(no subject)

[buildsfriends]

Who: Mabel Pines and Michael J. Caboose
What: CABOOSE SHOWS UP AND HE AND MABEL GO ON AN ADVENTURE
Universe/CR: Mask or Menace >>> Gravity Falls

[They're all supposed to get in the teleporter to go to the next mission place. Caboose has been having a hard time because nobody believes him when he tells them where he went. They keep saying he was home the whole time, but obviously he wasn't, because he went to Earth for a while and Things happened and Church was there. Not even small Church remembers it, and he remembers everything. So Caboose gives up and does what they say, and gets ready for a mission into the teleporter to go find some stuff that Principal Kimball wants.

The teleporter is always awful and makes him feel sick, but usually when he steps out he's okay and he sees everyone else so it's fine. Except this time it's not fine. It does not look like Blue base. Or Red base, which is a lot like Blue base except redder and dirtier (because of Grif), with more doilies (because of Donut) and more things he is not allowed to touch (because of Sarge and Simmons). Yeah, this is not like either of the bases at all. It also doesn't look like a place they're supposed to be, mostly because all his friends are missing.

Also there are trees. And there are houses made out of wood. And the doors don't open right, like they don't whoosh open or have buttons to open them, they just kind of sit there and wait. There's a knob thing on them like how there was in that one weird Earth place, so Caboose grabs the knob and pushes. Hm. Nothing. Pushes harder.

PUSHES SO HARD that he breaks down the door, oh well, that's okay...he can just prop the door up, look, it still does the same thing.]

Hello? [Hm. Maybe if he turns on his helmet amplifier.] HELLO I AM LOST PLEASE COME FIND ME.

(no subject)

[explaining]

Who: Luke fon Fabre & Guy Cecil
What: GUY FINDS LUKE AND CRIES
Universe/CR: Canon AU


Wait for me here, all right?

[Peony and Jade are going to kick his ass. Again. They already get annoyed with him for coming to visit the ruins of Eldrant as often as he does, what with powerful monsters still prowling around, but that he tells his guard to wait by the ship? Yeah. Jade has already picked several bones with him over this, and Peony's made it pretty clear that if Count Gardios, last of the Galan Gardios household gets himself mauled to death by monsters that Malkuth will be in a particularly tough spot. Guy knows, and it's not as if he wants to cause His Majesty any undue hardship or make himself a nuisance. He's thrown himself headfirst into his stately duties for that very purpose, attending council meetings and listening, meeting with Jade to catch up on the past twenty years of legislature. It's mindnumbingly boring, but Guy accepted the title of Gardios and he'll wear the banner proudly. This is all part of it.

But he just...can't let this go. He can't let this tradition die.]

Your Lordship, are you-

Yes, [Guy interrupts, because this happens every time, even when he brings the same guards with him. He offers a wan smile.] Don't worry. I know how to handle myself. And if I can't, I really know how to run.

[With that, Guy makes his way into Eldrant.

Despite the monsters still around being quite powerful, there aren't that many. Most of them were abominations anyway, unnatural creatures spawned by fonic contamination, the result of Van's and Dist's experimentation. They had no way of reproducing, no desire to eat or drink; all they wanted to do was hunt. Most of them had already died once their purpose had passed. Guy could avoid most fights, and whatever he couldn't avoid, he could wound and flee. It wasn't noble or grand, but it kept him alive. He supposes he could bother one of the others to come with him, but...Tear was the only one who still believed Luke was alive, and she had her own matters to attend to. Asking anyone else just felt like asking a parent to indulge their deluded child, and Guy didn't want to be humored. He wanted them to believe.

Still, even for being scarce, there was shockingly little monster activity for this time of night. No growls, no rustlings, not even a hint of some of the regular monsters who would occasionally wander into the crash site. It's more than a little unsettling; anything that deviates from normal activity, good or bad, is a sign of significant change. As much as Guy hopes that Luke is alive somewhere, he's more a realist than an optimist any given day and he can't think that this sudden quietness is anything good.

Guy draws his sword as quietly as possible, peering around cracked columns and half-collapsed buildings. The pristine white of the structures are already browning with exposure to the elements, moss and vines creeping into place over their edges and claiming the city as part of their earth.

It's too still.

Guy's anxiety creeps ever upward as he travels further inward. If he had any sense in his head, he'd turn back. He would go back to the ship, get back to Malkuth and report the odd behavior to Jade to be further investigated by the military. This isn't his job, this isn't his concern; he should focus on keeping himself alive, as one of the few Malkuth nobles in favor of a standing treaty with Kimlasca. He has his responsibilities to Auldrant to consider.

...but what if.

He shouldn't allow himself hope this strong. He's just going to get hurt. It's just going to hurt so much worse if he walks out of here with nothing to show, but he can't just- He can't keep going on like this. Maybe after this, he should give up these little excursions. Maybe he should just stop punishing himself this way if this time, he finds nothing.

If this time, yet again, he doesn't find Luke.]

Luke? [It's too soft. There's no way he'd hear, even if by some miracle he's alive. He swore he would return so Guy should wait, but Guy- well, he's never been good at waiting for Luke to come along. Before it was his duty to serve the crown, it was his duty to look after Luke.

He knows which one is more important to him.]

Luke, are you here? ...can you hear me?