voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post April!]

On the Train

Two days after they return from their mission they are awoken as usual "Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Egret. The shop has been updated and points have been applied to passengers tickets."

Those that go to check the shop terminals will find they have indeed updated, with the option to buy larger items and also animals. The morning goes on until just after noon there is a second announcement.

"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. Though the fog is thick, thicker than usual perhaps, there are patches on sunlight shining through and it is pleasantly warm.

The doors open and the first few to disembark do so with rucksacks on, hoods pulled up, silent and almost blank faced. Cu Chulain, Dio Brando, Disreputable Dog, Heiji Hattori, Loki Maedhros, Maglor, Naruto, Thor, Tobias Fangor.

They walk to the barriers, show their tickets and disappear.

But on the platform itself there are once again new faces. All are stood, waiting for the train.

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 but then as people begin to shift or call out it will become apparent they are not alone.

The platform is not large and it holds eighteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. It's warm but foggy making it hard to see much, but there are clearer patches bathed in sunlight found across 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. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

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 with an abundance of onions, in case the passengers weren't bored of them yet.

Passengers who are not brand new will notice that the train has gotten yet longer again with a sixth sleeper cabin for new arrivals.

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. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. 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 the Void!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He’s silent for a long time, just soaking in his aunt’s smoothing presence. They’re long gone by the time he figures out how to say....

Well.

Anything at all.

“I suppose,” he starts out cautiously, “Makalaure might be happier to skip discovering precisely why the train was asking whether we could swim.”

It couldn’t possibly be as bad as his cousin had seemed to think- Fingon couldn’t even imagine why Maglor’s mind had gone where it did, even. But at least he was free from the worry. That... ok, it wasn’t really something, but maybe with enough practice Fingon could make it something.

She giggles a little, at that - a little watery, but determined. They are both practiced at letting people go.

"True. I tried to talk him out of that, but I suspect he was pandering slightly to me."

She squeezes his hand. "And I'm sure Maitimo will be alright."

Fingon snorts. "The master performer- he always has to try and please his audience."

He squeezes back, but his eyes are troubled.

"Maitimo is one of the strongest people I've ever known," he says, "but he has never much cared about tending to his own troubles. He just piles more and more on, and even when you watch him it proves difficult to stop."

She sighs sadly.

"I know. I've never been able to talk him out of it either. But... he went with Maglor... perhaps... perhaps they will be together."

They always did better together...

He closes his eyes.

"Let us hope," he says, his voice barely above a whisper. "Would that I knew what else to do."

"Sometimes, that is all we have." She agrees shakily. "Shall we go inside and rest?"

He gives her a sad smile and offers her his arm.

"That would be for the best, I think."

She accepts the arm, smiling at him sadly.

"If there is anything I can do to help, Finno, please ask."

"Of course," he nods as they head back inside.

"I will tell you if I think of anything. Otherwise..." he sighs. "I am used to living without him. But somehow the experience never ceases to sting."

She hugs him briefly.

"I think it proof of your devotion to each other that it does not."

And she would know, wouldn't she? But it's an ugly thing to ask about.

"He would want us to be happy," he says instead, then corrects himself. "They- both of them- would. And I can do it; I did not spend the past four hundred years striking poses at my window and pining."

But it still seems harsh, even bewildering, to see Maedhros suddenly swept again out of his life, and without even a farewell.

Sadly true.

She sighs. "That much is so. It ... will not be the first time, I suppose. Not for either of us. I wish we knew more of what brings us here, and what sends us away..."

She smiles at that. "No, I do not think you are the type. Young Turukano, perhaps! But not you."

"Fewer poses, more haranguing his architects," Fingon snorts, "or at least, that was how it was in Vinyamar, when I visited. Who knows what he got up to in his secret city...."

Well. Glorfindel does, but presumably Fingon hasn't run into him yet.

"So do I. It always is easier when you can understand, at least...."

"He was always very particular." She smiles a little wryly.

"Even back in Tirion! I had thought he might grow out of it..."

A New Platform [Intro Post April!]

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