The Capital

[idolpro]

For one reason or another, you - yes, you - were caught to be taken to the Capital. Whether it is due to going to ultrajail or whether it is due to being a Plague Bearer, here you are.

Please contain yourselves to the specific headers provided to you; if you are provided a header that was linked to another unit, make no mistake! You guys are together now. :)

Comments

[idolpro]

The hooded figure - turns out to be an older person, though it's difficult to say whether they are man or woman. They speak roughly, voice distorted - you . . . feel like you know this voice. But . . . you don't recognize this person at all.

". . . This way."

You should be sprayed down or something, given that there's all this equipment here, but the hooded figure just throws a couple of raggedy cloaks at you and turns to the next set of double doors.

[puzzlekeeper]

[ King glances at Hiryuu for a moment - before wordlessly throwing the cloak over his shoulders following Mr. Mysteriously Familiar Voice. For some reason it feels as though questions can wait. ]

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ Hiryuu exchanges that glance with King and then follows suit. It's--weird, putting the cloak over her and pulling the hood over her head. Genuinely familiar--and not entirely unwelcome, in a way that these pressed upon memories are not. ]

[idolpro]

The person leads you out - and you enter what looks to be . . . a city. This was certainly not here when you were part of the King's guard, but you do know that it was being built. This must be the Plague Bearers' quarters.

This is not where the military goes. This is where the disabled go - those who are unfit to fight. The hooded figure takes you right up to an apartment however, and opens the door for you to enter.

"Come in. You'll be safe here until we can get you out."

[dragonheartedgirl]

Safe? From what?

[puzzlekeeper]

I think you've lost us.

[idolpro]

The person snorts - "Well, you don't want to be shipped all the way to the border, do you? You've got a daughter to go back to."

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ we have a stalker? no wait ]

You... are an old companion of ours, aren't you?

[ wait. that still makes--does that make any sense? we haven't said a word about our daughter here. ]

How do you know that?

[puzzlekeeper]

That explains the voice...

[idolpro]

The person tilts their head, looking amused for a brief moment - before looking around and gesturing to the inside of the apartment.

"Well, do you want to get caught and thrown back in there or do you want to talk inside?"

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ INSIDE inside pulling King in too. what the hell. IF THIS WAS A TRAP, it was very well played, sir or ma'am. ]

[puzzlekeeper]

[ UNNNNNSURE but ok fine, in they go. ]

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ look if we have to fight

we can use the furniture inside as weapons. it's fine, we're fine!! ]

[idolpro]

It isn't! It's just a regular ass apartment. It's not very well furnished or anything, but it's a home and it's like, relatively new in terms of architecture. Doesn't look like it was broken in as a living space at all. Still got that New House smell.

The person closes the door, and then speaks - quieter.

"She's looking for you - the rest of your family is looking for you, too. They're headed here."

[puzzlekeeper]

[ Oh, yeah. Team and daughter probably haven't been THRILLED by the developments . . . ]

You've been tracking them - are they alright?

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ she shouldn't be surprised, AND YET. ]

They came to rescue us?! But--they need to help all of the Plague Bringers!

[ THE KIDS? THE TRAFFICKED KIDS!? EYES ON THE PRIZE, GUYS!!! ]

Do you know where they are? Can we get a message to them?

[idolpro]

"I don't think I can get a message . . . I can't exactly leave this place. I might be able to do something, though."

The person taps their chin, considering this for a bit.

"They are doing alright, though. They've got the old guard on their side - that's why I could help you." Their voice cracks, as if they haven't had water in a long time - but there's a flask at their hip, so . . . ?

"Anyway, the bottom of it is that you won't be able to get out for two weeks or so. In two weeks, they'll open the gates to bring in food and new residents - that's when you can escape. Until then, I guess I can try to pass some messages along the trail. . . "

/3

[dragonheartedgirl]

... This is just my thinking, and Kit--I mean King-- may have other thoughts, but if it's too dangerous, then you don't need to.

[dragonheartedgirl]

Mori, Eclipse, Abi, and Hurricane are all there, so... I'm sure that together they can take care of Joy and keep her safe.

[dragonheartedgirl]

Instead... if we're to be stuck here for the next several weeks, then I'd like to know what we can do to help the people here. You sound sick--and many of the people outside seemed to be injured or disabled or ill.

Moreover--the condition that "Plague Bringers" in this country have to live in are entirely unacceptable. We can't allow things to continue this way--and I'm sure Joy and our friends would agree with me when I say that we want to put a stop to the things we've heard and seen of--the discrimination, the abduction and selling of children and babies, and the use of this society's unwanteds as fodder for war.

[ THIS IS A REALLY BOLD THING TO STATE so again... hopefully... not a trap. but she seems to believe them 100% and she's definitely 1000% committed to this in spite of having been threatened with execution. ]

Surely you don't want things to continue this way, either.

[idolpro]

The person pulls out the flask to open it - and tips their head back to drink, careful to keep their hood up. Then, they speak, once their thirst has quenched:

"Right now? You can help people get by. We're here in this part of the city, and no one can bother us, but a residence isn't all we need here. Lots of people here need help to get by.

Everyone helps everyone, of course - but we always need more hands. So. . . if that's something you wanna do, you can do that."

There's a pause, and they give a helpless sort of shrug.

"Hey, you went through the process just as we all did. It's a choice to go to war. Either that, or be dumped in here as an invalid - sure, it's not a hard choice, but it's still a choice. It's better than it was twenty years ago."

[dragonheartedgirl]

You've done a lot for us already. So if there's something we can do in return in the time that we're here, that's only the honorable thing to do.

[ she kind of likes the idea of being able to help these people? but. she also hasn't forgotten that uh. they have some BAD PEOPLE to deal with. but... they have to wait ANYWAY. ]

...

If we head off to the front lines like we originally planned--we might be able to raise an insurrection, but ... then we won't be able to do anything about the ring trafficking the Plague Bringers. More importantly, the others won't know we're fine; if they follow us to the border, then there's a high risk that Joy could be injured or killed in the fighting. If we're going to make that attempt--then at the very least, we should all go together, without anyone having to worry about us being separated.

[ looking to King for agreement ]

[puzzlekeeper]

Helping the people here and now is the least we could do - but I think we're in a unique position to do more than that. Small charity might relieve their suffering today, but it won't help them tomorrow, or the next day.

[ He frowns, returning Hiryuu's glance... and then nods. ]

If we do this, [ and he's 100% READY FOR A COUP RIGHT NOW AT THIS MOMENT ] it should be all of us. We need to find them.

[dragonheartedgirl]

[ LISTEN, HIRYUU WOULD LOVE A COUP. HOWEVER!!! it's sounding like this is a much larger problem than even just a coup will be able to handle if the common folk also feel this way. ]

We'll find a way to do both. Short term solutions for now, long term once we can meet with everyone.