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nomans_land2023-05-02 05:02 am
nml_mods) wrote in nomans_land2023-05-02 05:02 am
Entry tags:
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.
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.
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.]
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.
[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.]
no subject
Maybe you can do something I can't? I don't know- hey!
[ he jerks his head back with a yelp when vash licks him. immediately he tries to scrub away the feeling, huffing. ] That's disgusting! Don't lick me, weirdo!
no subject
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[ nai squeals in horror, trying to hold vash back by his shoulders as he's knocked back to the ground. ] Vash, stooop! Don't lick me!
no subject
I'm a plant too, and I wanna glow! Show me how!
no subject
Stop- stop! Get off, Vash! [ better watch out because he's coming for vash with his own tickling attack. ]
no subject
[ The kicking throws him off balance and he screams with laughter as Knives's ticklers find his sides. But he's not beaten yet! ]
Not until you tell me how to do it!
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Annoying little brothers who try to lick me don't deserve to know!
[ and for that nai attacks vash's sides again. take that! ]
no subject
Okay, stop, stop, I surrender!
no subject
[ smug with pride at winning their little wrestling match, his own vash would have been in tears by this point without a doubt. nai slides off vash and finally gets a good look at himself and makes an annoyed sound. ]
You've got me all dirty now...
no subject
[ Gross, he's dirty as well. When they get dirty on the ship it's because they're making a mess in the kitchen, or playing around with mechanical things. Getting dirty just from wrestling is stupid. Planets are stupid. ]
It's not fair that you get powers and I don't.
[ They're supposed to share everything. ]
no subject
nai stands up, brushing some of the dirt off of himself before holding out a hand for vash. he smiles. ]
That's because I'm meant to protect you, obviously. There are other things I can do that the Vash I know can't do either. [ he speaks it like it's the truth and to him, it is. ] Whatever you can't do, I'll make up for it.
no subject
But I wanna be able to protect you too. Like from the zombies! [ He points back down the street in the direction he originally came running from, and where he'd seen at least one dried out corpse. ] The weak stupid one always dies in zombie movies. I wanna be the hero, with you.
no subject
[ nai follows vash's pointing, brows raised curiously. he'd seen dead people, but not zombies. he shakes his head and refocuses back to vash, squeezing his hand. ]
We can protect each other, obviously. You have my back and I'll have yours. [ he tugs at vash's hand in the direction of the bar nai had left to catch vash in the beginning. ] Anyways, you aren't stupid and you're strong in all other kinds of ways. Trust me.
no subject
Like what?
[ He'll gladly head off with Knives wherever his brother wants to go. His question isn't fishing for compliments, but rather a genuine ask -- if he can't do plant things, and he can't even pin his brother in a wrestling match anymore, then what good is he? ]
no subject
[ nai starts slowly, looking up towards the sky as they walk back. ]
You're terribly clever. Stubborn, but in a good way, even when it annoys me. [ his other hand raised as he ticks off fingers, tucking them behind his thumb. ] And you're kind. That's very important.
[ a little smile pulls at his face. ]
You'll come into your abilities one day, I know it for certain.
no subject
Being kind isn't anything special.
[ He swings their joined hand, though, concerns assuaged. Knives thinks he's important, and that's all that matters. ]
I am super clever though! We both are. Super smartie pants smart kids.
no subject
[ they swing their hands together. he looks back at vash with a half-smirk. ]
Very smart, very clever, that's us. No one else can even try to compare.
[ nai leads him inside, still keeping their hands locked. ]
Are you hungry? That's probably a dumb question. [ he asks as he drags vash over to one of the boxes lining the walls. inside were what looked like ration bars, only a few left lining the bottom of the crate. ]
no subject
No such thing as dumb questions from smart clever people! [ Sometimes he's not hungry! It happens! ] But yeah, I am hungry. Is there cake?
no subject
[ the label says 'peanut butter'. whether it lives up to the label is up for debate. ]
Try it.
no subject
Yuck! [ It's bad enough that he scrubs at his mouth with the back of his hand, trying to get the taste out. ] It tastes like moldy cardboard!
[ It looks okay, the rest of the bar that's in his hand. But when he sniffs it, ugh. No way, it smells disgusting! ]
That's so gross! [ He holds it out to Knives. ] Here, you try it!
no subject
No way. I don't eat that stuff.
[ or anything. ]
This is all that's left here. I doubt anything else we find will taste any better.
no subject
Vash scowls at the remaining bar, then, with an air of great resignation, folds the wrapped around the open bit and sticks it in his pocket for later. ]
Then let's figure out how to get back. I'm gonna starve if I have to eat that stuff.
[ Which brings them back to their earlier conversation, doesn't it? Where are they, exactly? ]
I don't even know how I got here, though.
no subject
I don't know, either. The first time I came through my gate, but the second time... [ he shrugs a shoulder as he looks around for the radio he had spotted earlier. should he call that woman vash had told him about? ]
We should stay close together, just in case.
no subject
Duh.
[ Of course they should stick together. That's a silly thing to say -- why would they split up? ]
Well I didn't come here through my gate, probably. [ Probably. Who knows how gates work, anyway? That's advanced plant theory, and he's not there yet in his schoolwork. He's barely past fractions. He-- waitasec. ]
You've been here before?
no subject
[ he flashes vash a half-smile, confident in what he knows from his own experiences. he points down at the floor in front of the shelves. ]
Now get on your knees right there.
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