his_choice (his_choice) wrote in elsewhere_rpg, @ 2017-11-13 18:39:00 |
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Finding the short, black haired man wasn’t going to be hard. It wasn’t as if he were hiding. In fact, North wasn’t even looking for the man, he’d simply been heading home from having visited Georgia, and he’d heard the sound of a horse moving along the dirt road behind him. When he looked back, he’d find the black horse there, about fifty feet back, and the boy in green perched atop him looking particularly small. Though, he looked larger on a horse than on foot, considering he was just a little bit taller than North while balanced on the beast. Even in the dark, it was easy to tell this was the boy everyone was looking for. Boy in green with a horse-- it wasn’t hard. And he didn’t look particularly feisty, either. The horse looked tired, and so did the young man. They’d been out riding all day, getting as far as they could, looking for something (anything) familiar. No luck. *** Well, that was easy. North paused on the road, idly checking the pistol at his back (neatly tucked into his jeans) with one hand to make sure it was secure before he loosened up and waited for the horse (hey, a horse!) to plod closer. The beast was massive, it looked rather like a stupid looking dog with four legs, a long tail, a ridiculous line of hair along its head and neck and a weirdly extended snout. Did they have canines like a dog, too? What North knew about animals was pathetically limited. He eyed the animal until they both got within hailing distance, then he held up his massive hand and stepped in the way of the beast. That was usually York’s job, but since York wasn’t here it was up to North to be the idiot. “Hey there, stranger,” he said, “Can I have a few words..” Yeah, great start North. *** The boy on the horse drew to a stop when that tall man he’d been about to pass by turned and stepped into his path. Now, he was naturally a bit pale anyway, normally a paler olive skin made even more pale by his lack of time in the sun. But when he saw that hulking man in the road? He turned a few shades lighter, those dead eyes settling on him. For just a second, he looked almost... almost happy (though there was no smile or otherwise expression, it was all in his eyes). But the look was erased promptly when the man spoke. Called him stranger. And Levi could clearly see the strange clothes, could identify the man was too tall. He felt cold. He looked cold. Waiting to die was a painfully accurate description of the boy atop that massive beast. “What?” Friendly, wasn’t he? The horse drew to a stop and began lazily reaching his nose out for North, to check his pockets-- but he was too far away to reach and instead would stand there and pout about it. *** The horse had more life in it than the boy did, which was just sad. He was like an empty husk, a creepier version of Texas with no soul inside. When a woman without a soul had more life than you did, you knew you were fucked. North raised an eyebrow but made no other outward signs of anything, because, well, after so many years of war you saw lots and lots of people looking exactly like that. Just another deadened shell of a once human being. Welcome to the club, man, sorry you didn’t make it out alive. North wasn’t sure about the horse reaching for him. His eyes didn’t dip to watch it though he really, really wanted to. Even Theta did. It was a giant dog, after all. Even if it was funny looking. “Levi, right?” he asked, “There’s some people looking for you, about last night..” Well, that wasn’t a whole lie. Just North was looking, though everyone now knew about it per his conversation with Georgia and her resulting net update about it. “Will you come with me?” He was going to say somewhere ‘safe.’ But every soldier who had eyes like that knew that ‘safe’ was a lie. *** When questioned about his name, the boy atop the horse just stared flatly at the man who looked so much like Erwin Smith. But this man had two arms. Levi’s chest felt tight. This man wanted him to go with him, to talk about.. What? What happened last night? Of course. That man. Letting out a slow breath through his nose, the black-haired boy atop the animal looked down at it, then back to the man with the familiar face. “Fine.” Well... that was simple. Though he just sat there atop the horse and said nothing more, just waiting for direction. Just waiting to die. Had they really thought it’d be hard to ‘capture’ him? Maybe they’d be doing him a favor if they decided to kill him in punishment. *** Two words in the two minutes they’d been standing there. North smiled to himself, he supposed he did ask him for a few words only, after all. It was fine, nothing need be said. North just stepped inward confidently, taking hold of the bridle hooked to the horse’s head. It was a giant dog, after all, and Mouse was perfectly nice. For a man who had no idea about animals, that must mean the horse-dog was nice, too. In the same motion, he’d pulled the gun from his jeans, holding it in hand and pointed low at his side, because taking hold of the horse required he have his back to the kid. North wasn’t afraid he’d do anything, just practical. If he had to shoot him, he would. If he had to shoot the horse-dog too, that would also be acceptable. Nice and easy, giant dog. North wanted to go home safe tonight, too. In silence (what else need be said to a boy who didn’t want to speak?), North led them away. *** Well, that was one way to find some life in the boy just waiting to die. North reached out for that bridle and Levi’s eyes narrowed-- it should have been enough of a clue, but the tall man was drawing his gun in the same motion and with a jerk of his legs, heels digging into the horse’s sides, and a flick of his wrist in the reins, the animal was rearing up. If the Spartan was shocked enough to release that bridle, then the horse would be freed up and soon drop his front feet back to the ground and snort, backing away a few paces. If he continued to hold? Well, he was stronger than the animal was, in that position, and he’d be able to keep it from rearing up, which would cause Levi to suddenly produce a long, fragile-looking sword from one of the boxes that hung at his side. Either way, there’d very suddenly be a stare-off, where it was so very clear while Levi might have been waiting to die, he still wasn’t going quietly into the night. *** North let go. It made the most sense. He wasn’t trying to trap the kid and his giant dog, after all, just take them away. His fault for not communicating the fact he didn’t know directions around the place because he navigated by sight and the count of his steps (there were no conveniently placed street signs around, after all). So he let go, backing up when the horse reared, his gun coming half up but not to bear. The horse had backed up. It would take Levi longer to charge forward than it would North to put a bullet between his eyes. No need to make the situation worse. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said instead, “I’m sorry I startled you.” The sniper held steady, no amount of staring could intimidate the soldier. He’d seen too much, too. “I won’t touch him again.” He assumed it was about the horse-dog, not the fact he’d drawn his gun. Why would he have left it at his back? *** It was most definitely about the horse-dog. Levi’s eyes had strayed to the gun, but once he was free, he hadn’t attempted to take any further action. So the two stood there for a few long seconds, the silence around them such as the Captain was sure North would be able to hear his heart beating in his chest-- it wasn’t racing, but it was faster than it had been a moment ago. “Tch.” The disapproving hiss of breath came seconds later, and Levi nudged the horse to come forward again and up along North’s side, so the two men were side-by-side. “Where are we going?” His only question as he’d begin moving along with the massively tall man who’d asked him to come along with him. Those dead eyes strayed to the weapon again, though it was a curious motion. It was clearly a gun. But it didn’t look anything like Levi’s own. *** Time ticked, they stood there waiting for the other to do something. Theta was formulating distances and calculations (not quite like Delta did, but still providing North intel that would enable him to make the best decisions in the coming moments). Then the boy gave first and the soldier stepped back just a pace as the beast drew near lest he knock into North. Look at that, a whole sentence. North lowered the weapon further to his side, taking his finger off the trigger. “A safe house, you annoyed a lot of people. I don’t think they’ll come after you, but it’s better for us all to approach this peacefully.” Hell, North could very well come after him, because as far as the soldier was concerned, Levi had assaulted a superior officer. In a regular military, they’d come down on him hard. Fortunately North wasn’t rash. He saw the bigger picture. *** If Levi had known then what he knew how, it would have all gone differently. Hell, he still didn’t even know the man he’d attacked was a soldier. All he knew was that he wasn’t a pimp. Did he feel bad about it? Maybe. Would he ever admit to it? No. That was weakness. Levi wasn’t weak. With the mention of a ‘safe house’, the black-haired man looked thoroughly unimpressed (there was no such thing was safe), but nudged the horse to begin moving when North did, the animal’s legs able to keep pace without issue. “Your name.” It wasn’t quite a question, but more of a command. His tone. The way in which he expected to be obeyed. The casualness of his commands. It was painfully obvious this man was also a soldier-- more than a soldier, an officer. And clearly someone of ranking, if he thought he could order around people he just met. That was the trait of a man in charge. *** North recognized it for what it was. Of course he did. He acknowledged it with a slight shift of his body, the incline of his head, “Agent North Dakota, UNSC Freelancer Project,” he would give the man respect where it was due if he was military. But currently under some kind of arrest, North wouldn’t defer to Levi. Not until it was resolved. Maybe not even then, who knew. It depended where the others fell along the lines. Order held while they set their chips along behind Mustang. North didn’t worry about it right now, it wasn’t for him to decide. Moving forward, North guided him along. *** North Dakota. It was a direction. Dakota sounded like a surname. Maybe his parents hadn’t liked him. Levi’s lip curled some as he thought about it. Agent. UNSC-- what did that stand for? The Freelancer Project-- at least he could piece that together. “UNSC?” He prompted mildly. Apparently, the man wanted to make conversation. Or, he just wanted to hear the tall Spartan talk. That voice. It was like being home. It was everything. His eyes strayed once again to the man beside him, staring openly with those dead eyes. He trusted the horse to walk on its own, it wasn’t like a car. Arturo wouldn’t run them into any buildings or trees, he’d remain walking in a straight line, until he needed to avoid something. *** True to his word, North didn’t touch the horse-dog as they walked. He remained abreast of him, eyes scanning their surroundings on instinct as they moved across the wary town, alert for threats that could come out of the shadows. In this place, a threat could be anything at all. Especially because the merchants were in town and they’d brought out the best and the worst of Elsewhere’s population. “United Nations Space Command,” He informed the young man. Boy. Whatever he was. What was with the ambiguous standings of the people in this place? “Humanity’s first and last defense in the galaxy.” North was just as brainwashed as the rest of them. *** That sounded.. Very large. Galaxy? For a man who’d been stuck within the walls of a city for his entire life (and stuck underground city for the first half of his life) except for when he was able to ride outside the walls to fight Titans, the idea of having an entire galaxy? Well, it was a fantasy. A dream and little more. It was impossible. He hadn’t even heard of an ‘ocean’ until a few years ago, when a boy had told him about it. Knowledge like that was forbidden. They were forbidden to try and search for knowledge and understanding outside of their wall. People were executed for it. They knew only what was inside those walls, little more than ten square miles. It was depressing, if you really thought about it. And Levi thought about it. A lot. United nations. That meant more than one-- likely more than ten. Different nations.. The very thought of it was exciting. “Tell me about your home.” This time it wasn’t quite the same sort of demand that the demand for his name had been. This was more of a request. Talk, Agent North Dakota. *** His home. Levi wanted to know about North’s home. Well, those weren’t pleasant memories or a really good story to tell. Not that North was obligated to make it good or pleasant or sterilized for his audience. That was what you did with civilians because none of them were prepared to handle the truth. But still. North remained silent as they walked. His home? He didn’t have one, even if he thought of Reach as being it. It was long gone. The Mother of Invention was the most recent home and what could he say about that? North’s eyes lifted upwards to look at the sky. Home. He pointed upward with one hand, “It’s out there. Beyond the atmosphere of any single planet or colony. It’s in the nothing of the space between stars, where everything is black until you shine some light on it. It’s easy to feel alone and insignificant,” because they were, really. “It’s in having no limits beyond what your body can reasonably endure. I don’t like having my feet planted on earth. My home is in the stars and space.” *** Those dead eyes remained locked onto North as he spoke about his home, taking in the lines of his familiar face and the shine of his eyes. Erwin. His words were oddly captivating, the way the tall man described it gave the Captain little chills along his spine and he found it strange, to feel something like that, just from someone’s words. It’d been a long time since he’d felt something. Too long. It hurt. And when North was done (though he really hadn’t said much about his home, it was more than enough for Levi, who hadn’t been asking for descriptions or history, but instead exactly what he’d been given), those dead eyes turned forward again. He was silent for a dozen heartbeats before: “Me, either.” His only soft response. He didn’t like having his feet planted on Earth, either. He’d been meant to fly-- the wings on his cloak indicated as much. *** The young man--boy--whatever--stared harder than a rock. In a contest with a statue, he’d probably win. But at least he showed some kind of emotion? Who knew. That whole being a brick thing would make him shatter one day, just as soon as someone hit the edges right. Like North had done, just now, with only a few words. Sure, just a chip, but there it was. Levi’s strength wasn’t a strength. It was just a mask. North didn’t pry. It wasn’t in his nature to. So he just looked at the young man and nodded his understanding. It had been such a soft admission, such gentle defeat. York would be all over that with his healer’s heart, trying to fix him. North didn’t think he was broken. He just… was. *** North was right about one thing, his captive wasn’t broken. There’d never been a time in his life where he could have been considered normal. There was no defining moment where he’d gone from being an average person to what he was now. No emotional trauma had done this to him. No war. Not fighting. He’d been raised in an environment that kept him from ever truly being alive-- which meant though he was dead inside, it didn’t really make any difference to him. It was like being blind. If you were blinded after being able to see, it was debilitating. But Levi? He’d been born blind. He’d never known anything but this emptiness, he’d never had anything but the chill in his bones. Erwin, once, had made him feel.. But he was gone now and the Captain was left alone again. He’d had that taste of freedom for only an instant. But he’d known, at least, that he couldn’t keep it. He’d always thought it’d be him to go first, though, not Erwin. Not his Commander. But his strength wasn’t a mask, nor was it fragile. It wasn’t a chip that had broken off, but a spark of fire in the chill of winter. The man was made of ice, not brick. He could be melted, but not broken. He was too hard for that. The rest of the walk would be in silence, until they got to wherever North was taking them. Only then did the young man dismount and his short stature was far more readily apparent. Even his horse dwarfed him. A hand pat over the beast’s side, then stroked along his neck, before the animal nuzzled some at Levi and the Captain scrubbed at the horse’s nose. Arturo’s attention, though, would soon turn to North for petting hands. Levi clicked his tongue in displeasure. “Tch. Now you like him?” Still, he pat the beast’s neck again. “He won’t bite.” Odd, that he’d told Harry the exact opposite. But this man? This.. North Dakota? Well. He was different, somehow. *** He was tiny. Was there something in the water that made them come so small? Were all normal humans really just that size, and the Spartans made extra-large? North towered over him. He towered over most people here and most of the other Spartans, too. But still, it was kind of sad. No wonder humanity was at a loss. No, that was an ugly thought. He didn’t really believe it. North smiled a little, awkward, when the horse turned toward him for pets. He didn’t know how to do it, so he did what he did with Mouse and touched the horse’s face. Horses didn’t like face squishing, North. Stop that. He lowered his hands. The horse was rougher than he thought, his hair a strange texture in comparison to Mouse and the horde of kittens Alphonse had introduced him to these last few weeks. Not what he’d been expecting at all since those species were the only kinds he’d been introduced to. Strange. He really would ask Marco to show him more animals. “Whenever you’re ready, there’s no rush. We’ll go inside.” *** Whenever he was ready. He didn’t make any indication he’d heard his new keeper, but he would go about unbuckling the straps on the horse, removing the saddle and the chest piece, then the bits along his flank. They were small, light, and easily placed over the porch rail on the ‘safe’ house. The bridle was left on, though Levi undid two buckles and allowed the horse to drop the bit from his mouth. It was placed with the saddle, then he tied the animal up to the porch post and turned those dead blue eyes onto North. “Water.” His calm demand. It was for the horse, obviously. He didn’t ask for food, he didn’t expect this man would have any grain or hay just.. Sitting around for the animal’s consumption. He hoped, if they decided to do away with him, someone would be able to take care of Arturo. Perhaps that man, Harry Dresden, Wizard, would. He seemed to know something about horses. A hand pat the animals neck affectionately, the horse nuzzled him in return. The dark-haired man briefly set his forehead to the animals-- and the beast’s head took up the length of Levi’s upper body, from his head all the way down to his abdominals. The man stroked both hands over Arturo’s cheeks and just stood there, petting the animal and allowing it to enjoy the closeness. It’d been a very long day for them and he knew that his horse knew something was going on. He could sense it. Levi was attempting to soothe him. Once North got some sort of bucket of water for the animal tethered outside, Levi would watch him drink a bit, then allow himself to be ushered inside where he’d be held until those people decided what would happen with him. |