The first few days are a definite adjustment. Their new home away from home has obvious flaws. Five doesn't really care about rats or creaky floors. He's survived in less sanitary conditions, on less food and poorer excuses for shelter, so that's not really an issue. But the more time he spends here, the more he can understand why it was abandoned. There's the unnaturally aggressive wolves who already tried to attack him, there's the voices that he himself has nearly succumbed to at night, and other looming threats he's yet to encounter but feels uniquely exposed to.
Aside from that, the farm also has one considerable up side.
His sister took to the farm quicker than he ever would have expected, what with the pretty horrifying circumstances he managed to suck her into. He thinks she might be in denial, but right now that's not really a bad thing. Keeping Vanya calm is crucial to their collective survival. And seeing her at relative peace... he doesn't want to take that away from her with his paranoid (if legitimate) concerns.
He's not ignorant to the fact that the stress of an unsolvable dilemma has been making him act rashly, and that it wouldn't hurt to take a cue from Vanya. This isn't a time to relax, but even he needs to take a breather now and then. While everyone seemed intent on fixing up the building or tending to livestock, Five spends his time rifling through it. Quickly he concludes that their supplies are inadequate. One would think any possibly-haunted farmhouse would at least have some dusty cellar filled with alcohol, but no. It appears it was either already claimed, or long since spent. Evidently he was going to have to make another trip to the market. It's a shame it's too far to teleport.
There's two problems. One, even if this place seems to be lost in time, it still seems to have an issue with letting him purchase his own alcohol. Not to mention that his face is starting to be more well known, so he'd most likely be relying on his ability again once he got there. The second issue being that he doesn't really want to leave Vanya to her own devises after catching wind of what she's been up to.
Nevertheless, he makes a list of items he sees them lacking and does some quick math to tally the cost. Unlike the rest of them, he's not terribly concerned about running out of coin any time soon. Everyone seems so eager to help, they'd probably enjoy the errand. Rather than seek anyone out, he sits on the kitchen counter and waits for someone to pass by. If he gives them money and the list, something extra for their trouble, he doesn't see why it would pose a problem.
B. the more that you need it
Things were so much simpler when Five could narrow down a problem to a simple matter of killing the right person.
Alone in a quiet dining room, desperate for a cup of coffee, he rubs his face in hands while he idly considers the idea. He doesn't like to kill, had all but sworn off it except when necessary, but he can't help the fact that he's well trained at a particular brand of problem solving. They'd already proven that for all their efforts to stay discrete, there's a certain benefit to gaining some amount of attention. No matter what anyone says, he doesn't regret that taking bold action had attracted the ship where he found his sister. The rest of his siblings could be carted off in similar conditions. Since finding all of them is paramount to getting them back home, he can't very well sit idly.
The natural problem is that he doesn't know the future, or understand enough to correctly predict what could alter it. He has the means to find out, but between the dangers of removing himself from the timeline and the crippling uncertainty of going back, he can't justify it. (Unless he can manage to fix a certain broken time-traveling briefcase.) Their present, the present where he found his sister, needs to remain somewhat intact. That doesn't prevent him from making an educated guess on the path ahead, and examining the variables that could impact it.
For the sake of distraction, or just to get his mind working on something familiar, he starts to map out the effects of what various murders at a certain point in time would have on their situation, based on various probable futures. There's Torsten, who (he was repeatedly--patronizingly--told) could draw attention of the merchant guilds, almost assuredly by his death. There are lesser players, like that... miner. Gorm. Easier to find and take care of, but he needs to make more observations to see if it would draw out Anurr's forces or just rally his cultish supporters. His consideration hinges on the idea that escalating a conflict would improve the odds of more captives showing up to deal with the threat. Risky, but even a desperate option is worth considering when it could get him closer to his goal. Then of course there's moving beyond the obvious. Who has ties to who. He takes extensive notes, so it's just good sense that he make use of them.
He spends the next hour following his little thought experiment down different avenues. None of it sounds like a breakthrough, but even with the imperfect math, there's something satisfying about working the equations and solving things the way he used to before he was so concerned about undead armies. When the death of an unsuspecting gardener could possibly avert an apocalypse. The threat now is less definitively impending, which complicates matters. If he does find his siblings and they were beyond his help, he already knows he'd be forced to take a jump back in time and undo the whole thing. Hope he doesn't jump too far and start from scratch. And that's a last resort he doesn't want to have to use unless the world really is ending again.
Five realizes a bit late that he started writing on the table when he ran out of paper. Of course, he's confident that nobody but him would understand his handiwork, but he should probably cover it with a tablecloth just in case. He sighs as he gets up to see what he can find.
C. I know you'll be by my side
Five has learned enough to only go into the forest during the day. Whatever happens out here at night, he doesn't want to get wrapped up in it. Not when he's witnessed the effects these unseen forces have on the mind. It makes more sense to investigate when it's light out and things are less unpredictable. It has absolutely nothing to do with needing to get away from the group for a while. He's always surrounded by people these days, but that's no need for them to get too familiar.
He's acutely aware of how warm his blazer is the further he walks, and it reminds him.
Not far out from the farm, he's seen the signs that his sister has been using her powers. The clearing he passes makes that very apparent. On the one hand, it's good to know she's training. On the other... well, he'd feel better if he were around for these things. He makes a note to tell her as much.
Though it does bring up a point. Shouldn't he be doing the same? Back in 1963 he'd managed to go back in time a few seconds, successfully, and ever since he's been too afraid to see if he can replicate the phenomenon. With practice, maybe it would get easier. Like training an unused muscle. If his father were here, and if he really were thirteen and subject to his devices, he's positive he'd already be running untold tests on him until he mastered it. Or he'd simply wait for him to fail so he can tell him that he still wasn't ready.
The wolves are easy to spot in the open area, but it's the beings beyond them that get his attention. Movement of creatures that definitely aren't the same as the wolves, but that he can't completely make out. This time he doesn't run, knowing he can teleport past the pack as needed.
"Hello there. Do you talk?" He's loud enough for his voice to carry, and the wolves seem to snap to attention. He pays them no mind even as they predictably begin to circle. "Are they yours? If you want us to leave, you could always try asking."
Has anyone gotten an answer from these things? Well. It's worth a shot.
ooc: action spam or prose idc /slams this fanfic down eight years later
no subject
The first few days are a definite adjustment. Their new home away from home has obvious flaws. Five doesn't really care about rats or creaky floors. He's survived in less sanitary conditions, on less food and poorer excuses for shelter, so that's not really an issue. But the more time he spends here, the more he can understand why it was abandoned. There's the unnaturally aggressive wolves who already tried to attack him, there's the voices that he himself has nearly succumbed to at night, and other looming threats he's yet to encounter but feels uniquely exposed to.
Aside from that, the farm also has one considerable up side.
His sister took to the farm quicker than he ever would have expected, what with the pretty horrifying circumstances he managed to suck her into. He thinks she might be in denial, but right now that's not really a bad thing. Keeping Vanya calm is crucial to their collective survival. And seeing her at relative peace... he doesn't want to take that away from her with his paranoid (if legitimate) concerns.
He's not ignorant to the fact that the stress of an unsolvable dilemma has been making him act rashly, and that it wouldn't hurt to take a cue from Vanya. This isn't a time to relax, but even he needs to take a breather now and then. While everyone seemed intent on fixing up the building or tending to livestock, Five spends his time rifling through it. Quickly he concludes that their supplies are inadequate. One would think any possibly-haunted farmhouse would at least have some dusty cellar filled with alcohol, but no. It appears it was either already claimed, or long since spent. Evidently he was going to have to make another trip to the market. It's a shame it's too far to teleport.
There's two problems. One, even if this place seems to be lost in time, it still seems to have an issue with letting him purchase his own alcohol. Not to mention that his face is starting to be more well known, so he'd most likely be relying on his ability again once he got there. The second issue being that he doesn't really want to leave Vanya to her own devises after catching wind of what she's been up to.
Nevertheless, he makes a list of items he sees them lacking and does some quick math to tally the cost. Unlike the rest of them, he's not terribly concerned about running out of coin any time soon. Everyone seems so eager to help, they'd probably enjoy the errand. Rather than seek anyone out, he sits on the kitchen counter and waits for someone to pass by. If he gives them money and the list, something extra for their trouble, he doesn't see why it would pose a problem.
B. the more that you need it
Things were so much simpler when Five could narrow down a problem to a simple matter of killing the right person.
Alone in a quiet dining room, desperate for a cup of coffee, he rubs his face in hands while he idly considers the idea. He doesn't like to kill, had all but sworn off it except when necessary, but he can't help the fact that he's well trained at a particular brand of problem solving. They'd already proven that for all their efforts to stay discrete, there's a certain benefit to gaining some amount of attention. No matter what anyone says, he doesn't regret that taking bold action had attracted the ship where he found his sister. The rest of his siblings could be carted off in similar conditions. Since finding all of them is paramount to getting them back home, he can't very well sit idly.
The natural problem is that he doesn't know the future, or understand enough to correctly predict what could alter it. He has the means to find out, but between the dangers of removing himself from the timeline and the crippling uncertainty of going back, he can't justify it. (Unless he can manage to fix a certain broken time-traveling briefcase.) Their present, the present where he found his sister, needs to remain somewhat intact. That doesn't prevent him from making an educated guess on the path ahead, and examining the variables that could impact it.
For the sake of distraction, or just to get his mind working on something familiar, he starts to map out the effects of what various murders at a certain point in time would have on their situation, based on various probable futures. There's Torsten, who (he was repeatedly--patronizingly--told) could draw attention of the merchant guilds, almost assuredly by his death. There are lesser players, like that... miner. Gorm. Easier to find and take care of, but he needs to make more observations to see if it would draw out Anurr's forces or just rally his cultish supporters. His consideration hinges on the idea that escalating a conflict would improve the odds of more captives showing up to deal with the threat. Risky, but even a desperate option is worth considering when it could get him closer to his goal. Then of course there's moving beyond the obvious. Who has ties to who. He takes extensive notes, so it's just good sense that he make use of them.
He spends the next hour following his little thought experiment down different avenues. None of it sounds like a breakthrough, but even with the imperfect math, there's something satisfying about working the equations and solving things the way he used to before he was so concerned about undead armies. When the death of an unsuspecting gardener could possibly avert an apocalypse. The threat now is less definitively impending, which complicates matters. If he does find his siblings and they were beyond his help, he already knows he'd be forced to take a jump back in time and undo the whole thing. Hope he doesn't jump too far and start from scratch. And that's a last resort he doesn't want to have to use unless the world really is ending again.
Five realizes a bit late that he started writing on the table when he ran out of paper. Of course, he's confident that nobody but him would understand his handiwork, but he should probably cover it with a tablecloth just in case. He sighs as he gets up to see what he can find.
C. I know you'll be by my side
Five has learned enough to only go into the forest during the day. Whatever happens out here at night, he doesn't want to get wrapped up in it. Not when he's witnessed the effects these unseen forces have on the mind. It makes more sense to investigate when it's light out and things are less unpredictable. It has absolutely nothing to do with needing to get away from the group for a while. He's always surrounded by people these days, but that's no need for them to get too familiar.
He's acutely aware of how warm his blazer is the further he walks, and it reminds him.
Not far out from the farm, he's seen the signs that his sister has been using her powers. The clearing he passes makes that very apparent. On the one hand, it's good to know she's training. On the other... well, he'd feel better if he were around for these things. He makes a note to tell her as much.
Though it does bring up a point. Shouldn't he be doing the same? Back in 1963 he'd managed to go back in time a few seconds, successfully, and ever since he's been too afraid to see if he can replicate the phenomenon. With practice, maybe it would get easier. Like training an unused muscle. If his father were here, and if he really were thirteen and subject to his devices, he's positive he'd already be running untold tests on him until he mastered it. Or he'd simply wait for him to fail so he can tell him that he still wasn't ready.
The wolves are easy to spot in the open area, but it's the beings beyond them that get his attention. Movement of creatures that definitely aren't the same as the wolves, but that he can't completely make out. This time he doesn't run, knowing he can teleport past the pack as needed.
"Hello there. Do you talk?" He's loud enough for his voice to carry, and the wolves seem to snap to attention. He pays them no mind even as they predictably begin to circle. "Are they yours? If you want us to leave, you could always try asking."
Has anyone gotten an answer from these things? Well. It's worth a shot.
ooc: action spam or prose idc /slams this fanfic down eight years later