Welcome To Your Life (Jailbreak Mingle)

[midpointmods]

You find yourself in jail. An old-fashioned, dusty jail: three cells wide, six foot to a side and below ground level, judging from the tiny barred window half a foot from the ceiling, that looks out onto a flat expanse. Shimmering heat waves are already starting to form, the sun already burning hot, but your cell is comfortably cool and dry.

And empty. The only things in your cell are a sturdy plank bench, chained to the wall like a hammock, a solid-looking pillow and a hairy blanket sitting thereon. Any items you might have had on your person are sitting on the wall opposite your cell, nearly four feet away from the iron bars holding you: propped up on wooden shelves, hanging from thick metal hooks, or sitting on the floor if the item is particularly large.

Outside the occasional jangle of leather and metal, and the occasional chuffing breigh suggests that there must be horses outside, but otherwise the area is silent. Before too long, though, there's the sound of footsteps and jangling keys echoing from upstairs, getting louder and clearer as someone makes their way down to you...

I. Sooey Jail

The view from the windows drops off quite suddenly, about a mile past the bare scrubland bushes and occasional screeching roadrunner. In the distance, a plume of smoke is the only sign of a freight train rushing along its tracks, until the faint echo of its whistle hits the ear. While Inara Serra will likely be entirely unimpressed by the lacking cell, Daylight vis Lornlit will find it's far too small for him. Bucky Barnes is near silent as he dismounts outside.

II. Southern Point

The walls of the cells here are distinctly discoloured to nearly five feet high, an ugly brown with black mold growing in the cracks around the benches and corners of the room. The air is musty and damp, in sharp contrast to the hot, dry wind that blows in through the windows. Quicksword Irene will find her ever-present claymore on the wrong side of the bars, but Hajime Aikawa has company behind his - Ryo has come along, too. The sound of Fuwa tying his horse up is interrupted by a sharp yelp of annoyance.

III. Mountain Hole

The windows are cast in shade in these morning hours, which makes the cells distinctly cooler than the glimpses of clear blue sky and rolling heat waves suggest. Fully grown trees with needle-like leaves are visible outside, and the keen might just hear the echo of a chugging train. Taako will no doubt find the scene familiar; Yoda as well, if less sandy than some oft complained about; Jiro Azuma is undoubtedly the most confused here. Rocket and Groot can be heard outside, approaching and bickering.

IV. Dead Man's Doorstep

The higher the sun rises, the warmer it gets in the cells; even before midday it's unspeakably stuffy, and the hot breeze carries light waves of sand into the cells. The sound of ropes creaking, gentle and intermittent, under the strain of something heavy echoes through the cells, adding a disconcerting background noise to the already alarming context. Jo Harvelle will find sand in her hair; Sara Lance finds it everywhere else. Outside, Misty Day and Sam Wilson tie their horses together, and brace for their new teammates.

Comments

[worthallthis]

[Also complicating the situation: multi-universe theory. Sam has already told them that his version of Soldat is alive and, if not well, at least aiming towards it, and reunited with Steve. So there may well be a pretty lady somewhere whose friends aren't worried.

Not likely anyone worried in Soldat's universe. Not after they killed Steve. S Soldat can say, after a moment of working past an unexpected lump in the throat,]

I hope so, too. For you. I'm sure you've got plenty of friends to worry.

[unofficial_ambassador]

Thank you.

[Inara’s quiet for a bit after that, twisting the hat back and forth in her hands. It's hard not to think about her friends back home or the ones on the world she’d just left.]

Do they tell you anything about us before you go to retrieve us?

[worthallthis]

No. All I get is one of these.

[They toss the hand-written note with instructions on it onto the desk for her to see. It reads simply: Please collect your teammates at Sooey Jail. Round 84 begins in 2 days. Good luck! While she examines that, Soldat collects a pistol for her and loads it up.]

Do you know how to shoot?

[unofficial_ambassador]

I was wondering whether you knew my name. Inara.

[Even the sight of the handgun, knowing it's for her, makes her vaguely nauseous. Good luck with this.]

I know the theory behind it. In practice I'm more of an archer.

[worthallthis]

Inara. It's nice to meet you. ... sort of nice. This isn't a nice situation.

[But she seems very kind. They look between her expression and the gun, frown a little.]

We can see if there's a bow and quiver when we get to town, maybe.

[They're still going to offer the gun to her, though, holding it by the barrel so she can take the stock.]

Until then, though.

[unofficial_ambassador]

[She takes the pistol as if she's grabbing a snake by the tail, but then looks it over with a little more confidence before shoving it into the pocket of her jacket.]

Thank you. Should I take some ammunition as well, or is that easy enough to acquire in town?

[worthallthis]

It's loaded, but if you want more, that's--

[They turn, picking up another shabby little box from the box they'd been at a minute before.]

--this. We'll see about a bow and arrow, though. Even if there isn't one today. There may be tomorrow. Or next week. Weird new things come in all the time.

[And he knows where some of the special vendors are, if nothing does come in.]

[unofficial_ambassador]

[She's not expecting to fire it, but she's definitely learned that in places like these you end up doing a lot of things that you weren't expecting.]

I used to compete when I was young, but I have used a bow of sorts in combat before.

[Once, and she had very nearly died doing it, but he doesn't need to know that.]

[worthallthis]

If we're very lucky. You won't need to fire anything on this mission, either. Might be able to be sneaky about it.

[They get a box of ammunition for themselves, too, tucking it into a pocket. For Inara, they fish a small satchel out of a box. She'll need that, too, if she wants to carry anything. That dress doesn't look like it has pockets.]

I've done a lot of these. Years worth. There's ways to do them without killing people, especially if the other team isn't smart.

[unofficial_ambassador]

[She’d mostly been planning on stuffing everything into her jacket pockets, so something a bit more inconspicuous is appreciated.]

If we’re the only team with new people, we might be the ones who aren't smart.

[worthallthis]

We won't be. There are three more teams. And five people left to collect newcomers from the jails. Think all four teams are going to have new people.

[Which is weird, in and of itself. That's not usually the case. This many people don't usually come in at once.]

[unofficial_ambassador]

Oh. So this could be a disaster on all fronts.

[Sorry, but it definitely sounds like people are going to die.]

[worthallthis]

[Yup, people probably are. That happens a lot around here. Soldat actually sounds kind of dry when they answer:]

I can only think of a handful of missions that weren't a disaster on all fronts. So. Probably this one, too.

[unofficial_ambassador]

Honestly, now that I'm thinking about it, almost every mission I know about even outside of this place has been a bit of a disaster. Maybe that's just how plans work.

[worthallthis]

I've had a few that went all right. But a lot of the time. Nah.

[And they've had a lot of missions before. Only the really simple ones ever go right.]

We'll manage. And if we don't. I have more points than anyone else, I can cover things for you until you get some. Not sure if there's enough points ever to get out of here, though.

[unofficial_ambassador]

If you get points for doing things they like, I can't imagine they'd want to let big earners go.

[worthallthis]

You get points for winning.

[And, well, they do win a lot.]

Though maybe you get more if you do it with flair or something. Sometimes losing teams get points if they lose in an entertaining way.

[unofficial_ambassador]

Most sports teams wouldn't trade away their top scoring players.

[worthallthis]

[Soldat knows nothing about sports, but they do know plenty about being a valuable asset. They sigh. (Someday I just want to be done. We'll figure something out.)]

That's sometime in the future, anyway. Right now, we just need to get through this mission. And introduce you to your horse while we wait for. The last one. Do you now how to ride?

[unofficial_ambassador]

[She looks down at her knee-length skirt and sighs heavily. This is probably going to be uncomfortable.]

I've done it before. Not in these conditions, I'm sure.

[worthallthis]

That's better than most people come here with. I'd never even been close to a horse when I got here.

[Soldat waves her outside with them, where the horses are waiting: two very large draft horses, and one very pretty black gelding of a much more normal size who is lipping his reins. All of them are tacked up and tied loosely to a wooden rail. This also shows some toothmarks.]

[unofficial_ambassador]

There were a few places on the planet where I used to live where vehicles were banned for environmental reasons, so you learned or you walked.

[She looks the horses over. Will the poor robot even be able to ride?]

Which one's yours?

[worthallthis]

[Yeah, they're wondering that, too. Daylight is pretty big, and pretty heavy. Soldat is pretty heavy, themselves, which is why the draft breed to carry them. They approach the bay mare and stroke her nose lightly.]

This lady here. She's patient with me. Also strong enough to carry me. Which takes some doing.

[unofficial_ambassador]

And this other large gentleman must be for our mechanical friend, which means this last one is for me. [She’s pretty sure the third horse present would collapse if Daylight even looked at him.

Inara approaches the horse and he immediately turns to nibble on the collar of her jacket. She barely avoids flinching in surprise at the sudden proximity of the horse's teeth to her face.] Oh!

[worthallthis]

[Probably collapse if Soldat looked at him, too. He's a pretty fellow, but not particularly sturdy-looking. Soldat twitches at her noise of surprise, turning and stepping towards her.]

Did he bite you?