[ the arrival of the thessyx shifts the way some of the adamant's survivors look at them, not that alina notices. she is too busy gluing herself to the side of whatever thessyx will have her to pay mind to those who've kindly hosted them for weeks, sharing supplies. she gives up on the theater entirely except to tour one of the thessyx around the place. ]
Unai, come over here and show us what you've made. [ but unai is ignoring her, just as she'd ignored him. ] I'm sorry. He's not usually like this. [ but instead of persisting with unai, she turns to the amphibious creature, hands folded behind her back and asks, ] Are your people's children stubborn like this? You must have left them back in your settlement, right? Is it more of a city or a town?
[ when unai realizes that he will not get her attention by ignoring her, he arrives then with the wooden flower he'd been painting for the set background and cracks it into her shins. alina curses. eight-year-olds.
she chases him back behind the stage's curtain, and when she has stolen the flower back from him, unai lets out a loud protest, 'i heard you asking about where they're from. you're going to leave the leviathan and go with them, aren't you?'
and he's absolutely right about what she'd been hoping, admittedly, but hearing him say it with such betrayal surprises her. alina crouches down and hands the flower back, smoothing his hair against his head despite his stubborn play at indifference. ]
We were never supposed to be here in the first place. [ she won't lie to him and say otherwise. but this isn't the comfort that he'd wanted, so he takes his flower and stomps off, leaving alina sighing and alone. she glances outside to see that the thessyx has moved on — unsurprising, given that everyone is trying to make time with them — and resigns herself to picking up scraps backstage. ]
02. in the memorium hole (OPEN)
[ alina is at the memorial wall when the hole opens up. she's trying to search the names on the wall for some semblance of timeline, of cause of death, as if it were a puzzle or a map that might tell her more about the planet and its dangers, but it's just a list of names. if disappointment were the worst of her problems, she'd have been lucky.
instead, the ground under her right foot gets soft. she has exactly enough time to look down before the shifting soil and splitting steel flooring plates has swallowed her leg. she cries out, the pain of getting caught between steel immense and crushing, but she's not pinned like that long. the steel around it gives too, and she falls deeper, knocking her head on the way down to pin her arm under herself.
everything hurts. she groans, dazed as she picks herself up. she reaches out to poke at her leg, which has left bloody stains in her torn pants, but she can't feel any bones sticking out anywhere. the same is true for her arm, although after a few ginger attempts, she discovers that she can't unbend it without wanting to scream.
she points her grimace upwards, towards the wall, and calls, ] Hello?
03. wildcard (OPEN)
[ feel free to reach out to me at protects or on the discord server to plot something else. alina will be trying to figure out about where the thessyx live and (subtly) if she can go back there with them.
once the sinkholes start opening up, she will be injured (and obviously unable to go anywhere at all) but insistent that the creatures responsible not be harmed.
she's available for all things you might need a human night-light for. ]
alina starkov (shadow and bone) | ota
Unai, come over here and show us what you've made. [ but unai is ignoring her, just as she'd ignored him. ] I'm sorry. He's not usually like this. [ but instead of persisting with unai, she turns to the amphibious creature, hands folded behind her back and asks, ] Are your people's children stubborn like this? You must have left them back in your settlement, right? Is it more of a city or a town?
[ when unai realizes that he will not get her attention by ignoring her, he arrives then with the wooden flower he'd been painting for the set background and cracks it into her shins. alina curses. eight-year-olds.
she chases him back behind the stage's curtain, and when she has stolen the flower back from him, unai lets out a loud protest, 'i heard you asking about where they're from. you're going to leave the leviathan and go with them, aren't you?'
and he's absolutely right about what she'd been hoping, admittedly, but hearing him say it with such betrayal surprises her. alina crouches down and hands the flower back, smoothing his hair against his head despite his stubborn play at indifference. ]
We were never supposed to be here in the first place. [ she won't lie to him and say otherwise. but this isn't the comfort that he'd wanted, so he takes his flower and stomps off, leaving alina sighing and alone. she glances outside to see that the thessyx has moved on — unsurprising, given that everyone is trying to make time with them — and resigns herself to picking up scraps backstage. ]
instead, the ground under her right foot gets soft. she has exactly enough time to look down before the shifting soil and splitting steel flooring plates has swallowed her leg. she cries out, the pain of getting caught between steel immense and crushing, but she's not pinned like that long. the steel around it gives too, and she falls deeper, knocking her head on the way down to pin her arm under herself.
everything hurts. she groans, dazed as she picks herself up. she reaches out to poke at her leg, which has left bloody stains in her torn pants, but she can't feel any bones sticking out anywhere. the same is true for her arm, although after a few ginger attempts, she discovers that she can't unbend it without wanting to scream.
she points her grimace upwards, towards the wall, and calls, ] Hello?
once the sinkholes start opening up, she will be injured (and obviously unable to go anywhere at all) but insistent that the creatures responsible not be harmed.
she's available for all things you might need a human night-light for. ]