[OPEN] The exact moment things went off the rails

[fuhrinkaed]

Who: Ed, Susan, YOU??
When: During TSI: Train Scene Investigation
Where: Somewhere along the tracks of the VIP train
What: Train Investigations
Rating: PG-13 at worst


[The job had seemed simple enough, 'just head out and look for some of the missing rail cars.' However, the battle had lasted for a while and the train was quite long--in the chaos several cars could have gone all over the place. With the wilderness around the area, it made finding everything a bit difficult.]

[After something like a whole lot of searching, though, there's a crater on the ground next to the tracks.]

[Ed's hand goes to his chin as he looks at it, then over towards the wilderness.]

Okay. I think maybe we should look around here this time.

Comments

[burnmydread]

Mm...

[ Interesting. So this guy is taking a clinical approach to it, huh? ]

That's probably for the best. [ He stands up, letting the scrap fall back down. ] People who get uneasy shouldn't be doing this job.

[fuhrinkaed]

Ah--ahah... yeah. I'll have time to be uneasy later, but out in the field you can't exactly let your guard down for anything. [He laughs awkwardly, using his staff as a prybar to force up a larger bit of rubble.]

If you do... well, it goes badly. [Oh--bother. He's being a total downer, isn't he? And he hasn't introduced himself yet! That's not how you friends, Ed.]

--I'm Ed, by the way. It's nice to meet you.

[burnmydread]

[ He doesn't see it so much as "being a downer", just being realistic. At least this guy is pragmatic enough to realize what he has to do and separate his own feelings from it. Minato's sometimes too good at that. There's a big difference between setting your feelings aside for a mission and just deciding not to care in general. But he's working on it.

He pauses at the introduction. ]

...Minato. You too. [ Given the circumstances.

He'll start descending from his current pile of rubble. There's a part that looks like a door that's caught his attention. ]

How long have you been here?

[fuhrinkaed]

Oh... a few weeks. I showed up the last time the sky broke open. [He picks up a shard of crystal from the ground and holds it up, letting the light filter through it.] Ah--I think I found a bit of mana crystal. [Neat! He pockets it and continues searching the immediate area, finding bits of shrapnel. A bomb..? Maybe if he finds the original casing...]

I've just had experience with this sort of thing. Er--from a long time ago, nothing you need to worry about.

[burnmydread]

[ Nothing he needs to worry about, huh? Sounds like a Social Link in the making. Minato assumes that he will eventually find out about it, so he doesn't push it. Not yet.

Minato comes to the large piece of shrapnel--yes, that's definitely a door. As he leans forward, he can make out some numbers along the side, though he's not sure what they mean. Pulling on it it a bit...suddenly it starts to move on its own. ]

...You might want to take a look at this.

[fuhrinkaed]

[He turns his head to the door, putting out his arm and holding it up as he slowly approaches. Something's alive, or else moving, and it could be a trap or it could be someone on either side--in need of help, or lying in wait.]

Oh frigid ice be ready, in case what's behind that door needs to suffer under the wrath of your frigid cut. [A crystal appears over his hand, lengthening out into a spike. He's ready to magically fling it.]

It's probably nothing... but better safe than sorry, right?

[burnmydread]

[ Minato eyes his current colleague and gives a nod of approval. It is definitely better to be safe than sorry. Minato waits for a moment, mentally counting to three, and...

When he pulls the door off, he find something he didn't expect--

--it's the cutest but largest white rabbit he's ever seen in his life. How in the world did that end up in there? ]

[fuhrinkaed]

[When they see the rabbit, the tension sort of just. Dies for a moment.]

[The ice melts, and drops onto his hand.]

I... guess it was nothing worth worrying about. It's a cute bunny, though. Think it'll let us pet it?

[burnmydread]

[ Minato is a little surprised as well, but... ]

...I guess.

[ He's a little reserved about the situation, though. ]

...Do you think it just climbed in there?

[ Wait... ]

...It's kind of dirty.

[ With red. ]

[fuhrinkaed]

Maybe... maybe it's a pet?

[He sees the red, and a bit of comprehension flickers in his eyes.]

Rabbits can't normally take a lot of damage. There might be someone wounded in there. [He carefully approaches the bunny, holding out a hand.]

It's okay. I won't hurt you. I just need you to move, okay? I won't hurt you...

[burnmydread]

[ The rabbit seems amicable to the attention and leans forward to sniff Ed's hand. Could there be someone down there? ]

...We should move the debris, then. If someone's down there. I thought they'd found most of the survivors.

[fuhrinkaed]

Yeah, you're right...

[He studies the construction of the debris, tapping a finger on his chin with a hmm as he goes.]

Oh, I know! Narcissa's specialty would come in handy here. Dear steel debris, please hear my pleas and move as needed 'til ground is ceded and we're where we're needed..!

[He guides a jutting bit of metal out of the debris to act as a pry bar to lever up the heaviest bit of itself as it grows little by little outward.]

Stalkopye!

[The end is much more blunt than the original spell, suited to acting as leverage rather than a weapon. Stealing and adapting the enemy's techniques to his own ends... That's Ed.]

[burnmydread]

[ Minato's eyes widen, a little surprised and a little impressed. ]

...Not bad.

[ He'll help out in his own way, too. Minato straightens and looks down at his hands. Slowly, dark magic spirals down from his shoulders to encase his arms, and then stretch out past his fingers. He's able to use the long tendrils of mana to whip the debris backwards. ]

[fuhrinkaed]

Y-yours is cooler. [He makes a mental note to try and get darkness magic to do something like that.] I'm mostly a gifted imitator is all.

[Still, between the two they can make headway on the debris to dig it up and find whatever's buried underneath there.]