voidtreckerexpress | Winter Wonderland [Event]

Winter Wonderland [Event]

”Good Morning passengers. Today is day Twenty Four of the month of Catfish. You may wish to look out of the window.”

As passengers wake in their beds they will indeed notice something different about the light. If they look out of the window, instead of the ever changing void they will see white slopes of mountains, flakes of snow alling down around them and frost covered trees zipping past the windows. If they glance at the ICP on the table they will see a message.

Investigating the dressing cart they will find the drawers and cupboards unlocked once again. However, instead of the fantasy-esque clothing of world #25768 they will find thick winter coats, hats, gloves and scarves. There are heavy fur lined boots and even some ice skates.

Entering the garden carriage they will see that the glass dome of the roof has opened, leaving the carriage exposed to a bright blue sky. Any nonsense of the past few weeks has vanished, leaving the carriage pristine. Not that that is easy to notice as it is covered in a thick layer of snow. The paths are clearer, a light dusting of snow but easy to talk through. Around the paths the drifts are high, perfect for snowman building or a snowball fight.

The streams and the pond in the centre are solid ice. Anyone brave enough to try to find the ice holds their weight for ice skating.

And the ICP message was correct. There is hot chocolate in the stores.

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Curufin's seen that gesture before. Some people seem to use it as an expression of modesty.

"That explains it. I try to interact with everybody at one time or another, since I think it's important that we all recognize each other, even if only to know names and have a little bit of an idea who the other person is. But sometimes it takes a while for me to speak to a person, especially if a person is new. You weren't asked if you wanted to be a VoidTrecker passenger, did you? So far I haven't met anybody who says it was voluntary."

He smiles. "Pleased to meet you, Inigo! You can call me Curufin, of course. Elves don't use honorifics much."

Visible relief crosses his face at the smile he gets from Curufin and the reply. Although Inigo is pretty used to dealing with sticks in the mud by now, it's always nice to meet someone who seems similarly good-natured.

"No, it definitely wasn't voluntary. And I could tell the difference, since I have travelled through space and time before-- but that time it definitely was voluntary." So it makes it even more obvious that he didn't have much of a choice in this one. "That is why it seems rather odd to me that this train or whatever force is behind it would pull people so randomly and suddenly from other places to here."

Curufin hasn't got much of a history of being a stick-in-the-mud. It's true he was grouchy at times in his original world, but then he had constant war to deal with and the curse of the Silmarils. But even then, he was exuberant whenever he got the chance. And now, of course, he has chances galore! And he does like meeting good-natured people, which Inigo obviously is.

"You're done some time and space traveling? Your world has that capability? I guess it must, since you say it was voluntary. Yes, it is odd when the train acquires people from different universes. And of course we have no idea how it does that. I've lived in two worlds besides my own, however, though I didn't volunteer. I left the last world on my own, and I plunged into the great Void and was casting about for a way to get to a world that would be meaningful to me. That's when the VoidTrecker snatched me up and put me on the platform."

"Well, I wouldn't say that sort of travel was common where I come from.. But it possible in some way, yes." Since Inigo's circumstances are pretty unique. But he'd rather not get too much into said circumstances with anyone on this train, so he quickly turns the topic back to what Curufin was telling him about instead.

"Were you trying to get to a specific world though? Or just any world at all? If it was the latter, I could imagine you'd randomly end up here."

Curufin is about to ask Inigo just exactly how he did this time and space traveling, but he is forestalled by Inigo's question, which he pauses to answer.

"I didn't know anything about what worlds were out there, and I didn't want to return to my own original world. I was trying to get to any world that might afford me a chance to do something useful. I was specifically thinking of putting my skills to use, and of finding people who wanted to solve problems, save lives, make things better. So I'm thinking it wasn't random that I ended up here. I think that the VoidTrecker somehow detected my desire and scooped me up to join the Void Warriors." He laughs a little. "I was doing the equivalent of hitchhiking. I had my thumb out, so to speak, and the train saw me."

"The Void Warriors? That sounds like a catchy name." Inigo laughs right along with Curufin. He didn't really think of the whole group here that way, but that's kind of what they are, huh.

Besides, he likes that the other was trying to find some place to be useful. It's not too far off from what Inigo had been doing himself, after all, even if his own circumstances seemed a little more drastic. So he likes Curufin already just by that fact.

"It also sounds like you really were a perfect candidate for the train. That is exactly why I can't understand why it keeps drawing in random people. Surely it could find enough people to volunteer themselves for this kind of work - there should be enough out there across all these words."

"That's what we're called, apparently," he answers. "And I guess that is what we are, even those who don't fight but have other skills."

Being useful is useful!

"Thank you! I like to think I have been useful here. And I agree, there are people on this train who either want to be here or don't mind being here, but there are also people who would rather go home. The random selection does seem odd. Why not advertise, and pick from the people who respond with enthusiasm? Or just contact likely candidates and ask them if they are interested in being Void Warriors? There must be millions of people who would choose to be here!"

He smiles at Inigo. "So, if the VoidTrecker picked you, what do you think its reasons were?"

Edited 2019-12-26 20:55 (UTC)

"Me?"

For a moment he seems to think about it, and then smiles.

"Experience with this sort of travel and with fighting, I assume? What we are doing on this train here isn't entirely dissimilar to what I was doing back home." Just.. on a different technological level, really, that's the main difference. And the fact that he's doing it here with people he doesn't know. "The truth of the matter is though that I was kiiind of in the middle of something back home. If they had asked me to do this after I had been done with doing what I was doing back home, I would have said yes for sure, which is mainly why I'm questioning this train's methods."

"It sounds as though the train interrupted you in your quest, in its haste to collect you as a Void Warrior. I don't blame you a bit for questioning its methods. It would have been better if it had waited until you were finished with whatever you were doing, or if it had asked you if you'd like to be contacted in the future and left a way for you to do so."

He doesn't mean to pry, but he is a bit curious. If Inigo doesn't wish to give details, Curufin will refrain from asking again. "You were traveling and fighting back home? What was it like for you, and what was the goal?"

There are at least definitely things he can share about his quest back home. It's easy to leave out the details he doesn't want to talk about without it really ruining the full story, after all. So there doesn't seem to be much hesitation on his part before he speaks in reply to the other's question.

"There is this gigantic dragon threatening to destroy the world back home-- the Fell Dragon, if you've ever heard of that name." He isn't expecting much on that front though, considering most people here seem to not even have heard of the Divine Dragon, which is an even wilder shock to him. "So my friends and I set out to try and do something about it. And I don't mean to say that they can't do anything without me, but me not being present for that battle does make me feel slightly concerned."

His tone, however, doesn't.. actually sound very concerned. He's still speaking about it lightly, even with a hint of a smile on his face. Like he's trying to make it sound more airy than it actually is.

Curufin would have no problem with that editing of the story, since when he tells his own tale, he often leaves out details he doesn't want to share. And still he manages to make it a story worth hearing.

"I haven't heard of that particular dragon, but my world was plagued with them for thousands of years! I can entirely understand your concern. What did you and your friends do?"

Speaking of dire matters in an airy tone is also characteristic of Curufin, so he doesn't feel uneasy when Inigo does it.

He's rather thankful that Curufin doesn't seem to think anything bad of his tone - or if the other does, then at least he's not saying it out loud. It makes it easier when he doesn't have to explain.

"We traveled through time to try and change events in the past to keep said dragon from being awoken altogether. But we didn't get to managing so yet before.." He shrugs a little. "You know. I found myself here."

Yes, things are often easier when you don't have to try to explain!

Curufin nods. The idea of time travel is no longer strange to him, after all his adventures outside of his own world. "You were going to prevent this dragon from waking up and demolishing your world, but you never got to do it. And now you are here. Did any of your friends come to the VoidTrecker with you?"

"No, it seems that I'm the only one here from my world."

He's for sure the only person he recognizes, and judging by how other people here tend to talk about modern technology, he's pretty sure there's no one else from his ye olde fantasy world.. Which sucks, since he only just reunited with his friends, but he shrugs and smiles in order to not let that show.

"But I am sure there are many others here in the same situation, without anyone they know from back home. Eventually we will all go home though and be reunited with those we care for, I'm sure."

Curufin talks about modern technology, but that's because he quickly began to update his knowledge as soon as he found himself in another world than his own. Actually, he's from a ye olde fantasy world as well! Just a different one than Inigo's.

"I'm fortunate that I've got my father, my mother, two of my brothers, and one of my cousins here. But I'm sure you are right about most of the other passengers. Many of them have no one from home, and they must be very lonely. Do you really think we will all go back home? I can understand why you would want to. You have a very important task that is still unfinished, and friends who will help you with it, and you miss them. I wish you the best if you return! It may be that eventually we can persuade the VoidTrecker authorities to release those who want to go."

It's a good question, really. Does Inigo really think that they'll all be able to go home somehow if they want to? Of course there's the possibility that they'll never find a way out. But.. he just doesn't want to think about that possibility for too long. It'd just make him sad.

So he quickly shoves that awkward thought under the table, instead just shaking his head and smiling.

"Of course we'll all go home at some point if we want to. There must have been a mistake in pulling people here involuntarily, and as soon as it's all sorted out, whoever can leave will be able to leave." Does he know that for sure? Of course not. It's all just speculation. But positive thinking is Inigo's strongest skill. "You sound like you're lucky to have found yourself in this place though with so much of your family. You should treasure it! I rather miss mine already, and it hasn't even been that long yet."

Curufin hopes for Inigo's sake that Inigo is right.

"I hope it was a mistake. There was a furor over this about two months ago when the Inspectors from the Office of Void Travel turned up. They seemed to think that we were somehow an anomaly, and that the VoidTrecker had erred or broken a rule as regards not asking our permission to add us to the passenger list and not properly training us. I don't remember being asked, nor do I remember any training. Arataka Reigen and I went with them to their headquarters and registered a complaint. Whether it will be acted on or not, I don't know. But it may be that the end result is that passengers who don't want to stay get to go home."

His face becomes soft. "I am very lucky to have my family here with me. I do treasure it, every minute of it. I'm sure you miss your family. Parents, siblings, other family?"

"Is that so..?" Apparently he never heard the thing about the inspectors and the whole filing a complaint business before, since Inigo looks rather surprised at the news. It does sound like something good though. With the way bureaucracy is, it's probably taking them a while to act upon it, but maybe it does mean some of them will be able to leave soon enough..

It's Curufin's question that makes him snap out of those thoughts. "Oh! Mostly my father and mother and my older sister." Especially since he was only just reunited with them back home before being seperated like this again. "The past few months back home were the first time I had ever not been at my sister's side, and it felt rather odd. But I suppose we have no choice but to be seperated from each other for a while longer now."

"I suppose so!" said Curufin. "And there is no telling how efficient this Void Travel Bureau really is, so there is no telling how soon they'll actually review the complaint. But it sounds as though you and your sister were close? You're lucky. I never had a sister and always wanted one."

He smiles. No matter how much he might miss his sister in this situation - for a while variety of reasons, really - all he has for her are fond feelings.

"She's amazing, so of course we were close. When we were younger, she'd pick up a sword and vow to slay all the bugs for me if I was terrified of one." He laughs at the memory. "Having brothers sounds nice too, though it must be a very different experience."

"Your sister sounds kind and loving," says Curufin, laughing as well. "How chivalrous of her, to slay the scary bugs for you!"

He thinks of his brothers.

"I wish that all of my brothers were here. I have six of them, but it seems that only two of them escaped our world besides me. It is a wonderful experience, having brothers. But we all wanted a sister, and we kind of adopted one of our female cousins, Aredhel. She liked to ride and hunt and go on adventures, the same as we did. But tell me, what else did you and your sister do. . . besides fight the terrible insects?" Smile.

Oh, you know. The usual. Try to survive the apocalypse. Saving the world from a gigantic dragon hellbent on destroying everything.

All very true. Also pretty much 90% of their activities lately, but that's nothing he wants to talk about, so it leaves him quiet for a moment as he tries to think up what else he could say that sounds convincing enough that he doesn't have to get into this instead.

"Well.. Just the usual. Things that are very different than here on the train. After all, we didn't have those.. what do they call these things in the game room again? "Video games"? Those didn't exist where I'm from. So we just read, or practiced swordfighting, or play pretend when we were younger.."

Curufin would identify with trying to survive the apocalypse, since that's what he and his people did for hundreds of years. Likewise with the dragon, since there were plenty of nasty winged reptiles in his world, and they were all on the side of the Enemy.

"I think any life must be different than the one we have here on the train. The only time things feel normal to me is when we get off and go on dangerous missions. And as for the game carriage, it's the same for me as for you, I guess -- we didn't have video games in my world, and I've never really developed an interest in them. Reading, swordfighting, and playing pretend sound like normal and enjoyable activities to me! It sounds as though you had a perfectly satisfying and educational roster of activities for your childhood and later on."

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Winter Wonderland [Event]

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