driftfleet | A cry for help

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A cry for help

[a distress call has been tracked across the void, finally leading back to the source. a hulking crippled ship, teeming with hostile alien life, now lies before you.

what do you do? do you dive in or hang back? are you here to learn, play, build, or observe?

however you choose to proceed, your audience is out there somewhere, watching.]

ooc: here is a good ol' themed mingle to get you all started! and don't feel limited by the prompts and what they describe--they're just there as idea-starters, so feel free to go anywhere and do anything.

have fun!

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[Vash jumps. Having been so sure there was no one near him just moments before. Then he settles with a sigh when he sees that the voice doesn't seem to poise any threat.] They're not machines. They're alive. So they must have a soul.

Hm.

[Cole rocks on his feet. He is wearing shoes, but they're probably not doing a lot for protecting his feet, thin as they are.]

I can't feel them. Nothing. Just... bodies, empty, echoing.

Not everything that moves still has a soul. Sometimes bodies keep moving and there's nothing there.

Sometimes, being dead is kinder. You want to be kind, because your life has been cruel. Your brother is so cruel. You want to balance him.

[He's not looking at Vash, watching the things he can only half sense move about.]

[One of the few things to pull Vash's mind away from arguing semantics over what counts as a life or not is to bring up his brother. He was ready to respond with something about how these bugs must have a soul if they have life when Cole mentions his brother.

Vash tenses instantly. In nearly a hundred years he had not spoken about his brother to anyone except those on the floating ship and one other. And Cole was not her. Could his brother's influence really reach this far?

Yet, Vash doesn't feel the usual edge that the men and women following his brother seem to give off. It leaves him feeling extremely uneasy and unsure how to proceed.]

How did you know I have a brother.

[Cole flinches slightly, feeling the ripple of pain, shock, caution, suspicion.]

I can feel the pain he leaves on you. He's gouged parts of you and nestled inside, twins, tied together, tangled and torn. He hurts you, so I know him.

I never met him, except through you.

[Vash swallows. Finding it very hard to believe that someone could learn he was a twin without knowing his brother or speaking to him. Yet, for some reason he couldn't bring himself to doubt Cole. There was something about the man that made it seem he was telling the truth.]

How could you possibly know anything about us without speaking to him first? I haven't said anything about my brother since waking up here.

Because he hurts you. Even now, he makes you ache, deep down. I know hurts. I feel them, see them, untangle the threads.

I can't untangle him from you. I don't know how to help that hurt for you.

So. You can see a person's past through their feelings? [Slowly starting to understand what may be happening.]

Yes.

Maybe.

I see what hurts. Sometimes, I can feel the other end of the hurt. He never forgave them for what they did to her. You do. You forgive and try to understand.

[He rubs at his eyes, an almost child like gesture.]

[Vash raises an eyebrow. What Cole had been saying so far was too close to information he kept close to his heart. At first he thinks maybe now he's speaking about Rem, but that can't be right. Knives was the whole reason she had died and he had laughed.]

Her?

[Cole stares and blinks, and his eyes don't glow, but they seem a bit bright.]

Oh. No, not her, not here. They hurt him, so he hated them all. They hurt you, so he wanted to make them hurt back.

[Vash shakes his head. The memories from his time on the SEEDs ships were already hard enough to ignore being stuck on a ship with such a small crew once more. Hearing things like this wasn't helping.]

Look. I'm not sure exactly how you are able to know these things in such detail, but they are things no one else needs to know. Alright? It's my history and brother and right now, they're not important.

[What was in Vash's mind was to figure out what happened on this ship to try to help these bugs before more of them were killed.]

I wouldn't tell anyone else.

[He looks up at Vash, and his face is calm and shows no sign of anything like deception. He won't share that information.]

If you ever need anything to help ease the pain, I'll do what I can to help. But we both want to find the suffering here and stop it.

I can help. I can make the fighters not see us, if you stay quiet.

[The outlaw is silent for a moment as he considers the offer. Considering how easily Cole could sneak up on him, which is no easy feat, Vash doesn't doubt the man's ability. It may be a good idea to see it up close.]

I can stay quiet.

[Cole offers out a hand. He has fingerless gloves that are fraying, or maybe it's wrapping around his hands? But the gesture it fairly unambiguous. It's the best way to keep Vash close and hidden as well.]

[Vash reaches forward with not hesitation to take Cole's gloved hand in his own leather gloved hand. Watching Cole carefully for the next instruction.]

[It doesn't feel like anything, but Cole focuses and moves them forward slowly.

The bugs don't look. They ignore their soft footsteps and Cole takes them out of sight and around a corner before relaxing.

He's shaking slightly, where his hand clutches Vash's.]

[Vash is quiet. Waiting until they are further away from the bugs to speak, but still only in a whisper.] Are you alright? [He's not sure if the shaking is from stress/fatigue/normal so he can't help but to ask.]

[Cole nods, but he's still pale.]

Making them not notice is... tiring. I'll be okay.

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A cry for help

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Wow, never got the notifcation for this

DW's been doing that.

That or I deleted it by mistake in a google group conversation style email.

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