♕ 5th - video - The Sight

[skjalf]

[ there had been a point to her opening this channel. in light of the tragic losses they have suffered here, she has wanted to hold a dinner to celebrate the memory of those who have died and vanished. her mouth moves, but no words are produced. her face becomes deathly pale, her eyes wide and dilated as though in fear. but she has not seen a ghost. no, what she is seeing is something else entirely.

horrible images play before her, which only she might see. the blank look she sports is soon replaced with a one of complete and utter horror. ]

It is hot.. too hot to fight! The Dragon has come from across the sea to wage war against the Boar. Ah, the sun blinds the eyes!

[ she shudders, blinking her unfocused eyes. ] The field is an ocean of blood. I can barely hear over the din of it. The Dragon is swooping in, and his men roar behind him.

His Grace is brave to wear his crown to battle. He is winning.. standing alone in a field of dead, blood coursing over his boots. Ah, it is splendid and horrible!

[ once again, her face becomes a mask of pure terror, scrunching up while her eyes are too-wide for her face. ]

But here comes Lord Stanley! "For Tudor!" he calls. And His Grace has lost his horse. Treason, treason, treason!

[ and that seems to have snapped her out of it. still on camera, elizabeth exposes vulnerability for the first time to those aboard the ship at large, as she cannot control the violent shaking of her form or the tears that appear in her eyes. this is, unsurprisingly, a result of the nightmare she endured within the maze.

she cannot seem to speak for a long, long time. elizabeth covers her mouth with her hands to cover the fact that she is biting her lower lip so hard it is bleeding. and while she is able to finally get a few words out, it is muffled and quavering: ]

Forgive me.

[ she then abruptly ends the broadcast. ]

Comments

[skjalf]

I suppose. Though I have never seen anything good about it.

[ she would much rather forget it's there, tbh. much more preferable to being burned at the stake for being born a certain way. ]

[endureandsurvive]

But you can see the future. That means you can change it, right? That seems like a good thing.

[Kind of inherently shitty if it's all fields of dead bodies and blood everywhere - because, looks, she gets it. Lizzie is kind of...sensitive in a lot of ways, isn't she? But still, that's valuable information right there.]

[skjalf]

I cannot change the outcome of an entire battle.

[ valuable, yes. but she's already known that richard will die in battle. the thing is -- she isn't sure if telling him about it would be wise. if saving him, if saving either richard or henry would be best for her country.

she is tired of being a toy being fought over my men. ]

Unless I might somehow acquire my own army while possessing not the funds to pay them. Armies are by and large private in my country. Loyal to various nobles.

That was why my uncle was relying so much upon Lord Stanley.

[endureandsurvive]

Oh. [Well--] Still, it's good to know right? Then you can have a back up plan.

[gdi she's trying to be positive here, Lizzie.]

[skjalf]

A bloody date would have been handy. [ oh my, look at that! cursing. ]

I would have done with all of these men who want my father's throne. My brothers are dead.

Thus, it should.. [ LIGHTBULB MOMENT. ] it should fall to me.

[endureandsurvive]

[Is bloody a swear word these days? Man, they have got to teach you some actual adult language, Lizzie.]

So you'll be in charge. [There's a pitch of something like cheerfulness in her voice - feigned, maybe, but there anyway. Look, she's giving it a pretty good try.] Then you're set.

[skjalf]

Not unless Henry Tudor were also to die. [ she sighs quietly. ]

Truly, I appreciate your optimism, Ellie. But nothing is ever so simple.

[endureandsurvive]

[There's a short sound - somewhere, Ellie opens her mouth, starts to say something, and then shuts her teeth around it. After a moment, awkwardly:]

Sorry, I guess.

[skjalf]

Do not be, please. [ she is also silent for some time, and then ventures quietly: ]

Would you mind joining me here? I wish to read or talk or.. do anything which will help me forget.

[endureandsurvive]

I-- [She wants to say no by instinct or default, but she stops herself. Sets her teeth with a small click that the comm may or may not pick up at all. Then:]

Sure, okay. Where, uh, are you exactly?

[skjalf]

The library on the 28th floor, for the moment. But we can go wherever you'd like.

( it's the company she's after, really. )

[endureandsurvive]

Let's go to the gardens.

[Simple enough, right? Besides there were trees and flowers and shit there; medieval times seemed to like that kind of thing.]

[skjalf]

Very well.

( she closes her comm and leaves the library straight-away, intent upon meeting up with her at the entrance. )

action;

[endureandsurvive]

[True to her word, fifteen minutes later Ellie comes up through the corridor to the Oxygen Gardens and finds Lizzie just there at the entrance. She's evidently unarmed (not so: there's a knife in her pocket, but whatever), and seems slightly skittish in the moment before she catches sight of the older girl. And then whatever's drawn taut in her smooths and she lifts her hand, waves.]

Hey.

action;

[skjalf]

( elizabeth yet appears to be shaken, and her eyes are red and swollen from her breakdown earlier. she nods to ellie, glad to see her. though she cannot manage more than a small smile. )

Good eve.

[endureandsurvive]

[She's not good at this - the whole comfort thing. Which is weird, right? She kind of feels like she used to be way better and this shit. But here she is, weirdly dancing around the whole idea.]

There's some awesome trees on level three if you like that kind of thing.

[skjalf]

( she inclines her head in acquiescence. )

I should like to sit beneath them with you.

[endureandsurvive]

[Ellie nods in return, crossing her arms a little awkward across her chest and tucking her hands in under them as she shifts away and changes tack - leading Lizzie up toward the ramps that twist their way up through the levels of the garden. It's easy walking and she doesn't say much, just powers on through the tall grass and the shorter moss.

She knows a lot of the shit that leaves her mouth doesn't make Lizzie happy, but at the end of the day, she doesn't really know what kind of conversation the older girl likes.]

[skjalf]

( elizabeth follows ellie quietly, a prisoner of her own thoughts as much as the other girl while they walk up to the third level. her fingers trail idly against the blades of long grass as they pass by, and the silence seems to deepen and hang between them.

she has long-since become used to ellie's colourful vocabulary, so there is truly no need to worry about offending her. but if they stop, as it seems they have, then she will say nothing at all, and simply step forward to embrace ellie. )

[endureandsurvive]

[Hugs are-- it's not that she doesn't remember the last time someone hugged her, it's more like she knows exactly when it happened down to the hour, to the feeling of it, down to the sensation. Ellie stiffens under the contact, freezing up like Lizzie's struck her instead of embraced her. She doesn't know what to do with her hands, where to put her face or which direction she's suppose to turn. So instead she just stands awkwardly, arms at her sides, and feels increasingly like an idiot for every microsecond that passes.]

[skjalf]

( it doesn't last long, because ellie is clearly uncomfortable. elizabeth steps back, slackening the hold her arms have on the other girl and glances away. )

Apologies. ( instead, she'll move forward to continue their ascent. )

[endureandsurvive]

[Ellie bristles, opens her mouth and rocks forward onto her toes by a few paltry degrees. Lizzie doesn't have to apologize. It hadn't been bad, just--] No, it's-- [Different. Weird. Suddenly leaves her feeling lonely and more awkward when Lizzie's pulled away and started to head up again.

Ellie closes her mouth with an absent click of her teeth. She lapses into silence for a solid minute as they move up the ramp, worrying at the inside of her cheek with her teeth. Right. Trees.

She cuts ahead again, lengthening her stride to pull out in front of the other girl as they reach one of the upper levels.] Come on, they're over here.

[It's overgrown here, not used for agricultural growth so much as it is simple oxygen production: large leafed foliage and tall, ropey looking trees. Ellie makes a path through it all with the air of someone who's been through it before.]

[skjalf]

( she doesn't pause, but does turn her head to glance at her for the duration of several seconds before she turns her gaze back to the path ahead. no, she'd said. so what had she meant? despite herself, she wonders. really, she would just let it lie and not push her friend further than her boundaries seem to have been so clearly drawn. yet she prefers to be close to people she cares about, if she can be.

ellie cuts ahead quite abruptly, and she blinks, her hand poised in the air for a moment before picking up the hem of her skirts and jogging forward several paces to gain the ground she's lost. when once again she finds herself side-by-side with her, she turns to ask: )

What were you going to say? ( usually, she doesn't deign to pry; but today she is so tired, and merely wishes to be close to someone. so she will ask, and if she is rebuked, she will apologize and leave it alone.

silence hangs archly between them, until they reach their destination. elizabeth gazes at the sight of the trees before her with the makings of a small smile upon her face, before she finds herself playing catch-up once again with ellie. where are they going? now, her curiosity is completely engaged. )

[endureandsurvive]

[She's not really expecting it to come up again - they'll both pretend like nothing happened, they'll check out some weird space plants, it'll be fine. Whatever, right? Instead Lizzie-- picks. And Ellie doesn't really know what exactly she was going to say in the first place, much less now, so it's impossible to give her anything like a straight answer.

Instead she shoots her a sidelong glance, shrugging as she climbs over some densely twisted roots.] Careful. [Muttered. Seriously Lizzie, get some pants or something girl.] I don't know. Just, I mean, that it's fine or whatever. Sorry.

[She makes a vague gesture between the two of them, as if that awkward collection of words and hand motions really means anything.]

[skjalf]

I shall be. ( elizabeth picks up the hem of her skirts and picks her way industriously through the roots behind ellie. for shame, she shall never don a pair of pants in her opinion. not because breeches are for men, but because they appear terribly uncomfortable. though perhaps not as much so as a tightly-laced gown, she could concede.

through the hike, she remains silent, waiting on ellie to answer her query. when she finally does, she finds herself smiling slightly. )

Very well.

( having just been given permission by way of ellie's gesture, she moves forward to embrace her again, though far more lightly this time. as if the other girl is fashioned from glass. )