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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.]
whoops >>;
Vash...?
[ Oh. Oh no, she's missed so much. This is a grown man, not the small, sweet boy she knows. Has she been in cold sleep, somehow? How many years has it been? How much suffering has he gone through to smile that way? ]
Vash. Look at you.
[ There's pride and pain and hope in her voice. ]
full on SMILES EVERYTHING IS FINE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT mode ENGAGE
Yeah... this is me! Umm... I know you'll have a lot of questions, and some of them I can answer, but some of them I can't, so I'll start with... that. A little bit ago - like, very little bit - I was standing before one of the big cities that were built after the crash. Then there was a call for help, and I was here, before this... where that city used to be. Like I was moved to the future. I still don't know how or by whom.
Everything up to how we're here, though, I can tell about!
[ ... he hopes he can fudge about some of those things. He has the slight suspicion that he won't be able to, however. ]
lol
Alright. I'll listen.
[ Vash is speaking of strange things, wild but also possible at the same time. She heard that call, and the only other possibility to see her boy so grown up in just a few days was that her pod somehow put her in cold sleep.
Moved into the future... was that some kind of space phenomenon happening while they were crashing, or maybe even something her boys could do...?
Speaking of; ]
Vash, where is Nai?
[ She can hear his story in a moment. ]
... moooom he doesn't want to upset youuuuuu
[ The question makes him pause and frown, his eyes darting towards the crater but he's not... flinching or upset ... visibly. ]
I don't... know. Where... when... I showed up from, he was in this city, I was coming to him. But I don't think ... I doubt he was hurt by whatever happened here.
[ It's not absolute certainty, but he is pretty sure somehow he would have known if his brother was gone. And... they are hard to kill. ]
Maybe he's just back home and wondering where I went!
she can (probably) take it!
[ Whatever was going on here, now matter how much her mind is swirling with questions and confusion, it will have to wait. The twins come before it all right now. It must be so strange, so lonely to be without his brother. She can't even remember a moment in their short life when they were apart for more than a day. ]
We'll find him, okay? We'll figure this out.
[ Rem holds a hand out, but then pauses as she finally notices the sea-green of the prosthetic arm. At first, she had thought it was a piece of armor, but now... ]
Oh.
he was 1 yo when he last spoke to her don't at him and his questionable judgment...
[ Vash blinks, his throat tightening a lot. Because he'll have to hell her that Nai caused the crash, that Nai wants to end everyone, and she won't like that, but ... not yet. Not yet.
And his cheeks darken helplessly when she notices his arm. He gives a small, choked laugh, before his throat finally unclenches, and he drops the glasses back on the bridge of his nose, turning the artificial palm this way and that and wriggling his fingers - it's nice, see? ]
It, um, turned out that I can open a Gate, after all. The first time didn't go very well, but it's fine! I'm fine now! Brad - he's from ship Three - now called Home - made this for me, and he's very good!
babyyyy
It was a lot to take in. She's missed so much, and he's so very, very different from the small boy she knew. Only the gentleness seemed to have stayed, specially in the way he tries to ease things for her. ]
It looks very well-made. It goes well with the coat.
[ A red coat with SEEDS logos and such sewn into it. Definitely something made for him by care. ]
Did this Home take care of you until you grew up?
sorry, he's sorry....
The coat was a gift! From all of them. Um... at first they. Really didn't know what to make of me. But then one of their Plants was in trouble, and I could help, and then I could help more. It was... really tough on everyone in the beginning, so the thought of losing even a single plant was horrifying. But now Luida is working on flora, and making the planet not ... constantly having to balance survival and exhausting the plants that are out there.
[ Usually out there. Right now, he can't hear them, but that's for later. ]
Um. On that note, I think we should find shelter. The sun's likely to not be. Pleasant.
[ For her. He can handle it if he has to, but he absolutely will not subject her to that. ]
SHE's sorry
Her hope for people to understand seems to have been placed well among these people on Ship 3, even if it sounded like it was a rough start. Her Vash, always worried that he couldn't produce anything and be 'useful' like Nai... as if love wasn't a power. That he could help take care of Plants may have been a turning point, but she doubts just using him as a means to an end would have them sew him a pretty red coat.
This flora idea was interesting, too. ]
I would love to meet her and hear about these ideas.
[ Brushing back her hair behind an ear, Rem looks up at the sky and then sighs. ]
I'm pretty sure I can't get any more sunburnt than I already am, but I prefer to not test that.
... he'd be crushed if he made her feel bad and needing to apologize...
It made a huge difference in how he saw people.
Even as he is guiding Rem towards a bit of shade, Vash squeezes his eyes shut. ]
I hope they're all right. But when we find them, I think they'd like to meet you, too. Luida - she ended up in charge of the ship after the crash - was the one to send people to ship Five. So I'd know. They move around a lot now, and take turns in cold sleep, but Luida and Brad were awake - shortly before I came here.
[ He is also rummaging in his burlap sack, before he goes, ha! and holds an ointment in Rem's direction but he'll carry it unless she reaches for it. ]
When we settle down, this should help with the sunburn.
[ He doesn't ... quite have this problem. But people out in the desert do. And he can sometimes help. ]
moms forgive!
[ It was probably not the best of situations for a little boy to be treated like a prisoner, but at least he was taken care of. Loved, if that coat said anything. He's okay, even if he's taller than her now, and... alone.
God, she needs to find Nai.
Still, Rem lets herself be led to wherever some shelter is, because her grown-up boy definitely knows more about this planet than she does. She smiles as she sees him find the ointment for her skin, but she lets him carry it for now. Maybe he needs it too, she has no idea how his plant physiology keeps on this planet. ]
Thank you.
[ Reaching out carefully, she brushes his hair away from his face, amused at the haircut. Better than her horrible lopsided attempts, at least. ]
I didn't know if I would be around to see you as an adult. It's so strange, I can't just pick you up and swing you around.
he'll have a chance to learn now!
[ If the numbers are comparable between the universes, however, well. Let's say a hundred-odd ships survived out of a thousand.
There are things Vash thinks are not forgivable. Being an accomplice to this is among them. Which is why he can't even begin to blame Luida and Brad and everyone there for back then. Instead, he'll be just grateful he did not end up like Tesla.
He ducks his head a little - but not enough to move out of her touch - and laughs sheepishly.
She's a scientist, not a hair stylist, she did great!]Well... Luida and Brad are still around, thanks to cryosleep, so I think you could have!
[ ... wait. ]
Rem? Why would you think you wouldn't be around?
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The crash, and the jump to the future... and Vash. He's really the only thing she can fully focus on right now. She gives him a small smile and shakes her head when he sounds concerned. ]
Nothing nefarious, Vash. [ Well. Mostly not. ] Just theories about Plant biology. You two grew up so very quickly the first year, but then it was slowing down exponentially. I wasn't sure if you would age even slower after puberty, and then I would have eventually gotten old and pass before you were a man.
[ It looks like it didn't happen that way, but she would not be surprised if her twins would live a lot longer than a human. ]
...and I barely made it off the ship, so there's that, too.
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[ She is not at all wrong about the livig longer part, but he did mature in
a reasonable amount of time!
Maybe?]Well! Whatever is happening, you can see me now, and I'm glad!
[ ... five parts glad and five parts ashamed but.
Anyway. Shelter there is, eventually, and he holds out the ointment again, because pain relief is important. He learned to mother hen from the best. Once she's done with that, he'll dig out water, too.
... again.. wait. Vash's face goes a little slack and soft and... longing? at those last words. ]
You... did make it?
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I'm happy about that, too.
[ She's still very worried about her small boys, especially Nai, but there's nothing she can do right now. She'll find him.
When they reach shelter, she slumps down on something with a sigh. Rem is definitely not used to this climate yet, so the ointment is taken with a relieved smile. She puts some on her face and ties back her hair a little. ]
Thank you. [ She starts, but looking back at her boy, she pauses at the look on his face. ] I did. At least I... think I did? I took another escape pod after trying to save some of the ships.
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[ And Vash has no idea that there may be an actual small version of his brother, or he'd be worried, too, but he still knows far too little about the situation!
He blinks at her answer, head ducking down just a little to make the sun reflect off his glasses as he cannot handle for even her to look at him as he takes that in. A Rem who survived. A Rem who lived - who may have been picked up somewhere else. A Rem that he might have found somehow. Even if not by talking to people - though Brad would have known! He went to check the wreckage!
He pushes all of that carefully down, raising his face with a hopeful smile. ]
That's good! You probably did, then! But either way, you are here now, and we can only deal with what we have, right?
no subject
...what a strange thing to realize. She's always been able to help the twins, from changing diapers to math problems and even work with the trauma of Tesla. Rem always wanted to protect them so badly, keeping them going through it all - it's obvious that she hadn't been able to do that for this Vash.
When he looks up again, she's smiling softly as well. ]
That's right. We'll have to make the best out of the situation!
[ Rem makes a 'we can do it!' gesture, focusing her strength to keep them both upbeat. She can hold off the anguish and mourning of the massive loss of life just a little longer. For him. ]
no subject
at the same time, she really can help vash in some ways, ways in which nobody else could have. but it will take time.
when he nods at her statement, he gives a smile that is somehow both very young and very old, carrying the determination of a tree whose roots break down granite walls to get to their destination. Tendrils may seem fragile, and blossoms tender, but they can also be inexorable.
he waits for her to settle, and also definitely drink at least some of the water. ]
So. Would you like to try specific questions, or should I try to give you the story as I recall it? That might... differ from how it will play out for you, or how things happened in this world. But I think some can be similar enough.
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[ Rem asks, giving him a soft look. Tell her what you want, hide the rest. She just wants to know what he can tell her, and they can work on the things he keeps to himself later. That smile is so unlike her little boy who smiled with his whole heart, so earnest.
She does drink more water, because she can't afford to be dehydrated in a place like this. (Was Nai going to be okay, even if he didn't usually need to drink?) ]
Sending you two out was the last time I saw you.
no subject
That makes sense, start at the beginning. But... this won't be easy to hear.
[ He doesn't close his eyes, but he can't look at her, either. ]
We still had a bit of a bumpy landing, partly because there were ships falling around us. But it was more frightening than actually harmful. We got separated for a bit, then when I found Nai, he...
He was laughing. Happy, satisfied. He said he made sure that thes hips carrying plants would make it safely down. And that since I'd given him the security code, I was his accomplice.
[ Vash's stomach still turns, with horror and guilt, as he remembers. But now he does look towards Rem, because this, this would be a shock to her, and he needed to know how bad. ]
I'm ... sorry. Perhaps there was a braver or better thing to do, but then I ran. But I know he was fine after that! We've talked since!
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She feels so numb, eyes wide and tears silently starting to run down her face. Vash was right, this was not easy to hear. So many people. All because of her boy? Where had she gone wrong? (She knows, she knows where we went wrong.)
Since I'd given him the security code, I was his accomplice. Those shellshocked eyes fall on Vash and she can't break, she can't shatter all over the sand when he needs her. ]
Vash. Vash. Did you want the ships to cash, too?
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The question leaves him wide-eyed and horrified. ]
I did not! I don't - I would not!
[ But they are all gone anyway, so does it matter? He's not sure. ]
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Then never, ever think you're an accomplice, Vash. [ She says against his shoulders, tears wetting the hem of his coat. ] Intentions matter.
[ She needs him to know that, to understand that so that they can talk to Nai eventually. She needs to set this right, even if it is just to save Nai from himself.
He's a good child. She knows he is. Just lost. ]
You were just a boy, Vash.
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Potentially, Nai did it for him, but he's trying to not think about that.
Instead he just holds her, eyes squeezed shut against the stinging of his own tears that he still doesn't think he deserves to shed - you might need to repeat that a few times when emotions are not running high, you are one of the people with highest chances to get it through to him, Rem - and rocks her gently. ]
I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Rem. I'm so sorry...
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Had Nai been hiding his declining mental health ever since the boys found Tesla? How could she have missed that?
He was just a child, and so was Vash. That the younger twin would take upon himself all the blame, all the guilt was almost textbook behavior, and when she finally, finally pulls back she gently cups his face in her hands. Tears and sorrow mar her face, yet somehow she's still able to try to comfort him. ]
Vash. Nai's actions are not yours. You're not to blame for something he's done, and you're not to blame for running away. You can't think that, please.
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