exsiliumlogs | (no subject)

Date: May 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings, while those Transports on the mission to Wollongong return.
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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ She wants to stubbornly refuse, but the cold and wet wasn't doing her any favors, and she didn't particularly want to get sick. ]

Fine. [ She heads in. ]

[ Kate would have left her alone from there on, but something about Merida reminds her of herself when she was a young girl. Sighing and with a roll of her eyes, she enters the shop after her. ]

I am sorry that you're here. It's not fair to you or anyone else.

But I'd rather not lie to you. [ She's not going to sugarcoat the truth. That's worse. ]

[ Merida scrunches her nose as she looks around at the shop's offerings. ]

I'd rather you not, too. 'Spose it's just a lot to think about.

[ Kate follows her, watching her scour the shop and its foods. As for herself, she decides she'll have something to bite. ]

You don't have to fight.

[ She spends a moment deciding what looks most appetizing, before selecting a sandwich of mostly meat and cheese. ]

I wouldn't have even if they tried to make me.

[ Kate's choice is something similar; may as well get it now before the store runs out for the day. ]

Did they tell you about the missions? Sometimes you will be sent on ones with the rest of us, but they don't always deal with fighting.

They mentioned it. [ She frowns. ] They can't make me go. Fightin's not the issue.

[ After she gets her order, she pays the man across the counter and looks back at Merida inquisitively. ]

What is it, then?

[ She dolls out some of her issued money as well, though she isn't familiar with the currency and ends up getting a lot of change back. ]

It's the bein' dragged here against my will part.

I don't know what else to tell you. Nobody likes it, trust me. The Initiative apparently can't control who or what they'll bring into this world.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to trust anythin' they have to say.

I'm not saying you have to. I don't believe everything they say either. There's a lot that's said without much proof to back it up.

Doesn't matter if it's the truth, anyway. I'm not fightin' in a war that's not my own.

[ She's about to take a bite of her food but stops midway. ]

Even if the war involved your home?

[ She scrunches her nose. ]

Believe me, the warriors of our clans can take care of themselves.

[ While she can't be sure if Merida is naive or stubborn or both, that comment still gets a small smile from her. ]

Anyway, you should eat up. The food isn't high class, but it's good enough.

[ She nods, giving the sandwich one more skeptical look before taking a hefty bite out of it.

It's...not great. But at least it's food. ]

[ She watches, vaguely amused. ]

Alright?

[ She shrugs her shoulders lightly. ]

Alright, I s'pose.

No good to run around on an empty stomach.

Fair enough. [ A grin. ] ...Thanks.