No Place Like Home: The Return

[voidtreckermods]

---

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: THE RETURN

---

a silence broken...

It's been a very difficult few days. Rocking and rolling into the void and out again. Watching their friends out of the window as they wander from world to world. Meanwhile those lost on worlds continue to wander unable to return to the train at all.

"All attempts at returning those who left have failed. This voidcraft cannot do it alone. It is lucky that unlike those that have left before them, I can still sense them.

But I cannot bring them back alone. This is perhaps too advanced for Voidtreckers, but you have done the improbable before. You say you wish to help. This is how you help."

Their SCA's light up with a message. Or rather, a series of instructions:

In the unlikely event a tether gets stranded on a liminal space platform or between their own world and the platform space, you should, in the first instance, contact the Void technicians who monitor their non-travelling self. However, in the case they cannot be reached or there is a mass displacement of tether, an anchoring procedure can be carried out.

Ideally, this will involve two fully tethered individuals to retrieve the lost tether. One should be a stationary anchor. They should be outside of their void craft, if possible, and in physical contact with it. The second should be a roaming anchor reaching to draw the tethers back. In situations of mass tether displacement the stationary anchor can hold mutiple roaming anchors but it is recommended to not exceed five. In this situation, it is recommended that anchors rotate between stationary and roaming.

To start an anchoring of this kind, those anchoring should activate their anchoring program. Those staying station should reach out to the tethers of those they plan to steady. This might cause some emotional upheaval, and they will need to stay steady, especially if connecting to more than one roaming tether. Roaming anchors then must hold the person they search for in their thoughts and move towards them. It is recommended that the lost tethers activate their emergency beacon to facilitate being found and returning but this is not a necessity.

Once the roaming anchor has found the lost tethers they must keep hold of them and guide them back towards their craft, the stationary tethers must draw them back, pulling them through.

There is an additional note at the end, in different font.

It is as Anan told you. Your minds should visualise it. Be strong Voidtreckers.

... a short-lived dream

The doors open and anyone who wishes to try this can leave onto the platform. It is empty, devoid of the figures they had seen before; and, beyond the fog, devoid of anything. But searching requires their SCAs, not a path, and as people get into teams, they can activate their anchors and begin.

For those who will roam, their minds become filled, visualising light, void, voices and chaos; their bodies feel less stable, like they might unravel if not careful. But for those who will stay, when they touch the Voidtrecker Express, they will feel more stable, grounded. The fog shifts, but the world moves around them without pulling them in.

Thinking of the person they wish to keep stable, a mental and emotional link will be established, and they will feel each other as the roaming anchor sets off to find their missing crew.

---

Outside the train...
For those that had left - either by choice or by strange happenings - they have found themselves back at their anchor point during Poi 26, regardless of where they were before. For those unfortunate enough not to have a world to return to, or those who were stuck between in the first place, they will find themselves alone, in a fog filled space where no matter how far they walk, nothing greets them.

All those in fog or back in their world receive the same message from their SCAs.

Hold fast. Press your evacuation button. Your friends come.

---

RETURNERS: FLEETING HAPPINESS

But it's likely before the message arrived, that something wrong has been noticed by those outside the void. More than the bizarre ability to travel between existences, an inability to move far from where they appear. Back at their anchor points, they may notice - in time - colours sometimes flash across the sky, streaking through clouds or making trails in a night sky. At first not much, something to be easily dismissed but it builds. People talk, wonder at what is happening.

For the colours aren't the only thing. Across worlds, in cities, kingdoms, villages, underworlds and space stations, people are dreaming. Bright colours, vivid dreams. Prophets spring from nowhere, people claim to know the future or to have seen the past. Some talk of places and worlds they could not have seen.

Perhaps at first it can be explained away, there are always such people. But more people talk, from urchin children to commanders, people dream and the colours dance.

ANCHORERS: A STEADY HAND

While the stationeries will feel grounded, they aren't blind to what's happening to their roamer. It's as if they're both linked, intimately, meshing together, and they will need to work to keep their feelings separate; hearing each other's thoughts, their feelings. Images of what the other thinks and memories shared between them.

And then there is the search for their teammates, amongst the multiple of realities. Existences move past the roamer, threatening to lose them in the mess, but they must persevere, keep their thoughts on the individual, their stationary anchor to help them. Until finally, they appear - in a world they perhaps know, don't, the kaleidoscope colours of the void faint above their heads.

Speak to each other, keep each other focused, certain, and find who you came to save.

BOTH: HOLDING ON

Searching for individuals, the anchorers will find themselves at a character's anchor point; if they haven't moved far from here or another world, it will be easy to locate them. Now is the time to convince them to come back, and then the eventual work of doing so.

It can be in agreement, or force. Taking a hold of the person, the anchorer can pull them into the mass of chaos. Just like when they helped the guests return to their worlds from the false Diagad, all parties become battered by images, voices. Voices like sirens; 'Just stay,' the voices encourage. 'Just let go and drift into the chaos. It will be easier.'

But they must be strong, move towards their anchor and towards the craft. The crossing doesn't take too long, perhaps ten minutes each way, and once they get to the craft the person they are rescuing glows gold and vanishes. The anchors will know instinctively that they are safe on the train.

And indeed, the rescued will find themselves within the luggage carriage - exhausted, but safe.

TRAIN: AN INEVITABLE RETURN

Exhaustion is something all parties will experience, once everyone is returned to the train and the adrenaline wears off. Those who anchored will be hit with a total exhaustion, leaving them unable to do much more than eat and sleep for a few days. Those rescued won't be as bad, but if they decide to join in with the efforts, they'll too face the soul-tiring experience that other anchorers are.

There's likely to be efforts, to help soothe people over this time. And as people return to their life on the train, they will see the marks of the last few days for those who stayed behind. Broken ceramics, books out of order in the library; the ICPs in the standard coach, storage, sports and games carriages broken, and some damage to furniture.

But for the scars brought on by this event, surely, they will heal - eventually.

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here. New second part OOC post here.

First phase of the event took place during Poi 22 to 25; the second phase takes place during Poi 26 to 28 (20-25th February).

VISITING WORLDS: While during Poi 26, it will be possible to go back to wherever they were, or other spaces. However, they will have increasing difficulty doing this, and will feel themselves getting more lost if they try world hopping too much over the next 3 (void) days. It's like something is trying to pull them back, or pull them, but into nowhere.

SCAs: The SCA's comms will not be active at this time.

Comments

for jin ling (crau)

[weifinder]

When it comes to one of his nephews, it's slightly more complicated. He knows there's some desire for trust, but he also knows the stronger relationship is between this young man and Jiang Cheng, or at minimum, the fox eared version of himself. Shared terrors cement relationships, just as shared joys can, but that's not anything he needs to comment on.

Only that he needs to find Jin Ling, that he has the young man in his mind's eye, that he crosses the chaotic swirling of voices and light and colour all telling him this isn't worth it, to let him leave, that staying is fine, as if the void is an endless appetite, yearning to be filled.

As if the void is what it is named, and he smiles, grim, thinking of Yiling, and the void that it was, in its dark-stained, decaying way.

The problem, perhaps, is where he finds Jin Ling.

"..."

Which is to say, wherever he ends up, he doesn't immediately see his nephew. So he cups his hands around his mouth, and calls out, "Jin Rulan! Where are you!"

hopefully this works!

[to_rise_above]

Complicated, is probably the right word for it. While Jin Ling, doesn't necessarily have issues with this Wei Wuxian, he hasn't spent much time around the other. Even more so, now that he's stuck in the fog, not able to find a place to go to. Maybe, he should have stayed put in Lotus Pier. At least, that is the most familiar to him, or maybe he shouldn't have been hasty and run off from Jingyi's world either.

Regardless, he's not sure where he is and with only his spiritual companion by his side, he wanders through all of this-- the noise being unbearably frustrating to deal with. Colors, voices, and other things. They latched onto him, as if trying to pull him back. He's holding on, and he's stubborn. He knows things like this happen and he certainly doesn't want to fall prey to their lulling. However, it's hard when he can only hear those voices and see these colors. It's as if all of this is telling him that he has nowhere else to go.

There is no home for him right now. There won't be in the future. At least, not if he is here wandering. He misses home. He misses his family and he certainly missed the more simple times in his life. Most of which, he knows he's taken for granted. If only he can--

The sound is faint but he catches a voice. It's different from the noise and it almost clears his mind of the thoughts. The wolf is fighting through all of this as well, trying to keep Jin Ling in check. Of course, he must say-- whoever the hell that person is-- they must really have a death wish for calling him 'Jin Rulan!' How many people here still address him as such? He's tired of it and doesn't want to answer it at all, but he follows kind of.

Who knows what is even happening anymore. Maybe, he's hallucinating all of this too!

thumbs up!

[weifinder]

"A-Ling! Come find me before I start singing out your courtesy name!"

The one he chose, so many years before, when shijie and Jiang Cheng had insisted, each in their own way. In this fog-haunted landscape that was no landscape, but colours that wove themselves into and out of greyscale, he disliked it. He didn't want his shijie's son lost in anything like this, and none of those adults he knew, even that insignificant, self-obsessed Jin Guangyao, would want it either.

"I have a very good singing voice!"

Which wasn't a lie, but having one's name sung out repeatedly would be beyond annoying, when one did not appreciate the beauty of one's courtesy name. (Where is he, the brat?)

oops sorry for all the edits @_@

[to_rise_above]

Jin Ling feels extremely annoyed already that the voice us drifting to him and saying all of these things. He's has no idea where this courtesy name came from, nor has he tried to pursue it,  thus left in the dark about the owner of this name giving. Honestly, he probably will yell at Wei Wuxian whenever that is made known.

The demon inside of him chuckles.

Jin Rulan, huh? Sounds very cute... perhaps why you prefer not to be called as such and by your hmmm. What was it? Birth Name?

Jin Ling's eye twitches ever so slightly. He freezes up upon hearing that the man is going to be singing his name of he doesn't make it to him! No! Absolutely not! He refuses to have that be done.

"Don't you dare!!!!!! I'll send Fairy after you!!!!!"

His shout is as loud as he can get it! He will have no qualms about threatening him with the spiritual dog.

[weifinder]

"Send Fairy and I'll be screaming your name instead of singing it!"

Which it was his name, an a wonderful, poetic, upstanding one, a wish for him to be the man even better than his father had been, a man worthy of calling Jiang Yanli mother. Distant, those thoughts, the memory of a meal of soup meaning everything to him, family's warmth a moment stolen, Yanli resplendent in her wedding robes.

He holds those memories now, calling out to this version of her son, one likewise cursed to no beautiful story of happy family, and he chills inwardly, to know so often that unkindness, that unfairness, had been visited on those he loves.

[to_rise_above]

"You're so annoying!"

If only he knew how much tight and details came with that courtesy name of his.

Jin Ling is just following his voice now. Whether he really will send Fairy after Wei Wuxian at this point, no one knows. Jin Ling obviously can't win with this person either way. Why must he find ways to embarrass him without trying?!

At least, Wei Wuxian has seen and known both of his parents. A part of him is truly jealous that he got to know them and he hasn't. Though, meeting a version of his own farther and watching how he and Wei Wuxian are, Jin Ling can sort of see why they don't get along.

As for his mother, he hasn't been so fortunate to see her at all. He's hopeful, though. The voice is getting closer as he moved, feeling exhausted from the colors and many other unexplainable things he sees.

[weifinder]

"I know! It's a skill, very impressive! I've had it all my life!"

Had cultivated it a good portion of his life, as a skill for settling, soothing, and irritating people in turns, keeping them from the worse kinds of angers or brooding or whatever negativity when he could. He couldn't always.

He held still, waiting for Jin Ling to find him, and continued speaking.

"You should see me when I was really trying when I was your age, ah? The only time where you really could get away with punching someone for being a complete donkey, which, admittedly, I did try doing with your father before he pulled his head out of his peacock feathered a...wings and saw the world around him, and I don't apologise for that part, he'd have driven you mad too, with how he treated your mother back then."

Now he was rambling, but the memory had come back to him as a strike in the night, unexpected and visceral, all at once. That confrontation would have had him kicked out of Gusu Lan if it wasn't at the time they were all graduating from their half year of finishing, anyway.

[to_rise_above]

"You-- why are you so proud of that?!"

If this space doesn't kill him first, Wei Wuxian might be the other cause of it. It's always stressful talking to this person, and more so that there are two of him and they are equally annoying. Even if he's closer to one, this one isn't any different. He seems to be falling into the same motions with him every time.

"W-What do are you even going on about?! Peacock, wings?! How did my father treat my mother? Don't pull my leg!"

Though, he must admit, he knows exactly what Wei Wuxian is saying, because he's experienced his father and the Wei Wuxian he knows arguing in broad daylight! They continued their bickering even though Jin Ling is standing there watching all of that. As much as he's curious to learn more, he just keeps running until, he eventually finds Wei Wuxian in the mess.

He's out of breath and so is his dog. She stays a good distance from Jin Ling, lest Wei Wuxian flips out at her presence once more.

[weifinder]

Wei Wuxian is tense, tensing more when he sees Fairy. He doesn't bolt, and that's about as good as it's going to get, because he's not comfortable with dogs, and Fairy is, through no fault of its own, a dog.

He's not capable of moving closer to Jin Ling right now unless Jin Ling is about to die, so he holds out his hands, quirking his brow.

"I can tell you while we get out of here, ah?"

[to_rise_above]

Jin Ling can only softly gesture for his spiritual companion to stay as far away from them as possible, just to ease Wei Wuxian's tense self. She doesn't even seem to be barking or making a sound, other than staring at the two of them curiously from a far distance. She doesn't seem happy though.

Regardless, Jin Ling manages to breathe a sigh as he looks at the outstretched hand. After a moment of silence and nodding his head, he takes the hands. He doesn't want to be here anymore than he has to. He rather get out of here as soon as possible.

"You better not be lying then."

He can't help but want to be curious about his parents.

[weifinder]

"Not right now," he says, smiling in a way that's... sadder, a way more true than many of the smiles Jin Ling may have seen from this particular man. This man who studiously ignores Fairy, but is aware of the dog trailing after Jin Ling.

The dog will go where his nephew goes. He doesn't need to worry about it: that's simply factual. Everyone's told him it's so.

They walk, in this nothingness of bursts of coloured lights and ribbons of mist and shadow, born again as further twisting rainbows that pull and whisper and plead, give up, Jin Ling, stay, let go, don't leave.

"Your father was a complete donkey to your mother for years," he says, "He dressed well, overdressed in my opinion, and he was a good cultivator, and he knew it. Stalked around like a peacock proud of his feathers, which annoyed me and your maternal uncle, because be a peacock, but don't make our sister suffer for your vanity. Which he did, for many years, until he finally put his head on better, I suppose."

Grudging words, but he quirks up the corner of his mouth, takes an edge off what seems to be a complaint that's long since lost its weight.

"He was a good husband. Your mother loved him very much, more than he deserve for a long time, and more than he deserved because he didn't have the chance to love her more and better. I'm sorry about that, to you, to him, and to her." Softer, that statement, and the unfortunate reality: Jin Ling can feel his sincerity, the sorrow that dives deep into his marrow, the fondness mixed with sickened guilt and acceptance and a grief still percolating for him, he of the sixteen years of darkness, sixteen years without light.

His love for Yanli, his ache for her loss, his guilt at his own inability to stop it, to have controlled it all, even knowing now why he had not, where he'd overlooked, where he'd been played as much as he played Chenqing, that suffuses him. Bittersweet, that warmth, where Jin Ling finds it curling around him.

oops sorry went tldr mode on this ;W;

[to_rise_above]

Jin Ling doesn't press the topic any longer. If he's going to tell, he'll certainly do it. He sort of believes it, maybe. It's not like pushing Wei Wuxian will do anything for Jin Ling right now. If he's anything similar to the one he is familiar with, he probably will find ways to divert the conversation. Something Jin Ling gets rather frustrated about, but somehow has adjusted to it.

That doesn't mean he won't argue it, though. Fairy keeps a fairly good distance from both of them. She knows at this point that Wei Wuxian won't want her to be near and Jin Ling has already instructed her. She's a little sad, but at least he's helping her master to safety. So, the spiritual dog just trails quietly behind, no barks, no yaps. She's well behaved and well trained, clearly.

The noise really is bothering him. Those voices, pleading, telling him to stay, let go and don't leave. If he hasn't already experienced something similar, he might have fallen to its lulling, but not this time. He tries to ignore it the best he can as he listens to Wei Wuxian's voice, focusing on just that. There's no place for him here, anyway. It's better to get back to the train, or whatever seems more appropriate for him.

It helps that the topic of discussion is his parents and he definitely has a huge amount of interest towards it. Somehow, those words, he normally will refute, he doesn't. How can someone talk about his father like that?! Though, after seeing his father and Wei Wuxian argue about the ridiculous of things, he sort of-- well gets it. To some degree. He's not sure how similar all of this is, but he's assuming there's not too much of a difference.

"...I heard-- he's unbelievable at times. I saw him arguing with-- that Wei Wuxian. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it."

He sighed. He's a little aware that his father may have rubbed off on him a little. Not too much, but enough, because some of those words-- ouch! It really hits too close to him.

"I know-- that's what everyone keeps telling me."

He misses them dearly. Especially, that one moment of experience. He silently hopes that he might be able to see his father or mother at some point. Though, he doesn't know if that will happen. A boy can be a bit optimistic, right? He takes a moment to process the apology for a moment.

"It's fine. I-- well there's a lot of things. I don't want to talk about them all right now. If whatever you experienced in your world is similar to the Wei Wuxian I know, then I get it. I know you cared about my mother very much and I know that you're not-- completely at fault for the things that happened."

Again, he'd have to go after every single person at this point if he's out for revenge. He's tired of it all and really doesn't want to always be wrapped up in it. He has his family, people that cared about him and vise versa. He has to focus on that. He also has to focus on fixing Lanling Jin when he returns, so no more tragedies like his parents or Wei Wuxian's happen again. Of course, Jin Ling isn't going to say any of those out loud. It makes him sound extremely sappy.

"Thanks-- for telling me about them, my parents."