The Inspection

[acciomod]

On the whole, the weather had been temperamental lately. One minute, it was absolutely bucketing it down, and the next, it was bright sunshine. The amount of rain had turned the ground into a muddy mess, but at least the tents provided perfectly adequate shelter, and a gazebo had been erected over the community dining table to protect everyone from the elements.

Despite the temperamental weather, however, it had been fairly warm throughout the past two weeks, so the chill in the air during dinner that evening was particularly noticeable, even before the dark, hooded figure by the Ministry's representative's desk had been seen.

Nervously, the Ministry representative approached the table.

"I'm afraid we have a visitor," he said, addressing everyone at the table and hoping that anyone not there could hear him. "This is a Dementor, one of the Guards at Azkaban. It's a high security prison. He's just here to, well, ensure that a certain escaped criminal isn't hiding amongst you.

"I don't expect he'll be here for more than an half an hour, so do try not to worry too much. They can make people rather, well... uncomfortable."

Bowing his head slightly, he left the Outsiders to their meal.

[And so, a Dementor is lurking around the camp, just in case one of the Outsiders is secretly Sirius Black. They're known to sap the happiness out of the environment, and - in cases where there are true horrors in someone's past - cause traumatic memories to resurface.

The chilly, depressed feeling can be lifted by the deliciousness of chocolate, though the Outsiders will need to discover this on their own. Good thing there's dessert.]

Comments

[no1troll]

[Freshly traumatized as he is, Tavros falls prey to the dementor's aura almost instantly. In his mind, there's blood on his hands again, Vriska's blue blood and his own brown, dripping from fingertips that were scraped away as his hands scrawled desperate messages from the dying girl.

Welcome to tear city, everyone! Transparent brown streams run down his face, the same colour as the scabs on the tip of his fingers. He weeps openly into his hands for a few minutes, then seems to shut down. He's not quite unconscious, but between having his face buried in his hands and hyperventilating, he's dead to the world.]

I'm so sorry... but I'm not sure if I'm sorry to your character or mine, lol

[destined_to_go]

[After it was clear that this was no dream, his mind still had trouble getting used to everything. It was such a shock to discover everything he had found out about all at once. That everything he discovered and was told about was true...

But this he had never seen or heard about. People from other worlds was one thing to think about when everyone at least looked human, but this... person(?)... thing(?)... creature(?) was certainly something he had never seen before, nor was it something he would ever expect to see. The colors on his hands could have been mistaken for paint, but the fact that the brown came out of the creature's eyes while it seemingly cried was proof that... maybe it wasn't paint.

He just couldn't help but stare at the thing. He was feeling pretty bad himself. As if being torn from his family and everything he knew... his game, his rival... yes, it was the same feeling he had when he thought Shindou would quite playing Go for good... only much worse. A cold, empty feeling of loneliness, he hadn't felt in a long time... if ever to this extent.

Still, this creature was very shocking and so his stare did not let up.]

Better go for both of them, just to be safe, haha!

[no1troll]

[Tavros is too preoccupied with hiding behind his hands to notice the human at first. It's only after the dementor is long gone and the worst of its influence has passed that he emerges to wipe his running nose (it turns out that his snot is as brown as his tears) that he sees the human staring at him. Their eyes meet, and he stares back numbly.

He might need a minute to get his head together.]

[destined_to_go]

[He sighed and closed his eyes briefly before opening them again to look at the creature. Did it even talk?]

So what are you?

[And should he be scared of it? It could get angry... and those horns looked sharp. He eyed them wearily.]

[no1troll]

I'm Tavros.

[Which doesn't exactly answer the question, but his brain still feels frozen. He isn't the most effective speaker even at the best of times, anyway. Gosh, though, if you thought his horns looked sharp, you didn't see his jagged, uneven teeth. Trolls are designed to rip and tear from a young age.]

[destined_to_go]

Are creatures like you normal for your world?

[It sounded strange to even say it. 'Your world'. Without the heavy presence of the dementor close by, he only felt as lonely as he did normally, being here in this place and the only thing familiar to him were the ground, the stars and sun and that he was still on Earth, in England... only he was trapped here because of the strange things he apparently started doing. Without the heavy feeling of loneliness, he felt the beginnings of a headache again. It was still a lot to take in... and a lot to believe in so suddenly.

But the proof was there. And the proof was sitting in front of him, with horns like a bull and colored orange, matching its eyes. He had no more choice, he was forced to believe that this was real.]

[no1troll]

[Tavros was a lot more used to the idea of other worlds than most of the other Outsiders, but as if to compensate for it, he had to deal with being the only Troll in the entire universe. It's simultaneously a huge relief and extremely lonely.]

Creatures, uhh.

[He's not sure how to feel about that word, but Tavros is in no position to object. He's too miserable, and it isn't important enough for him to cause a fuss about.]

Yeah, we're all like me. Trolls, that's what I am. Or troll, sorry.

[destined_to_go]

[Akira was silent for a second as he pieced together what he was told.]

Then Tavros is your name?

[He had heard of the word trolls, but never anything else. He had no pictures to base the word off of, or stories to go by to have him know if this 'troll' was anything like the fictional ones he had heard about while he was still in primary school. Being that quite a bit of fictional things were being proven here in the camp, there was no way to say if he was or not.]

[no1troll]

[He nods slowly, all too aware that he's no good at at explaining things. Even simple things like his name and species.]

What's yours?

[destined_to_go]

My name is Touya Akira.

[It was strange introducing himself to someone clearly not human, but it was just another thing to add since he found himself here.]

[no1troll]

Touya Akira.

[He just wanted to give it a try. It feels almost like the kind of name a troll his age would have.]

Did that, uhhh... "thing" not get to you? It felt like probably the worst thing ever to me.

[He feels kind of dumb beside the human. He was crying and being generally pathetic, while the person right in front of him seemed completely unaffected.]

[destined_to_go]

[He didn't know if the dementor was the reason for it or not, but the moment that it was closest was rather intense. Much more than he'd felt since arriving here. With everything else that was going on, he wouldn't rule it out.

He sighed, closing his eyes briefly.]

No, it did.

[no1troll]

But you didn't cry or anything...

[He's so impressed.]

[unerasable]

[This kid should probably be much more nervous than he actually is about talking to what looks for all the world like a human chimera - but honestly, taboo or no taboo, how can he be scared of anyone sobbing so openly and pitifully?

He hovers behind the stranger's chair, unsure if he's already too far inside their personal space.]

Are you okay? [Yes, it's a stupid question. He couldn't just ignore them, though.]

[no1troll]

[The human's voice is faint to his ears, and he almost misses the question entirely. Tavros's mind is too occupied with wishing he was anywhere but here and with trying to push away the memories that he'd been trying desperately to forget. He's being spoken to, though, and it seems to help a little. His face emerges from behind his hands for a second as though he might look at the speaker, but it vanishes when suddenly he sobs wetly again.]

I-Yes. ...N-no.

[His teeth are chattering too much for him to really speak. ]

[unerasable]

[He gives the horned kid his best attempt at a sympathetic smile - it can't not look a little weak in this kind of atmosphere, but he does mean it.

As long as talking isn't visibly making anything worse, he's going to carry on talking. It's the least he can do.]

I don't think you're the only one in here who isn't. Just let it all out.

[no1troll]

[Tavros is not in a state of mind to question the advice. He accepts it as the best thing he could do. It probably is.]

I just-couldn't, I'm no good at anything, not even when it-.

[He's blubbering too hard to be very coherent. He hates how pathetic he's being right now, but what can he do? It's like the dementor ripped the scab from a fresh wound and drove a blade into it.]

[unerasable]

That's not true. [This kid might be a stranger to him, but he couldn't say it with more conviction if he tried.

He glances round for a moment, then pulls up a nearby empty chair.]

You don't have to tell me what you're thinking about if you don't want to, but, you know... everyone's good at something. It's just easy to forget sometimes.

[no1troll]

[His expression is still nearly complete misery, but finally he meets the stranger's eyes. It's hard to make out much through the brown blur of tears, but he gets the general impression of red and blond and pink skin. The reminder that he's not among trolls is actually a relief. The conviction in the human's voice isn't hurting, either; it's kickstarting his own struggling self-esteem just a little bit. The sobbing dies down, mostly, but his voice is very small.]

I can't do things when they matter...

[unerasable]

[He's visibly a little surprised when he does eventually get a good look at the stranger's face. It passes in moments, though. What do unusual eyes or teeth matter when someone's upset?

He leans slightly forward in his chair.] Well, sometimes things just don't work out, and it's nobody's fault. That doesn't mean it wasn't better to try anyway.

[Then he hesitates, just briefly. The Dementor isn't getting to him as badly as it might if he had all of his memories - he can tell; they're like an itch at the back of his mind - but he isn't exactly immune, either. Still, if it'll help cheer the kid up even a bit, he can brush it off.]

If you don't know whether you can do something that matters, and you decide you're too scared to find out... that's worse, I think. So you're probably braver than me.

[no1troll]

[He shakes his head fiercely, his broad horns swinging around dangerously. Brave? Not him. Never.]

I ran.

[There, he said it. He sniffles miserably, trying not to start crying again.]

I couldn't kill her.

[unerasable]

[That fazes him, even as he ducks to avoid getting hit by those horns.]

Is... is that a bad thing?

[no1troll]

She needed me to! She was dying, and she was awful and mean and she tried to kill me and kissed me, but we're friends and she needed me to do something brave, just for once!

[That all came out in an incoherent rush.]

[unerasable]

[Sounds... complicated. But if he takes anything away from that slightly indistinct spiel, it's that this matters a lot to the poor kid.]

You didn't want to kill her. That's not wrong.

[no1troll]

Anyone else would have done it! She was right about me being useless, and all the other things she said.

[His eyes are filling with tears again. It's hard being just about the only person on the planet who has no desire or reason to kill anyone else! Kind, passive people have no place in troll society.]