=>[MINI-META] The Collapsing West Outgrowth

[zeflamigo]

Odette thought long and hard about what to say and how to say it. They had to tread carefully, with the ghost-child's temper rising. She took a deep breath, and started to speak with the same soft voice she used earlier.

"I want to stop the crying..." She explained, heartfelt and sincere. She resisted the urge to walk closer, to open her eyes. Instead, she folded her hands over her pumpbiscuit. She pleaded with the ghost-child. "I want to know what hurts, so I can make it better..." Her hands shook as she spoke, although she tried her best to remain composed. She didn't want the little one to hurt, especially not in this eternal state.  

[Yamashii]

Avvisi's outburst after the destruction of her camera made Volkei feel bad. Maybe she wasn't supposed to be taking pictures, sure, but that didn't mean she deserved to break and lose her prized camera. He approached Floren and stepped in the way of his view to get his attention.

"You should give the camera back. It's already broken, don't be mean." Cameras were sentimental things. It only made sense for the tealblood to be upset at what had happened. He didn't know why the greenblood was being so hard on her. Wasn't it better when everyone tried to get along?

"Be kind. We're only on this planet for a short time." He glanced around the decaying and run down room, the sounds of a child's voice much like their own full of pain and hurt. "We should spend it trying to understand each other."

nepsah

 

[nepsah]

Floren opened his eyes enough to see who was addressing him. Ah- one of the kids that had been desperately hungry out on the lawn... He didn't remember the redblood's name. "It's broken yes, but the pictures are probably still viable." He shook his head, "it should be turned in to Glamis. Her actions were reckless and put the rest of us in danger." Floren paused, thinking of the words he wanted to use- "there should be consequences... for putting everyone in a bad situation..." He wouldn't claim to understand her- no, he really didn't. "It's not mean. It's a lesson. I'm sure she can afford a new one. Kindness is good to reinforce but so is following rules." He shrugged- there wasn't going to be any changing his mind on the matter.

The ghost's emotions were.. intense. He wanted to look at the shadow, but kept his gaze averted. He didn't know what to say to it, really. Odette seemed to have things under control, as well as Isthai.

Yamashii

 

[Sypon]

"There's been an attack in the East Outgrowth - Officer is reported to be attacking friendlies alongside the subject; all combat-capable units make your way to the East Outgrowth. If it's safe to do so, disengage."

The communicator clicked off.  

[Doutei]

Demari tensed as she listened to the ghost. It was angry, which was fair. She couldn't pretend to understand what the mutantblood had endured, what their brief life had been like. She thought back to the information that had been discussed before the seances. Rumors had mentioned the possibility of a second mutantblood. The drawn picture suggested that the ghost here had at least had a friend. She wondered what their relationship had been- had they been close or merely known each other? Was that something she should mention?

Her life had flashed before her eyes already today. Now it flashed again. If she had died in that room, what would she linger on in afterlife for? For revenge? For the person she'd cared about? The blueblood mused over these questions while Odette spoke to the ghost and implored it to confide in them. Volkei implored Floren as well, to no avail. At least he'd tried. That was all they could do.

"... I want to apologize. For the people who hurt you." Demari knew her words did not carry the same weight as the people who had killed the mutantblood. She had not been here that night long ago. But she truly did feel sorry. She'd experienced a small enough storm to understand the fear of your mortality now. She'd simply been lucky there'd been others there to save her. This troll had not been.

"And I wanted to tell you..." Demari fidgeted, unsure of what kind of response this next bit might elicit from the ghost. Would it be happy or enraged to learn this?

"If there was another of you... they may have survived. One of you made it." She didn't know who the troll had been or what had happened to them after the fire. One thing was for certain though, no reports had mentioned finding another child's body here.

But then as quickly as hope formed in her chest, the communicator sounded and she froze. What? Was this Schrad all over again? Demari covered her face, bursting into tears at the news. This couldn't be happening. She wanted to be strong and hold it together but she was confused and scared all over again.  

[Yamashii]

Volkei shrugged in response to Floren. Somehow, what he was doing with the camera seemed like theft to the redblood but he was not in a position to challenge a higher blood further than he had. He fell quiet on the matter obediently, deciding to leave the greenblood be. It was another troll to add to his list to avoid in order to keep away from conflict in the future. Volkei knew his place in society would not protect him if he offended people like Floren further.

Glamis chimed in over the communicator and Volkei froze. It was Schrad's room but worse, someone on their side was attacking people. He looked to Nahori and Odette. They had been strong protectors back then and were probably the only combat-capable units in the room.

"We can handle things here." He touched Odette's arm nervously, she was much more beautiful but much more intimidating up close than she was on the screen, "Please- help them!" Volkei tried to remain calm but there was a wetness in his eyes.

"You can do it, you're a hero!" The image of Sarcel with the blade sticking out of her face, the blood dripping down Kursha's backside and Static's bodies... he couldn't bear the idea of more. Odette's winds had kept the knife at bay. Maybe it could do the same again. A flicker of hope burned in him like a flame.  

[Micillia]

Avvisi Quills
Goldie Summoning
East... hadn't that been where...? "Kwelin and Philip!" She head herself shout. Tears sprung to her eyes at the thought of what could be happening. But... the mutantblood, it was still pretty upset itself! Avvisi called out to Odette like Volkei and Demari did. "We-we can handle this!" She said between tears, "Please go help them!"

The tealblood turned back to Goldie, her tears flooding her vision. "Im sorry." She said quietly and sincerely. "Im sorry i took a picture and scared you. Is there anything i can do to make it up to you?"  

[zeflamigo]

A noise caught in Odette's throat. She wanted to stay, she wanted to help Cynril find closure with the mutantblood. But there was danger in the other outgrowth, and much like the seance with Schrad, she might be one of the only trolls capable of putting a stop to it.

"I... I..." She looked to Cynril nervously, and surveyed the children. They were pleading for her help, there was no way she could refuse them.

"I'll go. Please stay here, or leave the hive if you must. Stay safe," She looked to Cyrnil again, almost apologetically. "Take care of them," She pleaded with the silverblood, her eyes flickering to the ghost on the wall for a short moment as if to indicate 'him too'. Then, she took off, sprinting out of the room.  

[tenaciousgadabout]

Makkah had been quiet for a long time now. Everyone was shouting and she didn't know what to do about all the harsh vibes going around. This ghost was bogus though. The last ghost had been rad as hell, why was this one so....so...UGH. She had thought Floren was cool on the one occasion they met, but now she wasn't so sure, he was being pretty lame to Avvisi. Plus the weird ghost was way harsh about her camera!

She rubbed Avvisi's shoulder as she angrily threw the camera at Floren.

”This ghost really blows, Quillsy. I'm sorry about your camera, but hey,” she patted her backpack and leaned in to whisper, ”I still got some evidence right here that we aren't turning into anyone.”

She offered her friend a thumbs up and a side-hug, hoping her words might have helped at least a little.  

[seekingCylem]

”Don'͞t.͞..́” The mental voice said again, though nearly silent. The shadow wobbled weakly at Odette's pretty words. ”D̀o͜n'͠t ̧lie͘. Gr͟ơwn͟-͏uṕs a͝l̕wa̢y͢ś ͞li̶e.̕ ͞L̡iar. ͢L̴iar͝.̀ Lia̶r. ̢Li̵ar͢.” They continued to repeat softly to themselves.

It stopped when Demari spoke to them. They stayed quiet for Avvisi too, but the shadow had gone rigid at Demari's mention of the second mutant.

”Cyn... Cyn... Cyn...” The physical voice whispered. ”The͢y t̷o̢ok ̕hi̧m! T̛he͞y ̴t͞oòk ͘him̕ away!” The child's voice continued to cry out as the spirit's words took shape. ”T͘éll ͏mȩ!͏ I͝s ̛h͠e͏ al̷iv͟e̴!? ̧Wh͢ęre di̸d t͏héy ta͘ke̛ ́him͡!̀? Wh͠er͜e ̢i̡s h͏e?͝”

The shadow writhed as though lit by a windswept candle. Eventually it stilled, then twitched almost artificially. In a sweeping motion the child's silhouette expanded to cover the room in darkness.

”H͝e's͝ ̷my moir̵ail.͜ ̀I̶'̕m su͜pp̵òs̷ed to ͞m͜a̶ke ͡su͏re͘ he҉'s ̕ok͘ay.̷ ̨P̷l͡e͢as҉e̕! ̵L͘et ͟hi͘m ̕be͜ ̵o̢kay̛!͝ T͏̙̰͍h͔̙̺̳͇̖̟͚͝ͅȩ̠̠͈͓̩̲̼ ̷̯͔̩̻s͓̪͢h̷̳͕́͠ǫ̹̫͍͈̠w͇ ͏̶̥̠̟í͖̦s̫̮̯͖͎̤̖̭̀͘͞n͓̘̺͖͔'͏̡̮͉̗̩t̹̰̼̯͜͜ ̴̜̳͓̹̺̼̥o̶̺̥̺̗v̷̟̩͇̣̯̩ͅe̷̵̟̰̞͍͢r̩̤͈̻̖̥͕̦ ̶̼͠͞y̧̛͚̮͎e͙t̨̨̼͔̗̕.̶̧̠̥͓͉̮̯̩̜”

The lights blew out and the spiritual presence left the room.  

[nepsah]

Glamis' voice over the communicator drew his attention. Friendly fire? Could the ghosts convince one of their own to attack their comrades? Floren looked to Odette, just as Volkei went to plead with her to go help the ones being attacked. Then slid to Avvisi- ah, so she did feel bad about what she'd been doing. Odette was gone, and the group was left with Isthai in charge. He looked to the teen, then risked a glance at the wall.

They were moirails? He frowned, no one knew anything about the other mutant. Before he could answer, the presence of the ghost disappeared from the room. What was that voice? "I don't think that was a good thing...." He edged closer to Isthai. "Do you think we should leave? That voice... It didn't sound like the ghost we were trying to talk to.." Floren was not used to feeling this nervous- normally he was quite calm even in stressful situations but this... this was entirely different.

ImaginationsParadise

 

[Yamashii]

"I think they've left. We should go." Volkei felt bad for the ghost that had cried so desperately for their moirail but there was nothing to do now. Talk of the attack in the other wing had the redblood feeling nervous. He doubted he could help much as a child and so he took Demari's hand instead.

"We're going to check on Glamis. He might need help!" If Floren and the others wanted to come too, that was fine with him. But he would not blame them if they wanted to check on loved ones in the other wing as well.

Taking off at a run, Volkei sped down the hallways of the crumbling hive with Demari in tow, hoping that there would be no additions to the catacombs tonight.