driftfleet_ooc | Fall Test Drive!

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Fall Test Drive!

THE FALL TEST DRIVE MEME
(Or Spring Test Drive for you Southern Hemisphere folks!)

Got someone you want to try out before you app? Well this is the post for it! Feel free to use anything that fits in the setting of Drift Fleet! Want to play bumper shuttles? Want to go wild in a med bay? Play around with the current plot? Have at it!

Threads from the Test-Drive may be made game "canon" but DO NOT count toward AC!

FOR NEW PLAYERS: You DO NOT NEED an invite to participate in the TEST DRIVE! If you decide to APP into the game, ONLY THEN will you need an invite from a current player!

Helpful Info for Ideas!:

October's Star System

Game Details

Test drives are posted SEASONALLY, so the next one will be in late December!

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[Lark glances to the woman, a brow raised, before she looked back to the would-be-thief.]

Oh, so you're not only clumsy, but stupid as well. Thank you for volunteering your arm.

[He started to struggle, but Lark slammed her elbow into his, forcing it in the wrong direction with a resounding crack. The thief howled and Lark kicked behind his knees to drop him to the ground.]

Be thankful I left you your pathetic life.

[The elf looked up to her company and cocked her head to the side.]

Perhaps he will lean now.

[Riona grimaces slightly at the crack, but otherwise says nothing until after Lark deals with her thief.]

I would not get my hopes up. The people on this station have no qualms about resorting to base means to make a living.

[She regards the elf for a moment.]

So you're from Thedas as well, I take it?

Too bad for them.

[It just meant she might be breaking a few more arms before they were done here.

Her expression brightened a touch at the mention of Thedas, but then fell back to caution. The familiar was comfortable in all this dank unfamiliar, but there was still reason to be cautious if this human was from Thedas. She'd just dealt with a thief, she didn't want to deal with some shem who thought she could walk all over her and get away with it.]

I am. I'd heard there were others around, one of them would be you, I take it?

[The wariness that sets in the elf's eyes hardly surprises her. She's Dalish, and Riona is a human. She spent enough time with the Dalish clan to get a better understanding of that complicated - at best - relationship.]

I am. My name's Riona. Have you just recently arrived?

[Well, civility was a good start, it put her at ease to a degree. Most of the time, if a human was going to preemptively ruin Lark's opinion of them, they would have done it by now.]

Well met, Riona. I am Lark. Yes, It's only been a few days for me. Just long enough to understand I don't understand anything here.

[She gestured around them.]

At least, this I can deal with.

[There was something else about this woman. Something familiar but she couldn't place it, like a sensation from a dream and it made her curious. There was hardly a way to ask about it that didn't sound crazy as she was positive they'd never met before. It wasn't that kind of familiar.]

Have you been among these people long?

Well then, you're already off to a good start. Don't expect it to make too much more sense while you're here.

[Because it absolutely will not ever do that.]

Pleasure to meet you, Lark. I've been in the fleet for over nine months now. A blink of an eye and a lifetime, all at once.

[Riona's getting a weird vibe from this woman as well. For the life of her she doesn't know why. Nothing about her has particularly set off warning bells.

Perhaps she's spent too much time on this station, being cautious and wary.

However, given Lark's from Thedas, Riona knows there are a few things they should discuss.]

Have you met any of the others from Thedas yet? There are a few of us here.

Nine? That does seem a while considering how strange this whole thing is.

[But then she asks about other Thedosians and sadness streaks across her expression.]

Y-Yes...I've met a rather pissy elf by the name of Fenris and [Don't stumble don't choke don't think. It's fine. Really.] Leliana. And now you, I suppose.

There are those who have been here longer than I by many more months.

[That sadness doesn't go unnoticed. Riona pauses, concern etched on her face as she listened. There's a familiarity in Lark's expression, in her words and the way she hesitates on Leliana's name.

Dread stirs in her.]

Fenris isn't so bad, once you get to know him.

[More softly:

You seem familiar with Leliana. Did you know her?

[She looks away, arms crossing over her chest in comforting habit.]

You're...you're Riona, the other Grey Warden. [No, more than that.]

The other Hero of Ferelden. Leliana told me about you. I guess I'm you, but not. You but different. Leliana was...a friend. [So, so much more. And from one heartbroken to another, Riona might just be able to pick up on that in the way Lark falters for a moment. It felt so much more raw now that she'd had time to think it over.

Now that she was talking to the Warden Leliana remembered. She couldn't even truly be jealous when this noble woman had chosen Alistair instead. But a thin thread of it still tightened around her heart.]

I know she doesn't remember me.

[The other Hero of Ferelden. The words don't slam into her like a fist to the face like she had expected they would. Rather, they slowly seep in, like a rock plunging into the depths of the sea. Of course she's heard about other Wardens. Alistair told her of his, a mage named Amell. And she's often wondered about what others would be like. Hilariously enough, she and Leliana had just discussed not too long ago about the possibility of one showing up. Atroma, apparently, ran with the idea.]

...oh. Well, I, ah...

[A million questions crash through her mind, jumbled together, each one demanding they be asked first. It makes her trip over her words, leaving her lost as to what to say. But those questions are silenced when Riona notices that look. A friend. Said in that tone that meant so much more, and implied pain that suggested otherwise.

The questions will wait.]

...she - you two were... [Maker's balls, she never would have wished this on anyone.] I'm so sorry, Lark. I really am.

Edited 2016-11-17 02:57 (UTC)

[She raises her hand to stave off the apology, but not cruelly.]

I appreciate the sentiment, but there's nothing to apologize for. It is what it is, I can no more change it through wishing than you can.

Besides, she and I have already talked about it. [They'd kind of had no choice when Lark just walked right up and kissed Leliana without warning.]

Instead- I would rather know more about you. I know who you know from home, but I don't know you and I feel like that should change if we are to exist together now.

[Had they existed together before? Both living in Thedas at the same time, but for some reason or another, something had changed to affect their futures? Or had she simply never been born in Riona's state of things? Perhaps her father had died before she could have been conceived and her mother followed, as she had, with no child to hang on for.]

[Riona nods, respecting Lark's stance on the matter. So far, the elf seemed to be handling it far better than she had when Alistair was here.

At Lark's request, Riona chews softly on her bottom lip. Maker, this is as odd as she thought it would be. But Lark is right; they should get to know each other. Compare notes, even though the prospect unnerves her. There's no telling what they'll uncover.]

Fair enough. Let's see... My name is Riona Cousland. [For now, she leaves off the "Theirin". Surely Lark knew Alistair, and she doesn't know if she should drop that bomb on her just yet.] I was born in Highever, the unexpected second child of Teyrn Bryce and Eleanor Cousland. I... ended up joining the Wardens after Arl Rendon Howe attacked my home. Duncan saved me, but I was forced to leave my parents behind.

[At least she still has Fergus. She reminds herself of this, and moves on from the subject.] What else would you like to know?

You're highborn. Leliana mentioned something to that effect. [And normally, Lark would be having nothing to do with someone like Riona. Even when Leliana had first mentioned it, Lark had felt a sudden rush of judgemental anger that this noblewoman had done what Lark herself had done. Another 'victory' for humans when they hardly needed the step up.

She still felt it a little, but there was some guilt as well, now that she'd met Riona face-to-face. Thinking that way about her was no different than a human thinking Lark herself was no better than a murdering barbarian.]

I'm sorry about your parents and your home. ['Cousland,' however, sounded familiar. Wasn't there a Cousland in Alistair's army? A former noble and a worthy fighter, as she heard it told. She let the thought rest there.] Duncan saved me as well.

[There was so much she wanted to ask. 'How did everything go?' sounded too broad. How could they pinpoint the differences and similarities if they couldn't even identify what might have changed? For all they knew, everything was different.

A small smile formed on Lark's lips as she decided on something more simple.]

Did you save the dog in the Ostagar camp? He was very important to me.

Yes, I am. [She eyes Lark uneasily.] Is... that a problem? [It wouldn't be the first time someone gave her a wide berth because of it. One of the nice things about being a Warden was that no one really knew she was highborn. For the first time in her life, she had been treated just like anyone else. Even here, in the fleet, it hadn't been much of a thing. She hopes it doesn't become a problem with Lark.]

Thank you. Howe eventually paid for it. Dearly. [She frowns in worry.] He saved you as well? What happened?

[The question surprises her, but then, she can understand wanting to start simple. She nods, remembering the hound in question.]

Yes. Jory or Daveth mentioned that the kennel master was looking for a particular flower. We found it out in the wilds and brought it back. [She has no idea what happened to the dog after the battle. Nothing good, she suspects.] Did... Ostagar end in an utter disaster for you?

It might have been, before we met. [She shrugs, what point was there to lying about it?]

Leliana said you were also the Hero of Ferelden, but I couldn't be sure if that meant the same to you as it did to me. I believe now that it does. You may be highborn, but not one who expects respect because of it. I know what you went through, at least most of it, and that is what gives you my respect.

Thank you. [And she means that sincerely. She knows Lark could easily doubt her, lump her in as just another highborn and walk away. And she wouldn't be able to entirely blame her.] I've... gotten my share of titles over the past year and a half, but the Hero of Ferelden is the one I am most proud of. It's the one I feel like I actually... earned, I suppose.

[Her lips quirk to the side, considering something a moment.]

You and I could be here all day comparing things. I'm sure there's plenty we'll find out about each other in time. But there's one, as uncomfortable as it is, that I'm curious about. Did... Morrigan... offer you a loophole to the whole "Warden has to die to kill the Archdemon" tidbit?

[She nodded in agreement to that. Titles earned were better than titles given out of perceived reverence. 'Champion of Redcliff' didn't mean nearly as much to her as Hero of Ferelden or even just being a hunter of her clan.

The question about Morrigan causes her to tilt her head ever-so slightly in curiosity.]

She...did...I, however, was not in any sort of relationship with Alistair; it was easy to frame it as a 'do or die' kind of thing. But for you....did you..?

[Alistair was like a brother to her, it hadn't bothered her so much to nudge him in that direction, but if the deal had involved Leliana...well, Lark wasn't entirely sure what she would feel.]

[As she figured. The Alistair that had been here said it happened in his version of events, and now Lark just confirmed it happening in hers. Riona's not sure why she needs to know about this... perhaps in hearing that others made that choice as well, it helps alleviate her guilt over it.]

Yes.

[She looks down at the ground, her guilt rearing its head. It had been the right choice. Morrigan's ritual saved her life. But it would always leave a bad taste in her mouth, to say the very least. She always prided herself in finding another way, but that night, she had little choice. Her dying just to spare Alistair that experience would have been detrimental, and only cause him more pain.]

I take it Leliana told you about him and I. [A pause, and then she looks up.] What did she tell you?

She did. [Lark remembered Alistair's conversation with her about the rose he'd found in Lothering, how he'd hung on to it all that time just to compare Lark's beauty to it later. In another's heart, that likely would have bloomed into an affection beyond that of family.

It had for Riona.

It was an interesting thing to consider. However, there was one thing she didn't have to consider too long or too hard.]

Not much else, your stories are your own. I have to say, though...I'm glad Alistair found happiness with someone. He deserves it, especially if that someone can help him rule.

[An assumption, more than anything. Even if Riona couldn't have been queen for some reason, surely she still helped him rule the kingdom.

Creators...if he ruled the kingdom at all, what if she chose Anora instead?]

[Not that it surprises her, but she's still grateful to Leliana for not gabbing about everything to do with them. Then again, she also supposes she would have stepped more carefully around Lark, given that she's from a different Thedas and her... involvement with Leliana.]

And I am glad Leliana found that with someone, even if it's in another world. She deserves it.

[Her eyes widen briefly.]

I... yes, I'll do everything in my power. Maker knows he has no experience with it. And I'm not about to let Eamon manipulate him. I didn't trust Anora, but I know she was right about that.

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