July Arrivals

[sixthiteration]

WHO: Arrivals
WHERE: The fountain park
WHEN: July 1, 12:00 PM
OPEN TO: ALL
WARNINGS: N/A
STATUS: CLOSED

---

In the snug circle of an old park, a fountain sits burbling beneath a broad, midday sky.

Once-neat paving stones have buckled and cracked from the slow nudge of wayward roots. Benches stand covered in lichen and rust. Three paths push into the underbrush like the spokes on a wheel, the encroaching forest creating lush tunnels through the dark.

But the fountain stands singular and pristine, brightly splashing in open rebellion of the deep, muffled sounds of a place long ago gone to seed. A vibration hums through the ground, there and quickly gone, and the water in the fountain trembles, lapping against the high walls of its cool, pale reservoir.

It is the first of July.

It is precisely twelve o'clock in the afternoon.

Comments

[andrend]

Ren wants nothing more than to feel in control. This entire situation has sent him into a spiral, a tailspin he can't correct, and he's unsteady on his own feet thanks to all the shit that has gone down in the past cycle for him. Or at least what feels like the past cycle. Time had to have passed more than that to heal the bowcaster wound that had ripped into his side. Even the lightsaber slash across his face and shoulder no longer burned. It only felt hot and uncomfortable.

He avoids disagreeing with her. He won't even actually deny her the chance at her own turn as long as it doesn't interfere with getting his answers. And he doesn't doubt she is capable. The fact that she's a woman has no play into how capable she is or isn't for him.

"You are welcome to it as long as I can get into their minds before or after." Even after wouldn't bother him. Sometimes minds were easier to pick through after a good round of pain and torture, or a hearty beat down. And with the force's call so weak he might actually need the help.

He stops when the path of vines and branches opens to a view, hesitant to continue onward unarmed for only a moment before stepping out of her way. The architecture is strange and foreign and only further convinces him they're on the outer rim. It does not look promising.

"What the Hoth."

[womanofvalue]

She's following along, but her mind is still fixated on what he's just said. She's paying no mind to his progress until she nearly comes to a tripping stop when suddenly he's no longer moving. "I'm sorry," she says, aware that she's staring at a strange structure in the middle of nowhere after being half-drowned in a fountain. "Did you just say into their minds?"

That shouldn't be possible and yet, this day is becoming a lesson in the impossible. "Was there some sort of procedure done on you? Did someone do this to you?"

[andrend]

For half a second, Ren doesn't follow her thought process. It doesn't occur to him that he used the wrong words until her words sink in. He turns to face her, watching her intently while considering his response. He could claim to be a Jedi, but he wasn't. For a moment he's just standing there staring at her a little too close.

"No one did anything to me beyond stranding me in this place." And healing his wounds. He reaches a hand briefly to his side, checking again just to be sure, but it still comes away clear. His clothes are wet but not with blood. "I was injured. Someone cleaned my wounds. I have no memory of that or being moved, and no way of telling how many days have passed or how far we traveled to get here." Maybe he should have mentioned that he felt weaker, that his connection to the force was cut down to barely a sliver but that would be an admittance of weakness that could have nothing to do with the rest of the clues available to them.

"I can force my way into their minds if they refuse to cooperate with more traditional methods of questioning."

[womanofvalue]

"Let's save that for a last possible resort," Peggy insists, because the thought of forcing someone to divulge information isn't what sets her at unrest. It's the thought that he can force his way into someone's mind, unless he means that in a metaphorical way, and she's not keen on anything that science can't explain.

It is the reason she's here, after all, or so she suspects. "What I don't understand is that there doesn't seem to be any sort of connecting thread. I have my fair share of people who disagree with me," she says, a polite spin on 'enemies', "but I'm from Los Angeles in 1947 and you're talking about invading people's minds, which isn't possible where I'm from."

[andrend]

"Which system is Los Angeles in?" That seemed the more relevant question. The numbers clearly weren't a system. Maybe they designated a vessel. In either case it isn't surprising she doesn't think the Force is real. Few people believed in the power of the Force, or the skills Force users had at their disposal. He actually turns to face her when he speaks this time.

"It is always possible. People only prefer to believe that it isn't because it sets their minds at ease." Those people were usually the sort with weak enough minds to invade. But Peggy seemed to just be ill informed rather than weak-minded. She had enough of a clear head on her shoulders to know what to do with herself in their current situation without descending into a panic and that earned her a few points of respect with Ren.

[womanofvalue]

"It's the Milky Way," is her immediate response, still too slack-jawed and surprised to do much more than stare at the man who talks about going into people's minds and other systems. This is far beyond her pay grade and she's not even sure where to begin. "I'm sorry, this is all a bit much," she clarifies, a hand on her hip. "Your implication is that you're not from the same system as myself. I have to assume you mean the solar system. Which, then, means we're from different galaxies."

And here she thought that commuting back and forth between New York and LA would have been quite the hike, if she'd decided to both make the trip and try something with Daniel.

[andrend]

The name is unfamiliar. It doesn't even sound like a real system in his mind, but the notion of it being another galaxy is disconcerting. The galaxy he knew was so large on its own, with so many systems contained within it. Even Rishi Maze, the next closest galaxy, was far enough away that Ren had not imagined travelling to it.

He gives her a moment while she talks it out and glances skyward. Everything would be easier if he could see the stars. At least then maybe he could catch a glimpse of something familiar.

When she stops talking he focuses his attention back on her more directly.

"Fine. We'll stick to simpler topics." He was at last making an effort in his mind to not be combative though it didn't help his tone. He avoided using the term 'feeble minded' at least. How could she be so unaware of people coming from multiple systems? How far had he been dragged across the universe, and from where and why had they grabbed this woman?

"Details can be discussed later. What direction do you want to take this search?"

[womanofvalue]

It's like she's back in the New York office. Her hands fall to her hips out of habit, but she refrains from snapping in his face or doing something brash. She's had to learn the importance of patience and waiting, allowing people to think they have the upper hand (or smarts, in this case) while she simply continues on beneath the grid. "It depends on how quickly we think we can find an exit," she says. "Otherwise, fresh water is going to be a problem if we don't find any."

[andrend]

"The fountain is unsanitary, but it could well be a source assuming it doesn't drain out." Useful, even if it failed to be so as a means of escape. He glances at the vegetation around them and then the buildings. The whole place screamed a lack of civilization and development the likes of which he had only seen on lesser moons and the reaches.

He started to speak again when a sudden piercing assault on his eardrums ripped through the valley, echoing off cliff-sides and buildings and drawing a flinch from Ren's composure and a stutter to all of his thought processes.

"Are we under attack?" He yelled thee query, not covering his ears but scanning the sky. Was this an outpost or training ground and he had somehow missed the signs? He saw no blaster damage or evidence of warfare or routines.

[womanofvalue]

She's opening her mouth to say that if they could find a fire source, they could boil off the water, but that's impossible as she claps her hands over her ears, wincing as old memories come flooding back. Her brain is already telling her to find shelter in a station somewhere along the tube, but that doesn't seem to be an option here.

"Air raid!" she shouts, but a glance to the sky yields nothing. "It must be something! People don't set off alarms like that for no reason at all."

[andrend]

The siren is less familiar an alert to Ren, but he can guess at the reasons such an alert would be triggered. Whatever the reason, it is rarely good news when an alarm goes off.

He reaches again for the saber hilt no longer at his waist and growls under his breath in frustration. His eyes follow hers to the sky, but there are no ships or even signs of a ship or fight in the sky.

He gestures forward, partially deafened by the sound.

"We need to find an open building." Or break into one. Even if the siren was not for something they could duck into safety from, walls would at least provide some buffering against the sound.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy tries to keep one hand over her ear in order to block out the sounds, trying to fight the onslaught of memories that want to accost her. They're there at the edges, but she refuses to let them overwhelm her, especially as she squints and seeks out where the path leads.

"There," she shouts. "There, I think I see something, like a door of a building," she says, trying to gaze through the trees.

[andrend]

Ren shoves his way through the brush and branches in the direction of her gaze. He grits his teeth in irritation at the sound but pushes onward regardless, heading for the building she had spotted. Unlike Peggy, Ren has no memories to accost him, only frustration and irritation with their situation and an undercurrent of curiosity.

He doesn't even bother trying to figure out what the building is. They can figure that out later. What he didn't expect is the sudden gusting wind that hits the moment they escape the cover of the bushes. Winds fast enough to knock Ren back a couple steps right off the bat.

He plants his feet, stubbornly trying to fight the forces of nature for a moment before grabbing the nearest sturdy looking object and gripping tightly.

"That answers one question." And creates about 20 more, the siren fighting the growing sound of the wind for worst assault on his ears. It makes perfect sense to Ren that the wind could be cause for a siren. Plenty of planets have severe weather their populations get warnings for. Sand and Snow storms in particular come to mind.

Uncharacteristically, Ren actually checks to see how Peggy is fairing against the increasingly violent wind. It isn't making visibility easy, throwing his hair into his eyes in a series of stinging whips.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy winces as soon as the gale force winds descend on them, making the trip that much harder. She'd like to think that the sirens are particularly for this and not some other disaster on its way, but it still doesn't bode well when she has to struggle through. She keeps working her way, finding that the shoes she's been equipped with have better traction than her typical ones, though the pack on her back isn't helping.

"Maybe we should go with the wind!" she suggests.

[andrend]

She has a point. With the strength of the sudden gales, it hardly made sense to keep trying to fight the direction the wind is pushing them. Logically, Ren is sure the wind is a natural force that isn't actually actively trying to direct them. But the idea of being forced along by anything, nature included, doesn't sit well.

He digs his heels in and grabs her arm without asking. She likely doesn't need the help, but it would be easy to find themselves thrown to the ground with the right gust from the wrong angle.

"Keep your head down." He has no interest in being blinded by the storm, and he continues to dig in his heels even while moving with the wind, his head ducked down with only brief glances toward the buildings around them to get his bearing.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy lets out a sharp cry when he pulls on her arm without her needing any help or asking for it, but this sudden windstorm doesn't exactly leave much room for bickering. She shoots him a sharp glare, but does as he says as she moves along with the push of the wind.

"I'm hardly a ragdoll!" she snaps at him. "I won't simply float away if you let go!"

[andrend]

Ren nearly disregards her protest entirely. He didn't expect her to float away, but he did intend to try and get her to the same destination. Though with the direction and force of the wind it seems their options were limited to the building at their front.

He lets go of her shortly after her protest just to have his hands free. Getting a door open against the winds at their back was either going to take a fair amount of strength or end in doors broken inward. The ones on the building don't look the type to slide to the sides or up.

Instead of focusing on pulling her, he tries to focus on what little force has been left to him and tugs at the doors before they even reach them, causing them to rattle and shake outward instead of inward as the wind should move them.

"Good. I need more than a ragdoll if we intend to get into the building." The smarter solution would be to go around the back and try for another door or take shelter on the lee side, but it's too hard to predict whether the wind will remain consistent. It could grow stronger or change direction and then they would be deeper into the trouble of it.

[womanofvalue]

She manages to get there just slightly behind him, an unavoidable thing given how long his legs are compared to hers. When she arrives with him, she presses her shoulder to the building as if it will somehow help to ground her, though she's not entirely sure that she'll ever be that steady.

"Here," she says, trying to get a hold of one of the handles. "On three? We need to get inside," she says, though she knows that he already knows this. It's stating the obvious, quite clearly, but right now, she'll take the obvious as her attention is on getting out of this awful wind.

[andrend]

He nods his agreement, bracing one arm on the side of the door fram and the other on a handle. With a little extra force and their efforts the should be able to get the doors open. And if they could manage that he could hold them open, at least long enough for them to get inside the building.

Ren reaches for every bit of the force he can manage to tug at and manages a somewhat strained countdown.

"One. Two-" He tightens his grip on the handles with the force, breathing steadily out and ignoring the buffeting wind around them. "Three." And as strong a pull as possible, given the circumstances.

[womanofvalue]

Peggy does her best to help and she'd like to think that between them, they've put enough effort in to truly get it moving. She lets out a sharp sound when the door seems to give all of a sudden, like it buckles, and allows them the opportunity to hurry inside. "Quick," she shouts, reaching out this time to grab at his hand.

"In here," she coaxes, before something else can befall them.