ota

[unhappy]

Prologue?
[ One single word could change a life forever. Emerald's choice was between yes or no, and this Emerald? This one had said no. She knew better than to trust someone promising everything would get better as long as she said yes. It was a dangerous game, and it was one that too many street kids fell into and were never seen again. So she said no.

Life had gone on. She'd continued living on the streets, surviving, but only just. She'd had to run- no one said no to Cinder, after all, and if she stayed where she was, there'd be no way she would've gone without being found. But no one else could literally disappear from a person's vision if they needed to. It wasn't easy, but she'd made it. She'd used the money she'd got selling the ring for a hot meal and a ticket on a ship, ended up in another kingdom- in Vale. The story stayed the same, though how it played out had been considerably different without Emerald. But when you were dealing with someone like Salem, the end goal was what mattered, not how they got there.

Emerald had made it to Vale and remained, as ever, a street rat. There was little else she knew how to do, and no amount of believing in herself was going to account for the fact that she looked like scrawny riff-raff with no real talents besides not having the courtesy to die so she'd at least make a meal for some stray animals. But she survived, as always, and she kept trying until trying just seemed like a waste.

Emerald hadn't been watching the tournament when it happened- her first warning had been screams, then the screeches of the Grimm. Emerald ran. There was no one she had to check on, no one she had to protect, and no one who would protect her or notice if she was gone. She'd shot a couple of Grimm and incidentally saved some people, but it was more because they were in her way. Because if they came after her next, it'd be a problem. Then the dragon rose, and no amount of running could stop the carnage when Grimm were birthed steps away from where you'd been about to step. She had never trained with Cinder and Mercury. She could survive the streets of a kingdom, but this? This wasn't something you could learn to deal with on the streets. She ran again, this time into an old bar. The TV was still running, and she finally heard the voice- it was that woman, the one in the alley. Had this been what she had intended for her to be a part of?

It would've saved her life, she found out in her last moments, as a gun struck her back. A member of the White Fang, just shooting humans as they retreated. Emerald cried out and fell to her knees, the sound attracting a Grimm. Emerald was still alive when the griffon came, picked her up and shook her around like a cat toying with a rat and she wasn't sure if her neck had broken from it or what had happened exactly, but her vision went black at that point.

She'd woken up in Genessia, a place rather like a fever dream in her opinion. She still wasn't convinced it wasn't some version of the afterlife, after realizing that there were so many people who were present in Vale that day here. They could delude themselves as much as they wanted, just because they didn't remember dying doesn't mean it hadn't happened- especially if they were missing memories. Emerald didn't tell most of them that she was even from Remnant- what would the point have been? They weren't friends, and she'd rather not wait for them to turn on her like everyone else in her life had. Then that Mercury kid- the one who'd helped Cinder, ended up City Guardian, and it just affirmed one thing in her mind: there are no winners if you care what happens. The bad people ended up being lauded as protectors, the good people were painted as traitors, and in Genessia none of that mattered because it didn't matter what made you who you were, as long as you could play it up like you were something else.

If a murderer could be the city's hero, Emerald could be more. But she also remembered what that different choice could've made her- a part of that massacre, someone who had worked to cause it. She didn't want to be that person either, and maybe if she just stayed quiet...

Better the devil you know, isn't that how it goes?

So Emerald made a point not to make friends, not to get involved in anything. There were still people who had ended up knowing her, people she had spoken to- she'd needed to, to get by. ]

A. Action, Nova City, Day One
[ The streets which were very, very cold now and the old, abandoned building she'd been staying in had finally collapsed on itself, which meant the piles of blankets she'd been collecting were soaked from the snow and buried in debris. And Emerald was wandering the streets with nothing but an old jacket she might've grabbed from a homeless shelter over her tank and pants. It was getting dark and the temperature was dropping even further. Everglade had shelters, but it was too far. Her toes her were numbing, her face was already there. She'd tried to take cover in a coffee shop for a few minutes, but since it'd been a bit since she'd actually been able to really wash her clothing, it wasn't too long before she was asked to leave despite the snow. Her presence was bothering the other customers. One of the customers bought her a hot cocoa at least, feeling bad that she was getting booted into the freezing cold (but not bad enough to actually offer shelter). At least it warmed her a little.

Old Man Tanners probably had an abandoned car or two. She couldn't even remember why the hell she was in Nova City that day, but at least that was close enough and she could. Em finished off the small cocoa and started heading in that direction, limping a little as her foot started to tingle from the numbness. ]

B. Text, Anon, Day One
How do you hotwire a car? I want to turn the heat on.


C. Action, Attleton, Day Three
[ The farmers' market had moved indoors, but it was honestly the easiest way to grab a bite to eat. They didn't have the greatest security when it was just a bunch of vendors with their food piled high for the taking. Emerald even looked like a regular shopper, a reusable bag wrapped around her arm that she'd nicked from some cranky soccer mom earlier that day.

She stood right in front of one of the vendors, staring at him as she slowly placed a few fruits in her bag, then reached for a baguette and took a bite of it before slowly backing away, her eyes locked on the vendor, who didn't seem to notice until some jackass shouted from behind her

"Are you just gonna let her take that? I want one too!"

She started, the bag dropping to the floor and the fruits rolling out. She groaned and rolled her eyes, almost dropping the bread before catching it and running. One of the security guards is chasing after her until a very oddly-faced Pansage (.___.) trips him, then hops onto her shoulder and turns into a pink blob. Gotta keep one jump ahead of the lawman, etc. etc. They're outta here. ]

OOC Note
[ If you have something you wanna do with Em just give me a heads up. I'll be replying with the journal mintchip to all threads so I can use street!Em icons. :D ]

Comments

Anon

[blindpuppet]

Hot Wiring a Car:

Get down under the dash, right under the steering column and pop off the plastic cover that hides the wires. There are three main bundles of wires. The column-mounted control on the left, the right-side stalk controls and the steering column itself. You'll need the steering column to hot wire the car.

The red wire is to the battery. The starter is usually yellow; it depends on the car. The last wire there should be white and that's the ignition.

You usually have to watch out for lock pins or lock bolts. They're protections from hot wiring a car. To get heat it shouldn't be a problem. If you want to drive the car you'll have to remove both the steering lock bolt and the lock pins within the wire controls.

What you want to do from here is easy. Cut away a small bit of the casing/insulation of the battery wire, the ignition clip wire. Do not cut the wires fully. It'd be easier if you have a metal piece to clip to them to increase the area of the wire but if you don't you can do it without.

Then take the stripped battery wire and the stripped ignition wire and hold them together. You should see the usual dash lights come on. After that touch the stripped starter wire to the junction of the other two wires. The starter motor should crank, and the engine should turn over.

It might spark.

Finally, remove the starter other two wires and the engine should keep running.

anon text forever this thread

[mintchip]

Sounds like you've done this a lot or you're reading off an instruction manual. Guess I don't care as long as it works.

Can I strip the wire with anything or is it going to electrocute me if I'm holding something that's metal the whole way through.

anon text forever this thread

[blindpuppet]

Both.

I learned about lock bolts the hard way. It's a lot easier to turn over an engine than it is to release the wheel. With older model cars his isn't a problem.

It might shock you but it won't hurt. If you're grounded you most likely won't feel anything. If you're worried than wrap something around the place where you hold the metal.

[mintchip]

[ She doesn't respond for a few minutes, trying to follow anon's instructions for the time being. Once she gets it on and turns on the heat, she pulls at face. It clearly hadn't been turned on in a while and didn't smell great- but it was warm. ]

Thanks. Anon might've just saved my life. At least my feet.

[blindpuppet]

Np.

It's nice to know I still remember how.

[unhappy]

Feels like the kind of thing you wouldn't want to forget for emergencies.

[blindpuppet]

I sometimes don't have a choice in what I forget, less so here, but yes.
It's not something I think anyone would actively want to forget.

C.

[aurabble]

[Jaune hadn't had any particular reason for going to the farmer's market, other than jail sucked and he was bored. He didn't particularly like fresh fruits or veggies, but he did like baked bread and well...if he didn't have to pay for the food, maybe he could use it on a pizza or something. He hadn't made any plans. Hadn't really made any since Salem had stopped giving him instructions. It wasn't that he couldn't think for himself, but everything was different here. He was outnumbered, hell, Mercury had become one of the good guys.

He still caused trouble. Just not enough to draw too much attention to himself. But someone else was doing a very good job of doing that for him. Using the distraction, he took a weird looking fruit covered in spikes, ignoring the "Hey! Can someone stop him?!" from behind him and slid it in his pocket, hands pocketed as he just took his time following the chaos. The description matched. He remembered the stories of the one person who had been brave enough to tell Cinder no. Some green haired street rat, Tyrian wouldn't shut the fuck up about the incident. And somehow she had ended up here, over her head. Jaune didn't particularly care if Emerald lived or died here, but if there was one thing he hated, it was the strong ganging up on the weak.

Fortunately for him, he was stronger.

A few of those security guards go flying, paralyzed or in even worse shape as Jaune directs the lighting dust in their direction.

And then he uses those few seconds to chase after Emerald himself.]

[mintchip]

[ She'd seen Jaune around Genessia a couple of times, but she hadn't really known him. She didn't really know anything about the people from her world except that she tried to avoid them so she didn't get caught up in their mess. However, she didn't expect him to go after the security guards. For a brief moment she thought of it as little more than a distraction, long enough to spare a glance back at the grunts and realize he was following her now. Shit. Shit.

The people who weren't the law and wanted her usually didn't want something good. Emerald tucked the bread under her arm and broke into a fuller run. Jaune would have to be determined to catch her, or at least keep her from getting to a point where she could get the focus off of her for a moment enough to use her semblance and get away.

She did give him a cheeky little salute for getting the guards off of her ass before she turned to fully book it, though. ]

[aurabble]

[Emerald knew when to run. Good for her. For once, Jaune just wanted to talk, but he didn't expect her to know that. He blinked a few times at her sass, genuinely caught off guard, and scoffed to himself before running after her.]

Hang on! Stop running you...running person! [Yeah. That would show her. He vaulted over a busy security guard, punching them in the face as he landed and sprinted as fast as he could after her.

Thing is...he isn't much of a sprinter.]

[mintchip]

[ Running person. Well that was a good one. She's definitely not inclined to stop running. The main problem with that is that she doesn't really know where she's going, so if he doesn't fall too far behind he's going to catch her trying to jimmy open someone's back bathroom window so she can slip out of an alley and hide until she's sure he's gone. ]

[aurabble]

[He's determined to reach her. He even pulls some pseudo-parkour shit in his efforts. Barging in with no apology or explanation, he sees her just leave the bathroom window.]

Look, I'm not here to hurt you!

[And dives after her, luckily landing in a crouch rather than his face. Now where the hell did she disappear to...?]

[mintchip]

[ She didn't have enough time to navigate through the house without alerting the owners, if they were even home. The closet was the only real option to avoid getting caught by Jaune, so despite her best efforts to stay quiet, he might hear some very quiet breathing coming from it. ]

A

[captain_by_the_book]

[ Cassian had just finished up his business in Nova City and was on the way home when he caught sight of familiar green hair on the street - a rare sight even here in Nova, especially coming with Emerald's exact height and skin tone. It wasn't until he got closer, and got a good look at her tattered clothes and half-frozen looks.

That... didn't look like Emerald. He approached slower now, more hesitantly, until he finally got a good look at her face. ]

Emerald! [ His voice was sharp with command, albeit from worry rather than anger. ] What happened to you?

[mintchip]

[ Emerald was very intent on keeping a low profile, not really getting close to anyone, so when she heard the sharp voice, she immediately tensed up. Shoulders high, eyes sharpening with mistrust. She was aware of who he was, but without the experience of ever really.. socializing, not with Cinder or Mercury or anyone to trust, her memories with him don't cover much besides City Guardian, dates a robot, who cares. ]

Coffee shops don't like people without money.

[ As if that were an explanation. She wasn't really sure what the question was though- to her, she's the same person she's always been. ]

Someone else paid for the cocoa, I didn't do anything wrong and you're a little out of your way.

[ She's really hoping that's going to deter him from bothering her. No crimes here sir!! ]

[captain_by_the_book]

I never said that you stole the cocoa.

[ She was so skittish, so open about it in a way Cassian had never seen... except in regards to their friendship, maybe. But this girl was someone he barely recognised, and it hurt to see her like this.

He forced his face to gentle, to sound trustworthy, to just... be the Guardian, though he would rather shake her and demand answers. ]

You don't remember me, do you, Emerald? [ He already knew the answer, of course. This wasn't his Emerald. It still felt like the best way to open a conversation. ] I remember you. You... honestly, you look a fright.

[mintchip]

You're Attleton's Guardian, what else would I remember you as?

[ She rolled her eyes. If he looks closely enough, it's obvious she's shivering but she doesn't seem to want to draw attention to it. So she takes a sip of the hot chocolate. ]

I had to kill a man for this jacket, it's not that bad. [ She's not serious. She did sneak to the front of the line to get it before someone else could grab it, but it's definitely not anything worth killing over. Still "look a fright" is a bit dramatic. She looks like she always remembers looking, just colder. ] How do you know who I am?

[captain_by_the_book]

Because we used to be... [ Friends. Except she had said no to that. ] ...allies.

Or. We should be. You should know me. If you knew me, you would know that we are close.

[ And now he's giving himself a fright, thinking about it. What if she's not acting strange in the way several people are, what if the Emerald he knows has gone home and someone else has taken her place? He's always been told it's possible for people to return without memories, he just hasn't seen it yet. ]

You're shivering.

[mintchip]

[ That actually gets her to crack a smile. "You're shivering." That's the statement of the year. ]

It's like two degrees, let me go get my Hawaiian shirt and flip flops.

[ Guardian Obvious much? ]

I've lived through worse. [ Shelters were dangerous, she wasn't about to go find one even if it meant a warm place for the night. ] I don't have allies. Maybe the guy who owns the pawn shop up the road, but I wouldn't bet my life on it. If you knew me, you'd know that.

C

[captain_by_the_book]

[ The white-clad Imperial in his uniform, all military stiffness and commanding airs, was given a distinct bubble of space around him as he wandered the Attleton Food Market. When he caught people's eyes or stopped at a stall he could read the uncertainty in their eyes - they distrusted the stranger who had taken the place of their Guardian, much like the rebel's allies did. At least they, unlike K-2SO, weren't openly hostile.

It wasn't a patrol Cassian was engaging in, more observation for observation's sake - going through the motions so he could pretend he wasn't aimless.

The thief still caught his attention. Cheek and cleverness, it was a combination that could take you far in life, if you used it for better aims than petty thievery.

He just so happened to be nearby when her game was up and she came running in his direction. He made a grab for her arm, trying to yank her out of the way of her pursuers.]

Follow me if you don't want to be arrested.

[mintchip]

[ What was with this guy? She recognized his face- The Guardian who was bothering her the other day. Her free hand was already on her gun once her other was grabbed, eyes wide with fear. People didn't touch her, she didn't let them. That he'd practically sneaked up on her and yanked her out of the way already had freaked her out.

'if you don't want to be arrested'- what?

No one was going to help her if she didn't cooperate though- she pulled one of her revolvers out of its holster, careful to make sure he knew that she wasn't going down without firing shots if he tried anything suspect, but she didn't aim it at him yet. She could run later if she needed to. This man hadn't seemed harmful the other day, and even if she was visibly similar to a frightened cat in every way right now, she didn't directly argue. ]

What do you want?

[captain_by_the_book]

Must I want something? Other than to help someone out of trouble?

[ But even as he said it he realized it's too glib, too easy, and someone who looked as ragged as this girl won't trust kindness out of the goodness of your heart. People like her knew better, it's the comfortable people with comfortable lives you could lull in with false pleasantries.

He raised his hands in mock surrender, gaze dropping pointedly to her weapon. ]

There's no need for getting nasty. I saw an opportunity. I took it.

[mintchip]

The opportunity for what?

[ She didn't really see how she could be an opportunity in any way. She lowers the weapon, but doesn't put it away.

Apparently not saying thank you was a habit she was in long before the Cassian the regular her knows. ]

[captain_by_the_book]

An opportunity to make new acquaintances. Maybe to earn a favor.

[ He looked back the way they had come, catching sight of one of the market's security guards, obviously alerted by the grocer, coming their way. ]

Act like you've just been arrested. [ He hissed it in a low tone, his hand already going to be placed once more on her shoulder. ]

[mintchip]

[ Emerald had two choices here: cooperate and potentially get out of this situation, or cooperate and get arrested because he was just trying to make sure that she didn't get violent when he arrested her.

Or the third option: Make Cassian see her put her wrists behind her back six inches lower than she actually moved them. If he went to legitimately arrest her, at least the cuffs would be off and she could get away. With her back to the goons, they wouldn't be able to see if he actually put anything on or not. It was little, and it was a risk, but at this point she was surrounded. ]

I surrender.