Oh crap. Your mind races as you glance between the just-arrived greenette and the ginger she's pointedly ignoring. How should you respond? Your first instinct is to be truthful; it's better to be honest after all, right? Plus, on kind of a selfish level, you're curious, and want to know what Elaine's take on the matter would be. Given they obviously know each other, she might be able to offer some extra insight… Or she might just be snippy and accuse Lynx of being a coward or whatever, right after you'd all convinced her otherwise. Besides, Lynx told you this in confidence; while you're not exactly the most tactful individual, even you can tell it would be incredibly rude to betray her trust like this. No, in this case, a policy of truth isn't necessarily the best way forward. With that decided, you let yourself relax, time seeming to resume like normal, as Elaine gives you an expectant look.
And it's only then that you realize you have no clue what to say instead.
"Well, we uh, we were just talking about..." You begin, as you cast about wildly for inspiration. "Something or other." Your eyes fall on Yelena, watching you flail with a mixture of bemusement and horror, and you seize on like a drowning woman. "Hey, Yelena, what were we talking about again?"
She freezes up, but quickly manages to put on a calm face before Elaine can notice. "Oh, we were just talking about all this delicious food." Glancing at the pumpkin pie on Elaine's plate with a touch of greed, she pulls off a corner of her scone and offers it. "Alexandra here has been making us trade bits of our pastries with each other, since she wanted to try as many flavors as possible." You give her a confused look, and she just subtly shrugs in response.
Elaine just raises an eyebrow, but dutifully uses her fork to divide up the tip of her pie slice. You find yourself appreciating your piece, a brief tease of sweetness in exchange for an equal grounding in tender savory for her. Yelena grins in victory as she receives her share, while Hatice seems much more reluctant to trade. Lynx, having already eaten her food, looks uncertain of what to do, but shrinks in on herself in embarrassed surprise when Elaine gives her a section anyway. For her part, the greenette simply wears a dispassionate expression and quickly gets back to her own food without comment.
With that done, you all settle back into an uncertain silence as you finish up eating. Lynx remains fairly cheerful despite Elaine's presence, but still subdued, keeping her head down. Hatice is back to ignoring everyone, while you and Yelena stare at each other awkwardly, you feeling as uncertain as she appears on whether or not to speak up again. At least the background chatter from everyone else means it's not as bad as it could be…
Thankfully, neither of you have to do anything as the older woman from earlier, Charlotte, comes by to collect your plates. "Oh, Elaine, dear!" she remarks, "So you're heading out there after all?" She seems honestly thrown off-balance by seeing her sitting with the rest of you. "I'm surprised your parents agreed to this."
Elaine simply nods, mouth slanted. "They aren't eager, but Lou talked to them." She grins a bit, shaking her head. "Well, maybe a little more than that. I thought mother would make her sleep out in the barn afterward!"
Charlotte chuckles, crossing her arms. "You really have a wonderful sister, and I hope you appreciate that. The way you two used to fight, I never thought I'd see this day."
Elaine smiles briefly, "Well, things do change, sometimes for the better." She abruptly casts an uncomfortable glance at the rest of you, and you pretend not to have been listening. "Anyway, we should probably get going soon…"
"Oh, I see how it is," Charlotte teases, winking at you. "Don't want auntie Charlotte to embarrass you in front of your new friends, huh? Fine, I'll leave you alone in a moment. Just wanted to ask if your trip to the city was successful?"
"Yep, got the dress ordered," Elaine confirmed, before casting another sideways glance. "And, uh… other supplies, procured just fine."
Charlotte nods with a maternal smile. "Alright, that's good to hear. I'm sure Louise will send you the date, but if you want me to do the same, I would be more than willing to. She's a wonderful girl, but she isn't necessarily the most reliable in that regard…"
"Ah, that's a fair point." the greenette chuckles, "Certainly couldn't hurt, so yes please. I wouldn't miss it for anything."
Charlotte laughs out loud, slapping her on the back before finally gathering up your plates. "You'd better not! Not even if there's another attack happening, god forbid." Sighing fondly, she adds in a calmer voice, "It really is wonderful to see how close you've grown. You be careful out there, got it? If you die, Louise will most certainly kill you, and I would be right in line behind her." Turning to you, she adds, "Anyway, don't mind this old woman anymore, I'll hand her back over to you four." Elaine just rolls her eyes as the baker takes her leave.
"Was she really your aunt?" You blurt out, and Yelena and Lynx both giggle, even Hatice poorly disguising a grin of amusement.
Elaine sighs in exasperation, watching Charlotte's greying pixie cut as it retreats among the other patrons. "Not actually, though she may as well be. Close friend of the family, that sort of thing. Anyway," She seems decidedly eager to change the topic, "It really is getting close to the meeting time, so let's gather our things and go."
You all do exactly that, piling out of the shop with luggage in tow, and heading down the road again toward the wall you saw earlier. With the lunch hour having passed there are fewer people around, and the rest of the walk goes much faster. As a result, it's not long before you arrive at the wall, and your destination.
Up close, it seems a bit taller than you expected at three full stories, while a wide archway tunnel leading through lets you see that it's actually quite thick, bright sunlight from the other end shining through a surprising stretch of darkness. Meanwhile, a pathway leads from the end of the street to the entrance, looping around a huge block of polished granite along the way. Presumably, this is the memorial part of the 'memorial gate' that got mentioned earlier. It's six-sided, about twice your height, and each side slants slightly inward, leaving the top tapered considerably compared to the base. Curiously, you step in closer, touching the cold polished rock and reading some of the names inscribed on the side. Viktor Kravets - Lucien Aurand - Ejder Yilmaz, and many many more.
"Alright, this is the spot," Elaine says, casually leaning against one of the other faces and interrupting your reverie. "Shouldn't be long before Victoria shows up…"
"Wait, you know who we're meeting?" You ask in surprise. You're pretty sure you were never told who to expect.
"I live here, remember," she says. "I watched the recruits head out last year, so I kind of know what to expect." Ah, that makes sense.
Nodding awkwardly, you take a seat on one of the benches facing the memorial, under the skinny branches of a young tree, and Yelena joins you. Lynx remains standing, watching the tunnel entrance expectantly, while Hatice crouches down on the far side of the slab, scanning names while trying and failing to look nonchalant. "They did this on purpose," she mutters, but sounds more weary than bitter.
"Hmm?" Elaine blinks, before looking over at the stone as if seeing it for the first time. "Right. A reminder of what we're fighting for and have already lost, and all that. I suppose I'm just used to it by now." She frowns at that, but shrugs it off.
Taking a second look from your new vantage point lets you see the big picture, and you notice each face has been divided into three parts. A narrow section near the top has only a handful of names, while a bigger section at the bottom contains several rows, but the biggest list by far takes up the middle. You also notice that while the top and bottom sections are fairly mixed, the middle portion is almost entirely filled with male names. It isn't hard to guess what this means, but you ask aloud anyway. "What's with the division here?"
Elaine tilts her head, frowning at you, then shrugs and nods, pointing at the bottom. "This was when Cauterets fell in '36," She then gestures at the middle section. "This was trying to hold them back from Barrason," And the ends with a simple nod at the top, "And that was when the line was broken again in '38."
You nod in understanding, looking back to that top row. Thinking back to the encounter on the beach, you shiver a bit at realizing just how easily you could have wound up among the names there…
"HELLOOO~, everyone!" Your existential mood is abruptly interrupted by a loud and cheery voice echoing down the tunnel entrance, and you give a startled jolt. A woman emerges from the entrance, flashing a bold smirk and clapping her hands together loudly as she looks over your group. You recognize her easily; out of the original pilots, Victoria Conley is the only one who's let her appearance remain public knowledge… though the monochrome newspaper photos you've seen all failed to do any sort of justice to her raw vibrance, you now realize. Her greenish-blue eyes seem to shine brightly all on their own, and her short mop of hair, transitioning naturally from red to orange and defying gravity to stick out in all directions, resembles a bonfire more than anything, illuminated by the bright sun overhead.
Adding to her loud presence is her rather… minimalistic… fashion sense. As much as you consider your own ensemble to be a bit daring, you're not entirely sure how she gets away with hers; you know your mother's made some disapproving comments sometimes when reading the newspaper. This time, she's got a sleeveless tailcoat and leather knee-high boots in a maroon shade somewhat brighter than yours, the coat hanging wide open to show off the black tank-top and terrifyingly short… shorts beneath. Her top leaves little to the imagination, somehow pulling an impressive amount of cleavage from even her small bust, while also cut high to show off her defined abs; meanwhile, the shorts are black denim, with dangling white threads and uneven hems that make you suspect they used to be longer. All the exposed skin simply serves to show off her tanned and athletic figure, with muscular runner's thighs and biceps that leave you feeling a bit faint, for some reason. You try to avert your gaze, but that proves to be a struggle.
And just as striking as all of that, though, is the way she moves - constantly. Hopping from foot to foot, or fidgeting with the key ring in her hand, she seems physically incapable of standing still; it seems like she's been struck by lightning and has to find some way to burn up all the excess energy. That, plus the way her freckles crinkle up from a charismatic grin, you can't help but feel pulled in. Resisting that energy would be futile, you feel; your only option is to come along for her wild ride and do your best to keep up. It's easy to understand, now, how she wound up being the face of the defense corps.
You finally force yourself to look away, feeling like you're snapping back to reality as you do so. Shaking your head a bit to clear it, you stand up and hold out a hand for Yelena, which she gratefully accepts. "Alright, girls," Victoria is saying, pacing around the memorial to give each of you the once-over as she does so, "You're the Advanced Service recruits, hmm? Welcome to the front! I'm sure I don't need to introduce myself, but I'd like your names, of course. Want to make sure I have the right people, after all!" She chuckles at her own joke, but before anyone can speak, she continues on, waving you toward the tunnel. "Come on now, this way!" You all exchange bewildered glances, before gathering your things and following her merrily retreating back. Hatice in particular looks distinctly unimpressed, raising a dubious eyebrow toward the redhead, while Elaine is the most relaxed, and you realize she's probably seen this before. Victoria's whistling now, the slightly off-key tones echoing weirdly through the dark space, and for you personally? In contrast to your excitement only moments ago, now you can't quite suppress a faint sensation of impending doom.
You're distracted from these thoughts as you reach the other end of the tunnel, however. Emerging out the other side, it feels like you've stepped into another world. While grass fields stretch out around you like on New Cauterets' side, the turf here is brown and unhealthy-looking, and you can spot pockmarks and craters beginning to interrupt the landscape not too far off from the wall. The sky is hazier, too, beginning subtly but growing denser and denser the further west you look, until it becomes an impenetrable wall of brown in the distance.
After letting you soak in the scene for a minute or so, Victoria claps her hands again, directing you all toward a vehicle parked nearby. While you're not a car expert, you think you recognize it as a... Studebaker? You know those were imported from overseas shortly before the barrier arrived, as your father had shown you one being offloaded after returning from what would wind up being his last proper trip. At any rate, while this one clearly falls more on the luxury end of the spectrum, with a convertible canopy (currently raised to protect the interior from all the dust in the air, you assume) and several rows of cushy seating, it also somehow seems more rugged than the cars you'd seen in the capital earlier. The wheels are wide and thick, raising the bottom high like the farmers' pickups in town, and with all the dust coating the outside, you quickly catch on to why it's being used out here.
Anyway. It doesn't take long to get seated, after some finangling with luggage; Victoria of course takes the wheel, with Elaine claiming the passenger-side front, while you and Yelena take the middle row, and Lynx and Hatice slip into the back. With a turn of the ignition, the engine roars to life, and you all set off across the dry landscape.
Said landscape quickly transitions from dying to outright barren, the craters growing bigger and more frequent until the grass is replaced entirely by coarse dirt, and the terrain becomes increasingly uneven. Victoria proves to be an expert navigator, weaving the car seamlessly through all of it; sometimes dipping into the shallow trenches as a road, sometimes skirting the edge of a crater and other times going directly down and across. Even as the haze presses in closer and closer, she seems familiar enough with the landscape to account for potential obstacles well before they fade into view.
Despite keeping her eyes firmly ahead, she still seems remarkably relaxed, only one hand on the wheel as she leans back in the driver's seat. "Sorry about the boring trip. Usually there's more to look at, but we haven't got much rain as of late, so the dust is a lot worse than usual." She's apparently oblivious to how the bumpy ride has left your knuckles turning white from clenching the door handle so hard, or to Yelena slumping woozily down in her seat. "Why don't you all tell me about yourselves," Victoria prompts, flashing a quick smile in the rearview mirror.
Hmm…
> Speak Up If she's listening to you instead of herself, she might just slow down a bit.
> Wait A Bit You'll introduce yourself, but you'd rather not be the first one to do so.
> Say Nothing You don't really want to talk to her; if anyone else does, that can be their problem.
> Something Else (Write-In/Other) You have something else on your mind, and now's as good a time as any to mention it.
Wanted to apologize (once again) for how long it took to get back to this. Hopefully next wait won't be so ridiculous; ideally at least within a month from now this time, right? XD Also wanted to thank my lovely editors for helping make this properly coherent, and helping me figure out some stuff regarding the direction I was struggling with. I'm really really grateful to you all. ^_^
