A New Platform [Intro Post October]

[voidtreckermods]

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!

Comments

[blitzcheer]

[ A small chuckle. ] I'm... actually used to the whole 'world without machines' thing. That's pretty much what life was like outside where I'm from.

[ As weird as that might sound. ]

Hey, great! I mean, if you ever need a hand, let us know! It's a way better way of washing laundry than by hand, right? ... [ actually- ] How do you do that without a machine?

[ He knows a way, but thinking about it with all this laundry they're holding now...! ]

[adregem]

Not for the first time does Roland feel the shock, like cold water hitting his face. His eyes glance over at the higgledy, no more than a little distraction at this point - My old man became the last Sin.

Besides Yuna, besides the world...Tidus ended the journey his father began by being the one to strike him down.

The height of cruelty.

Roland no longer resists the twitch in his nerves, the jolt in his arms. Though Tidus seems to be busying himself with Hibber-Gibber, Roland makes a move to wrap an arm around his shoulders anyway, pulling him close. Temple to temple, almost, but not quite. And perhaps in any other time, Roland would have expected a headbutt, a reprimand as Tidus often gives him, calls him names for, makes jokes at his expense. But Roland is barely holding on to his own composure. Tears glistening, threatening to fall.

Remembering the fallen souls of Tidus's home; mourning the son whose burden is so heavy he had to slay his own father. Who chose to disappear, to die with the rest of the dreams he set free, even if he desired nothing more than to play in the ocean, ball in hand, smile carefree. And here he is, sat next to Roland as if nothing happened.

"Maybe you don't have to." He says, barely a whisper. "Tidus I...I reckon all of them would have thanked you, in the end." Roland adds, tone laden with melancholy. "A thousand years of that...they might have been surviving as dreams, but it wasn't living. They weren't at rest. That wasn't true peace. But what you went through - seeing Spira, seeing a brand new world for the first time, falling in love! That's a life. That's..."

He forces himself to say it, though the grip around Tidus's shoulders begin to firm somewhat, comforting to feel that he is in the here and now. As promised. Trying. Moving forward.

"...That's the life the fayth would have wanted you to live." The life you deserve. If only for a stolen moment in time.

[adregem]

Roland nods, a brief yet certain motion.

"Yours." He waits. Watches close, smile still present.

Jumblie is animated, moving about every which way as if trying to catch Inigo's attention. Putting on a show, the petals around its neck fluttering about as its hands wave to the side. Not before long, the light higgledy begins to dance, tiny arms circling around one another before it jumps up and down Inigo's lap.

And Inigo may not feel it at first, but the longer he pays attention to Jumblie, the stronger the swell of light and warmth and innocence comes through. It lulls and cradles, Jumblie feeling out the darkness that swirls about Inigo's heart like it desires to touch the tendrils of his sadness. When Jumblie finally does see; when her light seeks out the shadows brought about by farewell after farewell, only then will she consider their bond complete. Locked in, a spirit bound by the strength of human emotion, existing for no other reason than to make sure her new companion can smile again.

Roland summons another thing from his Arms Band - the Higgledy Cookbook that he purchased in the store earlier that day. There he starts skimming pages, a thick tome despite being the first of its series. Thankfully, when it came to the distinction of higgledy types, the book comes segregated by elemental. Under Light, he finds Jumblie the Lovely's entry, to which Roland's smooth baritone reads out loud.

Jumblie too, makes another show as the older man recites, as if it is reacting to the narrative word for word.

"Jumblie the Lovely is considered a cheerful higgledy who brings joy and happiness wherever she goes." Hiiiigle! Piiig! Piggle! Roland holds back a well-meaning smirk before continuing. "Those who can see her kind will often catch sight of her gamboling merrily about the place," Jumblie nods at Inigo, and begins to do just that - walking around his legs in circles like a march. "And whenever anyone's feeling sad...She's always the first to ride to the rescue."

Roland closes the book and tucks it underneath his armpit. He grows silent, if only because he too, mulls over his choice of higgledy for Inigo. For it would have been easy to give him something else, another higgledy that he thought might have suited his desire for strength, for retribution and worth. But when the choice had to be made, Roland knew it could be no other. Inigo's strength is because he is kind, and chooses to be even in the cloudiest of days. He is light, the one who comes when those around him have no one else to turn to. The one who sacrifices his own well-being for another's joy.

Yes, it could only be Jumblie.

[reluctantjinrou]

"I don't know about that, but I suppose if they need a body." Natsuno answered with a bit of a shrug. He didn't think he was particularly helpful, especially when it came to combat missions.

"I've never heard of a fungus like that."

[reluctantjinrou]

"Nice to meet you." Natsuno returned with a bit of a bow to let Zechs leave.

[blitzcheer]

The arm comes around him, pulling him in easy, when Tidus doesn't expect it, doesn't have the time to resist it. But he doesn't, even once it's does; the full voice of the man beside him, affected, maybe more so than him. It's a story - a life, done and said - that he's already had time to come to grips with. Questioning now the what ifs that lead him nowhere - but still, that he can't keep off his tongue, his mind or otherwise.

The idle fussing between the higgledy and its connected stop, and Hibber-Gibber looks over to Roland with its squiggly-like eyes. And hops, from limb to limb, leg to leg, to traverse the route of Roland's terrain, to prance with a spin up onto his farthest arm before he might think to do much; climbing up where he wishes - or Tidus wishes - to be.

Upon his free shoulder, a comfort to him. A brilliant hue of sea-blue, reaching to soothe the despair washing into his shores.

"The fayth wanted sleep," he says, simply; drawn into a resigned tone - one not stubborn, not coated in spite. A finality, as the ending is. "But... The dreams. The people. Everything would have just... ended."

Ceased. And the word has all the heaviness that, too, the end of life comes with when doused in tragedy.

"No one wants to die," he says, falling the recede of a silence. "No one living their lives."

And that was the difference, between the dreams and the dreamers.

[10billionpercent]

"Not that I've heard, but I know people have gotten hurt." Senku answered. "If you die, you'll come back, that's what I've been told. You wake up in the luggage car."

He would've tested that, but for some reason people didn't think he should.

[adregem]

"Isn't that for the best, though?" Roland poses, feeling it out. Happy to let his higgledies do some of the work while the washing machines spin on their own time. "This isn't exactly the place for a skirmish, even if you all want to do it."

[adregem]

Well now. That sounds ominous. [ He says, lighthearted but listening intently still, leading them to the other part of the train where the laundry station is set up at the second floor of the Stores. ] But these things usually work out, one way or another. If they don't, give it time. That always helps.

[ He looks back from time to time, engaged in conversation. ] Heh, don't be intimidated by those things. [ And such a request could only mean Meng Yao was from a different place and time, with little to no technology. Roland can handle that no problem. ] All you need to do is press a button and wait. I'll show you in a bit. You'll get the hang of it in no time.

[kingcat]

"Why not?" He replies with a huff. "If you're weak, you do what you're told. If you're strong, you do what you want," it was the only thing he was sure of, the only real rule he could ever remember following.

"Train can go fuck itself," he added, almost as an afterthought, and cast a glare over his shoulder at the thing. He didn't trust it, and he trusted even less how... uninvolved it was pretending to be. "Hopefully before it decides to really start usin' us." He suppressed a shudder.

[blue_ice]

What else would my name be? Seth Richman?

[ He's fine. Honestly. But there's a noticeable head-jerk at the sound of the door opening, and Kaiba doesn't seem surprised at all to see a looming Red Eyes head rush over to him...

Instead, he laughs at the silly sheet dragon through his sneezing. He pushes out of the booth to awkwardly swaddle himself in the blanket and curls around the dragon's neck. His warm breath washing over him is a welcome relief. ]

Good boy. Thanks, Jou. You and your sense of timing...

[ It's not a dig, shockingly. He's appreciative. ]

[waywardking]

[Good. And Noctis will try to return his hair to it's pre-fluffed state. He won't succeed, but an attempt will be made.]

No, I came to watch a movie. The nap just happened. [As they do.] What did you come in for?

[blitzcheer]

Heading to my cabin where all the newbies aren't hanging out? 'Least, I hope.

[ Please no party at his. ]

You uh, got nothin' planned but a movie?

[waywardking]

[Party at Tidus' cabin!]

No, not really...why?

[blitzcheer]

Not everyone's big on platform days, and I thought you might be up for a distraction.

[ Because, you know. ]

But we can start with a movie first. If you don't mind the company.

[consider8]

Vee~? [Eight looked inquisitively at Kitty.]

What did you learn?

1/2

[adregem]

...

"No, you can't put a tree in your Arms Band. Cut it up into smaller pieces of lumber, first."

What would he even need a tree for?!

[adregem]

He shakes his head and watches Senku play around with the carbon fiber set. It was a risk to order it at the shop, but Roland hit it lucky this time around, actually getting what he asked for.

He peers at Senku's tinkering and ministration with a keen eye.

"How is it? Useable?"

[waywardking]

[He hasn't noticed who's left, or even who all's arrived, with a couple exceptions. Platform day is chaos and he's keeping away from it for now.]

Yeah...

[He's kinda surprised Tidus is sticking around despite him being grumpy.]

I don't mind. If you have something else in mind, I'll hear it.

[consider8]

Nothing of note.

[There is nothing in the bucket except some burn marks and the stench of regret.]

Would it be possible to use my phone?

[It was the only thing she could think to offer.]

[adregem]

Roland actually has it in him to throw Gen a Look - particular in that it almost seems offended. But of course he isn't truly so, just that...

"Kitchen shears are for cutting twine. Or a roasted chicken." He crosses his arms again. "Barber shears are the only way to go." But that's not even where the jab is, not where Roland engages Gen in that subtle playfulness of the mind. He smirks slightly, before adding, "Besides. I'd rather see where your hands are if you're going to be holding something as sharp as a pair of scissors that close to me. Heh."

It's not a challenge, neither was it an accusation. Perhaps more of a passive assessment. That Roland sees him, that he can sense there's more to this genial man than meets the eye.

[10billionpercent]

"Hmmm, good to know." Senku hummed a bit. Not a tree. He wanted it for lumber, obviously enough, but he was wondering if he was short on time he could process it later. It didn't sound like it. Good enough.

"Yep, should be at least a little sturdy, but we'll have to test it to see if it can hold the tension for some kind of average force. It should, that's why I recommended carbon fibre, but just in case, at the worst, we could take this apart, lose some of the length, and strengthen it by making it thicker."

Senku was talking about separating each individual fiber and reweaving it back into rope.

XD

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin's shoulders start to shake with laughter. "That's the first time anybody's called me train boy," he says.

[so_dark_a_road]

"They need more than a body. If the train assigned you to Red Team, it's probably because you have some talent or skill that the team will need, eventually if not immediately. Red Team gets most of the combat missions, but not always."

His face quirks with humor as he considers the funguses again. "Maybe you've never lived near a low-lying forest area? My territory in my own world had all sorts of environments, since we had mountains, rivers, steams, and forests. The woods grew down to the banks of the rivers and streams and sometimes became outright swampy. That's where the odd funguses began to grow on the lower part of the tree trunks." He shakes his head, still smiling. "White, orange, reddish, fan-shaped, that's what some of them looked like. And others were small and unobtrusive and looked almost like some sort of seaweed, and they grew under the branches and at the meetings of branches." He generally loves plants, but something about these tree parasites gives him the creeps.

[so_dark_a_road]

A little of both? It was often a surprise, and not always a welcome one, that most of the cabins were mixed.

"In my world, the two sexes wouldn't have been housed together. I think that's true for most of the passengers' worlds. The train doesn't seem to think it's scandalous, though I myself don't think that it should have the final word about that. By the way, you might want to talk to Jessie Custer about that. She's the other female occupant of this cabin." What he meant was that Eight wasn't alone, and also that Jessie could also reassure her that Curufin and Joscelin were honorable men.