I'm headed straight for the castle

[our_promise]

WHO: Natalia
WHERE: The Bunker, then the Southern Village
WHEN: Sept 22
OPEN TO: Asch, then All
WARNINGS: TBD

---

The bunker

for Asch

She had escaped Eldrant with the others, she knew. That had been hours ago. So why did she suddenly feel as though she'd been dumped into the ocean under a pile of debris? Natalia forced her eyes open as the liquid began to drain from her containment tube. It didn't sting like sea water, and the vague shapes she could make out nearby didn't make any sense. Finally she felt the water level just past the top of her head. Squeezing her eyes shut again and tilting her head she pushed up with her whole body, gasping for a breath of air.

It wasn't until the water was at her ankles that, back against the glass, she began to wonder about her surroundings again. She was in some kind of cage, and from what little she could see that was inside of another kind of cage. A research facility, maybe? She stood up straight, ran fingers through her hair, wrung out and straightened her odd new clothes as best she could, then stood with her chin raised. Her voice didn't waver.

"Hello? Is there anyone there? Release me at once."

SOUTHERN VILLAGE

OTA

Natalia wandered through the more densely populated southern village, looking for any signs of intelligent life. It didn't matter to her if that life was large, small, oddly shaped or objectively terrifying. She intended to speak to any and everyone who had arrived here the same way that she did.

Of course Asch had explained things to her, even showed her around town a little bit. But she wanted to hear more from the people who lived here. She had questions Asch couldn't answer, questions she wanted multiple responses to. And beyond that, this village was unfamiliar. Everything was unfamiliar, and she wanted to get a handle on it herself. Second-hand explanations could only do so much.

Having changed into the spare set of clothes from her pack Natalia's navy blue scrubs were dry and fresh, but her damp hair might give her away as a newcomer. She carried herself straight and proper as a princess should, hands still at her sides. It was how she had been trained to walk for public appearances, and it had become a daily habit.

"Excuse me," she began, approaching the first person she came upon. "Might I have a moment of your time?"

Comments

[fooloftheking]

"Lucky you. There's not much I can learn to do the same thing that I had before," he admits, frustration lacing his own tones at that.

"You got normal hospitals where you're from?"

[our_promise]

"Yes, of course. Seventh fonons are difficult and dangerous to control." Of course, if he doesn't know about fonons he probably doesn't know what she's talking about.

"What could you do?"

[fooloftheking]

"Fair enough. So you could learn standard medical, so there's that." He figures if it's that important to her, she can probably figure it out.

He considers that for a moment before he shrugged. "I could control metal. At least that's the most tangible thing I've noticed I can't do anymore."

[our_promise]

She nods. That's her plan. It will just take some time. She's never had to learn more than the most basic first aid, and her healing was one of the main reasons Luke allowed her to travel with them. That and the blackmail, of course.

"I've never heard of a power like that," she mused with real interest. "There are so many potential applications... It's a pity you can't show me."

[fooloftheking]

"I know some basics, but I'm betting you know them as well. Had to tend to some of our own, not to mention parts of my life were when modern hospitals and such were just not a thing."

Which is the truth, though glosses over so much of his past.

"I agree. A bit of metal, and I could haul just about anything, move it to better locations. Whatever is needed, but I'm guessing that's why they took it, and yours, and others. They don't want this to be easy on us."

[our_promise]

"Yes, about that. Do you know if any progress is being made as to why we were brought here?" Asch didn't know, but he was never the most social child. Maybe he just hadn't asked the right questions.

[fooloftheking]

He shakes his head, looking a bit frustrated at that himself. "I havn't been here that long, but from those I've talked to, most don't seem to have answers. You heard anything?"

[our_promise]

She sighs and shakes her head.

"I've heard much the same, but I thought perhaps he hadn't spoken to the right people yet."