Intro Log: It's All Fun and Games

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for April
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: April 10th-12th
Warnings: None

Welcome to Hadriel. You're a new arrival... or maybe you're not. Maybe this is all very familiar, and you're already rolling your eyes at ending up here again. In that case, welcome back! And if you're new, welcome! Your welcoming committee today is a bunch of creepy floating Shugguraths. Some of them spit acid, some of them can shock you with electricity, and some can freeze you. What we definitely know for sure is that none of them like you, so you better start running - or maybe try to shoot one down. Let's hope you've got help, because that's not going to be easy to do alone!

Or you can grab one of the weapons off the floor of the colosseum and just go for it. That'll work great for about five seconds, before you realize that all the weapons are in fact fun toys for kids to play with, and not entirely suitable for killing big floating monsters. But hey, at least you tried!

Once you've finished indulging your 90's nostalgia, feel free to look around. You can explore the rest of the city! Find a house, a new monster, a project to help with, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers April 10th-12th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► All characters arrive with phones that have network communication and the newbie guide installed.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

klaus hargreeves 👻 ota

[substances]

👻 coliseum

The first thing he tastes when he wakes up is dirt. It's stuck to the sweat on his face, mixing into a gritty, muddy paste that reminds him of those months in Vietnam, the helicopters overhead and the staccato beat of machine gun fire. Rolling onto his side, Klaus moans, squeezes his eyes shut, finds that he can move his arms and legs as he curls up into a fetal position, hands coming up to cover the back of his neck as he tries to orient himself. It's not the first time he's woken up somewhere strange in a cold sweat with dirt in his mouth, but it's sure as hell the first time he's done it sober, at least in a long, long time.

Slowly, he becomes aware of the noise around him, yelling and various splatters and zaps and other sounds he'd rather not think about the origins of. Rolling over onto his hands and knees, he opens his eyes, groans again, rubs his hand across his face and just manages to smear the sweat and dirt together into some kind of muddy mask and it's just like being back in the sweaty jungle with something coming toward him...

Through the haze of grime stuck in his lashes, he sees something he can't quite comprehend floating through the air, or rather, a flock of somethings, grotesque and bloated and trailing gross tentacles (that remind him too much of Ben, he has to stop thinking about Ben because he sure can't see him right now, and that's terrifying enough in itself - when was the last time Ben wasn't around) and spitting acid or zaps of electricity, and holy shit it's coming right at him-

"No no no nonono what the fuck is that..."

Adrenaline floods his body as he makes his way to his feet, hunched over, covered in dirt, arms moving from his head to his sides, trying to keep balance on unsteady legs, in the opposite direction from the monstrosity. At some point he trips over his own feet and stumbles, his hand slaps into the ground as he gets himself back upright and looks over his shoulder, realizes that he's screaming at the top of his lungs, and runs straight into some abandoned piece of rubble (wait, is that seriously a giant pile of Nerf guns?) and lands flat on his chest and face. It knocks the breath out of him, he digs his fingers into the dirt and coughs, gags, feels like he's choking on his own heart as it slams in his chest, tries to catch his breath.

Those monsters keep coming toward him, he can still hear yelling and zapping and tremendous impacts in the air, and those monsters aren't controlled by someone he loves this time. The tentacles aren't on his side.

Klaus bunches himself up again, crouches down behind whatever it is that he tripped over, hands coming up over his ears, and he whimpers, makes himself as small as he can, chanting 'no' under his breath over and over again, eyes squeezed shut while the bright flashes of light in the darkness and the sound of bullets and helicopters overwhelms him and he can't breathe, his head spins, and all he can see is Dave. Dave with a hole in his chest, and so much blood, and all he's aware of is fear and grief and he doesn't even care if he lives or dies and...

Someone is touching his shoulder and the noise is over, it's quiet.

Lifting his head, he looks up at the person's face, his eyes wide, the tracks of tears running through the mud on his face, his lips parted, barely breathing.

"What's g-going on?"

[braveoff]

It's actually been awhile since Drake encountered someone so traumatized by arrivals day... it happens, sure, but most people either fight back or manage to hold it together long though to get out of the colosseum before having their meltdowns. When he hears someone screaming in terror Drake fights his way over to them and manages to defeat the tentacled creature that was bearing down on the other man. He's splattered with ooze from where he sliced the tentacles off, and he's missing a sleeve from where the monster spit acid at him and he had to rip it off but he's in one piece, his grip is strong and steady, and his voice is gentle. He's seen this kind of behavior before and it's more than the monsters, more than the sudden disorientation of being somewhere else.

One step at a time.

"Hey buddy, you're okay. Let's get you out of here, though, yeah? I can explain outside."

[unphase]

[it's been a long time since Tinya saw someone come through the door looking quite so traumatized. he's crouched in on himself and chanting the word "no" over and over again. it makes her hesitate to reach out to him, but she's got to break through that if she wants to get him out of here to safety.

when he looks at her, he'll see what looks like a perfectly ordinary fifteen year old girl in a white sundress. when she looks at him, her heart goes out to him, he's clearly in a great deal of pain and needs to get out of here as soon as possible.

in a voice pitched low and soothing] You're in a place called Hadriel. Follow me and I'll get you out of here safely, I promise.

[pocketspa]

Well this is like, a whole ass fuckin' day. Taako's gone digging through the Coliseum on arrival day nearly every month since he got here, primarily because something stupid always came in with the Door and at least partially because he was looking for people he knew. This time, it was solidly the latter-- his sister's husband went missing not long ago, and since he obviously wouldn't just disappear, he's here to wait for him to come back. But people are dispersing, he and Lup have split to check everyone there, and he just can't find him. Fuck.

He ends up checking Klaus primarily because he can't see his face, and god forbid this is another prank being played on him in the middle of this shit. But he squints down at his face, the absolute terror of it all, and damn is he not the comfort brigade in all this.

To be fair, this also likely doesn't help Klaus very much, to look up and see a dude with long ears, a wizard hat, and a capelet over a tank top. Probably doesn't help to make this situation feel any more real. He knows nothing about all that.

"Uhhh, shit, you picked a bad arrival day, huh? How do you feel about dimensional kidnapping? I'm not saying it's that, just how do you feel about it."

[bythehand]

The face Klaus finds attached to the hand on his shoulder is Finn's. His expression is tight, harried-- the way most people anywhere within a few hundred feet are looking harried, given the circumstances-- but ultimately rooted in a very real sympathy.

He knows that mood. Sort of. Maybe it's more accurate to say that Klaus looks a lot like a way that Finn knows he's felt. Finn can't turn the other way if someone needs help right in front of him, and he was even less inclined to do so once that registered.

This is something he can do. He can't promise this guy everything is gonna be okay, and he can't tell anybody that they're safe as long as this is the place they're all stuck. But he can see one person with an expression he understands and work from there. Like he told Poe back when they first showed up. Keep his head down. Help where they can.

"I'll explain what I can, but we need to get out of here first. Are you okay to run?"

Kelson Haldane | Deryni | canon update

[kingforboth]

Colosseum

For those who had noticed Kelson had been gone for the last week, well, he was back, flat on the ground like a new arrival. Unlike certain other kings who had recently come back through the Door, Kelson had not cut his hair. It was still long, and bound in a four stranded braid, tied with a gold ribbon. But he was older, slightly more broad, having grown from his late teens into his mid twenties. At the age of twenty-four, he'd ruled Gwynedd for ten years.

He opened his eyes, not exactly feeling entirely safe and the arena feeling rather familiar and he groaned in annoyance. Then his shield's flared red as he saw the several floating ...things creeping toward him. Kelson's strength had always been his creativity, in addition to the actual power he wielded, the ability to shape the energy into your own will became more of a battle of wits and imagination, especially when foes were evenly matched. He wasn't sure how he'd fare against these things, but....

He picked up one of the toy plastic swords, and sent a pulse of energy through it, gathering until it melted and he hurled the thing toward one of the monsters headed his way. Looking at another he waved his hand, deflecting the shot of acid headed his way back at the creature. It really wasn't that different than steering arrows toward a target. This just wasn't an arrow shaft. Shields still locked into place and glowing red around him, Kelson idly wondered if these things had hearts.

He wasn't exactly sure where to aim.

[roseofthetyrells]

[Margaery's not sure why she comes to the Colosseum each month. not after having her brother for a month and then losing him. and her hopes of Matt or of Maglor being returned to her have been thoroughly dashed. she's here on her own. she's getting used to that fact. everyone else from her world has lives to return to, but she has none, only the hope that she can find Matt again and somehow get him to remember her.

it's a thin hope, but it's all she has.

and finding Kelson gone, she felt another bout of emptiness inside. this place. it was always taking people away from her. she supposed that she shouldn't be surprised and she wasn't, merely . . . resigned to the worst.

but when she enters the Colosseum and sees a man there, sees Kelson there, she's thrilled. she ducks and weaves her way through the onslaught of this month's monsters and goes to his side]

--Kelson! Where have you been? You look different!

[unphase]

[Tinya had noticed but thought that Kelson, like many, had simply been sent back to his homeworld.

she's flying through the sky in her white sundress, lopping off the heads of the latest batch of creatures sent to them by the Door. they fall to the ground like particularly gross insects.

but then she sees someone down on the ground, deflecting the attacks of the creatures as though they were nothing with what looked like a red shield protecting him.

on a second look, he's familiar.

she dives down out of the sky to land at his side]

Hey, you're back! [a playful eye roll] Welcome to all--this. [she gestures around herself with her right arm]

[stonebird]

(Worry is a way of life; she had learned to bear it and live with it as a constant companion. However she, like everyone else in every world ever (most likely), enjoys when at least one of her worries can be put to rest. Such a miraculous event occurs when she spies Kelson in the Colosseum.

Sansa is quick on her feet as she hurries towards him, wondering in the back of her mind if he will remember her.)

My lord? I've been looking for you... (With her sword drawn, she can at last prove her skill against opponents, though it is clear what she thinks of the monsters by the expression on her face. Whether the beasts have hearts or not, few things can survive being neatly hacked in half, right?)

[outofthefire]

[Laura is new to this whole helping newcomers on arrival day thing, but she's armed and ready with a longbow and a quiver full of arrows. which is great, because these creatures don't seem to want to come any closer for a fight.

fine. she'll bring the fight to them, then. she fires off two Long Shots in succession and manages to take down two monsters. but she's smart enough that she doesn't take the time to gloat over her victory. no, it's on to the next threat which seems to be aiming at--] Kelson?! What're you--no, there's no time for that, let's get the fuck outta here. I'll watch your back if you watch mine.

[ragnarsson]

Ivar's not at the colosseum and Kelson won't see him until he gets back to their shared quarters. He's sitting on the couch in the main area without his leg braces on and idly throwing knives into the wall in what is hardly a productive course of action. He's trying to figure out if his desire to continue throwing more knives, which means he'll need to get up and retrieve the ones embedded in the wall to do so, will outweigh his natural desire to move as little as possible when in immense pain.

He looks over the Deryni king when he comes through the door, noting the changes that had occurred. "So. Where the hell have you been?" That's what passes for a friendly greeting from the Viking king. Still, he really is glad to see Kelson. Ivar's gotten far too used to people abruptly leaving his life forever, but it doesn't mean he likes it or ever really learns how to deal with it in a healthy fashion.

lup l open

[restinglichface]

colosseum - the night new arrivals pop in

[Lup's been missing all day.

To those who had been in the arena when all of the newcomers appeared, when the new monster of the week had popped in through the gate to cause a little mayhem, there may have been the quickest flashes of the elf all around, long blonde hair and a red cloak appearing in the background here and there, but just as fast she was gone again, leaving no trace of herself behind. Usually Lup is always there to fend off the monsters and get newbies set up in the city, but not today.

Not when her husband's left Hadriel for good.

It isn't until the sky's gone dark that she can be found, perched up on top of the colosseum's tall wall, her legs hanging down in the empty air, the whole arena finally silent after a day of busy activity. She has the hood of her cloak pulled up over her head, but to those that know her, there's no mistaking it's Lup, uncharacteristically silent while she looks out over the empty colosseum.]

[braveoff]

[ It's been a long day. Drake's been home between fighting the monthly Door monsters and now so he's no longer splattered with gore, but he had a bad feeling. Like he's forgotten something important. Enough that he's doing one last sweep, checking for escaped tentacle creatures or lost newbies. Nothing so far, but now he's passing the colosseum. And he just so happens to look up, spotting Lup's figure atop the wall. That's when it hits him.

He hadn't seen Barry with the handful of arrivals and returns.

Shit.

Drake comes to a stop beneath his friend, considering the hand and footholds in the wall in case she's going to make him climb it to talk to her. ]

Lup?

[pocketspa]

[He finds her without much trouble. It's not hard to find his twin, after all, even when his heart is sinking as the hours tick on. Taako was so fucking confident Barry would be in the new arrivals, but when he thinks he must have just missed him turn into hours of searching despite not being able to call him, he's dreading the truth of it all.

It's not hard for him to soar up to the wall, a dark bird against the vibrant jungle landscape, and be back to Taako before his feet hit the edge of the wall next to her. With more grace than is usually seen out of him, he sinks to sitting, reaching for her hand.]

C'mere.

[He doesn't have good words here, but gosh, he'll try.]

[dedikated]

( Like Kate, Lup's presence in the Colosseum is something of a constant, so she doesn't think too much when she sees the familiar, flitting hair and cloak. At least, not until she realises that it's all she sees — there's no traces of fire dancing around, no spellwork coming from the blur that she is.

She doesn't get a chance to catch her, and the day marches on until the sun sinks behind the countless trees and it's... still humid. Always humid, it seems, but the temperature lifts a little bit, enough that Kate can hop through the city without feeling completely gross and sweaty. She notices the silhouette from a distance, but with a hood up and no real light to speak of, it could be anyone, and it's not until Kate gets to the tip of the Colosseum's crumbling walls herself that she can make out enough colour, or enough of the cape to realise just who it is. )

... Want company?

( She crouches down, resting her forearms against her thighs, half ready to flit off if Lup says no. )

[outofthefire]

[Laura had actually been able to help with the monsters this time. those bastards were great for helping her improve her archery against a moving target. she figures she's going to need that practice soon.

Laura has noticed that she hasn't seen Barry in a while. quite a while, actually. at first, she wrote it off to the fact that everyone's busy here, they probably crossed paths about a million times and didn't know it, right? or maybe he's gone away and some time has passed and he'll be back. right?

apparently not. Laura feels horrible for Lup, who's lost her husband because of the latest stupid god bullshit. and she can't help feel a little horrible for herself, too, since Barry had always treated her kindly, like she wasn't the tainted, damaged Laura Palmer who still dwelled deep inside her.

so as night fell, she took one last trip to the Colosseum. just to be sure.

no such luck.

she takes a good, long look around the empty Colosseum, only to see Lup perched on top of the wall.

she calls up] Lup?

[madamdirector]

[ Naturally, Lucretia had spent the day looking for Barry too. Not with Lup, who'd been gone before she'd gotten up, out early to be among the first to meet the new arrivals and, hopefully, her husband.

But when she hadn't received a joyful message from Lup, or a ridiculous selfie of herself and Barry, Lucretia had headed out to conduct her own search. Just in case. And when night had fallen without either any sign of Barry or any word from Lup, well.

Then she'd gotten really worried.

She spots the elf high on the wall, alone, and sighs before casting Fly on herself and heading up, landing on the wall next to the elf. Lucretia doesn't say a word. She just sits down at Lup's side and puts an arm around her, pulling her close. ]

[knockthemdead]

[He can't bear this.

Maybe Taako and Lucretia know how to just lean over and wrap their arms around Lup, but Kravitz doesn't know how to approach her grief. He stands by her side for a long moment, silent and contemplative, before sitting down beside her and reaching out carefully to place a hand over one of hers.]

I cannot imagine exactly the pain you are feeling. And I will not pretend to. But I am here.

John Sheppard | OTA

[deploy]

Welcome wagon.

[The NERF guns were cute. Catch John on another day, and he'd be all in. If logistics would fill the request, every petty dispute in Atlantis would be settled by NERF battle. On another day, he'd be pretty into checking out an alien coliseum, too.

You know, another day, when a hoard of floating gall-bladders aren't seconds away from killing him. If John hadn't walked through the portal wearing his full rig he would be dead. He's currently emptying his P90 into the closest blob, blowing chunks of flesh into the air. Small chunks. Pound for pound isn't enough firepower. What he really needs right not is an anti-tank rifle, or something, anything, with a bigger bang for his buck. At this rate he's going to run out of ammo before he's made a dent.]

Screw this.

[He drops his P90 back to neutral against his chest and and grabs a grenade from the 'party' pocket of his modular vest.]

Fire in the hole!

Under the weather.

[John thought he was going home. It was his turn, finally, after watching everyone he knew and cared about go on ahead of him. The city was a ghost town by the time he walked through the portal. Instead of opening his eyes to friendly faces, or soft light shining through the stained glass windows, he was greeted with... This place. Hadriel.

And this isn't where John wants to be. Mind, body, or soul. It isn't just the shitty weather, busted up streets and bombed out buildings reminiscent of equally dangerous and unfamiliar places in the Middle East, or the fact he was thrown into a coliseum to fight a losing battle against a bunch of monsters in the universe's worst Ridley Scott crossover without so much as a 'welcome'.

All of that is messed up, but John's on a first-name basis with messed up. There's never a normal day in Atlantis. He can roll with the punches. What's really getting to him is not knowing if every single person he thought he was sending home was actually going straight to this hell, or even worse, some other hell.

Logic tells John to get inside and out of the pouring rain, but his feet feel cemented to the ground. There's a map on his device telling him where to go, and he'll get there eventually. Probably. If something doesn't kill him first. He's half expecting what's left of the street to open up and swallow him whole.

But John's never been that lucky.]

Roll the dice.

Random, or hit me up for something specific!

[volitaunt]

[ For the first time since coming to Hadriel, Poe is verging on happy. The rainforest lifted his spirits all on its own, and exploring their surroundings on the daily has helped ease the stir-crazy need to fly that's been plaguing him for months.

He's got a bag of foraged plants over one shoulder, another gripped in his other hand. He'll offer out some of what he's got, let people know what the edibles look like, but most of it is for Finn and Rey and Poe himself. Force knows they could all use fresh produce.

His clothes are plastered against him by humidity and rain by the time he makes it back to the city, and he's whistling a Yavini folk song to himself as he picks the road that will lead closest to their spire.

The road with a man in the middle of it. Poe knows that silhouette. He almost drops the bags he's carrying, frozen in place as much as John is. Should he hope it's a stranger? He should. He should hope that John made it home, that he's in Atlantis and this is some other universe's version of John Sheppard.

He can't. John's dog tags are too heavy around his neck.

It takes two tries for him to call out, his voice carrying a very forced casualness. ]

Hey, uh. Hey. Weird question, probably, but do you know me?

under the weather

[offloaded]

[ Under normal circumstances back home (or on any of the previous worlds, honestly), DiMA would avoid rain. He's been effectively waterproofed as much as possible, yes, but he still has that aversion, that fear that the rain will short him out. But it rains on the jungle planet every day and he can't always avoid it, especially not when it's arrivals day and there are people in need of assistance -- possibly his friends. There's a chance they may return, as he understands it.

He's taken to doing something he's never seen anyone do before, and put together care packages for the new arrivals. Bags with a variety of canned and boxed foods and bottled water, some basic toiletries from the shops. He may not use any of those things himself but knows what organics need to survive well enough. Many of his synths still live as humans for the comfort of it. He's familiar.

He's moving through the jungle in his god-gifted custom rain poncho, one bag remaining in each skeletal metal hand, scanning for strangers that have the vaguely shell-shocked look of newcomers. John fits the bill, and so the synth makes his way over. Even mostly covered by the poncho he's quite a sight, his hands and feet inhuman where they stick out from it, his face significantly more so but plastic skin damaged to reveal the workings beneath. He approaches the stranger squinting at his phone in the rain, extending one of his carefully assembled bags in offering. ]

Hello, sir, and welcome. May I assist you in finding a specific location?

welcome wagon

[hardwearing]

[ Wash is struggling with his own monster of the month, with his own assault rifle. It's just not doing the job and he's considering getting a bit more intimate with the thing for the sake of killing it faster, but just as he's about to engage he hears someone shout the universal warning that something's about to explode.

He scans the arena quickly, and unfortunately spots the grenade much closer than he would have liked -- he's in the blast range. John might see him, a space marine in full titanium body armor, booking it in the opposite direction just before it goes off.

The blast takes care of both their monsters, splattering gore in all directions and all over Wash, who straightens back up and stomps over to the newcomer. ]

What the hell! There's no cover in here!

Zelda | OPEN

[wisdominshadows]

Colosseum

What in the world... [Zelda murmurs to herself as she looks around this strange amphitheater. Crumbling walls and other sorts of ruins she had expected, when she returned to Hyrule, even perhaps the echo of Ganondorf's dark magic lingering still after he was gone- but these walls were unfamiliar and the air should not have have been as oppressive as this.

She's still taking this in, eyes wide with shock, when a sound like spitting arises from her left. Zelda's head twists toward it, only to see a Shuggurath spitting acid at her. Startled- and frustrated with it, Impa would never tolerate such inattention- she springs back and raises her hands.

The act takes more out of her than it should, but a blue crystal forms around her all the same. Safe for the moment, then-now all she needs to do is find out where she is.]

I beg your pardon? [She calls out, trying to catch the nearest unoccupied fighter's attention.] Excuse me, please- do you know where we are?

About the City

[So. There's no going back- not soon, anyway, and not according to her own schedule. Zelda swallows her disappointment at the news, puts aside her own bone-weariness, and walks out into this new world. Some mad detour from home may be the last thing she needs, but things are what they are and for now information is more important than rest.

Following the information on her new device, she marks out the important spots in Hadriel. She looks for the shops first, looking for something she can pull over her dirt-stained dress. Not long afterward she can be found at the Temples, examining them for any similarity to the buildings she knows. Rage's armory she tries to slip in and out of, examining any daggers or throwing knives she might come across.

By the time she arrives at the orchard, she's pushing her limits. Just a break, she promises herself as she settles under the tree. Just a few moments rest, that's all she needs....]

about the city, orchard!

[sciencelizard]

[It's nice to see the orchard coming back to life. Alphys remembers when this place was nearly dead, cut back with mistakes and the cold planet they just left, but with the new flora starting to take over she's seeing some new flowers coming in, and it's nice to come by and see it grow. Except now, there's someone else in there, and she stops when she suddenly feels like she's intruded entirely on accident.]

Uh-- s-sorry, I didn't mean to uhm-- don't let me bother you! Or anything. Please uhm, feel free to uhm. Stick around.

agent maine | return from canon update — closed to plans

[bloodbathing]

[ This time, when Agent Maine opens his eyes, he knows exactly where he is.

There's something in his mind that wasn't there before. A tickle in the back of his thoughts, bright and warm. Maine closes his eyes again. Focuses on it. Listens to the soothing voice that curls out like wisps of smoke.

Sigma. His A.I. His constant companion. His voice.

The Freelancer opens his eyes once more. Looks around the Coliseum, taking in everything from the "weapons" to the creatures flying above. In the time it takes Maine to draw a breath, Sigma feeds him ten different strategies to defeat the nearest one, each plan varying in both creativity and brutality.

Maine picks one that will be most painful for the creature. Sigma is pleased. Maine pulls the pistol from his thigh, and the two of them — Agent Maine and his A.I.; Sigma and his Freelancer — take aim.



By the time the one man army that is Maine stops fighting, there are bodies strewn out all around him. He pays them no mind. Just picks his way through the gore as he starts making his way out of the Coliseum.

Where he's going, Maine isn't entirely sure. His memories of this place are still trickling in, dulled by two years away and buffered by Sigma. But he moves all the same, seeking out what used to be familiar. ]


(( ooc: hmu @ twofouroneten if you'd like to do something! an example of sigma's voice can be heard here. please note that sigma is not currently visible/audible; i'll note in tags if/when that changes. ))

here we gooooooo

[hardwearing]

[ When Wash returns to the colosseum after settling Carolina, it's with the intention of helping the Guard clear out the rest of the monsters. That's it. He isn't even aware that Maine blipped back home, it was such a quick trip to those in Hadriel. But for his friend it's been much longer. Too long, and what Wash had been so afraid of has happened.

Maine has Sigma, and Wash realizes it almost as soon as he sees Maine there. The way he fights is different, as brutal and skilled as ever but not Maine, and the way he moves through the gore strewn across the ground reminds Wash of... well.... the Meta. He refuses to make that leap yet, though. It might not be too late... even if the way the pit of his stomach drops out makes it feel like it is. Like he's failed, again, even though he has no control over things like this. But if Maine has Sigma, he can't go anywhere else. Even if Wash had convinced him to save himself. To save who he was.

Wash had wanted to believe that was still on the table even though Maine had insisted it was already too late. And now maybe it really is. He needs to know if Maine is still in there but he's just frozen in place, staring as Maine makes his way towards the exit where Wash is standing.

It's killing him that he isn't sure what name to call out. At least he's in his armor, so whoever it is can't see his expression. He knows he looks stricken, can feel his breathing gone uneven. This is not okay, and neither is he. ]

Henry Percy | OTA

[hotspurred]

GUARD HQ ✠

Sweat dampened his hair and rolled down his face as Henry marched into headquarters as though he had every right to be there. Ignoring anyone immediately inside, he moved to the nearest seemingly unclaimed desk and wasted no time in removing his gauntlets and dropping them on the tabletop, before reaching for the buckles of his armour with all haste. In the heat and humidity of the jungle — what became of the islands? — having fought free of the Colosseum, he was boiling alive in his layers of mail, plate and padded cloth. With no promise that what had once been his apartment for years was not occupied again after his return home, it was the only place he could think of to use. He would have come by here anyway. Two birds, one stone.


ABOUT THE CITY ✠

Once he was blessedly down only to his hose and a linen shirt, and his business at Guard headquarters finished, Henry set to work on two pressing tasks: firstly, to find somewhere to live, and secondly, to scavenge clothes and amenities from the shops. As he made his way through Hadriel, he looked around with keen, curious eyes for residents he recognised, to map the changes wrought in the city since he vanished. It was a strange feeling to be back, but let it not be said that he was averse to finishing battles that he had started.


WILDCARD ✠
(Feel free to make your own starter or hit me up on plurk for specific prompts! Also I'll match formats.)

wild...card...

[dedikated]

( Given time to adjust, the humidity isn't — okay, no, the humidity still sucks, but it's a damn sight better than all the ice of the last planet. The point is, it's been a little while now, and certain residents of Hadriel have begun to recall how to deal with this kind of oppressive heat.

Of course, certain residents of Hadriel don't have a full suit on armour on as they scale the Colosseum walls, eyeing the ground below the arrivals rather than the ground itself, eyes two small, glowing beacons as she watches the flare of power that comes with The Door's opening.

Still headache inducing, by the by, but far less disordered than it used to be. That can only be a good thing.

It isn't until the last vestiges of sparkling dots of light leave her vision that Kate really gets to see what monsters have dropped into the city, and which people. She doesn't expect familiar faces, not when it's been so long since she lost anyone she was especially fond of (that Ignis thing? That was a hiccup, barely a couple of weeks, strange and unusual as Hadriel ever is), just confused ones. She expects to see people who will either flee or fight, trying to puzzle out where they are and what's going on.

Instead, she sees a suit of armour, glinting under the tree-dimmed sun, all too familiar even from a distance, and her breath catches in her throat. How—

After all this time? Her heart, like a rock in her chest, screeches against her ribs, a shallow echo of every bit of pain felt, every moment she's missed him. Someone who had been here for so long, whose presence felt as guaranteed as the gods' stupid ideas, who was dragged out of here as easily as any of them turn up. Some part of her — the part that didn't wallow in the selfish grief of losing a friend — thought that, if any of them deserved a break from this place, he did.

Maybe she's wrong. Maybe the armour is just similar, she's not that close to the ring, after all. Instead of springing into action, Kate watches him fight, her hand against the waist quiver he gifted her, and bites her tongue as each movement he makes recalls some memory of time spent in this city.

There's no more questioning this, and her mind finally unsticks her body, lets her move in time to hop into a better position and fire arrows at a beast that tries to flank the man. )

Henry!

( Okay, so this bow is a complete pain in the ass in this humidity, and when you're trying to run around the city's rooftops, but throwing knives would not have been nearly as effective at creating a crater in that thing's head.

(Gross.) )