VIDEO-ish (cw: torture and murder)

[bloomingdespite]

[Before the ICP flickers on, every passenger hears a resounding, deep voice thunder through every car in the train, carrying with it a deathly—if odd—proclamation:]

PENALTY GAME: HELL REVERSE!

[Moments later, every ICP turns on to reveal a figure shrouded in shadows, holding the unconscious body of Xue Yang with one hand as the Eye of Wdjat blazes on both of their foreheads. It's clear they're in the gaming car, but if anybody tries to enter from either end, they'll find the doors are impossibly locked.]

Passengers of the Voidtrecker Express, I hold in my hands an unrepentant murderer who slaughtered one of your very own: the victim being A-Qing, and the criminal being Xue Yang. While she has returned, this crime cannot go unpunished, and I have taken it upon myself to try and burn out the stain on his soul—or, at the very least, provide adequate agony for all of his victims, both on the train and off.

If you need to see proof of my justice...

Avert your eyes if you do not wish to see memories of the brutal death of a young woman in her prime.

[The screen flickers once again, this time showing A-Qing's murder, although it doesn't have any audio. ((OOC: Additional CW for graphic depictions of murder.))

When it returns to the interior of the Games Car, the shadowy figure is gone, but their voice and Xue Yang remain.]

I leave it to the council to dispense their own punishment, as meager as it may be.

Remember, passengers:

I am watching.

[The ICP clicks off, and the train is deadly quiet.]

Comments

[spikelet]

[ Her irritation makes good fuel for fake fear, as she bites her lip in what is fast becoming a new habit. Who'd asked that weird spirit to show all that? She wants to react to his bow, but she's also too wary by this point to let anyone know she can see. Instead, she keeps her eyes flickering vaguely here and there until he says please. ]

Talk about what? ... I don't know anything about what that person did just now.

[so_dark_a_road]

Are you afraid of becoming a target again if the whole train knows you were a target once?

[spikelet]

[ Urgh. Not knowing who he is or what he wants makes it very difficult to think of a convincing lie. ]

What do you mean? He came after me because of... some things that happened on our homeworld. Why would anyone else target me?

[so_dark_a_road]

[ Curufin wishes he had met her at the platform when she first arrived. That way, she'd know him, and know that he had no ill intentions. ]

Can you tell me what things happened on your home world?

I actually didn't mean that someone else might target you for death. I wondered if your fear is a social fear. Once a community knows that one of its members has been a victim, there is the possibility that they may abandon that person, leaving them ill-defended against another attack by the original attacker. Not all communities function that way, but I have known some that did.

[spikelet]

[ Externally, she squints, apparently confused.

Internally, she's doubtful. From her experience, once someone's been a victim of something like that, they're either dead or they might as well be. She's never heard of an incident where it's turned out okay... but she's never heard of someone resurrecting, either. In a purely practical sense, she has no complaints. She can't stay dead, there's food whether people want her to eat or not, she's warm and has somewhere to sleep. If people ostracise her... well, she can work around it. It's not up to them if she's sent back into death.

She elects to ignore that part with nothing more than a nod. ]

What for? To decide if he deserved it?

[so_dark_a_road]

[ He does wonder about her eyesight, since she seems to be able to find her way around the carriages. But he's more worried about her situation, and he really does want to help. ]

I'd like to know what happened because I can't decide how to react without knowing the whole story. I don't mean I'm trying to decide if Xue Yang deserved to fall into the hands of that shadowy figure. That was the consequence of committing a murder. But I don't think in terms of retribution, only in terms of problem-solving. I want to protect you and anyone else who might fall victim to a crime. For that, I need to know facts. And not just facts, but feelings. There's a human story behind every human event, however terrible.

And by the way, my name is Curufin Fëanorion. I apologize, I should have started this conversation by introducing myself.

[spikelet]

[ He already knows hers, so she doesn't bother reciprocating, just bows quickly.

Luckily, she's been thinking of how to tell this story for days, so she's able to tell it fluently and with only enough hesitation as to appear fearful and reluctant. Human story, is what he wants. ]

Daozhang Xiao saved him when he showed up bloodied and injured, and then he stuck around, bothering Daozhang, wanting his attention, going on hunts with him. He fooled him, pretending to be a good guy, not revealing that they were actually enemies, because Daozhang was blind, and couldn't recognise him.

[ She hesitates again, mind churning with options. ]

A couple of years after he started living with us, I heard him fighting someone, another man, and that man said that he'd wiped out a temple, and killed countless people, and deserved retribution, but Xue Yang killed him. So I told Daozhang, and asked him to run away with me, but instead he... [ Have they spoken to Xue Yang yet? She doesn't want to gainsay anything he might have said, so she trails off, hoping for a prompt. ]

[so_dark_a_road]

[ He returns the bow even though she theoretically can't see him. If she really is blind, then he's aware that blind people often have an increase in the sensitivity of hearing and touch. Since they are standing reasonably close together, she may sense the slight motion in the air that his bow creates. And indeed, he has already spoken to Xue Yang. ]

Xue Yang did tell me a little about this person, and simply called him Xingchen. He didn't give much detail, only indicated that Xingchen was the only one in his whole life who was ever kind to him. He said that Xingchen killed himself, and Xue Yang considered himself responsible for that.

What were you going to say about what Daozhang did when you asked him to run away with you?

[spikelet]

He said I should go without him, that... [ She thinks fast. How to hide all of the evil things Xue Yang had tricked Daozhang into doing? Does she even want to? But, what if he came here, and heard it again, and killed himself again? No, she has to hide it. ] That guy's right, he was responsible, and Daozhang did kill himself. I hid, and heard some of it.

[ There are obvious gaps in this story, but she's at a loss as to how to fill them without compromising Xiao Xingchen. ]

He said he blames me for that, because I told Daozhang who he was.

[so_dark_a_road]

Daozhang wouldn't go with you to safety, it seems. And you didn't go either. [ He has the feeling that Qing is leaving things out, but he doesn't know what or why. However, she's a concerned and kindly person, so she must have reasons for doing what she does. ] Was there a fight?

[ She obviously cares about Xiao Xingchen! ]

What did you tell Daozhang?

[spikelet]

I told him what I'd heard from the other daozhang. [ She shifts, uncomfortable. He doesn't seem to be reacting badly, but he spoke to Xue Yang first. She has to stick to the truth; if it's her word against his, he's been here longer. And they might have people who can sense falsehoods, she's heard rumours that's an ability some cultivators have. ] There was a fight, I heard swords. Daozhang must have stabbed him, but it can't have been a killing blow... then Xue Yang started lying to him, and made him doubt himself. I... I didn't hear everything they said, but that rotten guy definitely admitted he'd killed all those people.

[so_dark_a_road]

Daozhang is the word for a priest of the Tao? Forgive me, I don't know many words of the Chinese languages, though I've done a little bit of reading in another world, about your culture. [ It's true he talked to Xue Yang first, but Xue Yang didn't tell him the whole story either. And the only reason Curufin talked to him first was because he met him on platform day and recognized that here was a person who needed help to reclaim himself from the dark thoughts and intentions that had come to occupy his soul. But he has compassion for the victim and knows that she needs support most of all. ]

And it was that incident that resulted in Xiao Xinchen committing suicide?

[ Qing is obviously uncomfortable in this conversation. Curufin wants to reassure her, but he doesn't know how, or not yet. ] Qing, I think you fear to tell me the information I've asked for. You didn't tell anyone who killed you after you returned via the luggage carriage, you kept it quiet. Are you afraid that Xue Yang will attack you again? Or is there something else that you fear?

[spikelet]

[ She nods once and then again. But at his next line, she grits her teeth. Indignation makes her sharp. ] I told you everything you asked! He-- he said he'd hurt people. And I'd made friends, other kids who wouldn't be able to fight him, so what was I supposed to do? Tell someone and hope it turned out okay?

[so_dark_a_road]

I don't mean that I think you are to blame. I don't think that at all. If Xue Yang threatened to hurt your friends, of course you'd feel responsible for protecting them, even if it put you in further danger. I understand that now.

[spikelet]

I... Sorry. [ She's wary again now, even if she's pretty close to deciding this guy has... well, someone's best interests at heart. Not hers, probably, because who would? But maybe just a general concern. He's sincere, and that's why she hasn't already left. ]

Was that everything? Can I go?

[so_dark_a_road]

No need to apologize. It's I who should be apologizing. You are the injured party here, and I and the whole train should all have a great deal of consideration for you. [ He does have a general concern, and he is worried about her in particular. Even if he's also worried about Xue Yang. ]

I think that's everything. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me and answer questions that were hard for you to answer, for the best of reasons. You don't have to ask me if it's all right for you to go. I wish you well, and I will try my best to make sure you are never in danger again and that no one else is either.

[spikelet]

Yeah, everyone said that when I arrived, too.

[ But that's not their fault, they didn't realise who Xue Yang was, how he behaved if he wanted. ]

I'm tired, I'm going back to bed.

[so_dark_a_road]

[ He nods. There is a lot he wishes he had known before this. ]

Sleep well, then. Dream of good things. Thank you again, and if there is ever anything I can do for you, let me know. Good night! [ He curves his arms in a circle and bows again. ]