[Let's Write!] An Avatar/X-Over Adventure!
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[Let's Write!] An Avatar/X-Over Adventure!
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 Necratoid Wrote:[ ]Help him, no matter what he did he doesn't deserve that kind of death.Yeah, what he said. 
Remember, votes end at midnight EST because that's when I start writing.
Day One, Burning Hallway Looking into that idiots eyes I couldn't just knock him loose. Grumbling I grabbed the chain with both hands and carefully drew my legs up. My spine proved to be more limber than I hoped as I managed to bend nearly double so that I could wrap the chain firmly around my ankle. A metallic squeal started below me, followed by Ed's soft cursing. I tried not to imagine what would happen if any of these chains snapped. The chain held as I dropped head first. With one arm I grabbed Ed's shoulder, and the other could just barely reached the Captain's dangling wrist. His eyes widened in astonishment and he began to swing, but I heard the chain holding me begin to hiss dangerously. “Don't move,” I warned him. “At most I've bought us a few seconds.” “Sorry... yeah... I won't...” “I don't suppose you can alchemy us out of this?” I asked Ed. He shook his head very slowly. “I can't use alchemy, besides my hands are full.” “Right...” I looked down and noticed the two soldiers standing down there like idiots. “You two!” I shouted. They seemed to startle at my addressing them. “We need your help if we're going to save your Captain!” “Yes... yes!” the one of the right shouted back. Ed gave me a curious look. “You speak their language?” he asked. I stared back at him. “You don't?” I shook my head. “Not important!” I looked back down and ran my tongue over my teeth, trying to figure out how to handle this. “Okay, you two are going to have to catch him,” I yelled, keeping my voice calm. “How are we supposed to do that?” the one of the left shouted back, his mask was still intact which gave his voice a hollow quality. “One of you leans out, while the other holds him. We'll try and throw him towards the corner. If you can find something on the walls to grab a hold of that's even better.” “Captain?” “Ah, yeah... do that!” the Captain shouted, somewhat distracted. He was giving me an odd look. “We'll count to three and then release him, after that you'll have...” I looked at Ed. He gave me a long look. “What?” “Do you have any idea how long it will take this guy to fall to them?” He closed his eyes for a second. “One and a half seconds. Probably less due to air drag.” “You'll have a two count to brace yourself for him,” I yelled down the shaft. “Are you ready?” “Just a second...” Leftie called. I heard the chain above me squealing and there was a sharp snapping noise that echoed through the shaft. “No more time!” I turned to Ed. “On three. One, two, THREE!” It happened so fast I almost missed it. The Captain slipped from our grip and plummeted, screaming loud enough he temporarily drowned out the fire. He smashed into Rightie hard enough to almost drag the two of them over the edge. Leftie held onto his friends legs and was dragged to the edge of the dropoff, before they managed to halt their momentum when the Captain grabbed one of the lower chains. At that point the chain holding Ed finally gave up the ghost. The sudden lurch almost ripped my own chain out of its mooring. For a horrible moment I floated above the firepit, convinced we were both going to plummet. Then we jerked to a halt hard enough that I felt my ankle pop in its joint. I bit back a scream of pain. However, we remained. “Right...” I hissed. “Can you climb over me? I don't think I can move.” “Y-yeah...” Ed said dryly. Working hand over hand he began to pull himself up my body. I tried to ignore that magnetic tingle his touch seemed to send through me, especially since it was doing things to this body I was unfamiliar with and unwilling to deal with at the moment. Finally his foot vanished from my vision and a few seconds later I felt his weight leave me. “Just hold on a second!” I dangled uselessly. My arms felt like limp noddles and my ankle was sending burning jolts up my leg. I don't think I could have moved if I tried. “I found a rope!” * The facility shuddered and lurched about a few more times as we made our way outside. It was only because we were leaning on each other that we managed to make it without falling. At least we seemed to have risen above the flames, though the entire place was still as hot as an oven, leaving our clothes clinging to our skin with sweat. The sensation was remarkably unpleasant, especially down there. The sight of Ed, who it turned out was very much physically fit, and the fact we had to cling to each other didn't help. I was just thankfully the flush from the heat concealed the flush from my embarrassment. On our way out we stopped at a few rooms to loot what we could. Ed got his hands on a few brush and a few bottles of ink which made him inordinately happy. I managed to get my hands on a small knife, not much more than a cooking knife, but still it felt better to have a weapon on hand. Even turned practically on its head the facility was obviously a prison of some sort. Though what surprised me was the complete lack of prisoners. The doors of the various cells (big sturdy solid metal doors, not like the barred doors of our prison) were mostly hanging open. There were small piles of belongings scattered about in them as well. However aside from the obvious there was no signs of a struggle or violence anywhere we looked, no blood, no weapons marks... just, nothing. Ed found it eerie. I just was glad the open doors served as handholds for climbing. Finally we found a door that led outside. Carefully we opened it to find it led to what had once been a catwalk around the outside of the prison. Glancing out I felt my heart sink. “Is that water?” I asked rhetorically. “And a whole lot of it,” Ed agreed. He stuck his head out and took a deep whiff. “Salty, too. Looks like the ocean. So that would make this... a derrick?” “A derrick?” “Artificial island, made out of metal, in the middle of the ocean...” Ed trailed off. “Who would go to the expense of building a metal prison in the middle of the ocean? Why?” I didn't have an answer for him. Instead I gestured to the water. “Looks like this place is sinking,” I said. Sure enough, the waterline was rising. Slowly, but who knew when the buoyancy of this place would stop holding out, or the stress of being held up like this would make the whole thing crack in two around us. “Well, at least that will put out the fire?” Ed offered with a wry grin that I couldn't help but return. “Come on, the ocean air is better than the air inside.” Nodding I followed him out onto the catwalk. The floor was metal grating and there was a safety rail on the side which made climbing it easier, even with my protesting limbs. The cool breeze off the ocean certainly helped. Ed paused halfway up our climb and peered out into the horizon. “I think I see land in that direction,” he said, pointing vaguely off towards what looked like low hanging clouds. The sun was rising vaguely in that direction, which didn't help my eyesight any. “If you say so,” I muttered after squinting in that direction for a second. “See any boats?” Ed shook his head and we continued climbing in silence. The rope we used to tie ourselves together slackened and tightened rhythmically as we moved. I was amazed at how nimbly Ed moved even missing one of his legs below the knee. My own ankle had turned out to be sprained, not even broken, and it had severely slowed me down. Thinking about that made my own situation seem less horrible. All I was missing was a bit of fat on my chest and hips, Ed was missing something much more vital and I hadn't even heard a word of complaint from him. Thinking like that kept my own screaming mental voices from overwhelming me now that the danger was slightly less immediate. “Smoke,” Ed said, his voice a harsh whisper. A thick column of black smoke was climbing around the side of the prison derrick. We moved slower, more quietly as we came to the edge of the facility. Ed glanced around the corner and grimaced before gingerly climbing to the side so I could look. It was a ship, and obviously not one built for anything peaceful. It was huge, made entirely of menacing black metal with large smokestacks belching out constant streams of thick smoke. The front of the ship curved upward into a pair of horn-like spikes. Across the ship moved three or four dozen of those red-armoured soldiers, some of them manning large catapults or other, more menacing, weapons. The ship was lashed to the derrick by a handful of rope lines and a gangplank extended across to it. A tall man, the only one not wearing a helmet, stood imperiously at the edge of the plank. His hair was going grey at the temples but was otherwise lustrously black and he must have outmassed any of the soldiers by a good head or two. He was shouting something, but it was hard to make out at this distance. Frowning I climbed gingerly back around the side. “I think we know where those soldiers came from,” I told Ed. He nodded. “We still don't know what is going on here. But I don't see many other way off this wreck but that boat.” He looked down at himself. “If I had my alchemy, we could maybe take it, but even if we did who would run it? I've never even seen a boat like that up close, much less know how to run it. Do you?” I shook my head. Then again, I hadn't expected to be capable of gymnastics like I'd pulled off earlier. “None of the things I can think of sound good. What about you, any ideas?” [ ]”We should go back into the prison. We survived in there, someone else may have as well. Maybe we can find some help, or at least a clue as to what is happening." [ ]”We might be able to sneak on board. That armour conceals the face, so if we ambush some soldiers we could hopefully remain hidden until we reached some port.” [ ]”We're injured and tired. Find someplace to hide until the boat leaves. We'll think of another way off this thing, or maybe get rescued.” [ ]”I'm sick of running away, we can take the boat. I have a plan, trust me!” ------------- Epsilon
All I was missing was a bit of fat on my chest and hips, so female in a male body? That's my guess.
None of the options really inspire too much confidence in me. Abandoned on a derrick, we might have been better off just going with those guards. [X]”We might be able to sneak on board. That armour conceals the face, so if we ambush some soldiers we could hopefully remain hidden until we reached some port.” Seems like our best bet.
That's what was hinted at back in the second scene:
"He raised his hand up then glanced at me critically. “No, he doesn't know his basics, have to compensate...” he muttered before starting to modify it." (Ed is talking to himself about the MC) Anyway, I'll go with: [X]”We might be able to sneak on board. That armour conceals the face, so if we ambush some soldiers we could hopefully remain hidden until we reached some port.” 
[X]”We're injured and tired. Find someplace to hide until the boat leaves. We'll think of another way off this thing, or maybe get rescued.”
If nothing else, we can probably make a raft once the other boat leaves.... And Ed doesn't understand their tongue. No way is he making it as a soldier even without the whole limb thing...
Injured and tired.
[ ]”I'm sick of running away, we can take the boat. I have a plan, trust me!”
Let's go for the refuge in audacity! ^_^ EDIT: If this involves a certain Fire Princess getting tied up and gagged, then all the better. 
Lets see, at least 3 people know we are here and the platform is at least listing if not sinking. Somehow I doubt they will be planning on leaving without us... scrap metal makes a rather questionable raft. So option 3 is out. Ed can't speak the language and is short half a limb, add in that from what we have seen they move in packs of 3 so infiltration is dicey. Hostile take over is what you do when infiltration fails So I'm going with going back inside and investigating further, the minions aren't leaving without us. So as we still have time.
[ ]”We should go back into the prison. We survived in there, someone else may have as well. Maybe we can find some help, or at least a clue as to what is happening." Then again we seem to have picked wisdom as a dump stat so I'm expecting this line of reasoning to be realized in hindsight.
[X]”I'm sick of running away, we can take the boat. I have a plan, trust me!”
A mix of these two...
[0.4]”We might be able to sneak on board. That armour conceals the face, so if we ambush some soldiers we could hopefully remain hidden until we reached some port.” [0.6]”I'm sick of running away, we can take the boat. I have a plan, trust me!” -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
[X]”We're injured and tired. Find someplace to hide until the boat leaves. We'll think of another way off this thing, or maybe get rescued.”
There's gotta be lifeboats somewhere on this thing. ----- Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea. "Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber." --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia. 
I like audacity, too.
[X]”I'm sick of running away, we can take the boat. I have a plan, trust me!” -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
[X]”We're injured and tired. Find someplace to hide until the boat leaves. We'll think of another way off this thing, or maybe get rescued.”
I prefer my heroes unexpectedly sensible.
There is a time for brains and a time for action... he who fights and runs away... lives to fight another day. Pirate Rules: Pillage then Burn....
[X]”We should go back into the prison. We survived in there, someone else may have as well. Maybe we can find some help, or at least a clue as to what is happening." Tactical advice: Loot the local area, rest up, withdraw into the prison and then possibly 'rescue' soldiers. You should has some kudos with at least one group of soldiers. Find out as much as possible then use your uber skills to get onto that boat! And possibly find a peg leg or something for Ed. Do Not Tempt Murphy by saying "Trust Me!".
Longer than usual, took a while to reach a good decision point:
Sunrise Day One, A Sinking Derrick ”We should hide,” I said. “How will that help?” Ed asked in a harsh whisper. “Listen, with your missing leg and the fact you don't speak the language there is no way we can sneak on board and we're in no position to fight our way past dozens of soldiers, not to mention how many there are below decks. Let's find someplace we can wait until they leave.” “They're looking for us, and those three from before know we got away alive. What makes you think they're just going to give up?” “They're going to have to, sooner or later. This thing is just going to keep getting more dangerous.” “While we're stuck on it,” Ed pointed out grimly. I couldn't shrug with both my hands occupied in clinging to the walkway but I think he got my intention from my expression. He made a pained grimace then nodded. “Fine, maybe we'll get lucky.” A few more minutes of monkeying around on the outside of the derrick found a window we could climb inside of. The interior was an office of some kind, scrolls and knickknacks scattered about by the violent motions. A splintered desk lay against the “floor”. The only other entrance was a metal door in the wall. Ed gave it a long look and then began rub his hands together. “If we can erase the door they'll never find us.” “How do we do that?” “Alchemy,” he responded with a grin. “I thought you couldn't use yours?” “I can't, but you can. Anyone can use alchemy, just like you did to get us out of the cells. This is a much more complex reaction, however. It's not something I'd want to try an get a novice to do normally.” “Is it dangerous?” He scratched the back of his neck. His gold eyes narrowed. “It could be, but only if I really mess it up. An alchemic rebound should only occur if you improperly balance the equations and the reaction is forced to balance itself from the environment. If I get my math right, the chances of that happening are infinitesimal.” “So the real question is do I trust you?” I said, rubbing my forehead. The phrase 'aclhemic rebound' conjured up all sorts of unpleasant things in my mind, but my only other choice was to trust in nothing but luck. Calming myself down I nodded to him. “Okay, what do I do?” Ed sat against the wall, running his fingers over it. “It's not very high quality steel... probably crucible forged. Which usually means a higher carbon content, maybe even over two percent...” He pulled his hand free and rubbed his chin. “I don't need to change the chemical composition anyway, just the shape. So if I balance the equation for a range of crabon, say, 1 to 3%...” He suddenly clutched his hair and pulled on it. “URGH! How did people even do chemistry without being able to sense the material composition!” “I have no idea what you're talking about,” I admitted. I sat down in a corner and curled my legs up in front of me, wrapping my arms around them. It was hot in here, but we were high enough up that the majority of the heat seemed to have spread evenly throughout the structure. At least there was little chance of broiling to death. “I need a bit of your blood.” “Excuse me?” He held out his two ink wells. “Just a drop or two. It will make the reaction easier for you to control.” I hesitated for a few seconds but finally nodded. “Fine.” It took me longer to slice one of my fingers with the knife. I considered closing my eyes and doing it, but that struck me as amazingly stupid. When I finally did go through with it the event was almost surreal. I watched the knife cut a small slash but there was no sensation to it, at least not at first. I had already dripped a few drops into each inkwell before it began to sting. “The cut isn't deep,” Ed said. “Just don't suck on it and it should scab over in a few minutes.” “Thanks,” I muttered. Ed turned away from me and back to the wall. He dabbed the brush in one of the wells and then started drawing. The process was strangely fascinating. He started with the tiniest, most intricate little figures and symbols, seeming to jump from place to place on the wall without rhyme or reason. Then he moved up to larger and large figures, slowly connecting the smaller symbols into a unified whole. Finally he ended up by enclosing the whole thing in a circle, carefully marking out minute lines to exacting specification I could only guess at. “Okay, that should do it. I accounted for every variable I could think of, including the ones I didn't think I could think of.” He turned his eyes to me. “It's up to you. Just walk up and put your hands in the two circles on either side. Like before, try to picture the circle in your mind. Get it as exact as you possibly can. Don't think about anything else but completing the equation.” I stood up, stretched my hands and cracked my knuckles. I ran my tongue over my teeth again and nodded. The locations for my hands were perfectly placed and sized and my mind wandered to how well Ed must have been able to measure me with nothing but his eyes but I squashed that thought hard. Then I closed my eyes, allowing the symbol Ed had drawn to fill it. The world seemed to drift away. There was only a dark void, my breathing and the symbol floating before me sketched in black light. Soon enough even the void and my breathing flowed away. As before I could see the symbols and equations in the array begin to move and react with each other. It wasn't even an effort. All I had to do was concentrate and the array worked itself, flowing with the inevitability of water through plumbing until the entire symbol hand changed into something else. I stepped back, blinking away a flare or blue light. When my vision cleared the door in the wall was gone entirely, leaving nothing but a featureless metal bulkhead. “Hey! I did it!” I cheered. Ed was sitting back against the far wall when I turned to him to share my enthusiasm but something in his expression stopped me. He was staring at me, his yellow eyes half-lidded. His lips were almost white from his grimace. Seeing my expression begin to fall he twisted his lips into a smile and gave me a thumbs up. “That's great! First time even with such a complex array. I've never seen anyone take to alchemy as quickly as you do.” “That's good, right?” I asked, suddenly nervous. “Good? It's fantastic!” He smirked and rubbed his chin in an exaggerated manner. “Of course, all credit has to go to your teacher. With my fantastic skills and your natural talent, we may have a way off this deathtrap.” He chuckled and this time his smile was far more genuine. “Anyway, we should get some rest. There is still a lot to do.” “Right...” * The sun was just beginning its trek down from its zenith when the ship left. We both took turns climbing out the window to go spy on it, partly to see if it was leaving but mostly to get out of the stifling heat. As the sun climbed the oppressive warmth only grew worse and worse, making resting for any period of time virtually impossible. The only silver lining seem to be that the derrick had flooded enough that I think most of the fires went out. Ed crawled in an excitedly announced the departure of our hunters and we both watched from the window as the ship swiftly edged around the derrick and out into the sea. It was travelling east, and in a hour or so was nothing more than a black cloud shrinking against the horizon. No sooner had it vanished then we sprang to work. The time inside the office had not been entirely idle. At first I had started reading the various scrolls scattered about purely as a distraction. Sitting there in that sweatbox allowed my mind to latch onto just how wrong I felt. It was like a cut on the side of my cheek that I couldn't just leave alone, except it was everywhere. The feel of fabric against my chest, the press of metal against my thighs, the... sensations from that 'thing' down there, all of it ate at my calm if I didn't keep myself busy. So I kept myself busy. The office we had taken refuge in appeared to be a quartermasters of some kind. Ed grew interested when I pointed this out, and began to make notes of the materials written down on the scrolls. Finally when the ship had sailed safely out of sight he sent me searching for what I could find. I didn't want to go back into that place, but it was the only choice. Ed had difficulty enough just being mobile, and besides he was busy working on his own part of the plan. Still, the derrick had not been quiet while we waited. More than once it shifted dangerously, almost making us think it was going to collapse entirely. Ed speculated that the only reason the whole thing hadn't sunk already has because it must have been built on underwater supports of some kind, and that the reason it was listing was because one or more of those supports had been destroyed. I had no idea if that was true, but there was nothing I could do about it. Unfortunately most of the warehousing seemed to have sunk beneath the ocean or been consumed in the fire. What few storage rooms remained showed signs of being emptied by the soldiers before they left. Still, they couldn't get everything. I managed to find more than half of Ed's 'wish list' of materials (mostly wood of various types), which we could only hope was enough. We gathered the material near where the ship had been docked. The soldiers had been kind enough to free up a relatively stable flat surface for us to work with. Ed had me bring in the materials while he drew another extremely complex array. It was tiring work, but busy work that kept my mind from wandering to more personal issues the whole time. It was halfway to nightfall when we finished to Ed's satisfaction. “If we try for perfect we'll be here all night, and who knows if this thing will stand up to too much tidal force. Plus we're hungry and tired. We have to leave now.” I had no objections so once again I had Ed guide me through the process of completing the alchemy reaction. Unlike the last two times this array was considerably more complex. It took me four tries to get the thing to work in my head, which seemed to both please and worry Ed for some reason. As the blue lightning cleared we were presented with our prize. It wasn't much too look at. Ed obviously didn't have much experience with boats. “What do you expect, Amestris is a land-locked country!” he complained when I pointed this out. Still, it was large enough to carry the two of us and what few supplies I had gathered. We paused only long enough to eat what little food I had found (some barrels of rice that the soldiers had left behind which were filling) before casting the boat into the sea and climbing aboard. After that, it was just a matter of rowing (neither Ed nor I were familiar enough with sailing to risk trying to control a sail, even if there had been enough canvas). After a brief argument we decided to follow the ship that had departed. I thought that following the warship in our tiny, barely seaworthy vessel, was a stupid idea. Ed insisted that he had seen land in that direction and the ship was heading somewhere, which was better than rowing randomly around the ocean for weeks until we starved or dehydrated or a storm killed us both. Ed won out. We set out into the ocean with high spirits. * When I regained consciousness I was lying on a straw mat in an unfamiliar room. I groaned as the world came slowly into focus and tried to sit up. A steady but firm hand pushed me back down. “Now, now, you've had quite the tumble.” “What...?” My vision cleared enough to make out an older woman kneeling beside me. She had long grey hair and her eyes had heavy lines underneath them. Her smile was kind and helpful however, and unlike the men trying to capture us she was wearing a soft green tunic and long skirt. “Where am I?” “Tongli,” she responded. “We found you and your friend washed up on the shore this morning.” “Ed?” I looked around. “Where is he?” My last memory was of Ed cursing as he strapped himself to the boat. The storm had come across us in the middle of the night without warning. It appeared that our faith in our boat-building skills had been a little misplaced. “He's fine, though he hasn't fully recovered yet. Once we got the water out of his lungs, he started recovering, just like you.” She gestured to the wall. “He's in the next room, my son is looking after him.” I laid back with another groan. Well, it appears we had survived, at least. “You're helping us?” I asked. “After the Avatar showed us such kindness, it would be an insult not to show strangers the same ,” the old woman said with a smile. “Or at least, that is what my son would say.” “You should get some rest now,” she said. She moved a bowl of brownish soup next to me. “Eat and recover your strength, then sleep. We will look after you for now.” She left before I could object too much, leaving me with no choice but to devour the food provided (stale rice boiled in salt water this was not). With my belly full it and my head still aching I didn't resist the pull of sleep for every long. * Ed and I sat in a small barn, consulting a map the locals had provided. “I have no idea where any of this is,” Ed said, frowning. “I was thinking that we were in Xing, but...” He gestured at the unfamiliar continents. “None of this makes any sense.” I had no idea what Xing was, but deferred to his judgement. Even if he had almost gotten us killed. We had only both been awaken for a couple of hours, and the villagers here seemed to be willing to let us be mostly alone. So I had helped walk Ed out to this barn where the two of us were planning our next move. The brief walk through the village had been enlightening. The place did not look good. Several of the building near the outskirts had been burned down, and recently as well. The entire place was surrounded by a high rock wall, which made getting the lay of the land beyond it difficult. Stranger still the wall didn't look built, and there weren't any obvious gates. It was like the entire village was built in the middle of a crater. Stern faced men in green clothing walked along the length of the wall, most of them armed with spears. More than a few of them gave us lingering glances. “How far do the maps your familiar with go?” I asked. “Hmm. Not too far. There's Amestris, and Drakma, and the southern lands, then the great desert and across that is Xing.” He traced his finger across the continents. “We could be across the Western Oceans. Some sort of undiscovered continent? Amestris was never big on exploration.” “Ah, there you two are.” A tall boy in yellow and green robes walked into the barn. He had long brown hair that framed a square-jawed face and twinkling green eyes. His chin and lips had what looked like the pathetic beginnings of facial hair on them. “Haru,” I greeted. He was the son of the woman who had taken us in, the one who had worked nursing Ed back from near-drowning. Ed scowled at the two of us. “I was hoping, now that you two have had a chance to recover, to ask you a few questions?” I translated for Ed and he shrugged in indifference. “Well, I'll tell you what I can.” He nodded. “That's fine.” He pulled out the clothing Ed and I had been wearing. They had mostly been destroyed by the shipwreck and Haru's mother had been kind enough to provide us with yellow tunics and pants when we had woken up. “These outfits, they are prison uniforms from the prison derrick near this village.” “If you say so,” I replied. “We came from a derrick out at sea.” “How did you escape?” “Why do you care?” I asked, suddenly feeling suspicious. “Ah. I see.” He put the clothing down. “That derrick is a prison that is meant to hold my people. We Earthbenders are helpless in a metal prison so far from shore. Several weeks ago the Avatar helped rescue the majority of them from that awful place. Ever since then, we have been fighting to drive the Fire Nation from our land. Unfortunately, the Fire Nation is mighty and they have managed to capture many of our patrols and attack teams. We suspect they have been taken back to the prison.” Earthbenders? Fire nation? Ed was giving me a curious look but I shrugged at him. I saw no reason to lie, so I told him the truth. “There weren't any prisoners at the prison but us,” I told him. He winced at that. “I see.” “And the entire thing was sinking into the ocean when we left.” He pursed his lips. “That's... unfortunate.” He sighed. “I had hoped with the recent Fire Nation retreat we would get a chance to take our people back. But I fear they may have been moved elsewhere... or worse.” “Retreat?” I asked. He nodded. “Our scouts have confirmed the Fire Nation forces in this area have all been recalled further south.” He scratched absently at his partially grown beard. “I fear they may be organizing for a strike at Omashu.” “So... the Fire Nation guys are the one in the red armour with the ghost face masks?” I asked. He gave me a look like I had suddenly grown a second head. And suddenly that thought was not nearly as funny to me when I looked down at my lap with a wince. “Yes. I'm going to see if I can convince my father to lead the men to Omashu to help them. But he thinks that now is the time to go try and rescue our comrades. At the very least, someone has to warn the Earth King that the Fire Nation is breathing down his neck.” Haru stood up. “But this is heavy things for you, who have just escaped a harrowing experience. Please, take all the time you need to recover in our village. You are safe here.” As Haru exited the barn I turned back to Ed and explained what I had learned. It was probably time to decide what to do next. [ ]We can help these people fight the Fire Nation. [ ]Hey Ed, teach me how to use alchemy! [ ]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you can. [ ]We don't need these people's help, let's get out of here. --------------- Epsilon
[X]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you can.
If we keep on being ignorant of this place we're in, then how are we going to be helpful? Ed's still missing a leg so joining these people on a raid doesn't sound ideal. At the least we should ask Haku to show us some earthbending, so the town being positioned in a crater makes more sense. We can claim we got ocean madness from being at sea so long.
[X]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you can.
Time to mine the NPCs for key words.
[X]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you can.
[X]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you can.
[X]Hey Ed, teach me how to use alchemy!
learn
and what the heck is ed doing here anyways?
I had the same idea as BA; no reason these two tasks can't be done concurrently:
[X]Hey Ed, teach me how to use alchemy! [X]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you can. -- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak. Bob Schroeck Wrote:I had the same idea as BA; no reason these two tasks can't be done concurrently:Do you mean learn more about Ed? I admit that option had slipped my mind (though it was kind of included in the Ed teaches me alchemy bit). -------------- Epsilon
[X]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you can.
Like many others:
[ ]Hey Ed, teach me how to use alchemy! [ ]Obviously there is a lot we need to learn, find out as much as you can. Including learning more about Ed. And, for that matter, Ed learning about the main character.
Late Afternoon Day
Two, Mining Village of Tongli I walked over to the door of the barn and placed my hand against the frame. “Does any of this make any sense to you?” I asked Ed over my shoulder. “...maybe,” Ed said. He shifted himself over so that he could lean against a support timber. “Maybe?” “Listen, I don't know where I am or how I got here,” Ed said. “Though I may have a theory.” “It's better than anything I can come up with.” “Right... uh, this is going to sound strange, but I think when I came back from the Gate it misplaced me.” “The Gate?” “It's this... thing,” Ed gestured vaguely in a swirling motion towards himself. “It's inside everyone. It's what allows you to perform alchemy. In effect, you channel energy into it and the knowledge of the universe flows back into you. Then, bam, alchemy. It's more complex than that, but in a nutshell the only thing you have to know is 'To gain something, something of equal value must be lost.' That is the First Law of Equivalent Exchange.” “Like conservation of mass and energy?” I asked. “Conservation?” “The absolute energy of a closed system is always zero,” I explained. “Yeah, something like that.” Ed pulled a rake closer and began to sketch into the dirt with it. “Except its not just mass and energy, its mass and energy and information.” He tapped the three symbols he had drawn. “That was the missing part of the equation. The 'cost' of a human soul isn't just the material ingredients or the energy needed to animate them, but also all the information that soul has produced over its life. When we...” He trailed off, a distant and sad expression filling his face. Finally he audibly sighed and shook the thought away. “That isn't important. What is important is that you can use this Gate by paying a Tool. Equivalent Exchange, you see. My brother ended up trapped inside the Gate however. He tried... we tried to take too much from the Gate and it took its Tool in the form of his entire body, and my leg.” He gestured to his stump. I wasn't certain how to respond to that, so I didn't. I could only duck my head a little shamefacedly. “It took me a long time, but I found a way inside to rescue him. But getting out with both our bodies and souls took a big payment.” He took a deep breath. “My Gate. I paid it. All my alchemy... gone. We were supposed to go back but something went wrong.” “Your brother?” I asked. “Al... Alphonse.” He shook his head. “I'm not certain what happened to him. I know he came through the Gate with me. But where he is?” The distant expression of pain crept onto his face again, before he pushed it aside with obvious effort. “As soon as I came through the Gate I was jumped by some clowns who knocked me out and then I woke up in that cell.” “Doesn't answer where we are,” I pointed out. “No.” He shook his head. “But I can't remain here forever. I'm going to have to start looking for my brother. Since those Fire Nation jerks were holding us in their prison, they might be the ones who have Al.” “You're in no shape to be fighting an entire army,” I pointed out. “Wouldn't be the first time...” He muttered, crossing his arms and scowling down at the symbols in the dirt before scuffing them out with his foot. “We're going to need allies. Friends who can help us look for your brother, and information on where he might be held as well as what kind of opposition we can expect to face if we go after him.” “We?” I shifted uncomfortably and strode back into the barn. “I'm not saying that I'll die to help you, but you're the only person here I can trust. Besides, maybe you can teach me this alchemy. I seem to have a knack for it. I help you fetch your brother back, you teach me how to use alchemy so I'm not helpless. Equivalent exchange.” He gave me a long look and I felt myself fidgeting under his gaze. His bright yellow eyes were piercing, like they could see right past my skin and into my soul. I resisted the urge to flinch. What if he could see that I wasn't... wasn't like him? He seemed so confident in his skin, so sure of himself that I knew he was who he was. My skin felt like somebody had stretched out my body in all the wrong places and pulled it tight where it shouldn't be tight. It was like an itch I couldn't seem to scratch. “I don't even know your name.” I blushed and looked at the slippers the villagers had given me. Looking up at Ed I introduced myself. Ed blinked, his mouth lowering slightly. “I'm sorry, could you repeat that?” I did. Ed frowned and screwed his eyes shut, dipping his head as he raised his hand to his ears. I stared in confusion but he seemed to recover quickly, shaking his head and looking back at me. “Ugh. I think I hit my head when we went down with the boat.” He waved my concern away. “No, don't worry about it. It's past now.” He grinned. “Well, now that we're properly introduced, I guess we can help each other. Though I would need supplies and stuff. Paper and ink, mainly.” I nodded. “I'll go talk to the villagers. It's a good ideas to start finding out what I can about the local politics and stuff before we start committing to any plans.” “Good idea.” He waved me away. “I'd be little help in that regard. Though maybe see if they have a dictionary or something I can study while you're doing that?” * It turned out there wasn't much in the way of dictionaries in the village. The people here were poor and their lives mean, barely operating above the subsistence line. One of the village elders was able to lend Ed a few scrolls they used to help teach children their basic numbers. I didn't have any trouble interpreting it but Ed just looked at the scroll with drooping eyes. “These aren't letters, they're... I don't know what they are...” Ed frowned when I offered to help him but he waved me off. I needed to figure out what was going on. This turned out to be slightly harder than I had expected. While Haru and his mother were both kind enough, the rest of the village was not. It wasn't that they were hostile towards us, just that they seemed far too busy to take time to discuss 'trivial' matters with me. Especially stuff that everyone seemed to know. The first time I asked 'who are the Fire Nation' I was literally laughed out of the room, my cheeks burning in humiliation at the taunts and insults at how 'stupid' I was or what kind of 'fool did I take them for'. It was hard to blame them for their attitudes however. Everyone in the village seemed to be on pinheads. The slightest disturbance outside the walls caused all activity to cease until the all clear was given. From what I could tell the people here were also on short rations and the houses were overpopulated, with most people not even bothering to stay indoors. Doing some quick math I concluded that a small agrarian village that had absorbed a huge host of war prisoners was probably already stretched to the limits of its capacity to feed and house them. Eventually I decided to stop asking direct questions and just absorb the gossip around me. My footsteps were very quiet and I seemed to have a knack for finding places to stand where I could go unnoticed. Blending into the shadows and drifting from conversation to conversation I learned quite a bit. “It never used to be this bad. I almost think it wasn't worth it to break out of that prison.” “At least it calmed down in the last few days.” “If Haru is to believed that's because the firebenders are making a big push to take Omashu.” “If we loose Omashu, then there is nothing to stop them coming back and crushing us.” “Not much we can do about that, though. Come on, help me move this Moo-sow...” Drift away, find another group who catches my ear. “Yeah, well you didn't see that fleet. I was up on Ling's Pass the other day and I saw a lot of ships on the horizon. It was a wall of black smoke. There had to be hundreds of them.” “Headed south?” “Yeah, just glad they didn't stop here. I haven't heard of that many firebenders in one place since they failed to take Ba Sing Se.” “Maybe the Avatar will stop them?” “We can only hope.” They drifted into more casual conversation so I drifted away again until the word 'Avatar' caught my attention again. “...all his fault. If he hadn't come back...” “We'd still be in prison.” “Yeah, he may be a kid, but he has spirit. And that girl with him is a fighter, too.” “But before he came back the Fire Nation was content to do this slow and steady. They've been too reckless lately. Something changed, something big. They've been attacking all over the coast, taking earthbenders from their homes in the middle of the night, I hear.” “And how do you know all this, Jing?” “I hear it from travellers. Lots more refuges fleeing inland these days. I'm telling you, this war got worse when the Avatar showed up again, not better.” “How much worse could it get than loosing steadily for a hundred years?” “...I'm not certain I want to know.” Drift away, find another pair arguing on top of the wall, their voices drifting down to me from above. “Remember, the weakest part of the firebender is their stance. If you can destroy their balance, they can't shoot fire at you.” “I tried that, I still have the scar on my arm. That patrol we ran into wasn't fighting like any other firebenders I've ever seen. Not even the ones who captured me in the first place. These guys were... desperate somehow. They just threw themselves at us recklessly, like they didn't care about anything but capturing us.” “How did you get away?” “We hid, spent nearly two hours underground. I felt like I was going to faint before Tyro let us up for some air.” “Still, better than going back to prison.” “Yeah, but I'm not sure for how much longer we'll be safe here.” “We can hold out until the Avatar masters the four elements. Then... then maybe there will be peace.” “I hope so.” I drift away again and this time I find a more friendly face, though he doesn't look pleased. Haru is standing at the edge of the village, arguing with a taller man with a long white beard and bald head. The man was massive, dressed in much darker green than Haru was. Still, there was a resemblance between the two. “...can't just leave them to fend for themselves!” Haru was shouting as I approached. “Son,” the bald man placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. “I know it seems bad, but Omashu is one of the most heavily fortified cities on the continent. Only Ba Sing Se is more heavily defended. Plus I hear their King is a wily one, and won't go down easily to Fire Nation trickery.” Haru clenched his fists, his eyes narrowing. “This isn't like it was five years ago!” he snapped. The older man frowned. “We have to think about our own home first. Almost half the men we liberated from the prison were captured again. We simply can't spare the earthbenders to try and help out. Not to mention that our contribution to the defence would be pitiful compared to what Omashu already has within its walls.” “I don't just mean like that...” Haru backed up a few steps, taking him out of his father's reach. The old man's arm fell to his side and a brief look of hurt passed across his face. “The firebenders have gone crazy.” “Crazy?” “You've fought them in the last few weeks. Tell me I'm not right. There's something different about them.” Haru rubbed his nascent beard. “They're taking too many risks to capture people alive.” “That's a bad thing?” the old man grumbled. “It means we can break them out from that prison.” “But according to those two boys we rescued, there is nobody there to rescue.” “Impossible. There should be hundreds there, not just from the ones they recaptured but all the earthbenders they've been taking in raids up and down the coast.” “Exactly!” Haru stamped his fist into his hand. “All the earthbenders they're taking, and they vanish without any trace? If they'd moved them we should have seen something, heard something.” “How trustworthy are these escapees?” the old man said. “I can answer any question you have,” I stepped out of the shadows. Both men started and turned on me, there eyes wide. The old man's hand fluttered up to his heart, then fell down again. “You scared me,” Haru accused, pointing a finger at me. “Sorry,” I replied. “But I overheard you talking about me.” “Hmmm.” The old man nodded. “So you're the castaways my son fished out of the ocean?” I nodded. “Ah, I'm being impolite.” Haru stepped between us. “This is my father, Tyro. Father, this is... I'm sorry, I never caught your name.” I told them both. A look of discomfort passed across their faces. Tyro's hand reached up to his ear. Haru blinked rapidly. “Could you... speak up?” Tyro asked. I sighed and repeated it again. Was my voice going or something? “Your name...” Tyro blinked dizzily for a few seconds before seeming to firm himself. “Your name is Nin?” He was mispronouncing it slightly, but I nodded anyway. It was good enough. “So, my son tells me that the prison you escaped from was abandoned?” “Truthfully I didn't have the time to explore it fully, but all the cells were empty.” I paused thinking back. “Though it looked like there were people in them not too long ago.” I shrugged. “There was some sort of explosion that knocked the whole place over. Maybe your people escaped because of that? Maybe caused it?” “If so, why haven't they come back?” Haru asked pointedly. I could only shrug at that. “And were there any Fire Nation troops there?” Tyro asked. “If the Fire Nation are those guys in the red armour, then yes. We had to escape from a few of them when we got out of our cells.” “How many troops?” “I don't know... a few dozen? However many would be carried in one of those ironclads.” “Just one ship?” Tyro didn't seem to believe me. He scratched his beard. “There is no way they could control the prison population with just one ship. Even if they were all firebenders. It's just too big a difference.” “I can only tell you what I saw. Oh, and the ship was probably there to get us. Ed and I, that is. The soldiers we ran into mentioned wanting to capture us alive.” “I still don't like it. We have one ship left from our escape. I want to take some men out, investigate the area. See if we can learn where they might have taken our people.” “What about Omashu?” Tyro considered his son's appeal for a few seconds. “I can't send enough troops to matter. But if the Fire Nation is up to something tricky here, they should probably be warned.” “I can take the two fastest runners with me, we can be in Omashu within three days.” Tyro seemed pained by the declaration but finally relented in the face of his son's eagerness. “Okay, but don't engage any firebenders! Your job is solely to warn the King that trouble is coming.” “You won't regret it! Katara taught me that we all have to fight together, or we'll fall apart. I'll prove it to you!” Haru turned to me and gave a slight bow before running deeper into the village. “Katara?” I asked Tyro. “A water tribe girl Haru was somewhat taken by,” Tyro explained. “Ah.” I looked down at myself in misery for a moment before forcing my brain back to the present. “What happened to her?” “Hmm? Oh, she's safe. As anyone is these days, I suppose. She was travelling with the Avatar last I saw her.” “I've heard people talking about the Avatar, who is that?” Tyro gave me a long look and then chuckled. “I suppose you're young enough you may never have heard the story. I had just about given up hope myself until I saw him in the flesh. Remarkable boy. Still, to have such a destiny at his age.” He scratched his beard and clucked his tongue. “The universe can be unfair.” I raised my eyebrow at his non-explanation and he cleared his throat before continuing. “The Avatar is the one person in all the world who can bend all four elements. Every time the old Avatar dies a new one is reincarnated in the order of the elemental cycle; Air, Water, Earth and Fire. The current Avatar is an airbender named Aang. I'm not certain how he survived the massacre, much less how a child managed to survive one hundred years but...” He shrugged. “He's the only hope we have.” “Massacre?” I asked idly. His brow darkened. “Yes, one hundred years ago the Fire Nation started this war by wiping out all the Air Nomads. There hasn't been an airbender in almost a hundred years.” He shook his head and turned to me with an apologetic look. “I'm sorry I don't have any more time to talk. I'll have to go gather up the scouts and check up on our captured ship. You should head back to the house, Mani will be upset if you're gone too long.” I nodded then watched as he walked up to the wall. To my surprise he didn't climb call for a ladder or rope, instead he took a wide-legged stance and clapped his hand together. With a soft grunt h pulled his hands violently apart and the wall in front of him just... parted. It was like he had stuck his hands in an invisible crack and yanked the wall aside like a sliding door, except he was standing nearly two meters from it. I was still blinking and rubbing my eyes as Tyro walked through the partition and turned around before clapping his hands together, the wall merging seamlessly back together in response. Well, at least now I knew how they got in and out of the village. * “Sounds like alchemy to me,” Ed pointed out. We were alone at the table in Tyro's house. His wife had left some soup and rice for us. It wasn't very filling, but considering the circumstances it was more than generous. “I don't know, it didn't look like the alchemy I've seen.” “There's all kinds of alchemy,” Ed pointed out. He gestured with the chopsticks in his hand before trying (and failing horribly) to get some of the rice with them. “Gah, these things are insane. Has no one here heard of a fork?” I smirked behind one hand as I expertly retrieved some rice and even dunked them in my soup before eating them with an exaggerated motion. I deflected Ed's disapproving glower with a smile and a question. “So alchemy can manipulate all four elements?” “Ninety-two elements, actually.” Ed shrugged and dropped his sticks and began to spoon the rice into his mouth with his fingers. “Though four of them exist only as alchemic byproducts and don't seem to occur naturally, and there are people who talk about transuranic elements. Though the guy who was doing research into those died of some sort of wasting sickness and the military forbid any further research.” “And alchemy can manipulate them all?” “With the right equation, yes. Heck you can even convert one into the other if you know what you're doing. Making gold is forbidden.” “You can make gold?” I asked in awe. “Not anymore, and its not as useful as you think.” He frowned. “You said he talked about manipulating fire, earth water and air?” I nodded. There had been a lot of talk about 'firebenders' and 'earthbenders' around the village. A few mentions of 'waterbenders' when I discretely asked, though apparently that girl Katara was the only one they had ever encountered. And the Avatar, of course. The supposed Last Airbender. “Sounds like the classical elements...” Ed snorted. “Maybe these people just don't understand what they're doing. Water is a compound, not an element, for one thing. And fire isn't even matter, it's a chemical reaction!” “The rice grains jump off your cheeks when you yell,” I pointed out with a chuckle. “Besides, didn't you mention something about flame alchemy back at the prison?” He snickered and wiped his face off. “I did?” He shrugged. “I guess they could have produced flame alchemy here, but its an almost impossible to master alchemy back in Amestris. I only know one guy who could use it, and our society has been using science to classify alchemy for hundreds of years, not some backwater mysticism.” “Backwater mysticism or not, it works. I saw a few more people moving the earth around just by going through kata around the village.” “Bah! If I still had my Gate, I'd show them how superior science is to their superstitions,” Ed declared bombastically. It was hard to tell if he was being serious or not. Suddenly his expression grew graver. “So, you heard anything more about those red armoured goons?” “Nothing good.” I outlined what I had learned of the Fire Nation, and their genocidal and (increasingly erratic) soldiers. “Apparently they come from the west. That continent to the west of the big one on the map they showed us.” Ed nodded grimly. “So if they're holding my brother anywhere, its probably in their home country.” He picked up a chopstick and began to idly doodle on the table. “Or at least we could pick up a lead there. Though it looks like they have total control over the ocean, with those... what did you call them?” “Ironclads.” “Right, ironclads. That would make getting into their homeland difficult.” “But not impossible,” I said with as much encouragement as I could. “Right. Maybe while they're bust chasing this Avatar idiot for their bizarre religion we can sneak in?” He tapped the table a few times. “But we'll need a few things.” “Such as?” “I need a new leg. I'm no good in a real fight like this.” “New leg?” Ed propped his stump on the table and pulled back the cloth on the dangling leg of his pants. I gasped. Instead of a rounded knee, his leg ended in what looked like a metal socket. “Automail,” he explained. “Metal limbs that work just as good as the original, better in some cases.” He grimaced and hid the leg back under the table. “Though from the looks of this place, I highly doubt they have advanced enough alchemy to manufacture the materials needed. Though a leg is not an arm. If I could get my hands on a decent supply of quality steel, I could probably get a replacement that would work... okay enough.” I shuddered and clutched my own legs. No matter what had happened to me and my body, at least it still had all its limbs. “Second, we can teach you alchemy. Or maybe first. We can work on those two at the same time.” “Sounds good to me.” “Third, we're going to have to find someone who can sneak us into the Fire Nation.” Ed tapped his chopstick against the table and made a slashing motion. “No matter how major the war is, there's going to be someone who knows a backdoor, or the right official to bribe or something.” “Smugglers? Pirates?” I guessed. “And other assorted scum, yeah.” “We're not likely to run into them around here.” “Nope. And to deal with scum, we'll need money. Money and the ability to defend ourselves. Which brings me back to points one and two.” “Anything else?” “Lots of things, but there are two many variable in the equation as it stands.” He shrugged and leaned back. “So we should rest the night and decide what to do tomorrow.” “Sounds good.” “So, why don't you tell me about yourself?” Ed asked as I was standing up. “I... uh...” “Part of teaching you alchemy means I have to understand were you're coming from. I have to know how you fit into the world. So, the more I know about you, the better.” I opened my mouth and then closed it again. I should tell him about my condition, about waking up with an unwanted organ between my legs and how my body felt like it had been warped. But I couldn't. I just couldn't say it out loud. What if he thought I was a freak? A pervert? He was the only person I could trust and if I drove him away then I would just be lost and what the hell would I do? So I didn't say anything about that, instead I told him about my life, a little edited for his ears. Pick three! [ ]I grew up in a big city. [ ]I grew up in the country. [ ]I grew up on the coast. [ ]I was constantly moving as a kid. [ ]My parents were rich. [ ]My parents were middle-class. [ ]My parents were poor. [ ]I'm an orphan. [ ]I was studying for a social science degree. [ ]I was active in politics. [ ]I was studying the hard sciences. [ ]I was planning to join the military. |
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