RE: Cloudsea - The Chronicle of Alice Van Vaugen
08-01-2017, 11:41 AM
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They walked past Katie, Jude and Seb, until they were only a couple feet away from Qhen. They pulled a hand out of their pocket, and stroked their chin. Their hair was dark and pulled back, and they had- to Qhen anyway- the most beautiful brown eyes.
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Qhen understood their lot in life. Free and Qhen existed to fight. Not because someone told them to, not to protect someone like Alice or Viss. But simply because it was the fastest solution. Why? Why did people make it so hard for one to simply enjoy life passing them by?
Because nobody makes sense.
Seb leaned against a wall. He wasn't particularly out of breath, but Jude and Katie needed to stop and rest, obviously!
. . .Why do you always lie to yourself, Sebastian? He put his back to the wall and took a deep breath. Katie had brushed her wings back and was shaking a little, as she loaded her rifle. Her beak clicked and gritted angrily. She let out a long, slow hiss. . .
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Katie walked over. She reached out and placed a claw on it, and immediately jerked back- hissing. Now she backed up, and brought her short rifle up, firing a few rounds into the 'wall'. The bullets impacted- but made no sound or effect. They just- vanished.
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Because nobody makes sense.
Earl had turned on the lights. The light of his smoking was no longer enough. He needed to find something. He pushed aside his bad habits- which did nothing to reverse the toll they were taking on his body. Stopping a dozen habits just meant a dozen and more withdrawals. He turned the lights on because his vision was starting to fade. He had a knife. He was splitting the spines of his books open. Cutting bindings. Laying out the papers in stacks.
Obsession. Eccentricity. Frivolity. Irresponsibility. Why bother learning so much when you know when you're going to die? Not in the general sense of mortality of course- most people who got to know Earl in any appreciable manner would inevitably ask this question.
Knowledge is power. Power is money. Money is time. Time is an illusion. He cut another book open and started separating the pages. He had made light in his room by lighting his fireplace. Piles of books sat nearby. The ones he wouldn't need any more, soon. The ones that nobody else should read. Some information should be secret.
Knowledge was important to him, because maybe, if he looked hard enough, he would find an answer to an actually good question.
Questions like: Why doesn't Seb smile? What does Katie need all that money for? Who hurt Judith? Why do people treat each other so poorly? There was a knock at the door.
We were such miserable creatures. Why?
Because nobody makes sense.
The Boss. The Bartender. He had a name. Just didn't bother telling anybody. Talking was tiring. If only other people than his muse could hear his thoughts. If only we could all communicate exactly what we had in our minds, instead of having to use awkward language. He watched Katie glide away with the keys to the Cafe. Jude looked down at him. He shook his head. He wasn't going to go. Jude nodded in understanding, even though she didn't.
She knew he didn't want to go. But she didn't understand. Nobody could truly understand one an other.
Because nobody makes sense.
Alice laid there. She tried to sleep, she really did. But her head was full of questions. MOSTLY about why they thought it was a good idea to just leave her alone in a room with Viss? Likely not Qhen's idea. Still, Viss was behaving herself- after Alice tied her wrists behind her back. Also, she was pinning Viss with her elbows. Viss didn't mind. Viss was asleep. Lucky her.
Empty couldn't hear her. Or was ignoring her. Alice was not sure. Admittedly, since entering this building, she was- unusually clear of mind. She had time to think, so she thought. She managed to put together some bits and pieces into full thoughts.
First, Plans. Her plan was to get enough crew to run the ship reliably. Supplies. She could pay for it. She had goods for trade, and a fairly sizable amount of Royals from the efforts to search the town back home.
. . . Home? Was that still home? Was it ever? She had to think about that one. For now, she called it home, because it was easy to do that. Gave her a data point to hang invisible strings on.
Where was she going to go? Right now? Anywhere. She would talk with her crew for information. That was what she lacked. Information. Understanding. Context. She was a visitor, a tourist in her own lands. Qhen and Viss had opinions about the Imperial Sphere. Maybe she wouldn't stick around. Maybe she'd try to change things. Was that in her means? Was she powerful enough to do that? Did it matter if she wasn't?
She also needed to learn more about these powers. Especially now that this was- well it was apparently rare. But not that rare. She needed to know if they were safe. Qhen had sort of- just put their arms out away from their sides and dived headfirst into their powers. Viss was holding them back with everything she had. What did that make Alice? . . .
Viss worked her way out of her wrist bindings. She rolled over and looked Alice in the eyes. Hm. She was asleep a moment ago. How long has she been thinking? Viss flicked her tongue against Alice's nose. Mm. Viss just said something. Alice couldn't hear it.
What was Alice going to do about Qhen? Qhen was bad at opening up. They said it was because they didn't find their past interesting or important. Was there something Alice could do for Qhen? Something to gain their trust? Alice couldn't even begin to think what it would be. She should just- be straightforward with Qhen. Right? Right. Next time she sees Qhen, she'll just ask them what they want. Then she'll put that on the list of priorities!
And Viss. The manic exterior she had was like some sort of pressure valve for stress. Which meant she viewed Qhen, and more often lately- Alice herself, as a way to relieve that stress. Alice also wanted to know more about Viss. What scared Viss? Did anything actually make Viss angry? Despite all her jokes, was Viss capable of love? Were any of them? Was that important?
All feelings are important, right? They're a part of you. Otherwise, a muse would not focus on them so powerfully. But Alice was Empty. Her feelings felt like a tool. Something she applied to get what she wanted out of others. Hm.
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Qhen did something real stupid this time. Viss always said that you should make sure you size up your opponent properly. Qhen doesn't know how to apply that to people with these weird powers! Most people just pull a blade or a gun on you and Qhen understands that those won't hurt them!
But this crazy person has been beating the crap out of them- and this voidspace of theirs was very unfair. It would put walls up just before Qhen could attack, and it would drop them when they got too close. Qhen didn't even know what their name was. Didn't have time to ask. When the battle started, the walls came up- That was probably where Qhen immediately understood that they were not going to buy much time.
Then their suit turned into a muse. Or- they were the muse? There wasn't anybody left behind when the suit shifted into a floating cloak, black as the night, with a darkness inside that made Qhen pause every time they looked at them. This was stupid.
Qhen was burning through Free's energy way too quickly. This was stupid.
Qhen should have said something when Alice wanted to leave as soon as possible! Qhen wanted time to practice, off in the forest. To train. To understand their own limits! Qhen couldn't even tell how much energy they had left- only understand that when it ran out, they wouldn't have any more energy to go on past the. This was stupid.
Qhen needed to think of a way out of this. The muse had vanished, and now they were fighting some sort of... massive bio-mechanical wolf man- dripping with black blood- and they have seen and heard some things... flying in the sky. All in all, a really really bad position to be in.
Did Qhen press the attack? Dodge as long as possible, to extend their time? Block and go for a counter? Escape? Could they escape- They could! They saw a door appearing- It was Alice's door! Good. Good. They had figured out what Qhen wanted them to do. See? Was that so hard? Just- be able to read the situation and/or someone's mind and you didn't even have to embarrass yourself by asking complete strangers for help.
The door opened, and the beast flew straight at Alice. Qhen didn't have more than a second to think.
( ) Get in the way
( ) Don't get in the way