♖ 001.

[summerschild]

Who: Bran Stark and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: The HS Marsiva Hospitality Deck
When: 6/13

[On the Hospitality Deck, there's a little lump of dirt and fur on the floor next to one of the cots, twisted up in the white sheets. Bran had woken up in a fit of panic, scrabbling for the damp floor of the Queenscrown holdfast, and then-]

Is anyone there? Hello?

[A bump on his head aches from the tumble. He doesn't understand what he's seeing in front of him, through the clear glass of the bowing windows. It makes him dizzy, and he rubs at his nose with one grubby hand. His fur cape is still muddy from the thunderstorm, making him look a bit like an abandoned puppy.]

I need some help!

[He tries to use the cot to pull himself back up, but with a click the wheel unlocks, and sends the bed teetering towards anyone coming across the floor. Oops...]

Comments

[ino]

[ She smiles fondly into the camera, wondering who it is this boy might have lost that he would like to see again.

... She can't help but think he and Hiro might be good friends, too ... ]

I'm Ino, by the way. It's nice to meet you.

[summerschild]

[Bran smiles back the best he can. He likes this girl alright. She makes him miss Sansa.]

I'm Bran.

[ino]

Bran, huh?

Well, it's not exactly where most of us wanted to end up, but we make do. There are a couple of other boys your age you'll probably get along with, too.

[summerschild]

It's short for Brandon. Brandon Stark.

[Bran still says his last name with a trace of lorldly pride, though he's been trying his best to be cautious with it.]

... Boys my age?

[He's not had the best experiences with those since his accident.]

1/2

[ino]

Stark?

[ That name sounds familiar. And not because of Tony, so she could unfortunately never forget thanks to all the weird stuff he got up to in Paradisa. Because of someone else ... ]

I could've sworn I saw someone else with that name somewhere.

[ino]

-- Hm? Oh, yeah. You're, what, thirteen or so? My boyfriend's little brother is about your age, then.

[summerschild]

I'm nine.

[A quick correction, because he's more focused on her first comment.]

Was it here? Did you see them here?

[ino]

[ Oh, whoops. That's a bit younger than she was thinking ]

... Hold on one second.

[ She checks the list of current Fleet members, and there's none except him to be found. So she closes it, and puts a hand to her forehead as she racks her brains, before finally: ]

Do you know an ... Arya?

[summerschild]

That's my sister!

[He practically shouts it, his face going ghost white.]

[ino]

Okay. Okay, yeah -- I did meet her. Not here, but I did see her the last world I was in.

[ Suddenly, she has to wonder if she was the one he was thinking of when he asked about the dead coming back ]

She was doing fine.

[summerschild]

[Bran can't help the pang of disappointment that slides onto his face, finding out she isn't in this world, but his chest feels warm with relief.]

Did she say anything to you about her home? Did she say what's happened to her?

[ino]

She wasn't really the type to talk about that kind of stuff. I barely knew her, after all ...

[ She pauses, realizing this is probably kinda disappointing for him ]

Sorry, I wish I could tell you more.

[summerschild]

[He shakes his head slowly.]

She isn't. I was merely hoping...

[Well, a lot of things, really.]

No one has seen her in some time, back home.

[ino]

Yeah.

[ A little sympathetic frown ]

I understand. It's hard not to know.

[ She's kinda in the same boat re: her own life and her team's, so ... ]

Well -- with any luck, maybe she'll show up here.

[summerschild]

Perhaps...

[He tries to give a brave face.]

But I wouldn't want them to be stuck here, if I had a choice.

[ino]

[ Aww. ]

Hey-- there's nothing wrong with wishing you had some company. Even if it is a bad situation, friends and family make it better.

[summerschild]

[He can't contest that.]

You don't think it would be selfish?

[ino]

Maybe a little bit. But that doesn't make it wrong. Everyone is selfish sometimes, after all -- especially in times like this. I'm sure your family would feel the same.

[summerschild]

I want them wherever they're safest.

[That's the grown up thing to say, right?]

... Is it safe here?

[ino]

[ She doesn't really want to lie about this, but he's so little ... ]

We do our best to keep each other safe. Now that you're here, that includes you too.

[summerschild]

[That wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, but he puts on a brave face in response.]

I hope that I can do my part.

[ino]

[ Hey, no one's died yet. That's pretty good. ]

I'm sure you can. But we also have a lot of doctors and healers here, like me, who can keep everyone well and treat any injuries when we have to. Usually we don't have to, fortunately.

[summerschild]

You're a healer? Like a maester?

[His only frame of reference for medicine involves leeches and milk of poppy.]

[ino]

Uh, I'm not really sure what a maester is, but I am a healer.

[ It's probably easier to just show him, right? She lifts a hand to her mouth to bite down on her thumb hard enough to draw blood, and she holds it up to the camera so he can see it.

Then, she touches her index finger to her thumb, and there's a faint green glow ... and that wound is completely gone from her thumb ]

Just like that!

[summerschild]

A maester is... [He actually has to think about it. A maester is just a maester, and he does maester things!] They're the ones who know everything. Healing, and history, and-

[He cuts off, both startled and morbidly fascinated, when Ino bites into her thumb, and watches with wide eyes as it heals.]

How did you do that?