WEEK 1

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 1

[The train wouldn't stop. Not until very early the next morning. The few who might have been awake would be able to exit the train, entering the cool twilight of the dawn. The star is dark, and few stars can be seen in the sky as a cold breeze begins to blow from the mountain beyond. You can see some chunks of rock floating idly nearby, far away from the station that it won't hit trains, but near enough that one can see they are larger than the train they just disembarked.

Lastly, laid out in front of them, the first port of call: Menahoven. The mountain: The Throat of the World.

But which world? Who knows. Not any of yours. Maybe it doesn't matter. Not when you are so far from home. Not when you have no way to get off this rock without the aid of the trains-and they will not let you pass.

It looks like you're stuck here until the Conductor decides to leave. In the meantime, everyone will need to get comfortable.


There are fifteen strangers left in this place.]

Comments

[notthebreakman]

[Nope, that just sounds like a perfectly normal, charming name.]

So are "Shadows" something the two of you fight on a regular basis?

I don't know if anyone's gotten any from the baggage claim, but I can check. Or there's all the tea they keep putting in my room, if that's alright.

[Something about Minato's tone gives him pause.]

It's no trouble, really.

[biddentodance]

[Nod.] Mysterious creatures. Harmful.

Tea's fine... Baggage claim kind of has a lot of weird stuff in it. [Why cat. Why robosoda. Why anything.]

[notthebreakman]

You don't have to fight those things all by yourselves, do you?

[Who even knows? Proto thinks of the other "tea" he received from the baggage claim and hides a shudder. He won't be offering that sludge to anyone on this train.]

I'll be right back, then.

[And off he goes to fetch the complementary teas housekeeping or whatever keeps leaving in his room. They smell nice enough, but they're just going to waste otherwise.]

[biddentodance]

No, there's ten of us-- ....well, six of us now. One's noncombatant, tactical support. And one's a dog.

[But then he'll wait for Proto Man to return, with tea!! Tea good.] Thank you.

[notthebreakman]

[...Oh. Proto doesn't need to ask further to figure out what's being suggested by the smaller number.

Once he returns with the tea, he'll nod at Minato's thanks.]

It's the least I can do, honestly.

...So, is the movie any good?

[biddentodance]

[He has switched from the video he got from baggage claim to one of the provided movies.]

Not very good, but entertaining.

[notthebreakman]

[Now he's curious despite himself. Proto may end up joining Minato, if the young man doesn't mind.]

What's the plot, or does it really not matter in this case?