THE AMAZING BASE.

[agogemod]

WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? Welcome home, nerds.
WHEN? Outside time and space, in the aether between dimensions.
ANYTHING ELSE? There is also a fish. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.

MYSTERY FISH;

question the mystery fish

DEPARTING GALLIPOLI

The order comes the day after the Marie Antoinette sets sail:

PACK UP AND GET READY TO MOVE OUT. WE'VE DONE ALL WE CAN HERE.

DEPLOYMENT: BASE.

WE NEED TO RESTOCK. BE PREPARED FOR MORE TRANSFERS ON ARRIVAL.

STAY SAFE. TIME-STEP EXPECTED TO BEGIN WITHIN THE HOUR.

FOR THOSE OF YOU NEW TO COST: FIND A SECLUDED SPOT AND TRY NOT TO EAT ANYTHING BEFORE THE JUMP.

The Time-Step

The transfer begins like a vibrating heat on the collar bone, just a hum of sensation.

But the vibration spreads. Veteran COST soldiers often refer to this phenomenon as "the buzz". The feeling builds, not unlike standing near a great engine or the wind-rattled branches of a massive tree. There is a long moment of motion sickness and you can't be sure if the world is shaking you from the inside out or the outside in. It may be better to close your eyes against the growing nausea, as the world blurs out of focus.

A star shines in the distance. You may hear the faint rustling of leaves. Some swear they hear voices in this moment, indistinct words echoing off nothingness. Others say they feel a touch of the divine, that the eyes of the eternal look down upon you. Ancient bones rattle just out of earshot, cold and brittle and nothing more than the suggestion of sound. Or maybe it's only an illusion, brought on by the powerful technology grafted into your skin.

One thing is for sure: One moment you are here and the next you are not.

The shift takes you from whatever solitude you could find aboard the Marie Antoinette to the temperature-regulated hallway of what looks like a very poorly put together space station. Droids rush up and down the long hallway, fixing broken bits of machinery or just chattering with each other. A few crows sit on high ledges, looking down and watching. Someone mutters something about a centaur around the corner.

And you might just notice, provided you were in Gallipoli long enough to acquire stowaways, that the parasites lurking on your skin are mercifully gone.

For new arrivals who didn't experience Gallipoli: You, too, will appear in this long hallway, filled with droids and crows and humans (still filthy and clad in ANZAC uniforms, carrying battered equipment from the first World War). And you'll be wearing the minimal COST-issued athletic underwear and holding whatever one item you were allowed to bring. Surprise!

READ THE BASE INFOPAGE.

home away from home

Those who have been to BASE before may find a strangeness to it all: BASE seems...still. The windows show a verdant world instead of the usual aether (though with the typical paranoia), and the halls are bereft of all but a few crows. A man stands at the end of the long hallway you arrived in, waiting for you to get your bearings before he speaks.

Except, you know, he's not a man. He's a centaur.

"It's been barely a week since you left, by my reckoning. But for you, I'm sure, it's been much longer. Still, much has changed. You may have noticed we are...becalmed. This is due, it seems, to an error in our ways. We kept something that does not belong to us, several wild creatures that are meant to be free. They seem to have psychically called out to their home, and their home responded; we are now somewhat stranded.

"But let me explain—the Aether is the nexus between worlds and times, but it is not a dead thing. Creatures live in it. We have crashed onto the back of one such creature, a mighty beast, as large as a small country and entirely undiscovered. We have found why the creature has intercepted us: we have accidentally taken captive some of its children. Shapers, the wild creatures I mentioned, it seems they form a symbiotic bond with the creature, and live happily within its stomach."

He frowns, considering this.

"Shapers, I should mention, are creatures that briefly infested our fair BASE. The issue was dealt with, though we kept some for experimentation. The coelacanth took issue with this, it seems. It can speak, of course; we are stranded very near its head, and if you wish to ask it a question, I implore you to do so. The creature is older than creation—older than me—and only speaks once to any creature it encounters. It's said its wisdom brings kings to their knees."

His eyes crinkle in humor.

"My name is Chiron and I am the caretaker of this place, for those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting. More importantly, I am a trainer and a teacher of some experience; if you wish training or schooling of any sort, do summon me. I will be happy to assist."

He's easy to contact, often found in the library, the training area, his capsule, or elsewhere in the station, attempting to fix what he understands and arguing with crows.

"We intended to spend this time exploring, for this is a rare opportunity to discover more of an entirely uncharted world. I hasten you to see if anything on the coelacanth can be of use, but be careful. Take only what you need, not what you may want. I intend to learn my lessons well; these creatures are not pets. Takes food, water, and any materials of use to us for our survival and perseverance, but no more. We task you with this: explore the coelacanth, and see what of it can be understood. Bring us back samples, but do try to interrupt the natural habitat as little as possible. We are guests here."

He bows and the action shows a slight limp in one of his back legs.

"I would join you, but I am far too old for such activities. Still, do pepper me with any questions you should encounter. I am always available on the network, or in person, within this hulking mass we call home."

And then he leaves you to find your capsules and rest.

CAPSULE ASSIGNMENTS

Once you've found your room and settled in—perhaps taken a shower, collected clothes, and eaten—a droid will approach you with camping equipment and give you a brief explanation of how to access and use the database. It's time to get your gear and go.

Of course, you can decline. You can stay and tend to the fort, maybe try and clean up this patchwork jumble of metal and machinery. But seeing the sights on the back of a giant fish flying through non-space? Who can say no to that?


the undiscovered country.

BASE's airlocks open into a lush valley, vibrant with color and rustling with life that has thrived on the coelacanth's back for millennia. It's a striking shift from the rot and gunfire of Gallipoli, unmarked by shrapnel, bombshells, and never-fresh air.

No, the air here is clean in a way that can leave you breathless, untouched by pollutants and stirred into a gentle breeze. It's a marked departure for anyone used to a more modern Earth or rough equivalent; letting the air sit on your tongue leaves a crisp, unsullied taste behind. And the whole forest feels alive, in a way that reminds you of how small you really are.

A white crow perches in a tree near BASE's exit, too high up to properly engage but a stark contrast to the bright leaves around her. She merely watches recruits come and go with a shrewd eye, feathers fluffed against the light chill. There are other crows scattered throughout the wilderness, some easier to find than others as they flit through the trees, sit on camping equipment, or hitch rides on the hoverbikes.

Besides those brief flashes of black feathers, however, you're left unsupervised.

Try not to fuck up anything too badly.

EXPLORE:INFOPAGE|DATABASE
talk to a fish | destruction report

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC MEMES PLURK

Comments

FOLLOW THE BOOTY JONNY BOY

[dorzalta]

"Are you sure you're not just trying to get your egg back?" she asks over her shoulder. Stubborn. How on earth do you love this beast, Jon?

She leads them to her capsule, now, fully intending on depositing the egg in a wolf-free zone. And also to grab some of her own clothing.

"You could just ask for it."

IT'S A REGULAR POULTRY FARM

[northerndragon]

How does he love the most perfect woman in any world etc etc etc. It's extraordinarily difficult, particularly when she insists on running away with his mysterious decorative egg.

As they enter her capsule and her room, he glances around.

"Look." He dips his head in the direction of her pillow, where there's another egg.

BLOW THE KAZOO

[dorzalta]

The things he makes him suffer, she is a monster. The worst. Run away Jon Snow, you know nothing of the dragon's beastly ways.

A noise of surprise in the back of her throat. She looks far too pleased, cutting him a smug look. "Now we've two. They'll keep each other company."

What even, Dany?

More than that, however, is her sharp inhale as she lifts one of the dresses sitting atop her bed. "This is from Meereen!"

So with the egg in one hand, and the indecently cut Meereenese dress in the other, she turns to face him, holding the thin fabric against her front.

[northerndragon]

If he ran away now, she'd still have his pointless but ornamental egg, wouldn't she?

Still, it's good to see her in a brighter mood than the one she's been in for the last few days.

Her gasp gets his attention, and when he turns his head to look at her, he blinks in surprise. There really isn't very much to that dress at all. He's never seen anything like it.

"Is that for sleeping in?"

[dorzalta]

This is true, she would have lived up to being a dragon and stolen his egg.

With a roll of the eyes, she sets his egg down beside hers and lifts the shoulders of the dress with both hands. Talk of sleep makes her want to sleep.

"No, love, it's to wear in the day. I wore it in the great pyramid as we strategized ways to deal with the Great Masters."

He of all people should know she prefers sleeping naked.

[northerndragon]

He does.

He stares at the dress with a strange expression. He absolutely wants to see her in it, and he absolutely doesn't want anyone else to see it at all.

"There's nothing like that in the North. It's too cold for a dress like that, even at Winterfell."

[dorzalta]

If she didn't feel so dirty, she'd slip out of her clothing and into the dress. That's what his look makes her want to do.

Instead, she smiles to herself and turns away to set the dress down. There are two more beside it: a black one, as well as a blue and white one, sleeveless. Some of her jewelry she wore with them also sits on her bed.

"Good." She doesn't want to think about all the pretty Winterfell girls flouncing around him in these sorts of dresses. Ducking into her storage box, she considers a book for a moment before tugging out clothing. Baggy, but that's fine. "It's hot and humid in Meereen."

[northerndragon]

The other two dresses are pretty too, and in some ways seem like they're more girlish than the ones she wore on Dragonstone... along with a warmer climate in Meereen, she must have had a more relaxed court, even if she had also been at war there.

"It's hot and humid in the showers, too."

His gaze moves to the eggs, and he peers at them a little more closely. "They're different."

And so they are: the patterns are traced on the shells in the same colors, but not the same designs. If it's somehow possible to hatch them, even though they seem hollow, there probably isn't anyone better to make the attempt than she is... though it remains to be seen whether or not hatching them is a good idea. "You can keep mine until we learn more about them."

It's not as if she seems to intend to give it back to him.

[dorzalta]

"It is. Wouldn't want to wear one of these in there, lest we intended on ruining it."

We. Because, she realizes, she would absolutely wear one of those dresses in the shower if he'd asked her to. Not that he would--it seems too impractical of him.

She considers both their eggs, sitting beside one another on her pillows. They're pretty, far too elaborately designed to house any creature within it. But her dragon eggs were beautiful as well, stone-like, and they'd hatched.

Smoothing her palm along his stomach, she nods her head--both in acknowledgement, and to prompt him to move. "Shower. Before the chicken's remains decide to take permanent refuge on your cheeks and I can never kiss you again."

[northerndragon]

The threat of never being kissed again is not very convincing, but they're both tired... her more than him... and both still filthy. She seems steady enough on her feet, for now; that can't last. That hand on his stomach feels like a promise of something to come later, after they're cleaner, after they've slept. For now, there are few pleasures like a hot bath and a hot meal after a long journey, and their journey had been longer than most.

"That licking... he doesn't usually do that. But it's been so long since I've seen him."

He heads out of her room with her, towards the showers. It's been a while since arrival, hours, so he doubts the showers will be too crowded anymore. If things had been otherwise, they would have been his first destination.

"What would you think those eyes might be? Some kind of fancy bird?"

[dorzalta]

"Do you think he's from the same time as you are?" Would COST have bothered taking a wolf from the same time as its human companion? "Seems like an effort to pinpoint the time you were taken from."

This is no discussion to have. Not in the hallway, not when she's ready to topple over and sleep.

Thankfully, most have dispersed. They encounter none in the halls, and there is the pitter patter of one shower stall, by the time they enter the communal shower area, but she's unaffected by another's presence. It's not as if she and Jon were planning on intimacy like the last time.

"Seems curious we both received them. Could be a fancy bird, or some entirely new creature. I've never seen an egg look like that."

Granted, Irriella's egg was unique in its own way. More like a sphere which shifted colors. She stops by one of the mid shower stalls, crouching down to drop her belongings into the drybox. A quick glance over her shoulder asks Jon a silent question of whether he would deposit his own things with hers, or claim another shower as his.

[northerndragon]

"I think he knows I've been away. But I've been away from him before, and I don't know how long I've been away to him.

"I don't know if it's like you with the dragons, but sometimes... we feel the same things, or it seems that way."

If anyone is likely to understand this, it's her.

The showers are nearly deserted... not totally, but nearly, and as she settles in to a stall, she gives him a questioning look.

She can't be thinking... no. Neither of them is in the mood, and it was so cramped and awkward the first time that he isn't sure there should ever be a second time. But he's not sure she's steady on her feet, and if she's looking to him at all, it may be that she wants him with her.

He returns her questioning look with one of his own, then nods and puts his things with hers, stripping his filthy Gallipoli gear off and setting it on the floor outside of the shower.

He won't miss Jon Frost.

[dorzalta]

"Feel what?" Feel the same things, as if the bond between man and wolf goes deeper than one could ever anticipate? "I've... I can't say I've felt what my dragons have. But there have been times where I've felt Drogon near. Or I thought he was. I don't think that's what you mean."

She doesn't want to be away from him. Not even to take a shower, which is ridiculous. She knows it to be true, even going so far as to mentally berate herself for such ridiculousness, but...

But she's slipping out of muddy, bloody clothing and kicking the pieces out of the stall, tugging at haphazardly braided hair that's half knotted. She doesn't wait for him to enter before she's turning the shower on at the maximum temperature and dousing herself with steaming hot water. She shudders beneath the stream--not a flood of water, but something stronger than the rain. It's hot enough to turn her skin pink, but it doesn't burn her.

She'll set it to a cooler temperature when he steps in and she hears the door slide shut behind him... and then he'll have an armful of Daenerys as she presses up to her toes with another shudder and hugs him close to her, her half unbraided and now sopping wet hair forgotten.

The heat strips away so much. Cleanses. She's not reborn, not like she would be in the flames, but it's close.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep him safe."

This thread remains PG-13

[northerndragon]

"That I know when he's hungry sometimes, or when he's just hunted, or I'll dream that he's thinking of the other wolves from his litter, Grey Wind and Nymeria and Lady and Summer and Shaggydog, but never by name." He gives his head a quick, dismissive shake.

Ordinarily, after so long in the same place but unable to kiss her or touch her, he thinks he would find her nakedness enticing, but for the moment it's just part of washing off the horror and the stink before caving to their mutual exhaustion. She's under the stream of steaming water before he's ready to join her, and he holds back, briefly, giving her some space.

Once he joins her in the stall, it's hard not to have an armful of her. But it's pleasant that he does. She turns to him and embraces him, all warmth and slippery wet flesh, and apologies about whatever has become of his brother.

"I don't think anyone could have kept him safe. He wasn't killed, he was... lost. Whatever brought him here couldn't hold him. Remember when you went home, for a time?"

[dorzalta]

"Shaggydog." That one, out of all of Ghost's brothers and sisters, amuses her the most. It's cute, likely what a child would call their pet. It makes her think of innocent things, children.--

--and her mind drifts to her own children. Not her dragons, not this time, but to children she's never met. Children promised to her in some life, if what Grothia says is true. Flesh and blood. Would one of her children name their dragon a silly thing? She cannot recall any silly dragon names for those in the Targaryen dynasty. No, instead, there was only the great and fierce ones, such as Balerion the Dread. Even he must have been a sweet thing, once.

She shudders in his arms at the reminder of home. Her eyes and nose burn, tingling, and she has to take a shuddering breath as she hugs him tighter, fighting tooth and nail to maintain her composure.

The problem with not sleeping for so very many days is that weaknesses find opportunities to sneak past defenses. Thoughts one might steel him or herself against suddenly find life. If she'd only been a little stronger, she'd not been taken, and she could have helped Robb if he'd needed it.

"I was on the boat to Marie Antoinette with Jeyne. I'd been awful to her. She kept insisting we'd left him." Her arms tighten around his neck. Naked chests pressed close, his body heat, it's more comforting than she could ever explain. "I'd chided her, but all I could think of is how I would be the same if it was you."

[northerndragon]

"Rickon's pup. Didn't get as much training as the others, but he must have stayed with Rickon the whole time. Bolton threw his head on the ground during the parlay."

He feels her shudder, feels her clinging, and it's obvious that there isn't much left in her. Washing off the worst of the grime will have to do for now; something more extensive can wait until they've both slept. He bends his head to kiss her, but the kiss, while tender, doesn't linger.

"I'd be the same if it was you... and in such a place. Castle Black was better. We didn't make a Wall of the dead. But I told her everything I could, and she wouldn't listen. She'll grow used to the idea in the coming days... she must."

[dorzalta]

It would be so easy to cry under the spray of the water. Tears would mix with water, washed and banished before they could ever give her away. To cry takes effort, though, and she's beyond exhausted. Tension is soothed away from her muscles the longer she stands. He soothes away most of it, by merely existing.

"Oh," her voice wobbles, and that leaves her feeling far sadder than she might normally be. So much they've both experienced... but to lose one's direwolf. One's childhood companion. The thought of losing Viserion is difficult enough to fathom. "Bolton is dead."

He kisses her sweetly, the sort that wishes he did linger. She wants to chase after his mouth to kiss him again, because she'd wanted to kiss him so terribly with that mask on.

She reaches for the soap, determined to at least scrub the worst of the dirt and blood away. She starts on him, his beard and cheeks, down his neck, swiping her palms, fingers pressing into hard muscle. She doesn't touch him to seduce, but to clean and relax. She's got that much more in her.

"I kept thinking about you in the cell. How I had to get back to you."

[northerndragon]

"Dead," he mutters, agreeing. Some men should be dead, obliterated. Jon tries to keep as many alive as possible, doesn't especially enjoy killing people. and yet he doesn't have a moment of regret or remorse for his part in Bolton's demise.

He closes his eyes as she begins to wash his face. Her hands are soothing, especially when she presses harder with her fingertips, finding and dispelling aches that little else seems to touch. He runs his hands down her back, then up into her hair, holding it into the spray of water.

"You were taken before we reached Ataturk. All I wanted was to get back to Lone Pine to try to find you. I didn't even know whether to hope that you were still alive." After a beat of silence, he adds, "I'll always try to find you. You know that." Don't you?

[dorzalta]

As it should be, There was no place in the world she wants for someone like Bolton. Not when they happily caused such harm to others.

Her palms sweep across scars and intact skin alike, never hesitating, though her touch does seem to gentle somewhat over the puckered skin. If it'd been months ago, she'd likely have been too wary of touching those scars, for worry of them bothering him. Now, in her eyes, at least, they're like any other part of him.

"They attacked me with miniature arrows that put me to sleep." Her eyes momentarily close as his hands sweep along her back. Then she's looking up at him again. The water patters around them, the steam like a warm hug. Soft, gentle, she says: "I know."

She might not've thought it before, until he said it. But now that he has, she knows.

[northerndragon]

The problem with being brought back from the dead after being fatally wounded is that it doesn't necessarily heal the wounds: they'd been open when he woke up, not bleeding but hurting like blazes, and continuing to hurt even after they were stitched up. Milk of the poppy had barely touched the pain. After that, they'd been tender for months, even still tender sometimes by the time she saw them, or itching like all seven hells at once.

They're still angry, puckered things now, but he welcomes her touch on them.

What she tells him is strange, though. The Regency seems so advanced in comparison to anything they've known before, with their strange helms and their rooms with shifting walls and bright lights to keep their captives from sleeping, but... "Miniature arrows? Poisoned arrows?"

It sounds like something out of a story about the Children of the Forest.

[dorzalta]

The water's quick to rinse away the soap used on him, leaving warm and pinkened flesh. Instead of admiring, she's gathering more soap and starting on herself. That energy is dwindling under the heat of the water, in this space with him, and she's ready to curl under a blanket to finally, finally try and sleep. There wouldn't be lights shining in her eyes this time. No voices taunting her about how disappointed they were in her.

"Poisoned with something that overtook me quickly. Small little things." She pauses just long enough to stretch her finger and thumb, then she's back to work, intent on scrubbing herself as clean as she could. When she'd first stepped in the spray, the water had turned muddied and coppery. Now, at least, it runs clear... even if she doesn't feel clean.

"I could hear Chiron, and then I couldn't."

[northerndragon]

He tries to help her wash, gathering soap himself and trying to hit areas she hasn't yet -- something that the extremely cramped space of the shower stall makes difficult. Two people who aren't lovers would have a hard time of it together with the door closed.

At least the water is beginning to run clear now.

"He told me he lost contact with you when your BCE was removed from the network."

That's not, in fact, exactly what Chiron said, but it's how Jon had interpreted it.

[dorzalta]

Difficult, but not impossible, and she appreciates his help. More than appreciates it. He's protected her, fought for her, treated her so carefully... before she realizes she's reaching for him, she is, soapy hands cupping his cheeks to tilt him closer. Closer to kiss.

And kiss.

And kiss.

Nothing deep or heated, but something which speaks to how she's missed him and needed him--even if she can never quite voice how much she has needed him. He's become as essential to her as her dragons are.

"He'd contacted me when he felt--" Her brows furrow. He doesn't know. "I am Chiron's master."

She doesn't very much like that term of phrase, and she'd told Chiron as much when they'd came to their agreement.

[northerndragon]

They kiss for a while, under the stream of warm water, in spite of the soap, and the heat, and the relative lack of privacy... but it's an exhausted sort of affection, a need to connect, for each of them to remind the other of their presence.

What she tells him next leaves him confused, though, and he pulls his face back from hers to give her a questioning look.

"His master?"

That's a strange turn of phrase. He would have understood "his queen," but not that.

[dorzalta]

"It's strange, I know. I still don't fully understand how the contract works myself." Her tongue darts out to moisten already wet lips. "Chiron is--"

Now her brows furrow. Is it her right to speak of what he's confided in her? It seems a betrayal to him. But not telling Jon would be a betrayal as well, she thinks, for this is a bond which goes beyond mind ravens.

"He relies on magic to survive. In his world, there are those like him and they form...a sort of contract with someone who has magic. It allows the--he calls himself and those like him servants. I don't like that, masters and servants." A sigh. "He was not doing well in the tunnels, and though the magic in my veins is meager, it was enough to help him survive Gallipoli."

Frankly, she'd not believed herself capable of having magic at all.

"It also allows for a sort of connection similar and independent to the mind ravens. That's how he knew. He'd contacted me through that link, but the poison had already affected me."