♖ 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

[skullcracker]

Ahh! What the -

[guess who else just woke up in the hospitality deck! startled awake by the magic word HELP, even - chie moves too quickly, falling off her cot in the confusion. luckily, she's on the other side of the room as the moving projectile.]

Ow! [she sits up, rubbing her elbow.] Sheesh, that hurt.

[then she finally notices the boy on the floor. one look and she can tell he's in pretty bad shape - he must have been the one calling for help just a moment earlier.]

Hey - are you OK?

[asinisterkid]

[ It's a kid -- a kid without the use of his legs, as far as Jason can tell -- and he has to suppress his immediate "FUCK YOU ATROMA" reaction in order to be as soothing as he can. ]

Hey. I can't get to you right now, and I'm sorry. I literally cannot. But you've probably got questions, and I can answer them until help comes, if you want.

[summerschild]

[Bran looks up from the floor, startled by Chie's voice. Relief isn't instantaneous. He doesn't know where he is, or who's around him. This girl doesn't look dangerous, but he's been fooled before. In the back of his brain, he can imagine his hackles rising in apprehension.]

I fell off the cot.

[A rather simple reply, but his head is still spinning.]

Can you tell me where I am?

[summerschild]

[He startles again at the sudden voice, whipping around to scan the room. This must be another vision, that's the only explanation.]

Who's there?

[He tries to put on his Lord Voice.]

Sh-show yourself.

oops, video;

[asinisterkid]

I can't. [ He's keeping his voice as nonthreatening as possible. ]

But if you can follow the sound of my voice to the little device it's coming from -- it should be coming from somewhere close to you, if you can reach -- you'll be able to see me. They give us all communicators. It's how I'm seeing you right now. I'm just not close enough to do you any good.

And my name's Jason. Jason Todd.

shaky video whoops;

[summerschild]

[Still confused as hell, Bran's eyes follow the voice to the small object, lying a few feet away. He uses his arms to pull himself over to it, until he can see Jason's face. His eyes widen in awe, and he accidentally covers up the screen as he reaches over to examine the communicator.]

I don't understand...

[He turns it over, and over again, before finally looking back at Jason.]

Is it magic?

[asinisterkid]

Nah, just technology. It's as inherently magical as... as a crossbow is, just a lot more advanced. [ And he'll feel pretty stupid if this kid isn't from someplace with crossbows, but it seems like a safe bet, between the furs and the asking about magic. ]

Pretty sure one of those would seem pretty magical to someone from a world where they hadn't moved past "hit it with a rock" as a strategy.

Maybe not the best metaphor, but it's what I've got. [ He shrugs. ]

video

[princessia]

[ Elize figures it would be best to broadcast her message as video, despite that option being her least favorite function. Audio might make him even more jumpy.

The boy looks a little younger than her, she thinks, but she sounds somewhat nervous as she speaks over the communicator. She's shy, not having much experience talking with many other children. Or most people really. Nonetheless, she'd like to offer help in any way she can.

Unfortunately, she can't reach the Marsiva. So she has stick to talking on the device. ]

Um... hello! I'm here. I'm sorry, I can't get to the room you're in.

[summerschild]

[He's certainly from a place with crossbows, but this metaphor just doesn't click with him. The concept of video is too foreign, too close to magic to make sense as anything else, and he abandons the query for the moment, instead pulling himself back into a sitting position. The video feed points at the ceiling for a moment before he rights it.]

You said... you said "they" give us these things.

[The question is in his eyes - "Who did this?". This kid can sure glare, even when he's grubby and frightened and lost.]

[summerschild]

[He still doesn't understand how this strange device works, but at least this time he knows where to look when he hears the tinny voice coming from it. He fumbles with it, fingers getting in the way of the screen, before facing Elize.]

That's alright, there's someone else here.

[Wherever "here" is...]

[asinisterkid]

Atroma. We don't know much about them, but they basically kidnap people from different places and times and even different worlds, and assign us to ships in their fleet to see how we react to things and get along with each other. It's supposed to be a form of entertainment. We call it "reality TV" where I'm from. Of course, where I'm from, people volunteer.

[ There's a bit of anger showing now, but it's very pointedly not directed at Bran... and after a moment, he tones it down. ]

They make announcements sometimes, but no one's ever answered any messages we send to them as far as I know.

[princessia]

[ She knows the feeling of being unfamiliar with the all new technology. There was nothing like this in Rieze Maxia. She waits patiently as he fumbles with the device, speaking again once she can see him looking at the feed. ]

Oh. That's good you're not alone.

[ But whoever it is must be a newcomer as well... ]

Has anyone told you about where you are yet? I can try to answer any more questions you might have.

[horrendous]

Whoa whoa whoa!

[Hiccup comes to the rescue then. He'd been walking around, but now there's a bed on the loose. He catches it with his body and pushes against it to keep it in place, though he's not very heavy so there's an awful squeeeaaaak of metal against metal; he has to count on his prosthetic to stop it, and that's gonna hurt. It already hurts now. He winces, but the bed is stopped for now.

He finds Bran soon enough, curled up on the floor in a muddy cloak. He doesn't look very old... he's very small, actually, and Hiccup's reminded of himself. He hobbles over as fast as he can go.]

H-- hey, are you okay?

[Video]

[savedtheworld]

Whoa!

...Are you alright?

[skullcracker]

Heh, me too. [she flashes him a sheepish grin - it's kind of an embarrassing thing to do, after all - but quickly gets back to serious.] I ... I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't recognize where we are. [she frowns. it doesn't look like the tv world, that's for sure.] Are you hurt?

[youwillgotohell]

[Morgana - already skittish, already entirely uncertain of what she's doing here - jumps out of the way as the cot comes sailing at her. (In hindsight, she's unduly grateful that her instincts haven't turned to magic the way her dreams have; she could never explain it away.]

Hello?

[Her voice wavers, but the one calling for help seemed young. She makes for the - she can't tell if it's a boy or a dog under all that fur.]

Who's there?

[summerschild]

No.

[Said a bit sharply, as he struggles back into a sitting position. He puts his hand down on the cool metal of the communicator, and only scrunches his face further in confusion.]

I don't remember being captured. I was...

[He cuts himself off, trying to reason the events of the past hour. Was it something he'd done? He'd felt himself enter Hodor's mind, and then he had woken up under soft linen and strange lights.]

[summerschild]

Atroma?

[He repeats Jason, testing the word. None of this makes sense. Different times? Different worlds? His mind works to justify all of this with what he understands.]

They've captured us for... entertainment.

[It rings a bell, hidden deep in stories of the lands across the sea from Westeros.]

Like slavers.

[summerschild]

No. I'm in strange room, with beds, and... [Bran doesn't recognize anything else, just strange metals and strangers lights.] There are stars outside. No land.

[Even as he speaks, it sounds to him like he's describing a dream, or a vision.]

Am I asleep?

[summerschild]

[Bran jolts, though he can only move an inch or so back in his position. It's been ages since he encountered a stranger he could trust, and Hiccup's friendly concern isn't enough to alleviate his wariness.]

I'm fine.

[He's trying to use his best lordly voice, though it's rendered somewhat less effective by his size and current state.]

... The bed moved.

[Well, that's obvious. All at once Bran feels very small and miserable, and wants to shout with frustration at this predicament.]

[asinisterkid]

[ There's a seriousness, a toughness to this kid that Jason simultaneously appreciates and mourns. He's got a lot of feelings about kids who had to grow up too fast, and just because this kid's from some medievalish world where it might've been necessary on a broader scale than where he's from doesn't make it right. ]

...Yeah. They pay us based on how entertaining we are, but since that can't buy us a way home... [ He sighs. ]

Whoever entertains the viewers the most gets to go home, from what I've heard. Beyond that, they don't make us do anything... but we're stuck here either way.

[summerschild]

[By now, Bran's starting to get the hang of this video thing - even if he's still pretty sure it's magic, in spite of Jason's strange explanation. He squints at the unfamiliar face on the little square of light.]

I'm not hurt.

[Don't stare at the arrow tat, don't stare at the arrow tat. Staring is rude.]

Everybody keeps asking, through this box. How many people can see me?

[summerschild]

[Bran winces as the cot skates past her, his face flushing. He makes himself small amongst the muddy fur.]

I'm sorry. I didn't know that it would move.

[youwillgotohell]

[Definitely a boy, then.]

It's all right. [She hesitates for a moment then moves closer, gathering the skirts of her green dress as she crouches near by.]

Are you hurt?

[summerschild]

How are we supposed to entertain them?

[He's got some pretty daunting ideas, such as jousting, or fighting pits.]

Do we have to fight?