come_sailaway | I Was Looking for a Breath of Life

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I Was Looking for a Breath of Life

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!

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[That can't be the only difference. Valdis has hit upon a difficult subject here. Ari's intelligent, analytical by nature, and that's an asset on the Tradelines so long as you don't turn it towards finding fault with the law and custom of the organisation itself. She was told in training that she just didn't have the seniority to criticise certain things, that it was arrogant to think she knew better than people who had been doing this far longer than her - and Ari wanted to achieve her ambitions so badly, she went along with it all.

She's not bad at immediate analysis to defend the Tradelines, though.]

Nations. Your homeworld must have had a lot of internal conflict for all these alliances and offers of aid to occur. Civil war on the colony worlds of my sector is rare.

And then governments. The Tradelines aren't allied with any particular government, no. That's what a planetary militia is for. Internal matters. Imagine the alternative! Siduri has a dispute with Lorentzen Delta, and before you know it there's a little Siduri fleet at war with a little Lorentzen fleet, and not only would you have a much greater casualty rate on those two worlds, anyone further out towards the frontier than them would have their supply lines cut, because no independent civvy trader is going to ship goods through a warzone to get to them. That could mean starvation, or even atmospheric failure, out on a frontier world. Catastrophic loss of life.

Under our system, those worlds are both insured, so they get Tradeline mediation. A panel of senior captains investigating the dispute and deciding where fault lies - according to code and citizens' essential rights, not their own whims - while their ships make sure there are no further hostilities and that the lines of trade and travel stay open, for both other Tradeline ships and the independents.

[Ari's calm and measured about all this, doing her best to convince Valdis.] Mercenaries are much less organised than we are, without our structure and our code. Security companies are mercenary; there are plenty of those around, and they operate where it's profitable for them. [If the sticking point is government backing, though, the Tradelines won't ever qualify. Governments out in Ari's sector range from direct democracy to shareholder vote to appointed council, but one characteristic they share is that they're all very small.]

It's not a civil war. Think of each nation like it's own planet. The world they are on its own solar system.

[She does listen to Ari's entire explanation. The girl is passionate, no doubt, but there's something heartbreaking about it. From what Ari describes, her timeline is somewhere between Star Wars and Star Trek. And even Starfleet battled corruption. The Jedi had a pretty strong code too, but they became too proud, too blind to the flaws. Yet, those are both fiction. This is Ari's reality.]

I can see you believe strongly in your code and I sincerely hope you are correct about the Tradelines. But I've seen many empires rise and fall and many systems die upon their own morals. At some point, you will be faced with a choice you may not like.

[She doesn't dismiss what Valdis is saying. It might not be poetic language, not from someone immortal.]

Nothing lasts forever, but that's no reason not to try to preserve what we value. I'm not responsible for the important decisions right now, but when I make captain, I might be - and sometimes there's no perfect decision, just a heap of competing priorities that you have to use your best judgement with. Difficult choices. If it comes to it, making those choices will be my duty. [As will living with the consequences. Ari's come a long way from the girl who sobbed the first time she got her virtual crew killed in a command simulation, and was told without sympathy to go right back, try again, and do better. She thinks she understands what Valdis means, at any rate.

A moment later, she asks:]

How many nations are there on your homeworld?

How very human of you.

[She sounds tired again, and raises her hand for yet another shot of vodka as if it is actually going to work this time.]

There are currently one hundred and ninety-five countries. That's subject to change though.

That figures. I'm human. [Ari's getting the impression that it's not the humans on Valdis' homeworld who think themselves superior, and she doesn't like it much.] Why, what would a non-human say about those difficult choices?

[One hundred ninety-five isn't a solar system. That's more subdivisions of one planet than there are inhabited planets in Ari's entire sector, and 'subject to change' only makes it worse. She signals for another drink of her own. One more won't hurt.]

[Valdis laughs, it's not a pleasant sound, deeper, vaguely hyena-like.]

I'm not a huge fan of the human race. I've been watching them tear themselves and others apart for thousands of years. Just when they have perhaps figured it out...someone comes along and makes the blood flow again.

[Another shot downed]

You haven't known me long enough to figure it out on your own, Ari. But I've been a monster far longer than I've had a soul and those without souls do not dream. There is no love. No feeling of loss. No hope.

Humans were given everything.

[So yes, she doesn't like humans, but it's more her being cynical than her actually thinking herself superior. She's not quite sure what she is anymore.]

The most difficult choice I had to make in recent memory was deciding to keep my soul when I could have handed it over again. Right now, I deeply regret that decision.

[This place is gonna run out of Vodka]

[Is Valdis finally getting drunk? Much of this makes as much sense to Ari as the ramblings of a drunk person - although this has much more to do with Ari's view on souls than on Valdis herself. She decides to focus on what she can.]

I don't know about any of that. I don't have a soul, so I can't say anything about them, really. You don't seem like a monster to me. Will you do something for me, though? I'll accept what you say about the humans on your homeworld, but my people are galaxies away, at the very least. Don't judge us by them? If you get to know me and find I have all the same bloodthirsty faults as them, then you'll have a right to, but at least give us a chance?

[She's used to being aware that people here will judge the Tradelines by her example, as she's their only representative. Representing the entire population of her sector? Just a little extra pressure to behave herself. No problem, right?]

[Something shifts behind her eyes. Amusement perhaps. Or maybe some sort of delight at the deal Ari has offered.]

I accept your deal.

[If only to see how it plays out. She is curious about these future humans. If the Serena Eterna can't break Ari, well then, maybe there us hope for the future.]

And every living thing has a soul. It's none of that religious stuff. It's a life force and energy that happens to be connected to consciousness.

[Deal? Ari looks at her in bemusement, because there was no contract there. She just doesn't want to be negatively judged because of things done by humans who were very far removed from her and her people.

Maybe it's a figure of speech. Most people don't think like Tradeliners. She lets it go, focuses on the rest.]

If every living thing has a soul, and by soul you mean life force, then you couldn't have been without one. You'd have died, or at least not had the consciousness to observe your own qualities without a soul. [Seems logical enough to her. All the same, she doesn't want to be unkind.]

Look, I respect your right to have any sort of spiritual beliefs that are important to you. I have no problem with that. I just don't share them. [And she's not interested in evangelism, of any flavor.]

[Definitely a figure of speech. She's agreed to not judge Ari based on the humans of her world. A true deal is messier.]

You are correct. I did not have the morals that drive you. I was not aware of emotions, pain or loss. I had a soul, it was just taken from me at some point, but wasn't destroyed.

[She shrugs.]

Spirituality has nothing to do with it.

[Valdis is suddenly very sober sounding, not that she had actually been drunk. She lifts a hand, hesitates, and tips her head to the side.]

You don't have to believe in souls. You don't even have to believe I'm a monster. But...may I show you something?

[This just sounds like more figurative talk to Ari. Valdis had acted amorally - perhaps immorally - and denied her emotions. Something traumatic had likely occurred to provoke it. It's an odd thing to confess to a new acquaintance, but Ari won't pass judgement without detail. The soul talk still sounds like a flowery excuse for negative behavior to Ari, but she can accept that Valdis believes in it sincerely.

She nods.]

Please, show me whatever you'd like to. Where is it?

[Valdis doesn't answer, but she does grab a glass from the bar top and break it, scoring the broken glass across her palm, cutting deeply so the scarlet blood flows down her hand and onto the bar. She sets down the glass and holds out her uninjured hand to Ari.]

Give me your hand.

What?! [Ari's eyes go wide with shock, and she slides down from her bar stool, ready to make a quick exit if things get worse.]

You didn't say anything about a blood pact. [She's not letting Valdis cut her hand the way she just did her own. No. Not without a whole lot more explanation first. Digging in one of her pockets, she pulls out a folded square of fabric.] Let me wrap that? I'll take you to the infirmary.

[Valdis rolls her eyes]

You agreed to let me show you something, and I assure you I have no need for a blood pact. Though I do find it interesting that a civilization as advanced as yours still feels the need for such foolish rituals.

[She's in a slightly destructive mood, but she appreciates the fact that Ari thinks to actually escort her to the infirmary.]

If you do not have a soul, nothing will happen. And if you do, you have gained knowledge. There is no contract here, I promise you.

[Her civilization? Ari wasn't the one who had just sliced her own palm open. Valdis' blood was still dripping onto the bar.

Despite everything, though, Ari's curious. Besides, there's a logical reason to go along with this. The sooner Valdis shows her whatever she intends to, the sooner she'll agree to get medical help.

There's no contract. On the Tradelines you couldn't trick someone into contract, unknowing, so she's certain about that. Ari takes a deep breath, then steps closer again, holding out her left hand to Valdis.]

Alright. Show me. [Boldly said, no trace of fear.]

[In her defense, she knows what is going to happen next and she's never really held a lot of stock in the value of her own life.

She takes Ari's offered hand and reaches our through the connection between them. Death begins to draw on the life force within the girl, draining it like a battery. Ari may begin to feel breathless, her chest may feel tighter, some people may even feel pain, but Valdis isn't taking much.

As she pulls that life force into her own essence, the bleeding stops and smooth, unblemished skin knits itself together.

Valdis releases Ari's hand and any symptoms the girl may have been feeling vanish, except for maybe being a little tired. The scarlet irises that had replaced the green fade back into their normal color]

Towel please.

[A towel appears out of nowhere, flung unceremoniously onto the bar. She picks it up and wipes the remaining blood off of her hand. Holding it out for Ari to examine.]

I don't expect this to prove anything to you right now, aside from the fact I can take your lifeforce into my own. But, at least consider I may be correct.

[She wipes the blood off the counter, unfortunately it's a white towel.]

Sorry, uh, ghost...bartender.

[At first, Arilanna doesn't feel anything unusual. The sensation, when it begins, is a peculiar one. A tightness in her chest, a quickening of breath that under other circumstances would have been a warning to her to get whatever anxious feeling was troubling her under control.

This isn't unwanted nerves. There's none of the heightened awareness, the spike of adrenaline that accompanies them. Instead, Ari feels weary. As if she could easily fall asleep, right there by the bar.

It's an uncomfortable enough combination that she would have - quite possibly should have - pulled her hand away, under other circumstances. Why doesn't she? Even with the blood partially obscuring her view, Ari can see Valdis' wound closing up. She's far too fascinated by the process to want to stop it, even though it's taking a toll on her.

When the process is finished, Ari sits back down. An acknowledgement that she's no longer worried about what Valdis might do? Maybe. Or perhaps she's simply still a little unsteady on her feet.]

That's incredible. [Yes, she may be slightly in awe of it.] I felt physical effects - couldn't you say that you were taking the energy of my body, and using it to heal yours? [No need to get metaphysical about it at all.]

Your life energy, yes. If I had continued to take it, I could kill you. I assume the Captain would still be able to bring you back, but I'm not positive as I haven't tried it yet.

[She not going to tell Ari the common name for it. Somehow she doesn't think the girl will accept 'death magic' as an answer. Valdis sets the now bloody towel back on the bar.]

Anyway, we aren't in your galaxy right now. We may not even be on the same plane, so things here may not be the same as things back home.

[She notably does not ask for another drink. She starting to feel better and she's not sure she likes the potential reason]

[She accepts very calmly the knowledge that in extremis this talent Valdis possessed could lead to death. She'd agreed to let her do it, after all, and-]

Don't worry. If it had started to feel dangerous to me, I'd have pulled away. [Presuming that Ari's danger point came before the energy drain made her too weak to do so, of course. But this doesn't occur to her, and Valdis has no reason to try to kill her, so she's unconcerned at present.

Then Valdis is telling her she's not in her galaxy and things are different, and Ari has to bite back a sarcastic oh really, I hadn't noticed. She focuses on Valdis' ability again instead.]

If you were wounded severely, could you draw from multiple people at once to heal yourself, instead of risking the life of a single person?

[Valdis lets Ari think she could simply pull away. In truth, she doesn't need to be in contact with someone to kill them in this way. She smiles at the question.]

I can. But I don't need to wait until I'm injured to do it. I can store the energy for a later time and use it for various things, like increasing my strength and speed. Making the shift less painful. I'm running on empty right now.

[Her normal, much-more-than-human strength and speed are intact, but she can't increase them beyond that without soul energy and...it's dangerous to just drain people. She needs at least some level of trust from her fellow kidnappees.]

[Ari nods, although the concept of storing the energy is another strange one to her.] It's almost like a power cell, then. Keeping the energy for when you need it.

[The process had been uncomfortable for Ari, but not frightening. A few possibilities occur to her.]

I have a little lingering fatigue - do you know how long that's likely to last? And what's the shift? [None of them have work shifts here; it can't be that.]

[The fatigue isn't a surprise, and neither is Ari's comparison to a power cell. In essence, those around her are like batteries and she can take their energy, but they can be 'recharged', so it's not a wrong assumption. She shrugs]

I'm not sure how long it will last, depends on how much I take, and I didn't take much.

[She smiles at the other question.]

You likely won't believe me, but I can change my form into a giant Hound.

I think that if you tell me something like that in this place, and it's untrue, it reflects badly on you, not on me for accepting it. [Overly honest? Possibly. Ari already knows there's a man who can transform into a - kipterya - cougar, and that he's dangerous for it. So she won't immediately dismiss Valdis' claim, but she won't be quick to believe it, either.]

I'll monitor it, then. I need to keep myself in good physical condition for the obvious reasons. If the effects are minor and clear up quickly? We might be able to come up with some arrangement. If you'd be interested.

[Not out of the kindness of Ari's heart, not for free, but 'running on empty' doesn't sound pleasant, and she'll help if she can.]

Fair enough.

[Valdis' eyes narrow, no one makes an offer like that without there being a motive behind it.]

That depends on what you get out of the deal. I'm not usually one for owing favors or signing contracts.

I thought that I might be able to call on you at need. To fight for me. It's good to have support, in this place.

[It's casually said. No need to alarm Valdis if she hasn't yet heard all the stories that Ari has.]

I'd insist on signed contract, for any arrangement. People have to know where they stand, and what to expect from one another.

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redlightgreenlight - 2022-11-23 23:05 (UTC) - Expand

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I Was Looking for a Breath of Life

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Up to you how much she feels beyond tired!

hope this is okay, happy to edit if not right :)

It's great!

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