Orchestra Day 14

[yondu]

[Video]

[Yondu's opting for a video post though he did consider audio. But he really wants to put out there how important this is to him. He needs help and he can finally damn well practice what he preaches and ask for it.]

[Okay, deep, uneasy exhale before explaining.]

I uh.... before I showed up here, the same day even, there was a mutiny aboard my ship. Had a buncha folks decide they didn't like I was takin' cheaper jobs to keep from doin' stuff I weren't comfortable with. I was usually able to make excuses- we still made plenty but a few outspoken bastards were real upset I didn't always pick the options with more in our pockets, and then my first mate got jealous. Called me out in front of everyone. 'Caused a shitstorm. [He's a little distant in describing that.]

He didn't know how bad it'd get. The traitors... they uh... Hell... Alright if you're a kid or you don't gotta deal with a lotta death, just turn this off. Get the hell outa here. It ain't for you. [He takes a moment for them to do that if they care to. Alright? Good. Carrying on.] I was detained proper at the time. Couldn't use my arrow, couldn't fight, too hurt to get loose. They shoved 'em one by one out an airlock an' I couldn't save 'em. We're talkin' a hundred plus men dead, one by one. It was not just a few. Just left to float like garbage thrown out a window and they laughed about it and mocked 'em as they watched 'em go.

[There's a moment of shaky-breathed anger, but, you know, what's done is done. Assholes what done it are dead now, they cain't do it to anyone else or use his ship to go make the universe an even worse place or harass his family. He's good.] Dyin' in space is like freezin' and drownin' at the same time. Every moment of it hurts 'cause you feel your outside freezin' in, an' at some point you know even if you was saved the life left in ya wouldn't be worth it. [He can say that from experience. There's a little bit where you know how bad the damage is.] Almost three decades some of those men had been with me. Good and bad. I didn't make a lotta friends but they did mean somethin' to me. And someone gave me the idea maybe I could put 'em to rest if I could do somethin' memorialwise. I don't want the last thoughts directed at 'em to be their own crewmates bein' happy about 'em dyin'.

Ravagers... when we die, usually we're remembered. If our bodies cain't be picked up, we're toasted by our crew. If our bodies are there, we're put in the ship's engine. Turned to stardust, get to travel forever. And the one that's usually for captains is a ship flying its Colors- you do this big light show. Well, no crew here besides myself to drink to 'em, and their bodies ain't anywhere to be found [not to mention a hundred-some people is a lot] so I figured I'd ask anyone that can do lights an' illusions if they'd help me out to fly them the Colors whenever we're at a stop where our lives don't depend on it and there's a sky overhead. They weren't captains but they was loyal enough. I don't know if I could pay ya, but I been sittin' on knowin' what happened to 'em and I ain't been able to think of a way to really make it right.

Comments

Voice

[renegadeprince]

Just tell me when and I'll be there. [Vegeta may not be able to help out too much with the light show... ok he could, but it would be destructive, but he would be there for Yondu. Simple as that.]

[yondu]

Thank ya. [He does appreciate it, and knows no one has any obligation to be there for him. It's nice to be back in a state where people offer. It's nothing like he ever thought he'd have again.]

I just gotta have a world where you can see stars at night. The stars thing is important.

[renegadeprince]

[Ah, that may prove an issue.] Preferably without a full moon, or our discussions on another topic may happen sooner than planned. [As much as Vegeta wants a suitable location to test out his Great Ape form, he would not want to do so during such an event for Yondu, or others on the train. It would certainly ruin the mood.]

Action

[worthallthis]

Soldat hates using this thing, and honestly they're not going to be of any use in Yondu's request. But after hearing the message in full, they do prowl through the train in search of him, and come settle beside him wherever he's sitting.

Silent, at first, just coming to sit. And offer a bag of trail mix from one of their many pockets.

[yondu]

He's in the library at the moment, and he's just distractedly looking at a book that he's not actually reading, not sure of what he's going to do. But then Soldat sits and offers food, and he takes it.

"Tobirama suggested the whole memorial thing. I reckon it's better than anything else I could do for 'em." His head has been a mess for so long now. He doesn't take a bite of the trail mix yet, just kind of holds it in one hand and thinks about it.

He's alright, though. He finally feels like he can do something rather than promise ghosts that he'll try not to take too long to join them.

[worthallthis]

"It's a good idea." Certainly nothing that would have occurred to them. Their experiences with memorials are either hazy memories of tombstones, or little lantern boats on a black lake, or maybe the tree they'd painted after the floods in Beacon. "And it's a nice custom," they add. "Have you had many takers yet?"

[Video]

[blue_ice]

...I'm sorry. That's one of the worst ways to go out, and memories like that don't leave.

[ Seto bows his head in silence for a few moments. ]

I can program light any number of ways. I can program a demo, and I'll let you set the parameters.

[yondu]

I got quite a lot of time in my head where they was just normal fun-lovin' guys, hard fighters. The badn's don't leave but I'm hopin' this puts 'em to the side so I can remember what else they did better.

The Colors are usually computer generated so I appreciate it. I'm just takin' it however I can get it for 'em.

[He can't quite come up with the analogy of a flag flown at half-mast, but that's how it is.]

[blue_ice]

All right. I'll light it up, you don't have to worry about that. I can show you if you stop by the lab in about...an hour.

[nell_of_soulwood]

I can't do anything with lights and such, but I can pray for 'em all. And I'd be honored to stand with you to remember yours when the time comes.

[yondu]

I bet some of those men'd be shocked that someone would stop and pray for 'em. We Ravagers usually don't come from backgrounds where we'd be missed much. But it'd be kind of ya.

[And of course her presence would be appreciated. She's a good egg.]

[Video]

[katzenpfote]

... I can't claim to understand space, or a lot of the significance you're mentioning. I do know a bit about ships, but not that kind. I know about losing people, though.

I can provide lights and illusions, if you're still in need.

[Video]

[yondu]

S'alright, you shoulda seen my face when I saw magic folks doin' a bunch of water moves all at once in a place with no water nearby. Didn't quite get that either.

I'd appreciate it. Colors are supposed to be real showy. It's... [He can't think of a good comparison, though it's a lot like flying a flag at half staff.] ...Like how some places set off fireworks to remember big battles? Along them lines.

[wisdominshadows]

I'm sorry. It's a hard thing to grieve with no body, even without further complications.

Light magic is a bit of a talent of mine. If you need more volunteers, I would be glad to be of service.

[yondu]

I'd be thankful for anything an' ever'thing. Big Ravager funerals were bright affairs.

[So he definitely doesn't mind accepting help from several people.]

[thawed_pride]

You have already seen my aptitude with illusions. I am more than willing to assist in whatever way I can, particularly after...

[Well. He got at least a glimpse of what happened, and that glimpse was more than enough.]

[yondu]

[Right, Vexen had seen those floating, frozen, pained corpses, generated by illusions and what he assumed was his own mind.]

Thank ya. A death like that is... it's bad enough. Havin' your corpse treated like a joke adds the stink to the shit.

[Vexen had his firey death and Yondu and his crew had their icy ones. He knows he'd get it.]

Video

[gathersnomoss]

I have some light magic. Fire and electricity as well, though those can be dangerous in large enough quantities to make a show.

I've been the last survivor. It's...

[and words are failing here]

Not something I'd wish on other people. Better than dying, but it doesn't feel like it at the time.

[yondu]

Light magic'd do it.

Yeah I uh.... [He's made so many promises to them that when he was done here, he'd join them. It's hard to pull himself into an idea where persisting wouldn't be some sort of disrespect.]

[When you have never been introduced to the concept of 'survivor's guilt', happening right here...]

It's led to a lotta bad dreams. Asked Raven to help me out with 'em but sometimes Void shit makes 'em happen anyway. It's a pain in the ass. What happened with yours? [If he doesn't mind sharing 'cause, well, it's on the ICP. It did take a lot for Yondu to say what he said about his crew.]

Action

[stonefvced]

( Yondu wasn't hard to find, and so sometime after his announcement the Senju places down some food and (to his surprise, he'd not have believed the train to have it) traditional tea making equipment all on a tray. )

How are you feeling? ( Eyes flick up to the man as he seats himself and unloads the materials necessary to prep the tea. )

[yondu]

[He's a little surprised to see him bring food. More surprised for the tea tray and the nice presentation of the food. A snack he's not surprised by, but this is more effort than he would have expected. He's not about to turn it down, though.]

I dunno. [He says honestly.] Still hurts but it's easier'n how it's been. [He puts aside the book he's long since lost concentration on to take the food. He's at least learned to use chopsticks since coming to the train so he's not a complete heathen.]

Thank ya. It was a good idea, an' loyalty like that deserves rewardin'. They didn't change their stand to save their skins. They went down yellin'.

Audio

[goingthroughaphase]

[ The warning is probably for her too, but she doesn't stop listening, even when it gets to the worst part. ]

...I'm so sorry. That's so awful.

I can't really do anything with lights, but if there's something else I can do to help...

[yondu]

[He knows a lot of the kids here have seen some pretty bad shit, but he also doesn't want to overdo the exposure. He could have just went to a few people he knows that do illusions? But he didn't want to recount the story over and over again. Plus this way? Everyone knows what happened to those men was wrong.]

I think they woulda been happy for just someone giving a shit that they was treated unfairly. Nell offered to cook somethin', though, if you'd wanna help out with that.

[Maybe if people came it meant he could feed them.]

[action]

[wishalone]

[Kyoko decides against replying to the public post. Instead, she waits until evening to seek Yondu out, and when she finds him, she offers him the open end of her bag of chips.]

I know you got a lotta offers already. But I'll be there when you do the colors thing.

[yondu]

[He's just chilling in the library when she finds him. He accepts one, his sharp teeth making it sound extra crunchy when he chomps it down. Though in general, he's acting a little distant.]

Loyalty goes a long way. They deserve whatever they can get.

[Even if he has a lot of offers, they could stand a big show.]