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nml_mods ([personal profile] nml_mods) wrote in [community profile] nomans_land2023-05-02 05:02 am
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On The First Day

It had been months.

Months of terror, of families ripped apart, refugees racing against the Ark in the sky, against the Plants that had once been their only source of survival on the world and had now been turned against them, raining lightning and death down on them like the hand of a vengeful God. Humanity pushed to the brink, fleeing their homes and communities, waves of refugees fleeing across the sands as more and more towns and cities fell to the reign of destruction that had been biting at their heels every step of the way.

And then, as the last descendants of the survivors of the Big Fall clustered in the city of Octovern, spiilling out into the streets, every available, livable space filled to capacity and beyond, what felt like the final days of humanity began. The sounds of artillery fire filled the air, the sight of the Ark and its grotesque ruler loomed overhead, and in the distant sky high above, the previously-inconceivable reinforcement ships from Earth took up orbit around No Man's Land. Throughout the night, explosions lit up the sky, thundering with deafening reports through the air, and yet the civilians below had settled into a still, terrified, anticipatory silence. They couldn't see, from their perspective, the figures atop the ruins of the Earth's space destroyers that had already fallen to the ground, locked in battle for the future of the people far below. But the sight of Millions Knives high above, terrifying and grotesque with the power of the Plants he had absorbed, was omnipresent, a never-ending threat, the harbinger of doom, biding his time until he could make good on his promise to wipe every last one of them off the face of existence.

And then something had changed.

Electrical currents rippled through the air above the downed ship, carrying screams on the wind. To the people below, Millions Knives' massive form had shifted, writhing, bellowing with unholy rage and pain and despair. And then it begun to unmake itself, shredding, crumbling, tearing itself apart at the seams and floating to the ground in tiny, shining, white particles. Tiny, white feathers drifted on the wind, closer and closer before, one by one, they began to settle to the roofs of the buildings, to the tops of cars and to the streets, and to the heads and faces of the humans staring up from below.

The instant that contact was made between feather and skin, a connection was made; between Human and Plant, between each person standing side by side, minds thrown open in bursts of light and expanding consciousness, and through the doors sprang multitudes of memories spanning hundreds of years. Suffering, laughter, pain, sorrow, joy, enslavement, death, pride, love. The Plants had made the connection to their creators - their keepers - that they had been silently pleading for since their first containment, and with it every man, woman, and child on the surface of the world began to see and feel and hear their stories and their cries for help. They did not want this war, they did not want this destruction. They had seen the promises of vengeance and a paradise for their kind atop the bones of humanity offered by Millions Knives and they had felt the hopes and dreams carried by Vash the Stampede of a kinder, more loving world, and they had made their choice.

Of course, but...what would he do at a time like this?


I wonder if he'll laugh again


I wonder if he'll follow his ideals again.


I see. You all know him as well. That young man with a gentle smile.


Little Red Brother.


Let there be love and peace in this world.


In the chaos that followed, as the bodies of the Plants began tumbling to the ground in a writhing mass and the screams of shock and confusion began to rise from the sea of humanity below, something rippled in the air, a last gasp of those silent voices before the connection was lost.

Help Us. Help him. Please.


This was...different. New. As if reality had taken the distraction caused by the calamity below to shift itself sharply to the left, and then snapped. It started at the core of the mass of angelic bodies as men and women began to rush to their aid, a shockwave in the fabric of creation that rumbled silently in the atoms of the world and ricocheted outward, along the ground, through the air, until it had enveloped the entire planet. Time froze for an instant, and to the eyes of all who had the capacity for sight, that leftward shift became manifest, the world doubling on itself as the ground shook beneath their feet.

Wails of confusion and fear rose into the night sky, and for a brief moment, it felt as if the world were about to unmake itself on the molecular level. But then, just as suddenly as it had come, the distortion snapped back into place with a loud, ear-splitting CRACK, and in the stunned silence that followed, only one thing could be certain; things were not the same as they had been mere moments ago, as if everything and yet nothing at all had changed, all at once.

The world of No Man's Land was as it should be, but all across the surface of the planet, pockets of reality had split open, sending the inhabitants of mirrored existences tumbling through wide, unseen rifts. People and places outside of time and space found themselves staggering to their feet in a world that was both foreign and familiar at the same time, found themselves face to face with their own reflection made flesh, tossed about by the pleas of a race reaching across the fabric of creation for aid in putting a stop to a war that had been fought time and time again, across reality after reality, without fail.


Thus began the new chapter in the history of No Man's Land.



[Wherever your character was, whatever they were doing, when the rifts in reality opened, they will have found themselves rocked by a massive earthquake that lastes a few short seconds before settling with a loud crack, like thunder. While no damage will be left in its wake, the characters themselves will realize that though the planet appears to be the same, it will quickly become evident that they are in an alternate reality of the place they call home. Are they standing in the rubble of a once-destroyed city now remade whole? Is the bar they had been taking refuge in suddenly gone, leaving them tumbling to the sand with nothing but their drink in their hand? And what of the friends that had been standing by their side seconds before? This is where your stories begin.]
aplantandherboy: (del6)

[personal profile] aplantandherboy 2023-05-11 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
[Clearly this fellow just doesn't get close to plants that often. That's okay, she'll do her best to make a good first impression!]

I want to.

[One good turn deserves another! And besides, it's just the right thing to do. Someone helps you, you help them, and if she were completely honest she wasn't keen on losing her new company, even if only for a little while. But she nods again anyway; she'll be okay! Nobody hurts plants. Right?

The lack of nuance to her interface draws another frown, before she gives the interior of her bulb a tiny weak punch then puts her hands on the glass; something like frost rapidly crosses it, in delicate little spirals. In this, she quickly writes, but she's clearly not used to it because many of her letters are backwards. It's still more or less legible, though it doesn't last long under the warmth.]


Tom, my caretaker, is in town finding out what it's called. He's strong but not very clever and left me behind.

I am sorry. The sound interface is not detailed. I want to help, you helped me. Anything?
aplantandherboy: (Default)

[personal profile] aplantandherboy 2023-05-11 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
It's clear to Delphinium that this poor Independent must have been spending much time away from his own kind. Humans were good company when they wanted to be, but it wasn't the same. She'd have to point him to a good town with a population of happy plants, maybe they could find a way to return a bit of his lost life energy. But until then.. until then she's just one, a small bulb in the sand, but she'd do what she could to soothe that pain she could pick up on.

No. I've heard rumors, of course, but.. There were two! And he'd called for help as well, and there was an ark.. And the fighting. The fighting had been against this brother.

Plants didn't fight each other. It was an odd thought, one she mulls over carefully. There would of course have to be a dire reason to even consider it. Unspeaking plants, a brother scouring the world for them and saving them in an ark, humanity cowering in terror. It's a dreadful series of images and feelings, horrifying in their own way, and carefully she detatches her own feelings from them so his memories don't blur into her own. It happened to someone else, in another time, not to her, and that tiny fragment of distance is enough to weigh Vash's explanations with the sobriety it deserves.

A second feather sneaks out to join the first. He really has been through it, she'd been right.

Nothing like fighting of the sort to make a plant go dark. The cities I know are as ... at peace as we can make it, with the natives and the climate being what they are. Sometimes there's echos of something going on with our kin in July, but it's so far away I only catch hints. I think the other Independent ones are there too.

Delphinium isn't a scientist either, but she knows how her power works. As she thinks, tiny wings flittering again in consideration. And then she reaches out to the connection to all of her siblings, the undercurrent she'd been used to all her life of thoughts and images and commentary, other plants and other lives - and finds it oddly diminished. There, certainly there, and one or two she recognizes instantly, but .... less than it should be. To them, over vast distances, his questions are posed. And then relayed on to the others further out, and posed again. And again, and again. Where one mind fails, many might have the answers.

As close as he is, Vash may well be able to feel it, the reach, the distant link to nebulous others without being the abstractions he's best used to and took what comfort he could from.

I would teach you, poppy brother, but I'm not sure it would be safe to. You'll lose days with each thing you make. she rests the palm of her lower set of arms on her chin, thoughtful. How to explain what they do, to someone who neever has? But to make it easy, there is this place, the physical. You can touch it, breathe it, bite it if you want. A bullet, or a bun, or a star. And there is a place where the physical is an idea, and energy is everything. A plant stands between them, and we can with a little help of machines, take the idea of a physical thing, take the energy of it, bring it here, and make it a thing. I gather it with my feathers, and shape it with my thoughts. If I don't want to I can make the machine shape it for me.

There is no demonstration, he's surely seen plants make things before. Moving a thing, or a person, from one place to another is just moving energy around again at the root of it. I couldn't do it, but it might be possible if many of us got together and tried on one thing at the same time. But please listen, younger brother.

Delphinium leans close, nose and forehead to the glass, pupilless eyes wide. If our sisters have brought us to this place, at this time, there is a reason they did it. Something was broken, and it's being fixed right now, by us being here. If you find the ones who called, and who managed this, don't ask them to send anyone anywhere yet. We have work to do first. And she was going to have to find herself a nice town to settle down in quicker than expected. In spite of that, she smiles, an almost human gesture except for it having too many teeth and showing the barest edges of her mandibles. It's almost impish. It's a good thing, being here. I will ask those I can reach, and we'll coordinate. Humans have radios but we're better.
Edited 2023-05-11 22:54 (UTC)
love_and_peace: (x1)

[personal profile] love_and_peace 2023-05-12 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ Being a protector of the weak and defenseless is one of the greatest things he could choose to do! But how about maybe they talk first and identify who, exactly, he wants to protect, and how? ]

I'm glad to hear it!

[ And only you, yes, he can hear the finality of that statement. He understands, really! ]

It's okay that you're suspicious of them. Just don't make up your mind whether they're good or bad until they have a chance to show you who they are, okay? For me?

[ The only humans he knows are the people from the ship, Rem, and the mob that attacked them the last time they'd met. It's not really a stellar introduction to a species! If he's going to see humans for the amazing people they are, then he just needs to meet more people, under better circumstances. Making that happen in the middle of a war might be a challenge, but he has faith. ]

Meet some more humans, and then decide what you think of them. [ And, then, a little more quietly: ] Don't judge them all on what you've seen so far, okay? Remember, those folks back at the diner had good reason for protecting their town. They're not all like that.
littleblades: (22)

[personal profile] littleblades 2023-05-12 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah. [ he responds quietly, his thoughts drifting. ] I think... I want to understand. Before T... Before, I thought- maybe we could understand each other.

[ his fingers dig into vash's shoulder, nails biting into the thick coat. ] I'm worried about him... He can't protect himself and- [ he vividly remembers the screen visuals, vash and tesla placed in the same folder, different from his own. the implications make him sick. ] I have to protect him. [ he almost continues, but the words lodge in his throat and instead he falls silent. white-knuckled grip unrelenting. the rising tide of dread threatens to drown him. ]

... I want to meet your friends first. [ he states quietly, almost muffled against vash's coat. maybe vash is right, maybe he isn't, but nai will trust him regardless. ]
graveresemblance: (pic#16420880)

he sure isnt!

[personal profile] graveresemblance 2023-05-12 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[that doesn't help Livio at all. A running commentary of what's going on, of the Great Cities, is not what he was looking for.

Livio will have to push just a little bit more. Though he does squirrel away that information for later.]


You always been a musician? Like, if you could be anything else, what'd it be?

[perhaps a strange question for a stranger]

If this doesn't work out, I mean. Can't see that happening.
graveresemblance: liv (Default)

[personal profile] graveresemblance 2023-05-12 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
Your brother will? I hope not, I just wanna wait here until he gets here, so you don't haveta be alone till then.

[he...isn't sure if the kid is bluffing, but he'd feel better if he wasn't, and the brother was on the way]
graveresemblance: (pic#16420878)

[personal profile] graveresemblance 2023-05-12 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
Mr. Vash?

[yeah there wasn't doubt before that this was Milly, but definitely isn't now.] I haven't seen him yet. Or anyone besides you. Maybe we can look a little...and see.

[but he has a bad feeling]
littleblades: (35)

[personal profile] littleblades 2023-05-12 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ how does he shake this guy??? there is absolutely no way he can know he's lost. ]

Go outside. [ nai hisses through the door. he paces the room, debating reaching for the door more than a few times. would he be fast enough to make a run for it?

he growls to himself, running both hands through his hair in frustration. ]
graveresemblance: (pic#16391011)

[personal profile] graveresemblance 2023-05-12 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
[oh-- she can write too. that's another thing he had no idea plants could do-- clearly Livio has to talk to Vash about this more.

He's relieved to know she isn't exactly alone out here. Not very clever-- he laughs]


Sounds like you guys are close. I'll wait until he gets back, but I hope he doesn't think I'm going to do anything. [a thoughtful pause] Uh, do you have any water? Only if it doesn't-- trouble you.
graveresemblance: (pic#16391007)

[personal profile] graveresemblance 2023-05-12 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
[sorry, Nai, he's too dumb and stubborn]

I don't think I will. I might catch a cold.
stungunmilly: (05.)

[personal profile] stungunmilly 2023-05-12 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
Mr. Vash the Stampede! You've heard of him, haven't you?

[Milly, you're not supposed to shout that name... She realizes about a second afterwards and lets out a small "oh" before deciding it really doesn't matter here.]

You don't think they're... No, I can't imagine that would be the case! Meryl and Vash are much too strong for that, if anything they might be captured, which does mean we need to find them, but it can't be anything worse than that!
graveresemblance: (pic#16391011)

[personal profile] graveresemblance 2023-05-12 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, I have. We're...friends, I think.

[that's not suspicious right? Vash is friends with lots of people

she's worried, and Livio is too, but he sets a gentle, hesitant hand on her shoulder, hoping for reassuring]


Don't worry, those two will be fine, as long as they don't start fighting each other...they're strong.
climbedup: (grown)

also if you do discord and are interested, sandbox has server now

[personal profile] climbedup 2023-05-12 07:17 am (UTC)(link)
[ oh... that... is really very smart. ]

Can you drive? If so, then yeah, borrowing a car would be a good thing, and we can move faster that way. And bring it back! If people left it, we'd probably be able to do that before they return.

[ oh she gets it. supplies, especially ones that might spoil, she feels less guilty about because then they'd just go bad and be wasted. something like that, she agrees with him. ]

Thanks... for thinking of that.
mercifullyheavy: (Charmer)

[personal profile] mercifullyheavy 2023-05-12 10:44 am (UTC)(link)
[The sound of his name made him snap his attention up, eyes leaving the kid and returning to Vash's back and the redirection helped center him and pull him out of the loop he'd found himself in. And oh. Didn't those words just hit home. Nico was still missing. And damn him, but this little shit was Vash's only real family. He knew how important people were to Vash, he knew how every fucking death was as painful as a personal attack to him, even when they weren't someone he cared about.

He couldn't. He couldn't be the reason Vash was left alone like that. Because even if he was willing to accept the the consequences of doing the one thing that might very well finally make Vash hate him for the monster he really was, he couldn't accept being the one that took away one of the only things he had left.]


Fuck.

[When he pulled his hand out of his coat, it was to open one of his cigar tubes, and he used the process of cutting it and lighting it to disguise how rattled he was. He'd gone through two of these in as many days. He'd need to buy more, soon, unless he wanted to start smoking three cigarettes at once every time he really needed the nic-fix to calm his nerves.

He hung onto every single word the two of them exchanged, and when the kid mentioned Vash, a different Vash, he let out a cloud of smoke from the corner of his mouth, away from them, and stood to his feet. Every step was slow, deliberate and careful, and when he was just outside of arm's reach of the little monster, he crouched back down, feeling mildly annoyed that he hadn't taken up carrying suckers like Nico had, because at least those helped get him some kind of brownie points with kids. Nicholas didn't have anything like that.]


That's what we're here for, right? [He steeled his face into something neutral before lifting his sunglasses into his hair and then put on his most charming, disarming smile. At least he was practiced with that.] Your bro's a softie, you know? He's been tryin' t'find you for a while, now. An' hey, sorry if I was bein' rude just now, I was thinkin' we'd find someone our age. [Alright, Vash's age, but he could pretend he didn't know any better for now.] I'm glad we found you, though. We lost one'a your brother's friends a few days ago, an' things've been kinda hard on him. You know how attached he gets, he just wants everyone to be his friend. I haven't seen him lose one person without it really upsettin' 'im. S'why it's good you're safe. We can help 'im better as a team, right? Hopefully he doesn't have t'worry about losin' anyone else.

[And not a word of it was a lie. Well. The part about finding Knives, maybe. But not any of the rest of it.]

The other Vash, too...honest, kid, I...[Oh, and now he was actually thinking about the implications of what he was about to say, and it was like a knife in his heart.] That may be the Vash I know. Me an' him...we got separated a while back, an' if it's the same Vash, I know he's just as sweet as your brother, here, an' I'm kinda worried about him, too. I didn't think I'd ever find 'im again, an' I know that he's probably just as upset as this guy.

[He didn't notice it, but the look on his face softened, went a little "gooey" around the edges, as it were. He shifted, resting an elbow on his knee so he could rest his chin in his hand in what was as nonchalant a facade as he could make at the moment.]

What'd you mean when you say different? Is it his hair? Kinda likes to spike it up? An' his coat's got buttons instead'a zippers, and great big boots with belts on 'em? That's my Vash. He was lookin' for his brother, too, when I...got lost.

[God. If his Vash was here...what...what was he even going to do with that??? He never, in a million years, thought he would ever see him again. He'd told himself two years ago that he had come to terms with that. But the thought was making him feel some sort of way all of a sudden, and not least of which was a worry that it had been him the call for aid had gone out for when this whole mess had started up a few days ago.]

You know where he is, now? Maybe if we keep 'em together, they'll both be safer, yeah? I just wanna make sure they're both ok, you know?
dontdeserve: (don't deserve to cry)

[personal profile] dontdeserve 2023-05-12 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The tears actually returned to his eyes with Nai's words. Not because of the loneliness - the last while, since his Wolfwood had joined him, even the time spent as someone else, the loneliness had not been nearly as bad. But because of the awareness of how much had been caused by Nai, and how, even with everything, he longed to be near him once more. Even with his mind's eye returning him to that night over JuLai, and the last time he'd seen Nai's face before this.

God...

Nai mentions the other Vash, and he manages to tear his eyes away from the child in front of him, to look towards Wolfwood, only to catch that Fuck and. Somehow, somehow that managed to give him something to hold on to in the whirlwind that was his ind right now. He breathed out, and when his eyes returned to Nai, the tears had finally dissipated, and his gaze was marm and kind, the sadness always there but much less dominant.

And then he rubbed the back of his head a little sheepishly, as Wolfwood's words kept coming and actually helped settle him back into reality, away from the whirlwind that was threatening to drown him even worse than ever since they had found themselves in this place.
]

He's not wrong, Nai. [ He reached to nudge the bridge of the shades up the tiny, familiar nose. ] I don't take well or easily to losing anyone.

[ Although if the Vash that had been with Nai really was the one that Wolfwood had been missing for that long - the one that Vash knew that he loved - that would not be exactly like losing him. Not if he could come home, at last. ]

And such things are far too easy on this planet. Especially as it is right now - the plants that were in these towns were taken away, so everything is dangerous. So I'd kind of like to find them, too, since I think they are the ones that brought us all here.

[ He could not be sure if Nai would pay that much attention to Wolfwood's arguments. But the plants being in danger enough to take action, that was likely to catch his attention. And, also... ]

... they asked that we all help them, and help the other Vash. That's... also what I've been trying to find more about.

[ He did not know what Nai had already been told, but this much he might be able to tell for himself - about the taken plants, that was, whether or not he had caught the message from them. ]
celestialcrybaby: (Max Eugh)

Pfft, man, I commend the hustle, tagging from phones is a NIGHTMARE!

[personal profile] celestialcrybaby 2023-05-12 01:31 pm (UTC)(link)
He watched him lower his saxophone to the table, then glanced back up at Midvalley, eyes focused on the way he almost reached up to touch an old wound under a patch of blood on his stark, white suit. The man was trying to hide something, and it wasn't hard to tell what that was, especially given the state of him. It just brought up more questions than it answered.

"No, he definitely didn't miss." Which made him turn and begin searching shelves and cupboards in earnest, until he'd managed to find a small metal first-aid kit tucked underneath the sink and lifted it above his head with a little "Hah!" He had already opened it and was beginning to sift through the contents by the time he stood up and began walking back over, pulling out a roll of gauze and tape. Probably would need that bottle of alcohol, too...and, unfortunately, maybe even those...giant tweezers, if there were still any bullets in his gut. Forceps? What even did they call those things? "Alright, lift up your shirt."

The abruptness and possible awkwardness of the statement didn't even occur to him, though to be honest it probably wouldn't have even if he weren't drunk. When Midvalley continued to rattle on, though, he blinked, looking up at him in a bit of a stunned silence.

He hadn't-...? Was he-...? Vash's mouth fell open, but whatever question he'd been about to ask died on his lips at the gesture he made toward the door and the implications of it, and suddenly his head was on a swivel, swinging quickly back and forth between him and the darkness that lay just outside.

Did he mean-...??? But-...there was no way-...The grave was-...But then Midvalley also shouldn't be-...No.

No, no. He couldn't let his thoughts spiral down that path. It was dumb, it would just get his hopes up for something he knew was impossible, and he was already hurting enough as it was. He unclenched his hand from where it had crushed around the roll of gauze, looked down at the table as he dropped the box down near the saxophone, and busied himself with opening the wrapper so that he could have a moment to collect himself again.

"...For what it's worth, I'm glad to hear that. I don't have any intention of continuing a fight that I never wanted in the first place. All I ever wanted was to be left in peace, so if that's sounds fine to you, then I'm glad to let what's in the past stay there."
dontdeserve: (Alone)

OKAY BUT THEN PANIC LESS AT LEAST

[personal profile] dontdeserve 2023-05-12 02:27 pm (UTC)(link)
The fact of the matter was that Vash was and had been holding everything tightly contained because he could not get the comfort he absolutely needed. Well, and because he knew he did not deserve it, but it had been granted to him, once upon a time, and a part of him never did forget that, try as he might to avoid wishing for it.

So, in short, yes, it had been forever since he got a proper hug, and the closest he had had in recent memory had been knives pinning him with his blade tentacles and that was. Something else entirely. Holding and being held had been a part of his early childhood, and since then... he'd missed it beyond words.

Even so, right now it was something else. It was Vash drowning in his own mind in ways he could not easily express, and needed the anchor, the stability that was Wolfwood. Even if it disturbed him a little that he would lean on either of them at a time of this, and one was not there, and was that fair, but that drowned under the tide of everything else.

And Wolfwood's words. Instead of helping, they made him hunch his shoulders a little more. "It's so easy, you know. For me to be all right, and everyone else to be suffering. If I could exchange that... if everyone could be all right, even if I was suffering, I'd prefer that. But... it never works like that." Then he winced at how his own words sounded.

"Sorry. Sorry. I'll be fine. I'll be all right." Great, now he had ruined this also. Could he just be how he was normally be so they could get this resolved in some way?

The answer was pointing to a tentative no.
aplantandherboy: (del1)

[personal profile] aplantandherboy 2023-05-12 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's still frustratingly clumsy, humans really needed to develop telepathy faster. The writing dissolves away under the lingering heat of the day, but her point has gotten across at least.]

Tom is friendly.

[Back to the machine, it can cover that much. It's.. not very detailed really, it didn't explain that her boy could and would absolutely protect her with considerable violence if needed, but it wasn't needed so everything's clearly fine!

...Water, though. That's easy. Too easy. She considers for a long moment about how to make it a little fancier. One feather uncoils like a long white tentacle, eeling its way straight through the glass of her bulb without actually seeming to break it in any fashion before setting down a large leather-looking, silver-studded bottle that absolutely had NOT been there a moment before.

It's cold to the touch.]
Edited 2023-05-12 16:04 (UTC)
celestialcrybaby: (Max Wibbly Smile)

[personal profile] celestialcrybaby 2023-05-12 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[He almost shrugged Livio off when he felt his hands on his shoulders, but the words managed to break through the fog, and the reality of it hit him again. It's okay. He's already taken care of. He was. He took care of him, himself. He had to, he couldn't just leave him there. Nothing could hurt him, anymore, he was safe, he even covered the grave to-...!

He gave a small, humming sound as he came back to reality, shaking his head and covering his face for a moment to hide the way it crumpled, the way his lip trembled. He hummed again, soft little noises that weren't quite whines and weren't sharp enough to be crying. Trying to build up to being able to form words again, before finally he found his voice, soft and miserable as it might have sounded.]


I...came to visit...wanted to visit him. Didn't think...didn't think anyone would be back yet. 'S...why I was hiding. Didn't want to bother you guys, some creepy old man just...lurking by the orphanage. Just...wanted to...come and say good bye an' then...and then leave again. That's all.

[Not that he needed to explain, but it helped to reorient himself, get himself out of the weird headspace that had come over him. He gave himself a moment for the tears to hit, let himself feel them, process the panic he'd just had. And then he did his best to shove all of it back down inside of his chest, wiping at his face and readjusting his sunglasses, and then looking up at Livio with an apologetic grimace that tried to be a smile.]

Sorry, sorry. I'm fine. Your kids are missing, let's go. we need to look for them.
littleblades: (46)

[personal profile] littleblades 2023-05-12 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ unfortunately for wolfwood, there's a very slim chance nai would ever accept a treat from him. not unless vash offered it first, of course.

nai's smile drops when the priest moves closer, brows pinched even as he listens to the man speak. now he remembers the name, one his other vash had mentioned in brief passing. was this really the same guy his brother called a friend? he keeps his expression flat and distrusting, fighting the urge to step away and put more distance between them.

just in case.

his attention is refocused on vash when his brother slides the glasses back up his nose. the tips of his ears tinting pink. ]
I don't know where he is right now, but I'm going to find him.

[ one brother found, another lost. unfortunately, this brother had a straggler hanging onto his coat... not much nai can do about that for now. his gaze falls then, thoughts turning over their sisters. held in captivity and unable to protect themselves from both the humans and... whoever it was taking them from the towns. he starts to worry his lower lip with a sharp canine and catches sight of his brother's artificial arm. reaching down, he plucks his brother's hand with both of his, rubbing his thumbs along the greenish-tinted material. ]

It's been a long time, hasn't it? [ the thought of his brother being harmed is a slice to his heart, an aching pain. the glasses start to slide off his nose again as he's looking down, but he doesn't seem to care. ]
doubletimefeel: (4)

[personal profile] doubletimefeel 2023-05-12 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
If it were only a bullet, maybe. Maybe. But he hadn't just been shot, and Midvalley spent most of his life carefully evaluating his own chances at survival. Wherever he'd been thrown in the ground, he should still be there. One dark eyebrow arches at being told to lift his shirt before he slowly and purposefully begins unbuttoning it instead. Whether or not there was anything still IN the wound is a good question, but by the dampness in his back it had gone straight through.

He doesn't have the extensive awful scarring the likes of Vash or even Wolfwood had, but he's been in his share of scraps. This new set of injuries, neat half-healed, half-open holes, by their placement absolutely should have resulted in a dead man. Lungshot, heart-shot, if he'd made it thirty seconds without losing consciousness it would have been astonishing. They still bleed a little, but it's the sluggishness of a nonlethal wound. It really shouldn't be.

By the shocked silence, he estimated the Stampede was considering Wolfwood, and not the likelihood of Legato.

Of Knives.

Of it all beginning again. Of course a mind would turn to a lost friend before vicious enemies, but Midvalley had to be more practical about that. If he intended to make the best use of this second chance at life, he was going to have to be very careful to steer clear of anyone connected to that hell that was the Gung Ho Guns. "It was never personal for me. No offense, but you were just a job I wasn't allowed to walk away from." Unlike some of the others, who sought a test of strength ... or revenge. "I can't say anyone else might leave you alone, Knives has followers like a cat has fleas."

But it won't be Midvalley. He's not stupid enough to take the same road twice, when it already got him killed once. "And if you're the "red brother" that ... screaming was calling for, and I wasn't the only one to hear it." People will come looking.

People will come looking. Vash drew chaos like carcasses drew flies.
celestialcrybaby: (Max Wibbly Smile)

[personal profile] celestialcrybaby 2023-05-12 07:04 pm (UTC)(link)
The sound of Milly's voice was legitimately a shock to him, and he jumped just a bit as he looked over her way.

"Oh-H-...oh."

The shift of the look on her face was unmistakable, and suddenly he was remembering the last time she'd asked about Wolfwood, about how Brad had stopped Livio from telling her. How even just the lie that he had abandoned them and gone to save himself had ended with her breaking down into painful sobbing. But it was obvious by the look on her face now that she knew, and honestly, he wasn't surprised. She had always been a lot smarter than people gave her credit for, though whether it was something she did to throw people off the way Vash did or just something about her sweet, carefree nature, he didn't know.

"Hey, Milly." There was an apologetic tone to his voice when he finally mumbled out a proper greeting. Just seeing her breaking down was almost enough to set him off all over again, he hated seeing her upset, she was such a kind person that just knowing she was hurting was painful for him, too. But...what else was there for it?

So when she managed to regain a little of her composure and ask if she could sit with him, he couldn't help but shift, moving to sit back down from where he'd been making sure the Punisher didn't fall back down again, and awkwardly patted the sand next to him even as he looked down and around.

"Yeah, hey, c'mere...Where's Meryl?" Because those two were never far apart. But then also..."Where's your camera...?"

He looked mildly bewildered, if not a touch relieved. He'd hoped his visit would be a solitary one, yes, but he couldn't just turn her away when she was obviously hurting, too, so he took what little bit of solace he could in the fact that she didn't seem to be equipped to broadcast his face all over No Man's Land's television airwaves. Especially not right now.

Still...the earlier guilt still lingered in the back of his mind, and as he stopped the cursory glance around for Meryl and their equipment, he glanced back up to her as he pulled his knees up, tucking them loosely against his chest.

"I didn't...didn't expect you to be here." Honestly, he thought he'd lost them pretty good for a while. Oh well. "...I'm...sorry. That we didn't tell you. Back in Octovern."

It may have been an attempt at keeping her from getting bogged down with grief at the worst possible time, but she had cared about him, too. She cared about everyone, but had also just always been kind to Wolfwood, had gone out of her way to welcome him into their little ragtag circle whenever she got the chance.

"You had deserved to know. He was your friend, too. I should have told you."
stungunmilly: (08.)

[personal profile] stungunmilly 2023-05-12 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
As soon as he said it was okay, she sat down. She probably would have sat down anyways, but it was nice to have the permission to do so too. Milly wiped her tears, though it didn't feel like there was much use when they were still coming.

"I don't know, actually. I thought you might, but-" she tilted her head at his next question, "Camera?"

She looked bewildered right back at him, and while it could be mistaken for her usual demeanor, she seemed genuinely confused. Why would she have a camera after all? Sure, they'd been taking odd jobs, but that wasn't one of them. And why was Vash's hair dark anyways? Wolfwood's grave seemed the wrong place to ask these questions, but her mind welcomed the distraction as well.

However, she found herself getting more confused even as Vash got back to the matter at hand. Was this a joke? It wasn't a very good one if it was. She frowned, unsure whether to be sad, confused, angry, or all three.

"What do you mean...? Y-You told me and Meryl in Carcases, you brought me his cross. Don't you remember, Vash?"

She fought back the urge to sob and cry out as she remembered that day, and the night before.

"He told me himself, really... He knew, I think, and still... still we-"

Milly held out a hand towards the glass meant for Wolfwood, hoping neither him nor Vash would mind. She could use it right about now.
love_and_peace: (glare - mid-fight but also weary)

[personal profile] love_and_peace 2023-05-12 08:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Gently, Vash pulls his hand out from under Knives's cheek and lays it warm and comforting on his brother's head instead. That's too much weight to carry on such small shoulders, and he swears to himself that, before they find a way to send Kni home, that he'll think of some way for him -- and his brother -- to feel safer. There has to be a way. ]

You're a good brother. Thank you for looking out for him.

[ Do they delete all the files on the plants? Would that be enough to keep them from being noticed by the rest of the ship's crew, the next time they wake? Conrad saw them, though... or will see them, Vash isn't certain about when, exactly, his brother is coming from -- and a hundred and fifty years later, Vash can say with certainty that Conrad can't be trusted. If he tells Kni that, he suspects that Conrad will meet with an accident, and he can't allow that to happen. But maybe Conrad's schedule gets messed up and he doesn't wake up any time soon? Staying in cryo for an extra twenty years won't hurt him, right? Maybe he could...

But then the road curves around an outcropping of stone, and on the other side stretches the city of December. Almost the size of July, once home to nearly a hundred thousand people, from a distance it looks completely deserted. There's no sound, none of that hum of human activity. No movement, that he can make out. A fire burns somewhere in the northwest corner, and there's what looks like a ion cannon jutting out of the remnants of the ship in the city center, but other than that, there's no sign that people have been here in some time.

And above, the skies are clear. There's no sign of the ark anywhere.
]
nyctinasty: (Default)

Somewhere Out There

[personal profile] nyctinasty 2023-05-12 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
That cry for help is familiar in the worst way.

It brought back memories.

Not so much the earthquake or how everything goes nauseatingly sideways with a sound that makes his ears ring terribly and sets off a headache he could really do without. Nor how it's suddenly daytime, and it was evening about thirty seconds ago.

And his house is missing.

... His entire house is missing.

AND HIS FIG TREE IS GONE.

Knives Millions, scourge of humanity decades upon decades past, stares blankly at where there should have been an adobe structure and now was just rocks and dirt and no sign life had ever been there at all. Replacing the tree was out of the question, as was replacing the home. He squints balefully upward at the ever scorching suns, then takes a slow look around and picks a direction. If he recalled correctly, some iles in that direction would be a town. As much as he'd rather not deal with humanity at all, there might be some answers as to what the hell that was and where his house had went.

And who had cried out in a way that tore at memories he'd rather leave in the past with sharp claws of urgency.

For anyone familiar with him, he still looks recognizably "Knives", but the devil is in the details; black hair and not blond, a chapped weathering of visible skin as if much time has been spent in the wind and sand, a fine tracing of wrinkles of all things - nor does he look like the mid twenties young adult he in theory 'should'. He could pass for pushing forty, not helped by the subtle limp in his stride. Even his clothes have seen better days, faded and careworn but comfortable, once possibly fashionable but now merely serviceable.

While his pace isn't particularly hurried, it is relentless. Somewhere in this direction is a town, and they better have the answers he wants.

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