2018-11-25: In From The Cold
- Log: In From The Cold
- Cast: Ines Colina, Ida Everstead-Rey
- Where: Northern Steppes
- Date: 25/11/2018
- Summary: Coming in from the cold, a pair of drifters discuss the aftermath of the Metal Demons attack on New Arctica. Unlikely wisdom is imparted.
=============================<* Northern Steppes *>============================= The northern regions of the Elru continent are composed of broken, barren hills, their soil frozen and crusted over with rime. Little grows there, and even less lives. The monsters and wildlife of the region are notoriously fierce; a monster seeing a traveller will chase that person down for weeks if necessary, as that may be the only protein it sees in that time. The Steppes have been the dominion of the military Kingdom of Arctica since before the Day of Collapse, but in recent years their castle has been silent and unresponsive. The walls sit shattered and broken, the gate open and scored with long-dead flame. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfRBmqBlzzQ
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
In the days following the attack by the metal demons, New Arctica has been recovering. Even with the best efforts of those living within the tunnels, there were still plenty of casualties. Another attack on the settlement would be devastating.
It's this reason that Ines had put herself outside the settlement, taking a shift on forward watch for any sign of an attack coming. At least, any attack that isn't just teleported in. Fortunately, it had been uneventful watch, the biggest threat some of Elru's ravenous wildlife. And while still a threat, a starved beast is not the same calibur as the forces of Mother.
For now, though, Ines comes riding back into view of the entrance to New Arctica, atop the back of Furacao. Both are rugged up for the weather, Ines with a heavy coat and Furacao with a fitted blanket. As they close to the entrance, Ines dismounts, and starts leading her horse past the sentries that stand guard.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida needed to take a walk. Perhaps it's not the wisest thing to do in the frozen Arctican tundra, but she needed to get away from the settlement for a while. She took a long, scenic route down the coast, taking in the barren splendor of the ice and snow and stone.
Ida is already at the entrance as Ines comes riding up, bundled in her heavy wool cloak. She still has one functional arm; the other might be bundled up tightly against her chest, if the shape beneath the fabric is any indication. The guards don't ask her to show her blood. She fought to keep them safe.
At the sound of hoofbeats, Ida turns in Ines's direction, and manages a little smile. "Miss Colina," she says. "How are you?"
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
The sound of her name gets Ines' attention and she comes to a stop, nodding back to Ida. "Afternoon, Miss Everstead-Rey," she says, managing a friendly smile of her own. "You don't have to keep up the 'Miss Colina' stuff. Ines is fine." The geohound is, perhaps, aware of the potential awkwardness in saying that after her own greeting to Ida, but that's for another time.
"I'm doing okay. As well as can be expected at least." After all, she'd gotten off better than a lot of folks who'd engaged in combat. "How're you holding up?" She doesn't explicitly comment on the state of Ida's arm, but it's clear seeing Ines eye's track briefly to the wrapped up limb before re-establishing eye contact.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"Force of habit," Ida says. "I wasn't certain if we were on familiar terms, or business." The smile widens a bit. "But it's always a pleasure to make new friendships." She keeps walking, past the guards, and into the tunnels. It's almost as cold inside as outside, but at least there's no wind.
"...As well as can be expected," Ida says. "I feared the worst, but it seems preparation and courage pulled off something of a miracle." She looks down at herself, at the vague suggestion of an arm beneath her cloak. "As for the arm, I've been told I will recover, in time." Her eyes darken. "It's... a long, difficult story."
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
"Glad to hear it." As Ida continues inside, Ines follows. The beastwoman has to duck a little upon entry, but the main tunnels give her plenty of room. The lack of windchill is a pleasant change, at least. Now inside, Ines takes off her hat and brushes the snow and ice off it, before placing it back on her head.
"Seems like," is Ines response to talk of a miracle. "A lot of folk seem to think we should have done better than we did, but the way I see it, we should be pretty happy we're still here at all, let alone so many of us. Maybe that's a little optimistic, but we should take the wins we can." Still, she's alert enough to notice the change in Ida's demeanour, and her own tone changes. "I'm not gonna pry. If you want to talk about it, I'll listen, but don't feel like you have to."
Perhaps to cement that point, Ines changes topic slightly. "I don't know about you, though, but things got a bit weird in that fight." As the two pass a makeshift underground stables, Ines hitches Furacao to the post. "They didn't seem all on the same page. For being hellbent on wiping us out, the one we were fighting seemed weirdly happy he was getting beaten back. Like he was testing us."
Knowledge of how some of these folks were connected would really have benefited Ines in not stepping onto a conversational land mine there.
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida lets out a breath, and an icy plume rises into the air from between her lips. "Many of them were... close to a Hyadean woman who turned on her own, and sought to make amends. As I heard it, she was captured by one of their Quarter Knights, and... brainwashed." That's really the only explanation Ida has for what she saw. Considering Harken's behavior, it's also frighteningly plausible. "I imagine they tried to reach out to her, only to be rebuffed, and it must have been heartbreaking." Ida isn't certain if her complicated relationship with Riesenlied makes things better, or worse. Sometimes, it's easier for her to distance herself from the whole thing, but at others, she can only feel awful about it.
"Thank you," Ida says, when the matter of the arm comes up. "I just ask that... you withhold judgment, in the event it comes up."
The topic of the fight comes up. Ida swallows. "I know that man," she says. "He's... in a very difficult situation. You were well within your rights to defend yourselves, and those nearby, but... thank you, for letting him leave."
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
Hooo boy. Make that a minefield. Ines shakes her head. "...Damn." For a few moments, that's all she can really say. "I guess that explains a lot." It also strikes Ines that it can't be something the Arctican people who have been surviving here all that long can be too keen about. Hell, it's pretty easy for Ines to just see the Metal Demons as a menace without nuance, let alone people who have been here since Arctica fell.
"I reckon I can manage that." It's hardly an unreasonable request. But as Ida talks about her opponent in the tunnels, Ines nods. "Sounds like this mess is a whole lot more complicated than I thought." Isn't that the way of it, though? Things are never clear cut in Filgaia. "...He made it out, huh?" Ines wasn't sure if the explosion had taken him out, but that answers that question. Ines looks down for a moment. It hardly seemed in her power to kill the metal demon anyway, even four against one. Survival had been the whole goal of that fight. But would she have, if she'd had enough of an edge? "Sounds like this whole situation is a hell of a mess."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"I... I know he did," Ida says. "He's resourceful." There's a note of fearful uncertainty in there, though, as if she's hoping this is the case. "But it... I'm uncertain how much he can do, now that the stakes have grown this high. None of their Quarter Knights are fit to lead, much less decide the fate of their people, but I--" Ida swallows. Something tightens beneath the cloth, as if a hand were clenching into a tight fist.
"What could I do? What right do I have?"
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
Ines knows that tone. Sure, you hope they're alive, but you don't know. And some part of you is sure they aren't coming back. It's all too familiar. "...He seemed pretty tough. And clever." She says, trying to give some sort of factual basis, without getting Ida's hopes up unfairly. "He'll turn up."
Still, as Ida starts to question, Ines closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath, before speaking. "I can't even pretend to have a grasp on the whole situation." She tries to choose her words carefully. "And I don't know half of what you've been through."
Ines finally opens her eyes, looking down at Ida. "But saying you don't have any right to do something? That doesn't match up." At that, Ines looks away again. "Maybe I'm speaking out of my hat, but this whole thing, this is something- hell, someone- close to you, right? Seems like you deserve to do whatever the hell you need to."
The beastwoman sighs a little. "If you need some help with that, let me know. Or if you just need to punch me in the mouth for talking shit, I can handle that too, but I'd recommend we go back outside first for that."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
Ida's gaze flicks down to the limb restrained across her chest. The hand is clenched in a fist, iron-hard, and she can feel the pulse of chi, bright and hot, within it. It's so similar to her own, but different in ways she's not sure she could explain to someone else. It feels... firey, though. Determined, much like how she is, sometimes. She listens as Ines speaks, and while the Beastwoman might say she's talking out her hat, Ida feels... like she's speaking from experience, as much as anything.
'--but I'd recommend we go back outside first for that.'
"Oh, no, no," Ida says, raising her hand. "Not that." She smiles, a little, as she looks up at the Beastwoman. "I think you are absolutely right." She looks down at the cavern floor a moment. "Months ago, I was in a... a very dark, very cold place. I thought no one cared for me, but despite that, my companions risked their lives and sanity to aid me. I was the one who climbed out of that pit, in the end, but I don't know if I could've if they hadn't been there."
"And the more I look at many of Kalve's people, the more I see people trapped in pits of their own. I can't reach in and rescue them, but... perhaps all they need to hear is that they're worth more than they think. That they don't need their Mother's approval to be worth anything."
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
Well, that's a positive, at least. "Good. Because it's cold out there and I like my jaw where it is." Ines relaxes a bit, as Ida lets out that small smile. And then as Ida talks, she listens without interruption. She just nods occasionally. "From what you've said, some of them already have," Ines finally says.
The beast woman leans back against a wall as she thinks on this. "Doubt it'll be easy, but the ground work might already be there. Sure seems worth a try, at least." Probably won't, Ines thinks to herself, but it'd be damned nice if it did. "Here's hoping they can pull themselves out, too."
<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.
"I like your jaw where it is, too," Ida says. "And this place has seen far too much of late without us adding to it." Her smile gets brighter, if a bit more wry. "I hope so. I dearly hope so." She pauses a moment, and then adds: "Thank you, Ines. If... there's anything I can do to aid you, you only need ask. It's the least I can do."
<Pose Tracker> Ines Colina has posed.
Ines smirks at Ida's response. "Well, I'm glad we're in agreement there." But as Ida makes her more solemn point, she nods. Fighting amongst each other, even just lightly, probably wouldn't go down too well. "You don't have to-" Ines starts, but stops. It wouldn't be fair to just wave it off. "Thanks. I'll let you know." She pushes herself off the wall. "I'm just happy I could help." It's a nice change from work, after all.