caveofsapphires | smaller patch of fading sky [ open ]

WHO: EVERYONE. All PCs thus far will be in this log, through active tagging or implication.
WHAT: THRILLS. SPILLS. Hiking trip toward the Diamond City.
WHERE: The Overworld.
WHEN: Forward-dated to May 1st (Tuesday) through May 7th (Monday).
WARNINGS: May contain violence or other mentions of physical harm. This is not summer camp.
NOTES: More information can be found on the OOC post here. Please read it!

Gathered in the morning haze, Sleepers were brought to the mouth of the Cave with plenty of supplies and equipment. Compasses that would point them toward the City. Backpacks full of clothes and food, medical kits, tents and even weapons. Stun rifles and knives — to fight off any unwanted company, they said. ("Watch out for their bite," Ryan had commented. "Those fuckers are downright feral.") The straight and narrow path would get them there in six days if they kept a good clip. They were sent off just like that. Refusals to leave were met with a wall of guard force officers blocking the entrance back into the cave city. No way to go but forward, unless someone was particularly stalwart about remaining.

From the exterminator's station near the mouth, leaving the Cave was as simple as a short hike upward into the fresh air of the Overworld. Dust and an uncomfortable sort of heat pervaded the atmosphere, light winds stirring up the sand and teasing the meager bits of vegetation that had grown. No matter what direction you looked... it was all wasteland, cracked ground and desolate emptiness. Jutting up from scarred ground were boulders and small spires made entirely of glass and patches of stone; instead of reflecting the harsh sunlight, they seemed to absorb it and only add to the muted loneliness of the atmosphere. As far as the eye could see, there was no life to be found.

With no other option, the Sleepers eventually made their way onward.

"I think there was something here, once," Re-l said. She tossed her apple core far away into the sand and bit down on an oatcake. "This is all one giant ruin, we just can't see it."

The emptiness stretched out around them, hummming with pure silence. It made Re-l feel small, shrunk down to nothing in the vast and open space.

"I wasn't thinking about coming back," she said. "The Cave is full of mysteries, no doubt about that, but I don't think they're the ones I need to solve." She closed her eyes and turned her face to the sun. "No, I was thinking that if we knew the layout of the land, it might make the shape of things more obvious. But probably that would require an aerial survey, and somehow I don't see them letting us do that."

Mentally she added acquire an airship to her to do list.

"Oh, it must be," Mal agreed instantly. "There can't just have always been nothing - a City and a Cave and all this technology and nothingness in between. It doesn't make sense."

She should have looked at a map in the Cave. Why hadn't that occurred to her? Probably the fact that libraries weren't really big in Borogravia, where the literacy level was, what, 5%? They weren't big on statistics either. Still, she could read. She could have made use of the resources at her disposal.

Mal quirked her lips in slight amusement. "Well, Re-l, which mysteries do you need to solve?" she asked, humor apparent in her voice. "Are you looking for someone?"

Everyone was looking for someone, eventually, one way or another, but who, that was the telling thing.

Re-l nodded, stretching out her legs. It was nearly time to be walking again, and she wanted just a few minutes of peace.

"Mysteries? I just want the truth." Her eyes glanced back to the cave. "What else is there to want? And I hate not being told everything."

She bit her lip, unconscious of the movement, and added "Though it would be interesting to meet the people in my dream, if they exist here."

That was slightly too much information. She shut herself down, and her face became its usual cool mask.

"What about you? What do you want from this place?"

Everything about Mal was entirely relaxed, mouth curved in a pleasant smile, limbs stretched out on the rock. She blinked under the hand covering her face. Interesting.

"I suppose it would be interesting," she mused, "though improbable. Why present us with another crack in the story, a living thing from our dreams? If this is all some sort of story, if they want to use us for something, why present us with more doubt of their version of things? I wouldn't count on finding anyone, no matter how happy it might make you."

Her smile widened, revealing teeth.

"Well, I want to be a good citizen, of course, and go to this . . . coffee shop I'm supposed to work at, and pursue an education, and be Milena." She laughed, sounding delighted, and turned her head to look at Re-l. "Really, I'm just as curious as you are. I'd like the real truth, but the truth of this place is just as fascinating. We're going to repopulate a dying civilization, apparently, by our exalted presence. I'm flattered. Tell me more."

Rolling into a sitting position, she pulled the sack of coffee beans out of her backpack and popped several into her mouth, grimacing as she made a face. It wasn't right, not exactly, because the sucking was so important to the whole facade, but it would do for the trip. She just hoped the beans would last.

The sun was slipping lower and lower. Re-l couldn't claim much - or any - experience in estimating time, but it was definitely getting late. She moved into a more upright position and packed away the rest of her food.

"I don't expect to find anyone," she said, her voice cold. It was something of a sore point. "Expecting is not usually helpful. Although I don't agree that it would confirm the dreams. If their dreams were different, wouldn't it confirm this world instead?"

She was tighening the straps on her bag as Mal spoke, and when the laugh came her hands stopped for a moment, gripping the rough fabric tightly. Then they moved again, and Re-l moved with them, standing up. She stood over Mal - Milena - and looked down at her, watching the dark-haired woman pop the coffee beans into her mouth.

"Of course," she said, with no emotion at all in her voice. "The life they offer us is so very appealing." She swung the bag on her back. "It's probably unwise for us to spend too much time with any one person, just in case they are tracking us. And I wouldn't want to get you involved. I'll leave first."

She turned away and began to walk across the desert, her face perfectly blank, her eyes on the distant horizon.

Well. That was a very efficient dismissal.

Mal didn't say anything, watching Re-l go. She crossed her legs on the stone and let a bean rest on her tongue, relishing the bitter taste. It was a shame; she'd been interesting, clever, viciously sarcastic. Prickly. Not that Mal had a problem with prickly. Prickly people tended to be fascinating, and smarter than they had a right to be.

After a few minutes, she packed up and followed after Re-l. It would be easy enough to keep an eye on her in such a small group, and Mal had been intrigued enough to focus her attention. The woman had revealed a great deal before suddenly shutting down.

It would certainly make the journey a lot more interesting.

smaller patch of fading sky [ open ]

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