a moment to think - perhaps because his head is still full of this idea, wondering whether or not it's a good idea to let Taiki do this or not.

.. but then again, it's better than trying nothing at all, right? As long as it's not dangerous to Taiki himself..

"Hold on." Inigo loosens his grip on Taiki before getting off the kirin, moving to stand next to him instead. He seems to think for a moment, perhaps mentally going through what's in his arms band, but then a blanket does appear in his hands. Maybe he keeps one in there exactly for moments where Taiki needs it. "Here. Do you need me to hold it up for you?"

Inigo assumes that the other wants to transform back into his human shape, after all. What else would he need a blanket for?

His mind is still reeling at the idea. It feels wrong. It is wrong and if it doesn't work. Would the gods punish Inigo?

That's his main fear but the gods have not punished Asen who Taiki falsely had claimed king in order to help Tai. They had not punished Asen despite all the ill he had done, despite how he had desecrated Tai.

Perhaps they had no powers over those who were not truly king. Their limits more than most people knew. Worrying that there was no real safeguard against tyrants claiming the throne.

Inigo dismounted and Taiki nodded, a gust of wind as he twisted and shook and was in human form again. He took the blanket, wrapping it around him and took a breath.

"Are you sure? It may be very dangerous for you if we do this."

Please, if there's one worry Inigo doesn't have right here and now, it's for his own safety in this regard. They're already in a precarious enough position when it comes to their current existence thanks to whatever the train did to them - so having this on top of it doesn't feel all that more dangerous to Inigo.

Besides, he'd feel worse not having even tried to help Taiki. How could he put his own wellbeing over Taiki's comfort and happiness?

"I'm sure."

It's why his tone doesn't waver as he says it.

"As long as you think it even has a faint possibility of helping things out here, then I'm willing to try it. This is a unique chance." After all.. he's the last remainder of Gyousou's ouki here. He doesn't say it out loud, not wanting to make the other feel sad at the thought, but Inigo sure knows it in his heart.

Maybe it's the reason he still has some left within him. Just to make this possible. That everything was all leading up to this chance.

It was probably the only chance they had at the moment, outside of finding the actual new king. If they could persuade people that there was a king, who was not Asen. If they could start people talking... It would undermine Asen.

He looked around there were some ministers in the courtyard and some servants walking through. Not all had that glassy look of Asen's control.

"If this works. We must get their attention." He told Inigo before stepping back slightly, keeping the blanket wrapped around him. He knelt down in front of his friend and leaned forwards until his palms touched the icy cobbles, ignoring how much his arms were shaking.

It's wrong. Inigo isn't his king even if he feels like him but if Taiki could lie about Asen he can lie about Inigo. Tai depends on it. He lowers his head, only a fraction before he stops, arms locked as his body refused to bend lower, refused to bow down.

For Tai he reminded himself, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to break through the barrier. Pain filled him, sweat beaded on his head as he tried desperately to bend his arms, to lower his head.

He's done it before, fought through this pain and so he will do it again, he grit his teeth and yet still his head went no lower.

At first Inigo is so busy looking at the people walking around, trying to see if he can pull their attention somehow, that he doesn't quite realise what Taiki is doing yet - especially since the other completely escapes Inigo's field of vision with the way he's bowing down so low.

It's only when he looks back that he realises Taiki has bent forward so far.. which makes Inigo blush to begin with, since he certainly doesn't want anyone to have to bow for him like that, though he realises what the other is trying to do. Inigo has seen Gyousou's memories, after all. He knows that it's what Taiki does to show that someone is the king.

Except now Taiki isn't moving. And yet the other looks.. pained, almost.

"T-Taiki.." His voice is soft, concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Mhmm." Words are too difficult, his head is pounding and his vision is blurred. His head will not lower. This is for Tai. For the people starving and freezing and under Asen's boot. This is a way to help and yet his head will not bend.

This is Inigo. His friend, one of his best friends. Someone he trusts completely. He had once lied, bowed to Asen his enemy but now knelt before Inigo he couldn't bend his head any further.

Perhaps it was that Inigo wasn't actively threatening to have his friends killed if Taiki didn't go through with this. His ability to do the impossible was not one he controlled, one he knew how to control. Sometimes he did what kirin should not be able to do. Sometimes he couldn't do what even a newly hatched kirin could do by instinct.

Perhaps he was just broken, he couldn't move now. Even to save his kingdom. His arms wouldn't bend, his head wouldn't lower, pain seized him completely as he tried to push through it, push past it.

"Hey.."

Inigo knows that this isn't going well. That this isn't how Taiki imagined things would go in the best possible situation. If Taiki knew that he'd struggle this much, that it'd be practically impossible, then he would have told Inigo.

And when he sees the other starting to look so pained, he definitely can't allow this to happen anymore. Something isn't worth it if it's hurting his friend that much.

So Inigo quickly sinks to his knees, putting his hands on Taiki's shoulders. He doesn't try to upright the other just yet, in case it might actually hurt him, but he just wants the other to be aware of his presence.

"Taiki," he starts. "Taiki, it's alright. Don't do it if you can't."

He is still trying, hating himself for not being able to push past it, the pain that is running up and down him. There had been pain before, when he had bowed falsely to Asen but he had managed it... Why could he not now?

He looked up when Inigo dropped to his knees, put his hand on his shoulders. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm trying."

He was shaking from the strain of it.

Inigo wants to say that obviously trying isn't enough here. That it seems like there's something stopping Taiki that's so strong and so big that the kirin just can't overcome it by himself. So strong and so big that it's hurting the other just by trying.

"I.. I don't think it's going to work," he says, shaking his head.

It's not the kind of sentiment he'd like to convey here, but if he would say anything else here, he'd just be outright lying about his assessment of their current situation.

"I don't think I have enough of Gyousou in me that you could bow for me." There, that's a little better. Taking some of the blame off Taiki's shoulders - since he just knows the other is going to blame himself - and taking it upon his own.

It's not working. He looked up sadly, still on his knees, looking defeated, exhausted. He shook his head.

"I guess not..." He could feel it, even so, that spark inside of him that felt like his king. The tiniest light in the overwhelming darkness, the reality of a world where Lord Gyousou was dead.

"I thought... I bowed for him once. Asen. If I could do it for him then I should be able to..."

He's not strong enough.

"That was different."

Not that Inigo knows exactly how, but he at least knows that he and Asen are different - so that's enough reason for him to be able to say for sure that this time and that time were different. Maybe something in the circumstances, the difference between them, enabled Taiki to be able to do so back then, even though he isn't able to do so now.

Whatever the reason is, Inigo doesn't blame Taiki. He never would. He knows the other is doing his best, even now.

So he reaches out, able to wrap the other into a hug now they're both close to the ground.

"It's okay," he says. Maybe not the state of this world. Maybe not the despair Taiki must be feeling. But all the same, Inigo just wants to say.. "You're doing your best. And if this doesn't work, we will figure out something else. You're not alone in this."

Because Inigo is not going to let Taiki be alone in it. Not ever. Maybe that's why the train threw him out, despite Inigo not intending to leave. Because Taiki needed someone to be there with him.

It was different. But in many ways the same. Perhaps it was because there is no danger here, no one to protect to push him into breaking the laws of the gods perhaps it is because Lord Gyousou is truly gone... He doesn't know. All that matters is that he can't.

He stiffens when Inigo wraps his arms around him, but only for a moment before his head falls forward, to rest on his shoulder.

Nothing was better, nothing had been fixed but having Inigo here meant a lot, it made it feel all less terrible, even if just for a moment.

A moment of weakness where he could just lean into a friends arms and not have to think.

There's a tiny moment where Inigo worries that the hug might just be making things worse. Because even though Taiki usually enjoys hugs, maybe he might not in this moment where his emotions are stretched beyond belief, where he's being pushed to his limits.

Thankfully the other melts into the hug soon enough though, making Inigo only wrap the other up in his arms tighter. As if he could somehow protect Taiki from the way his world got messed up like this. Just by holding him.

"Stay like this," Inigo whispers. "We can figure stuff out later."

After all, who knows how long they'll be stuck here, having been kicked off the train in this odd, only half returned sort of way.

"But rest for a moment first. I know all of this is a lot on you."

And Inigo is willing to stay here and hold him for however long Taiki requires. Without complaint.

Stay like this. Inigo whispers and Taiki wishes he could. Just forever like this, forgetting everything else. But he can't. He knows he can't and Inigo knows he can't.

He can be here for a little while though, taking strength from Inigo's arms. Just a moment, a moment to breathe.

"I need to keep going, to fix what I can fix. We don't know how much time we will have."

"One minute more or less won't matter."

After all, when has the train ever really done things in a timely manner? If it hasn't realised yet that they're all still here by now, then it'll probably be a while before it does.. or so Inigo thinks, anyway.

It's a sucky situation, but at least it gives them more time to work on Tai for now.

"Just rest for a minute or two, and then I can take you over to Ylisse so we can see if we can contact Naga to help." Probably not, but it's at least worth a try. And it means that Inigo can keep Taiki away from the mess that is the current state of Tai for a few moments, which is also a good thing.

A minute or two. He could rest for that long. Maybe. As long as it was no longer.

There's too much to do for it to be any longer. But he doesn't fight Inigo. He's too exhausted to fight Inigo.

"Okay. As long as you don't mind... I don't want you to..."

Be uncomfortable. Go to Ylisse when he never planned to and might not want to see it.

Look, Taiki's not-too-great state working out for Inigo for once! Even if it's just to get Taiki to rest for a moment or two before he has to get up again.

"I don't mind."

Truthfully, he really doesn't want to go back there. But as long as they stay out of sight of everyone - which honestly should be easier than it'd normally be, given their current states - then it can't hurt too much. Just find some secluded spot and see if he can call out to Naga, even though he isn't too sure it'll really work..

But it's at least worth a try.

"You know I'd do anything for you, Taiki." At least that's true, above all else. There's not a word of it that Inigo doesn't mean.

"I know." His voice is quiet, almost choked. Inigo would do anything for him, it's terrifying. He doesn't deserve him.

But he can only be grateful for him. He looked up at him and nodded. "I'm ready."

He was. Walls were back up. No emotion showed on his face at all. It couldn't. If there was a crack he would break.

He can't break. Not when there is still things to be done to help Tai.

".. okay."

It hurts to see Taiki like this, but on the other hand, he gets that it's the other's way of coping with this entire situation. So Inigo isn't going to take it away from him, or even tell him that he doesn't have to do it. If this is what gets Taiki through this situation, then Inigo will deal with it.

But as he stands up, he still makes sure to hold the other's hand. At first to help him stand back up, but then just to keep Taiki by his side.

"Let's try to get back to the platform, and then to Ylisse from there."

And Inigo.. well, he's going to be by Taiki's side, every step of the way. He vows as much inside of his heart.

"Okay." He held Inigo's hand for a moment, taking a last moment of strength. Then there was a gust of wind as he twisted and transformed into kirin form.

"We have to fly." Is his only explanation. He assumes, it's how he had ended on the platform last time.

To the platform and then to Ylisse. He's lucky to have such a friend. Friends were so easily lost, torn away and so all he can do is keep him close, for now.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No Place Like Home: Outside

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we can probably wrap this one here!

Re: we can probably wrap this one here!