18th metal . spam . duration of flood

[godsays]

[ Zane keeps to the deck as much as possible. (It doesn't occur to him to use the CES, unless someone points it out.)

He balances on the railing easily, as naturally as if he was standing on solid ground. Darts along it, trying to see the bottom of the endless well of stars, if there is one. Maybe he tosses a coin out into the emptiness and Pushes it down, trying to see if it ever stops.

Otherwise, he'll be on top of the greenhouse, climbing things, staying as high as he can.

When he's belowdecks, he similarly tries to stick to open rooms and high places. Between them, he moves quickly, with the awareness of someone who is ready for attack.

He also steals bits of metal, wherever he can. Cutlery, coins. Whatever he can find. ]

[ ooc: replies from venturemistborn. ]

Comments

[runslikethewind]

[She watches him walk along the railing, and is very impressed.

Before she speaks to him, she makes sure he can see her. She wouldn't want to startle him and make him fall over the edge.]

Where'd you learn that?

[venturemistborn]

[ Hearing her isn't a problem. He has Tin burning, all of his senses enhanced and sharpened, and he hears her approach - though he doesn't react until she speaks. He turns his head, feet shifting slightly on the rail. ]

It comes naturally.

[ He studies her, calmly. - Outwardly calm, anyway. He does not like it here. He feels trapped. ]

For people like me.

[runslikethewind]

[ Clearly intrigued, she moves closer to where he's perched on the rail.]

What kind of people do you come from?

[venturemistborn]

It doesn't matter. You wouldn't recognize them.

[runslikethewind]

Then it won't hurt to tell me.

[tinywitch]

[She thinks she spots him first on top of the greenhouse - but she doesn't know how to get to him up there, so she lets it go. Several hours later, though, when she's gone and changed and come back to the deck in fresh clothes, she sees him on the rail, and curiosity draws her closer. He walks so effortlessly, it almost looks like magic.]

Hello, [she calls, not wanting to startle him into falling.]

[venturemistborn]

[ It is magic - in a way.

He straightens, turns to her, his feet carefully balanced. ] Do you know how far down it goes?

[tinywitch]

[She comes closer, leans over the rail to peer down into the black and the river made of stars.]

No. It can't go on forever, but - it looks like it does, doesn't it?

[venturemistborn]

Nothing can go on forever. [He seems confident of this.] And if it has a bottom, I can survive the fall.

[tinywitch]

But why would you want to fall?

[onlysurvivor]

[Some of Kelsier's metals went missing. Child Marsh had moved them when he confronted him in his room but Kelsier seriously doubts Marsh took them. So, that leaves Zane. A child size Zane.

There is something just plain sad about seeing a Mistborn who's snapped so young.

Anyway, he goes for just shadowing little Zane for a bit then actually moves for contact when he's back on deck. He reaches out puts a gentle tug on any metals Zane might be carrying.]

You could have just asked.

[venturemistborn]

[ Zane has copper burning. But the set of his body, the attentiveness, speaks to at least pewter and tin, maybe steel and iron to help with balancing himself. ]

No. I couldn't.

[ This is another Mistborn, better trained and larger, and Zane crouches, palm on the rail beside him, ready to Jump if he has to. His coins aren't firmly tied to his belt, so they'll come free. He already swallowed the metals he took from Kelsier. ]

[onlysurvivor]

Why? There appears to be nothing wrong with your mouth.

[Don't mind him, smiling about being stolen from. The middle of the deck is also a lovely place to just sit down. He sprawls his legs out in front of him.]

Where are you headed?

[venturemistborn]

Nowhere.

I just wondered how far down the chasm goes.

[If it has a bottom, he can survive the fall. And nothing can go on forever, right? ]

[onlysurvivor]

Oh. I would be interested to know the answer.

[He curls his legs under himself. He smiles wide.] I'll jump if you do.

[mistconduct]

Ahp ahp ahp. No.

[Hands reach out and pick Zane up from under the arms, pulling him off the railing]

God damn squirts.

[venturemistborn]

[Zane is distracted enough from the river of stars that he forgets to keep his attention as sharpened as it should be. As a result, the move takes him completely by surprise. It's a half-second before he manages to react, and this takes the form of spitting out a coin he'd been holding in his teeth and pushing it against Chris as hard as he can.

Unfortunately, if Chris let's go, this will have the result of slamming Zane into the rail. Hard.]

[mistconduct]

[Thank god for all that training with Rorschach, because Chris manages to not only keep a grip on Zane but also transfer him to sit under his arm like a sack of potatoes]

Hey! Chill, you animal. Motherfuck...

[venturemistborn]

[ It makes his angle to Push the coin wrong, and it goes skittering off across the deck until it hits a wall, at which point the coin stops dead and the Push transfers back to the pusher. It wrenches at Zane and possibly tosses both him and Chris to the floor. ]

Let me go!

[clockworkflower]

[Lilith has been haunting the deck as well; she can't decide if this, her beautiful new room or the CES are her favourite place. It hadn't occurred to her to balance on the railings till she sees Zane do it, and she's immediately ashamed. That's no way for an adventuress to behave.

So she considers it for a moment, tucks Panda safely into the belt strung with pouches she found in her room, and clambers up to follow along behind Zane.

It's tricky, but she's agile and fearless, and while she doesn't move with the boy's ease, she's doing pretty well. She doesn't speak till she sees him throw a coin.]

That's going to give someone a shock when it lands on their head.

[Amused.]

[venturemistborn]

[ That she climbs up raises her estimation in his eyes. The people who are afraid of the rail, afraid of the chasm, he doesn't find as worth noticing. ] Are there people down there?

[ He can't hear anything, or see anything, even when he has tin on. ]

Spam

[wedonot]

[Erik, Alex, Anya, Morgana, and Jean have all been accounted for, which really just leaves one person left that he needs to check in on, and to be honest, he's the one he's most concerned about. It isn't as though the others had perfect childhoods either, but Zane requires enough supervision on a regular basis lately that he's not exactly calm about him just wandering around by himself.

It's not because he doesn't trust him either, but more that the telepath doesn't really trust the Barge, and he's worried about what Zane might run into on his own, or what bad memories this flood would be dragging back out for him.

Charles finally spots him on the roof of the greenhouse and opens his mouth to call his name, but winds up blurting out an honestly curious and not at all patronizing question first.]

What are you doing up there?

Spam

[venturemistborn]

[ He's not entirely comfortable being there, mostly because it's so easy to see him; he spends long periods of time motionless, but even with pewter, his muscles cramp up and he has to shift around.

He would rather be invisible. There's a comfort in being invisible in the mist, in the night. It means he's out of the choking little place that all of the others, all of the Mistings and not-Mistings and potential Mistings are in, all of the people who aren't as important as he is, aren't as good. He only feels truly himself when he's out and free.

He believes this is a dream. A place in a dream that he goes to when he is trapped.

He remembers Charles, and believes he's dreamed about him before. ]

I like it here.

Spam

[wedonot]

[A subtle sweep of his mind reassures Charles that he actually is content, and that he's not particularly bothered by his new situation. It's certainly better than the alternative, and he lets himself relax a little.]

Do you need anything?

Spam

[venturemistborn]

[ Curiosity about this man - one of the people in his dreams - moves Zane forward. He burns steel and jumps, pushing off a handful of metal items around him - he doesn't even need coins here - and lands lightly on the balls of his feet in front of Charles. Pewter makes him graceful. Later, as an adult, he'll have that grace without pewter, but as a child he needs it. He isn't finished learning yet. ]

Why do you want to know?