Awkward Return | Llama Day 1 | Open

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin suddenly found himself inside a large trunk in the Luggage Carriage. It was a little deeper than a coffin but not as long, so his legs were cramped. "WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING IN HERE???" he yelled, loud enough to be heard outside the trunk.

It was a claustrophobic situation, and he glared up through the dimness at the lid of the trunk. For some reason, it didn't occur to him that the thing probably wasn't locked. Suddenly there was a BANG, Curufin's fist bashing into the underside of the lid, and then a CRASH, Curufin's boot following up with an even harder blow.

Both the fist and the foot left holes in the lid, which popped open and fell against the back of the trunk. Curufin sat up and stared around the luggage car. "What the fuck?" he swore. And then he saw whoever else was in the car and quickly replaced the scowl with a very puzzled smile.

"Hello?" he said. He scratched his head. "Have I been gone from the train?"

Comments

[10billionpercent]

"I'm not proficient yet, but I intend to be, at some point. I've been practising." He explained. "I've mastered a healing spell so far." He hummed. "Gen and I got a book."

He could agree that the safety was a concern. He shook his head. "I'm not sure, the SCA beeped, so it was dangerous. The most fascinating thing was this." He flicked his hand again to pull a pebble out of the arms band and put it in front of Curufin.

"We were told that concentrating on feelings or messages to send to someone could be sent down that strange river. Whether or not that's true is irrelevant really, but this..." He tapped the table with a grin. "Is apparently the same thing the train is made of." Of course Senku swiped some.

"And it does sound like that." He agreed. "Fortunately my spell was good enough to cure him of the headache within moments instead of waiting out the effect. It's encouraging. It means it doesn't like this." Senku explained. "And that means I might be onto something."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Books are good," said Curufin. "Sometimes better than an in-person teacher. It seems like a good idea for you to have both scientific healing skills and magical ones. That way, you have more resources."

Curufin looked closely at the pebble.

"Oho, so it was the river that was the conduit to carry those messages! Wait, what was the same thing as the train is made of? You mean this pebble?"

He chuckled. "Nice you were able to use your spell to counter the train's attempt to deter you and Gen from experimenting. I'd guess you're right, that the Voidtrecker doesn't like the experiments because you're going to discover something it doesn't want us to know." The chuckle was followed by a decidedly wicked laugh. Curufin got along with the train all right, but he was no fan of rules and regulations.

[10billionpercent]

"That's what I was thinking. Gen created a spell that was meant to temporarily blind or stun someone so we could escape." They still weren't violent people, magic wasn't going to fix that. "I've managed over two months to get my spell to a point where I can heal critical injuries. I just have to build my magical power, but it will work well I think in a pinch." He smiled. "It's a fascinating system really and full of possibilities."

He grinned. "Correct and I gathered several pebbles. So the story goes. I need to run some tests on these, without a doubt. I wonder if, and suspect, they're going to blow the Mohs scale out of the water."

"Well I remembered after a moment that I had magic and I altered my spell to work on a migraine and that worked which means I can maybe target my spell better. It's a fascinating prospect." He gushed a little bit. So Senku was given a magical system he could use and he was already looking to dismantle and revamp it to his whims.

"And I suspect that's the case and I don't take well to 'don't wreck my plans' especially when said plans are inconvenient to me."

[so_dark_a_road]

"Magic is like that, a system that is fascinating and rich with possibilities," Curufin agreed. "I wish you the best of luck with that."

He grinned back at Senku. "That is most interesting, that you now have samples of the same material as the train is made of. I've been wondering about that for a long time. What could the thing be made of, that it's so resistant to being blown up or otherwise damaged by the missions, the Void, or us passengers. When you have some results from those tests, I'd love to hear about that."

Why not dismantle or revamp it to Senku's whims? What else is magic for? "Good luck for Gen, that you had that ability!"

He nodded. "And we don't even know what the train's long-term plans are, or how our knowing certain things might wreck those plans." He shook his head, still smiling. "I really want to know everything the train isn't telling us."

[10billionpercent]

Senku nodded his acknowledgement at Curufin's wish of luck and he grinned slowly. "Isn't it?" He couldn't help it. "It's exciting, if true, because now I intend on finding a way to destroy these rocks if I can. I'd like to know how hard they are, how they react to various conditions. See if there's anything at all that can give us a clue as to how this thing works. Even the idea of it passing on wishes, there must be some magic in this right?" He smirked. "I collected as many as I could."

He probably had about 30 of them.

"I enjoy mysteries, but not if there's never a solution, but I'm a patient man. Sooner or later I intend on figuring this out." Senku hummed. "I too want to know what it's not telling us. It could be something I might even agree with but without the information I can't determine anything."

He sat back somewhat, considering. "For the most part, that's what you missed within the parametres of my experiments at any rate. The last mission was rough all around, a lot of people were injured and it was later classed as a catastrophe. The train said it would warn us of those ahead of time."

Want to wrap this thread and catch up later?

[so_dark_a_road]

"Oh, good! So you'll have many samples of rock to experiment on. And maybe attempting to destroy some of them will give you important information about the material and its properties."

Curufin was excited about this.

"I enjoy mysteries too. But I'm guessing that there will be an answer or solution eventually. And maybe the train has a positive motivation for not telling us everything, but I don't feel I need to be protected against knowledge, or that any of us do."

He always wanted to know things.

"I'm sorry I missed the last mission, even if it was a catastrophe. I really hope the train does warn us ahead of time if there are any more of those."

Yep! They'll hang out again soon.

[10billionpercent]

"Should be fascinating, depends on where we go though, I'm not sure I want to conduct destructive experiments on board. Safety reasons." Senku wasn't totally unaware of those.

"I agree with you. None of us need to be protected. There's nothing to say we wouldn't agree to help. The train doesn't seem to trust us." Senku wondered if he said something like that, the train would listen.

"Don't worry about it, it turned out okay in the end. I'm fairly certain no one died." Not that he'd heard, at any rate.