ic A Walk in the Park (IC)

[Raveled]

Blue Jay knelt by Fleur as the sole remaining door opened, and a gangplank emerged and tried to drop to the ground. Due to the distance and the angle, though, it fell short by a good ten feet. That didn't seem to discourage the pirates, as they charged readily down the narrow walkway, slicing the air with their blades and firing blasters into the air as they came.

Jay breathed in, breathed out, and loosed. Breath in, loose, breath out, loose. It was a rhythm, a mechanical process, and as the arrows cut through the air they hit pirates in the knee, in the gut, on the weapon arm or right between the eyes. The archer was careful to select the blunt setting to her arrows every single time but the awkward heads weren't stopping her arrows from striking true.

Not that the young heroine's volleys were the only attacks being weathered by the pirates. Beeatriz and Curlbee were interpreting Fleur's orders a mite loosely, swooping in to grab pirates that fell off the walkway and carrying them for a quick buzz of the treetops at break-neck speeds, before dropping them more-or-less gently in a high tree. The headlong charge was expertly blunted, severed, and corralled back into the ship where the remaining pirates were simply cowering.

Jay reached for another arrow, groped without success, and twisted her neck to look and see the empty quiver. She swore and stood, rolling her shoulders and eying the ship and the single open door. "Do we try a rush of our own," she asked Fleur. The younger woman wasn't relishing going into the ship and attacking so many desperate pirates in close quarters, but no other good options presented themselves.

[Electra]

Stesha shook her head, watching the ship intently. "There's no purpose, we've got nothing but time," she pointed out. "Without their power core, that ship won't be doing much of anything, and the bees can run down any escape pods that try to launch." Around them, the treebound pirates were quickly disappearing from the trees, their fearful or angry cries growing abruptly silent as they were swallowed up by the foliage. "They're stranded far from home, leaderless, and probably low on food and basic supplies, given what we've been hearing from them. Even if they won't surrender as a group, I'm sure we'll start seeing them straggle out quickly enough." 

 

One of the little bees flew by overhead, dropping something into Stesha's hands. "Thank you, Beezus!" she called, even as she hefted the megaphone that served as Sanctuary's version of a  PA system when Gabriel wasn't around. Turning it on, she stood outside of demonstrated blaster range and addressed the pirate ship. "Attention, pirate crew!" she called in an authoritative voice. "Your ship is disabled, and you are fully surrounded. Your captain has abandoned you on a world that's not your own, in a dimension that is not your own. If you've seen the map of this world, you may already know that the habitable area of this world is less than a hundred square miles, and all of it is patrolled by giant fire-breathing bees. There is nowhere for you to go from here, and no reason to continue fighting. If you put down your weapons and surrender, you will be treated with mercy and not harmed. We will not tolerate piracy, but we have no wish to hurt you." Lowering the megaphone, she stood back to wait, 

 

As Blue Jay stood and waited too, her experienced eyes caught motion on the forest floor. Tiny vine tendrils snaked across the hummous and towards her feet, each one bearing an arrow back to its owner. That was the nice thing about stun arrows, arrows that bounced rather than stuck were quite a bit easier to retrieve. 

[Raveled]

Blue Jay wasn't used to seeing the environment return her ammo to her, but it was a welcome change. She collected the arrows, double-checking that the shafts were still straight and the heads were still on tight, then hunkered down next to Fleur once again to await the next charge.

 

In time, it came, and it was driven back again. A third charge, very ragged, followed some time after that. That seemed to be all the fight the pirates had in them, because soon after the remaining crew marched out of the ship, holding their hands in the air in surrender.

 

It was a short step through a flower to get back to the settlement, and then Blue Jay and the bees watched over the pirates in an impromptu holding pen while Fleur contacted the authorities on Earth-Prime. It was nearing dinner when the last of the alien marauders had filed through another tree-portal, and had been taken away to be dealt with by whoever dealt with space bandits from another dimension.

 

Blue Jay stowed her bow and relaxed, inhaling deeply and looking around the village. It was much quieter on Sanctuary than on the Earth that Claremont inhabited. It felt more like home, like the home Tona had left behind to go to Claremont. She caught sight of Stesha and walked over, her eyes watching some of the huge bees buzzing over the treetops. "Stesha," she said. "I... when you asked where I came from, earlier. I didn't tell you." She paused and had to swallow before she could continue. "I'm from the Terminus."

[Electra]

Stesha was just finishing her work when Tona came over, ripening the fruits on a grove of avocado trees so that the food stores used on the hungry prisoners could be quickly replenished. She blinked at the girl's words, clearly surprised for a moment before her expression turned to one of sympathy. "I'm very sorry to hear that," she told Tona sincerely. "I've known people who came from there or spent time there. It must be a very difficult place to live. Have you moved permanently to Prime, then?" She wondered how Tona had managed to escape the grip of the Terminus when so few did, but it seemed impolite to ask. 

[Raveled]

Tona frowned at the question. "Well I... I'm going to sch-- I'm living on Earth. I'm not living in the Terminus now." She didn't want to imagine the dangers of someone who casually traveled back and forth between any Earth and the realm of Omega. "But I'm going back. I... My family is back there." She paused and took a deep breath before popping the big question. "I want to bring them back to Earth. All... all two thousand people that I left behind. But I can barely adapt to life on Earth and I have a lot of help. I think they'd have a lot better life on Sanctuary."

Well there it was, and there was no taking the idea back. "They wouldn't be a liability. My world doesn't have any of the technologies that this one does -- I'd never seen computers, cell phones, or cars before coming to your Earth. They can hunt, and farm, and make things. And... and, that's pretty much all I have to say. I can't give you anything, but I would do anything to get my people a good home."

[Electra]

Stesha pursed her lips and tipped her head back for a moment, but it seemed more as though she were contemplating logistics than considering a refusal. "It's certainly the right time of year for it," she remarked, looking up at the sky. "It's just starting to get warm, and we'll be able to put in some more acres of crops. Two thousand won't fit into the village, but we've got the sod houses on the green belt with wells and privies already dug. We'd have to run it by the League because it's an interdicted dimension, but that's really just a formality since it only tangentially involves Earth Prime, and I can get Gabe and GK to back me up if needs be. Anything to get more people away from the Terminus, right?" 

 

She tilted her face level again, focusing on Tona. "It's up to them, really. Leaving a world, even a bad world, isn't a small step. We can give them a place, but do you think they would come if you asked them? And would you be able to get them together? Missions to the Terminus are very dangerous. We'd have to go quick and get out quietly, or we'd risk something following us home." 

[Raveled]

Tona felt a powerful wave of emotions sweep over and through her, leaving her weak at the knees for a moment. Stesha hasn't hesitated, hadn't tried to hem her answer in any way; she'd just accepted the burden a few thousand more lives on her little space of green, and just like that the young girl's dream of saving her people, saving the history and culture of her world, took a huge step forward towards being a reality. She sniffed and realized, abruptly, that she was crying!

 

Tona lifted a hand to wipe away the tears. "I'm... I'm sorry," she said, her voice wavering. "It's just that... I always knew I had to go back, had to try and save them. But even if I got everyone, where would I take them? I couldn't just drop them in the city. And then... and then I came here, and I saw this world and, and it was like being home again. And I thought if everyone could just be here it would be." She choked off as her voice broke and she buried her face in her hands, embarrassed to break down in front of Stesha. "Je suis désolé, j'ai besoin... I just need a minute."

[Electra]

"Don't worry, it's going to be all right," Stesha assured the girl, stepping forward to give her a hug. At the same time, she swept them both back to her leafy cottage, away from any curious onlookers in the village. "There's always room for more, and if there isn't, we'll make room. It's good that people from your world already know how to live on a world like this, that's less of a shock to deal with." She smiled a little bit. "Well, aside from the bees. But I'm sure both sides will be able to adapt." She patted Tona's shoulder, then went to put the electric kettle on to boil. "You just make yourself comfortable here for a few minutes while I go collect my daughter," she suggested kindly, then disappeared to let Tona compose herself. 

[Raveled]

The hug was welcome, even if Tona wasn't used to them. She watched the kettle boil, trying to filter through the welter of emotions she was feeling. She was embarrassed at herself for the emotional outburst, doubly so because Stesha was being so gracious already; Tona tried to be in more control of herself than that. She simply hadn't been expecting Stesha to be so welcoming of such a huge burden on top of everything else.

And that brought back the feelings of elation. A home, a home for her family and everyone else she had left behind in the Terminus! She could almost picture it, not a abstract image of bringing a few people to Claremont or Freedom City, but bringing everyone here, to Sanctuary! Forests to hunt in, houses to live in, fields to till. It was almost literally a dream come true. Yes, she still had to return to the Terminus and bring her people back here, but at least she finally had an end for them in mind, a goal, a place to take them! It was an exhilarating feeling.

She was engrossed in her thoughts, so she almost didn't notice when Valut stuck her head in. "Hello! Um." The alien glanced around before edging inside. "Is... someone told me this was Fleur de Joie's house?"

Tona eyed the other woman. "She went to go get her daughter," she said. "Are you alright? Your room on the spaceship kind of crashed."

Valut sighed. "Yeah, I saw that. It's okay. The plants pretty much survived so I can replant them."

Tona blinked, confused. "So you're staying, then? You're not going back to Earth, uh, Prime?"

Valut took a seat near Tona, shaking her head. "No. I told my story to the folks from the Freedom League, and they said that since I was working for the pirates under duress I could stay on Sanctuary. If Fleur agrees."

Edited May 28, 2013 by Raveled

[Electra]

It wasn't more than a minute or two later that Fleur returned, sleepy daughter snuggled up against her shoulder. Amaryllis Lumins took after her mother very closely, from the shape and blue of her eyes to the brilliant new-grass green of her curly hair. She blinked unworriedly at the visitors, obviously used to seeing strangers come to visit, and put two fingers into her mouth. 

 

Stesha looked a little surprised at the new arrival, but recovered quickly. "Oh, Valut, I didn't realize you were still here. I thought you'd gone with the others." She settled Ammy into a comfy armchair, then went to the kitchenette and began pouring tea, adding a third mug to the counter. "Were you hoping to stay on, then? We could always use another trained botanist, provided you've cut your ties with the pirates." The words were entirely affable, but there was a core of resolve there that said Valut had best know where her loyalties lay before she made a decision. 

[Raveled]

Valut squirmed in her chosen seat. "Well I wasn't really with the pirates. I was just sort of... traveling in the same ship. I mean, you saw how those two treated me! I just wasn't cut out for being a pirate in space. And I told that to your Freedom League people... and someone suggested maybe I should stay here. So I though I'd ask you if I could."

Tona, for her part, was watching Amaryllis out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't sure what to do around a small child; she had never really had a childhood herself, and didn't think Stesha would appreciate her teaching Ammy the weak points in Omegadrone armor. The archer stuck her hands in her pockets, and pulled a length of yarn out of one. An idea struck her, and she moved to kneel down in front of the child's seat, tying the string into a loop. "Have you," she asked, "ever played Cat's Cradle?"

[Electra]

"You're welcome to stay here," Stesha told Valut, passing her a cup of tea. "But I'm a bit worried that it's not going to be anything like what you're used to. There is a small amount of technology here, plumbing and basic electricity, a few televisions and such, but it's a low-tech agrarian human society living alongside a colony of giant bees. There'll be plenty for you to do here, should you decide to stay, and no one is going to blame you for being forced to travel with the pirates. You may find it a very rewarding way to live. On the other hand, you can still apply for refugee status from the Freedom League and live on Earth Prime, which may end up being closer to what you're used to. 

 

"Casscratle?" Across the room, Ammy was very interested in what Tona was doing, though it quickly became obvious that the not-quite-two year old was in no way ready to take hold of the strings herself. She watched in fascination as Tona pulled the strings though, and put her own small hands into the loops several times, laughing gleefully when it all fell apart. 

[Raveled]

"Well you were nice enough to bring my module over from the crash site," Valut pointed out. "And... and there are plants in there I've been working on for years. A couple of decades, in one case! If I went back to Earth-Prime, I'd have to keep them in a greenhouse. I mean, I don't think anyone wants alien flowers from the Khanate muscling out native plants.

"And this place is really interesting, besides. I talked to some of the natives. An entire world devastated by war, and you're trying to bring it back? Imagine getting to rebuild the biosphere of a planet one plant at a time!" The alien woman's eyes went distant as she focused on the future, already planning successive generations of plant life. "You'd need something to create a foothold in the wastelands, to regenerate the earth. It'd have to be a good habitat for insect life, too, so the pollinators and aerators follow the spread of the plants. Then the second and old-growth plants would follow..." Valut blinked suddenly and came back to herself. "Sorry. But you see what I mean! This could be the work of a lifetime!"

Tona, meanwhile, was finding out that two-year-olds were not the most patient of audiences. She tried twice to recreate the complicated web of yarn, only for Amaryllis to stick her hand in the middle and ruin everything. It was impossible for her to stay mad at a cute child with a cute giggle, so instead she turned the tables around. "Okay," she said to Ammy, "hold your hands out, real stiff. Your fingers, too, just like that." The archer draped the yarn across her tiny fingers, and brought it back around to make another cross -- when Ammy clapped her hands and giggled, watching it all fall apart.

Tona smiled and picked up the yarn, bundling it away. "Okay then. What do you want to do, Ammy?"

[Electra]

It took some time to iron out the details with Valut, time in which Ammy seemed to want mostly to show Tona every toy she owned by dumping them in the young heroine's lap, but eventually Fleur agreed to help get the alien botanist settled in at the village and working on their gardens. More technological developments, Fleur warned, would have to wait for the people to be more settled and the money and material to become available. "It sounds like we'll be having a large influx of new settlers coming in soon," she told Valut while glancing over at Blue Jay, "so there's going to be plenty to keep everybody busy. I hope you don't mind working with bees." 

 

A couple of the women from the village came to collect Valut and take her to an empty cottage for the night. They seemed a little wary, as well they might, but Fleur's word that this was a friend to be treated hospitably was enough for them. Ammy started to fuss once all her toys were spread all over the living room, obviously up well past her bedtime. Stesha scooped her up and bounced her soothingly a few times. "Well, this ended up being a much longer project than I thought it would be," she admitted to Tona with a smile. "Ready to go home?" 

[Raveled]

Tona looked around the settlement, breathing deeply of the fresh air. There were no cars or airplanes on this world, no impossibly high buildings or words filtering through the air. Just sun, and green growing things, and people all mixed up in the middle of it.

"... Yes." She slowly began walking back to the field where she and Fleur had stepped through the flower and into this world. "I... thank you. Again. I don't know any words in any language to thank you enough. You... you're literally going to be saving my entire world."

Edited August 15, 2013 by Raveled