Mission End: Day 12/13

[voidtreckermods]

Return of the Void Trecker.

By the sixth day since being dropped off at the foot of Ciyesia hopefully everyone has reached the summit. For those at the the top of the mountain there is an almighty gust of wind and a roar as the Void Trecker Express appears in the sky above them and comes down to land on the mountain. The doors open. "Welcome back heroes."

For those on top of the mountain already there Safety Control Apparatus flashes with the colour of the void. A screen pops up in front of them Congratulations on completing practice mission #43. The Void Trecker Express will remain on Ciyesia until tomorrow morning where we will depart. Please enjoy your last evening on Hub World#5739.

The doors remain unlocked throughout the evening and so you can chose whether to board the train once more or spend one last night out under the stars.

Back to the Void

The next morning, a few hours after sunrise the horn of the Void Trecker sounds, it seems it is time to depart once more. There is about ten minutes to gather all your things before the horn sounds again and the doors begin to close.

Once everyone is on board the train begins to move, driving straight off the shear edge of the crag, climbing higher and higher as if following invisible tracks to the clouds. Higher and higher until the mountain is a tiny molehill below you.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent." Hopefully you all learned from last time and hold on tight. A jerk, a jolt, a flash of light and once again the ever changing void swirls outside the windows.

Comments

between the two

[enthunder]

She'd managed to get down to the village by the last day, and while the tradespeople had been more than happy to trade her half of a rock gorilla for a variety of interesting items, she'd been too overloaded to really pick anything worthwhile beyond some more nonperishable supplies for Sarai and Dread.

Instead, she was sat at the summit on a picnic blanket knitted in a pattern of white and green flowers, sorting through an armful of novelty souvenirs the shopkeeper had picked out for her when she'd mentioned there were kids in her group. Goathorn headbands, chinchilla masks, colourful information books, even a set of felted dralite wings that would clip onto the back of a shirt. She guessed they were charming, and they'd be a reminder of this world after they left, but she'd been hoping for something a little more... useful.

She huffed, tried on one of the goathorn bands, and started to flick through the Illustrated Guide To Ciyesian Flora. Might as well enjoy the last day.

[knifewithnoname]

"Why do you be looking like a spike goat, ma'am?" Buttercup was curious. She had no idea what half of these things were on the mat. Head dresses? Masks? Why would you pretend to be a fur monster?

And wings, as useless as the dralite themselves. She picks up a set curiously, glancing at Lightning to check it is alright for her to do so first.

[enthunder]

"Maybe it's a trophy," she deadpanned, relieved to see that the shopkeeper hadn't been wrong about the effect the ridiculous accessories would have. A wave indicated that Buttercup could do what she liked with the wings. She'd grabbed them with her in mind, after all.

"I figured it'd be good to have something from here to take back apart from supplies. Remind us what we accomplished, training or otherwise."

[knifewithnoname]

"A trophy?" Of her kill? That made more sense. But surely trophies were meant to be taken from the monster you'd killed, not fake ones. She poked at the wings with a nose wrinkle. "I do no be thinking we will be forgetting it in a while. Unless we do be going somewhere weirder next."

The weird floating words had said it was a training mission. That suggested there would be missions in the future that were not training. Real missions.

[enthunder]

"Who knows? Memories don't always last," She plucked the wings from Buttercup and gestured for her to turn around, meaning to pin them to her top. "And... don't jinx it, this place was weird enough."

Tony | OTA

[runs_on_batteries]

Stealing Lightning's Header- Between the two- For Buttercup and Peter]

Since finding her, Tony hasn't left Buttercup out of eyesight for very long since. A part of him was angry at the women on the train who had failed to help him protect the child. The other part was mad at himself for getting caught up in being free of the train and not finding the girl sooner. However, that wasn't important right now. They were relaxing on the summit waiting for their companions to join them. The train had arrived and he'd already put all the booze he'd earned on had been put away. His rucksack sits next to him on a blanket he'd taken from the spare bed in his cabin, no hurry to be put away.

After he'd upset Buttercup, he'd been very careful to be kind and gentle with her. She had yet to give him an answer, but he was going to assume she was still thinking about it. In the meantime, it didn't change the fact he considered them friends.

He notices as he's sitting in the sun, that Buttercup's braids have come loose. It's either from her traveling or the wind of the train arriving. Either way, he waves her over to him. "Buttercup. Let me fix your braids, dear." He opens his rucksack and digs around till he finds his brush.

[ooc- He's going to be chilling outside the train or helping others get their stuff put away/ finish the climb. Feel free to put him anywhere that makes sense along those lines.]

[knifewithnoname]

She was still thinking about it. It wasn't like she could avoid him, he wouldn't go away and once they were back on the train they had to live in the same room. So ignoring the problem wouldn't solve it. Ignoring problems rarely solved them, honestly. So she needed a solution, but she hasn't figured anything out yet.

"My hair?" She blinked as he spoke. He was still here, he kept insisting on being nice to her. Her hand went up to one of her braids, they had indeed come all loose.

They hadn't exactly been neat to begin with, she had never had to do them on her own before.

She went over obediently and silently, pulling the ribbon from what remained of the end of the plaits.

[runs_on_batteries]

He was like a fungus you couldn't get rid of. He knows, it's okay.

"Turn around," he instructs and gets her to sit in front of him. As gently as he could, he teased the tangled locks with his fingers first before even trying to brush. Her hair was a mess! He was feeding her, protecting her, and living in her room. He might as well groom her too. "I don't know about you, but I've had my fill of evil goats and eagle owls."

He doubted she was going to be too sad to leave this world behind. The trek up the mountain alone had to have been grueling. He was so lucky he had his suit. Which is something he's thought repeatedly over the years.

He's snapped out of his thoughts when he feels a particularly tight tangle. With practiced hands, he teases it until the hair comes loose without tugging too much. "What'd you do to your hair, silly? You have a brush in your bag, don't you?"

[knifewithnoname]

She does as she is told and lets him untangle her hair. It really was a mess and she tried to focus on the pain of the tangles, rather than the pain in her heart. It reminded her too much... She stared at a spot in the distance and hmm'd agreement to his words on goats and owls.

"I do be being sorry." She shrugged, "I did be forgetting it on the train. I did no be thinking it would be being useful for a mission."

Honestly the only time she had really ever had to brush her hair was when Elena was visiting, when they were dunked in a tub of water, or more recently handed a tub to do the dunking themselves, and scrubbed clean, hair brushed and best dresses worn.

The rest of the time it was a tangled mess.

ready for some Iron dad and Spider son?

[hashtagparkerluck]

Peter has not had a great week. It started out okay, sure but things didn't stay that way and honestly he'd probably be surprised if they had. He did what he could with the goats, webbing them down and then trying to relocate them because bite-y or not he wasn't going to kill them. Which is how he got bit by one the web hadn't quite netted properly.

Now there's blood on his 'find x' tshirt and that sucks because that shirt is white! Ugh. He trudges up to the summit a little woozily. He's half glad and half horrified to see Mr Stark because he gets left on his own for a week and gets bit by a goat on the last day. He really is a mess. A goat. of all things he ever thought he'd get bit by a goat didn't even make the top ten. Not only that, his hairs a complete mess with bits sticks up in places, he's not the cleanest, and he probably looks half like a zombie due to lack of sleep.

He's about ready to yeet himself away before he's noticed but he notices that Tony has Buttercup with him and is... doing her hair...? For not the first time, Peter wonders what all he missed. As much of a mess as he is, and as many bad decisions as he makes, he is actually very smart and perfectly capable of putting two and two together. Tony was in bad shape when they first got on the train, he also looked older-he has gray hair now-or more of it. This Mr Stark, while still definitely Mr Stark is from the future.

He shoves the thought aside his vision blurs out of focus and he scratches the goat-bite (ha!) on his upper arm-how did it even bite him there? He... might have tried to pick it up to move it. Maybe. All his scratching does is make a mess though and he winces at the pain. Spider-powers made him super durable and heal fast but shit still hurts like hell.

"Hey Mr Stark!" He finally greets with a wave, using the hand that now has blood on it from his scratching. "S'up Buttercup?"

Last night, OTA

[mtsilver_conquor]

Sure, Eva doesn't recognise the stars, but that doesn't mean she can't lay back and stare at them. At the vastness of space and time and enjoy the last night before she has to get back on the train. Yet, even though she can't see familiar constellations, it doesn't mean she isn't going to try and link several stars together to make them. "The Whirls, the Drums, the Summit... The Maiden..."

Princess is out as well, no far from Eva in fact, settled back on his hunches as he stares up at the moon. The very bright and very full moon and it doesn't take long before he starts to shimmer and glow.

Even... fly?

Yes, that sure is a flying clefairy, who is having a blast even though by all known logic, his wings are too small and don't seem to be doing anything other than providing maneuverability. That said, he doesn't go that high, maybe about seven feet off the ground at most. Sometimes he even just hovers there and stares at the moon.

"Mood-addled, that's what you are." There's a fondness to Eva's voice though and a smile on her face as she makes no move to stop what her pokemon's doing.

Re: Last night, OTA

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony had spent every night in the luxury of a warm bed at the inn and getting a hot dinner. Tonight though, he felt a kinship with the other passengers who had made it to the summit and were getting ready to camp out. He spots Eva and his eyebrow raises seeing the 'flying' clefairy. It appears to be more floating than flying as his wings didn't seem to be doing much good for the size of his fluffy body.

He comes over and takes a sit next to the girl and looks up at the stars, then back to the clefairy and smirks. "Instead of solar powered, is he moon powered?"

[mtsilver_conquor]

Eva's eyes don't even leave the stars as she replies with a half-smile. "Princess is Moon-Addled yes, but you could say that of many other pokemon when it comes to the full moon. But with pippi, it's a lot more complicated."

She sighs. "This, what you're seeing, ties into myths regarding the line as a whole and where they came from: Space. Or at least the moon. He'll be fine once dawn comes. Tired but happy."

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony shakes his head. Every time he spoke with her she used terms he wasn't familiar with. If he didn't know any better he'd say she was goading him. But he did know better. Clearly she was just so familiar with these words that they came out without her thinking twice about them. He didn't think Eva would purposefully be doing anything to be mean. They might've disagreed over Buttercup, but she wasn't an ornery person.

"How long have they been on your planet?"

[mtsilver_conquor]

He'd be right in thinking the words are in everyday language. She's so happy and content right now that not rattling off or even stopping to think he might not know her words isn't something on her mind.

"We've found fossils dating back to Arkea's primordial times and the few that have been revived are pokemon, so they've been around forever, really. Most pokemon we know today have been around for at least a hundred thousand years, like biriridama who have also changed type over the millennia. On top of that, we're still discovering new ones. I wish I could still travel like some of the others, but I'm not about to trust Satoru to run the Battle Tree just yet. But who knows, maybe I will in the future."

Choose your own adventure! with a thread for Peter.

[hibana_incursa]

[ Return to the Void-Trecker - OTA: ]

So, it was time to leave. Gwen was kinda glad, even if she would miss being off-train. Ciyesia was actually kinda beautiful, and the people there were great. Hospitable, even to a group of strangers who just kinda showed up. She was going to miss them just a little bit.

Still, if it was time to go, it was time to go. So she spends some time wandering the smaller village, not entirely ready to head back to the train. She manages to obtain a couple things, nothing too exciting, and nothing she's going to show anyone just yet.

And then she heads to her room on the train to drop things off. Eventually, she can be found in the dining car, grabbing something to eat before heading to bed, pencil out as she writes in the journal that had been provided.

[Into the Void: OTA]

This time? Gwen was ready. She'd wedged herself somewhere, using her sticking to keep herself in place. She has given up on being a regular teen. It's official. There is a teen girl with bright blonde hair and a pretty awesome if somewhat grown out side shave, stuck into a corner. Off the ground, reading a book she got while on Ciyesia. Once the lurching and all that is done, Gwen drops to the ground and starts walking, still reading the book. Carefully stepping around other passengers but otherwise continuing on. Back to being bored stupid on a train, she guesses.

[ After take-off: For Peter. ]

She could have given this to him before take off, but she wanted to settle and get back into life on the train beforehand. Thankfully, she doesn't really have the patience for that. She just waited until the ride was smooth and people had their stuff put away before hunting for Peter. He was her cabin-mate, sure, but they both had their own things to do and people to say hi to.

Right? Sure.

As she searches for Peter, she has a bag in her hand. It's full of candy. Wrapped fudges, various hard candies. None of them super sour like she'd hoped, but still pretty good. It's a very full bag, too. She hasn't touched any of it.

There's also a book in her hand, a copy of the one she'd been reading earlier. And while she's very excited about giving him the stuff? She's also weirdly nervous. They'd admitted to each other that here was something there, in a weird kind of way, and this felt like a bigger deal than just giving a friend a gift. How, she couldn't say, but when she does find Peter, she's grinning. Hands behind her back, hiding the gifts. And really wishing her hands were free so she could tap on something. Drum out her nervous energy.

"I have something for you," she says, leaning a shoulder on the doorframe of the carriage she found him in. "I wasn't really planning on getting anything, but then I saw this stuff I thought you'd enjoy."

With that, she holds out the book and the bag of candy, smiling softly and a bit nervously at Peter.

"It's a book on folklore from Ciyesia. Some of the stories are outright bonkers, but I managed to read my copy twice in a couple hours. And the most sour thing in the bag is the bright orange square things. But they're not like...Sourpatch Kids or Warhead sour. And I asked about ingredients. They're safe."

Return to the VT

[runs_on_batteries]

As Gwen gets close to the dining car she'll start to smell something sweet and chocolatey. A soft bang of an oven door being closed with a foot can be heard and the scent gets even stronger. When she comes into the kitchen, she'll find Tony with a baking sheet full of fresh baked brownies. There's a mixing bowl on a counter and a set of ingredients scattered about in an organized chaos sort of way.

Setting the sheet down on a dish towel, he picks up the batter covered wooden spoon and sticks part of it in his mouth. He doesn't notice her as he gets out a second bowl and a bag of pecans.

Re: Return to the VT

[hibana_incursa]

Gwen was headed to the dining car to see how her sourdough starter was. It probably died, honestly, because she hadn't been there to feed it. The smell of chocolate distracts her enough from her book where she's keen to find the source and when she pots Mr Stark with a spoon in her mouth and a tray of fresh brownies, she's kinda surprised.

"Is baking a hobby for you?" Because those brownies smell ridiculously good.

[runs_on_batteries]

Tony winces when he hears a voice behind him. It wasn't a reflection of how he felt about Gwen, just.. getting caught doing what he was doing. He knew the risks with as many passengers are there were in this place, but he'd hoped they'd be too busy doing other things to come in here.

It hurt his image that he goes back and forth between caring a lot about and not giving one shit about. In reality, he was the one who was home with Morgan the majority of the time and he was the one making dinner or snacks. Pepper was spending less and less time at the office, but there was only so much she could do while being CEO of a giant corporation.

Anyway, he lifts his head and sees the girl standing there watching him. "Me? No. I have no idea who made these. I was just getting them out of the oven." Liar liar. His lip curls at one end giving him away even further. He gets a pot out and tosses several scoops of sugar in it before setting on the burner.

[hibana_incursa]

Thankfully, she doesn’t believe a word he said. She’s gonna roll with it, sure. But only in that way teenagers do when there is an adult that’s full of shit they’re trying to sell.

“Gotcha. My compliments to the baker, then. They smell amazing.”

She’s gonna wait until they cool down to eat one. Plus she jasper project to check on. Heading to one of the cabinets and pulling down a covered bowl, a note taped to the side with feeding instructions that Gwen neglected due to being elsewhere, she sets it on the counter and peers inside with a frown.

“Damn.” It’s dead starter, just a pool of flour paste that’s clearly not viable.

“So what’s with the sudden baking? And where did you get chocolate?”

Thread for Peter.

[hashtagparkerluck]

Peter's hasn't been back on the train for a full two hours and already he's bored out of his mind. He's not in his bunk but chilling on a seat in an empty carriage, head pillowed under his arms and legs crossed as he's just staring at the ceiling since staring at the void is not advised. That's fine, he's got stuff to think about-he thinks so he'll just lay here and think about stuff.

He sits up when he hears movement, and offers a small smile to Gwen, glad to see she's at least in better spirits about being on the train for who knows how long again. Maybe they'd get lucky and the next stop was much closer. Then she mentions having gotten him something and he immediately feels guilty he hadn't gotten her anything. In his defense though, he'd had a rough week of very little sleep, webbing, dodging goats, accidentally getting bit by a stupid goat and countless other things that have gone wrong. But really, such is the life of one Peter Parker.

His eyes settle on the book first and then to the candy. Candy! Actual, honest to god candy! That alone is going to make this next trip so much more enjoyable. His face splits into a wide grin and his mouth gets far ahead of his head in all his excitement.

"Oh my god, best girlfriend ever!" The words are out long before he can think to stop them and the look on his face changes from excited to almost horrified with a dash of tomato red and his eyes widen almost comically and all too soon he's tripping over words again.

"I didn't-I mean-I just-I'm not-I mean if you're not okay with it-I know you said you that uh-it just sorta came out."

Re: Thread for Peter.

[hibana_incursa]

Wow. Wow. Uh. Okay. That...he really just...well, then.

Gwens look of shock doesn’t contain the same horror Peters did. She just looks surprised, face also turning a few as yet undiscovered shades of super red. But there’s happiness there, too. Along with the shock and surprise. Her whole face lit up with what he said and she’s cautiously optimistic that he meant it.

She lets him ramble, let’s him stutter and fumble the words out because that’s one of the endearing things about him. And once he has the words out, she speaks. Calm, cool and collected.

“Wow. Yeah. Uh, I-I really...it’s fine. I’m really okay with that. Like, really very okay with it. If you are, too, I mean. I don’t want to push. But I really like you and I’m okay with what you said.”


Totally cool.

[hashtagparkerluck]

Why is he allowed to talk anyone? He always just manages to make it awkward. He should just eject himself out into the void to avoid further embarrassing himself. And to think, he even went as far to ask Mr Stark not treat him like a kid in front of Gwen. WELP. He's completely screw this up.

But then oddest thing happens.

She's cool with it. She doesn't mind he just declared her to be his girlfriend without asking first. She doesn't hate him! Not that he thought she would but it might have made hanging out in the gym awkward and who cares he has a girlfriend! His heart swells and rises in his chest making him feel like he just might float.

"Yeah?" He asks, rolling off the bench and standing up proper to-well he has no idea. The only girlfriend he's ever had he couldn't super enjoy because he realized her dad was a super villain and then stood her up on their first date. Not great boyfriend material.

"C-Cool." He nods as if he'd been asked a question. "Y-yeah, awesome. " Now what? Was he supposed to kiss her now? It wasn't that he didn't want to-he does but they just started dating and what if she didn't want to kiss him? He could ask, the worst she could say was no, right?

...Then again, that is the absolute worst she could say. And then break up with him on the spot for trying to push things so fast. Best hold off on that.

"S-so... yeah. Best girlfriend." He decides on.

[hibana_incursa]

Gwen can’t stop smiling. She has a boyfriend. A great boyfriend. He’s smart, absolutely hilarious and cute as hell. There were so many things she likes about him that she can’t list them all but that’s fine. She doesn’t need to. He’s her boyfriend and that’s just going to keep her buzzing happily for weeks. The train just got a little better.

When he stands, her first thought is along the same lines as his. Is he going to kiss her? It’s not like she’s say no to it or be absolutely against it. They’d known each other for a while already so it’s not like the idea makes her uncomfortable. But he doesn’t and she’s fine with that too.

“Yeah. And you’re a pretty awesome boyfriend, so I’m. I’m really happy right now.” Her grin returns in full force as she says this. But. Now what?

“Okay so. There really aren’t a lot of options for dates on the train. But we have a book and candy and that sounds pretty awesome to me.”

preboarding

[siriusly]

"Mmmrh..."

Manabu, all packed up and ready to go, is standing in front of the mysterious train. The mysterious train that doesn't even bother having a registry ID number on its front -- which is exactly what he was looking for.

Well, not just that: he'd been walking around the engine car, trying to find some sign of life. Some silhouette of a figure, a glimpse of movement...Anything.

Part of him really wants to start lobbing rocks at its front to see what would happen; that part of him is currently scuffing at loose stones, tempting the more sensible part of him.