nomans_land | On The First Day

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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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

They come in a lotta colors....haven't seen any with long feathers, though. Either way, maybe we can look together for our friends after you finish eating.

[he's got to take a look around for some water, too]

[ That sounds great! He doesn't mind looking for his friend on his own, but everything's better as a team. ]

Ugh, it's okay, I don't want any more.

[ That nasty thing is getting folded back up and stuffed into his pocket for when he's truly, desperately hungry, and then he's ready! ]

If we find her, you've gotta stay away, okay Mr Livio? She doesn't like people very much, even nice people.

[scratch that, better look for anything non-perishable then]

Oh really? That's understandable. How'd you guys make friends?

I just met her! Like I met you.

[ Are they going inside? He's tagging along right at Livio's heels wherever they're headed, hauling that big bag with him. ]

Did you just show up here too? One minute I was in my room then poof! Desert!

[since it looks like Vash is ready to move on, he tugs his cloak around himself a little more and leads them towards the inside of the now-crumbled building]

Oh, like you met me. I see. I was here before, but it wasn't like this. The others were here.

The kids, you mean? The kids that're missing?

[ As worried as he is for his friend, he's worried for those kids, too! He's okay by himself but maybe those kids are lost out in the middle of the sand, or they ended up in the city full of dead bodies. Little kids shouldn't see that kind of thing, it's too scary!

And speaking of scary... Something happened to this building, wow! It's all messed up! ]

Was it all full of holes before? It looks like somebody shot it up, pew pew!

[ Just like a space laser fight! Or one of Knives's cowboy movies! ]

[he hates this. his feet feel like they're made of lead, his head made of dust. walking back into this-- it hurts.

but he can't think about himself]

It wasn't before, no. We'd patched it up. There-- yeah, somebody shot it up.

[he had]

Whoa.

[ That's kinda scary, isn't it? He was joking a little about it looking bullet-shot, but... but somebody actually blew up this building with guns? Vash's eyes go wide, and he moves to stand a little closer to Livio. ]

So does that mean you're from the future?

[oh-- well, this guy is just a kid. maybe not 'just' but a kid all the same. Livio's got to protect him. so he walks a little closer as well]

Uh, maybe?

Whaddya mean, maybe? If you're from after somebody shot the walls, and the holes are here now, then obviously you're from the future.

[ Duh.

Now, where are they going, anyway? This place looks like chaos! The parts that aren't all shot up are trashed, with stuff everywhere! And some of these clothes that got dropped in the hallway here are pretty small. ...Hey, were these Mr Livio's kids? ]

Mr Livio! [ He picks up a small sock, that fell out of some evacuee's bag, and holds it up for Livio to see. ] There were kids here before too, look!

[Vash sure is a smart kid, isn't he. Livio chuckles at that, and nods, true, maybe he is from the future. he's neither confirming nor denying!

turning back from looking in a cupboard, he turns his attention back to Vash] Ah-- yeah, they lived here for awhile. Must have left it behind. Good find, buddy.

[ There were kids here before. So they must have been chased out when the shooting started! Vash shivers, and tosses the sock back onto the floor where he found it. If he's right, in the future when the place gets fixed up, maybe that kid will get their sock back. ]

Why did somebody shoot at a place full of kids?

That's because-- [he pauses, uncertain. if he tells him he's responsible, Vash will understandably be afraid of him. but on the other hand, it's valid, that fear. he shouldn't be near Livio.

but he also shouldn't be alone. and so, voice breaking slightly, he tries to come up with an answer]

Because some bad people wanted to hurt someone, and they knew if they went through the kids, it'd lure him out.

[ He'd been expecting Mr Livio to say something like it was just bad luck, these violent people were passing by but they actually came here? They actually... wait, what's went through the kids mean? He looks back at that dropped sock in horror. ]

They shot the kids?

[ This world isn't a good one at all! He takes a step back, just retreating from the whole situation, but where can he go? Rem is miles and miles away, and he doesn't know where Knives is. ]

I don't want to be in here anymore. Can we go?

Uh, oh-- no, no no, no-- the kids were okay, really! They lived, they got away after the bad guys were beaten up. No one was hurt.

[someone important was gone. sacrificed his life for them. he raises his hands in surrender, in mercy, mercy he won't ever get in this life--]

But we can go. Okay?

[ Whew, that's a relief, but yeah, he'd still like to leave please. What if they come back?

That's a lot of holes in all these walls for nobody to have gotten hurt. ]

Okay.

[ In fact, he should probably head back out and keep looking for Tessla, but he can tell Mr Livio that after they're outside. ]

Aren't you scared? Being here after everything that happened?

I...I am a little scared, yeah. [he's terrified, actually, by what he'll find over the next corner and the next and the next-- if the blood is still wet.

tossing one last thing into his own bag, a can of-- something edible he hopes, he rises to his feet]

I'm scared. But I can't let it rule me.

[ They're leaving? ...They're leaving! Back outside, into the too hot sun but at least if bad guys show up they'll be able to see them coming! ]

Rem says that's what bravery is, when you're scared about something but you do it anyway. [ It's hard to imagine somebody as big as Mr Livio being scared of anything, but if he can be small and brave, then Mr Livio can be big and scared, right? ] When I'm done helping T-- my friend, I should bring you to meet her. You'd like her! She's really nice.

Sounds like this Rem is really wise.

[like Miss Melanie is. and she'd be right, too. in theory he knows this, but it's hard...]

I hope your friend likes me, I don't want to scare her-- or make her mad.

Oh, I didn't mean my friend! I meant you should meet Rem!

[ He wouldn't survive meeting Tessla! ]

She is really wise. Maybe she knows how to find the kids you're looking for?

Oh!

[she did sound scarier than Livio could ever be]

She could, you're right. Or point us in the right direction.

Yeah!

[ It sounds like Mr Livio and Rem have to meet! But what if Vash gets poofed somewhere new again, and he can't find his way back here? He'll have to tell Mr Livio how to find Rem then, in case he has to get there on his own. ]

C'mon, I wanna show you how to find her!

[ Let's go! Back outside, as fast as Vash can move with that big bag, and he points to the horizon in the direction of December -- specifically, to a particular rock that's shaped like... well, a big rock, okay, but a distinctive big rock! ]

Rem's that way, way out by an old city that got knocked down. If we get split up, you can go there!

[he's following, he's following, smiling and hiking his bag over his shoulder. his gaze meets the horizon, and December, and the rock]

Hm. That looks a little familiar, but not that much. [that's definitely December, though]

If we split up. Think we'll do better with two heads, though. I gotta ask...what did Rem think about you going out here without her?

[ That's a bit of a tough question to answer, honestly. ]

I think she wanted to come with me, but I told her she couldn't. [ He's actually a tiny bit worried that she suspects who was hurt, but if she did, she didn't say anything. ] If I'm not back in a day or so she's gonna be really worried, though, so I can't stay here too long.

Sounds like you're a tough kid. Stubborn though.

[Melanie would have tanned his hide if he'd done that. but at least she put that boundary for him to do what he needs to do. and probably will tan his hide eventually]

I guess we better start going, then, huh?

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