nomans_land | Near July, before all the chaos

Near July, before all the chaos

Nai's missing, the smashed-up city that Rem had put her house next to keeps changing, there's people nearby, human people, more and more of them all the time, gathering... it's been an eventful few days for a tiny plant!

It's not healthy to sit inside all day, hunched over the radio, waiting desperately for any sign of his brother, and so Vash is out wandering the dunes and cliffs near the station, a small two-way radio clipped to his belt that lets him keep listening to the radio inside, just in case Nai is able to call again. Some of his day is taken up training, working on focusing his plant powers to summon feathers that sprout in tiny downy tufts all along both his arms. Some of his day is just walking, exploring and re-exploring the space around the station, finding holes, bugs, interesting rocks. Some of his day is lying flat on a cliff, watching the human refugees below as they gather around the ever-changing city of July. Sometimes he finds a quiet space where nobody can see him, and cries for awhile. Sometimes, when Rem's been out late working hard, he's inside the station, cleaning and cooking and helping out as best he can. And, late at night when he can't sleep, he climbs up on the nearby ledge and watches the stars.

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In on of those quiet, sad moments when he cries, a small paw reaches out to pat-pat Vash's head. It wasn't there a second ago, but now a weird cat-sized creature made of golden feathers and wings sits next to the little plant.

It has cocked its head a bit to the side, as if both questioning and sympathizing with the current sad vibe.

One second he's alone, having a private little breakdown, and the next there's something batting at his head! Vash jumps up, scrubbing one hand over his eyes to clear his vision as he scrambles away from the...

What is that?

"Hi?" That's not a worm. And it's definitely not a person! "Are you friendly?"

Zazie is, as ever, watchful of the people on their planet as they mill about, in and out, around and around the ever-now changing planet that, previously, never changed a bit.
Having so many new and exciting things to focus on was nearly a sensory overload sometimes, for the usually so lazily-milling-about hive of insects, but.
It was a clear day, nothing was really going on, and he could hear the sound of a tiny little Vash doing his best to hold everything together on his own.

Ah, left on his own again. ᴴᵉ ᵍᵉᵗˢ ˡᵒⁿᵉˡʸ ᵠᵘᶦᶜᵏˡʸ. ʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴊᴜsᴛ ɢᴏ ғɪɴᴅ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅs sᴏᴍᴇᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴇʟsᴇ. Why does he depend on just one companion. ₙₒₜ ₐ ᵥₑᵣᵧ 𝓰ₒₒ𝒹 ₛᵤᵣᵥᵢᵥₐₗ ᵢₙₛₜᵢₙ𝒸ₜ.

Zazie could just leave him here, but.

What if he leaned into the window of the station, one day, while it was open. Arms folded over the open part, chin resting on their arms, a smirk on their face.

"You're a pretty big busybody for someone so, so small."

Rem is busy all the time, and that means it's got to be his job to keep the station tidy. If it was just a matter of dishes, and putting things away, and maybe laundry, he wouldn't mind so much... but the darn sand gets in everywhere. It comes in the open windows, it tracks into the station on his shoes, it works its way through the cracks and seams and gets everywhere, crunchy and scratchy and sneezy and it's so frustrating!

He's sweeping, again, trying to get the last bit of sand and dust out of the corner of the main room, when another child leans into the station and starts talking to him, just out of the blue. Vash spins around, heart pounding and broom held up like a sword... but that really is just a kid.

A kid who just called him a busybody?

"Well, you're a... a pretty big jerk for stickin' your head in my house and calling me names!"

He's been back and forth, somewhat keeping mental math (and a literal one stuffed in his poncho) on whatever landmarks are left, where he's found friendly faces and not-as-friendly ones.

He runs into a little guy in the desert. Not as surprising, this is a bit of deja vu.

"Hey...you okay out here?"

It's the furthest he's been from the station, right at the very edge of the range for the little radio clipped to his belt. It hisses and crackles every time he moves behind one of the big boulders out this way, so he knows that he can't go any farther. The whole desert stretches out in front of him, but he's tied to the station -- that little bright building, barely visible in the distance. He doesn't want to leave, but he doesn't like feeling that he can't.

But then, from a side road, a familiar face! "Mr Livio!"

"Va!" It chirps, remaining seated as Vash skitters away from it. Poor little plantling, is it afraid? In an attempt to show off how friendly it is, the creature rolls over a little, showing off little paw pads. People like the beans, right?

"Va-va!"

It sure looks friendly!

"Are you lost?" It's got to be somebody's pet, right? Cautiously, Vash holds out a hand, inching closer. Can he get close enough to pet the cute thing, or will it bite and claw? Wild animals bite, he knows this, but it doesn't seem wild?

What does nice animals do? What can it do to make the plantling feel better?

Dogs wag their tails... what if it pops out an extra long feather and wags that? See! Very nice creature!

Vash can indeed get close enough to pet if he wants to. It's warm and soft and fluffy. Great to hold and cry on.

Nai is never going to let him hear the end of it if he gets bitten!

He's never met a dog -- or a cat, or any other animal, for that matter! -- but that looks like tail wagging, like he's seen in movies. He decides to go for it, and gives the cute little thing a pat on the head.

It's so soft! He giggles quietly, relieved, and pets it again.

"I bet somebody misses you, huh? I wonder how you got here?"

The creature wiggles a little under the touch, happy to get petted and distract Vash from his sadness. There's even a lick from a tiny little tongue, because that's also what pets do, right?

"Va!"

It sure is! Every movie about a boy and his dog includes the boy getting slobbered on by the dog. Sadness completely forgotten for the moment, Vash drops down to sit next to the cute little, uh... bird? Dog?

Well, whatever it is, it's soft, and fluffy, and super friendly!

"Don't worry. I'll help you find your family." It's a promise, just... not one that he's sure he can keep. Unless the little creature wandered away from one of the refugees in the nearby human encampments, Vash has no way of knowing where it came from. And what if his sisters brought it here? Without a collar -- without a car! -- he's got no way of getting it home.

He's got a little water bottle in his pocket that he pulls out, pouring a tablespoon or so into the bottle's cap. "Here, are you thirsty?"

The creature just wiggles happily at the promise, even if it really wouldn't do much - it's already with family right now! Technically. It likes plants a lot and tiny plants? Tiny plants are new!

The offered water is sniffed at even if the critter doesn't seem to have a nose, and then the little tongue is seen again as it happily drinks the water. Offering water to strange things sure makes the plantling a good one, but it kind of knew that already.

"Va!"

Hmm. Is this how you get a pet? This might be how you get a pet!

He pets it gently as it drinks, and will refill the cap as many times as needed until it's done. "Can I take you home with me?" If it belongs to somebody else, he needs to return it, but how would he even know where to start looking? "Maybe just until we figure out where you belong. That'd be okay, right?"

This is definitely how you get a pet.

It's absolutely how you get a pet!

The creature drinks its fill of the water and then burps, licking its lips afterwards like it didn't just make an undignified sound. Looking at Vash with big white eyes, it chirps again and then climbs up on him, scurrying over his shoulder and settling around his shoulders like a big feathery scarf.

Did... did it shrink a little, too? Just enough to not be too heavy? Maybe.

Is it smaller? Or do the feathers make it hard to tell how big it is? Either way, Vash giggles the whole time the fluffy thing is scaling him -- the feathers tickle! -- fighting to stand still so his new friend doesn't lose its footing.

"I'm gonna call you Va." He reaches up to give the little guy a scratch under the chin, turning to head back to the station. "What do you think about that? Va? Va-va-va?"

Oh, it's-- it is little Vash, isn't it! The one he knows. He instantly breaks into a smile in greeting.

"Hey, kid. You're still out here in the middle of this?"

And alone....

"No Rem?"

"Va!" That sure sounds like an agreement!

Va makes little content noises as its chin is scratched, new feather-tail wagging happily but the sounds it makes are more of a chirping purr. It holds on to Vash with tiny little claws in his clothes, being extra careful to not stick one in his skin.

Va really likes this little plantling. Its been so long since it made a friend!

Any friendly face would be welcome right now, and Mr Livio's a friend he hasn't seen in weeks! Not since he first found Tessla...

"Oh!" He shakes his head, still beaming, and points off in the distance. If Livio squints, he might be able to pick out the white shape of the station where Rem's set up house, right at the edge of July. It's Julai right now, with that tall skinny tower in the middle of buildings that are bright and neon even from this distance. "No, I found her! The person I was looking for, I found her and she's all better now. And Rem's just over there! That's my home!"

A home that's missing somebody very important, but he's being brave about it.

"Are you here to see the city change too?"

It's a long, long walk back to the station, and Vash isn't in any real rush. It's empty anyway.

"If I can keep you, I'm gonna teach you a whole bunch of tricks!" He doesn't have any assumption that little Va can understand him, but that's okay. Even just talking out loud to his new friend makes the world feel a little less lonely. The soft feathers are too much of a temptation, and he finds himself idly petting Va as he walks. "I wonder if you can fly? Most things with feathers can fly, except for tomases. And me." Tessla can't really fly either, but she can glide, kinda, with all her wings. It's just about the coolest thing Vash has ever seen. "Don't tell anybody, okay? But I've got feathers too!"

He holds up a hand, wiggling the fingers, but there's no feathers on that skinny little arm. "They're hard to make, though. I have to try really hard. Big brother says it'll get easier eventually, but I keep practicing and practicing and I'm still not any good at it."

He does squint, and he does see the station out there. Just barely, the shape of it. Livio thinks it might be somewhere he's been not too long ago, so that Rem must have been his? There are so many...odd things. But you have to roll with the punches, and take the good times when they happen.

"I'm glad you found her. And Rem, too." His smile widens, and he shrugs. "Somewhat. I wanted to see what I could see, basically."

That city out there is sure an odd thing. That one in particular -- the white city, the one made out of big blocks of what looks to him like stone? That one's just a city, and the rubble version of that city's just a destroyed city. It's strange that it shows up sometimes, but it's not odd. Even the pit, when everything disappears and it's just a big hole in the ground, that's strange, but it doesn't put his teeth on edge like the city with the big tower in the middle does.

He doesn't like looking at it, to be perfectly honest. It doesn't feel right.

"You can feel it, when it's gonna change." Or at least he can feel it. Maybe it's different for humans? "The air gets weird and my ears hurt, then poof! It turns into a new city."

Va understands Vash perfectly, but doesn't really advertise that often. Instead it's just happily purring for the boy as they walk, letting that little hand stroke over the softest, downiest fluff. Petting soft things made you happier, and it's very happy to provide some much-needed oxytocin.

When the plantling reaches over to show his little hand and attempt to grow feathers, Va makes a little worried-sounding chitter and curls up tighter around that neck - not to choke him, but to shrink.

Looks like it does not like a little boy knowing how to make feathers. Feathers on a plantling sounds wrong.

The little thing acts scared when Vash holds up his hand -- is it because of the way he wiggled his fingers?

"Oh, sorry!" Both hands go down quick to his sides, and Vash even stops walking to make sure Va doesn't get unbalanced and fall off. "You don't like wiggly fingers, huh? I wasn't gonna hurt you!"

This entire thing has his hackles on end. All of it is strange-- doesn't feel entirely bad, just. Odd.

But there are wonderful moments like this.

"Yeah, I feel it too. The air tastes weird...but you wanted to come see it, even if it hurts?"

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Near July, before all the chaos

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