OPENING LOG: Awakening

[re_alignedmods]

WHO: Everybody!
WHERE: The Junk Pile.
WHEN: Right here, right now.
WHAT: Game opening! Our Heroes find themselves in a strange place not of their own world, however familiar (or not) it may be.

---

Consciousness is slow, and a struggle to obtain. The moments before darkness are hazy enough; a great vertigo, a twisting, and then, falling. Falling for what seemed like forever. And when you are finally aware of your surroundings, it is most decidedly not where you came from.

Instead, you are now in what appears to be a wasteland. A wasteland...of junk. Debris as far as you can see, heaped in mini-mountains that offer only so good of a view of the world around you. Perhaps in the distance, you can make out some flatter land, perhaps you can just make out what looks like a crevice - but it's difficult at best. The light here is all wrong, the two greatest sources being a white line in the alien sky that doesn't so much give off light as simply have it - and something in the south that glows like a setting sun.

You may or may not notice it at first, but you, too, have something alien - something on your arm, more likely than not. A marking that glows softly, but offers no clue as to how it got there - no pain, no sensitivity. It's simply there, as you are here.

So.

Now what?

((OOC: This is it, you guys! Have a blast! Please remember to keep everything under the first thread for now; we'll be adding the Firstforged in in a little bit...

OKAY There is now a second thread to post in! Feel free to make new threads there to react to the arrival of the Firstforged, or respond directly to the Firstforged themselves.))

Comments

[not_halfbaked]

Korra stopped flexing her arm and admiring her new earth band when Knock Out rose rather gracefully up. He seemed to be moving better without all the grit.

The girl beamed at his gratitude. "Your welcome."

Then she blinked, and tilted her head. "Say, do you happen to know where we are? I thought it was the Spirit World, but I'm not exactly sure now--"

She stopped, glancing at where he scratched himself. "Is that gonna be okay like that? It's not gonna get infected or something, is it?"

[automobile_enthusiast]

Knock Out frowned, although this time the expression was an artful little moue that was closer to a pout than a proper frown. "No, I'm afraid not. I was hoping you'd have some idea..."

If he'd just taken a moment to look at the sky, he might have been able to discern that it was Cybertron itself under their feet. Knock Out had never been much of a navigator, though, and even less an astronomer, and it had been a very long time since he'd seen the stars of his homeworld. Even if he'd thought to look up he might not have realized, particularly with the glowing streak through the sky distorting things.

Regardless, he followed her gaze down to his arm. The scratches had already clotted over, as he'd expected they would. He used one finger to scrape the thin trails of energon off his plating, popping the digit in his mouth and sucking it clean distractedly. Every drop of energon needed to be conserved, of course.

"Mm, I think they'll be okay~," he said finally. "The worst that could happen is dirt or foreign contaminants getting into my circulatory system, and you took care of that for me already."

[not_halfbaked]

Korra blew out a frustrated sigh. "Nope, I'm clueless...."

She tilted her head back up, looking up at the sky. "That light sorta looks like the southern lights back home in the arctic, but it's still way different." Korra frowned. "And the stars make no sense."

The girl looked back to Knock Out, and felt a little weird wiggly feeling in her stomach at the sight of him sucking his violet blood from his claw tips.

But she smiled when he explained that all was good. "Okay, cool."

Korra crossed her arms, beginning to fidget, to think.

"Sooo...are you going in any particular direction? I've just kinda been wandering aimlessly and--"

Korra took another breath, and pushed forward, "--and it'd be nicer to wander around with someone. Especially someone as tall as you, you can probably see farther than me--"

And Korra cut herself off, eyes wide and cheeks blushing as she realized that she had started to ramble.

[automobile_enthusiast]

"I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like that myself," Knock Out said, tilting his own head back to stare up at the anomaly in the sky. "It looks... hah! It looks like someone tore open the sky, but of course there's nothing up there to tear."

He shrugged, still pleased that he could roll his shoulders with only the pain associated with the damage he'd sustained. He didn't really see how a weird glowing thing in the sky could mean anything to him, one mech down here on the ground, beyond being a curiosity.

His attention returned quickly enough to more immediate answers-- like the human's roundabout request. He grinned down at her, amused. "Want to tag along with me, hm?" he said. "Well I certainly can't blame you. I am excellent company." He gestured showily at himself, then let both his hand and his self-satisfied expression drop. "I do have to admit that I wasn't, ah, going anywhere, particularly. Wandering myself, you see."

[not_halfbaked]

Korra arched a brow, amused. She certainly had never met anyone like Knock Out before. It was kinda totally cool, actually. She had never thought spritis would be this personable.

"Well, then maybe we can wander together."

[automobile_enthusiast]

"It would be my pleasure," Knock Out said with a shallow little bow. At the very least, he'd rather have this strange human with her strange abilities beside him than, say, behind his turned back. If that meant picking up a traveling companion, then so be it.

Straightening up, he glanced around them. Even with his superior vantage, one direction looked much like any other. Picking one at random, he gestured. "Shall we?"

[not_halfbaked]

(OOC: Looks like we're nearing the end of our plot thread and will be caught up with the chronological next one with Wing/ladyofdragons. ^_^)

Korra bowed deeply to Knock Out. "Pleasure's mine, great spirit."

It was kinda fun putting on airs, but she was genuinely grateful and pleased.

"Definitely!" Korra gleefully shouted, starting to run ahead. Going somewhere with a traveling companion sounded awesome right now.

[automobile_enthusiast]

[[Yup! I think we're probably safe to wrap it up in a tag or two!]]


Enthusiastic, wasn't she? Knock Out found that he couldn't begrudge her the energy, particularly not when he was so drained himself. Sure, it was a mental fatigue as much as physical, but fatigued he still was.

"Look alive up there!" he called as he followed after her, as quickly as he could on his damaged leg. "You ne ver know what a stranger's going to ambush you from atop a rock outcropping~."

[not_halfbaked]

"Got it!" Korra called back, slowing down some. A rush of paranoia returned, but she reminded herself it was common sense, really, not like the whole thing with Tarrlok had completely unnerved...except when it totally did.

No, no, she had to focus on the here and now and keep her mood up.

Speaking of possible strangers preparing an ambush, Korra looked over her shoulder, and asked Knock Out, "Have you seen others around here already? You're actually the first guy I've run into."

[automobile_enthusiast]

Composing his expression into careful solemnity, Knock Out nodded. "I actually woke up in, ah, close proximity with another... spirit," he said. "A soldier from the enemy faction. He's not alone, either-- he has at least two allies."

He paused for a moment, limping on slowly and considering how best to continue as he walked. "They ganged up on me," he said finally. "I'm lucky I escaped without serious injury."

[not_halfbaked]

Korra blinked. "'Factions?' What are you guys fighting over?"

The girl's mind went to Amon's rally. The spirits have chosen me.... Were the spirits taking up arms too, and involving Amon in that?

"Um, you're kinda limping, that seems like a serious injury to me...."

[automobile_enthusiast]

"Our home," he said simply. It wasn't... exactly true, not anymore, but he wasn't about to get into the intricacies of the Autobot/Decepticon conflict with some human who thought he was a spirit.

He glanced down at his injured leg and looked away again with a scowl. "Most of this is, ah, from an earlier conflict, actually. Before I found myself here."

[not_halfbaked]

Korra wanted to press him more on that, but bit her lip. It didn't sound like something he wanted to get into anymore, and she knew something about dropping the topic.

The girl continued to walk with her new companion in silence.

[automobile_enthusiast]

With her silence, his estimation of her rose considerably. Some people thought Knock Out a mindless gossip, but he was a mech who knew that silence could be just as valuable as words, and he appreciated it now.

So he walked on, eyes on the path ahead of them. Given how strange this place seemed to be, he was sure something would come up to fill the silence soon enough...


[[And I'd say we can wrap it there, so long as you don't object?]]