January Catch-All

[tempredmental]

Who: Keith, OPEN
What: January Events and Prompts, Initial Exploring and Learning About Trench
When: During January.
Where: In and around town.

Content Warnings: transformations, shedding skin, mention of parental death/abandonment, bullying, war, violence, being pursued, captivity, being stranded, clones, injuries, amputation, hallucinations, experimentation, genocide... possibly others. Will mention in specific threads and try to update this as things come up.

• Winter Mournings
• Shedding Ceremony - All are coldblood blessing except the paleblood prompt
• Exploring Trench - Can be combined with any option in the Shedding Prompt, attending Rocky Horror performance here
• Snake Den
• Unsnakely

I'll be adding more as I think of them. Can also create closed top levels for other ideas. Hit me up on Plurk or Discord. sailorgundam06, SailorGundam06#2608.

Comments

[onerthes]

Hmmm, a few of your fellows did have some very long-standing issues with the Galra, but I'm sure you know that all too well yourself.

[She didn't hazard to guess who it might have been. Of course, she barely knew Adam in reality. They'd spoken perhaps three times in the last few years, so she really didn't know much about him.]

The 'you' that I know is a half-blood, obviously. But in appearance? He takes after his father more than his mother. There were times that his Galran heritage came out. So, it's quite possible that you are not the same Keith I once met.

[Certainly he was much more ... together than Keith had been. Not that Keith wasn't plenty professional and skilled in a fight, but there was a sort of cold, military precision to the Blades that didn't ever really get ingrained beneath his hot-headed nature.

And then again, she'd encountered people with full memory issues lately, so the shedding might be involved. She couldn't say, and it didn't worry her.]

If this is truly a new meeting? It's a pleasure. I'm glad you were able to make peace with Adam, though. We've met a couple times.

[tempredmental]

[Keith shook his head a little.]

There might be some small resemblance to my father, but I've always had the appearance of being full Galra. It's why my mother took me back to space with her when she had to leave Earth.

[Keith sighed slightly.]

I don't know if it was necessarily 'peace'. He knows a more human version of myself as well, and that seems to be what stopped him from trying to kill me. With something called a 'carrot', no less, but I have no idea why. It's a root vegetable and not a very effective weapon when used against someone wearing armor. [Shrug.] But, even if it is because he thinks he knows me and not because he's come to terms with the fact that the Blades are not part of Sendak's loyalists, I am glad that he no longer wants to stab out my eyes or anything else potentially fatal.

[He looked over at her.]

Vira-Lorr, you said? [He nodded.] Nice to meet you, as well.

1/2

[onerthes]

Adam... tried... to kill you... with a carrot?!?

[She was having trouble with that image. Her lips quivered and she was fighting an emotional reaction.]

2/2

[onerthes]

[Nope, failure. She was laughing. Her hand slapped her knee and she couldn't help it. That was just too god-damned funny. She laughed more and more brightly as she shook her head with mirth and wiped a tear away from the eye.]

Oh gods, I'm sorry. I know it was a serious situation, but a carrot? Seriously? Gives a whole new meaning to Carrot and Stick methods, yes?

If you're anything like your mother I certainly wouldn't worry much about you myself. She certainly left a better opinion of the Galran people, though I've heard a few stories from ... well, the other you and Lance.

We have many who have complex histories here. It will be fine. Give it some time. Things have a way of sorting themselves out in Trench. They basically have to, one way or another. Law of survival.

[tempredmental]

Carrot... and stick? [He wasn't familiar with human turns of phrase.

But he was certainly familiar with the atrocities of the Galra Empire when it was under Zarkon, and, later, the factions of those who had supported his ideals, like Sendak. He nodded slightly.]

I understand why he felt the need to attack me. I do not blame him for how he feels. The Empire has done terrible things, and did them for over ten thousand years. Those who willingly and happily agreed with those ways deserve what they get.

It was why I didn't attack him in return. I merely tried to disarm him. [Of a carrot. In Keith's defense, he didn't know it was a root vegetable. It was being held like a weapon, and he'd never seen one before.]

May I ask you something? How many here know me by my Earthling name?

[onerthes]

Ah, it's a phrase I heard at some point coming here. The carrot is incentive, and the stick is punishment. so attacking you with the carrot is almost the exact opposite.

[She shrugged and smirked. It made only a little sense to her. She thought it had to do with rabbits somehow.]

mmm, that was good of you. [A pause.] Fewer than you might imagine in this moment. The Keith before did not come to Trench. When the nightmare ended, they were already woken up months prior. They kept to a very tight-knit circle of friends in the last year. Anyone of the pilots of voltron and Adam, obviously, would. There are perhaps a handful more that might, but I think the number is a bit smaller than it once was.

Keith was one of the more private of the pilots as a rule. He didn't make friends easily. [There was a bit of awkwardness there again. That was definitely true. He'd gotten very close with an extremely limited sort of people.] I suppose you could say we knew each other because of a few shared experiences from a long time ago. The longer you stay, the more you remember the ones who traveled with you.

[tempredmental]

Interesting phrase. Also, interesting use of it on your part.

[Keith did look somewhat amused by that.]

I see. [That was actually a bit of a relief. He was so used to using his Galra name that having people call him 'Keith' was just so strange to him. His mother sometimes used it when they were alone, but that wasn't often anymore. There hadn't been time for them to be together, lately.]

I use the name Yorak around most people. I look close enough to being full Galra that it's better to use a Galra name. There are still many even among the Blade of Marmora who dislike those of us who are not pureblood Galra.

[onerthes]

I see, well Yorak. I certainly don't mind using the name that you prefer. I have to admit that the difference between your current life and your other existence? It's quite a bit more significant than we often encounter, and yet you still seem to have quite a bit of the same in you.

[She shrugged and relaxed against the bar on which she was leaning.]

Myself, I've never been one to care what race someone is. Not in my nature. My world has many different races after all.

[tempredmental]

Mm? [Keith actually did look curious with that comment.] In what ways am I the same?

[But he did sigh a little.] There's been a lot of discourse among Galra because of that. And there are those who continue to see all Galra as part of the Empire. I am not angry at Adam for what he did because of that. [It still hurt, though... and not just because Adam kicked him...]

[onerthes]

For lack of a better word, you both have the same air about you. A bit of rigidity, a bit of formality, some confidence and professionalism. He usually had that air mostly, though you're less... angry than he used to be. That's the biggest difference. He had something in his air that spoke to a bitterness I don't feel.

[Because despite different upbringing, he did have certain traits that were wholly his.]

It's ... difficult. We paint with broad brushes, at times out of a perceived necessity. Around here, that can be very dangerous.

[tempredmental]

[Keith nodded at that, thoughtful. He wondered what about his life on Earth as a human would have made him bitter. But he wasn't sure how much Vira-Lorr knew. Besides, it was more just curiosity than anything else. It wasn't like it would serve any real purpose for him to know if this other version of himself wasn't even in Trench.]

That is true. I've seen that often enough. I suppose I'm lucky in some ways. I don't look like a half-breed. There are others who look less Galra than I do, and they have it worse. At least I can still find a place among my own people as long as they don't pry too deeply. For others, they walk a difficult path between two worlds, and are often rejected by both.

[onerthes]

And in the other Keith's case, he looked so much like a human that you would never have known without a reason to suspect and search. As you said, the more that one is clearly of mixed heritage, the more likely certain prejudices may come up.

[She sighed, rubbing at her forehead and then smiling over at him reassuringly.]

But you will find that sort of thing... it really isn't as common here. We all have to survive. Some carry their old battles, but most don't care your species. I'm not human after all, and I've never had problems.

...

Unless you count numerous questions of "is that a real third eye?"

[tempredmental]

[Keith nodded.]

That is... good to know.

[Though, now that she had mentioned the eye, he did look more closely.]

Um... Is it?

[onerthes]

Walked right into that one, didn't I?

[She giggled and pointed to it, as it blinked at him and she wore a teasing little smile on her face before shrugging. She got it so often that it was almost a game to her at times.]

Quite real. The tattoos are on my cheeks actually. It can see the future, through vague visions.

[tempredmental]

[Keith watched it blink, and then... huh. Okay. He accepted it. She had three eyes. Heck, he'd seen people with four arms, so he wasn't all that surprised.

As for the powers, though...]

Is that something you gained here from your bloodtype or was it always able to do that?

[onerthes]

My blood grants... other powers.

[There was a bit of a twist to her facial features when she said that. She had had some issues with the topic recently, what with the change of her blood type. But she wasn't putting that on him right then.]

The third eye's ability to see the future is a gift of my people. All Onelthes can, to one extent or another. Mine is strong, but the vagueries of this world always seem to keep it weakened, faded. I could probably not see beyond a lunar cycle, and even then it would not be entirely definite. More ... glimpses of the future than details.

[tempredmental]

[Keith had heard rumors of people with those abilities, but he'd never actually met one that could truly see into the future. Mostly, rumors about Haggar's druids and maybe some Alteans during ancient times, but nothing concrete. Quintessence could be a strange thing.]

Has it at least been helpful to you here?

[onerthes]

Well, one thing I learned long before I came here was never to rely on it. It's a glimpse of the future. If things change between then and now, the truth could be different in the making.

But at times, it gives me a little glimpse of possibilities. I haven't yet warned anyone publicly of them, mostly because they're so damned hard to interpret. But, I would say that it helped me a little bit last month. Gave me a sense that the salts might have some last value before they were used up.

[tempredmental]

[Keith nodded.]

Interesting. It sounds like it would be a good skill to have.

[onerthes]

It both is, and is not. It's very dangerous to rely on it, and it's easy to allow it to guide your steps too far. Personally, I prefer not to use it much, but a little caution and it has its moments.

I suppose it would be very 'useful' if I could see, say, the next minute with razor crystal clarity. Good in a fight, mmm?

[tempredmental]

That would be, yes.

[Keith nodded.]

Have you been to this club often? Is it always... like this? [Snake Den stuff...?]

[onerthes]

Only rarely. This party's special to the month. I believe Madame Generosity is up to something. Probably to put us more at ease, though it's not working for everyone...

Let's just say, this is the kind of place I'd rather come with someone, and it's not always their style.

[tempredmental]

This is not usually the sort of establishment I would come to, either. But it felt... compelling... to be here. [He'd touched a flyer, not realizing what that might do.]

[onerthes]

Oh, that's probably because there was an actual compulsion. Anytime you feel that way? It's almost certain someone is affecting your mind. [She took a sip of her drink and shrugged.] After a while, you sort of get used to that.

At least it wasn't awful this time, mmm?

[tempredmental]

That is... disturbing. [NOPE... Keith didn't like that oooooone bit. In fact, several Galra vulgarities crossed his mind in response, but he managed to keep them to himself for now.]

Indeed, it could have been much worse than having the need to come to a bar. How awful can these compulsions get?