The Forge

[I think I am here.]

1 hour ago, Vargo Seldon said:

Finally he made a decision.  Regardless of his feelings, the city came first.  "Goodbye Alask," he said, creating a gateway, "I will return, but the city needs me."  The Ghostbloods need me, he thought, but Alask probably wouldn't understand that part.  

Alask turned to the sudden gateway Galvris had conjured. The city needed him, of course. Lena’s child needed her, and the city needed Galvris. Alask nodded sullenly, and turned to look at Warden and Eve.

“What about you all?” He said flatly. He felt an emptiness.

“Don’t you all have places to be?”

@Turtle373

@Silva

[+Sorana]

3 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

“What about you all?” He said flatly. He felt an emptiness.

Quote

*has the urge to hug Alask and tell him, that everything will turn our fine*

 

[Silva]

Quote

This took me much longer to write then it should have. And I'm still not fully happy with it...

Eve swallowed. Two more gone. So just...her, Warden, and Alask. She’d seen Alask share a look at Lena. There was something more to her story. A reason that justified her actions. But Galvris? She saw how he was torn.

Imagine that. A ridiculously powerful Invested man...feeling TORN. Maybe they weren’t all the same.

Either way, he was going too. To help the city he claimed. Eve turned the throwing star over in her left hand.

“After this, they’re going to need help again,” she said, speaking of the people, ignoring Alask’s question. “The guilds will try, but they won’t listen this time. Even opening the tunnels isn’t enough of an act of trust.”

Eve looked down. The next bit was going to be hard for her to say. A final admission of defeat. “We need to be alive for that. For after. We can’t fight this. We lack the brute force. The guilds got into this mess, now it’s their responsibility to clean it up. Without them…” she choked on her words. “We’ve got no way out. That I can think of.”

The emotional strain was written all over her face. “It’s not right or fair. But nothing is.” She sighed, hair falling into her face, covering eyes that were near tears. “I hate it. Down to my core. I feel like there has to be an alternative path. Yet...there isn’t. There is no way to be equal. No way to say the un-Invested are worth just as much.” Eve’s hand stilled, throwing star left between her index and middle fingers.

She looked up from the throwing star in her hand, still avoiding Alask's question.

“I was there,” she said, continuing to speak. “I went to PlasmaCore’s attempt to collect money from the guilds. To see if they might be a threat.

“It was showy. Too showy. Before any guild even had a chance to give funding,” she looked to Alask. “They can’t be alone. Someone is supporting them from behind the scenes. No one we know of. But the guilds won’t think about that. They’ll relish a victory if it comes and keep fighting with brute force if it doesn’t. And once it comes, they’re going to have problems again. Even this gesture of opening tunnels won’t satisfy the people of Alleycity.

“But no one else is thinking ahead to that day. They’re too busy with the present. A present situation with which we have no way to assist. The after effects, though, that we can help with." Her eyes moved back to the throwing star.

“If I had somewhere to be, do you think I’d be here?” she asked, finally responding to his question. “Do you think I’d show up on your doorstep, overexerted and dehydrated, and pass out?”

Edited June 14, 2019 by Silva
Fixed "Investitured" to "Invested"

[I think I am here.]

On 14/06/2019 at 7:07 AM, Silva said:

Her eyes moved back to the throwing star.

“If I had somewhere to be, do you think I’d be here?” she asked, finally responding to his question. “Do you think I’d show up on your doorstep, overexerted and dehydrated, and pass out?”

Alask shrugged and looked away. “It wouldn’t be the first time the Forge helped someone who left them right after.”

He mulled over Eve’s words. Bleak. No way to say that normal people were equal to Invested, and he could see how much she hated that.

But that talk of the guilds, he could understand. The guilds wouldn’t think about the long term. The Forge could. If they got the Forge running again, even if it took years, in the long term one would be helpful.

Alask clenched his fists. No. No. No. He would remake the Forge. Even if it took years, even if monsters tried to stop him, even if he had to do it rusting alone, he would do it, no matter what.

“I like that,” Shez said. “I like your Ambition. I feel... different.”

What had happened? The closest analogue Alask could make was a Radiant saying an oath. With determination he looked to Eve and Warden.

“You say there’s nothing we can do. Well, there’s one thing,” Alask walked to an old shelf he’d hidden away, taking out a messy collection of documents and papers, throwing them onto the desk. The cover page was titled:

Phoenix.

Edited June 15, 2019 by I think I am here.

[Silva]

30 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

“You say there’s nothing we can do. Well, there’s one thing,” Alask walked to an old shelf he’d hidden away, taking out a messy collection of documents and papers, throwing them onto the desk. The cover page was titled:

Phoenix.

The change in feeling was apparent on his face and reached down to the way he held himself. Whatever he'd pulled out was important, that was a given. Eve replaced the throwing star to an external pocket of her boot and stood up from the armrest she'd been perched on.

She moved over to the desk, letting her eyes focus on the title of the first page. Phoenix.

"You have got to be kidding me..." she said softly. 

Eve didn't move any of the papers. A combination of fear and awe had rooted her in her place.

"How do you have these in your possession?"

[xinoehp512]

Quote

Whenever anyone says that, it always catches my attention.

 

[I think I am here.]

12 hours ago, Silva said:

Eve didn't move any of the papers. A combination of fear and awe had rooted her in her place.

"How do you have these in your possession?"

“I made them,”

Alask replied, practically falling into a stool. He reached over and grabbed the documents and tapped them against the industrial-grade worktable, straightening them. The documents weren’t very thick, but each page was head to toe in text, excluding a few blurry pictures Alask had bartered off of the street markets.

“I made it when...” when I was trying to figure out what was wrong with me, he almost said. When I was trying to figure out how abominations and monsters made from jagged pieces of metal worked, so I could cure myself of the one inside of me. The Phoenix had seemed the logical place to start, and he’d only gotten as far as that before life got in the way.

“When I began getting curious,” Alask half-answered and flipped a page idly.

“Every sighting of the Phoenix, even those glimpses mountaineers saw in the Boundless Worlds, it’s all here. As far as I know, it’s the only compilation of knowledge on the thing that isn’t made and kept in a guild safe house.” In addition to sending money to his family from across the world, making the documents had been the major thing Alask had sunk his money in.

He laid the papers down, and turned it to face Eve, in case she wanted to read it.

@Silva

[+Sorana]

Lena opened the door and finally set Mart down again.

"There is some food on the table."

She told him quietly, pushed him towards the meal she had cooked earlier. He stayed at her side and so she walked over herself, sat down at the table and handed him something to eat. Tiredly he leaned sagged against the back of the chair, but started eating and she turned to Alask. He was reading some papers, but she ignored that for the moment.

"Let him stay here, please."

she asked, no almost begged him.

"Seb killed my grandmother and his school is rubble. Nothing more but a night or two until this is over and I've found a place for him to sleep."

Explanations. It should help, something in return. Her hands held on to the table, to cover their shivvering, although it didn't really work.

"I'll do anything, everything. Clean this place, try to be nice to people, fight whoever you want me to. Just let him sleep here."

And so easily, she had put herself at his mercy. Alask didn't like her, feared her, and she had just handed him the one thing she would give her life for. She hated the feeling, the helplessness, how much she depended on him and she knew it would all show on her face, that Alask would know, and Eve as well. So she looked down, searched for a bandage, something to sew her cuts shut, some pointment to help with the pain. Her fingers shook and she probably wasn't able to really care for the wound herself right now, but it was better to do something, than to sit here and wait for his decision, like a criminal standing in front of a judge.

@I think I am here.

@Silva

[I think I am here.]

25 minutes ago, Sorana said:

And so easily, she had put herself at his mercy. Alask didn't like her, feared her, and she had just handed him the one thing she would give her life for. She hated the feeling, the helplessness, how much she depended on him and she knew it would all show on her face, that Alask would know, and Eve as well. So she looked down, searched for a bandage, something to sew her cuts shut, some pointment to help with the pain. Her fingers shook and she probably wasn't able to really care for the wound herself right now, but it was better to do something, than to sit here and wait for his decision, like a criminal standing in front of a judge.

Just when Alask had turned the papers to Eve, Lena had returned, carrying a child.

“Shadows!” Alask said, recognising the kid’s face immediately, the same child from the photograph, Lena’s son. Immediately she went into explanation, asking him for her son to stay her, that she would do whatever as long as he could sleep here. Alask looked at the kid, who’d gone to the food that was on the table, eating. Despite the situation, Alask smiled. The kid was alright.

Looking back to Lena, he nodded immediately.

“Of course.”

He’d need to clean up a bed, but Alask wasn’t worried about that. The truth was, it didn’t matter what she promised or didn’t promise to do, he was going to help her and the son anyway. He moved closer and tried to find her pouch. It was clear from her shivers that there was no way she could be able to medicate herself so Alask asked. “What colour bottle do you need?” Because he didn’t know chemical names either.

Looking up, he saw someone from the street looking into the Forge, peering through the open door. Alask saw her and she ran away as soon as Alask looked. Quickly he went and closed the Forge, forcing the rusty door to lock. Looking back at Lena, the question was still apparent.

[+Sorana]

3 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

Looking back at Lena, the question was still apparent.

"Thank you."

Lena tried to fill a glass of water for Mart, spilled half of it on the table and then simply pushed the half-filled glass over to him. He was eating in silence, eyed Alask and Eve, but she figured, that was alright, he had never met them before.

Reluctantly she pushed her bag over to him.

"The brown, small glass box. Smear that one around the cuts and then wait for a few moments. Afterwards use the liquid in the blue bottle to clear the wound as good as possible. Then the needle and the thread, they should be in a little bag made of cloth. Use them to sew it shut. Then the jar with the orange cover. Apply that one above the seam. And finally wrap it with a bandage"

She considered to add a pain killer to the list but decided against it. Numbing the skin would have to do. Wincing she shrugged her jacket off.

"If possible start with that one. It's deep, but not long. The other one isn't half as deep, but about as lond as your hand.

[Silva]

Eve picked one up cautiously. The page was filled with text with every blank space used. She knew a little about the Phoenix from dipping into the history of Alleycity on occassion, but this was more than anything she could ever have imagined existing. Outside of the DA's labratories that is. 

The door creaked open. She looked up to find Lena holding a child. The woman's face was desperate. Eve turned away, moving her eyes to the papers once more. 

She listened to Alask and Lena talk quickly. The kid sat down at the table and began to eat. Lena brought him a glass of water before giving Alask some instructions.

The boy looked at her curiously and she gave him a reassuring smile back. Eve put down the papers. They could wait. She walked over to the kid.

"You okay?" she asked him gently. He looked fine, physically, but emotionally? She knew firsthand what seeing destruction and horrific things could do to a child.

@Sorana

[+Sorana]

1 hour ago, Silva said:

"You okay?" she asked him gently. He looked fine, physically, but emotionally? She knew firsthand what seeing destruction and horrific things could do to a child.

Mart looked up when the lady walked over to him. He set down the glass and nodded, then shook his head.

"Mum told Mr. Ryan, that the guilds are evacuating the city. Will my friends die?"

He asked her quietly and took another bite of the taco. Leaning forward he whispered.

"I don't like tacos."

Edited June 16, 2019 by Sorana

[Silva]

1 hour ago, Sorana said:

Mart looked up when the lady walked over to him. He set down the glass and nodded, then shook his head.

"Mum told Mr. Ryan, that the guilds are evacuating the city. Will my friends die?"

He asked her quietly and took another bite of the taco. Leaning forward he whispered.

"I don't like tacos."

"They'll be okay," she said, hoping it was true. "The guilds will do their best to save everyone." Their best wouldn't be enough though. The frying pan creatures could probably kill faster than they could evacuate.

Eve took a seat next to the kid. "Do you want me to try and find you something else to eat?"

[+Sorana]

13 minutes ago, Silva said:

"They'll be okay," she said, hoping it was true. "The guilds will do their best to save everyone." Their best wouldn't be enough though. The frying pan creatures could probably kill faster than they could evacuate.

Eve took a seat next to the kid. "Do you want me to try and find you something else to eat?"

Mart nodded relieved. His friends were safe.

"I'm Mart. Can I have some cake?"

He looked at the nice lady, clutched his stuffed animal with his hands. She seemed to like him, but there was this patch of blood on the ground and he avoided to look there. He knew that his mother was hurt, and so he held up his bear to the nice lady.

"He is hurt, same as my mum."

Sadly he touched the place where the arm of the bear had been ripped off.

[Silva]

21 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Mart nodded relieved. His friends were safe.

"I'm Mart. Can I have some cake?"

He looked at the nice lady, clutched his stuffed animal with his hands. She seemed to like him, but there was this patch of blood on the ground and he avoided to look there. He knew that his mother was hurt, and so he held up his bear to the nice lady.

"He is hurt, same as my mum."

Sadly he touched the place where the arm of the bear had been ripped off.

"I'm Eve," she said. She looked at the bear for a moment before turning to the cabinets. There wasn't anything in them that might appeal to Mart. 

Instead, Eve pulled out a small bar of chocolate from her pocket. She'd swiped it from the apartment before she'd left on a whim. 

"I don't think we have any cake here. Do you like chocolate?" she asked, setting it down in front of him. 

The bear's missing arm wasn't something easily solved. "That bear of yours is a brave one. He'll be okay. He probably is going to brag about that battle scar for years to come. Maybe he'll even get a new arm to replace it," she said. "And Alask'll fix up your mum. She'll be alright too. No more frying pan people will be able to hurt you two. Everything's going to be fine..." The attempts to reassure Mart were just as much for her as they were for him. 

Then it hit her. Lena had a cut, not a blunt injury. It couldn't have been a frying pan creature thing. It was something else. But what else could it have been?

Edited June 16, 2019 by Silva

[+Sorana]

21 minutes ago, Silva said:

The bear's missing arm wasn't something easily solved. "That bear of yours is a brave one. He'll be okay. He probably is going to brag about that battle scar for years to come. Maybe he'll even get a new arm to replace it," she said. "And Alask'll fix up your mum. She'll be alright too. No more frying pan people will be able to hurt you two. Everything's going to be fine..." The attempts to reassure Mart were just as much for her as they were for him. 

Mart happily unpacked the bar and took it in his hand.

"Thank you."

He smiled brightly at her, then his smile vanished abprubtly and he pulled up his shoulders, pressed the bear against his chest.

"My mum was hurt by a ghost. It had a knife flying around. It looked like a monster. It wanted to trap us, but then she talked with them and it agreed to let us go. It had a face, like a monster from the stories Bob told at school. With a huge nose and a large forehead. It cut mum with the knife, wanted that she has to remember it and tell stories about it."

He inched closer to Eve.

"I don't know what's wrong with her other arm. It was like this when she found me. She ate some candy, and then her fingers started to shake."

Pulling up his legs, he hid his face. It was forbiddem to put your feet on a stool, but he was sad and he wanted to hide. He feared that the ghost would come again, or one of the monsters that had hunted them.

[Truthless of Shinovar]

Tels walked into the Forge. He had no idea why he came here in the first place, he just had that gut feeling to come this way. Either that, or the fact that he was drunk at the time. He looked around, not really knowing what he was looking for, or what he was waiting for.

[Silva]

1 hour ago, Sorana said:

Pulling up his legs, he hid his face. It was forbiddem to put your feet on a stool, but he was sad and he wanted to hide. He feared that the ghost would come again, or one of the monsters that had hunted them.

Eve put a comforting arm around Mart.

A ghost he'd said. 

She swallowed. The Haunt. It had to be. Unless there were any other invisible beings floating around the city. It fit with what she knew about him so far. A want to be seen and acknowledged derived from years of floating unheard. 

"I met the ghost before," she said softly to Mart. "Before the fog came. Before he became as scary as he is now."

1 minute ago, Truthless of Shinovar said:

Tels walked into the Forge. He had no idea why he came here in the first place, he just had that gut feeling to come this way. Either that, or the fact that he was drunk at the time. He looked around, not really knowing what he was looking for, or what he was waiting for.

Quote

Door is locked.

10 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

Looking up, he saw someone from the street looking into the Forge, peering through the open door. Alask saw her and she ran away as soon as Alask looked. Quickly he went and closed the Forge, forcing the rusty door to lock. Looking back at Lena, the question was still apparent.

He could knock though.

 

[Truthless of Shinovar]

Quote

Whoops!

Tels walked up to the door, and knocked on it with his enhanced ribbons of sand, large enough to cause a booming on the old door. A little bit more force, and it would come down.

[+Sorana]

13 hours ago, Silva said:

Eve put a comforting arm around Mart.

A ghost he'd said. 

She swallowed. The Haunt. It had to be. Unless there were any other invisible beings floating around the city. It fit with what she knew about him so far. A want to be seen and acknowledged derived from years of floating unheard. 

"I met the ghost before," she said softly to Mart. "Before the fog came. Before he became as scary as he is now."

 

Mart snuggled against Eve, the chocolate bar still in his hand. Some of the chocolate was melting, and he smeared it around his mouth when he took another bite.

“The Ghost was nice before the fog came?”

He asked curiously.

"But why did it turn evil then?"

He ate another bite of chocolate and then touched her arm.

“My backpack is still in the dorm. Mrs Gabaldon will be angry, if I don’t have my homework ready tomorrow.”

Pleading he looked up at her.

“Can we fetch it? She is so scary when she’s angry. I wanted to ask mum, but she was so focused to get out of the school and through the streets…”

A loud knock echoed through the room and he flinched, stared at Eve wide eyed.

"Is it the ghost? Is he here to fetch me or my mum or you?"

[I think I am here.]

23 hours ago, Sorana said:

Reluctantly she pushed her bag over to him.

"The brown, small glass box. Smear that one around the cuts and then wait for a few moments. Afterwards use the liquid in the blue bottle to clear the wound as good as possible. Then the needle and the thread, they should be in a little bag made of cloth. Use them to sew it shut. Then the jar with the orange cover. Apply that one above the seam. And finally wrap it with a bandage"

She considered to add a pain killer to the list but decided against it. Numbing the skin would have to do. Wincing she shrugged her jacket off.

"If possible start with that one. It's deep, but not long. The other one isn't half as deep, but about as lond as your hand.

Eve was talking to the kid and Alask nodded, grabbing the bag and rifling through all the different bottles. It felt weird knowing among these were probably all sorts of deadly poisons that could kill him in any number of ways. Which box had she said first? The brown one, he thought. Taking the small box out, he poured some onto his right hand and rubbed it against the cuts, first the deeper one, then the shallower but longer one.

As he waited and packed up the liquid, he picked up the sew and cloth.

“Hey Eve?” He called to Eve. “You wouldn’t happen to know how to sew a wound shut, would you?” Lena had said that was what to do next, but Alask had no idea how and he didn’t want to risk getting the wound worse.

A knock came from the door.

“Who is it?” Alask yelled.

@Silva

@Truthless of Shinovar

[Truthless of Shinovar]

“My name is Tels,” Tels called through the door, still wondering why he came here in the first place. “Do you have any water? I could really use some water right now.”

@I think I am here.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Truthless of Shinovar

[+Sorana]

36 minutes ago, Truthless of Shinovar said:

“My name is Tels,” Tels called through the door, still wondering why he came here in the first place. “Do you have any water? I could really use some water right now.”

@I think I am here.

Lena grimaced at the prospect of someone else entering the place, but she remembered her words to Alask. She would be nice. Even if it meant that someone else learned about her son. Getting up she unlocked the door, and looked at the man outside. She made sure to hide a hand behind her back, to cover its shivvering. The door made for a good handhold as well.

"I am Lena. And yes, we have water."

Edited June 17, 2019 by Sorana

[Truthless of Shinovar]

“Thanks,” Tels said, walking through the door. “Just came back from the Alleycity, an Aisha-forsaken place right now. I don’t suppose you’ve been there recently? Great time to pick up some loose change, if you catch my drift, but real dangerous, nearly died a few times. Where’s that water?”

[Silva]

"I'm sure Mrs. Gabaldon will understand why you didn't do it."

If she were even still alive. Eve thought morbidly. 

"For now, all you need to worry about is staying safe and happy. Everything else, your mum, Alask, and I will take care of." Hopefully.

She looked over at Alask. He was searching through a bag for something. Probably one of Lena's medicines. Her mind shifted back to Mart and the Haunt.

"Before the fog the ghost was invisible. No one saw him. Ever. Unless he focused and covered himself with dust. Even then, though, he was easily dismissed," she paused. "He was lonely. The fog made him seen, but the damage was already done. He can't figure out how to interact without being desperate for attention. It's really sad."

“Hey Eve? You wouldn’t happen to know how to sew a wound shut, would you?” Alask asked.

Eve shrugged. "I know the theory of it. Maybe that's enough?"

Someone began knocking at the door. "If they're dangerous, we won't let them in," Eve reassured Mart.

Lena opened the door. A man stumbled in and introduced himself.

“Just came back from the Alleycity, an Aisha-forsaken place right now. I don’t suppose you’ve been there recently? Great time to pick up some loose change, if you catch my drift, but real dangerous, nearly died a few times. Where’s that water?”

"Tels," she told him. "What's happening there has happened here too. Technically, we're still inside the city.