trans_9 | [Open]

Entry tags:

[Open]

Daja didn't know how long she'd been gone. It had felt like she'd been trapped in those mazes forever, never finding the way out. Never knowing what trick would be thrown at her next. Sometimes she'd wondered if she'd ever get back to the ship.

And she still didn't understand why she was expected to want cake so much.

But now she was back, and the relief she felt was palpable. It wasn't home - never really home, not without Sandry and Tris and Briar - but it was familiar. She clung to her staff like it was her lifeline and she walked through the hallways, making her way towards the City and her forge.

[[ooc: Okay, so feel free to run into Daja anywhere from the hallways to the city - just put where you want to set the scene in the subject line so I know. She's only going to be meeting Nehaalista at the forge though, so please don't set your thread at the forge itself! (Well. Unless you're Nehaa, that is :P)]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The forge was lit up, and Nehaalista, who lately had been feeling the need for a little extra quiet, was smelting. There were requests to make, figures to shape and carve, and a whole heaping helping of metals to be melted into bars for her later use.

As per her usual, Nehaalista worked quietly, nothing but the roar of the forge accompanying the jeweler as she smelted down the next batch of blue-green metal. Since Dustin's departure, it had been enjoyably quiet, and Nehaalista had been quick to capitalize on his absence. It might not have made her heart grow fonder of the pushy genius, but it did make her work go faster.

Daja was tired, and all she wanted to do was settle into the familiarity of her smithy. But then she spotted the smoke coming from the forge, and the faint firelight in the window, and Daja's heart sank. This...this was her forge! She was the one who'd worked to restore it! But had someone else taken it from her while she away?

With great trepidation, she opened the door to the forge, hoping that whoever was in there was just...borrowing. The forge was hers, and she could bear to loose it.

Thoughts of ownership fled from her mind though, when she saw who was working in there. "Oh my!" Daja gasped, gaping at the strange horned, purple-skinned woman with hoofs and...oh my, a tail...standing there.

Said tail swished in surprise against the back of her legs, and the golden cuff on the end caught the light from the forge for a moment. Nehaalista pushed her sweaty bangs and drooping curls from her face and turned to look at the woman.

At full height, it was a little hard for Nehaalista to move freely, but she still managed some semblance of grace as she watched Daja with bright, pupil-less eyes.

Daja stepped back, startled by the woman's glowing eyes. But then she noticed that lick of fire... "Oh, look out!" she exclaimed, quickly reaching her hand out and calling to the fire. With her magic she pulled, drawing it all out and into her palm.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Daja said, keeping the flame close to her chest where it couldn't burn anything by accident.

Nehaalista shook her head at Daja's apology, thankful that she hadn't been burned. She started signing rapidly, though it was a bit difficult with the thick gloves she wore for smelting down the metal.

Daja blinked, trying to make sense of the whirling gestures. Sign-language? "I'm sorry, I don't understand," she said. "Do you have any paper with you? Perhaps if you write it down..."

Oh, blast it, she'd forgotten about that, didn't she? Nehaalista held up a hand to tell Daja to hold on a moment and dug around for her omnicom. Omnicom... omnicommm....

There it was! She pulled it out triumphantly and put it before her, tugging off her gloves with her teeth and stuffing them in her swordbelt. [I'm sorry,] she wrote. [I was concentrating on the smelting process. Thank you for the help. With the flame.]

While Nehaa was fiddling with the omnicomm, Daja carefully placed her flick of flame back into the forge, before turning back to see what Nehaa had written.

"No, it's no trouble at all; I did startle you." Daja paused, feeling uncomfortable. "I'm just...surprised. This is my forge, you see. Though I've been gone a long time - my name is Daja Kisubo."

Katara was starting to get some very disturbing information about someone on the prowl, and was already starting to formulate a plan of what the Outsiders could do. Obviously the kids period had to be accounted for: who knew what would happen when someone mutated and just went after the people? She was all set to put up a message when she spied someone she hadn't seen in a long while: it looked like Daja was back!

"Daja, hey!" Katara greeted, smiling. "How have you been?"

"Katara!" Daja said with a warm smile, glad to see a familiar face. "I can't say I've been at my best," she admitted. "I've been stuck in these mazes for what feels like forever...I've been gone a long time, haven't I?"

Katara shook her head. "Lots, honestly. I can't believe GLADOS would keep you there for so long. I'm sorry that you had to go through that. What do you want to know about?"

"Is...is everyone alright?" Daja asked, nervous. Disaster had always seemed to strike the ship regularly, and she'd hate to find out that people had been hurt while she was gone.

"Mostly," Katara said, and here she did look saddened. "We lost Cassie and Kawalsky. There's a lot that's gone on. We even faced the Ohm, our dreaded enemy."

"I'm sorry," Daja said. She hadn't known Cassie or Kawalsky, but she was saddened to hear of their loss nonetheless. "You faced the Ohm? What happened?"

"They weren't people I knew too well, but they were still people that mattered on the ship. It was horrible to lose them. It just feel like we're always narrowly avoiding a bigger catastrophe."

She was quiet a moment. "Someone was managing the forge while you were away. I don't know what it's like anymore."

"It's hard when anyone dies," Daja said softly. "Even when they aren't close to your personally. It reminds us that we are fragile."

Daja frowned at the mention of her forge - surely the forge would still be hers, though? She idea of someone else taking it was unsettling.

[[ooc: Mind if we just stay away from the topic of the forge? Just because I've already started the thread with Nehaa assuming that Daja doesn't know about anyone being in it, and it could be tricky to figure it out if Katara tells her all about it]]]

Katara nodded. "Yes, it does. We're all supposed to be these amazing people, that Stacy chose us, but when this happens it sobers everyone. We realize that we ALL can die at any time. To me, the worst is when people go about their lives only barely thinking about it."

She noticed the look, but decided that Daja would find out soon enough. "We did get to go to a planet, and it was there we encountered the Ohm. Before that though, I was able to grab some things too. Maybe you would like some of them?"

"We have to keep living on, even after those close to have have died," Daja said gently. "We all mourn in our own ways. We shouldn't forget, but we must move on as well."

Daja smiled, touched by the offer. "Oh, thank you. You don't have to do that Katara. What did you find?"

"I will never forget," Katara said. "People on this ship are not just people, just random things for Stacy who did not know better. They, WE, do all that we can. And if one of us are fallen, we will remember them for what they did. I learned that when we lost B 5."

She nodded. "I was able to bring a few teas. I love them, thanks to my world, and I know you will too. Also I...I got a few dresses you might like too, if you don't mind such a thing."

Daja always somehow seemed experienced, beyond frivolities, but Katara was still one for aesthetics when the chance afforded.

Daja smiled softly. "I'm glad then, to know that you'll always be remembering the people here."

"Oh! You have tea? Real tea?" Daja certainly didn't crave cake, but tea - that was something she had missed. And while she had had a small stash before her disappearance, she doubted it was still there - or any good to drink by now. "Oh, but I can't possibly take it from you. And I have nothing to trade for it - unless, perhaps, you would like me to craft you something? A necklace perhaps, or a bracelet?"

Daja covered a smile. "I'm not one for dresses," she admitted. "We Traders wear leggings, or breeches. And I am happy with my plantsuit - you should save them for yourself, or for someone who really needs them."

"Other people can do it, and just go along. I can't. I don't care if people say its better to forget it: I can't. They were here."

She smiled. "Oh, I do want something, I can't lie: I'm becoming trained in the sword, I'll need a decent shield. But...when I got the tea, I thought if you too. So please accept the majority of it as something you can use for your future deals, okay?"

She laughed. "Well, I tried! I mean, I can wear a dress, but I like to see my friends in ones I pick. Breeches though...maybe you have something I can sew you out of the dresses?"

"No, you should never forget," Daja agreed.

"A shield I can make. However," Daja's smile turned mischievous. Katara was perhaps someone Daja could call friend - but she was still at heart a Trader. "I think any shield I make would be worth more than a few bundles of tea. Particularly since materials are difficult to acquire. Though perhaps if you were to give me your best teas...and if you'd also manage to acquire some preserved foods as well..."

Daja shifted her staff a little. Back home she'd only worn clothing made by her sister for quite sometime; somehow, the thought of asking someone else to make her clothing felt like a betrayal. But, she did not want to be so rude as to refuse Katara's generous offer. "Perhaps a nice tablecloth?" Daja suggested instead. "Especially something that could liven up the atmosphere."

And she wouldn't either: the statues in the Outsider's headquarters were proof of that.

Katara sighed, trying to act as if this was something that was hard for her to do, but in truth tea was only really god if shared with a friend anyway. "I guess I can manage that, although you really push pretty hard," she said. "The food from my personal stores I can give you a bit of, although that's an even harder pinch: it's mostly for my team so they don't have to stomach Stacy's horrible slop."

Little did she know that in a few days, that food would start to come in handy.

"I could manage that," she said, which she was more than happy to, really: she needed something to do. Seeing as how you're trying to drum up business though, why don't you come down to the city and see the hotel? It's where our team, the Outsiders are, and they probably want to get some things themselves. Oh, and we have vikings now, so you're bound to be busy soon!"

"Then we have a deal," Daja said, smiling. "I will begin work right away - hopefully, I will still have enough steel available." She looked at Karara, curious. "The Outsiders? That's a strange name for a team. Do you all live in this hotel then?"

She frowned slightly, hearing an unfamiliar reference. "Vikings? What are vikings?

Katara smiled and bowed gratefully. "Thank you." But when asked about the group she and Beastboy managed, she had plenty to say. "It's because of what we represent. It has its roots in another team, but on this ship its for those who've felt at odds with the other groups on the ship. While the Outsiders exists primarily for kids who have been tossed aside, its for anyone who wants people to belong with, and a team they can be family with."

Here, she chuckled. "I had to look them up to find out. They're a group of tenacious people who lived off the land, in search of adventure and distinguishing themselves through battle. I'm sure you'll meet them soon enough."

"I see. That is an excellent goal - but are you sure that 'the Outsiders' is the best name for it? If people call themselves outsiders, they will always see themselves as outsiders." Daja had been an outsider herself, once - both as a trangshi among her own people and a Trader among kaqs. Being an outsider had been painful, and while she had found acceptance in society again, the thought of willingly labelling herself as 'outsider' was troubling. "Surely it's better to have a name that represents something positive, rather than something negative?"

"So they are a race of people?" she asked.

Katara laughed to herself a little. "You know, I might have thought that once. But when I think about it, no one here is really in a place where they feel completely comfortable, they try to make things feel as normal as they can make it. When I heard the name, I identified it as a way we all feel every once and awhile. If you make a name like Outsider be bad, of course it will be. But if its something that represents something bigger...than you fail to see it as negative."

She nodded. "From what I can tell yes, but these particular one s are from a certain village."

Daja nodded, although she was still dubious about it. But she decided not to press the issue.

"They are lucky then, to have friends from home with them."

She quieted herself: it made her think of Sokka already, and that was something she knew would hurt her badly.

"We are our family now," Katara said. "If people have their own, that's good, but if they don't, that;s what we're here for."

Daja smiled, but inside she felt sad. She missed her own family, so much. "I am sure they are glad to have you, then."

She looked out to the city: over to where her forge would be. "It's bee good talking with you, Katara. But I'm afraid should be going. I think it's going to take me a little time, to get settled into things here again."

She nodded. "You do that. I'm sure you'll have a lot to do, Daja. Good luck."

She paused though. She'd always felt something lonely about Daja, a thing she knew that, as experienced as she was, that she couldn't touch. It really bothered her.

She took the girl's hand a moment.

"You're welcome Daja, in the Outsider's hotel. You have a lot to do, and I know it, but just remember that, ok?"

Daja bowed. "Thank you. And I will - I will make sure to come visit you all."

With a smile, Daja turned to move towards her forge once again.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Open]

ZEE FORGE.

Re: ZEE FORGE.

Re: ZEE FORGE.

Re: ZEE FORGE.

Re: ZEE FORGE.

Re: ZEE FORGE.

Re: ZEE FORGE.

Re: ZEE FORGE.

Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge

Re: Outside of the Outsiders Headquarters- not zee forge