exsiliumlogs | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Date: February 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports have all arrived and have been shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings, while older Transports are returning from the mission to Uruguay.
Warnings: None.

While those who have been guests of Exsilium since at least the last wave of Transports return from their desperate mission and are pressed out of the Transporter room and into the Courtyard, the Initiative prepares to receive a second wave at the same time. And if you're in that second wave, the fresh meat, then 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

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Cedric picked up his cup carefully and brightened a little. The aroma was great. He set it down on the table to cool slightly, then folded his hands in his lap. It had been a while since he'd had a proper afternoon tea---though he didn't really know whether it was afternoon.

He looked thoughtfully at the table. "Next time I'll bring food with me. I'll be able to transform it into biscuits."

The pleasant thoughts and aroma calmed him. "I do...I'm still a little beaten up from where I was. One of my opponents was being mind-controlled and used the torturing curse on me---it's just great, you can cause a person excruciating pain without leaving a mark. In theory. That part didn't work so well when he decided to throw me around next to a thorny bush."

By then, he was brave enough to take a sip. It was different than anything he'd ever tasted before, and he couldn't help but relax. "So you won't interfere with the affairs of man, but you know that I intend to, don't you? And you'd help me train anyway?"

He smiled mysteriously when Cedric spoke of bringing food to transform into biscuits the next time. This was looking to turn into a rather delightful partnership in his mind, and Sohki most definitely was one to appreciate a good little treat or dessert to go with his tea. "Then it's settled! You provide the desserts, and I'll provide the tea!" He brightly exclaimed moments later.

"All wounds heal in time and remind us of mistakes we can correct in our future," he murmured while raising the cup up to his lips. Taking a sip to consider what was said, he savoured the flavour in his mouth before swallowing and announcing, "Sounds as though you've had quite the journey."

"Of course I do," Sohki said between another sip. The question had him chuckling lightly as he peered at Cedric with his closed eyes. "Aiding you is hardly aiding in the war, even if it will benefit from your advancement. Call it a byproduct, if you will."

Cedric grinned back. "Absolutely. Warm ones, with butter." He had a weakness for putting good food together---not that it detracted from the tea! He took another sip, and it was still wonderful.

"Even if I can't go home, that's no reason to give up. If this is going to be my home, I'll protect it." And protecting it meant being prepared to fight. He thought he'd been ready, but he needed to work at it. Stronger spells, better strategies.

Cedric looked faintly surprised, but he nodded gratefully. "Thank you. But the biscuits can't be all the repayment you want, right?"

The training could be long. Cedric was stubborn enough to keep fighting until he collapsed.

The grin was most definitely welcome, and with the thought that they'd come with butter, Sohki's excitement only seemed to grow. "Well I can hardly deny the offer of butter!" And he was definitely not lying about that. If there was one thing that he did appreciate about the humans, it was their desserts!

"That's quite the honourable outlook you have there, Cedric," the kirin murmured with a smile. There were no traces of deception within the wizard's words, which he rather enjoyed. It was refreshing to find one so honest.

Sipping on his tea, Sohki emitted a soft chuckle at the question. It was so human to think in such thoughts, and he shook his head subtly in return. "Are you saying that your biscuits aren't worth it?"

Cedric laughed, reaching up to flick his hair out of his eyes. He'd rise to the challenge. "I make fantastic biscuits. They'll definitely be worth it. I just wanted to ensure it was fair. That's all. I mean...you've really surprised me."

And it was true. How his reaction to Sohki had gone from indifference to imtimidation to awe and then relaxation, he hardly knew. But it probably had something to do with the tea and Cedric's own endless curiosity.

The goal of protecting Exsilium and ensuring the others got home safely? That would keep Cedric going for now. It was a fine purpose.

"So...thanks again."

"Then I look forward to tasting them!" He had seen the changes in the teen, and was more than pleased with the result, even if he knew that part of it was due to fear and the human need to cling to kindness. The thought amused him as he found it so very human, and with it, his interest had been caught. "Oh? And how might I have surprised you?"

Chuckling lightly, Sohki took another sip of his tea before he playfully said, "Your thanks are a little early. I haven't taught you anything yet."

Cedric considered what to say over another mouthful of tea. It was such a tricky line to walk.

"All the things I haven't told you that you've pulled out of me, for one thing. I mean...I'm aware that you're a kirin, obviously, it's just taking a while to grasp the scope properly when my eyes see something else. But some wizards have the same ability---I just thought it'd be more obvious to me."

He shook his head. "I'm not offended! I was just...worried, for a little while. But then you've been kinder to me than I would have expected, and...training's important to me. I was going to do it on my own anyway, but I really appreciate that."

Ah, the silly naïve boy. Still searching for any shred of kindness in a world he now knew the cruelty of.

"That's where you're going wrong in the first place," Sohki cheerfully announced between sips of his tea. Smiling in all good humour, the kirin was ever-cheerful as he muttered, "You should learn to follow your instincts more, since it will allow you to view the world in a different state."

He watched the young wizard with a patient smile when he so freely admitted what was on his mind. Holding the teacup within his hands, the smell wafting up from the tea within was relaxing, and he found himself pleased to have shared it with this particular human. While his darling Fuuto had his own charms, what he saw in this young wizard was also rather alluring.

"Why do yourself what you can do with others. Humans are very social creatures, and often don't do terribly well on their own for long," Sohki quietly murmured before his introspective moment refocused back on Cedric. "You are young, and in a land that is unknown to you. That is enough to make even the strongest feel concern, and there is no shame in feeling such things young wizard."

Instincts, huh? That'd probably keep him alive a little longer, he thought. He nodded.

"Of course I'm worried. I've never exactly been a loner, and I still don't know what they have in store for me. But I'm not all alone. I'm going to improve and prepare as best I can---with help of course---and..."

Cedric paused to consider his next words carefully. She'd said it was all right to share their magic in public now, so that made it okay, right?

"There's a witch from my school here as well. She's been to a strange new world like this before. I don't know her all that well, but she helped me through the initial shock."

"Ahh but that's part of the fun! There's no enjoyment in knowing how something is going to end. One cannot learn from such a pre-planned journey," Sohki said before Cedric paused. Watching the teen curiously, he could read the thoughts drifting around within his mind about whoever she was.

"So there's another here from your world? That's wonderful!" He exclaimed with excitement. "Perhaps this is a twist of fate where you do learn such a thing. She appears to be rather kind if she's been aiding you already."

Oh, Hermione. Cedric would have to visit her later once they'd settled in.

"I definitely hope we'll get to know each other. And the people I've met so far don't seem too bad. I think I'll be all right."

He finished his tea with a smile and set the mug down, cleaning it with a quick scouring spell. "Thanks for the tea, Sohki. It was wonderful."

He smiled at Cedric in that mysterious way, and with a secretive chuckle, the kirin continued to sip at his tea. It would be interesting to see how all of these humans would react to this situation, and he would observe the entire process until his return.

"You're more than welcome, Cedric," Sohki smoothly said. He didn't want to keep the young wizard, even if he had been enjoying Cedric's company.

Cedric brushed some imagined dirt from his lap and chuckled awkwardly. "I'm just wondering about one more thing. Where were you planning to start me, training-wise? Whenever we arrange, that is."

The awkward sound had him peering at the young wizard with that same amused chuckle. Cedric didn't need to say anything for him to know, and when the question finally came, the kirin simply smiled. "Anywhere that you would feel most comfortable. All you'd need to do is think of me, and I will be there."

[ooc: and just so you know, he would be fine with Hermione with him as well if Cedric invites her! And is this something that you'd like to log? :) ]

"All right, then," Cedric said with a wide smile, standing to take his leave. "You can keep the tea set. That won't fade like a living creature's Transfiguration might."

[Noted! I'll ask her. And yes, this could be very fun. :)]

The offer of the teaset had Sohki finally opening his eyes as Cedric moved to stand. He watched the young wizard with his dulled gaze, the sight confirming the fact that the kirin was blind, before they once again closed and his subtly more serious moment disappeared in a loud clap of his hands.

"How wonderful! I will see you soon then, Cedric."

[ooc: great! Just shoot me off a PM or hit me up on plurk or something when you want to do it :3 ]

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