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.

By this point, White's excitement had dwindled all the way into frustration. Travelling was never meant to be this annoying, nor this dull. Yes, things had happened, but nothing he was actually interested in, and that obviously meant they were to be written off. The easiest way to deal with annoyance, however, was to distract himself with the frustration of others.

At Gabriel's outburst, he decided to slow, staring in Gabriel's direction. "'Dad'?"

"Figure of speech," Gabriel said dismissively with a wave, throwing a casual glance over toward the man who'd spoken. Gabriel didn't know who he was; just someone who hardly ever said a word. The archangel had him on his list of people to annoy during the course of their travel, if only to see if there was something in there besides an automaton.

He'd already looked away again when he paused and looked back, squinting. Ever since he'd started to see flickers around people, he'd never been quite sure if it was a matter of the heat or ... something else. It was the 'something else' he was trying not to get his hopes up about.

It was hard not to believe in the 'something else' given this guy looked like he was covered in oil, as if he was made of water and the oil was floating on top. Gabriel could really only see the dark, greasy rainbows it made--the sort of effect you should never have been able to see on a person. A chill ran down his spine.

"You need a wash," he said finally, for lack of anything else to say and, for a moment, distracted from the thomping noise. More like the man's soul needed a wash. Because that's what Gabriel had to be seeing, and right now his human body seemed torn between being ecstatic and being extremely creeped out.

The staring was a bit odd, but, honestly, what about this experience hadn't been? White simply watched him in return, waiting to see what would happen next. At Gabriel's comment, he cocked his head to the side for just a moment before breaking into a surprisingly sincere smile.

"Thank you," he said, pleased. He had been greatly irritated to find that between the sweat, the sun lotion, and the sand, he had actually felt itchy, but as their walk went on it had been relegated to unimportance — both because there had been other distractions and because he was hardly going to try to clean himself off.

Okay, that was creepy. Gabriel wasn't sure he wanted to consider what sort of being would think that was a compliment, but the potentials ran through his head anyway.

There was one in particular. He didn't look anything like the one Gabriel knew, but, given Aziraphale's presence, that didn't mean much. "Who didn't you say you'd been in the pod, again?"

"White." It wasn't a question he often had to answer, spending most of his time in the background. "Why?" Sable had mentioned he'd run into someone who seemed to have recognized him, but the number of people who could was low enough that Gabriel's reaction was still unexpected.

Well, that was supremely unhelpful and undescriptive, and didn't help Gabriel relax in the least. "Thought I knew you from somewhere," he said lightly, finally meeting the other man's eyes after eyeing off that weird oily tenor.

That was a mistake. He saw flashes of images. Red, Black, a skull. And he saw garbage, saw rivers filled with it, fields choked by weeds and plastic.

"'I looked and there before me was a white horse. Its rider held a bow and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror'," Gabriel murmured, his skin prickling as he stared at the man--at Pestilence. And then he smiled falsely. "Well, shit."

"It sounds like you do," White said, smiling. "But I'm not sure I know you." Not that it particularly mattered. There were only four people he was particularly interested in seeing and, of them, Gabriel certainly wasn't the Antichrist. "Should I?"

"You've probably heard of me," Gabriel said with a rolling shrug, but his smile didn't leave. In fact, it took on an edge, his amber eyes hardening. "They called me Gabriel."

It might not have much effect; this Pestilence, wherever he'd come from, didn't seem much fazed by anything, and Gabriel hadn't had much to do with the one from his world to begin with. That didn't matter. The words were a warning. "Here alone, or did any of your brothers happen to come along for the ride?"

White hummed, noncommittally, at Gabriel's words — and Gabriel's tone. The other man was frightened, which was much more interesting than anything he tried to put across. "We aren't a full four, if that's what you're reaching for. If the Workers are to be believed, this world started without us." Not that White would object to a gathering, by any means.

Not afraid. Very, very few things frightened Gabriel, though he was discovering a number of them just on this trip. But concerned? Definitely. He'd just come out on the wrong side of an apocalypse. The last thing he wanted was to walk into another.

"But you're not here alone, either," Gabriel murmured, his eyes sharp on White's soul, searching for evidence as to which brother might be with him and finding none. It was like watching TV through static. He sighed and threw up his hands. "Well, that's just perfect."

Note to self: throw him into a ravine at the first chance.

"Nearly." Perfect would be all of them — plus one. After a moment, he sighed, nodding to the wasteland around them. "There isn't much to work with, here."

[Gabriel waves dismissively.]

That's just because someone beat you to it. Don't feel bad, now. You may've heard what they say about imitation.

[He sounds sardonic, a bit caustic, as opposed to the teasing he normally would have with anyone else.]

By its nature, it happens once. [And his preparations aren't here, his nuclear codes and scientists. This isn't the where, even if he seems to have passed the when.] This doesn't look much like a holy war.

Not according to the multiple universe theory, which, by the way, I can vouch for.

[He could've vouched for it even before having met Aziraphale. The archangel shrugs, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back and forth.]

Little contradiction in terms, there.

[White wasn't terribly interested in what Gabriel could or couldn't vouch for. There was one universe (or possibly one that mattered, but wasn't that the same thing?).]

Is it?

Eh, probably not to you.

[He smiles humourlessly, sardonically.]

Suppose anything that cheapens the landscape is holy as far as you're concerned.

smaller patch of fading sky [ open ]

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sorry about the delay :(

ilu bb <3

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