Day 248, Night ♈ Open

[emissaries]

Who: the Emissary, the Disciple, the Psiioniic, and you!
Open: Open like love is a door
When: Day 248, some hours after this.
Where: Near the entrance to the Skyway.
What: The trolls finally drag their asses into the Bastion.
Format: Starting with prose, but will follow.
Warnings: Troll blood and injuries. Also, the Psiioniic.

Darkness descended suddenly upon the three trolls as they passed into the limits of the Bastion, the sourceless, diffuse light from the Skyway fading to almost nothing within the span of a minute. Though a bit surprising (at least, until the Disciple explained this was normal), to someone nocturnal it was like coming into light after hours in the dark. Night felt safer, and the lights in the windows were a welcome sight, even with the architecture so unmistakably alien.

They must have made an odd sight, the three of them. Though the Disciple had already lived here for a little while, her two companions were new. One was a woman, with huge spiraling horns (yet somehow wearing a fedora), her black-and-red pantsuit stained liberally with something dull yellow. The other was male, carried on her back, severely emaciated and barely conscious, with the same yellow substance oozing from and beginning to crust over dozens of punctures and gouges, the worst along his spine and head. (The yellow stuff, of course, was his blood. We are all completely blown away by this stunning revelation.)

The Emissary glanced from building to building as they passed, trying to determine which one was their destination. Not having an amulet of her own, she couldn't read any verbal signage, and while some of the visuals explained themselves, none suggested a culling hive¹ to her. If they were to run into any locals outdoors, she hoped the situation - and the Psiioniic's urgent need of care - would be more self-evident, without the need to play charades.

¹ "Culling" means "taking care of," or "nursing back to health." Obviously. Everybody knows that.

Comments

[emissaries]

[Aradia wasn't really sure where they were going, but she followed Ghaleon nonetheless. Hopefully he'd understood the spirit of their request, if not the letter. She'd just have to trust him on that.]

Thank you.

[disciplewhomsignlessloves]

[She worries but follows them a step behind. He doesn't look a terrible doctor. Then again, she's never really met one. Maybe they all look innocent enough. Maybe humans do things differently.]

A healer? Or the sawing and clamping sort of doctor? [She'd had much better experience with people who sold medicines and books on herbs and leaves than anything related to docterrrorists proper]

[four_quarts]

[He'd probably laugh if he were called a human aloud. Sure, his methods may be the same as the humans of his world, but a human he is not. And innocent? Now that thought is a beautiful bit of irony concerning long ago events. As he can't read thoughts though, he merely responds to what has been said.]

A healer who does not need to be thanked just yet. I still have to treat your friend, after all.

[polariity]

[And now there's just a low hissing noise coming from him. Attempts at speaking can go fuck itself.]

[emissaries]

Good heavens, it'd better be the former. There'll be no summary amputations while I'm around, I promise you that.

[disciplewhomsignlessloves]

[The hissing noises are making her worried about his vocal cords if she's honest with herself but now isn't the time]

Doctors are like that, you know. Prefer healers.

[She'll have to find a book with medicinal plants again. Starting all over with her knowledge seems daunting but she suspects she'll have the time.]

[four_quarts]

[Well, that hissing sure sounds like a patient that's going to be difficult to deal with in one way or another. What fun.]

I'd rather avoid removing body parts if possible until we have a reliable method of creating and attaching working replicas. Goodness knows I have a personal investment in that project.

[polariity]

[He'll fuckin' bite you, Ghaleon. Maybe.]

[emissaries]

[Having no idea what Ghaleon said, Aradia just followed a follow along. Doot de do.]

[disciplewhomsignlessloves]

[There's a pause]

I'd rather you avoided removing them entirely if it's the same to you. [She's not mean. Not really. Just protective

[four_quarts]

[No biting. Ghaleon might bite back.]

I was speaking in general terms. Unless your friend does something particularly foolish or is exceptionally unlucky in the future, all his parts should remain his own.

[Oh look, here's the hospital. Here, let him hold the door for you ladies.]

[polariity]

[Try it, loser, he dares you. No, seriously. The Helmsman bares his teeth once they all pass by into the hospital.]

[emissaries]

[Given that his head was resting on her shoulder, Aradia did catch that tooth-baring, and she gave the Psiioniic a sharp glance from the corner of her eye, murmuring to him-] Don't be rude, dear, he's here to help.

[Probably. But yeah anyway, welcome to the hospital. She was somewhat impressed that a settlement this small would have a facility this large... Then again, it was entirely possible the settlement used to be bigger, given how things liked to fall out of the sky around here.]

[disciplewhomsignlessloves]

[That certainly doesn't help her own protective tendencies and she obviously reaches for a set of claws that aren't there. She really, really does need some weapons.]

Even if he's foolish.