nomans_land | On The First Day

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introduction

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That is a very good question.

[ She was in Octovern, taking care of the children and trying yet again to help with all that had assaulted their young, battered minds, and now she is not, and the sight is familiar and not both. And she can feel blood draining from her face as she sees the destruction.

She knows Miss Melanie and the kids under her care got away. But ... clearly not everyone did.

Jasmine rubs the sweating palms of her hands into her pants and then turns around to see who was asking in the first place, and her expression relaxes a little. ]

Oh... hey.

[the voice has him starting, hands at his hips, where his Punishers remain, but they steady, and stay, when he sees Jasmine's face.]

...Jasmine? What are-- why--

Also very good questions.

[ she purses her lips. ]

Why am I here, I don't know. What am I doing? Going back to Octovern.

[ her eyes soften, as she looks around. ]

Unless someone here needs any help, of course.

I don't..I don't know.

[he's scared to look. he's scared to look and see what he'll find. he's terrified he'll go over and see Vash, and see Wolfwood's body, and-- he's almost as scared of seeing that as something happening to the kids]

The kids were here and then..they weren't.

[ it helps a little, to recognize his confusion and fear. she was used to seeing this. less in adults, because she was caring for kids and paid attention to them more. but it's easy to know what to do. she straightens and steps closer to him, a hand soothing on the back of his sleeve. ]

Tell me where to look and what to warn you about. I'm small and can sneak places unnoticed more easily.

[he's trying, and failing clearly, not to show it. but he squares his shoulders and smooths the worry from his face]

No, don't worry about that. I don't want you to get hurt, or get stuck. I don't think they're here.

[if he's thinking this is what he's witnessing again, when he's witnessing]

[ she has experience with people trying to not show it, it's all right.

but she nods, coming to stand next to him, even if she finally realized what he is talking about. she can feel her hands go cold at the thought. ]

Oh.

Well, you're definitely not going to look alone.

What? I wasn't going to-- I don't think anyone's here...but you're not going in there with me, either.

[look two can be stubborn here]

[ jasmine. watches him for a long moment, before nidding. ]

So long as you don't try to go alone. But we should still go make sure nobody is here and hurt, aside from... anything else. Just in case.

[ she wants to go back to check on the kids in octovern. but... it's december. she grew up here, too. if anyone is in need of help, they probably can at least try to help. ]

Alright.

[anything else...so far he hasn't seen any corpses out here, none he recognizes either, if what he suspects this is...is]

But if anyone tries to hurt us, you run, no matter what. Got it?

[ jasmine absolutely take a breath to argue, but she has learned to think before she speaks. or acts. ]

I hate making you do dangerous things on your own. But I'd just make it harder for you if I don't run, wouldn't I. [ she swallows, looks away. then bites her lip, because she really stands no chance whatsoever against things that cause this kind of damage. ] Be careful yourself if I have to run, all right?

[he wasn't ready to argue, but Livio had braced himself for whatever. so he only blinks at her when he isn't challenged.]

You're not making me...and it'd make it harder cause I'd be worried you were gonna get hurt cause of me.

[and he can't take that. he just nods]

I'll be careful. I don't think I'll be checking too long.

[ jasmine is stubborn, but she has had to grow, up, and that means knowing when she is in the wrong and not pushing into being more wrong.

it also means she hears him loud and clear, so she reaches to place her hand lightly on the back of one of his large hands. ]

Not your fault.

[ it must hurt. being here again. and it must hurt thinking of so many things. but she doesn't hesitate, and she doesn't think she's wrong. whatever his part in the destruction around them, he would not have chosen to hurt those here.

he would not have chosen to hurt him.

(is he really gone? nico-nii? jasmine burrows that small voice deep in the back of her mind. not a question she has the right to make him answer.) ]

Let's go. If anyone does need help, the sooner we find them, the better.

[he starts, just a little bit, the tiniest bit, at the gentle touch. it's been a long time since someone didn't do that to hurt him. she's worried about him even preoccupied and worried about the kids.

he nods, and pats her hand in turn, gently, gently]

You're right. We can do this.

[ of course she worries about him. he's not all right, and she can see it even though she hasn't been around him in years. so it must be bad.

but for now, she gives him a bright smile. ]

Of course.

I think a few of the places we used to hide in as kids might be good to check first. Come on.

[ ... she isn't sure if he remembers or even knew them all back then, he was with them for such a short time. but she remembers. ]

[her smile is bright, bright enough to pull a tiny, uncertain one out of him, but a smile all the same.]

I think back then I was too tall to fit in some hiding places, too. You'll have to remind me.

[ and she appreciates his all the same. the whole thing is terrifying and it has to be so much worse for him. so she'll be the steady and bright one until he steadies, himself, and they'll take it from there. ]

Of course! This way.

[ after the first two or three places that they check that are empty of anyone hurt or lost, she might even start telling stories about each hideout... ]

[and he doesn't exactly relax, the more and more empty hideouts they find. it's eerie that no one is here, sort of, but if this is when he's thinking, the kids and Miss Melanie would already be gone.]

Hmmm...guess this is okay.

[ it's not so much that she relaxes as that the silence between them carries its own dangers. and neither having been attacked nor finding anyone hurt is... a good sign. ]

I guess, yeah.

[ she straigtens up from looking under the cover she's managed to half-lift (that's why it's a hideout) and ponders for a moment. ]

Livio... where you here in December, before things - changed? Or were you somewhere else?

[and he's right there more or less lugging the entire thing up nearly over his head, satisfied when they once again don't find anyone. good.]

I was here, yeah. I was visiting for a bit. You were with your kids, right?

So... you were visiting, and if you suddenly disappeared, there would be someone to take care of them?

Not that we'll find anything any sooner if it's also urgent for you to go back, but it's good to know what one's dealing with... whenever possible, right?

[ then she pauses, thoughtul. ]

Right, if you were here, would you want to stay here to find out more? I'll... definitely be going back to Octovern.

[ no, she doesn't want to go and leave him here. but also he might have things to do here. ]

Miss Melanie would.

[the answer's automatic. maybe they'd run off to get help, or help others, but they'd never abandon her. its obvious from...from the incident before. they never left her.]

I don't want to stay here when it's like-- I think they've already evacuated.

Yesh. She would.

[ so that would be later than she is but at the same time, it's good. and then the next part makes her give a small smile. she would understand if he'd wanted to stay, but not leaving him here alone with the silence is better. ]

Okay, yeah. That makes sense. So we find out what we can here, and head out?

[a sagely nod. he doesn't want to stay here-- his skin is crawling to leave, actually]

Yeah, sounds like a plan.

[ and she's really glad to not be left alone but that's. she's not going to burden him with even more than what he's already carrying. ]

All right. So we check the key points in town, and if there's nothing to say whatever happened started here, then we ... gather what supplies we can and head out.

[ ... and supplies are important. she certainly can't walk all the way to octovern without a whole lot of them. and some sort of shelter. and-- right. one thing at a time. ]

surprise

surprise!! bet u thought u'd seen the last of me!! you will never

i was certainly HOPING not to have seen the last of you!!!

hehe no worries you NEVER EVER will i am everywhere like a stink

yes GOOD. also do we do this after their texting or...

yeah i think that'd make sense! or idk whatever you feel makes sense

yess

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