voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post February]

On the Train

"Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Domino."

It has been three days since they had arrived back from their last mission. "Points have been updated on the system and the shop has new merchandise." The morning proceeds normally. But those who have been on the train a while will be expecting the notice that comes around midday.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. Rain can be heard, the windows soon obscured with water droplets.

The doors open and seven passengers disembark, waterproof coats on, hoods pulled up, rucksacks on their backs. Lan Wangji, Link and Clara in blue, Deadpool and Atem in red, Eva and Mako in orange. All walk silently, blank faced, to the barriers where they show their tickets and walk through, disappearing from sight.

On the platform as ever, figures in waterproof coats over their hoodies. Eighteen of them this time. Ten are in orange, four in purple and then two each of red and blue.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze, rain falling down around them but then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large and it holds eighteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers, hoodies and waterproofs. The rain is heavy, bouncing off the platform. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out into the cold step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. They are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would not be a good thing also it’s very cold out on the platform. The train is warmer.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information. The store rooms have been restocked and it seems that water chestnuts are the month of Domino’s ingredient of choice!

New passengers will find their tickets allow them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express.” A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entering Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left, enough to throw someone off their feet if they are not ready. A flash of light, colourful and blinding.

As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to voidspace!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sizhui keeps a close eye on the platforms when the train stops. He has been fortunate so far to find both of his fathers - though one has sadly made the journey home. However he is entirely unprepared to see Wen Qing. His memories are fuzzy, but he does remember her. His Aunt.

She had perished along with the rest of the Wen and he isn't sure how to approach her.

Or if he should.

He is dressed in the robes of a Lan disciple - to make it easier for him to be spotted by those from their world - and it takes him a few moments to find the bravery to approach her.

"Lady Wen Qing?"

She turns to the sight of a young Lan disciple, a sight so unexpected in these bizarre, unfamiliar surroundings that it jolts like a bolt of lightning through her.

Wen Qing's eyes widen a little before she catches herself, chin going up slightly in not quite defiance. She's feeling a little too brittle today for proper defiance.

"Yes?" she says, her voice cautious and cautiously blank. "What do you want of me?" Is this one of the cultivators watching her burn? Has he created this illusion? There's something strangely familiar about him anyway.

He should take the lead here; she is entirely at the mercy of the unknown and if she remembers her death...

Sizhui's heart lurches and he gives her a deep bow, straightening before he speaks to her again. She has every right to feel suspicious if not outright defiant.

"Aunt." he whispers, "I know this will be hard to believe, but my surname is Wen."

How can he explain the passage of so much time? Thirteen years and all of it, she has been...gone. A memory.

"Wen Yuan, though I am now called Lan Yuan or...Lan Sizhui." a fitting name for a boy who is a connection to a past that slipped away far too quickly.

Aunt? She listens without interrupting, no matter how unbelievable his claims seem.

Yet here she stands, having been whisked away from her pyre to a completely different place so foreign she can't make sense of anything, her body unburnt except for the taste of ash lingering on her tongue...

Little A-Yuan being all-grown up doesn't seem so unbelievable in comparison.

She steps closer towards him, reaching for his face though she doesn't touch, just has her fingers hover over his features. "You have the face of a Wen," she murmurs, then shakes her head, "but..." Another head shake. "You were a little boy. We left you behind at Burial Mounds, you..."

"I am a Wen...and a Lan too." he blinks and raises his hands, gently taking hold of her wrists, "I waited for you to come back. I was very sick when Lan Wangji found me. He took me to the Cloud Recesses and convinced his uncle to accept me."

She looks so sad and it breaks his heart. Carefully, he releases her wrists and moves to stand at her side, offering support if she is weary.

"I was raised there after my fever lifted as a Lan. I forgot...almost everything. Until I met Senior Wei Wuxian and Uncle Wen Ning again." he smiles softly, affectionately, "I have missed you, Aunt. You are safe with me."

"I..." Her mouth opens and closes a few times without her being able to form proper words. "I'm glad," she finally manages, her voice all choked up. "I'm so glad. It broke my heart to leave you behind but we had no choice."

Then she just moves to pull him into a tight hug, never mind that he has grown up into such a fine young man who doesn't need to be hugged like a child. She needs the reassurance, though, even if he doesn't.

The hug brings tears to his eyes and he is quick to return it, the desire to protect her growing stronger. He will protect her. She won't be hurt on his watch; she has suffered enough.

"You did so much for me. I was lucky to have an aunt like you. I'm sorry I wasn't older and stronger to help you."

To help all of the innocent Wens. Sizhui is gentle by nature - mischievous at times - but he has applied himself to learning how to fight. Now he knows why.

She smiles sadly and just gives him another tight squeeze as her heart gives a painful pang at this sweet boy's earnestness.

"You were a child, A-Yuan. It was our duty to protect you." She pulls back enough to caress his face, still marvelling at how much he has grown. "You survived and you lived to grow into the brave man you are now. That is the best you could do for us. I'm sure if the others could see you now, they would be just as proud of you as I am."

Whether it makes sense or not doesn't seem to matter. Sizhui misses them - all of them - and he realizes that, on some level, he always has. But she's here and so he smiles, letting himself be happy.

If only Wen Ning was present too.

"The Gusu Lans have been good to me. Lan Wangji adopted me officially; that is why I can wear the headband." his love for the man is evident, "I think he did so for Wei Wuxian's sake at the beginning, but he spent a lot of time with me."

She doesn't quite touch the headband, remembering from her own time at Cloud Recesses that this isn't appreciated by the Lan disciples, but her fingers hover over it for a moment.

"...and I'm glad you have found a new home where you are appreciated and protected. I wish Lan Wangji were here so I could thank him for what he has done for you. I, and all my family, owe him a greater debt than he will ever know."

Maybe another Wen would be bothered that he had shed his name and clan affiliations, maybe she would have once been bothered, too, but after everything that has happened she finds herself simply grateful for this unexpected blessing.

"He can be proud of the man he has raised... though I never thought he would one day be a father."

She is different; he would let her touch the fabric. They are family and nothing in his new life is off-limits to her.

"He could come back at any time." and he hopes he does for the sake of ~~his mother~~Wei Wuxian, "Let me make you some tea." he loops their arms together and tries to lead her onto the train, "Don't worry, riding in this...train...isn't uncomfortable. And the compartments are fun to explore. We even have a garden!"

Later he will tell her about his plans to honor the Wen. He hasn't forgotten them nor will he ever shed his affiliation to them completely.

He is such a sweet boy, her heart gives a pang from the sheer overwhelming affection she feels for him. "I still can't believe you have grown up so much," she murmurs, wonder in her voice, "I always knew you would grow up to someone who makes me proud but... Knowing and seeing it for myself is different."

She squeezes his arm and readily lets herself be led off by him towards the train. "I would love to have tea with you, Lan Sizhui," she says quietly, a teasing undertone in her voice. "I have never seen anything like this train but I don't fear it. There is nothing to fear now that we are reunited."

A New Platform [Intro Post February]

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