#it's uncanny though. she really is triangular.

[flufflecat]

noticed that my cat is shaped like canon human bill

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “Suspended Diplomacy.”

Its all coming together. I hope you guys like, has a lot of cool action :)

The stone wall rose up, and cut past him on either side as he blasted through the tight opening body rigid like an arrow. The cool darkness of the building’s interior was blasted back by warm rays of sunlight, which warmed his back as wind whipped past his clothing.

Below him there was nothing but mist and the plunging sides of the pillars cutting down into nothing.

His momentum carried him only so far before he began to plunge downward, though his freefall was cut short as he re-engaged the jetpack cutting upwards in a backwards spiral that sent him looping over the top of the city spires. Off in the distance he could see more than a dozen pairs of dogfighting individual no more than black dots on the horizon.

He cut left quickly and rose up to take the high position wind whipping past his face and roaring inside his ears. His maneuver caught two of their attackers by surprise shooting the out of the sky as he descended from above. He caught another one as it was reaching out for one of the marines, grabbing it by the wing and spinning it around to color with another of it’s companions.

Tangled around each other they fell like a stone into the mist below.”

Ramirez cut down on his left, and another marine on his right, and together they flew in a tight triangular formation. It reminded him a lot of his training drills at the flight academy, though unfortunately for him, while the marines could operate a jetpack, they weren’t trained in aviation, and so couldn't follow his more complex maneuver.

And together, they still flanked a couple of warring Krree taking them out before they could overpower their voiced counterparts.

He spotted T’lau by way of her colorful clothing, which practically glowed like a beacon against the grey blue sky, and what he saw didn’t look good. Two Kree soldiers harried her from behind flicking at her with their razor wire, attempting to cut off a wing as she churned and dived frantically trying to avoid severe bodily injury.

It was clear she was going to lose.

Commander Vir, pushed the engine on his jetpack rocking forward and  away fro his formation of marines. The two Kree had hardly any time to turn towards him as they heard the roaring of his engine. He caught them both around the middle, the edge of their razor wire scraping off the edge of the Iron-eye suit.

He only just had time to pull up as they careened towards an outer line of trees that had been set up along the side of the city. The little blue spheres that hung from the canopy exploded on contact drenching him in blue juice that stung slightly upon contact with his skin.

The impact slowed the enough that, when he cut the engine, hitting the ground was only mostly painful. Though he was bruised, he had managed to slip one of the Kree under him, using its feathery body to break his fall.

He heard something crunch and the kree lay still.

The other Kree, not as dazed or injured from the fall pounced on his back, and the two of them went rolling across the floor as the Kree attempted to slip the razor wire around his throat like a garotte. He ducked his head as the wire sliced across his cheek, drawing blood. The blue tree juice oozed into the wound and he roared with agony as it felt like his face was on fire.

WIth a jolt of energy and adrenaline, he flipped around in place and grabbed the kree around the middle again. The creature kicked and bucked against him, but he held tight. It was all he could do to keep holding on as the creature was surprisingly wriggly. If it had not been for that, he might have been able to overpower the creature, but as it was he kept losing his grip taking all his energy just to keep the creature in place.

His frustration mounted as the kree nearly slipped away.

And with his anger came the whirring of the machine.

The iron eye suit whirred to life with a hungry hiss, and the hydraulics that augmented his body’s power began to slowly compress. He felt his muscles contract like a constricting python around the creature as it struggled. HE was squeezing so tight, that his muscles shook, and when he could do no more, that is when the machine too over. 

The whirring grew louder and louder. His arms and legs clamped down like a steel vice.

The kree screamed, then choked off as it’s air was cut short.

And then a horrendous symphony of crunching noises, and a final snap as the creature’s spine broke in two and it went still.

The iron eye suit disengaged and his ucles failed causing him to flop backwards onto the floor, hands out to either side next to the two kree corpses. 

Overhead, engines roared as the two marine shuttles descended from orbit.

The battle had lasted less than seven minutes, and the marine’s time from orbit to landing was faster than most ambulance response times back on earth. One shuttle landed not so far away, while another circled around back of the palace.

From this distance, he could see groups of marines spilling out the back jetpacks already engaged.

Below the shuttle two twinned guns fired intermittently towards the Kree.

The marines on foot fanned out in a quick semi-circle ordering each other by their hand signals before fanning into two fire teams, which cut to explore the city.

Their response was fast, and he was soon to see why.

Sunny was the last to appear from the shuttle. In her two lower hands she held held a spear, maybe three to four feet long tipped with the deadly black head, and in her upper arms she carried the marine standard issue automatic carbine with red dot site, which she used to great effectiveness on a passing Kree.

Her aim was uncanny for someone who hadn’t been using human weapons for very long.

He could hear her ordering the marines about over the comms, her voice sharp and clipped, her orders precise and irrefutable. The marines did as they were told washing over the city and taking out all targets with great efficiency.

Not to be left out, a number of Drev had been dropped on the other side of the city, and were cleaning up the remnants of their attackers on that side with great glee. Ironically, their response time had been faster than that of th Kree defence team in itself, who finally dared to show up in their colorful armor and belatedly wielding their weaponry.

The marines cut across the open space in those first few moments two taking covering positions as a third knelt next to him on the marble, “Commander secured!” He announced over his radio.

The little red cross on his sleeve denied him as a field medic.

It was a relatively good sign considering that krill had forced all military medical personally through a rigorous training course that made them some of the top field medics/ and occasionally field surgeons/ in the galaxy.

The man grabbed his wrist to check a pulse as he looked over the cut on his face.

“Are you injured, commander.” He asked even as he was busy looking him over.

“No, no just winded, I think I’ll be alright.”

He finished his examination and called out for another group of men who cut across the space from the shuttle and knelt to cover the commander as the others moved off.

“What happened?” One of them asked relaying the information to sunny in quick-time as the commander gave it.

“The colorful kree are friendlies called the voiced. The ones without funny robes are the voiceless. They attacked us as I was speaking with their leader. She should be somewhere around here. We don’t really know more than that?”

“And their leader had nothing to do with this?”

“Not as far as I know.” He said slowly crawling to his feet, muscles aching from the iron eye intervention.

The ache brought back a sudden stabbing memory of pain and agony, but he shoved it back down engaging his comms, “Sunny report!” he ordered.

“Three dead, two wounded. The dead are the voiced and the two wounded are our marines. One of them is minor, the other is serious calling for medivac now. We have the voiced leader secured and one captured one of the voiceless for questioning.”

As soon asher comm line went dead, another one popped up.

“Commander this is harbinger, we are receiving some unusual radar readings. Can see nothing yet but whatever it is it is big and it’s coming in fast.”

Shit, he thought hauling himself up to his final standing position, “Call in immediate GA backup from Irus. Get Capain Koslov and Captain Ho on the line as fast as you can and order them in for a short warp be ready to cover them as they come in. Order all units to battle stations immediately.”

Just then, Commander Vir turned to see Sunny escorting T’lau over the open floor. She was limping pretty badly to go along with her already uneven gate on the ground. Her feathers were ruffled, her robes torn and she looked ore than halfway to panic.

“Commander, commander you must understand. We did not orchestrate this attack. We had no idea they were here, and they have never been so bold as to attack the city before.”

He held up a hand, “I understand, do the voiced have space ships.”

“What?”

“Answer the question.”

“No… well not really. They have small ships, no more than cruisers, and none of those have functioning weaponry as far as we are aware.” “Has your species made any deals with any other entities?”

“I… well not the voiced but….oh…”

“You want to tell me what that is all about?’

She turned to look at him, her large-dark eyes very wide, “The Burg.”

“THE WHAT!”

“The burg.” she was close to full panic now, “THey are the first species that we met, some of the voicless insisted on trading with them though we refused. We did not think an alliance would have stretch any further than that.”

He cursed turning away from her and ordering over the line to the harbinger, “Be advised possible burg short cruisers incoming. Alert the GA and the UNSC tell them that we may be under attack. I repeat we may be under attack by burg short cruisers allied with a terroristic Kree faction.” 

He shouldered his weapon and ordered the marines on him joining to meet up with Sunny as the other marines retreated back toward the shuttles from cleaning up the rest of the burg attack.

“You alright.” Sunny asked, ordering a contingent of arines onto the first shuttle which was quickly pulled into orbit medivacing the marine who had broken a leg and an arm during he fight.

“As good as can be expected.” he turned to look at the Kree T’lau, “If i find out you were in on this….”He let his threat hang in the air as he and sunny retreated back onto the shuttle after the marines. He could see the shamed look on her aes as the shuttle door closed before turning towards the front of the shuttle allowing command to the second pilot as he opened the comms to speak with sunny and the rest of the command team.

“All diplomatic missions are suspended until further notice.”

“Commander GA ships are arriving. They brought a Celzex imperial frigate.”

He felt himself relax a little, “Thank Lord Celex.” He muttered under his breath

“See if we can’t get a Rundi ship to cover for the Celzex. They are the best firepower, but I know their shields have been known to short out. Take a position behind and below the Celzex and afford them cover fire if you have to. When Captain Kozlov and Ho get here order them to cover the rear high and low. Prep evac shuttles, we should be there in ten.”

He let the com go dead listening to the chatter over the line and popping in to give orders on occasion.

Across the shuttle from him, Sunny rocked slightly in her seat as the ship rattled upwards through the atmosphere.

He kept one ear open to the comms, though he was compelled to speak knowing that this might be his last chance.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the iron eye suit, or the jetpacks.”

He had to raise his voice to be heard over the roaring of the engines.

Her eyes were cold, and she didn’t say anything, “Look, I knew you wouldn’t trust my judgement, and I get that but sometimes I know what I am doing.”

Sunny’s eyes blaed, “It’s not your judgement I dont trust, Adam.”

“Than what is it?”

“I hate the fact that you don’t trust me, that you feel like you have to hide this sort of thing.”

He frowned, “The last time I used a jetpack you nearly grounded me for a month.”

“Thats because you weren’t being careful, you weren't thinking things through, but this time you are and you did. I need you to trust me to know how to behave when the situation calls for it.”

He went silent in his seat, “Alright… I was wrong and I’m sorry, but I need you to trust me to know what I can and can’t handle. I know it may be hard and I havent always proven that, but I can’t command my ship if I’m being second guessed.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.” 

They were silent for a moment as he listened to the chatter over the comms.

“Sunny.”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for showing up.”

“I wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.” 

[eternalnight8806-3]

60 :3

OMG LOOK I’M BACK!!!!!! IT ONLY TOOK ALMOST 9 MONTHS BUT I’M HERE WITH SOMETHING NEW FOR YOU GUYS!

I’m just gonna call this Dya’s Prompt because I suck at coming up with titles so there ya go.

Note: The baby’s name roughly translates to “dark snow”.

Category: SFW, One shot, canon continuation, fluff

Word Count: 2,013

Pairing: InuKag

Rating: T for language

I’d like to thank @cstorm86 for pushing me and helping me to finish this. It’s not my best, but it’s here and right now that’s what’s important.

Also tagging: @keichanz @noviceotakus-blog @hinezumi @morikothehalfangel

If you want to be added to my tag list, please let me know.

I hope you all enjoy!

Dya’s Prompt

(You’d be a great dad)

The

time since returning to the feudal era had seemed like nothing to

Kagome. Before she knew what was happening, two whole years had passed.

She and InuYasha had married soon after her return, this being the

happiest day of both of their lives. Until now.

As

she looked down at the face of her newborn daughter, Miyukiyoru, Kagome

couldn’t help but smile. She was exhausted beyond anything she’d ever

felt before, having had an intense 18 hour labor to deliver the treasure

she held in her arms, but the happiness she felt was the strongest in

her memory. Claw tipped hands came into her view, stroking back the

wispy silver hairs from their daughter’s face and tentatively touching

one of the tiny triangular ears atop her head. The resemblance to her

father was uncanny, with one major difference. Her ears were jet black, a

stark contrast from her pure white hair. InuYasha leaned in and kissed

the foreheads of both of his girls, the smile on his face telling Kagome

all she needed to know.

The

first few weeks after Miyukiyoru’s birth were a whirlwind of activity.

InuYasha always made sure to get up with her at night whenever possible,

knowing he could get by with less sleep than his wife. When Kagome had

told him about bottle feeding and pumping breast milk from her time, he

and some of the village women had fashioned a few makeshift bottles from

animal hide, complete with removable nipples for the baby to suckle

from. Kagome always purified these before filling them with milk

throughout the day to ensure her baby’s health.

She

was able to pump using these same bottles and a wonderful contraption

Miroku had somehow managed to scrape together, though she had no idea

how the thing actually accomplished what it did. She was grateful for

the respite and she loved that InuYasha could experience the bond of

feeding his child like she could.

This

particular night, about 4 weeks after her birth, was a tumultuous night

for the new parents, however. Miyukiyoru would not stop crying no

matter what the couple tried. She wailed deep into the night, frazzling

the nerves of even the ever patient Kagome. She was nearly in tears

herself when a miracle happened as she stood a helpless onlooker,

listening to her beloved speak softly to their daughter.

“…

didn’t like eachother very much at first, you know. She was this spit

ball of fiery energy that stood in the way of me getting the Jewel of

Four Souls. This was gonna make me a full fledged demon, ya know.

Something your daddy thought he always wanted,” he looked up at Kagome

then, “until your momma showed me I didn’t need to change who I am to be

worthy of love.”

Kagome stood, astonished, as slowly Miyukiyoru slowly stopped crying and started listening intently to her father’s story.

“…I

woke up on that tree after 50 years with your momma pressed against me,

smelling like the sweetest flower to ever grace the Earth, though I

wouldn’t tell her that for a long time. She looked a lot like the woman

who pinned me to that tree, so I was angry and bitter at her for a long

time, until she beat some sense into me.”

Kagome

smiled as she listened. She no longer minded being reminded that she

looked like her previous life, Kikyo. She had long ago let go of those

feelings of jealousy and regret. InuYasha had more than proven to her

that she was his choice, not someone who was thrust upon him by chance

or simply second best to his former love.

“…So

your momma took that claw and attached it to the arrow, she’s so

clever, isn’t she?” InuYasha winked at his wife, making Kagome barely

stifle a giggle. “But when the arrow hit that damn bird it shattered the

Jewel into a whole bunch of teeny tiny shards and scattered them all

across the country. And thus began our year long journey to find them,

and defeat Naraku,”

Miyukiyoru’s

eyes lit up when he spoke Naraku’s name and she cooed happily. Kagome

rolled her eyes. She’s going to be a little reckless fighter, just like

her daddy, and Kagome wouldn’t have had it any other way. She slowly

lowered herself down onto the futon and curled up to listen to her

husband tell the story of their adventure to their baby girl. It was

around the point that Kagome met Sesshomaru for the first time that

Miyukiyoru finally closed her eyes and slept.

Slowly,

InuYasha placed the tiny bundle down in her makeshift bassinet and

backed away from her tentatively, almost expecting her to begin howling

again. He slumped down next to Kagome and sighed.

“Geez,

when a little brat can even wear out a half demon it makes me wonder

how you damn humans do this,” he teased as he wrapped his arms around

her and pulled her to his chest. Kagome chuckled softly.

“Patience, young padawan. You will learn the secrets in time.”

InuYasha’s eyebrow quirked. “Padawan?”

Smiling,

Kagome shook her head. “Nevermind. Go to sleep, while you still can,”

she retorted before curling up against him and closing her eyes for that

much needed sleep.

The

next night was more of the same. Miyukiyoru just would not go to sleep

no matter what they did. So finally, InuYasha decided to continue his

story from the previous night, if only to test his theory.

“Alright

babygirl, wanna hear about your asshole uncle Sesshomaru?” In response,

she giggled and raised her arms out towards her father’s face. Smiling,

he began his tale again. “So, there we all were, your momma,

Sesshomaru, the toad Jaken, and me, all inside my dad’s, your

grandpapa’s, bones in this huge demon graveyard.” InuYasha laid her down

in her bassinet but didn’t stop talking. If anything, he became more

excited, using his hands to express his excitement. Miyukiyoru never

took her eyes from him as he walked around her telling the tale.

“He

wanted Tetsusaiga, see. He’d wanted it ever since dad had died all

those years ago. But see, your grandpapa was much smarter than your

uncle and wanted your daddy to have it because he knew that Uncle Stick

In The Mud would never be able to use it properly, atleast not until he

learned some compassion. So, he went through all that just to get this,”

InuYasha pulled Tetsusaiga from it’s sheath, revealing it to his

daughter for the first time in all it’s glory. Her eyes widened and she

cooed as she watched him lightly swing it around.

“But

Uncle Sessy couldn’t even touch the sword, babygirl. Full demons can’t

touch it because of a special barrier your grandpapa put on it to

protect it. He was so mad when he discovered that, he attacked your

papa, because we didn’t really get along real good back then. Amidst all

our fighting we didn’t even hardly notice your momma and when she

pulled the sword from it’s spot in that rock your Uncle Sessy nearly had

a heart attack I think.” Miyukiyoru giggled at that.

“He

went after momma then, attacking her with his poison claws. If not for

Tetsusaiga she would’ve died right then. But this sword protected her,

because that’s what it’s meant for babygirl. Protecting the ones we

love, so long as we have compassion. Your uncle and I had a big fight

after that, and I transformed Tetsusaiga for the first time that day,

though it would be a while before I figured out how I’d done it. Your

momma knew though, because she’s always been smarter than me.”

Kagome

smiled to herself. She loved hearing him talk to their daughter, even

about battles and swords. She couldn’t help but sit quietly herself and

listen to him tell the familiar tale. The way he told it had her

riveted. She’d never known he was such a good storyteller.

“…sliced

him right through his arm, cutting it right off!” InuYasha sliced the

air with his sword to emphasis his point, pulling a loud ‘ooooo’ from

his baby. “Uncle Sessy ran away with his tail between his legs. I don’t

think he ever expected your daddy to actually be able to injure him like

that. But I did, babygirl. And that’s how I ended up with Tetsusaiga.”

He looked down after that to find she had finally drifted off to sleep.

He sheathed his sword and stuck it in its usual place by the door.

“You know, she’s gonna be so spoiled with you talking to her like that,” Kagome teased quietly.

“Keh.

She’s my daughter. She can be as spoiled as she wants to be, so long as

she can hold a sword,” he quipped back as he settled down next to her.

“With you as her father, how could she not?”

InuYasha

looked seriously into his wife’s chocolate eyes. “I want to be there

for her, always. I never want her to have the life I had. She’s too

precious for that.”

Kagome

took his face in her hands. “She won’t. Nothing is going to happen to

us, InuYasha. Our village is relatively safe, considering. Besides, with

a demon slayer and a trained monk as her godparents, nothing is getting

near her even if something did, which it won’t.”

InuYasha

grabbed her hands and smiled at her tentatively. “Yeah. I know. I just

worry s'all. The thought of her growing up the way I did makes my

stomach churn. I know I ain’t gonna be the best dad, but I still want to

be here, ya know?”

Kagome’s

lips pursed in an angry scowl. “Listen here, InuYasha. I don’t ever

want you to say that again, you hear me? You are the best goddamn father

that baby girl could ever hope for. And anyone who says different will

have me to deal with. You understand me?”

Smiling,

InuYasha simply nodded before settling down and pulling her down with

him. “Go to sleep, wife. Or else you won’t have the energy to fight all

these naysayers.”

From

that night on, InuYasha told his daughter the tale of the Jewel of Four

Souls, it becoming their nightly ritual. Whenever she refused to quiet,

the story would always hush her, but only if daddy told it. Every time

Kagome tried, she just cried harder. Kagome didn’t mind, however. She

thoroughly enjoyed seeing InuYasha spend time with their baby. The story

was theirs and theirs alone, and she respected that.

Every

night InuYasha became more brazen with his story telling, including

Tetsusaiga more and more, much to the delight of his daughter and the

chagrin of his wife. Kagome made him promise never to actually use any

of his attacks while telling the story, only using the sword as a prop.

She often had to remind him of this mid-swing of his sword. He loved to

get carried away, if it made his babygirl smile.

Three

months passed before he concluded the story for the first time, ending

it with his marriage to Kagome. As he settled her down into the crib he

had just finished making for her, Kagome wrapped her arms around his

waist and pressed her cheek against his back. He squeezed her hands

before turning around in her arms and wrapping her up in his own.

“You know what?” She whispered to him.

“Hmmm?” He mumbled back to her.

Kagome

looked up into his golden eyes, “Even when you were trying to take the

jewel from me and acting recklessly all those years ago, I always knew

you’d be a great father. And I’ll tell you everyday until the day I die

if I have to to get you to believe it.”

Smiling, InuYasha dipped his head and brushed her lips with his own. “I believe you, wench.”

[tradetales-blog]

She wasn’t surprised, to find her double had made her way to the sea. If she were anything like Tressa herself, then no wonder -- if she was hoping for a way out from her troubles, then no wonder. It makes her heart ache, if she’s at all honest. The name of this place, the ‘Swirling Gulf’, sounded wild and dangerous, as if it could swallow you whole. But after the difficulty trying to get inside the place, eventually claiming to be a tourist, Tressa quickly realised it had become a home to the wealthy. A controlled place, wasn’t it? Rare, wonderful, magnificent... but heavily cultivated, all the same.

She wondered if this was what the other her was looking for. She knows, deep down, that it isn’t. That she would have gone to the most daring place she could find.

Asking around, the locals seemed to peg that moniker to a place called the shipyard -- and respond with utter horror whenever she asked for directions. Apparently, it wasn’t exactly a favourable place, haunted with ghosts and the target of many uncomfortable rumours. Largely untouched by the settlers of this place. It was a place likely to hold long forgotten treasure, if you asked Tressa -- the place she was sure her other self had gone searching.

There was no point waiting -- no point losing any more time. Getting to this point had already taken long enough, and the time for the both of them was running out. Standing before the ship with the protective gear she’d rented, she can understand why others avoid the place. It was eerie, a place she would usually bypass out of respect for the loss that had happened here. But if a reckless girl didn’t want to be found... why ever would she go anywhere else?

The waters are almost silent, as she passes through them, aside for the creaking of the ship’s parts and the sounds of the wildlife passing through -- small fish, mainly, but sometimes Tressa thought she saw something else moving in the dark waters. Whenever she pursued the movement, though, hoping to find the girl she was looking for -- there was nothing to be found. A chill runs down her spine. She does not like ghosts, the last person to go seeking them out, whatever her curious reputation. Her other self, though, had to be the same way. Leaving her alone out here with her worst nightmare... aside from not being an option, it just wasn’t her style.

She swims deeper.

Eventually, she finds something unlike the depths of the sea -- a shimmering beam of light. The surface? A cavern, perhaps? Unlikely, but a desperate girl could have tried it, and a curious one can hardly stop herself from seeing what the source was, swimming through a splintered hole in the ship’s ceiling and into a small room. A cursory glance tells her it was likely once the captain’s cabin. Her body tells her that it is partially filled with water, and partially with air -- a triangular, diagonal shaft of the sea. It shouldn’t be possible, but the place already betrays all reason. The water shifts and seems to move, as if the ghosts here were still trying to breathe.

In the pocket, though, is a girl -- equipment half removed, apparently struggling with her oxygen tank. It’s easy to see her, then. It’s easy to see that this girl had the same face as her own.

“Tressa...”

She assumes the other girl uses the same name -- and she assumes right. Her double flinches, hands tensing around the tank, before her eyes flicker around the cabin for an exit. Tressa was over the only one, of course -- and she could imagine in such a precarious situation, it must seem dangerous to move. She is no stranger to danger, but she has never desired to throw away her life. The shaking of the girl’s limbs tells Tressa that she isn’t the only version of herself, with such an earnest desire to live.

She takes in a deep gulp of air. “Are you alright? What’s wrong with your tank?”

“I’ll be fine, if you go. I can handle it... I can handle it myself!”

“Really...?” She peers closer at it, but the girl’s own demeanour is easy enough to read. “How long have you been down here? Are you running out?”

“Longer than you’re supposed to use these things.” The girl frowns, indignant. “You want to replace me, don’t you? Why don’t you just let me drown out here?”

She shakes her head. “Hey, I’m you. You’re me. I wouldn’t drown anyone. And you wouldn’t want to drown me, right? This situation is way too creepy! Like something you’d tell your kids to make them behave. I’m not falling for it... not like that.”

“Like that?” But there’s a recognition in the other her’s eyes, a recognition that gives Tressa hope. So her double wasn’t out to kill her, whatever scary stories would say. Her double... was herself. Tressa. “Sure. I don’t want to kill anyone. But... you can’t just take my place. There can’t just be two of us!”

“I wish there could be. I’ve always wanted to be friends with myself. Then things would never get lonely.” She pauses, the word striking something in her, before she turns to look her double in the eye. Softly pushing herself up towards pocket of air, brushing herself up against her mirror, she tugs her breathing equipment from her face. “Tressa... you’re lonely, aren’t you?”

She flinches again, seeming to shy away. And then -- a pout, an avoidance of the eyes -- almost childish, almost familiar. “How would you know? I’ve never met you in my life! You don’t know anything about who I am!”

“Maybe not. But... I’ve been lonely, too. Really lonely. Not that there wasn’t anyone I could turn to, or laugh with... but... there wasn’t anyone who understood me. I didn’t just want to work in my parents’ store, even if I loved them so much... that kind of day to day... it just isn’t living, it just isn’t being me!” Tressa stops, smiling softly, before moving to meet the others’ gaze. “That kind of thing... no matter how many people are around you... it’s lonely. It’s like you’re the only person who’s like that, like you couldn’t ever explain it, or make someone understand. I think maybe that’s something that happens, when you’re... Tressa.”

The other girl crumples. Reaches for her eyes, only visibly wavering as her head is out of the water. “You really are me. I couldn’t tell that to anyone.”

Tressa smiles. “Me neither.”

There’s a pause. Tressa watches herself -- the girl’s face changing, becoming calmer, but more melancholy as each moment passes. “Even so... even if you know how it feels.” She clutches her chest. “There still can’t be two of us. There isn’t a place where we aren’t lonely, is there? We can’t turn to each other. I have to do things myself!”

“Yeah... you do. There isn’t any point, if it isn’t you. Right?”

She pauses. It’s uncanny to her -- it must be, to her too. “Right.”

“I know that too. But... you don’t have to be lonely forever. I promise. I know that, since I’m... not lonely anymore. But someone tried to help me, so we could both exist. There can be two of us. There should be. If you trust me, Tressa.”

A moment of hesitation. “I don’t know if I should.” Followed by a sigh -- slightly impish, hopeful, asking for a sign. “But I don’t have any other ideas.”

If she were honest -- if she were honest, Tressa wasn’t sure either. To trust the word of a mysterious voice she’d never heard before, someone who was likely in charge of this place, perhaps responsible for the whole incident? Yet if Tressa was known for something, it was seeing the good in even the most unexpected things. Perhaps she was gullible. Perhaps it would backfire on her -- perhaps this time would be the time. But... it was worth a try.

For the sake of a girl, just like her, who had been so terribly lonely. It was worth a try.

She pulls out her phone, hopefully shaking water from the thing before lighting up the screen. Thankfully, it seemed to be either waterproof, or delaying breaking for now. “Right now, you’re... going to die. You feel weird, don’t you? It’s why you ran away. But, someone told me that there’s a way to help. So I had to look for you.” She taps the app that they were directed to, showing her double the screen. “They said that you can go into another world... a parallel one. And there all of the people who got caught up in this mess can stay alive, and live how they wanted to.”

She pauses. It all sounded even weirder aloud. Looking at the other girl, Tressa smiles sheepishly, for the first time looking a little worried. “It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it...? Apparently the stranger who offered this way out is going against the rules. I’m not sure I like following orders from someone I can’t even see, but... even worse, I can’t just watch this happen.”

She meets the other’s eyes, her smile softening. “It’s your choice, though. I can’t decide who you trust... or how you want to live.” Falling silent, she watches her other self’s face, eyes falling to the phone. She reaches out her hand to touch it, making Tressa yelp, pulling it back -- “If you touch it with the app open, you’ll just go right there! I don’t want you to get pushed into it if you aren’t ready, you know...”

Her double’s hand hovers in the air. She presses her lips together. “I am dying... aren’t I? It isn’t something I really wanted to think about... really, I’m too young for something like that... I always thought I still had so much time, to do what I wanted to do.” Her eyes clouding over, she looks down, Tressa’s gaze still on her. “But I don’t want to give up. Dying all alone down here... that’s the last way I want to go!”

A smile finally surfaces on the double’s face. “Maybe it will go wrong. Maybe it’s crazy. I’m crazy, for even listening to you, but... a lot of things could go wrong anywhere. I’m tired of this world. Of sitting behind a counter, dreaming of the day where I can run away... where fortune finally blows in my direction... I’m tired of only dreaming!”

She pauses, as if short of breath, meeting Tressa’s eyes. She smiles back. With a smaller smile, her double tucks her hair -- wet and dripping -- behind one ear. “Just tell me one thing. You said... you used to feel lonely. How was it that you changed...?”

“Ehehe...” Holding out the phone, for her other self to touch, her face glows warmly. “I followed my heart. I did what I wanted to do. Even if it was scary, even if it was reckless.” Lifting up her free hand to meet her double’s, clasping her hand in hers, she nods in confirmation -- reassurance. “Thank you... for letting me meet you, Tressa. Something tells me you’re gonna be just fine.”

The girl nods. Closes her eyes. Before reaching to touch the screen.

Smiling, enveloped in a white light, she says -- “Thank you.”

[smoke-sektor-cyrax-blog]

Alice and the World We Live In

Alice and the World We Live In was an interesting experience due to the simplicity of the décor but also because many of the topics such as psychological trauma and domestic terrorism are very much a topic du jour, so to speak.

The play itself shows Alice hiking on a mountain trail in Italy after losing her husband to a domestic terrorist attack at a local grocery store. The core of the play follows Alice through the second half of her coming to term with losing her husband. As such, it could be said that the mountain trail upon which she is hiking, on which she is already halfway, is a metaphor for the mourning process. Throughout the play, she is visited by memories of her husband which help her attain (relative) peace of mind in the end.

As opposed to many plays, the décor was quite simple. The stage was composed of one crooked wooden path with triangular shapes emulating mountains. Those same mountains of shades of grey, blue and brown clearly were unnatural in their emulation of mountains so it could be argued that it serves as an association to grief, blue and grey often being associated with depression, among other things.

My favourite part of the play, however, was the language. Through the whole play, both characters repeat specific phrases all of which represent a rather typical behaviour when someone must cope with a traumatic event. Alice repeats the grocery list that she and her husband had to buy on that fateful day because she feels like if she had not insisted, maybe the tragedy could have been avoided. The stage actors also replay the memory of when they first met in class at university and although it feels like Alice is doing this simply to anchor that moment in her memory as to never forget, in the last part of the play, the spectators are treated to a different point of view. Indeed, this loop of memory eventually turns into a what-if scenario. What if they had never met? Paid attention to each other? What if her husband, Ever, been with Yvonne instead? Ultimately, through a fateful encounter with a man on the mountain who shares a similar situation to Alice’s and an uncanny resemblance to Alice’s deceased husband Ever, Alice chooses to push forward. She is not instantly cured of any trauma though: she starts her descent of the mountain by saying a sentence she has been repeating throughout the play: “Be prepared, be aware, be ready.” This implies that although she might be ready to move on, the threat of domestic terrorism is still very much at the front of her mind.

Overall, I would recommend the play but at $22 for 75 minutes of “entertainment”, the worth of the ratio of fun-to-money really is up to you.

Until next time, dear readers. Stay connected.