eswareinmal | First Dream [Log]

Entry tags:

First Dream [Log]

Characters: Shin & Anyone else
Open? Yep
Where: Just outside the smithy or around town
When: RD11
What: Shin's attempting to get the hang of being back in his body again. It's not going so well.

Shin hated being cooped up. While Aralu was willing (mostly) to push him around in the wheelchair that Hawk had made him, but he couldn't help feeling like he was just being a burden and a bother. It didn't help that this was the worst his back had ever been, the bumpy ride in the cart not doing it any favors, and having been astral for even just the few weeks he had been made him all too aware of the pathetic state his body was in.

He had managed the very short walk to the door with little trouble and had sat down heavily in the wheel chair after, waiting for the pain to subside. He could do this. He just had to take it slowly... right...?

With the most careful of motions he grabbed hold of the wheels of his chair, taking great care to not move his back at all as he carefully pulled them forward, the chair inching along. He could do this... as long as he kept his back steady, as long as he went slowly...

...as long as no one ran into him...

... Maybe he'd just go astral and explore that way.

[[OoC: Feel free to spot him after he's given up and gone astral. He'll basically look like a ghost that way]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The short distance through the market had taken Shin what felt like forever and the slightly uneven cobblestones were not helping his situation any either, and when there was someone standing where he had been hoping the road was smoother, he wasn't about to try going around, and instead slumped back in his chair, taking the moment to rest and recover his breath.

...huh. Blue chick. That was...

... no, no he couldn't even think of it as odd any more, he reminded himself. After being the guest of a sentient shadow and his minions, just blue really shouldn't surprise him.

...though she really did stick out with how uniform everyone else was....

He didn't mean to be staring, but between being already tired and not wanting to brave the street proper... he was sitting there in his wheelchair, just tiredly watching her. Because that wasn't rude or anything.

When she caught sight of him, a smile touched her lips and she turned away from the shopkeeper with a couple of quick words of thanks. Walking over to the young man, she nodded and after a moment of thought offered her hand. "Liara," she said, amusement in her voice. Humans always seemed to stare at Asari. Everyone seemed to stare at Asari. She was, in other words, used to it.

"I just arrived a couple of days ago," she said, glancing out towards the village. "Still learning my way around."

Shin looked a bit sheepish at getting caught, but smiled none the less as he awkwardly reached out to take her hand, taking great care to keep his back straight as he did so. "Shin," he returned. "And ditto. Its actually my first time out and about so far, so I hope you're not going to ask for directions," he attempted to joke.

Yep. He was real good at this.

"Shin. It is a pleasure to meet you. They keep telling me that this place has a wicked club scene, but I am somewhat disappointed." A philosophical shrug. "But sometimes we simply have to endure." Shaking her head, she rips it back toward the shops. "And I don't think the fashion scene has kept up, either, so you haven't missed much."

A laugh, a touch unsure, and she looked back at the clothing she'd been looking at. "Did they tell you what they think you're here to do? Personally, I'm supposed to divine the future. Probably not as funny if I wasn't an archaeologist."

Shin shook his head. "I didn't through the usual channels so I didn't even get the introduction," he answered, tone a bit wry. "Sort of like a late entry character in a video game. Only without the hero type getting to name me something like 'boogers.' Either that or the subject of the lamest fetch quest ever," he sighed.

That was either an incredibly succient and somewhat surprising view of their situation, or this guy was a little off. Liara turned her focus to him a little more closely. "You didn't, what was the phrase? 'Travel by book?' How did you get here?" Crazy or not, he doesn't fit the pattern. That makes him very interesting. "And if not the King's people, who brought you here?"

"I honestly have no idea. Aralu's been trying to figure it out but she never understands half of anything that happens around me." Again, a wry smile. "Things just never go as they should with me, it seems. I didn't even wind up here, I wound up in these ruins out in the middle of nowhere with some guy in a crazy helmet accusing me of causing them. I think. It really didn't make any sense."

Ruins. Well, might end up proving promising; probably not, but then again, she has spent a lot of time in ruins over the years. "Aralu? Is that a friend of yours, here?" She frowns and looks up, scanning around the marketplace. She was going to have to find someone, somewhere, in this city who would part with some ink and a bit of paper, ideally bound in some form. Frowning, she looked back at him, somewhat preoccupied.

"I've been given to understand that arrivals here have all followed a single pattern-pick up a book, and wake up in the castle. I ad no idea it was more complex, which is fascinating." Not to mention possibly very revealing. "I know we've only just met but I would very much like to ask you a few more questions, if you have the time, because I've been..." A pause, and now Liara wears what is probably a sheepish smile. "Um. I'm sorry. I can get a little...focused." she shook her head.

"I was told, most of us were told, we've been brought here to fight a war against what the locals fear is, well. Evil magic, I suppose. But not one of us was asked. I already have a war to fight, and I don't plan to wait around here until they decide to send me back. Any break in the pattern might reveal some way for us to affect whatever it is that brought us here in the first place." She gestured at the city. "If you're willing, and your friend, I think it might help to investigate your arrival. Especially if the monastery proves as useless as the castle on information available to us." She's pretty serious, all of a sudden; sorry about that. Her people are kind of on the edge of extinction.

Shin nodded as she spoke, waving his hand at her apology. "Don't worry about it, I'm sort of used to it," he assured. Being studied and having people paragraph on at him on theories were just part of his life. Least she wasn't talking over his head, that was an improvement.

"Another war, huh? Ug," he sighed. After the whole mess with the Alliance, he really wasn't very keen on going through anything else like that again. Then again, he wasn't too thrilled about this place in general to be honest. It really was too much like everything was starting over again.

"Yeah, sure. I'm kinda in limbo for a while anyway, he nodded at the old-world wheelchair. As long as he was stuck with his body and not able to reach the Dreaming that he was used to, he was going to feel pretty useless. And antsy. Which was why he was out in the first place, else he was going to spiral back into that feeling sorry for himself state of depression that he so often did, and without Gigs to kick him out of it... preventive measures were needed.

"Another. My world lies in ruins, and they want me to be their gardener." She closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose for a moment. "But I trust those left behind to carry on without me for now. Your wheelchair seems a bit...rustic. Local manufacture?" She looked it over a bit more critically. "I can't say it looks terribly comfortable. Are you unable to walk?" She sounded interested, but not belittling. It clearly didn'tt matter to her one way or another, not even a little bit.

Shin nodded. "I can get about 5 steps at a try," he replied, tone almost bitter. "I'm a little out of practice and arriving crumpled in a heap didn't do me much good."

...never mind the almost, he was bitter. He had finally managed to break free of one of the biggest things that kept him pathetically dependent on other people, only to be shackled back to it and worse off than he was before. He sighed, shoulders slumping. "Sorry, it's just... it was bad enough back home, you know?" he explained. "Even getting this thing made was an big thing." And another favor he owed Aralu. He was pretty sure he was going to be indebted to her for life and he didn't like it.

"And here, we're practically living like animals." Her tone has a bite to it, too, though not for the same reasons, obviously. "I can only imagine this sounds condescending to some degree, but I think I can understand, at least a little, what you mean." She waved a hand at herself. "I may not look it, but I feel more helpless in the last three days than I have in years."

"If I can help, let me know. In exchange for more discussions about how you arrived." Back home, she had the largest network of information resources in the galaxy under her control. This place was going to drive her nuts. "I don't have any credits, of course, but that hasn't stopped me yet." A slight smile. "They want a hero, they can pay for one."

"Unless you can get me a power chair or figure out a way I can reach the proper Dreaming instead of the desert that passes for it here, I don't know if anything can help," Shin sighed. Logically, he knew, he probably shouldn't mention the Dreaming, but he was pretty sure it didn't matter in wherever the heck he was here and if by some chance someone could help him reach the Dreams he was supposed to be part of...

He had to stop himself from trying to reach out for it right then. It was hard enough staying in his body as it was, the last thing he needed was to accidentally pop out and then have to explain it when he finally got back.

"Not sure how much help I can he just talking about that either, but I can try either way."

"Well, I can't make any promises, but if I find anything I might be able to use, I'll see what I can do." She frowned, slightly, looking past him for a moment. "I'm not sure what you mean by 'Dreaming,' I'm afraid, but if I learn anything..." She shook her head, and refocused on him. "Magic?" Her voice holds a note of disbelief, but at least she's willing to talk about it.

He blinked in mild confusion. "What, Dreaming? It's not really. It's an ability, not something most people have, but it's not like spells or anything like that. It's kind of like..." he paused. How did you explain that sort of thing? "Kinda like if when you dreamed you woke up in another world that's not really real. But is."

...

"It's kinda hard to explain. I could show you but it's not really a 'middle of a crowded renfair street' kinda thing."

Ability. Well, she's still, a bit, leery of accepting it at face value, but her species can share memories with other people, so she's willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Well, someday, you'll have to show me. I'm curious, now." And now she has a rather big smile. "I never liked not knowing."

And if that ability had something to do with the change in circumstance, too, even better.

"Next time you're asleep, I can come visit," Shin offered with a smile. "I'm a lot more tolerable in the Dreaming."

"How do you know my people even need to sleep?" Now, she's just teasing him. You know. A little.

He shrugged, smile still present. "So far all the types I've run into have to. Most of them even dream."

"I imagine the Geth might give you pause, then. I imagine the Rachni dream, but I'm not sure I could share that with them." She studied Shin for a moment. "How many kinds of non-human are you familiar with?"

"Only a few. I was a... guest sort of, of the King of Shadows for a while; those didn't dream since they didn't really have bodies. Astral types are almost always in a state that's like Dreaming though, so I can at least talk to those, but Shadows are different. They're still aware so it still works out okay when I project though."

He paused. "...that wasn't really what you asked, huh?" he smiled, looking almost sheepish. "It's been sort of a whirl wind few months, so... I'm really not too sure."

"It might have been. Your...home...seems rather different from my own." She looked across the street at the storefront. "I've met a dozen species that I took time to really speak with, and there are at least as many more I've not. And except for humans and myself, there doesn't seem to be a single individual from any of them here." She shook her head. "It can be disconcerting."

And now, a little smile. "In the last few years, I went from studying a race dead for 50,000 years to trying to save my own people from extinction. 'Whirlwind' is something I can understand."

"Sounds about as crazy as everything else," Shin nodded with a small smile. "Thankfully I don't think that there was any real risk of Dreamers being extinct... Most everyone managed to stay hidden well enough to avoid being captured and I think we found the rest of everyone else..." He trailed off, looking distant a moment before he shook his head, looking back over. "Hopefully you had similar success."

"Right now, I should be on Earth. In the middle of the last battle. If we lose, I don't see success coming. Survival, for a time, but not success. Everything comes down to someone reaching the Citadel. I would rather not speak of the chances we have of actually making it." No smile, this time.

"But I'm here. So I am going to learn whatever I can about the 'magic' and if Shepard can't win Earth, maybe I can...give us another chance." A moment of silence. Heavy silence. "Sorry," she said. "It's hard not to think about it."

"It's all right. I'm sure if it had been even days ago that I wound up here I'd be worse. The middle of a war is the worst place to be pulled from." It was bad enough he couldn't touch the Dreams of everyone... if the battle with the Alliance had still been going on...!

"Maybe not the worst, but..." She shrugged, took a breath, and crossed her arms. "I trust those I was with. If anyone can win our war, Shepard has them."

"It's just getting yourself to not worry about it while you're away that's the killer, huh?" Shin smiled faintly.

"Exactly."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

First Dream [Log]

We'll go with pre.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject