driftfleet | Sixth Blight

Entry tags:

Sixth Blight - video

Who: Riona and you!
Broadcast: Yus
Action: On the Blue Fish, if you'd like!
When: Now?

[There's the distinct sound of a canine sniffing nearby when the feed turns on. Anyone with an acute ear may also hear a different kind of sound, something akin to snuffling. The animal causing it is revealed a moment later. To those not from Thedas, it looks like a pink, hairless mole. But any Thedosian would know that it's a nug.

The camera pans over to Riona, who's feeding said nug while Kiter cautiously sniffs at the other animal. She shakes her head.]

A favor for a favor, I suppose. Sister Nightingale has fallen into one of those comas. For the time being, Schmooples here is in my care. If you were expecting to see her in the interfaith center, I'm afraid it'll have to wait. [She looks over at her puppy, smiling conspiratorially.] You and I will be brainstorming what to draw on her face. Tit for tat, too.

[When she looks back at the camera, her smile falters, and pronounced concern sets in its place.]

Also, Dr. Beverly Crusher seems to be missing. Normally I'd suspect she's gone home, but her things are still here and her name still shows up on the communication device. Something is amiss. If anyone has seen her the past few days, please do let me or any of the crew on the Blue Fish know.

[Her disappearance puzzles her, along with her obvious worry. It's not like Beverly to do that, and with them having left the planet, there are only so many places she could be.]

Those matters aside, we've now returned to the dull void of space and to confinement in our ships until we make land again. There's only so much to entertain in the fleet, especially when you've been here awhile. Recently, I returned home for a few months. Here only a handful of days passed, but it felt much longer. I find myself feeling a bit homesick. So, I have a request.

[She pauses, uncertainty flitting across her face. For a moment she glances down, and finds herself fiddling with her wedding ring, which she's recently gone back to wearing on her hand. She clasps her hands together and looks back at the camera.]

But first, I suppose I should introduce myself to those who don't know me. My name is Riona Cousland [And here there's the slightest pause, a moment of hesitation. She swallows the trepidation back.] Theirin. I've been here nearly eight months.

[Whatever caused her hesitation seems to have passed. She relaxes, and continues:]

In my time, I've heard quite a few things about people's worlds. Comparing them to Thedas - where I am from - always interests me. I love hearing stories, and I'm always happy to share ones from my world, in particular the ones of my home country.

So. Let's do an exchange. A tale for a tale. It can be anything you experienced, or perhaps a legend or fable from your world that you're fond of. And I will tell you one in return. Simple enough, and a good way to pass the evening, no?

[She smiles, wiggling her fingers in good-bye before shutting off the feed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Why thank you.

[She's been awake for a bit, but she's been... busy.]

I'm not terribly worried about Leliana. At least I know where she is. [She woke up, so Leliana will, too, in time. But Bev...]

Something has happened. It isn't like her at all. I'm just afraid of what it is.

Likewise. This is really, really unusual. I checked and she's still on the crew roster- but Allen's checked the shuttles- they're all accounted for.

[He folds his arms, shuffling his feet uneasily. He hates feeling completely powerless about this, not knowing what's going on. What could be happening to her right now- that she might be in some real trouble.]

This is worryingly unusual.

Yes, and we even checked the log to make sure no one had picked her up. No shuttles have come through that weren't unexplained.

[She purses her lips.]

Has this never happened before? In the fleet in general?

That's....weird. She can't have just vanished.

[He shakes his head, the worry growling and coiling in his stomach. ]

Not that I've ever heard of, no.

Atroma did something. They must have.

[People don't just go missing. Not around here. The Atroma could easily just yank someone off a ship with no trace. They did it all the time. But usually it meant they went home.]

Maker's breath... Regardless, I plan to search the Iskaulit. Best to not overturn any rock.

But what? I mean, they kidnapped us here, but to just...hide her away somewhere? That's worryingly new.

Good plan. I'm gonna make sure to check every other ship, like you said, no rock unturned. It's the only way we'll know for sure.

Perhaps some new scheme or game of theirs. I would put little past them.

[She hopes they're overreacting, that Beverly will turn up just fine. Like she was on a week long bender or something.

But she knows that's not going to be the case.]

I plan on communicating through my device in the next day or so. I'll ask them if anyone has seen her or knows any information.

Me either. Maybe they feel we haven't been interesting enough lately.

[What with people leaving and everyone being a pile of sad.]

Thanks, Riona. The sooner we can get to the bottom of this, the better.

What, sorrow isn't entertaining enough for them? Now they want to watch us chase our tails?

[Somehow that wouldn't surprise her.]

Of course. I won't be able to rest until I look. She'd do the same for any of us.

Can you honestly say you're surprised?

[Because he sure isn't. ]

She absolutely would. She's part of the family, after all.

No, but it doesn't make me less angry. Or worried.

[Family, huh?]

She's dear to you. How long have you two been on this ship together?

I know, I feel the same. This is just...new from them. I don't know what's going to happen next and I hate that.

Oh yeah. And it's been...uh about a year and a half since she showed up here? I was here for about five months before she came.

[Sokka's been here for a longass time, basically. ]

We'll find out. Let's just pray Beverly isn't harmed.

[It's all they can do.

The timeline he lays out almost makes her gawk.]

You've been here nearly two years?

I've never been that great at that kind of thing. I'm a cold hard facts kinda guy.

[He leaves spirituality to the rest of the gang. ]

Pretty much, yeah. Almost as long as this cycle of Drift Fleet has been going for. I showed up about three weeks into it.

[He folds his arms with a soft, annoyed exhale. Almost two years. It felt like a lifetime already. And all he wanted to do was to get everyone here home or somewhere they could call home. They all deserved that much. ]

I... am sorry, Sokka. Eight months feels like forever. I can't even imagine two years.

[She almost asks how he's managed to stay sane during that time. If she came to be here that long, could she stand it?]

[The answer would be that he was never sane to start with.]

It's not been great. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've loved meeting all you guys. But I don't like us being trapped here. I just want to get everyone home. Or safe. Not trapped by Atroma, anyway.

The sentiment is shared, at least by me. A part of me doesn't want to leave here and forget all of you. But Maker, I miss home. And I...

[She falters, wondering how much to say here.]

...have you ever had someone from your world here? From the future, I mean.

Yeah. For a while, I was the furthest back of everyone who showed up here. I was stuck in the middle of this big battle, while for them the war had already been won.

It was....confusing. And hard. I eventually took a nap here and got all those memories in my head anyway, but for a while, I was really far behind.

Did they... tell you anything about the future? Things that went worse than you hoped?

No, things were better. A little more complicated, but better.

I ended up being the one that had to bear bad news, once I got my memories updated. I had to tell Zuko some pretty cruddy news about his future.

You're lucky for that.

[And immediately she regrets saying that. She's letting her bitterness spill over, and he deserves better.]

I apologize. But, if I might ask you: do you regret telling him about the future? Did you ever wonder if he was better off not knowing?

I don't regret it so much as...I don't know. I hated seeing how much it hurt him. Honestly, if his sister weren't here, if there wasn't a tiny chance she'd go home and get those memories and us them to hurt him worse, I probably wouldn't have told him at all.

[He hates Azula. He hates her even more for forcing his hand.]

Even him going home and getting the memories on his own would have been better than that.

I see. So you had mitigating circumstances forcing your hand. That I can understand, as hard as it must have been.

[Perhaps that had been a part of Leliana's motivation? Just so Riona could hear it from a friendly source, rather than finding out a harder way? She never considered that. But still, there was only so much she could take.]

It's extraordinarily difficult being the one stuck in the past.

Yeah. I didn't have a choice.

[Well, he did. But it would have made someone who has suffered far too much to suffer even more. Zuko doesn't deserve that. ]

Yeah. I mean. There's a girl here from my future? But she's way into my future. Like Katara is an old lady in the future. It's less difficult and more...weird?

You have to have it pretty cruddy. Compared to that.

Admittedly, I haven't come across anyone from a significantly further point than I, but I imagine it would be quite strange. Did she say where you were in that future?

[She shrugs.]

If it were just one or two people, it might not be so difficult. But it's everyone, and the more I hear, the less I am looking forward to things. What has happened over the course of years I've learned about in weeks or months. Sometimes I just want to throw my hands up and tell everyone to stop telling me things.