voidtreckerexpress | Whatever is in the cards - Mixed OTA and Locked (See Headers)

Finally Najaran found their cabin. At least, she was pretty sure that this was where she was supposed to be. She didn't see anyone else there, but saw four bunks. She lifted her hand like she was grabbing a pole to climb onto the top bunk, put up a foot, and then nearly fell when she had no purchase. She caught herself at the last moment and looked at her empty hand. Her shoulders slumped and she dropped herself onto one of the bottom bunks, tossing her bag on the floor. She flopped face down, depressed for a long moment, then decided that she needed to calm herself down. Since this was the first moment she was alone since she arrived on that weird foggy place - train platform someone had called it - she could arrange her book. She needed to do that anyway. Given the close quarters, she needed to make sure she had her smaller creatures and items close at hand. She grabbed out her small pouch and poured her cards onto the bed.

She shat up like a bolt. No....nononononononono....... She spread out the cards, but no matter how many times she counted, she came up to ten. "Noooooooooooo" she screamed. She grabbed her bag and was spilling the contents all over the floor, digging through the clothing, throwing things every which way. "No... No! They have to be here somewhere!" she said in an angry panic. "Where are they? Even I couldn't lose my cards like this!" she was unaware that her voice was raising in pitch and volume, and was unaware that anyone might hear her, or be coming in for other reasons. She was busy tearing through everything in a desperate panic. The only isle of calm was the center of her bed where a pouch and four cards lay spread out.

"What, exactly, did you lose?"

Oh look, there's the girl from the platform again. She's looking remarkably more put-together now, frowning up at the bunks. She crept carefully into the room, eyes scanning the place.

"Maybe we can still find it."

Noct had finally made it to his room and was immediately confused. This was the room they had assigned him, no mistake, but there were two girls here. That aside, one of them was screaming. One girl, the blond, was calm, while the other was freaking out.

"Yeah, if you need help finding something..."

Edited 2020-04-08 19:09 (UTC)

Shikeo just.... watched, while Najaran freaked out as he brought up the rear of roommates. Things going flying and loud freakouts. It was a sight to witness. ~~Though, Shikeo certainly couldn't be one to talk when he gets temperamental.~~

The other two offer their services, but Shikeo just continues to look nervous. There's a loud person having a bad time. He just tries to peek around the other two at Najaran. Oh, it's...

"The girl who crashed into me..."

Again.

"Wait, we have the same room?"

He mentally notes Mami and Noctis, too. That's... a lot of people for one cramped room.

"The rest of my cards! My other Eidolons! Harpy! Cerebus. Wind of Hope!" she was in tears. "Why can't I find the rest of my cards? They need me!" And she needed them. "Everyone's hopes and dreams are in their cards, every card trusted to me is the love of a dear friend!" They trusted her and somehow she lost them.

"Ah...yes, it appears we have 4 to a room. Here, if you want to get started..."

Mami wouldn't normally do this, but she's trying to keep things under control. She makes a gesture with her hand, and the yellow gem in a silver ring on her finger glows brightly. A ladder made of yellow ribbons spawns on each bunk, giving easy access to those who wish to claim the tops.

"Now when did you last have your cards? Were they on the platform in your bag?"

Noct scratched his neck, looking nervous. He didn't deal well with people being emotional. He was glad this girl was here to be a voice of reason. He nodded, acknowledging the other male in the room before climbing into a top bunk, just to claim it.

"Yeah, my friend said if it's not in your back, it didn't come with you here."

She ran a hand through her hair, pulling on it a bit, freaking out. "I didn't open the pouch on the platform. I just called cards as I needed them till now. I came in here to build my book... and they're gone!" Tears ran down her face and she slumped to the floor, one hand over the ten cards on the bed. "So many people trusted me with their cards. The cards trust me with their lives. How could I just... just let thme down like this...?"

"Like he said...things have been taken from all of us," Mami answered gently. "It sounds like we're going to be trapped here for a while. But I'm sure they're waiting for you on your home world. Try to rest first, okay? You'll feel better."

"You're not the one letting anyone down, it's this damn train." Noct pointed out. He ran his hands through his hair, unsure of what to do. "My friend, he says that time doesn't really know you're gone back home? I don't know how he knows that, but if it's true, then it's like you didn't leave. Time like...stopped, or something."

"Time... stopped?" she asked, sniffling and looking up at them. "How could time stop?" Her cards were at home with Gooligan and her Master? That... didn't sound too bad at least. She knew Master Horowitz wouldn't let anything happen to them....

"Maybe...we'll just end up where we started when it's all done, somehow," Mami says. She tries to sound reassuring, but that would very much not be a good thing for her.

"I think that's what it means." Noct said. It wasn't the best situation, but it did make him feel less guilty. "So um...Don't worry so much. They'll be okay." He just wanted to sleep, but he seemed like that would have to wait.

"Hmmmm," she said sadly, thoughtfully, getting up to start cleaning up the mess she made while searching. "I can believe my cards are maybe back home, but I don't think time stopped back home," she said softly. "I got to see into other worlds once, and they all were moving at the same speed, I think. I don't know how any of this works, but if we just wind up where we were taken from, I'm probably going to drown," she said with a weak laugh, rubbing the back of her head. "So far whoever brought us doesn't seem to want us dead, so that probably won't happen. Maybe we'll have a choice where on our world to wind up? I don't know..." She picked up her ten cards and sat on the floor with them.

"Do you think our clothes are were we left from too?" she asked. "Master Horowitz and Gooligan must be freaking out if I just vanished but my clothes and most of my Book are there...." A weak smile. "I can't picture it."

Najaran didn't generally wake up well. Okay no, she kind of did, but that was because of how she was woken up. Being left to wake herself she was up early but sleepy. Yawning, wearing a large shirt as a night gown, barefoot, Najaran was wandering the train, looking for breakfast. And getting terribly lost.

Yes. it is a train with just a forward or back orientation from any car. And she's still getting lost. But it's early morning and the first day, certainly this won't be a pattern.... right?

At pretty much any given time Najaran can be found wandering. She... was still getting lost, easily. To the point where she'd leave the dining car still munching, and before she found her cabin again would get hungry and would be trying to find the dining car again. She really is this bad at finding her way around, people.

Okay so she learned about chores, and other than being lost, she really had nothing else to do... so.... Why not do chores. Her way.

Najaran had managed to drag several of the suitcases from the luggage cart into the garden car, and then used them to gather stuff. By the end of one day she had two larger pieces full of water for washing clothing, and one full of supplies from the kitchen. Sitting squashed up in the corner was a suit of armor peeling vegetables with an oddly delicate touch.

A creature that looked like the honeycombs crave monster was running back and forth along the beds to plant small seeds into holes in the dirt that a gremlin was digging.

Najaran herself was using a long stick to mix the wash in the tub with the soap while discussing how they were going to clean the other cars with a cat in a cloak.

"Do you think we could open a window and lean out enough to summon Thunderbeak to help wash the outside of the windows?" Najaran was asking the cat, a torn strip of cloth serving as a headband to keep the sweat out of her eyes as she worked.

As if the prinnies weren't bad enough, now there were...whatever these creatures were called running around. At least they seemed slightly more competent than the penguin-like ones.

47 studiously ignored them. Instead, he replied to the girl's question when he overheard it as he was walking through the carriage. He stopped to address her.

"The windows and doors cannot be opened with any amount of force or coaxing. I would advise that you not try. The train has a way of retaliating to intentional force on certain areas such as locked doors." That was true for the door to the engine room at the least. Maybe not so much the windows and exit doors though they definitely couldn't be opened with an explosive force. "The Void outside is probably not habitable either."

"Retaliating?" Maybe it really was a card then. "Is there way to to reason with it, then? Maybe if we could talk to the train, or if it is being controlled.... maybe to the Cepter controlling it?"

The suit of armor paused and seemed to be listening to them.

"If the void is anything like Dimension Door, brrr, no thank you. Seeing all those dead bodies once was too much as it was."

There was a pause as 47 considered all the questions and vague information given in all that was said. He cocked his head slightly and then shook it in the negative.

"No. If it is sentient of it's own accord, it does not speak to those that address it. Engineers, hackers, and magic users have all tried various methods to reason with the train and it has not responded. As for those in charge--they have not appeared since the beginning and it's debatable from descriptions of the encounter whether those 'conductors' were truly in charge or merely robots acting on the behalf of someone or something else entirely. They also did not respond to reason and instead locked everyone in their cabins, by using force if necessary, while they inspected the train."

He paused to allow that information to sink in. Then he addressed the latter part of the conversation.

"If you look out the window you will not see dead bodies. The Void is likely something more akin to space--vast, open, and without breathable air. I advise against staring out at it for too long while we travel as well; the shifting lights and colors tend to cause headaches very quickly whenever passengers look out a window."

"like the gates of Bisteam..." she said, considering that. "Have the elves and nymphs tried?" Since they were the guardians of the gates in Bisteam, and the elves here had said they were very like Kigi and the others back home. She reached behind her to where she had a pouch pinned to her pants. A card flew into her hand and she pulled it forward, studying it. Considering....

She glanced up. "Space?"

"Anyone who could has." Basically. He looked at her for a moment and then decided to clarify. "Yes. They have."

He nodded. "Space. As in 'outer space'. The area beyond the atmosphere of a planet."

"Hmmm....." she said, thoughtfully. She considered everything he said fo a long moment, then asked the only logical question that came to mind. "Doesn't atmosphere just mean how nice a restaurant looks?"

"That's one definition for the word," the hitman replied without missing a beat. She wasn't the first ditzy character he had run across. Besides, a lot of people here seemed to be from times that didn't understand space and advanced technology. The polite thing to do was simply explain it. "But when referring to the atmosphere of a planet it means the air around that world, whether it's a breathable mix of gases or not. Once you get too far away from the ground the air thins and then disappears altogether once you exit the planet's atmosphere and enter outer space."

"The air could.... disappear?" she asked, stunned. She knew there were other worlds, but never gave much thought to how one traveled between them. And a space without air? What would that even be like?

Very cold, very empty, and very deadly to most organic species. But you know. No big deal. "Most planets keep their atmospheres--their air--locked in place due to gravitational and geomagnetic forces. It wouldn't disappear from a planet rapidly unless a cataclysmic event occurred to cause it." He took a breath and then realized something. "Space is simply too vast to hold breathable air. It doesn't 'disappear' so much as doesn't exist out there."

"Um, I think this is a bit over my head," she said, unable to follow that, and unaware she had just made a joke.

Were 47 anyone else he might have cracked a smile at that. Sadly, he let the joke go unappreciated despite noticing it. A pity really.

He simply nodded. "It's fine. Just keep in mind that the windows are closed tight for a reason and that attempting too hard to open one my harm you or someone else near you."

"I don't want to hurt anyone," she agreed, then looked up. "Poor Gargoyle and Thunderbeak. Not sure any of them can come out then."

"Good." There was a moment of pause before 47 made a helpful suggestion. He wasn't certain he really wanted to advise it but she might think of it later anyway. Who knew. Even a broken clock, as the saying went. "You can have them clean the outside of the train whenever we stop at the platforms if it matters to you that much. Just be mindful of the new passengers at that time."

Not that he cared, mind you. But it seemed a little impolite to scare them right off the bat. Also, he liked it to remain as calm as possible around here. Things were crazy enough as they were. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything after all.

She gave a small nod. "Someone told me it is every month, right?" she asked, wanting to be sure. Not that she thought anyone here would lie to her, but she knew that sometimes mistakes were made. Usually by her.

47 nodded once more. "The pattern held so far has been twice a month for stations and once a month for mission worlds." Occasionally the train stopped elsewhere as well but typically the passengers were not allowed to disembark at those times. That was how they got snow on the train that one time anyway. He decided not to mention it simply because it was a one-off situation and he couldn't predict if it would occur again.

"Mission worlds...?" What were those? She clearly still had much to learn here...

Oh dear...

"The worlds we travel to for missions. The missions are usually intended for us to save local populations from disaster or enemy forces."

Surely she would understand it better once they went on a mission in the future.

"We travel to other worlds..." Sorry but wasn't this another world? Now she was a bit lost. "If people need help, pf course I'll help, but mission sounds like an assignment. Can't they just ask...?"

"Many feel the same way. We don't know why they do it the way they do, we're just stuck doing it."

"Well.... that stinks.... but I guess it is better than fighting about it..."

Najaran had been looking for the kitchen and had gotten lost again when she found a car full of clothing and finery. There was a happy squeal as she found a long skirt. And.. a BELT! "I'm never wearing orange again!" she said happily as she hugged the skirt to herself. "How much is this stuff?" she asked whoever was nearest, "And how do I earn money to buy my own clothing?" And earrings. She felt so odd without earrings.

Whatever is in the cards - Mixed OTA and Locked (See Headers)

Locked to roommates - backdated to day 1

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The first morning - OTA

Midweek - OTA

Chores

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Finding the clothing for the wedding