waking the dead 2.0 || october 11-14, 2063 || the black forest

[icarusalsoflew]

WHO: The War Hounds, all NPC operatives on call for destroying the Nemesis, and whoever else
WHAT: It's a tense vigil, a bad fall, an emotional departure, and then some.
WHERE: The unnamed Zangyaku outpost of Tengu within the Black Forest.
WHEN: October 11-14, 2063
SAFE FOR WORK? Probably?
OTHER NOTES:
+ I'll have some open posts labeled with specific dates for people, and you guys are also welcome to make your own together with any planned threads.
+ You guys are actually free to re-thread any scenes between each other here too, if you like. I won't be able to re-thread the Brigade stuff, though.
+ You guys are welcome to call or text people who are not actually in the Black Forest.


[ OCTOBER 11: PRE-ENGAGEMENT

There is no way that you could possibly get used to it: the eerie, bestial shrieks; the worrisome tremors; the rotting trees. This place feels cursed, and every single other operative in the area beyond your group have the masks of men who are ready to die.

OCTOBER 12: POST-ENGAGEMENT

For what should have been a victory because there wasn't a single casualty, the air in the outpost is heavier than ever.

Can you blame any of them, though? Their leader nearly lost it today, and the fucking idiot who was responsible for that is passed out comfortably in his room.

OCTOBER, 13: AFTER DINNER

The War Hounds, it seems, has gained one man only to lose another.

Maybe this one was for the best.

OCTOBER 14: WHOLE DAY

The Blade King has not been cleared for travel yet, so you've got free run of the outpost until midnight, October 15.

]

Comments

[larue]

[ A small, amused shake of the head. ]

It's reliable like that.

[ A tilt of the head. ] Hope you weren't drinking alone though.

[ All concern, even if he knows that the lone company of the bottle can be preferable when the occasion calls for it. ]

[steelsinger]

Nah. Yulia was with me for a bit.

[ Glancing over to you at that, with a particular look. He rather likes Yulia. He is also aware of the fact that the two of you are close, and of the fact that Hikaru's pretty attached to her. ]

Fancy that, eh?

[larue]

[ That's a sigh, a smile and a shake of the head. Among the Hounds, the girls in the blade were the ones less inclined to let Brig off the hook, and he doesn't blame them in the least. ]

Good company to have when you need to drink.

[ Lifting that cigarette to his lips for another drag. ] Then again, you look... a bit better than yesterday.

[steelsinger]

[ Chuckling at that. The gesture's half-rueful. ]

Was I that bad?

[ Asking, even if he is pretty sure that he knows the answer. ]

[larue]

[ Have a smile that is part wince, part Kind of. ]

You were alright. [ A beat. ] I get why.

[ You and Brig were brothers-in-arms. Wardens of the Wolf. He gets the frustration insomuch as he can. ]

[steelsinger]

Do you really, though?

[ It's an honest question, and it is without judgment. You're the blade leader of the Hounds, and you and Brigade were close too. ]

[larue]

Some. [ He'll admit to that much. As far as he could see, you and Brig were good so this would have been a blow. You're not quite the younger man currently confined to his quarters, but if Hikaru reacted the way he did and he let that be because he saw it right, he can hardly think less of you for reacting along the same lines.

You're pretty hard to read. From his perspective, anyway. ]

I think if it wasn't for the fact that Stan and Kaz got their turn at him first, I would've punched the guy.

[ He didn't. It would have been a bit much after what the two other Hounds had done, and on top of what he figured Brianna and Yulia might end up delivering after -- which they did.

A breath as he kills his cigarette and lights up another. ]

Instead, I sat him down and reminded him that he's a father to four. Might've been a low blow, since Brig's big on family. But it was the only way I figured I could drive the point home.

[ Kitty is still a toddler. Eve and Sally are teenagers whose childhoods were taken from them because some fucker decided they were more meat than person. ]

[steelsinger]

[ Have an approving look. ]

Low blows still have the tendency to hold a lot of truth in them.

[ Then, with a small, crooked smile: ]

Thinking like a Sworn Wolfheart already.

[larue]

[ That... actually earns you the faintest trace of a sheepish smile. ]

And low blows are only low blows if the other party chooses to think of them that way.

[ Shaking his head at that second bit though. ] I thought I already was.

[ He knows he has a ways to go where Zangyaku is concerned in comparison to his other licenses, but he's got his sights on working his way up. ]

[steelsinger]

Being one doesn't always mean thinking like one.

[ Take it as a compliment, kid --

-- or think of it however you like. Being "too Zangyaku" isn't always a good thing. ]

[larue]

[ He'll take that. Truth be told, he probably isn't what people picture when they say 'Zangyaku'. Still, it matters to him that he earns his stripes -- and he wants to earn them in due time. ]

I just told Brig the truth. [ He shrugs quietly, turning his gaze back to his cigarette. ] We're more than just shock-troops. We have people who wait for us to come home.

[steelsinger]

Mm. Most of us do, anyway.

[ A light shrug, like it's nothing. ]

I told this to Yulia already, or I hinted at it. But. [ Lifting an eyebrow at. ] You do know that he might not even make it back for them, right?

[larue]

I know. [ He says that softly, looking straight ahead. ]

But it's something to hope for, right? That he gets it done. That he comes home.

[ The Pilgrimage mattered. He's not at well-versed in it as he would like, but he knows that it matters. Brig isn't a new-born Promethean, but a war vet who lived through some of the toughest experiences a body could go through.

He's thinking back oddly enough to his birthday at that: to the burgers he and Brig made as they caught up and talked. ]

[steelsinger]

It is.

[ Letting his own gaze wander now, as he's letting his thoughts turn towards the Created whom he knows personally beyond Brigade. ]

Sometimes, it's best to just focus on that.

[ Sometimes. ]