voidtreckermods: (voidtrain)
VoidTrecker Express Mods ([personal profile] voidtreckermods) wrote in [community profile] voidtreckerexpress2020-10-01 05:30 am
Entry tags:

A New Platform [Intro Post October]

On the Train

"Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Horsehoe. Points have been updated on the system and new stock is available."

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. The first thing they may notice is that this platform is inside a basic shelter, making it warmer than the last couple at least.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Adora, Alex Hashimoto, Catra, Cloud Strife, Elizabeth Midford, Feanor, Gerome, Gladiolus Amicitia, Glimmer, Ifrit, Isabella D’Oro, Maru, Nari Reno, Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prompto Argentum, Scorpia, Siobahn Chereshei, SXT-2, Tamamo-no-Mae, Tony Stark, Uta, Zidane Tribal

But on the platform itself there are many new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours 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 gloomy, even without the steam and fog. They are in a wooden building, open to the tracks on one side. It in a creaky shelter, cobwebs hang from the rafters and there is a peculiar whistle as wind finds its way through the cracks.

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 gloom 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, with… teddy bear shaped luncheon meat being the main ingredient to be found. There are plenty of other staples.

A new carriage has been added, those that go to investigate will find a room full of lockers, designated as the Armoury. Even for passengers without weapons it is somewhere to secure possessions. There are instructions on how to use the lockers and enough for everyone to claim one.

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 braving the snow 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!
eternalgrief: (Default)

[personal profile] eternalgrief 2020-10-09 08:48 am (UTC)(link)

There’s quite a bit of self control exerted when the others forehead pressed to his own to not flinch away or to push Meng Yao away. He doesn’t trust it, that the other could really keep his word. But it’s exhausting to argue and he feels to emotionally raw to keep at it. So he remains silent as the other tends to the wounds.

When he’s done he moves to get himself some tea, his stomach twisting.

“I’ll never trust you again,” Huaisang finally speaks.

He’ll never really trust anyone again aside from his brother.

magicurls: (Default)

[personal profile] magicurls 2020-10-09 09:57 am (UTC)(link)
"Hi."

Mami's saved her a little peach cheesecake, carefully decorated the best she could. There's a small mug of tea near it too.

"Do you...want to talk, now? You don't have to, you can just eat."

blue_ice: (spotlights)

[personal profile] blue_ice 2020-10-09 09:58 am (UTC)(link)
Just keep your head above water. Collaborate if you have to. It's usually not terrible, most people mean well.
blue_ice: (tired)

[personal profile] blue_ice 2020-10-09 10:00 am (UTC)(link)
Someone from an alternate mirror world to mine. Hated me for---my alternate future self running her school, which was apparently bad.

[ He rubs at his arm. ]

It was all treated, I can function.
spikelet: (pic#14004056)

[personal profile] spikelet 2020-10-09 10:18 am (UTC)(link)
Mm, five this morning. Teacher, his husband, the doctor, me and... [that rotten guy. Well, anyway.] There are more now. You can call me a-Qing, okay?
marriedanidiot: (Default)

lol he can... appreciate the ambience? XD

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 10:24 am (UTC)(link)
"And you do well." She manages a real smile, this time.
marriedanidiot: (wistful)

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 10:33 am (UTC)(link)
She nods.

"I would, if you could bring them?"

She should probably try and make it to the garden soon, but...

"I don't know if I can get that far right now."
marriedanidiot: (Default)

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 10:34 am (UTC)(link)
"Thank you."

She lifts a hand almost reluctantly from Amina to accept the cup, but her smile is almost solid.

"You've been very kind."
marriedanidiot: (wistful)

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 10:35 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, but it was you who was here." She manages an almost real smile.

"That means a lot."
marriedanidiot: (wisdom)

so while digging I found this real human who can actually manage 22+min HOW?

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 10:40 am (UTC)(link)
"My!" She's fully engaged with the conversation now.

"I suppose as you say, you're deliberately training for it, and it would be necessary for you - where the divers don't really have to stay down that long."
marriedanidiot: (my boys)

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 10:42 am (UTC)(link)
"I promise." Her smile is small, but it is real.

"Thank you very much, my dear."
marriedanidiot: (wistful)

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 10:44 am (UTC)(link)
"I... think so."

She nods.

"If you help?"
blitzcheer: (heyy you want some???)

they were a final fantasy in their previous life

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-10-09 10:50 am (UTC)(link)
"And they're not training to catch a ball whizzing their way, right?" he grins.

"It's fun though, once you get used to everything. The training's tough 'cause of everything you have to learn, but having it all come together and finally pulling off easy movement underwater, it's a great feeling. It had to be the same with you and sculpting, right? That had to take a lot of training."
marriedanidiot: (wisdom)

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 11:04 am (UTC)(link)
"So you are almost blood-kin then." She says in wonder. "I had heard that such healings were possible, but never heard of it before, especially not between two such vastly different peoples, and certainly not with the after effects you describe!

So then, you can also turn into a whale as she can a human?"

luckydragonsfoot: (Heckye)

[personal profile] luckydragonsfoot 2020-10-09 11:24 am (UTC)(link)
[Not so long ago, someone felt a blast of cold and had his vision filled with ice. Also he stopped walking and dropped his spindle so, thanks seer power.

In any case, sure enough, the kitchen carriage door is cold to the touch! So for a bit, Red Eyes is calmly blowing on the thing to warm it up.

Right about now, the ice on the duelist-side of the door will be melting into nice warm water...

At which point the door opens.
] Hohhh-! Got it..!

Aouurn!

[Red Eyes, as much as he is mostly head and neck poking out of shadow, is quick to go over to Kaiba. A blanket follows- tossed 'blindly' by Katsuya, and landing on the dragon like a strange attempt at a sheet ghost.] Yo, Kaiba..! Figured y' might be cold..! [Now, these two...] Got another blanket f'r you too!

[Tossing at Rei now...!]

...Not you though, y' seem like yer good.
Edited 2020-10-09 11:25 (UTC)
blitzcheer: (hand onnnn HIP!!!!)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-10-09 11:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ Goal Accomplished, for Tidus. And he'll remove his hands with that. ]

Hey, you sound pretty awake now to me! [ But even as he says that- ] What, you come in here to nap?
marriedanidiot: (Default)

that or a dolphin XD

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 11:46 am (UTC)(link)
"Exactly." She smiles back.

"I imagine that would be rather more difficult to do all of that at once! How is it scored?"

She considers and nods. "That's true. I know my skill is above many, but much of that is time and effort."
adregem: (anything but the worst case scenario)

[personal profile] adregem 2020-10-09 11:57 am (UTC)(link)
"...my god."

Roland's exclamation is soft, a horrific realization making its way to the forefront of his mind. His right hand curls, fingers forming a loose fist that covers his lips. It takes him a while to connect the pieces together, but at the mention of a sacrifice, it's an easy cross to make. Yuna's death would have saved his home - or the illusion of it, the dream - but it would have created another Sin to torment the rest of Spira for what, another thousand years more? And in choosing to hide the truth from Yuna, it saved her and the rest of the waking world, at the cost of his home. The dreams of a nation, long gone.

I didn't try to find another way.

The tug and sting in his chest grows ever heavier. Wasn't that something Roland was all too familiar with? Him, Doloran too...

No, Roland thinks to himself, looking away and keeping his gaze low. Eyes glossed with emotion he can no longer contain. Either decision would have merited the same effect on Tidus. To choose one over the other - it would have devastated him no matter what. It would have eaten him up, no matter what.

That wasn't a decision for one person to make. It shouldn't have to be him. It's not fair. Tidus was a dream too, he didn't ask for any of this!

Roland increasingly finds it difficult to calm himself inwardly, so he keeps quiet for a good while. He takes his time, lets his own heart sing to the tune of Tidus's story - one that reflects similarly to his own. And of others who suffer the machinations of fate. The silence that follows, he hopes, is not too stifling. He can at least, hear the little higgledy try its best to soothe whatever pains linger, cooing as it does. He doesn't know, can't hear it as much as he tries to reach out. The high higgledy was effectively Tidus's, now.

It's a slow, steady exhale that draws him back into the lulled conversation. Then, he speaks; dulcet and mellow. Words laden with empathy, only because Roland seems to understand to some great extent a small portion of Tidus's sorrows.

"...It won't really matter, but I think you did the right thing. I think you did the brave thing." Choosing one over the other. "I...I don't claim to know Spira, or Zanarkand...Sin, or Yuna and your journey with her. But what you were faced with, what you had to do when you found out? That's not a choice." He shakes his head, lightly. Scared to meet his eye because he doesn't know what he'll see behind the veil.

"I don't think there was much of a choice, at all. It had to be done. It's just...you had to make the call. Even if you knew the price and paid for it."

[personal profile] unfavorableinstigation 2020-10-09 12:05 pm (UTC)(link)
"Exactly."

Nita nods, looking rather bashful. "It's- well, I've done it here before, though I'm not sure if you'd seen. Once while we were helping the underwater people of Bui, and then more recently, on Jema'grethy.

"And one of the big differences between whales and humans is- all of the skin of a whale is like a huge ear, so they - we, even - can tell apart the sources of vibrations with our echolocation. There's so much depth to everything! So... singing felt more natural, in that form."

Even if she still doubts she can hold a tune as a human!
blitzcheer: (don't think about it)

[personal profile] blitzcheer 2020-10-09 12:34 pm (UTC)(link)
He breathes, a slip of a sound. At least the weight of the story wasn't a singular one, to only be noted by the one whose story it was. That's what Tidus tells from the silence, not cursing its presence. Watching the higgledy on his lap as it begins a dance, and wondering idly, 'I hope you haven't had to make any hard decisions, little guy'; forgetting in that instance, the connection shared by their heart.

'Young sojourner, from those decisions I came to be! Because from those decisions, yes, lives hope - and life!'

Tidus lets out a noise, like air choked on, small and brief. The high higgledy's arms reached out towards him and then lowering, but the gesture of it - that you are not alone! - not dismissed with it. He slips a hand onto his lap before it, allowing Hibber-Gibber to put one of its hands onto his, no bigger than a little finger's tip.

He rocks it, shifting his hand lightly, as if the tiny hand were a baby's hand. Not for any more reason than just because, as Roland speaks, as the silence of his own decision in what to say.

"...I don't regret going through it, you know?" Quietly he speaks. His eyes on the higgledy, maybe even pretending to speak to them than Roland. "Yeah, I didn't want to-- ...go. But it wasn't just about me. It wasn't just Spira, either. My old man... he became the last Sin. 'Cause he was Yuna's dad's guardian. He wanted to stop this too. And the fayth... they were stuck. A thousand years, they were made to keep the the city going. Never sleeping. Just stuck, summoning a dream. I just..."

He sighs. Small pauses meant to give him exactly that, a moment to think, to settle.

"I started thinking, after that trip to that weird island happened - what if I told Yuna and the others about it? What if I asked the fayth?" His voice rises, and he sniffs; uses the back of his free hand to wipe at his eyes. Exhales as he finishes the thought:

"I'm never gonna know."

What could have been.
marriedanidiot: (wisdom)

[personal profile] marriedanidiot 2020-10-09 12:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"I fear I wasn't paying attention." She says apologetically.

"But that must have been a sight to see!"

She hums. "I can see how that would work, yes. And I assume water carries sound differently also, yes? But even so, I am sure that you can sing perfectly well!"
ramengroupie: (brood)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-10-09 12:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ken and Wormmon's search has left them empty-handed (empty clawed?) as well. ]

No good, hm....

[ Wormmon is crawling over to peer in the bucket. She didn't put the Digivice in here for some reason, did she?

And why does this bucket look familiar? ]
ramengroupie: (soft)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-10-09 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Why not?"

Ken smiles - he hopes he's not being rude by interjecting, but he thinks he knows what his partner needs to figure out. (And another reason, perhaps that the doctor wouldn't know, why a human medical checkup wouldn't work.) "Wormmon, what are you made of?"

"Data!"

A pause.

"Ohhhhh."
ramengroupie: (jog)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-10-09 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Wormmon brightens at this wonderful news. "Isn't that great, Ken-chan? I can stay with you."

"It is." A companion system....So that's why Wormmon was allowed to accompany him, when others don't necessarily have anyone from their worlds. It doesn't explain their missing Digivice, but there surely must be something Ken and Wormmon can do on their own.

Plus, Wormmon has an orange collar. He has a team affiliation, so...

"Do companions often help with missions?"
ramengroupie: (serious)

[personal profile] ramengroupie 2020-10-09 01:07 pm (UTC)(link)
A train that travels between worlds...

[ And that is - calling? for him to embark. His clothes changed, too, but since most people seem to be in one of four colors, Ken somehow doubts this world generates clothing based on one's wishes the way the Digital World can...

In other words: ]


So we've been recruited.

[ He seems - surprisingly calm about that. As does Wormmon, now that he has his partner back. ]