I Moderate (i_moderate) wrote in we_archive, @ 2006-03-05 18:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | inara serra, koriand'r of tamaran |
i_amregistered adrift, awash, abandoned (closed)
"Serenity this is shuttle one."
Silence from the com board, dark eyes slid over the face of the panel looking for flaws, as if she could spot them, in the workings. Everything looked to be in working order, so when one fails one simply has to try again.
"Serenity...Wash? This is Inara, is there an E.T.A. on arrival?"
Deft hands moved over the metal of the throttle ready to engage it and set the small craft in motion. She could see the bulk of the ship off to her side, her own shuttle neatly tucked into it's side like a chick under it's mothers wing. Still nothing but silence over the ship to ship coms...well not silence exactly, an odd static that might had voices lad in under it..
Ebon brow arched in query as she flipped her communication system off and back on again. "Wash? I'm getting some sort of interference Do you think.."
A concussive wave rocked the small shuttle, Inara was thrown to the side her right arm flipping the toggle that controlled the lock down between shuttle and larger ship. She was adrift, pulling herself back up with a hiss of mild pain and major annoyance, Inara saw blank space in front of her. Fingers daintily touched at her forehead and came back stained crimson.
"Jin cia."
Inara chastised herself for the careless actions that had probably damaged her shuttle or Serenity or both. Fingertips of one hand pressed to her temple as the other ran over the control panel. She both the shuttle back around to look at the damage to the larger ship...except it wasn't there. The companions eyes widened at the empty space that was all around her.
"Loa tian, bu."
Her voice dropped to a breathy whisper, panic stricken wide eyes searched for Serenity as she flipped open the comms again.
"Wash? Zoe? Serenity this is shuttle one. Mal? God..please answer."
Another of those waves washed over the shuttle, this one threw her out of her seat and left her unconscious form sprawled on the floor between the cockpit and the main body of the shuttle.
Softly sounds began to infiltrate her mind. The feeling of a chilled breeze swept over her. Inara stirred and pulled herself to sitting. The outer hatch had come open, panic welled again before she realized if she was in space she would have been dead long before now. Hands trailed over silks and satins that had fallen from their careful drapery along the edged of the shuttle. Her home was a shambles but she was alive. Carefully she edged out around the scattered bits of her life that were splayed on the floor, and made her way to the door.
A cold gray day faced her, wind cut through the royal blue sari and reached right into her bones with a wintry greeting. One hand yanked the hatch shut, it groaned but complied and shut solidly. Inara scrambled back to try her comms with no better luck then she'd had earlier. She was stranded. Alone..who knew where? She grabbed what she could and tossed it over to one side of the shuttle. She needed to find out where she was, no connection to the Coretex that she could get a hold of.
She planned as she dressed, pulling on a heavier gown of cream and forest green. As if by habit she matched jewelry and wrap to it. Some things were too engrained to ever be forgotten. Snuggly wrapped in that same green Inara heaved the hatch open and stepped down the three foot drop between her shuttle and the ground. Where ever she was there were huge buildings around her...she seemed to have landed with relative safety in some sort of open paved area...a docking area maybe?
A calming deep breath, cut to her head all but forgotten, Inara set out, eyes rolling upwards to check for vapor trails or..worse still, smoke lines of other craft overhead.
1. "Brillaint." 2. "Oh God, no"
From: [info]i_flyfar Date: 03/05/2006 19:58:13
Starfire floated over head, her red hair whipping around in the wind. She was wearing the purple uniform she'd often worn with the Titans, only this one had pants to suit the colder weather.
What had stopped her flight around the City was the crashed ship, which she now stared down at. A spaceship. She didn't recognize where it was made or what race it might be from, but the person who stepped out of it was definitely humanoid.
It was odd that no one had seen it crash. Many things about this place were odd.
Starfire looked at the woman.
"Are you hurt?" she asked. The ship certainly was.
From: [info]i_amregistered Date: 03/05/2006 20:30:39
Inara hadn't made it far at all before a voice called her attention upward. Flying woman? No visible jet packs or other obvious propulsion units...Inara could only assume one thing, she'd hurt her head more then she had thought. A polite nod of greeting even if it was a figment of her imagination.
"I might well be, unless you are really flying."
Inara wasn't willing to give up what hope she might have left that she was still indeed sane and healthy.
From: [info]i_flyfar Date: 03/05/2006 21:52:37
Starfire smiled. "Of course I am flying!"
That meant she wasn't hurt, which was good. Starfire came down and landed beside her to peer at her ship. She was unused to smaller ships but the woman looked like she was wealthy. The woman also appeared to be human. As far as Starfire knew Earth had yet to build ships capable of space travel. The cans the humans sent to the moon could hardly count.
"I am Starfire," she said. "Did you travel alone?"
From: [info]i_amregistered Date: 03/06/2006 05:23:10
"Starfire."
Odd name for an odd woman..who flew. Alright, Inara could cope with this. She slipped into her professional mode, a mask of placid pleasantness. Dip of head in greeting returned to the long haired female.
"I'm Inara Serra, it's a great pleasure to meet you..."
She paused before going on, turning to look around her almost as if it could influence her response.
"No, I was traveling with others. A ship larger then mine possibly also damaged and cashed."
She fought to keep her voice neutral, trying to let the degree of her concern at bay. WHo knew what sort of planet this was, Ma--The crew could be in danger or hurt and need her to help get them out of it.
"You haven't by chance seen other ships have you?"
From: [info]i_flyfar Date: 03/06/2006 13:01:45
"It is nice to meet you too Inara Serra," Starfire replied, pleasantly. She crossed her arms at the mention of other ships. Was it possible others had crashed? Crowley had said he hadn't seen any planes here. Perhaps that had something to do with it.
"I have seen none besides my own, but I have not been able to reach it since my arrival here," she said. "I did not see your ship went it crashed and I did not see any other ships fall. Were you looking for Earth as well?"
From: [info]i_amregistered Date: 03/06/2006 13:22:43
Inara laughed for a moment thinking it was some sort of joke, but the expression the girl wore told a different tale.
"Earth? Earth the Was?"
A dull throb set up in her temples, one that was usually accompanied by most conversations with Serenity's Captain. Something here was very very wrong, Inara swallowed and tried to form a coherent response to an inconceivable concept.
"Has Earth somehow managed to be recolonized?"
She looked around her and shook her head.
"I don't recognize this place, perhaps we've gotten father from the Core worlds. Are we near Persephone or Belerophone that you know of?"
From: [info]i_flyfar Date: 03/06/2006 14:23:10
"Earth still is. I have visited many times in the past," Starfire responded. She had yet to meet anyone who didn't know of Earth.
"I recognize some parts of this city, but it seems to be many combined in one. Gotham, Metropolis, New York, Los Angeles..." she paused. The woman looked shocked. At the mention of the other planets, Starfire frowned. "I do not know of that system, I am sorry."
"Maybe you would like to sit down?" she offered.
From: [info]i_amregistered Date: 03/06/2006 16:04:40
"Earth is dead. It was used up long before the twenty fifth century. How could you have possibly visited?"
The woman was no older then herself surely, possibly a few years younger, Inara was trying to follow her conversation but coming up at a loss. She shook her head with each of the cities mentioned.
"I've never heard of any of those places."
But she could agree with this Starfire on one thing, Inara immediately folded to her knees and sat heavily on her fine green wrap looking more lost and forlorn then she ever thought possible.
From: [info]i_flyfar Date: 03/06/2006 20:10:31
Starfire immediately felt badly for making Inara look so "forlorn". She sat down too, although she decided to float. Cold concrete wasn't fun in the outfits she wore.
"I apologize. I should not have told you things so fast," she said. Starfire looked back at the broken ship. "You just came out of a crash in a strange place and I only meant to help you."
She thought back to Crowley and how he'd offered her a place to stay within their first meeting. The generosity hadn't solved the most major problem, which was figuring out how to get to her friends, but it had given her some security in an otherwise strange place.
"Would you like to come back to my home with me?" she asked. "I have acquired a nice home since landing here. I can help you salvage your things and carry them for you."
From: [info]i_amregistered Date: 03/06/2006 21:18:02
"No, no. I just... I have the feeling that I am nowhere near anything I know. That sort of changes everything."
Her composure slipped enough for her to have a clear moment of fear, not of the other woman of course. Starfire had a very calm aura about her, she radiated a positive energy that was comforting.
"I appreciate your offer, but I feel like I should be looking for the others I was traveling with. We're sort of, there is a kind of bond. We're like family."
Inara had never realized how lost she could feel with out the constant bickering and crass jokes of the crew. She even halfway missed Jayne now.
From: [info]i_flyfar Date: 03/07/2006 10:48:04
"Then you should not search alone. This is not a safe place," Starfire said. She had yet to run into an unfavorable situation, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen. Starfire was a warrior. This woman did not appear to fight; at least, her clothes and mannerisms did not reflect someone who should wander alone.
"Until you have found your friends, I could accompany you," she said.
From: [info]i_amregistered Date: 03/07/2006 11:00:48
"Thank you."
Inara retreated into the poise of her public face. Ok, all she had to do is think like the crew, what would the motely assembly of people do in this place. Kaylee, and Jayne would head for the city the instant they were alone. Book might wander before heading there. Wash and Zoe...close as she could imagine they would head for the outskirts to see if this world had wanted notices on the crew. River and Simon, she winced at the thought of them, babes in the woods lost and alone.
Mal, she could hardly even try to get into his head, too many layers of bullheaded thick skulled...dear God what if he was hurt? What if any or all of them were? She might have survived alone and the thought chilled her.
"Heading into the city seems the best course of action. The people I am looking for would be hard for people to miss. I would like to check hospitals, and bars. They are normally in one place or the other. The less reputable the better, on both counts."
From: [info]i_flyfar Date: 03/07/2006 12:25:36
She nodded. She was grateful for something to do.
Starfire didn't know where the hospital was, but finding a bar shouldn't be too difficult in a city. Especially a less reputable one.
"Then we will look in those places. Do you want to take your things? Or is there a way to secure your shuttle?"
From: [info]i_amregistered Date: 03/07/2006 12:35:57
"The shuttle locks, it should be fine. Thank you for your concern though."
Even if it didn't Inara worried more about the others then any possessions. At least that gave her drive enough to stand, roughly about the time the first fat drops of chilled rain began to fall. Inara blinked up at the rain and smiled wryly.
"Lovely day."
Inara pulled the wrap more securely around her and moved to follow the flying woman toward town.
From: [info]i_flyfar Date: 03/07/2006 17:18:47
Starfire walked with Inara into town. Finding a rougher side of town hadn't been that hard. She could tell what kind of neighborhood they were in when the girls standing on the corner started wearing less clothes than she did (an impressive feat). Her green eyes looked about at the signs.
It wasn't until she spotted a bright one that read The Lux that she took pause.
"Inara," she said, pointing to it. "Does that look like a place with a bar to you?"
From: [info]i_amregistered Date: 03/07/2006 18:19:33
(Moved to a new thread to open it to others.)