A New Platform [Intro Post July]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Luckily for everyone the final couple of days of Fiddlesticks are quiet and mostly uneventful. Eventually though they awake to the announcement. "Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of Grasshopper. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train a while will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"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. Also a loud pattering sound, which they will discover once the doors open are hailstones. They might want to grab their raincoats.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Ann Takamaki, Drizzt, Geralt, Huehuecóyotl, Ignis Scientia, Ivy Wakefield, Jiang Yanli, Lan Sizhui, Maebhrin Tillinath, May Parker, Nie Huaisang, Osomatsu Matsuno, Raven, Roxas, Shaw, The Iron Bull, Ultimo, Wei Wuxian, Yuki Sohma, Yuffie, Yukito Tsukishiro

But on the platform itself there are many new faces. Wearing hoodies and waterproofs, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. The second thing they will notice is it is cold, hailstones rain down around them, though they don’t last long on the platform ground, melting into slush.

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 the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large and it holds nineteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. 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. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

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.

Indeed whereas usually there is plenty time for people to be met and brought slowly onto the train, the whistles blow a lot quicker this time, as if hurrying the passengers along.

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, it seems carrots have taken over the bacon, though there are plenty of other staples.

Those from blue team who go to investigate will find a box of biscuits. There is enough for the whole team, including new passengers. Join in your team's success!

Those who are not new will quickly discover some changes made to make the train accessible to those who can’t see, including Braille translations of all the signs around the train.

There is of course the new music room to explore. A double carriage, the downstairs has instruments to learn and practice with, as well as a series of music screen points. Those who play around with the screens will soon discover their SCA’s can now store music and can choose their favourites to listen to around the train.

Upstairs is a performance area and holds a piano.

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 over the noise of the hail stones 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!

Comments

platform

[blitzcheer]

You know what you do when you don't think to grab your raincoat beforehand, and where it is and you are is too long a travel to bother? You go out in the hail anyway if you're Tidus, only thinking after a few minutes in it to swing up an arm and use a protect spell to keep it away. A blue, honeycomb-like dome hovering above him with his raised arm, made more visible with each knock of ice.

So he's still dripping when he approaches Ichigo in the midst of his frantic searching, and while he doesn't want to disturb the guy, getting out of this hail? Probably important.

"Hey-! You're gonna find one thing of yours in there, everything else is new! There's a carriage you can look in better!"

Better than getting in a panic outside anyway, if the guy hasn't already found what he's looking for.

Re: platform

[strawberryprotector]

Ichigo almost jumped at the voice, looking up and seeing a man blocking the hail with what he assumed was kidou. His hand was still digging, and he just barely felt the edge of the wooden badge when he was spoken to. "I've almost got it." Ichigo looked down again, shoving his hand in farther and pulling out the combat pass. He could feel himself calming down with it in his hand. Pulling it out, he shoved it into the pocket of his pants and closed the bag again. "Thanks for covering me for a bit, though." Slinging the pack over his shoulder, he stood, looking much calmer than he had seconds ago.

[blitzcheer]

"C'mon, let's get you inside!" Whatever had the guy worried, Tidus wasn't going to question it, especially not out in this weather; turning on his step to half face both Ichigo and the train, he looks at him as he nods his head towards the train.

"In there, I can tell you what's up. Way warmer!"

Considering the lack of hail, and if Ichigo has no reservations about following him, Tidus will lead him into the standard coach, gesturing to one of the nearby empty booths. His arm coming down, and the barrier disappearing as it does.

"You said you found your thing? If there's anything else missing, you might be able to get it later. It's complicated--but you hungry or anything?"

There was going to be a lot to talk about, but hey, might as well get one's stomached sorted first.

[strawberryprotector]

Once they were inside, Ichigo flipped his hood back down. "Nah, but if you can point me to a coffee machine, I can get something to warm me up." Should he eat? Absolutely. But the entire situation felt like a fever dream, and at least some scalding coffee would tell him if it was real or not.

[blitzcheer]

"That'll be where the food is," and hopefully Ichigo wasn't about to get comfortable, as Tidus cocks his head in direction, "this way. You'll probably be stuck here for a while, so it's good to know where everything is."

With that, Tidus will start walking, but not without looking back and making sure he's being followed. "I'm Tidus by the way! All this happens once every two month--we don't know why, but there's a chance you'll get to go back at some point. You used to meeting people from different worlds?"

For however bizarre what he's saying might be, Tidus speaks casually, in a conversational manner. His second to third stop (depending on if his own was counted), and he thinks he's getting the hang of this.

[strawberryprotector]

Ichigo ran a hand through his damp hair, mostly to make sure it wasn't sitting weirdly after being under an equally damp hood. "I'm Ichio, it's nice to meet you. And I wouldn't say I'm unused to meeting odd people from other worlds." Though in his experience it had been people from other planes of existence. But he hadn't defaulted to his shinigami state, and he didn't have a chain of fate, so he was pretty sure he hadn't died. "So that platform comes around often, huh? Good to know."

[blitzcheer]

"Platforms do, but I don't know if they're the same one. There's no going anywhere on them though, 'cept this train." They come to the switching of cars, from the standard to the quiet coach. Tidus showing what button to press between the doors, so Ichigo can know for the future.

"You're going to have to get used to the long walks... if you're lucky, you got a good room where the beds are. Everything's a long line, and the cabins are at the back." A scoff. "Whoever thought sticking a hundred people on a train like this was a good idea was either dumb, or enjoys making this miserable for us."

[strawberryprotector]

Nodding in understanding, Ichigo kept following Tidus. "Well, I can move pretty damn fast if I need to." He didn't mention being out of his body at the time, mostly because he had a feeling it would freak the blond man out.

[blitzcheer]

"You can't teleport, can you?" Tidus jokes, though considering he knows that's a thing someone could do here? It's not out of the realm of possibility.

[strawberryprotector]

Ichigo cracked a smile at that. "Nah, I just run real fast." It was the simplest way to explain shunpo that he could offer.

[blitzcheer]

"Well, you'll miss being able to do that here! We've got a gymnasium, but it's no open field. You into any sports? That's a good way to get moving around here."

Sure, there's the whole 'Tell the new guy important things', but touching on the light, everyday stuff helps too, doesn't it? And now they're in the dining car, with Tidus leading Ichigo towards the farther side, where the coffee and tea machines sit. There's snacks on the table too, long enough to fit in a castle setting.

"Here, there's a machine down here and then upstairs. They're the only ones around, so if you're on the other side of the train and want a hot drink..."

Enjoy getting used to that for your tea or coffee fix, Ichigo.

[strawberryprotector]

"Is there a gym on the train with a punching bag? That'll be good enough for me to keep active." Spotting the coffee machine, Ichigo dropped his bag into a chair at one of the tables and looked to see where the mugs were.

[blitzcheer]

Ahh, a punching bag, huh.

"We've got training dummies, some other gear in the gym on the other side from here. Enough people to spar with too, if that's your thing. There's different kinds of fighters onboard who like to keep fit, 'specially for the missions we have."

Which, speaking of. "There'll be one of those soon. I should probably tell you, once you get your drink."

Which shouldn't be difficult, the mugs available by the machines.

[strawberryprotector]

Finding a mug, Ichigo got himself a cup of hot coffee. He took a sip, not even caring that it almost scalded his tongue. It was hot and warmed him from the inside. "Missions? Who's giving orders around here?"

[blitzcheer]

Tidus has slid onto the bench, arms crossed over one another on the table.

"No clue. At this point, we just say it's the train--we've never met anyone running this show, but we get a message on our SCAs every new month telling us about a place that needs help."

Tidus raises one of his arms, elbow on the table still, with his SCA strapped to his wrist.

"You've got one too. We all have. As far as we know? This is why we get dragged in like this: To help other worlds."

[strawberryprotector]

"Awesome. Fighting other people's battles for them. Again." Ichigo groused, looking at the device on his wrist. It was like a smart watch, really.

[blitzcheer]

"Yeah," Tidus says, with a note of sympathy and understanding, though he can't know about Ichigo's own previous struggles. Sighing, and tipping his head slightly. "I heard it's going to happen to me again someday, somewhere else in some other place. People just love to drag the rest of us into their plans, huh?"

[strawberryprotector]

"When did you start fighting other people's wars for 'em?" Ichigo asked curiously, refilling his cup before sitting down across from the blond.

[blitzcheer]

He lets out a tired sound, leaning his shoulders back. "It's not happened yet-- one thing you'll find out is time's weird for some people. ...but apparently there's these gods who'll be taking people from other worlds and making them fight each other for their war."

Tidus gestures out his hands. "But it looks like I got sent on a detour before that detour."

[strawberryprotector]

"Dude, that's fucked up." Ichigo shook his head sadly. He hadn't really been ripped from his world like that, but at times it kind of felt like it. "Where I'm from, when you die there's a chance you'll spend your afterlife in a kind of military set up. One of the commanders betrayed the whole system so he could try to become a god, and I had to be the one to fight him. I'm not even officially part of the troops, I'm still technically human." Only technically, really. Because he was a combination of so many things no one really knew what to call him.

[blitzcheer]

"You got dragged into a fight in the afterlife?" What even. And for the few seconds the incredulous expression on Tidus's face lasts (though, it doesn't really go away, either), he remembers another story about such a thing--people being dragged into armies or slavery for another in places they shouldn't be.

"Why'd they go after you? You some hotshot in your world?"

[strawberryprotector]

"Only by their standards. My dad abandoned his position as a squad captain and got a fake body specially made so he and my mom could get married and grow old together. And then after most of the shit I went through for the squads, I found out my mom was a special kind of human who had a special kind of energy and skills. So I inherited the lion's share of both their powers and had no idea until I was fifteen"

[blitzcheer]

Well.

"...You ever thought about turning your life into a book and selling it? Bet it'd give you something to do here." Writing, anyway. Selling? Trickier. It makes Tidus want to lean back in his seat, though that's a dangerous thing when there's no backs to the benches.

"So how's your mom and dad now?"

[strawberryprotector]

"If I did that, I'd have to change some names and sell it as fantasy." Ichigo snorted softly, feeling warmer now as he nursed his coffee. His smile turned a little wry at the question about his parents, though. "Dad's at home, running his clinic and looking after my sisters. They're twins, and almost out of high school. My Mom...died when I was eight. She was killed protecting me from something I couldn't even see."

[blitzcheer]

"Sorry," he gives with a nod of his head to mention of Ichigo's mother. "Lost mine around the same age too."

So there was an understanding not to pry or linger, and it was good to hear the rest of his family was doing well. But with it, it was maybe a good time to round back to where they had been in the conversation, what led them down this road of conversation.

"We've got small pamphlets for all this, So You've Been 'Napped By A Train guide," he jests with a slight grin, "and some idea of what to expect for missions, but we've never really gotten answers about anything, so." A beat, a shrug.

"I just kinda like telling people what's up than handing out those things from the start. Plus," he tips his head aside some, "you can just ask me what there's to do around here. What the food's like." Hah.