justacriminal | [Video, morning] First Strike

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[Video, morning] First Strike

[The sun is starting to rise when this tall, dark, wiry young man finally makes it to town. He'd been lucky enough to find his own clothes nearby when he woke up about five miles up the western lake's northern shore. Considerably warmer than the random white pants he'd been magically wearing upon waking. Maybe somebody realized he'd be walking a long time. Who knows? At any rate, the sky is finally starting to get light again when he finally finds himself in a civilized area. He's been walking for about a day and a half trying to find a place to rest-- he hasn't stopped for more than half an hour at any time, worried that he'd come across monsters while he's unarmed. He'd looked for a town at the lake, but no dice-- he wound up following the river into the village.]

[Yuri just hopes there are people up already. He's perplexed and bewildered by...well, everything, really, but at least he's had plenty of time to poke around at his journal while he walked. Figure out what it did, and found a few answers to things he wanted to know.]

[When the video starts, he's quite relaxed and laid back, his confusion fairly well hidden behind a very calm poker face. It might be possible to see the fountain behind the tree he's leaning on, if you look closely enough. He's tucked his wings into his shirt--while he doesn't know how they got there ore what they mean, he's pretty sure he doesn't really want to risk messing with them yet.]

Morning. Name's Yuri, Yuri Lowell. Judging by what I've been seeing on this... journal if that's what it is, I guess I'm not the only one who's been dragged here recently without any warning. And it sounds like it's been going on awhile. So who wants to volunteer and tell yet another newcomer about your nice little town here? Or at least tell me where I can sleep for awhile. It's a pretty long walk from that lake to here, you know?

[OOC: Feel free to action it up, if you prefer. Find him making the post or whatever you like! He's not hiding, really.]

[EDIT: Wow I'm a loser, who says 'evening' when the sun is rising. I do apparently, whoops.]

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[Zuko had managed to find his clothes in the clothing shop and was walking around town when he managed to pass Yuri by. He too had tucked his wings into his tunic and was currently considering something he held in his hand.

It was a flame shaped piece of golden metal. His Fire Lord's crown. He had been wearing it when he was taken. And now he was unsure if he should even bother. It didn't mean anything in a place like this after all.

But hearing a voice, he looked up and paused in his step.]

[For some reason, he feels like he's being watched. Yuri looks away from the journal and spots a guy with a really interesting face scar. And a...crown? Interesting. Really interesting.]

[Yuri holds up a hand in greeting.]

Hey.

Hey.

[He then tucks his royal head piece into his shirt.]

You're new here too.

[He'd over heard what this guy said into his journal.]

"Too", huh?

[Well, he did get a look at that piece anyway.]

Got anything figured out yet?

[Or know where he can nap. He'd take a place for a nap.]

I have friends here who explained things to me.

[Luckily.]

But I'm still trying to sort it out.

[It was a lot to take in.]

Friends, huh... makes me wonder...

[If any of his own would be here.]

Think you can give me a condensed version? Or point me to somebody who can.

[He's sure.]

[Condensed version... well okay.]

We're stuck here, someone called the Malnosso did it, they do experiments on everyone, there's no getting out, people you don't know will know you because you've been here before, everything here is free, and uh... looks like you figured out the clothes already.

[How's that?]

[Emil very nearly drops his journal when he hears that familiar voice coming out of it. He's about to try to convince himself that it's just his imagination when the voice gives its name, and then he can no longer pretend-- it really is Yuri, and he really is back.

He listens to the rest of what the other man says with a sinking heart. It doesn't sound like he remembers being in Luceti at all... Still, it can't hurt to at least ask, even if he's already pretty sure what the answer is going to be.]

... you don't... you don't remember being here before, do you?

Housing's free here. There's a list of open apartments at the Welcoming Center if you haven't been by there yet.

...Most of that makes sense. Kidnapped by someone called the Malnosso for experiments, and we're trapped with no apparent way out. And stuff's free.

[Not bad...]

But what's this about being here before? Think I'd remember a place as freaky as this.

I'm pretty sure I'd remember a place like this.

[Seeing the picture showing up on his journal makes Yuri's tone soften just a little.]

...Somebody at least a lot like me's been here before though, huh?

Oh, really? That's... really convenient.

[And really suspicious.]

Where's this Welcoming Center? Seems like a place with a name like that would be a lot of help.

( It's much less surprising to her now that people can so readily identify the new arrivals in this place. If anything, it's that many have the same sorts of questions when they arrive, ones that make sense and try to make comprehensible a ridiculous situation.

Early morning is a preferred time for her to be up and moving when she's not exhausted and sleeping through into the later morning hours, so it makes enough sense that the young teenager is walking around in her sweatshirt and unremarkable pants and boots. It's a rather spartan, undistinguished look, putting Annie at ease, if nothing else.

It'd be easiest to ignore what she hears him saying to his journal. Someone will find an answer for him there, but it's the same conundrum she's been wrangling with since she realized none of this was the nightmare she almost hoped for it to be. She needs to know the people here, no matter how brief their stay, or how brief hers is in the long run. There's no safety or intelligence in remaining entirely on the sidelines. There's no structure to support that means of information gathering alone.

Besides, networking is the only defense she'll have against what of the Survey Corps is here. So silence doesn't win out in the end. )

If you're new to Luceti, you may find the resources on your journal useful, along with the services offered at the Welcome Center in town.

( Even if you just wanted to, you know, check up on where everyone else was living. Or something. )

[Mutually beneficial arrangements are all the rage in strange places with an equally strange barrier. Especially when you can't remember how you got here.]

Hmm... that so? Maybe the journal will make some sense with some sleep.

[Or something. Yuri shoots the really pretty interesting girl a crooked smile.]

Thanks-- that's a good tip. Mind pointing me towards this Welcome Center then?

( He asks for her to point, and so Annie shifts her weight, turning her head in the general direction while consulting her mental map of the right turns to be making to end up where she's intending to send him. )

It's roughly that direction.

( Depending on which way he went, he'd probably cross over the river at least once more ~~or by bsing on location yolo~~. It's not precisely visible from where they currently stand.

She presses her lips together, breathing out in something of a sigh. )

The journal only makes so much sense, no matter how much you sleep on it. I can show you the way to the Welcome Center if you like. It's on my way.

[~~He'd get lost anyway oops~~]

Some sense is better than none, I guess.

[Yuri nods and shoves off the tree he's been leaning on.]

I'd appreciate it.

Nonsense might be easier to tolerate.

( She says mildly, not particularly serious. Nonsense is easier to dismiss, is all.

Annie takes the lead after a moment, deciding which direction down the pathways to move. Either way would land them by the building in question. it's just a matter of the scenery along the way. She makes a small motion of "come along" with her hand, watching him out of peripheral vision. Outright staring tends to invite the wrong sorts of impressions. (Or the right ones, too soo.) )

My name's Annie. Who are you?

( Yes. Super smooth conversation is a go! ~~not~~ Since apparently she hadn't been eavesdropping that hard -- or had she??? )

Maybe. Depends on the nonsense, if you ask me.

[Which nobody did. Um.]

[Yuri follows obligingly, though he's pretty alert for any...mischief. He can't see a reason anybody would want to assault him, what with having nothing of real value, but he's known people who are just happy to cause chaos just for the sake of causing chaos.]

Name's Yuri. Nice to meet you, Annie.

[Super smooth. Even if she was, it makes for an easy transition, eh?]

( Easier than if she's left to generate the smalltalk. Only she is... and she's royally bad at this. Having a general outlook on life where you watched and didn't do more than interject at times where you had a purpose or personal desire to do so didn't lead to her developing great easy social skills. There hadn't been a need or necessity for them before.

... Which may account for why she falls back on detailing their setting. )

Yuri. ( His name turns into an acknowledgement -- Annie isn't inclined to say it's nice meeting him, but it's hardly personal. She doesn't say as much for anyone. ~~Learn manners one day kid~~ ) Right now, you're in the main settlement in Luceti. How willing are you to believe in the possibility of being nowhere on the world you know at all?

( That question comes paired with her looking straight up and at him, a hint of curiosity paired with serious inquiry on her face. She's not just asking for the hell of it... unfortunately. )

...Not in the world I know? Hm...

[Yeah no kidding. But Yuri's just as glad to switch to a more practical topic anyway. He's not really the best mannered either.]

[He trails off, then shrugs. He doesn't really need to give a stranger the details of his circumstances, right? Right.]

Guess it wouldn't really shock me. Never heard of a place called Luceti... and it's not like I had wings before.

[Thankfully, those stopped hurting by now. But they're still cause for a lot of bewilderment. They don't seem to do much, except cause a lot of pain if anything so much as scratches them.]

I'd be more inclined to think it's some kind of hell than anyplace I knew.

Hell's perspective based. It may be, by your definition.

( She gives a small shrug of her shoulders. Hell to her is different than this place, but hell is something else to live and know you're headed for most your life, if you believe in it at all. There's no real consolation to be had there. )

The wings are claimed to help us survive and thrive on this world. The Malnosso, the ones who built this enclosure, are the ones making that claim. They're also who draft us to fight, then feed and cloth us at no cost. They don't claim to bring us here. They're happy to benefit from us either way.

( It's the simple way of stating a broad idea of what is generally shared around. There's limitations, and there are things which seem locked down to be safe from prying eyes... but it seems to her the only safety in secrets are in never sharing them at all. It moves on to conspiracies when word is passed, and leads to discovery in time. )

Removal of feathers causes weakness and illness. Lose one wing, and you'll feel half dead. Lose both, and you die.

( His idea with hiding wings might not be a bad one at all. )

Hmm... Can't say I ever really had one.

[He merely assumed that's where he'd wind up if he ever got himself killed. Which he's pretty sure he did really recently. Not that Annie needs to know that.]

...Not sure I buy it. Wings helping to survive. They don't really seem to do anything except get in the way.

[And he snorts at the added information.]

Oh, glad I didn't try anything like that. Hurt enough just getting them scratched on twigs. I think I'll be keeping mine under wraps.

[Sure keeps the risk of getting scratched by a random branch to a minimum.]

When you're aware of blood flow and risks of atrophy to avoid, binding isn't a bad solution.

( Says the one walking around with her wings under a sweatshirt. All it really seems to do is make her seem slightly hunchbacked. C'est la vie. )

Most of these are housing. ( She says, gesturing to the places they pass. ) We'll be seeing one of the taverns... ah, the bar, and someplace else that acts as an eatery when we head into the center of town. People keep the lists at the Welcome Center up to date with who lives where.

( Look it is so much easier just to toss out the factual bits!!! )

Ah, about the dying. It's not final while you're here. The dead aren't dead, either. Whatever does pull people here ignores technalities like living or not.

( Marco. Petra. Yeah, this is not a detail she's so thrilled about. Having someone you've murdered crop up around again is not... really... comfortable. )

Rather not have to mess around with it, but yeah.

[Oh well. The things you do for protection... Yuri pays close attention-- or as much as his exhaustion will allow-- to the information being tossed at him.]

...Huh. Really is starting to sound like some kind of sick afterlife.

[He can imagine. He'd hate to see his own murder victims pop up... for more than one reason, of course.]

Doesn't even let you die properly.

( The conversation they're not having is pretty hideous ~~I say while laughing~~. Then again, the one they are having is hardly reassuring. Annie gives Yuri a sidelong look at his last statement. )

Some would be glad for that.

( Not that she indicates herself as being for or against the idea. It makes her feel more unsettled that dying here is not permanent than even being pulled from elsewhere before or at around the time of one's death. The entrapment here is so total, you're punished for being forced to live again.

It's sickening. )

There'll be another bridge where the pathway curves to the right up ahead.

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[Video, morning] First Strike

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