001

[mikangirl]

Who: Nami
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: Marsiva
When: Nnnow-ish

[This is not happening.  Nope.  There were happy endings, and sunshine, and portals home, and she damn well walked through one.  Not only does this quiet, sterile place bear no resemblance to, y'know, a brigantine sloop or a crazy ocean, but she's turned up here alone.

She was pretty sure the animus were on the level with the whole going home thing.  The fact the Adstringendum communicator is giving her nothing but static when she tries to use it is, uh.  Not comforting, to say the least.  She explores the accessible area in due haste, looking for anyone she recognises.  Or anyone at all.  And then she sits cross-legged in the middle of the one hallway and tries to get the communicator working by prying at it with fingernails, hitting random buttons, and eventually just hitting the wall with it a few times before tossing it away from her with a huff.

Not happy doesn't really cover it.

She finds the broadcast system, staring down at the controls suspiciously.  She shouldn't know how to use this.  But, well.  In the absence of being able to do anything else-- ]

----

This turning up in mysterious new places thing was old the first time it happened.  Where the hell is this, and what hoops do I have to jump through to get home?  [Sweet, sweet sarcasm.  But at least she's holding onto her temper.]  And where's my staff? 

And-- and who fixed my shirt?

[Serious question, that one.]

Comments

[honorbends]

Lucky you.

[It's not said entirely dismissively -- but Zuko hadn't had a chance to go home in his previous world, mostly because the Animus were incompetent and didn't know what they were doing half of the time. Zuko had sort of given up on actively finding a way home, though he hadn't ever fooled himself into thinking Adstringendum was permanent. He had to fulfill his destiny and rescue their universe, blah blah etc.

Still, it's pretty annoying to be suddenly yanked from Adstringendum and deposited on a space ship. It's not even home.]

Do you have any idea what brought us here yet? Has anyone said anything?

[What are introductions/being polite sry Nami]

/matches icon

[mikangirl]

[So rude, god. But apart from a faint wrinkling of her nose, Nami shelves her annoyance. She's mad, he's mad. It's all good.]

Beats me. I mean, people are happy to tell me we're all now part of some reality show and we don't get to go home, but how we got here in the first place I'm not too sure on.

I'm not convinced I never left the first place, honestly. This is the kind of crap some of them might pull.

[honorbends]

[ -- hm.]

Where were you before?

[He's nosy af but that sounds familiar.]

[mikangirl]

Place called Adstringendum. With psychotic spirits and ruins and things. Real barrel of laughs.

1/2

[honorbends]

[honorbends]

[Out of all the people from Adstringendum the Animus could have sent, it had to be someone he doesn't know.

Zuko's expression is a mixture of disbelief and fury, but he huffs to himself to get a grip on his temper before speaking, obviously annoyed.]

Who do you know from Adstringendum?

[Is anyone still there? Is she from a time after him? Did he go home after all?]

[mikangirl]

[Well excuse her, Zuko. Her mouth presses flat because she doesn't deserve this shit, okay.]

Why do you want to know?

[Because she doesn't recognise you either. B|]

[honorbends]

Because that's where I came from.

[DUH >:c and Zuko frowns, still looking suspicious.]

Why else would I care?

[mikangirl]

I'm just not keen on complete strangers demanding a list of people I know.

[But yeah, she just wanted absolute confirmation. So there. But here-- she digs around in the back pocket of her shorts, pulling out a quarter-folded piece of paper and smoothing it out.] Before I answer that-- does anything on this map look familiar to you? It'll save some time.

['cause it's the new place we all got dumped, lol. About the only thing that might ring a bell is the fact it's outlined with shaded areas that refer to the wastelands. She figures he won't know it, given she doesn't recognise him in the slightest.]

[honorbends]

[Well, fair, but this is benefitting Zuko so OBVIOUSLY NAMI YOU SHOULD JUST --

But Zuko inches over to look at the map, his brow furrowing instantly when he looks at it. It's pretty obvious from the look on his face that it's foreign, and his eyes immediately track toward the Wastelands -- where it's familiar, but...]

... this isn't Adstringendum.

[It's said slowly, and Zuko reaches out to trace the Wastelands with a finger.]

This... this looks right, maybe, but -- where's the center of the city?

[mikangirl]

[Yeah, that's what she figured. Nami softens a little as she watches his expression, and shakes her head.]

I think you were well before my time. I know the place you're referring to, but-- just before I arrived, there was a fight between the Animus that made the city too dangerous to stay in, so Yun Ling pulled us all into this place instead. [She taps the map.] I wish I'd seen the earlier one; from all accounts, it was way better.

Sorry.

[It also narrows down the list of people she needs to give him, really. Hmm.]

People I knew that you might have-- Sam and Dean Winchester. Castiel, Rei, Katie. [That's the cabin.] Rosie. Crowley, Lucifer, Zero, Ishtar, Makie, Lilly... Kurama. Hiei. And Mihawk. Those are the ones I can remember. They were all at the older place, as far as I know.

[honorbends]

[There's a silence at the names, drawing in a slight breath. The large majority of them are unfamiliar. Some ring a bell, but no one he was particularly close to. And his closest friends were prominent, they were known by the entire city, so if she doesn't know them...

Shit.]

... so what happened to Adstringendum?

[Shit, shit, shit.]

[mikangirl]

Vriska, too... [Muttered addition she kind of forgot the first time round-- it's a lot of names. But she blinks, glancing up at the question. Does he really need to know about the psychotic soul-eating cloud? Probably not.]

It's a lot more stable now. Everyone got to go home, or stay if they wanted. Or-- they were meant to.

[She doubts. Because this isn't home by a long shot. But then again, she's also the only one here.]

[honorbends]

[ ... there's a long silence, and Zuko stares before letting out a breath.]

You figured out how to leave.

[He's almost -- amazed, because he had been there for so long, and so many failed attempts, and yet -- ]

-- or tried, anyway. Got farther than what I did, I guess -- do you know anyone named Sasuke?

[mikangirl]

Tried. [Wry smile. And she shakes her head.]

No, no Sasuke. Sorry. Were any of those names familiar at all?

[honorbends]

[Ugh.]

... a few.

[Finally, though Zuko sounds more than a little disappointed.]

Rei was one of Sasuke's friends... -- Hiei. I knew Hiei.

[mikangirl]

[Well, at least there's some kind of tenuous connection there.]

I'm sorry I can't give you any better news. Though I guess... the rest of them went home long before I got there, then.

[honorbends]

[ great ]

... which means I was probably gone, too.

[mikangirl]

I'd guess so. If this place is the same kind of place, I guess it won't care too much about the whole timing thing. You probably got yanked from there straight to here and lost months in between.

[honorbends]

Or I went home in between... who even knows anymore.

[ zuko is now a mixture of exhausted and furious. and upset, too, but he can bury that for now. ]

[mikangirl]

[Bottle it all up, Zuko. It's totally good for you.]

None of it matters here, anyway. [She doesn't say it to be mean. It's just fact.] Brand new hellhole.

...though if the two of us are from Adstringendum, there'll probably be others at some point. You might see them again. Your friends.

[Well okay, she's not good at being completely factual ok she kind of hopes for the same thing.]

[honorbends]

[ fat chance.

but zuko sighs to himself, because even he can recognize that she's trying to make him feel better ]

Maybe.

[ probably not ]

It's happened before, I guess.

[mikangirl]

[...you're even more of a cynic than she is. Wow.

After a moment, she starts rolling the map up.]

I'm Nami. What's your name?

[honorbends]

[ WELL MAYBE HE DOESN'T WANT TO BE OPTIMISTIC RN NAMI ]

Zuko.

[ with a frown as he watches nami roll up the map ]

Nice to meet you, I guess.

[mikangirl]

It sucks to meet me.

[Let's get this straight. You'd really rather be somewhere else. But she grins faintly.] If I can answer anything else about it, I will. But for now, I guess... welcome to the same boat. Again.