[ota] maybe we'll find better days

[a_noble_flame]

WHO: Alice & anyone else!
WHAT: April 2024 Catchall
WHERE: Skysong, Old Springstar and various places around those two.
WHEN: All of April
WARNINGS: Will mark in thread headers as necessary!



Prompts in comments. Feel free to hit me up here if you'd like to do anything with Alice this month. PMs, Plurk (goodluckstarfighter) and Discord (goodluckstarfighter) are all open for plotting.

Comments

[hauntedking]

...I'd like to. And I've been trying to.

[ He offers a little smile. ]

And I'll keep at it for as long as I can.

[a_noble_flame]

[At that Alice returns a bit of a firmer smile to his smaller one before she turns back to her work. Her pack is near empty though and soon she stands, folding it back up as she speaks.]

Good. Then we can be of assistance to one another in the future as well.

[Well, for as long of a future as they have here. She pauses a moment, mildly surprised at the odd feeling that flits through her at the thought of not having that future. She frowns at herself a moment before she decides to examine the feeling later, if ever. Or maybe heave it into the pit with her other odd feelings.]

I can't give you advice on how to accomplish most of that when we do return home. I have faced my share of problems in aiding others as well. People enjoy building up walls to protect themselves that often disadvantage others -- and the military cane be one of the gravest offenders.

[It's clear her mind is slipping somewhere else as she talks, briefly back to being eighteen and realizing the state of District Zero on one of her first assignments. She seems good at rousing herself out of such by herself though, soon tucking the pack she had carried away for someone else to use in the future.]

Here though in Old Springstar I doubt we'll face as much resistance. Perhaps from the people themselves but I'm working on mediating that if I can. Building good will does take time but you have a ready supply of that already.

[They might have been asleep a long while but she knows well enough what Shard-Bearers are appreciated down here already, if only by the old guard who stood by their sleeping selves.]

[hauntedking]

I know some people already... or at least some people know me from before the century's passage. I helped out in my old neighborhood, which has remained down here rather than... ascending.

[ He regards her curiously. He can't tell what she's thinking, but her words give him a little bit of hope. A little bit of a glimmer of light after the confusion everything's been tossed into. ]

And if I can help you here, then I will, for as long as I can. Until we return to our rightful places... at home I have an idea of what to do. Here it's difficult.

[ He pauses for a few moments. ]

I could introduce you to a few of them. Although it's a little awkward to be regarded as... well. A saint, I suppose.

[a_noble_flame]

[Alice huffs out a gently amused breath.]

I can imagine. With time though you can show them you're as much of a regular man as the rest of them. And the first steps in that could be buildings homes and plowing fields.

[That said though she gives him a grateful smile. She's clearly touched by the offer.]

I would appreciate that. I've been making friends among the veterans here ... well, some of them are veterans in the traditional sense. Most are veterans of this way of life.

[She'd still call them veterans though given how she views life itself as a battlefield in it's own right. The pair of old men Matt had seen her with, one horned and the other with scales, had been the first. The others had come over time.]

I've been trying to think of ways to assist them as well ... as much as I can. Years of emotional scars can't simply be cleared away.

[That she discovered long ago through war relief anyhow.]

[hauntedking]

That's certainly true. And... I have some experience of emotional scars myself. But I don't know how to quite help with those. I have been... I was... talking to someone about them. But on a wider level, on a level for so many more people... perhaps we can just create spaces for them to exist and have peace. Build a spot where they can have happiness.

[ He's considering this as he keeps unloading his bag. ]

...and potentially make sure that the people from lower Kowloon aren't making things harder for people.

[a_noble_flame]

[She hadn't forgotten what he had told her during their jinba jaunt. It's easy to imagine the emotional scars he much have even if perhaps she's never experienced any with quite their depth herself. With her bag finished she turns to help with his, quiet for a moment as she thinks it over.]

... A community then? Something more united than what they have now?

[She pauses again. Alice forever seems to be weighing over her thoughts though she gives quick enough answers. Everything taken seriously and replied to in the same manner.]

Something like it used to be certainly. Better housing, parks and gardens ...

[Lower Kowloon does complicate that of course. And she well knows there must be those who hold court in Kowloon who would be unwilling to give that up. That had never stopped her before though and now she nods, brightening up immediately.]

Perhaps we can begin working on several things then. I was already patrolling Springstar before all of this so I have no problems doing so now. If Skysong won't give this place it's protection then we'll do so ourselves.

[And she says it with such confidence too.]

[hauntedking]

Yes. It seems Skysong took most of that with them when they left and although they've certainly been building in the spaces left behind...

[ He glances upward. ]

I'd like to make sure it's something that will work for all of them. That will make this a good place to live. Somewhere they don't have to worry about gangs or ruffians or people trying to take from them. An actual city to call their own without being ruled by Skysong or the lower city criminals...

[ It's a good dream. ]

We can certainly try that, can't we?

[a_noble_flame]

[The more he talks the more Alice nods and all in all looks more confident.]

I don't see why we couldn't. What the people want is visible action after all, not words and promises.

[Alice pauses, a few apples in one hand that she was putting away in a basket.]

While it would seem more sensible to clean up the gangs and such first you'll have an easier time of that if you can get the support of those in Old Springstar itself. If we can provide them support and build them back up they will have less reason even in Downtown Kowloon to support such criminal activity.

[hauntedking]

Yes... some sort of community watch? Or actual power, perhaps. A council or series of councils... anything that might help them not have to pay lip service to the gangs... or to Skysong.

[ He glances Skyward and then shakes his head. ]

They deserve their own lives and freedom.

[a_noble_flame]

Everyone does. Here is certainly where it's needed most but even in Skysong ... well, living on the edge of knowing you might lose it all can't be comforting at least. If we can strengthen things here the idea of a fall might not be so harsh.

[Though she more than acknowledges it will still be harsh in some ways and for some particular people. That's just how it is.

Plopping the apples in their appropriate basket she sighs out some.]

I suppose that's all a plan for another day though. In the here and now we have to help where we can, yes?

[hauntedking]

Agreed. Help who we can. Save who we can. And in the end, maybe that will be enough.

[ He offers a smile. A little sad, perhaps - but he's prepared for this. Or he likes to think so, anyway. ]

[a_noble_flame]

[A little sad is still a smile regardless. Alice par her usual norm nowadays pats the man on the shoulder or arm before she replies.]

For now though I've offered to help in the kitchen. If you don't mind watching me fumble things you're quite welcome to join me. I doubt they'll say no to another pair of hands.

[hauntedking]

Of course. Let's get started.

[ Off to the kitchen it is, then. ]

As long as you don't mind my fumbling either...