nicholas d. wolfwood (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tinico) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
nomans_land2023-07-13 10:55 am
tinico) wrote in nomans_land2023-07-13 10:55 am
a new arrival
i. december
- Nicholas was out for errands, a shopping bag slung over his shoulder with things that he'd been sent to buy, and he was almost back to the orphanage, smile already on his face to be returning to the shade. Then there was an odd shake of the ground, making him stumble, and when he looked up, everything was very different. Where buildings had been standing, now there was much damage, his familiarity the only reason he could recognize them anymore. Where people had been wandering around, laughing or yelling or just going about their business, there was... nobody. Only silence. And there was a strange smell in the air, like something wet had been spilled a while ago.
Nicholas's smile faded, eyes going very wide, and he ran towards his home, only to find the worst of the damage to be around it. He was calling out names - Miss Malanie's, everyone's - but there was only silence. Soon, he could see that there were signs that someone had been holed up in the basement, and then upstairs also but those were more recent.
And nobody was answering. Nobody.
- Everyone had left. So he had to go somewhere else. He had no idea where, but. He'd managed to find a wide brimmed hat, and had added to his shopping bag whatever supplies he had. And he was walking to the next town he had seen on the maps. Which he'd also taken. There would be someone somewhere, right?
- Luckily for him, before walking in the desert could become too much for him, there had been another earthquake - and then he was among people again. After many, many hours mostly alone, other than some random encounters, he kind of needed a moment to lean in the shade and close his eyes in relief. He had not been to this city, but at least it was alive. He would take that.
Then he squared his shoulders, and went exploring. Even if he knew nobody, he should be able to find people who needed help that he could earn a living with, right?
- ooc: have another idea? he'll pop up there! brackets and prose all good, will match.
no subject
"Tell you what." His cigarette's done already, and with a muttered curse he drops it to the ground and trods out the ember. They never last long enough! "After we find Melanie, I'll head back to December and leave him a message, how's that? Big letters on the side of the building where he won't be able to miss it." Assuming he comes by. Assuming he's here. But what else can they do? "For any other kids too, anyone who gets lost or needs a place to go. They should know to come here, what do you think?"
no subject
This isn't that day.
For a moment, the teaching that you must not disfigure buildings... or the orphanage will get into trouble... and the fun of that thought fight within him. But the orphanage isn't even fully there right now, so he nods, lips curving up just a little.
"Yeah. I mean, you don't hafta go back right away if you gotta do other stuff, but if you do go back there..." Beat.
"Make it real clear they're idiots if they don't get here to safety fast."
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"There's some people I need to check up on first, but they're on the way." They aren't, not as the worm flies, but he's got to go make sure that Rem and the kids are all right before he heads back to December. But he said he'd go back, and he meant it.
Is it too soon after the last one to have another cigarette? Is that even a serious question? "And hey, speakin' of idiots," he mumbles, sticking a fresh butt between his teeth and fishing through his pockets for the lighter, "if you hadn't heard about the ships then maybe you haven't about the guy who's responsible for all this mess."
Wearing that name and that face, the kid's going to run into him sooner or later. Might as well do what he can now to ensure that the kid survived meeting the Humanoid Typhoon.
"You know who Vash the Stampede is?"
no subject
He tilts his head up, frowning slightly, given that Roberto is speaking of the guy who's responsible for all this mess, and that can't be good. But the 'speaking of idiots' doesn't sound... afraid, as such? Or even particularly angry?
Then his eyebrows shoot up.
"Heard 'bout him, but always thought he wasn't real."
Look.
Can you blame him.
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"He's definitely real." He points out above the crowd, above the buildings that surround them, to a patch of cliff face that shows signs of a fresh landslide. "There was a big fight here just a couple weeks back, and he was in the middle of it." He doesn't actually know that the damage to the cliff was Stampede's fault, but visual aids always make a story sink in better, right?
"He might be around still, is what I'm hearing. Blond hair, red coat... you can't miss him." Another turn, another side street, as they near the downtown. The buildings here are even more jam-packed with people, showing signs of wear from overuse rather than from fighting like some of the city did at the edges. At least one city made it through without being destroyed!
"And look, he's a good guy. Means well, heart's in the right place, he'll show up with a smile and an open hand, but let me warn you right now, kid. Disaster follows this guy." Even without his brother tracking him down and ruining his life town by town, Stampede's chaotic way of dealing with problems isn't anything a kid needs to get sucked into. He'll do better staying away. "You see him, you run the other way and you don't stop running until you're in the next town. They don't call him the Humanoid Typhoon for no reason."
no subject
He looks at the mountain, unimpressed, then back up to Roberto. He is paying attention. Though the words make him think a lot.
He opens his mouth to question, ask that if he's a good guy, shouldn't he help him instead of running? Then he thinks of how December looks, an embodiment of a disaster, and he realizes that he would not want to put his fa-- to put the little ones through that again.
"Right." He doesn't sound happy about it, but he certainly isn't arguing. Other than. "Unless he's headed for the others. Then I won't run. Not unless I'm drawin' him away from 'em."
Priorities.
no subject
"He won't hurt 'em on purpose, not ever." Wolfwood blows a cloud of smoke into the sky, and tries really hard not to think about a light, bright as neon, falling out of the night sky. "He just can't help it. Some people attract trouble."
He should know. He's one of 'em.
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"So, keep him away from anywhere that disaster may strike." Beat. "But if there's a chance, help him out."
That's not the running away he committed to right now. But he can't decide if Roberto likes or dislikes him, but if he wouldn't hurt the kids on purpose, then perhaps some assistance - from afar - might not be a bad thing?
no subject
They've got to be closer to downtown now, right? Sure, Octovern's a big city, but it's no Julai, and they've been walking for awhile now. They're almost at the cliff face -- where the hell's the street that'll take them up to the buildings at the base of the plant bulb? That's where they need to go, right? Given the weaponry he can see at the top of that one building there, that's got to be city hall or the equivalent. How do they get up there?
"If you see him, run. I don't know how much clearer I can say that!"
no subject
"All right, all right. It just makes it hard to keep an eye on him in case he does head towards the orphanage, but I'll do my best."
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He wants to say that's not a risk, that there's nobody at the orphanage right now, but there will be eventually, won't there? Eventually everyone will go back to their homes -- everyone who was born on this world anyway -- and so long as there's orphans in December, Wolfwood's sure there will be Vash the Stampedes looking for trouble in that direction.
He chews over the idea for almost a full minute, thinking. He doesn't want to actually have the kid hurt Blondie, but... but they have to stay away from innocents like the orphans. He's just seen too much of what follows in their path, and he can't let that happen to these kids.
"Call him by name." He's making good progress through that pack of cigarettes -- if he's got any left by the time they find Luida it'll be a minor miracle. "If you're sure it's him, get everyone's attention and call him Vash the Stampede just as loud as you can." Sorry Spikey. "That'll chase him off."
no subject
"Right, I'll do that if when I do spot him, he's headin' in the wrong direction, and before I also run away."
And if he's not, he'll just run away. That works, right?
no subject
Showtime.
He pauses there, scanning the street ahead and behind for any other problems, and lights one final cigarette. "Okay, let me do the talking with these guys, all right? Unless they ask you who you are, then just tell 'em the truth. You're lookin' for Luida, because she knows where Miss Melanie and the rest of everyone from Hopeland is."
Is the orphanage called Hopeland here? Fuck it, it doesn't matter. "The orphanage. They'll know what you mean." And then, because it'll certainly come up... "And look, if some of the stuff I tell them sounds weird, just let it go for now. I'll explain everything later."
no subject
Well.
What people look at kids about to get kidnapped.
"Right. I'm looking for Miss Luida, because she knows where Miss Melanie is." A little wary, but he'll go with it. For now.
But if it's a trap, he'll find Roberto and make him sorry.
no subject
The look Nicholas gives him tells Wolfwood that the orphanage isn't called Hopeland -- at least, in whichever version of the world the kid comes from -- so with that in mind Wolfwood straightens up, slaps on his very best youth pastor smile, and strolls up to the nearest helmetted and uniformed soldier, his hands empty at his sides, to inquire politely about the location of Miz Luida.
The guard has clear opinions about a scruffy looking guy asking for access to the halls of government, but he's willing to direct the two further down the line to a higher ranking officer... who tells them no, in no uncertain terms. The best he'll allow for is a message, that Wolfwood is certain won't actually get delivered, but fuck it, they've come this far.
How to phrase it, so if she gets the message she understands it?
Fine, he says, his smile going toothy from frustration. If you'd be so kind, please convey to Miz Luida that there's a dead priest of her acquaintance here to see her. Yes sir, you heard me correct. No sir, I'm not joking. Those exact words, if you don't mind.
The muffled dead priest, who's this guy think he's fooling? message gets radioed on down the line, and Wolfwood takes the opportunity to light another cigarette, pointedly not looking at Nicholas.
no subject
But Nicholas promised not to ask until later, and asking won't get them anywhere faster.
He also flinched, hard, at the dead priest part.
That grave in December was very, very conspicuous.
But he keeps his mouth shut and his eyes and ears open. And he is watching Roberto very carefully.
At least until they are ushered in and there is a slim woman with spiky hair who is frowning at the two of them, so he frowns back, but still he lets the talking be done. And as he listens, his frown deepens, but it's more confused, now. She seems to know and not know Roberto. And then the look she turns on him is... strange. Even by the standards of how strange everything has been for these few days.
So he straightens up to his full height. "D'you know where Miss Melanie an' the other kids are?" Pause. "Please?"
no subject
He quickly introduces her before she can call him by name in front of Nicholas, Roberto de Niro, ma'am, a pleasure, and he can tell right away that she's not buying it. But he also sees the way she's looking at Nicholas, and he thinks he can work with that.
It's a strange world out there right now, ma'am, he drawls, as he's sure she's noticed. People are ending up very far away from where they're meant to be. It's a big world, and some of those towns are just worlds apart, wouldn't she agree? Anyway, this young man here, Nicholas -- yes ma'am, you heard that right -- he's become separated from his people. Surely there's a place for him here?
And Nicholas, bless his manipulative little heart, seems to get right in on the act, asking for Miss Melanie so politely that Wolfwood is sure the answer will be yes -- hell, if Melanie's not here, that kind of ask from a cute little kid should send Luida scurrying to find her, wherever she might be. The kid will be just fine, Wolfwood thinks with relief. He won't have to...
...and then, in the space between one word and the next, the whole room shifts around him, and Wolfwood finds himself out at the edge of a mesa, surrounded on all sides by desert as far as the eye can see. They can probably hear him, all the way back in Octovern:
"Oh what the fuck?!
annd wrap.
Luida starts to answer, and then there is a sudden... not exactly sound, but the absence of sound where there was some before, like breathing, and they both stare at the blank space where Roberto used to be.
Nicholas's chin drops, because, of course, he was always the one who was moved like this before, never having witnessed it, and the words slip out of him helplessly. "You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me!"
There is a pause, and then the woman gives a sharp, but not quite pained laugh.
Well, that certainly answers some questions. And raises a few more, but they're not yours to answer. C'mon, kid, let's see if we can find Melanie for you. The last part sounds a little more tentative, but Nicholas is willing to take that, too.
He'll follow.