Naja chores post. OTA

[najaran]

Who: Najaran, Goligan, her Cards, and whoever wants to join them.
Where: All over the train except kitchen and stores...
When: Platform till the end of the month
What: Najaran usually does every chore on the train on a semi-regular basis, but this month has been... odd.
Warnings: Angst. So much angst. Possible violence mentions. Also, she's now known two people that this month's ingredient resembles...


Najaran was a common and familiar sight around the train; the girl in the chiton over shorts, short cape, and weird companions was often found cleaning, getting lost, and... um... cooking and doing laundry in the Garden Car. Yeah, that's a thing.

But this month she has been avoiding the kitchen and dining cars. Also for those who know her well they may have noticed that she's been eating less. Or maybe they just noticed that oddly there has been more raw food around than usual, but far fewer preprepped meals in the fridge.

Najaran can generally be found carrying dirty laundry to the Garden Car, or clean things away from it. Expect her to be carrying so much she can't see well and also, you know, getting lost. Yes, she will wander into the games car with a stack of linen despite the signs up in every car giving directions. Signs her friend put up because of her, ages back.

Or more often, she's in the Garden Car itself. She washed laundry over a small tended fire in a po from the kitchen using Goligan to stir. Spending a lot of time watching the Adult Woodfolk in the small plot of dirt she'd moved in as they played with its babies. She also spent a fair amount of time laying out in there, up against Knight, chewing on random non-food things, like a wooden spoon, trying not to think about how hungry she was.

She hadn't said much about the void storm where she'd been turned into a child again for while. But those who had seen her during it might recognize the habit of chewing on things that she had then. It was unclear if she'd even made the connection herself.

Comments

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin entered the Garden Car and spotted Najaran tending to the laundry in a pot.

"Najaran? How's it going? I meant to look for you during the Void Storm, but somehow that didn't happen."

[najaran]

"I... got lost a lot during that," she admitted.

"And somehow she's worse now that she was before," Goligan lamented.

[so_dark_a_road]

"What happened? Tell me about it?" Curufin really wanted to know.

[najaran]

"There... wasn't really much, other than getting lost. What about you? Were you okay?" she asked, setting the wash aside to lean against a rock while they talked.

[so_dark_a_road]

"You got lost on the train? Or do you mean something else, like that you got lost in a dream or in your head? And as for me, I merely got confused. Also, I got knocked on my ass in the Dining Car when the storm was buffeting us. And Inigo and I couldn't communicate with each other because the train's universal translator suddenly glitched." He grins. "And when we went to the Music Carriage, our skin and hair turned strange colors."

[najaran]

"I meant on the train," she answered, grinning a bit.

"So just like any other day, for Najaran," Goligan put in.

"Sounds like you had fun though."

Sometimes... Sometimes Curufin reminded her a bit of her dad. The way he seemed to be able to turn anything into fun, into an adventure. She chewed thoughtfully on her finger without being aware that she was doing it.

[so_dark_a_road]

"I see. It was hard to get from one carriage to another because each carriage exit led to somewhere else than where it was supposed to."

He nodded and smiled at Goligan. "If any day for Najaran is a day in which confusing things happen."

He smiled at Najaran. "I did kind of have fun. The weirdness in each carriage was a surprise, and sometimes I like surprises."

He probably was a bit like Najaran's dad. He was a dad himself, and when he and his son Celebrimbor were still together in their own world and Cel was still young, he had striven to make life fun for the child.

[najaran]

"Only sometimes?" Najaran asked, nibbling on her finger. "Or only some surprises?"

[so_dark_a_road]

"Well. . . some surprises wouldn't be welcome. I wouldn't like it if a bunch of Orcs started pouring into the carriages and tried to kill us all. But I think that kind of thing only happens in my world, not on the train."

[najaran]

"We'd be able to stop them, though," she pointed out.

[so_dark_a_road]

"True, we would. I'd whip out my sword and start slashing and stabbing." He chuckled.

[najaran]

"But yeah, I can see how some surprises wouldn't be fun at all." She chewed on her finger thoughtfully. "I mean, I would be surprised if Zenith showed up..." Or maybe not. He was good at showing up when she didn't expect him.

[so_dark_a_road]

"Who is Zenith?" he asked.

[najaran]

She opened her mouth to reply, then closed it, frowning a bit. "I'm not sure I'm sure any more..."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Do you mean that person or entity has changed in some way, and therefore you don't feel you really know them anymore?"

[najaran]

She nodded. "I'd still be afraid for the train if he showed up here but... the more a I learn about him, the more I wonder... you know?"

[so_dark_a_road]

"What would make you fear for the train, if Zenith showed up here?"

[najaran]

How to explain...

"The first time he showed up he destroyed a whole lot of the town and lots of people got hurt. He gets so excited at the thought of fighting someone strong, and beating them, that he doesn't think about who he might hurt. And his Tempest card is one of the strongest attack spells I've ever seen. It could rip the train apart, and he likes to lead with it." Not to mention the Flame Lord embedded in his arm...

[so_dark_a_road]

"He sounds like a very impulsive person, and not one who thinks of the consequences of his actions. That is a fearful thought, that he might use his Tempest Card to rip the train apart, not thinking of the people he might harm."

[najaran]

She nodded. "I think... I think maybe he's not as bad as he used to be... but I still think we'd all be in trouble if he showed up..."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Then let's hope he doesn't show up!"

[najaran]

"Agreed! Though if Alta showed up, that could be lots of fun. I think she'd enjoy the missions."

[so_dark_a_road]

"And who is Alta?" he asks. "Oh, by the way, I have to be off to the kitchen in a few minutes, since I'm still on cooking detail. I won't be cooking that horrible Octopus, though!" He sticks his tongue out in disgust. And then he laughs.

[najaran]

"If you make anything without it, please share!" She couldn't even handle being in there.

"Alta's a friend of mine from back home. She's a Searcher." Like that explained anything.

[so_dark_a_road]

"I will let you know!" he replies. "I'll share anything I cook with you, and you can be sure there won't be any Octopus in it."

"What's a Searcher?" he asks.