I Was Looking for a Breath of Life

[redlightgreenlight]

Who: Valdis and Open!
What: New Arrival tries to cope with being dropped into a new place after a massive bloodbath
When: November
Where: All over
Warnings: Headaches, grumpiness, will warn if it gets worse than that.




1) Arrival: Her head screamed at her, sharp pain cutting into her vision with every breath. Eyes closed tightly, Valdis does her best to breathe. The heavy death in the air, filled with lingering desperation and trauma tightened her chest. Of all the times to fall into a new world, it would be just after a massacre. With her head in her hands, her black hair hiding her face, she leaned against the railing of the walkway, trying to drown out the pain. This was definitely where it all happened. The pain was worse here.
"Haven't felt this bad since the last war," she muttered. "How many people died?"


2) Revelations: Valdis worked her way through the ship, avoiding her cabin as much as possible, seeking to memorize the layout of the ship and maximize her ability to move quickly should it be necessary. The Void is silent, a fact she should be grateful for, and in some ways, very much is. But now the silence is simply silence, and the feeling that the dead are around every corner sits in her gut. She can’t see them, except maybe flitting out of the corner of her eyes from time to time, but she can sense that they aren’t alone. Footsteps sounded from behind her, she’d been so focused on the dead that she hadn’t paid attention to the living. She turns around, hand on the hilt of the rather impressive sword hanging on her hip.

"Hello?"

3)Buffet: Without the ability to draw on the dead, Valdis must find something to soothe the very human feeling of hunger. She’d known the feeling from home, before her memories had begun to return, but now she found it highly annoying.

“What’s the best thing here?”

Second Week of November and Onwards

4) Library: Valdis has finally taken Erin's advice and found the black binder in the library. She is not thrilled with what she's reading and the tension is visible in her usually elegant jawline and the glowing red in her eyes. Fear isn't found anywhere in her demeanor or soul, but rather a thoughtful, yet tense, aura radiates from where she sits. She's so focused that almost anyone not touched by death could approach without her noticing. If they are touched by death, she may react poorly, so tread carefully.

5) Hurikane: She can't get drunk, but she sure is trying her best with pure vodka and whatever else she can find that's strong. She's not even really trying to taste it, just downing it as fast as the invisible bartender can deliver, and exhausting her healing abilities as she goes. It's still not enough to even give her a buzz though. Disappointing.

6)Wildcard round: Your turn!

Comments

Buffet

[konpeito_aji]

"Ice cream!" Without hesitation. "Ah, but that's not here. The desserts. There's too many to list. But watermelon is also amazing."

Nobunaga doesn't look like a five year old despite those words, he's wearing jet black full plate mail and average male human height, and carrying a long gun, and two katana openly on his right hip, though the left side still bears some scorch marks on the armor and the belt has been only makeshift mended at best. Still, his plate has almost only desserts on it. Not the most responsible of adults here.

Re: Buffet

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis looks her buffet companion over. Despite his rather childish preferences, he appears to be some kind of warrior, armed and armored, and she suspects the weapons aren't just for show.

"I see, and where does one find the ice cream then?"

Usually not her cup of tea, but neither was this entire ship...She shifts ever so slightly, moving so her own blade is visible, but not acknowledging it.

[konpeito_aji]

"Scoops. It's on the Promenade. They have 31 flavors, and I tried them all. What kind of foods are usually your favorite?"

Nobunaga does his best to discreetly (he has no chance of this because he's not discreet...) get a glance at what type of blade it is. Although he can't recognize most katana on sight, unless they're one of his own collection or passed through his hands, to call him a fanboy of weapons would be a true understatement. They will always be his first true love. He knows much less about European style blades of course, but this literally only means he can't name every swordsmith forge and creators. The country of origin and its utility? That he's overly advanced in.

[redlightgreenlight]

"31 flavors, I suppose that's impressive."

But not as interesting as the fact that this man had seen suit to try each and every one of them. She catches his glance down at the sword on her hip, for however harmless the conversation is, she's more interested in his weapons and what threat level he may possess. His gaze holds only curiosity as far as she can tell, however.

The sword is like nothing he has seen and will probably never see it's ilk again. Human hands did not forge it, nor was it forged with any metal known on earth. But whether or not he can tell that at a glance is hard to know. The blade is hidden in a sheath of red leather, but the hilt is gold and the guard swoops like delicate feathers around it.

"You like swords?"

More interesting than ice cream at least.

Revelations

[theweakhavepurpose]

Deputy Pratt has had the worst month of his life in October. Or well, life and death actually. Which is still saying something considering how much he was tortured when he was alive.

He's wearing his uniform, but even though he's always been small and skinny, he's downright emaciated now and the shirt is hanging off of him. He had to pierce another hole into his duty belt to get it to fit.

He's carrying a totebag full of junk food from the Sundries shop, bags of Serena Eterna doritos crinkling as he walks.

"Oh. Uh. Hey." He sounds exhausted, and his voice is a bit like a crow with laryngitis. His eyes flick over her, searching his memories for if he knows this person, "You new?"

Re: Revelations

[redlightgreenlight]

The man before her holds no threat of any kind. He's emaciated, tired and she's honestly surprised he's even on his feet. He feels as if he's suffered greatly, perhaps even recently, and she wonders if he's a victim of the massacre from the night before she arrived. She relaxes after finishing her evaluation, hand dropping from the hilt of her sword.

"Yes," she replied, trying to keep her voice soft, "You don't seem well, are you sure you should be up and about?"

[theweakhavepurpose]

He watches her hand listlessly, if he was feeling more like himself he would definitely comment on it because swords are cool. He's a big fan. Right now though... Yeah that's a thing to fanboy over another time.

"Probably not, but I'm not gonna just stay in my room forever. So..." He shrugs, gesturing to the bag over his shoulder, "This is for Steve. Helping out ya know."

1) Arrival (Early Afternoon November 2nd)

[crushed_pearls]

With a lot of her friends still locked in their cabins and the restless need to exhaust herself before bed for reasons we will not be thinking about because it will only make things worse, Erin has found herself back in the pattern of exploring the ship to fill her days. It reminds her of September, some, before she really knew anyone she felt comfortable intruding on.

(Though that's hardly the problem right now, is it?)

She scowls at herself and then stops when she catches a taste of agony on the air, throbbing and severe. That cannot be good. She picks up the pace, heavy boots clomping on the deck, and finds -

- Oh shit, new arrival.

"Are you hurt?" Erin calls out, face all concern. "Did someone jump you or -" she falters trying to find a list of alternate options.

There's.

There's been a lot of those alternate options so far.

[redlightgreenlight]

A voice cuts through the pain, followed by an eerie and unsettling feeling of incompleteness. If the Void were awake she'd be able to suppress the pain using the power stored inside of it, but it's inaccessible. A blessing and curse at the same time. The next sensation is concern and it takes her a moment to realize that a woman is moving towards her. The woman is both the source of the worry, and of the...incomplete aura.

It's a toss up as to which she has the strength to react to, but if she's honest with herself, she has no energy or focus to worry about the latter issue.

"No...I'm uninjured" she breathes, "There's...there was...a lot of suffering here...and it hurts."

[crushed_pearls]

"Ah, hell. I've got pain meds on me if those will help but -" Erin interrupts herself with a deep breath. "...Sorry to say the suffering is only going to continue."

What in God's name is this person? The blindfold picks her up just fine but with an incredible impression of age; there are moments where she flickers into the background, as if she's simply of the world rather than a piece of it. Erin shakes her head violently and distracts herself getting out some Tylenol. The bottle rattles when she holds it up with a hopeful expression.

Revelations

[hellonspectacles]

Palamedes is leaving his cabin—Valdis’ cabin, too, even if she is avoiding it and he doesn’t realize it yet—when he feels the air subtly shift. He had once told Clarke that he could feel a change in thanergy the way a person might feel a change in the amount of oxygen in a room. There’s no immediate zing when it increases, but gradually, Pal becomes aware that he can breathe easier.

And that’s what it feels like in the otherwise quiet hallway. For a moment he fears that another round of death and destruction has befallen the ship, but then he notices the woman stalking the corridor about fifty feet ahead of him. Surreptitiously as he can, Palamedes follows her.

It isn’t long before she spots him, which isn’t a surprise. Sneaking isn’t a particular skill of Pal’s. Gaze flickering to the sword (it’s a very impressive sword), he raises his hands and smiles politely. “Hullo. Can I help you find something? You look a bit lost.”

Re: Revelations

[redlightgreenlight]

A sudden coolness washes her over when she turns to face the man following her. He feels...off, almost like a Hound, but without the soullessness attached. Her hand moves away from the sword and it seems like the light in the hallway dims ever so slightly. Valdis stares at him, trying to discern a threat that she feels should exist; but the man standing in front of her looks fairly human despite the death that embraces him. And that's it, isn't it? The Death seems to embrace him in a way that feels familiar.

"Who are you?" She asks, completely ignoring his question in favor of asking her own.

[hellonspectacles]

Palamedes lifts his brows. She’s the one with the giant sword, so why is she looking at him like he’s the threat? Sure, technically Pal is a lot more dangerous than he looks, but this stranger has no way of knowing that.

He stays where he his, gaze flickering briefly upward when the lights waver. Huh. “Palamedes Sextus. My cabin is down the hall. Why, who are you?”

Buffet

[pineapplesalmon]

A bit of a laugh. "You're going to get a hundred different answers if you ask a hundred different people. Give me an idea of what you're looking for and we can work on that."

César's wearing a Victorian style vest and pants from Tommy Bahama. Over the vest is a thick utility belt, and the pants are tucked into a pair of nice equestrian boots, both a dark brown leather. Steampunk lite. He seems a bit tired but on the upswing.

Re: Buffet

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis eyes the rather handsome man who answered, evaluating without looking him over too closely.

"Well, I'm not quite sure," she says with a smile, "I'm not sure a buffet can offer me the same as what I'm used to back home. What's your favorite thing?"

Yes, she did eat normal food at home, but she usually cooks for herself or eats out at...fancier places.

Re: Buffet

[pineapplesalmon]

"Ah... the fruit, the coffee place, or the sushi restaurant. But this place has some pretty solid curry." César smiles. "Honestly, the food really isn't all that bad. I've sort of eaten everything and nothing's really been unappetizing."

2

[saltwaterlungs]

What a coincidence, Darcy also happens to have a sword. She also happens to be dead. Animate, but dead, and full of deathly energy which seems to be the reason she's upright. The feeling of something more powerful than herself spurs the same reaction that Bash got; a feeling like staring into the maw of one of the Kerberoi.

"Uh," Darcy stammers after a moment, "hi. You're new?"

Re: 2

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis' first impression is that this woman is dead. Not in the undead monster sort of manner either, as she seems to be in full control of her capacities. She's more like someone whose soul has been put back into their body, but it is not fully connected the way someone alive might be.

"And you're dead," she replies casually, "Or at least you're supposed to be."

[saltwaterlungs]

Both of her hands go up in a gesture of surrender and a look of panic crosses her face.

"Honest to God swear on my grave, the relevant authorities of my world know and are cool with it. I'm not doing anything wrong."

5. Hurikane

[astrogator]

[Ari's still sticking to her drinking rules. No more than a few drinks, a few times a week, and not alone, even if it means she ends up sitting with a stranger. They all have something in common, after all. They're all prisoners here.

Other people's drinking habits are usually none of her business, but what she sees as she walks up to the bar at Hurikane is extreme enough to make her protective instincts kick in. Someone drinking far too much, far too fast. She keeps doing this, approaching traumatised people, and it rarely ends well, but so far that hasn't stopped Ari from trying. There she is, a young woman in a blue military uniform. She puts her hands down flat on the bar, trying not to seem like a threat, even though there's a gun clipped to her belt, openly worn.]

That's probably going to hit you all at once. [It's lightly said, but with an edge of concern in her voice.]

[redlightgreenlight]

[Valdis turns to look at the young woman who has taken the place next to her. No trace of a buzz or drunkeness in her eyes or the movement itself. The girl is armed, but seems soft somehow, the concern in her voice, the gentle care for a stranger. Yeah, someone's going to walk all over this poor girl someday.

She sighs sadly, then laughs a moment.]

Oh, I really wish it would.

[astrogator]

[She takes note of that fact. So far, the drinks don't seem to have affected this woman at all. Either that means Ari's right, and it'll all kick in suddenly and possibly leave her under the bar, or something else is going on. A lot of watering down? Ari used to take watered wine at the captain's table back on her starship, when she was still young enough for that to be expected. She doesn't see that there would be a reason for it here, not for someone drinking alone.

Well. Not exactly alone now. Ari signals to a bartender she can't quite see, and asks for a Siduri Surprise. They can mix the cocktails favored in spacer bars. Very unexpected, but given her tendency to cling to anything familiar, very welcome.

Then she looks back to her companion.]

Having a rough time, then. [It's not a question. Everyone on this ship is, one way or another.] It does take the edge off the suffering.

2

[treading_water]

The boot steps are hurried, belonging to another new arrival that is trying to find his way around and come to terms with the state of things. He means to pass her, but as she turns and he notices the hand on his shield, he grunts, his own touching the handle of a pistol on his belt.

"Keep it sheathed." he groans, "I'm not fucking following you."

[redlightgreenlight]

The man before her seems...upset, a little frazzled, and perhaps a bit lost. By this point she's been here a few weeks, so realistically she should try to be as helpful as possible.

"You look terrible, rough arrival?"

So helpful.

[treading_water]

Okay, what the fuck. Ed balks, eyes squinting at her as he approaches.

"Fuck you, I look the same as I always do."

Sort of, anyway. His fingers grip the gun a little tighter, trying not to get too heated over this and failing.