revivalproject | Oh Where Could He Be?

Entry tags:

Oh Where Could He Be?

WHO: Omega, Tony (the Mothkitten), Tony (the Human) and Jon
WHERE: Not!Temba
WHAT: Just some Lost Children on an Unplanned Adventure
WHEN: End of July
WARNINGS: N/A? Will change as needed

Roughly one hour and twenty minutes ago...

"Oh no..."

Hugging the squirmy mothkitten to her chest, Omega turned just in time to see the doors slide shut to the train before the floor shuddered underfoot and the scenery began to slowly but surely move past the windows. She clambered onto one of the seats, pressing her face against the glass as they began to pick up speed, catching a glimpse of the ARC Trooper she'd been trying to tail earlier before ending up chasing the mothkitten aboard the transport. Sheepishly she offered a wave as they quickly sped on past.

The winged furball mewled and tried to get comfortable in her lap as she sighed and flopped back into the seat.

"This is all your fault," she scolded lightly.

Twenty minutes ago...

Omega was jolted awake when the train seemed to finally pull to a stop. The mothkitten in her lap yawned and stretched, and she scooped it up as she approached the doors, peering out into the unfamiliar station.

"This must be the other city..." she observed, for the moment forgetting her situation with the eagerness to see more of another new place. Letting the mothkitten clamber up onto her shoulder where he seemed to like being, not that it was a bother because he was so surprisingly light, the girl started towards the exit. Maybe someone else was still around. And anyway, it would be boring sitting on the train waiting for it to start up again.

She hardly got two steps onto the road from the station when the mothkitten abruptly took off, wings fluttering, eyes big as he took in the new smells. Right before he went darting off.

"Oh, no, no, no- Tony! Come back!"

Now...

It's hard to enjoy the scenery when you're busy looking for a runaway kitten. She'd feel terrible if anything happened to the little one. "Tony!" she calls out every now and then, hoping she'd hear that familiar reply and see him come drifting back.

"Tony, where are you?"

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Tony's stare earns him a small shrug, but his clear confusion about the mothkitten's behavior lures a bemused tone out of the Archivist. "He's a cat, Tony. Not all cats take well to harnesses. Some will actively fight you. But he may get used to it. With some time. He's still young." Jon explains and offers Omega the leash to go along with the feline in her arms.

Jon also offers a nod at Tony's assumption. "There could be more, yes. Though I remain reluctant if there being more cities would actually be a good thing. But let's see if we can find anything at the museum for now."

Some fight out of the little Tony would have been more appropriate, Tony thought, if they were going to insist on the name, and he frowned at the mothkitten then gave it a nudge that could have been a pat of his own while he collected the cup to bring the thermos along with them. "Come on," he encouraged impatiently like they had all been holding him up this whole time, corralling Omega out the door so he could carefully close it the way they had found it, and mutter at Jon in the meantime, "Don't start expecting me to lay down like that," with what would have been an intense glower if not for the flirtatious twitch of his smirk.

This city, it turned out, wasn't quite as big as Temba in a lot of ways. Long, expansive roads that would have accommodated the generous spaces of the Agrii agriculture were protracted, like all of that space was pushed up vertically, so the walk between the Library and what should have been the museum only felt long in its unfamiliarity. The density of the foliage made for a few detours, but the museum building was looming much faster than expected despite the careful navigation. And they clearly weren't the first ones here, many of the branches snapped and leaves beat back from the doors. Tony eyed this cautiously, starting to regret not leaving the mothkitten in the lizard's care, not sure if they were all prepared to fight of some large predator for the animal's sake. "Do you know if Cayde already came this way...?" he tried, sounding unconvincingly light.

Omega looped the strap around her wrist and hand a few times, giving the mothkitten a reassuring cuddle as they were herded towards the door. She took more of the city in as they made their way to the museum, her fascination and open curiosity at everything genuine in the way one would expect any child's to be. She'd stop to look at plants or interesting rocks, or study the buildings they passed, never lingering too long so she wouldn't have to hurry too much to keep up with the two men.

As they finally approached their destination she picked up on the extra caution from Tony, her eyes following his towards the broken branches and trampled leaves. A thoughtful frown crossed her face as she stepped closer to examine the ground, imagining what Hunter would do, even though she still wasn't sure what exactly it was he looked for in the dirt he always ran through his fingers. She eased Tony the mothkitten onto her shoulder as he squirmed a little in her grasp, letting him perch there, if still somewhat sulkily.

"Friend of yours?" she asked, glancing back at the two.

There is little Jon finds himself able to say in return to Tony's words, but he starts following a little behind the others for a few moments to let a furious little blush fade first.

The difference in dimensions and scale between this city and Temba is something Jon notes as well, and he keeps looking up and into the trees where a couple of additional structures and even walkways can be spotted. Even the museum quite clearly consists of multiple parts set in different heights between the large trees. Tony's question has him look down, however, and he inclines his head a little while trying to make out what the man is talking about. He raises a brow at the snapped branches. "Huh. Possible. I... I don't believe an animal used to move in this environment simply snaps any branches in its path. This forest would look very different if that were the case. And you have seen how Frank moves."

Though it doesn't necessarily have to have been Cayde. Others have been on the train with them.

Jon then directs a nod at Omega and takes a moment to give Tony a quick scratch between his ears. "He is. An Exo Guardian who I assume is exploring this city by himself. He runs the bar over in Temba."

An animal used to this environment wouldn't typically cause this kind of disturbance, but a whole bunch of new threats and prey were just introduced. Tony wasn't entirely convinced there wasn't an imminent animal threat. He pushed his hair back with determination, though, to lead the way into the recently used doors and take the brunt of whatever they might have been walking into.

"The premiere treasure expert on the planet," Tony added with a finger up to make this important note. "And a terrible influence." He said this like a warning, but the grin he threw back at Omega suggested she should find out way some day.

Not that she knew what an Exo was but they seemed to be speaking fondly of him for whatever terrible influence Tony suggested. Omega straightened up, resting a hand on the mothkitten to make sure he wouldn't try to jump or slip. With big Tony leading onwards, she started after him. Jon had brought up some good points, although she supposed you could never be too careful, especially in new places.

"Should I have my bow ready?" she asked. She was so used to her brothers already with their weapons out that she was simply assuming the two hadn't come with any.

"Your bow?" Jon asks, looking curious as well as surprised while following Tony as well. "You can use a bow?" And from the sound of it she uses it as a weapon as well. That seems unusual, but certainly impressive.

"Though I'm rather certain we won't need any weapons in here. I can't... Well. It should be fine." Jon is certain of that. He has... Looked.

Omega was correct that Tony had only come armed with the bottle of water, and that did make him feel slightly underdressed to know that the kid came prepared. Not that he was above relying on her to shoot the cockroaches. After everything he had seen and come to understand about the place she came from, though, he raised an eyebrow, baffled by what he had to assume was a very ancient solution for their galaxy. "Why a bow?" Tony asked between Jon's questions, hands up and clearly ready to take a look at it himself to find out.

Meanwhile, Jon not worrying was beginning to become suspect, and Tony slid a sidelong look his way for that confidence, eyes narrowing briefly with the question he could read the answer to on Jon's face. What else was he rather certain about?

"Echo taught me," the girl replied to Jon with a nod, and not just a little proud of that. She caught on pretty quick with things, and firing an energy bow was apparently no exception. Although she did tilt her head curiously at Jon's certainty.

To Tony (the human), she obliged by carefully slipping the odd folded up contraption from the strap on her back, not wanting to dislodge Tony (the mothkitten) from his spot. "I picked it up when we were rescuing people from Zyggerian slavers. We don't have spare credits for new weapons but I thought it'd be useful."

She held it out to Tony, showing him the release, which effectively made the bow spring open, violet energy coming to life in a line that formed the 'string', the same energy forming the projectile once you pulled back on the connecting mechanism.

Jon's attention is rather with Omega, her explanation and the demonstration she gives with her weapon, raising his brows in an adequately impressed way. Seems like this girl is the only one of their little group who actually came armed to this new city.

"How does that work?" He asks, eyeing the energy string that to his understanding shouldn't even be palpable. It can't work similarly to a lightsaber from what he has come to understand about the Jedi's trademark weapon.

Not so ancient as Tony was assuming, by the looks of the thing. He stopped his absent wandering through the museum to consider it with wide eyes that shone curiously as the light bloomed from the bow, and he took it with reverent thanks from Omega to test its weight, then its balance as he held it how he assumed a practiced archer would. "Plasma," he guessed for Jon, and gave a flick to the air a breath from the already buzzing string that sent it shivering in response, "unstable on impact." He glanced to Omega for confirmation before drawing the string back to aim a shot at the centre of a textured stone wall, where he had plenty of targets to choose from between whorls and impressions in a mural that extended up to the ceiling. "Woah," he realized softly, lowering the weapon a fraction to see better past the glare of the light. This only distracted him briefly before he was abruptly turning on Omega again, "And you just picked it up, like that?" The timeline she had given them so far suggested this hadn't been a long term hobby by any means, and he knew better than to think handling arrows was an easy skill.

It wasn't so complicated to figure out, and she watched as Tony fired a shot off in testing. She could only offer a shrug at the how- that wasn't really something she was given much instruction on over how to use it.

"Well not just like that. I have to keep practicing. Echo said I had to be consistent with hitting my targets." Although it really hadn't been all that long that she'd had it. "I've gotten a lot better though!"

"I suppose you can train me, eventually." Jon comments before heading into the first large room of the building. There isn't much of an entrance hall to speak about here. Just one large room with clearly more large rooms connected to it and a few stair leading further up and a different set leading down at the sides. Intact stairs, even.

"This place is surprisingly big."

It was sounding like they were lucky Echo was in Temba to look out for Omega, even if he wasn't prepared to be a big brother just yet. He could probably pick it up fast, assuming the talent ran in the family. Tony nudged the bow back into its collapsed configuration, startling slightly at the ease it took to tightly fold with his exploratory prompting, and handed it back to its rightful owner. "I could make another one," he said with confidence after this brief introduction, smiling after Jon and his unexpected interest. "You can keep each other sharp." Aside to Omega as they caught up behind Jon, Tony added, "He enjoys being pushed around by strong women, just ignore those noises that he makes."

"Train you?" Omega arched a brow at Jon, wondering how serious he was. Accepting the bow back from Tony, she slung it back over her shoulder as they resumed their entry.

She did look intrigued that he was so confident that he'd be able to make an energy bow like her's. That'd be something to see! She however wasn't sure what to make of Tony's comments, her uncertainty reflected on her face, and as she gathered the mothkitten from her shoulder as she felt him going a bit too far back, she looked over at Jon as though expecting some kind of explanation. Noises?

The large space before them was quick enough to draw her interest. What did it used to hold? What sort of things might they find?

"Why not? I'm sure I can learn it." Jon answers Omega with an encouraging nod her way.

His expression becomes an intrigued one when Tony mentions attempting to recreate that bow, but any comment he would have made on that behalf gets shut away when he closes his mouth sharply in response to what Tony adds shortly after. Instead he looks at the man with some disbelief. "Tony, please! What even makes you say that?"

"Like that, but less coherent," Tony easily illustrated with a teasing smile of thanks for Jon's complaining. He came sauntering alongside Jon then, hands in his pockets and very casual for the challenging look he levelled at Jon for acting so surprised. What, was it a secret now? "I thought you could introduce her to Lauri-Ell," he said breezily, and had a bright grin for them both as he overtook Jon and spun on his heel to lead the way walking confidently backward to face them. "She has a whole gym back in Temba, she'll definitely know how to perfect your form. She's been doing that kind of thing her whole life, she...You'll like her," he promised to Omega, quickly reevaluating offering the 'born for war' similarities. They'd figure it out between them quickly enough.

Omega smiled a little at Jon. "I could try, I guess," she replied. The reactions that subsequently followed at Tony's suggestion made her giggle as she looked between the two men.

"I don't think I've found the gym yet." But then there was still a lot of ground she'd yet to cover, and she hadn't really any particular order to her explorations. "...what is a gym, actually?"

Jon can't help but make a small grimace at Tony, but it's a softer one and he gives a small sigh and a nod at the mention of Lauri-Ell and introducing Omega to the large woman. "I mean- I could. I suppose either of us could. You're familiar with Lauri-Ell as well."

As for Omega's question... All things considered it doesn't quite surprise Jon that she isn't very familiar with a gym. Or at least not under this specific term. "A gym, or gymnasium is a place for athletics set up with a number of equipment and machines used by people to do physical exercises. The word is derived from the ancient Greek gymnasium and also slang for fitness center. You may know it under a different name."

It was Tony's turn to grimace at the suggestion that he should go anywhere near Lauri-Ell, and gave a shake of his head like he was graciously bestowing the honour upon Jon; Jon was the one that made use of that gym, after all, he must have realized by now it wasn't somewhere that Tony was likely to turn up. Used to Jon's encyclopedic sermons, Tony recognized his chance to turn back toward the museum curiously while Jon revealed histories of gyms that had been lost to most cultures, keeping track of them by the warm sound of his voice. The big doors to the sides were interesting, and of course there were probably enough stories to carry them up into the treeline, but Tony hadn't seen very many stairs going down in this city. And that was usually where a museum archived their more precious collection. Wordlessly, he led them down, further from the natural light into the shadows.

The terms Jon suggested as he gave his explanation didn't seem to ring any bells of familiarity with Omega, but she still listened politely as she started to move along once Tony led them on. "I don't think Tipoca City had any. I've never really been allowed to wander around the military complex so I'm not too sure, but the training facilities for the clones were very specific."

With no real experience with museums the girl wasn't sure what they were looking for, much less what to expect. Yet even with empty rooms and an expansive space before them she still marveled. And while she was curious about what lay behind those doors, she was content to stay with the two at least, and at the mothkitten still favored clinging to a shoulder over trying out the limits of his harness.

Jon would have been quite willing to explain it further, even now as they are heading further down into what awaits them beneath the library.

Though whatever awaits them isn't something they will be able without any light, which is why Jon retrieves the torch from his bag and turns it on before even the remaining light is left behind by their descent. "Jesus, they really didn't put any light sources down here, did they?" He wonders aloud as they approach a large stone slab that clearly serves as some sort of door, possibly controlled by a similar mechanism than the ones used in the library.

There was obviously machinery around the city that used power, so the problem with the lights wasn't because of some limited technical capability. "Maybe they could see in the dark," Tony posited as he explored the doorway, running his hand over the surface, then the seam along the frame. Without much light down here, and sheltered from any rain, the encroachment of the plants hadn't led to as much degradation of the rock as there was in the library and Tony found a slot next to the door that...he really didn't want to put his hand into. He grimaced, covering his fingers with the undersuit, and then tucking his hand back up in his sleeve to paw clumsily at the perfect, bug-sized hidey hole. His arm gave a quick jerk back, which drew the door open with a rumble of complaint and a great shower of dust that hadn't been disturbed since this whole population disappeared, while Tony went dancing away from the hole of inevitable spiders with his sleeve loose and flapping anxiously to dislodge any clinging carcasses.

Because he was very cool and no one had to acknowledge any part of that manoeuvre, he turned to Omega and continued casually as though there hadn't been any interruption, "You weren't training?" She said 'the clones' like she wasn't exactly part of them.

"Maybe they just took advantage of the natural light?" Omega suggested as she looked around. That would only really make more sense if there were plenty of windows though. She stepped over by Tony, copying him as he studied the seamline of the doorway. With the faces the man was making as he prepared to check the hole beside the door, she could only watch anxiously before jumping as the door started to open. It was fine, Tony. You took one for the team. You get a thumbs up from her.

"No," she said, shaking her head at the question. "I was a medical assistant. So...usually I'd just be kept apart from everyone."

Jon keeps way out of the way, happy to just be providing the light while the others figure out the door. The little display of mimicry is curious to observe, and the Archivist exchanges a quick look with the mothkitten on Omega's shoulder, nonverbally letting the feline know to not attempt anything foolish while the girl has her attention elsewhere.

"A medical assistant?" He repeats when the door opens, doing Tony the favor of not mentioning his reaction. Which doesn't mean, of course, that he hasn't noticed.

Though despite being what he wants to do at this point, Jon doesn't blindly step through the newly revealed door, but rather shines his light into the darkness on the other side. "Well, that's even darker. Tony may have a point. Let's move carefully. And- Take these." He offers the already activated torch to Omega and reaches into his bag to produce two more, each of them powerful and very well suited to cut through whichever darkness they may encounter. If there is one thing Jon has grown well accustomed to, it's to bring enough light to an unknown place.

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