(no subject)

[initiates]

Date: March 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings.
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "You're in luck that we have enough rooms for all of you; the housing building is getting awfully full. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air, though it hasn't turned to snow. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables, bundled up against the weather. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium

Comments

B

[wolfmd]

[Isaac always does the rounds hoping for familiar faces (scents, really), but he also keeps an eye out for people who might be injured.

The bruise on her face attracts his attention, but it's the movements that make him come closer. This woman looks so tense and upset and that can't be good. When he's closer he takes a deep breath, even though the damp air doesn't carry scent as well, to see what her scent can tell him.]

Would you like a cold-pack for that bruise? It shouldn't be too late, by the looks of it.

[If nothing else, he thinks that's a good way to break the ice.]

LOL I see what you did there.

[axplicitly]

[If anything, his approach causes her to tense up even more, so she sneers. What's with the people here offering things freely to strangers?]

Too late for what? To mar my pretty skin?

[Hah. She already has scars, so a bruise is nothing.

Though a cold-pack does sound nice...]

[wolfmd]

To help it feel better, actually. I'm Isaac Hunter, one of the doctors here.

[He's not at all deterred by the sneer, though he does note the increase in tension. All he can think to do is remain relaxed and hold as neutral a pose as he can. Which involves pointedly not meeting her gaze, because to a wolf that's a challenge.]

[axplicitly]

[She still doesn't trust him, but what can it hurt to get some ice? If he tries anything...well, he'd learn the hard way why he shouldn't have. So she forces herself to lower the ax she hadn't even noticed she had raised and gestures casually with her free hand for him to lead the way.]

Why not.

[wolfmd]

[His smile brightens and he turns, obviously expecting her to follow.]

The Transports run our own clinic here. If you ever need anything, we are happy to help.

[He keeps a relaxed pace, and is alert to her, even if he isn't directly watching. There's a tilt to his head in her direction--a compensation for not having mobile ears in human form.]

[axplicitly]

[Johanna rolls her eyes at the bright smile, uncaring if he sees or not. After a moment, she follows, slightly behind and to the right of him. She isn't outright staring, but only periodically glancing over to keep an eye on him.]

Just like that? What's the catch?

[She's careful to say it flippantly, as if it's a joke. The concept of anything being free is almost foreign to her. At least the fact that it's run by Transports is a bit more comforting than having it run by the Initiative.]