W1 PLAYER CYOA: Claude, Mizu, Richie, Taair

[holyspirits]

Comments

MARCH

[fried]

[ the mood is... bad, in camp, after this. maybe not surprisingly.

a day passes, and yae miko tells you that feixiao is... missing. nobody knows where she went. after speaking to jing yuan, yae miko thinks it's likely that she went after the leader herself in a frenzy, but refuses to talk much more about it. there's something there that you're missing, because feixiao has always seemed pretty level headed, but any more and yae miko insists that it's a breach of patient confidentiality.

all four of you, though, the four with halos nobody else can see - there's an echo of moon rage that curls up unbidden in your minds.

i will cure you, feixiao, so you may cure us of war.

in the following week, you keep an eye on your patients. everybody recovers okay. morale is busted, but the three you chose to save heal, bit by bit. you receive orders from on high that you're going to be put up front with the healers on the battlefield. numbers are low, and yae miko fights it, saying you're needed here, but she gets overruled. you are assigned to a group that is going to set off tomorrow to pursue the borisin threat. and to find feixiao, too. she's still missing.

your group consists of quite a few people. childe, sushang, xingqiu, ringo, bailu, lingsha, marcoh - those are all familiar faces, among the group, though it's not just them. the rest are mostly just soldiers you haven't gotten to know as well. before you set off, general jing yuan introduces the four of you to a few new faces. a crafty guy named eddie has been transferred over from another base nearby, as well as an on-loan general named judith, from one of the sister ships. they'll be accompanying you to the new base, which will take around a week to get to.

it's an arduous journey, through ruins of old buildings and long spans of snow and rubble. sometimes, you feel unsettled by the scenery. like - it isn't quite right. like it shouldn't actually exist here? like you think, sometimes, there shouldn't be snow here. or - shouldn't this be underwater? and then you snap back to it and kind of just go, man, the stress is getting to me. your friends are doing okay, mostly healed to full if a little sore, and the mood is... pretty somber.

so. tell me, what do you do in that week, as you make it to the frontlines? ]

AND SO IT GOES...

[fried]

[ lemme know what you wanna do here ]

[historicals]

[ the somber mood weighs heavy, but for taair, he does what he always does. he will tend to the injuries of the wounded diligently - check bandages, watch for infection. he sits with the others - quietly with richie, in moments when things are at their darkest, when cheer or falsities don't cover it. and more than anything...

he writes. he talks to the other soldiers, no matter who they are. if they're willing, he asks questions - gentle and kind, never annoying, knowing when to back off and when to gently coax until he can draw out the stories of the soldiers of the battalion and recording them. he asks about yukong, from people he thinks will be willing to share. about feixiao.

despite it all, he's still a hummingbird, quietly flitting from person to person, a kind and steady presence through the worst days. and on his worst day of the week, he just sits with marcoh, and looks out the window at the world going by. ]

[fried]

[ on his worst day, marcoh sits with him, and keeps him company.

one day, they come to a stop for the night to make camp and eat dinner. marcoh vanishes for a bit, but when he comes back, he looks kind of alarmed? he moves right up to taair and kind of urgently just goes: ]

I need your help with something.

[historicals]

[ he's up, immediately, straight to attention. ]

Marcoh. What is it?

[midway]

[ Claude thinks it's kind of unreasonable for Yae Miko to hold so tightly onto patient confidentiality when one of their few generals is missing, and their little town is on the ropes. They need all the information they can get their hands on if they want to avoid losing more people.

It's frustrating, and it kind of makes him wish he was in charge instead of stuck here at the bottom of the ladder.

Especially now that they're on this mission to retrieve her.

But it is what it is. They march on, meet new faces, and for some reason, though he kind of wants to talk to them...

He's going to try and dig up a bow and practice arrows for himself if he can, to practice. They're going to be on the battlefield after all, and it's a good way to let off some steam. ]

[fried]

[ claude said fuck leadership, i should be in charge

he can do that! one of the days that they're sitting and recovering for a bit, he pulls together a bow and some arrows, and finds a place to practice his shot. nobody stops him from doing it. it's probably a good idea that their healers can take care of themselves on the battlefield. as he's doing this, he'll get the impression that someone is watching him.

when he looks, the newest general, judith, is keeping an eye on his form. she raises an eyebrow at him, if he looks. ]

[purities]

[well. this is the pits.

of course, mizu is still a medic. in general, a good amount of time is dedicated to making sure the previously wounded are taking proper care of their injuries, providing supplies as needed and simply being A Creature in the direction of anyone who dares push themselves too far when it's not truly necessary. do not fucking aggravate your injuries or mizu will murder you before the borisin can. :)

when not actually living up to the medic part of being a combat medic, though, mizu will check out the scenery and keep a careful eye on the group's surroundings. after getting caught unawares by the borisin just the other week, situational awareness seems really fucking important. doubly so, when everything about these ruins feels off, and it may be a little hard to distinguish between that sensation and the sense of something actually fucking alarming happening.

godspeed, gang.]

[fried]

[ MIZU the soldiers are probably pretty intimidated by him honestly, so they behave themselves.

situational awareness is important! one of the nights, mizu is assigned watch with lingsha, who is one of the other healers and also richie's bussy buddy. she's a no-nonsense woman, but she's kind and she treats everybody the same, which is to say she is equal opportunity mean. she settles next to mizu at the edge of camp, staring out into the darkness. and after a while, she glances over at him. ]

You've noticed it too, haven't you.

[gutterbound]

[It's rough. He is a soft touch at the end of the day, and Yukong was something special to him. Richie can keep going of course. He's hard to keep down, but he's kept chatter to a minimum and has trouble keeping his cigarettes rationed. He might even rebuff Lingsha for a time — unless she doesn't mind his sentimentality. It's a casual affair so he aims to keep it casual, doesn't expect much for coddling or emotional support. It's not fair to lay that on her. If she offers, he'll take it. If she takes him to bed, he'll go, but it might start to feel like the rush of nicotine or the swill of amber spirits. Something numbing, not an ecstatic spark.

In the meantime he does take comfort in Marcoh's brevity and silence, though they've had trouble talking before (opposites, in speech and acts of affection alike). He also gets chummy with the new guy, Eddie. Something of a kindred spirit there, coaxes the bullshit back out of him with a pressing need to tease, and the guy squawks and shoots back but keeps coming back for more.

Judith is nice, he bangs her.

No jk he is respectful of this fine woman. You could never replace Yukong. 8(

The incongruity of the scenery does get to him. It should be underwater? No. No it can't be. He might confide in one of the three people he came in with — the only ones with funny pseudo halos he can see — just to triple check he's not losing it. He didn't nosedive that hard, come on now.

The closer they get the more serious he'll be, working perhaps a little too hard in preparation. Supplies, brush ups on technique, conferring on strategies and best strengths. The best he can do to stop the worst from happening.

But then again, this is war. What good is any of it gonna do when the shit hits the fan?]

[fried]

[ she doesn't mind the sentimentality, though she probably is a little rough about it. she's not so good with the bedside manner, but - she tries. lingsha lets him take the lead, and while she's never all in on the emotional support, she's kind enough at heart that she doesn't mind taking care of him sometimes.

eddie, on the other hand, is practically up richie's ass with how much he enjoys hanging out. he's a bit of a germaphobe, which is funny considering he's also a healer, and a couple of the rougher soldiers fuck around with him here and there. but richie is eddie's favorite, and he sneaks him cigarettes sometimes.

it's closer to the end of the week when eddie comes to find him. ]

Hey - uh, hey man, there's... a problem. Come handle it for me, will you? I don't know what to do with this.

TALKIES

[fried]

[ there's only one thing worse than a child(e) ]

[midway]

[ Since Claude has been mothered, he WILL go to check in the others. Strange how he no longer questions why they're the only four with a halo. There's no answers anyway, and no point in running in circles.

He's mostly trying to see if Richie is keeping it together. He doesn't know that Taair is a father now. ]

[purities]

[our sim plumbobs...

how is claude holding up, though?]

[gutterbound]

[Richie is fine. He's dusting off his hands after getting back.]

Oh, hey Claude. Were you out with Judith just now?

[historicals]

[ hi! baby aside taair seems all good - as ever, he does an immediate sweep over claude to make sure he's physically okay and then offers a warm smile. ]

Are you all alright, Claude?

[historicals]

[ an orphan child!!!!

anyway taair returns from his little excursion with a tiny baby foxian fast asleep on his hip.


this is very normal ]

[purities]

[




stares at this whole ass child??????????]

[gutterbound]

Taair? You can't have been gone that long.

[purities]

[i'll react to the other things when it's normal est time but before i pass the fuck out--

mizu just walks up the the gang (+baby?!?!), and without any preamble:]

I need all of you to concentrate. Tell me what you feel.

[gutterbound]

A deep and unshakable love for you?

[historicals]

[ a new purpose in life that might be parenthood....?


no he will listen. taair closes his eyes and does try to concentrate as asked. ]

....Nothing out of the ordinary. [ ? ] Did something happen...?

[gutterbound]

[you guys are so ambitious i'll tag you later it is now later]

Eddie found a mara-struck soldier out in the ruins today. Early onset — way too early. I don't know if that's going to be a one off but since it can be triggered by stress, we ought to keep an eye out for other cases.

[historicals]

Early onset...

[ hmmrmrm....worrying.... ] I'm glad you two were able to get to him. Let us hope you're right - that it is an abnormality. Did you get the name of the soldier...?

[purities]

[... well, shit.]

A bad sign. [not good. not good at all.] How long has it been since the symptoms made themselves known?