[IC] TPoS Chapter I: Seven

[Shamitako]

After quite the spectacle at one of the coming-of-age ceremonies the Plane of Pride finds itself in outrage. According to some rumors, a god had appeared and stolen a child out of the ceremony. There were also the rumors that a young man was going to take a group of children to challenge this god. He sounded insane, but most were willing to sit by and let him be the insane one. However, several children heard of this and went in search of him, hoping to lend their aid. They found that in fact two children had been kidnapped, and that the group assisting in their return were not just a group of any children but the friends of those that had been taken. Still, the young man wasn't one to turn down a little extra help...

 

Tobias Hartford's House, Plane of Pride

 

Tobias didn't have a large house. In fact, it was merely a single room built over some ruins. The kids had all crowded in to the cramped room with the proprietor, and now sat uncomfortably on the large woven rug that covered the floor. Their host sat cross-legged in the corner furthest from the door, and hadn't budged at all since his guests entered. It was making the whole group rather restless. Their unflinching host and his drab room seemed so out of place for children who had grown up in what equated to luxury in this unforgiving land. Even the white walls of a cold laboratory felt more welcoming than this place. After a couple minutes of awkward silence, Tobias finally spoke up. "You all seem anxious." He said without opening his eyes, "We'll start with some breathing exercises then, calm your nerves before we begin our planning. I'm sure you've all been through this before during your training, so I won't explain the how, simply follow my lead. In..." Tobias took a slow, deep breath. "And out." He exhaled at a similar pace. He repeated this a couple times until everyone was doing it, and then simply sat there breathing as the children followed along. Even those who were annoyed by the exercise did find it somewhat calming. Yet still, meditative breathing wasn't what they had come for, and the air of nervousness remained.

[IntSys]

Aera

 

Aera performed the breathing exercise obediently. She waited, and waited, and waited. Her eyes were focused on the couch potato before the kids. She had heard of the man's 'exploits', thus having nearly no expectations for him. Though, the man was somehow not sleeping, and that was already a big enough surprise for her.

 

Eventually, she broke the silence. "What's next?" a muffled, yet decently loud voice came through the slimy face mask.

[Daniel Blackworth]

Maximus Llandon

 

Maximus wasn't too eager to perform the breathing exercises which the man suggested, yet he still performed them carefully. His gaze was mostly focused on the young man sitting before them, although he occasionally glanced towards the direction of the other kids around him. Maximus' hands were fixed on his lap, and he appeared to be deep in thought.

 

I wonder if someone would break the ice. I don't dislike the silence, but I hope that someone should get this going. This silence is starting to be deafening, Maximus thought to himself, his eyes observing for someone who might attempt to speak. Luckily, his thoughts were answered when one of the girls addressed a question to the man. I should try and say something too; I don't think the girl's question was sufficient.

 

"What will we be doing next? I don't suppose we'll just be sitting here for eternity, right?" Maximus calmly asks, his eyes bearing contact with the man's eyes. "I don't mean to be rude, but I hope we can get this thing started."

[Noir]

Debronee

 

In. Out. In. Out. In. Out.

 

Debronee knew not when the continuum of inhalations and exhlations would cease, though he tried his best not to question it. To the well-made young man, excellence and acceptance, even of something as boresome as this, came with repetition, much like his training. The more one did something, the more one would come to excel and learn from it, and perhaps even enjoy and relish it. The breathing exercise gave Debronee ample release from his previous battle -- he appreciated moments where he was allowed to calm down, something that the exercise seemingly managed to provide.

 

As much as Debronee did not mind what they were doing, the stagnancy of what was occurring after the events was consuming him on the inside. Debronee still could not comprehend even the gist of the aforementioned occurrences that had been set out -- he only knew that that frail, windy flyboy had been kidnapped, and as much as the contempt for him started to surface, who was he to say that he would be able to hold his own had whoever that had tried to take Wallace away targeted him, instead? Several others, perhaps equally as impatient and tired of waiting as he was, spoke up on the matter, but Debronee remained acquiescent. Perhaps the answers would be divulged soon. 

[Sutoratosu]

Tesla 

 

Tesla stayed quiet, as the others started piping up impatiently. In all honesty, this place felt... off to her, somehow. Almost like there was something there- it was a difficult sensation for her to process, but oddly enough it felt a little similar to whenever she sensed electricity nearby, but yet not quite the same- whatever it was it seemed to just elude her deduction. She mostly shrugged it off though, as she complied with Tobias' breathing exercise- he had told her and David he had a plan afterall, and if he was really as smart as all the grown ups said he was, well... she guessed this was just part of it. It wouldn't do any good to try explaining anything complex when everyone was on edge and fidgeting, after all.

[Shamitako]

Artemis

 

Breathing exercises. Ugh. Artemis hated wasting time like this, she wanted to be out searching and finding her friends. Or at least she hoped they were her friends, she wasn't really sure. Everyone had seemed so angry during the fighting, she wasn't even sure that they were looking for Vicky and Wally because they wanted to save them or because they wanted to hurt them. She was frustrated and frightened and they weren't doing anything. "Yeah, we should get started already." She chimed in with the others. She stole a glance at Fowl, who was sitting calmly and following instructions. She was half hoping her sister would scold her for being impatient, but nothing happened, Fowl remained silent both verbally and mentally.

 

Tobias

 

"Impatience will solve nothing." Tobias said calmly, "And chasing blindly will not show us the right path. We need to think. And to think we need clear heads. This place causes discomfort and anxiety, to be entirely calm here is almost impossible, but you will try or we will all fail." He gestured to the three who had spoken up rather than following the exercise to its end, "You three, practice your silence. The others may ask questions once I have laid out our course of action." Tobias finally opened his eyes, their dull gaze slowly scanning the room. "There's no chance we're catching them if we try to follow their path." He explained finally, "So we have to try to anticipate them. That's why I requested that Victoria's friends come along, you have a better chance at guessing where she would go than anyone else. I need those of you who know Victoria to help me figure out the different places she's going to go so we can get there first and intercept her. And I need to warn you all, the other Planes... They're not friendly places. The way things are here isn't perfect, but at least there's some sense of honor. You won't find that anywhere else, it's dangerous, and we're all just children. We won't be alone, of course, I'll be asking a few adults I trust to help us. But if it comes to life or death, you all need to be ready to fight for your lives." Tobias went quiet, leaving room for this information to sink in, particularly for the two who had willingly chosen to involve themselves. He closed his eyes again, steadying his breathing. "Now then, the three that maintained their composure, you may ask questions if you have them."

[IntSys]

Aera

 

Aera went back to absolute silence. She rarely made herself heard, but whenever she did, it just reminded her why staying passive was a good thing. Though, without doing it, she would've forgotten about the fact that she had a tongue, or that she had means to express herself. One would note that she didn't change her face throughout the past few minutes, and that she continued the breathing exercise even after she spoke. Not even a hint of regret nor anger showed, as she waited, waited, and waited.

 

The mild nervousness faded a long time ago for her. Though, with or without it, she looked and acted the same. The same static face and the same motionless body. The only thing reminding her that she was alive was the bear man's answer echoing softly in her eardrums.

 

She was content, like she always had been.

[Daniel Blackworth]

Maximus Llandon

Maximus settled himself in his position. He wasn't exactly too pleased that the man did not answer his inquiries, but at least, he did give an explanation to why he should remain his composure. Of course, he had some respect for this man who was intending to do a good cause and while he did seem to be rude when he spoke earlier, he only asked because of his genuine curiosity and his feelings of having the need to act in urgency. He was usually more impatient because he valued time, but he decided to wait there calmly. To avoid being too bored, he continued the breathing exercises, his expression becoming much more calmer and at ease at every cycle. 

[Sutoratosu]

Tesla

seeing as none of them seem interested in actually asking anything, given the long, drawn out silence she was experiencing now, Tesla figured they might as well just move on. She began to raise her hand almost out of habit, before she recalled where she was and retracted it

     "It's not really a question, but..." she began, hesitantly "Vicky took Wally with them and all.... soooo she'd probably ask that creeper to take them somewhere where it's easier for him to breath, or at least someplace where it would be easy for him to stop and rest often, or get help if he needs it. So... somewhere with good air quality, I guess, or at least decently developed or with a few people living nearby" 

 

She paused and thought about it for a moment. What may have counted to her as 'nearby', likely held no relevance at all to any of them. None of them had gone through the experiments. None of them had spent much time out in the wilds either, obviously, so while she may well be able to find a structure, recall it's exact location and be able to walk back to it with her eyes closed, the rest of em had no such frame of reference...

 

"um... nevermind the 'living nearby' part, I guess. I know she'd want to make sure he was alright though."

[Shamitako]

Tobias

 

"Somewhere easier to breath." Tobias said. He considered this for a moment, the best place for that was probably Gluttony, although it wasn't the only option. Gluttony was probably the last place Tobias wanted to go, as he wasn't a fan of the cold, but if that's what it took... "Alright then, we should probably head to Gluttony first." He said, "You'll want to dress warm."

 

~~~

 

Two days later, the kids found themselves boarding a dimensional train. They were joined by Mr. Jeff and a woman that none of them recognized. There was a while where they had to wait in their rooms, but once the train was safely moving they were allowed to move about freely. There wasn't much luxury, for food there was just some crackers and water in their rooms. The transporters in each room could be used to visit any of the other rooms. Outside Tobias and the woman, the kids were also free to visit each other.

 

(OOC: There, that's better)

[Noir]

Deb

 

Debronee remained consistently restless in his room on the dimensional train, walking around in paces to exercise and try to relieve most of his restlessness. Grabbing and nibbling on some spare refreshments, sadly, did little to calm him as well. Debronee disliked waiting or resting unless he was tired, and given what he and the rest and the group had been doing previously it came as no surprise that he was far from wanting to take a break, especially given the little speech he had also given during the previous meeting. 

 

He recalled being allowed to move around the train and went out of the room in search of something to entertain of soothe him. Spotting by several rooms, he knocked on the door and opened one randomly to find Tesla within the room he had entered. Perhaps talking to someone would do the trick, especially under the given circumstances. Debronee was usually one to acquiesce to rules and circumstance, but in this case, Debronee couldn't wonder but question the reasons for such little action when their priority was to search for Wallace. 

 

"So...." He began, somewhat awkwardly. He didn't dislike Tesla, but he wasn't fond of the sentiment of greeting this person with a smile, either, perhaps as he would anyone else. "What are you up to right now? And what do you think about...all this? You know, this train ride, the earlier meditations. Don't you think we're taking things a little too slowly?"

[Sutoratosu]

Tesla looked up from the watch casing and components she'd been working on when Deb walked into the room, placing the delicate tools down on the desk as she removed the googles- silver housings with amber lenses that seemed to burn with unnatural light -from her face. From the looks of it, the thing was a pocket model, old, scratched and dinged along its exterior, its face cracked. Tesla for the most part seemed to have finished whatever work she was doing to it, snapping something into place on it's back and putting the rear face plate back into place. It began to tick almost immediately, filling the room with an almost ominous metronome of noise as she sat there, silent at first. 

 

Had Deb been closer, he might've noticed the initials "I.E." engraved on it. Come to think of it actually, hadn't he seen Wallace's father with a pocket watch not unlike it in the past?

 

"I dunno..." The young tinkerer shrugged, "I just wanna get Vicky back from that creeper. And wall-...Everford too, I guess.... though I kinda wish we could just leave him. But it's not like we can do much else- Tobias had a point- if we just tried to chase after them from place to place, they'd always be gone by the time we get there. We needed some sort of plan before we just went charging off..." she paused, just for the briefest of moments....

       "And it's not like any of the rest of you can walk the planes... so the train is the fastest option for the search, I guess..."

[IntSys]

Aera

 

Aera put some mundane crackers in her mouth. They weren't particularly delicious, but they were enough for her. She sat in her seat for a good while before it became evident that there would be no other company unless she sought for them. It was quite an unnerving feeling, having no one next to you to order you around, forced to carry out your mindless steps.

And so she sought solace. She teleported into Artemis and Fowl's room.

With a meek "Hi," she let herself in.

She just sat there with the twin, purely enjoying their company.

Edited July 17, 2017 by IntSys

[Noir]

Deb

 

"I wouldn't call their plan elaborate, exactly, or at least as far as we're informed." Debronee then eyed Tesla's items on her desk. It seemed that he had caught her in the middle of something -- but why that pocket watch, of all things?

 

Inching closer to have a more clearer look, the boy confirmed his suspicions -- in that he remembered that the pocket watch on the desk indeed belonged to that of Wallace's father. "What are you doing with this?" He asked, "Is it yours? Some inherited keepsake? I remember Mr.Everford having this at some point, but...if it is indeed his, what are you of all people doing with it?" 

[Sutoratosu]

Tesla grumbled something under her breath, looking away "David..." she said simply. "It... broke or something, when wally's dad jumped down from the stands to... get me off of him. David's making me fix it as an apology... or something. Not like I'm really that sorry about decking him."

     With that said, she flipped the watch upright and stared at the still cracked face. Hey, the mechanic had only ever said she needed to get it functional again, not that she had to fix any cosmetic damage. With an almost disinterested scowl, she tossed it over her shoulder, and it promptly landed in the open knapsack sitting on the bed, tools and other assorted mechanical components spilling out.

 

"Besides, what keepsake? Nobody had anything where I was... all there was was the moss... and each other I guess..." The memories were still freshly branded in her mind, how they'd all been released together, sent out into the wastes with nothing but the rags on their back. How they wandered aimlessly, living off the sparse growths that dotted the void... even if the beginning of the tale- of how and why exactly they had all been changed and cast out -was something that only came to her in hectic, brief flashes and glimpses, the ending of that particular story still remained largely clear. The ending only she was around to even talk about. 

 

"....Up until David found me, I didn't even have a real name...none of us ever did. Just numbers....we just kept calling each other by em, after they let us out..."

 

 

[Shamitako]

On 7/16/2017 at 11:46 PM, IntSys said:

Aera

 

Aera put some mundane crackers in her mouth. They weren't particularly delicious, but they were enough for her. She sat in her seat for a good while before it became evident that there would be no other company unless she sought for them. It was quite an unnerving feeling, having no one next to you to order you around, forced to carry out your mindless steps.

And so she sought solace. She teleported into Artemis and Fowl's room.

With a meek "Hi," she let herself in.

She just sat there with the twin, purely enjoying their company.

The Cringe Twins

 

"Oh, uh, hi." Artemis said, looking over her shoulder at her sister. Fowl picked up on how awkward she felt but made no move to assist. Artemis shot her a telepathic glare and then went back to talking to Aera. "So, uh, what's up?" she asked.

[IntSys]

Aera

 

"Nothing. I just want company," Aera replied. It occurred to her that she shouldn't subject the twin to awkward silence, so she did her best and tried to come up with an actual topic. "A-Anyway, what do you think about Tobias?"

[Shamitako]

Artemis

 

"Uhh... He seems smart." Artemis answered, "So long as he helps us find Vicky I think he's okay. But I don't like how slow he's going. We need to help right now."

[IntSys]

Aera

 

"There has to be a good reason why the pace has been so slow, right?" Aera suggested, "perhaps he got a secret weapon ready in meantime."

 

"I believe that he'll be able to help us save Vicky and Wally, so I'll wait as long as necessary."

[Shamitako]

Artemis

 

"A secret weapon would be cool." Artemis supposed she didn't mind waiting if that was the case. But really, what sort of secret weapon could he even have? "Maybe that old lady is a secret weapon?"

[IntSys]

Aera

 

"Perhaps we can ask them ourselves," Aera suggested. "I'm curious, too."

[Shamitako]

Artemis

 

Artemis checked over her shoulder to see what Fowl thought.

"Don't care. I really just want to take a nap." Her twin informed her.

"Alright, that sounds like a good idea." Artemis said to Aera. She nodded towards the transporter, "After you."

[IntSys]

Aera

 

Aera lead the way and walked into the teleporter, visiting the woman's room. Though, each step she took was heavier than usual, feeling rather uneasy. She had none but herself to blame.

[Shamitako]

Artemis

 

Artemis followed Aera through the teleporter to the woman's room. It was essentially the same as the twins' room, save for possessing only a singular bed. Laying atop said bed in a purple silk nightgown was the woman who had accompanied them. Her jet black hair was extremely long. It had been tied up during boarding, so its length wasn't as obvious, but now Artemis could see that it was almost as long as the woman herself. The woman's left eye, the one near to the teleporter, was wide open and staring at the intruders. Artemis looked into it and felt like she was sinking into its ocean blue depths. "Hello girls." The woman broke the awkward silence Artemis hadn't realized was there.

"Oh!" Artemis started. She quickly scrambled to regain her composure. The way the woman spoke was quiet but held the unmistakable air of confidence, Artemis tried to match that confidence with her own. "Hello miss." Somehow she had managed to succeed in steadying herself. While the woman's lips stayed neutral, Artemis was sure she saw that oceanic eye smile at her.

[Noir]

Debronee

 

As Tesla recounted her story, Debronee knew he'd reawakened memories she was not that fond of. At the same time, despite knowing that she did have to compensate for her wrongdoing, he found himself relating to the frustration of fixing the watch, even if imperfectly done. 

 

"...Sorry." He didn't know what spurred his inclination; was it gratitude? Empathy? Pity? Come what may it came from something he did not comprehend, and to that he felt as if he had wronged her. Curiosity, however, bit deep into him like a ravenous mosquito into flesh, the aftermath an itch, an urge to question more -- hurtful or not -- of her own origins. Debronee was taught to maintain the will of only acquiesce without questioning why he wielded his sword, why he ran across battlefields swinging his blade for triumph, but for once, Debronee was tired of not having answers. Of being ignorant. Even as he breathed in battle, having a mind only with such a purpose made him no different than the inanimate weapon firm in his grasp, rarely apart from his fingers. There was a throbbing inclination within him, telling him that he was not sent there to hone his body in exchange for the mind; perhaps it was the meditative, unproductive stance that had resulted in his curiosity becoming this insatiable.

 

He likely wouldn't have such thoughts if he interacted with someone else -- particularly Wallace -- and even if he did, he'd likely brush them off without a second thought. He perceived Tesla's current state as what was vulnerability, recollection, that ultimately spread to him. An opening prompted a quick finish, but at that moment he felt more opened than opportunistic. 

 

"I take it you weren't here by choice." He muttered, after dwelling in silence for who knew how long, "Probably none of us were, I don't know. Do you see David as...a parent? A guardian? A superior? Anything close?"