It was a miracle that the hood of the rusted bucket of bolts that vaguely resembled a car was able to hold her weight so steadfastly, but Elsa had learned years ago not to look a gift horse in the mouth - or whatever the phrase was. Besides, she'd been travelling for over a week now and it was nice to get some pressure off of her feet. A reprieve from her journeys before the real trouble began, one could call it.
"It's alright, litla ast," she had murmured into a small head of too-long blond hair, when the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, bathing her parents' farmstead in warm rays of morning light. "I'll be back before you know."
The mission should be nearly complete, and considering she hadn't yet witnessed several scrappy rebels tripping back to the vehicle in a hurried rush, Elsa thought it must be going well. Good for them, she mused as her hands idly fidgeted with the small mechanical orb that never left her person.
She knew very well the dangers of what she was doing in Arcwood. She knew that neither Ceridia nor shoot-first-ask-questions-later rough-and-tumble rebels took kindly to being lied to. Or two-timed. Or however one wanted to call it. In her defense, she argued, any lies she intended to spout wouldn't be malicious at all. She had one goal only, a light at the end of the tunnel, and the way she saw it, if she died reaching it then no more worthy a cause.
Huffing lightly in the chilly night air, she brushed her hair over her face, instinctually moving it to draw less attention to the empty socket on her right side. Nothing really to do but wait, she supposed.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 5/26/2022 at 12:08 AM
Post #3
Nothing was better than dying for a cause that is just...though, Symphony had other plans for how this night would end. Despite holding her father's favorite phrase near and dear to her heart for the last five years, she had no intention of dying tonight. They had been hard years, full of pain and oppression, but the memories of her father's beliefs and ideals kept her going. She was going to lead their people back to the life they deserved, and she would fight with everything she had to make his cause a reality.
The first part of tonight's mission had been a resounding success. Hack into the ration warehouse's security system...check. Grab enough food and other supplies to distribute to the needy...check. Make sure not to take too much that it drew unnecessary attention from the Ceridian patrols...mostly check. It was hard not to take extra stuff, especially with so many people out there in need of help. However, the continued success of their endeavor was to stay safe, and that was always the goal during a mission.
Tonight, they had all achieved safety, so Symphony and her merry band of thieves were making their way back to the secluded alley where they had parked the van and their car. The general feeling in the group was light and jovial, with just a hint of caution that none of them could ever shake. It lived with them, part of the air that they breathed. Their lives were dangerous, but they accepted it for the benefit of a higher purpose. Caution and suspicion were survival traits for them.
So, of course, when they all turned down the dark alley just on the other side of the warehouse, pushing their pallets of boxes towards the van, Symphony knew she wasn't alone when her eyes went directly to the woman sitting on the hood of their rust bucket car. The tension in the group soared in an instant, and she could hear the sound of several weapons being drawn from concealed locations. She quickly held up one of hands to still her companions.
"No one shoot," she said, her silky voice sounding calm but commanding. She knew what their instincts were telling them, and her own instincts were also screaming at her, but she also knew that the sound of gunshots could ruin their mission. She stared directly at the woman sitting on the rusty hood...and waited.
Creativity
Level 72
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Joined: 3/4/2013
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Posts: 5,904
Posted: 5/26/2022 at 8:55 AM
Post #4
The footsteps were quiet, careful. The rebels knew what they were doing on this particular mission - of course, to Elsa's knowledge, this wasn't the first warehouse they had broken into. Not that she cared about what they were doing, if her son was hungry and she hadn't a dime to her name, she'd be more than willing to steal to keep him healthy. She understood it. Besides, with all of the lies and sin in her own past, who was she to judge?
As the footsteps came to a halt, replaced by the shuffling of drawn weapons, Elsa raised her head to the woman in front - the leader, she assumed. She tilted her head slightly and flashed a winning smile, the very same that kept her fed and sheltered for years after the war.
"Appreciate that. Getting shot is so inconvenient," she said, sliding off the hood of the vehicle so she could stand in front of the leader, not close enough to be reached with a blade but still close enough so they could make out each other's features in the dark. She's rather pretty, an intrusive thought in the back of Elsa's mind piped up, but she chose to ignore it. Now was certainly not the time, after all.
She gestured to the boxes that had been halted. She knew that her Ceridian accent would give her away, she didn't bother to hide it, so she had to chose her words carefully. "Do you need a hand? I have a... Let's call it a business proposition, but this is hardly the time or place I think."
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 5/27/2022 at 11:21 AM
Post #5
Moves and counter moves...war, rebellion even relationships, it all came down to moves and counter moves. Symphony saw the world differently than most, a unique mix of music and data, binary code and melodies mixing together in perfect harmony. Her hazel green eyes took in the sight of the strange woman in front of them while her mind whirled through scenarios at top speed. She had to maintain control, not just of the situation but of herself and her men.
The woman approached them, stopping a respectable distance away. It was clear to Symphony that she was a Ceridian even before she opened her mouth to speak, not that Arcwood wasn't a diverse nation...but some things you could just tell. More than her appearance, which even in the dim light of the alleyway was rather striking (Not now, she chided herself), her accented words certainly piqued Symphony's interest. Her face and eyes remained calm, but her brain felt suddenly chaotic.
A string of growled obscenities came suddenly from her right, and Symphony knew things were going to start spiraling towards disaster if she didn't intervene.
"Charlie," she said, her voice a clear warning, though her eyes never left the woman, "You will not shoot unless I tell you to."
"Come on, Cy," the man replied, his voice still a growl full of barely contained hatred, "Look at her! Shes a Rid! Give me one reason we shouldn't shoot and be on our way..." There was a stirring amongst the rest of the group as he spoke, things spiraling downwards faster now.
"Because with your shooting you'd be more likely to hit the car," Symphony said sarcastically, "Also it would be quite rude."
Even though the attempt at light humor did its job of loosening some of the volatile tension that had begun to brew in the right quarters, Symphony knew it wouldn't last. A decision had to be made, and she couldn't speak to her superiors. Radio silence during ops, that was the rule. If a choice was going to be made it would have to come from her.
"We'll let you help load the boxes," she said to the woman, ignoring the scoffs and protests around her, so she addressed them, "We're better off with her where we can see her for now, the boxes need to be loaded and quickly even if we assume a patrol is on it's way." She stared hard at the other woman.
"We load the boxes first, my men will leave so I know they're safe, then...I'll hear you out, but you'd better make it quick."
Moves and counter moves...
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,904
Posted: 5/27/2022 at 10:59 PM
Post #6
It was far too early to be awake, before the dawn had broken on their twelfth birthday, but Runar was so excited, so energetic, she had to indulge him. They weren't supposed to be out here at this time but, well, Mamma was sick again so Pabbi had taken her into the city. Runar reasoned that they weren't getting many presents this year so they had the right to go out and see the lights.
"What do you think they are?" he asked her as they sat, perched, on the edge of a small ravine.
And she looked up at the flowing blue-green lights in the sky, and she thought long and hard about it. As hard as her twelve year-old brain could possibly think. "Lights," she answered lamely. "You know, how rainbows work. Light refracting and stuff like that. It's gotta be, or a reflection."
"You're thinking too hard," he said, shaking his head of too-long blond hair. "They're spirits."
At the affirmation and the lack of bullets in her chest, Elsa figured it was going pretty well so far. She flashed the leader - Cy, one of the men had called her - another blindingly bright smile, trying to convey that she wasn't a threat.
Not an immediate one, anyhow.
"I do despise that word. 'Rid'. Though I suppose that's the intended reaction," she mused quietly as she moved to the boxes and started to help load them into the vehicle. It didn't go unnoticed how the others seemed to avoid any contact with her, as if she were flea-ridden or something of the sort. If she were in a cattier mood, she might remark that it wasn't her nation that made people sick. But she knew this was not the situation for such a comment and kept her mouth shut.
Once the boxes were all loaded, she turned towards the leader again and nodded. "Before we proceed, I would have you know I am here at great personal risk. I appreciate the civility I've been shown, and I hope you take note of that which I show you in return. That being said, you may call me Spirit."
And with that, she extended her hand.
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 5/31/2022 at 12:34 AM
Post #7
The tension hadn't completely dissipated, but Symphony was at least confident that no one was going to die tonight, and that was something at least. She knew there was no way to dispel the feelings her compatriots had towards this Ceridian woman. They all suffered in one way or another from the war between the nations, and she was noexception, so her own feelings were vastly conflicted. She was intrigued, there was no doubt about that, but her stomach was in knots as she struggled to figure out what was going to happen with this situation.
Loading the boxes of supplies was swift and efficient, despite the fact that everyone avoided the Ceridian woman as much as possible. No one spoke, but that was perhaps for the best, Symphony figured. She just focused on moving the boxes to the van, her tone arm muscles moving in fluid motion. She had a very curvy figure, but she was fit. Most people just saw her as a tech person, but she took pride in her surprising athleticism. It was hard to run from patrols if you were out of shape.
As soon as the van was fully loaded, Symphony signaled all her men to get into the car and leave. Some of them started to protest but she fixed them with a hard look, a look that said Trust me, I got this, and they all conceded as they got into the car and pulled out of the alley. Despite her own trepidation, she breathed a sigh of relief as the vehicle pulled out of sight. No matter what happened now between her and this woman, her men were safe, and that was what mattered to her.
Though Symphony heard what the woman was saying to her with perfect clarity, her hazel green eyes stayed focused on the end of the alley. She was trying to maintain a level of aloofness and indifference, but of course...she couldn't maintain that long.
"Great personal risk, huh?" she said suddenly, eyes darting straight to the women's face, her expression still controlled even if her voice betrayed some of her emotion, "Your people are the ones that brought risk to our society and our lives, so I personally don't care how you feel about being here."
Deep breath, she thought to herself, quickly taking her own advice as she forced herself back to neutral.
"However," she began, trying to pull it back, "I am grateful for the shared restraint on your part. You have my curiosity, but you're going to have to do better than that if we're going to move forward." She stared at the hand extended in front of her, wrestling with feelings she wished she could banish, but eventually her diplomatic side asserted itself.
"I'm Cyber," she replied, reaching out to take Spirit's hand, "But you can call me, Cy."
Edited By Britters on 5/31/2022 at 9:31 AM.
Creativity
Level 72
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Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,904
Posted: 5/31/2022 at 12:11 PM
Post #8
As much as she tried not to think about the war, Elsa often found the memories floating to the forefront of her mind. She had no love for Ceridia - no patriotism or pride in the victory over Arcwood. As far as she was concerned, Ceridia would have been entirely capable of its own technological advancements without the oh-so-precious mineral that thousands of lives were lost over.
She was young and stupid before the war, believing in her nation and the power of progress. Runar would tell her she was a pioneer of the next generation of inventions - 'it's how your mind works' - but to this day, she couldn't say she'd ever engineered something that brought any sort of positivity into the world.
At Cyber's remark, Elsa felt herself bristle. Her blood felt altogether too hot, her jaw clenched and eye narrowed as she appraised the woman and wondered what the consequences would be if she bit back. Debating whether they were worth it.
How dare this woman imply that Arcwood was the only victim of the war.
She swept back her hair, exposing her deformity, and leaned in as close as she dared. "You say 'your people' as if you speak to a member of the Ceridian council, which I assure you, you don't. Prior to the war, my family wanted nothing more than to raise sheep and goats on the countryside, heavens forbid one of us try to make something of ourselves. There are innocent people in Ceridia, innocent lives lost on both sides of the war, lest you forget." She leaned back again and set her hair back in place.
"Now, we don't have to get along, but I could be a very valuable ally to your cause. Ever heard of the RF-22 airship? Who do you think designed the camouflage ability? My son could very well die if I don't do something, and seeing as my council does nothing to aid us, I am out on a limb here. How many more lives would you lose to arrogance, Cyber?"
Britters
Level 72
The Eggstraordinaire
Joined: 8/25/2014
Threads: 167
Posts: 2,041
Posted: 6/7/2022 at 1:07 AM
Post #9
No one ever wins in a war. Symphony remembered her father telling her that after their nation announced that Arcwood had been attacked and they would have to fight for their freedom. She remembered watching her father walk out the door, both of her brothers right behind them. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to join them, but she was only seventeen at the time, so she had no choice but to stay at home with her mother.
Fear for the safety of her loved ones, not to mention the fate of her entire nation, kept Symphony continuously on edge, and she knew she wasn't the only one. It was difficult to get any concrete news on how the fighting was going, because of the Ceridian technology jamming much of their media signals. Of course, she found ways to hack her way past some of that, though towards the end she almost wished she had never figured it out...
In the end, Arcwood lost, after much bloodshed and destruction of their society, and Symphony lost three huge pieces of her heart and soul. Nothing compared to finding out her father and brothers had perished, except perhaps being the one to have to break it to her mother. As far as she was concerned, no one should ever have to be out through that.
With the memory of the light draining from her mother's face, the spirit draining out of her eyes, Symphony faced Spirit with a firmly stoic demeanor. She would not show her emotions to this woman...Spirit didn't deserve to know her personal thoughts. Even the sight of the women's missing eyes hardly made her flinch, though her eyes of course focused there for a moment.
Clearly Spirit had her own stories, but it didn't make Symphony feel any less resolved about her own emotions and position in this situation.
"If all you got from what I said was arrogance," she began, her tone icy but as professional as she could muster, "Then perhaps you are not as smart as I've given you credit for..." Her tanned arms folded casually across her chest as she considered everything she had heard, maintaining her cool, authoritative vibe as best she could.
"Also, just for the record, I'm quite familiar with your camouflage tech," she informed Spirit, "Its obvious we could stand here and continue to throw jabs at each other, for something that neither of us had control over, but that seems rather counterproductive." She took a deep breath, knowing the time for decision was now or never.
"So...lets get out of here and see what happens." A flash of a coy smile, an attempt to diffuse tension, and then she climbed into the van.
No one ever wins in a war...but fighting for the love of her nation, of her people, would never stop for Symphony.
Creativity
Level 72
Cutely Creative
Joined: 3/4/2013
Threads: 255
Posts: 5,904
Posted: 6/7/2022 at 7:52 AM
Post #10
Oftentimes in the dark or lonely moments, Elsa would remember the day everything fell apart. She'd feel the confusion as she opened the door to the Ceridian soldiers, her hands still wet from where she'd been flinging water in her twin's direction and ribbing him for being a 'filthy guy' and 'in desperate need of a shower' as they cleaned the dishes. He'd been telling her about a girl he met, Alora - 'I've never met anyone like her, Elsie. She's smart, funny, and she laughs at all of my horrible jokes. She thinks the sky is a gift and the streams are miracles.'
And Elsa couldn't ever find it in herself to think those things, to attribute natural phenomenons like skies and rivers to anything but what made sense. But she was happy for him. She was still smiling when she opened the door, but then the thin mouths of the soldiers and the panicked cry of her mother in the background registered, and she was being held against the wall, arms pinned behind her back, and... Well. All she could do was sit there and let them take her.
She could still remember Runar rushing into the room, his jaw set, rearing back and delivering a well-aimed blow to one of the soldier's faces. It was incredible he hadn't been arrested on the spot, she remembered thinking.
"Arrogance is how it reads to me, yes, when you say that my people caused such great distress for yours - which I am not denying - that our own distresses from the war mean nothing."
Elsa took a deep breath to say more, perhaps rant about how insensitive what Cyber had said really was, but she paused, forced herself to slow down, and remember the reason why she was doing this in the first place. The bright blue eyes waiting for her in Ceridia, the wobbly smile. She let the breath out.
"I don't like you, Cyber. And quite frankly, I'm not sure I ever will. I think the differences between us are too great and that's something that people like you will never be able to get past. But I agree, we shouldn't be dawdling here. We have things to discuss, right? Firstly, if you could find some way to disable tracking in my Communicator, that would be lovely," she said, giving her left wrist a little shake for emphasis.
-
It was with no small amount of disgust that Noa tore her heels off and stomped into the bathroom to scrub her face of all of the cosmetics. 'Blind date'. She hated the term, hated Vera for setting her up on one in the first place. The guy was at least twice her age, with a bald patch on the top of his head, and while that in and of itself wasn't a dealbreaker, the way he spoke about worms as if they were a gift to mankind, the way he insisted she have another drink even after she'd said she was done, and seemed to zone out every time she tried to talk about herself definitely were.
She'd been on countless dates with countless guys, at this point it was just embarrassing. They were either selfish jerks who would only talk about themselves or they were nervous wrecks who would flinch everytime she got too close, as if there was visible blood on her hands.
It was her status, and the way it seemed to affect her dates, that got her to finally consider Vera's suggestion of a blind date. 'He'll have no idea who you are, General. Trust me, I grew up with this guy. He's alright.'
Spoiler alert, he was not alright.
Noa leaned on the sink, breathing heavily and glaring into the mirror, her own hazel eyes challenging her. Perhaps romance just wasn't for her. It wasn't written in her story. She'd tried, over and over again, with no success, and she once heard that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. With a sigh, she let her head hang, hair curtaining her face and shielding herself from her shame.
Romance felt like battle, with her and her date trading pokes and prods like swords, trying to find the other's weak spot. Trying to figure out if they were evenly matched or not. At odds with each other, untrusting, passing judgments and forming opinions like they were loading the barrel of a gun.
The difference was, she knew her way around battle.
Edited By Creativity on 6/7/2022 at 7:16 PM.
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