[ORP] - A whole new world

[Sen Cross]

Sunlight. The first breeze of wind and the sounds carried by it ...
Ghost could only faintly remember them from their homeworld and the rare times he got to enjoy them during the war.
They hadn't planned to land - no, rather crash - on this planet, much less losing almost all of the ships data in the process, but it was a good place. It was his mission to find a suitable new homeworld for those that were placed in his care, and it seemed that he had succeeded.

Ushering the children out of the ship and onto the small clearing in front of them, he closed his eyes and searched his memory for the accurate term of the greenery that was surrounding it. Forest.
They had been travelling outer space for many centuries, and while the children had spend almost all the time in cold sleep, he had been awake navigating. Being anywhere other than the colony ships interior was ... strange.
He could see the glowing light of the force barrier far in the distance and nodded to the three children.

"Go ahead." he told them gently. "It looks as if fate has granted us our wish of a new homeworld. Take a look around, but come to me if you find anything strange or dangerous."  

[shyanimegrl]

Alery felt speechless at the moment and only nodded obediently as a reply to Ghost, blank for words as she tried to process everything that she felt was happening all at once and being added to with more events unfolding around her as seconds went by. The sun shone on her. Nature presented itself in front of her. The colony ship comforted her. Three individuals were beside her, two children like herself and a man who seemed to be protecting all three of them.

She had been caught between continuing her silent observations or venturing to ask questions from her fellow survivors earlier. However, the surprise of seeing the clearing and the hues of green and blue and other patches of colors before her, wiped her mind clean of all her thoughts in an instant, only to leave her in amazement. To awake to the sight of the ship's interior and then transition to the one she was beholding now so quickly, she found it all even hard to describe in her mind.

The first coherent thought she formed after her astonishment was to wonder why they'd left the ship so soon. She vaguely remembered just entering the ship not so long ago before falling asleep. How long did she sleep? These questions remained unsaid as her curious gaze scanned this place and she hadn't realized she'd taken several steps forward. This wasn't the same place she'd entered the ship from as the man just said? So, things are peaceful here? Her memories were unclear and in pieces.

She whimpered softly all of a sudden and crouched down as she brought her hands up to rub her eyes. Her eyes had started stinging a bit as they'd worked too quickly at adjusting from the level of brightness of the environment inside the colony ship to the outside's own brightness.  

[Sen Cross]

With a small sigh, Ghost walked over to the small girl, dropping to a knee in front of her. "Are you all right, little one?" He asked with an encouraging smile, unconsciously marvelling at the feel of the soft grass below his fingers. He should have known that the children would be confused. He was, at best. Confused, irritated and somewhat uncertain.
He was a fighter, a protector, no teacher, and he never had been a man of much words. Not even the twohundred and some years of travel that left him with enough time to study and train were enough to prepare him for this, and more than ever he wished for Aren, for anyone, to be here. But he was alone, and the children were his responsibility entirely. No matter how much his heart ached for his friends and companions, they were either dead or somewhere on other ships, far beyond his reach.

Ghost placed a gentle hand on the small girls - Alery, he remembered now - shoulder and beconed the two boys over to them. "I apologize." He said with a smile. "You must be confused, being taken onto a ship and placed into cold sleep only hours after your birth." They were the original Mother's last children, the last born on their war torn land of origin, before their creators and their homeworlds had been destroyed. They wouldn't know, but he remembered. It was the most vibrant memory left in his mind from all those centuries ago, the last day of the war that had left the skies on fire for hours.
They had not been able to take the two original Mother systems, as the system had always been stationary, and so they were destroyed along with the planets that housed them, right after Aren and his elite had collected the last three seeds from their hands, bidding farewell to their past once and for all.

"You have been sleeping for a long time. Many centuries as we have been travelling. I'm not sure if you have heard why we left, since you are so young. The world where we came from, those that created us sought to destroy us because they were afraid of us. There could not be peace between their kind and ours, so we had to fight for our survival. You are very lucky that you were born during the last day of the war, you were never forced to participate in it and I hope that you will never be forced to witness war on this world that fate has granted us. Our people split up and left for new worlds to colonize, to start a new life. Our leader and myself were the last to leave after collecting you from the ruins before the final destruction of our creators homeworlds."
He nodded at them, before raising his head to the brilliant blue sky, smiling.
"It is just you and me now, Alery, Soothe, Meridian ... our chance, our new purpose, to make this a better, a peaceful home for us and all our brothers and sisters to come."  

[chenabby]

Soothe creeped out behind Alery, and waited quietly as Ghost talked to her. He wasn't one for many words anyway, and he felt sleepy, as though he had slept far, far too long. Still though, he tried his best to understand and comprehend what Ghost was telling him and grasp the magnitude of the words; despite trying incredibly hard, he couldn't seem to grasp it at all. He looked over at Meridian and Alery, then Ghost again, hoping he was behaving correctly. It seemed to be a solemn moment, but Ghost was smiling, and Soothe could not help but be confused. He folded his hands up, listening more.

"W-what ..." He started, but he didn't have any words to finish it and be coherent, so he stopped. He just had no idea what to say in this new, bright world, where no one else was, when he had no memories of before the long sleep. He felt like a newborn and it was incredibly frustrating for him; he felt overwhelmed more than anything and he stumbled over his thoughts, clumsily. "What do we need to do?" He murmured, worrying his lip. Unable to help it, he creeped forward and hugged Ghost, hiding his face in the older man's arm for a moment before stepping back, chewing his lip quite nervously. "I - I want my brothers and sisters to be happy, after all," he mumbled, looking more interested in his feet than his three companions.

He looked past Ghost now, looking at the world, the place where they had landed and all that it contained. It looked pretty, peaceful, serene, and a breeze tickled his nose nicely. He liked this place already and he wanted more than anything to simply run and investigate everything but standing here, talking to Ghost and his other siblings, nagged at him as important, despite already being told he could go ahead. "A-And what can we do?" He bit his lip again.

If there was one thing, after all, that Soothe would never do, it was anger others if he had half a chance to not do it. "Can I help?" He added; he wanted to help more than anything, to be useful to Ghost.  

[Sen Cross]

Ghost ruffled Soothes firey hair affectionally as the child hugged him. "Don't worry." He said, trying his best to sound reassuring. Showing his own slight uneasyness wouldn't do good now. "The ship has enough reserves and supplies for months to come." It was true. Some of them would probably turn into adults by the time the ships storages would be empty, so there was enough time to settle down and build up a basic supply structure.
"You are still children. Let the adults worry about the hows and whats for now." Ghost told them with an encouraging smile. "If you want to help, I really appreciate it. Take a look around, explore, I know you are eager to."

Children were like that, at least that was how he remembered the children he knew back all those many centuries ago. They were eager to learn and discover all things unknown. That was how they were created, after all. Their natural curiosity was imprinted in every Genome childs genetic code, like a basic programming that ensured that they would learn all that they were supposed to know. But they were free now, and these children could decide for themselves what they were interested in and what they wanted to learn. Noone would force them to become soldiers, not if he could help it.

"If you go out and take a look around, tell me what you find. You don't have to be afraid. The force field will protect you, there were no indications of dangerous or hostile lifeforms inside it. Still, if you believe that you are in danger, don't hesitate and call me. I'll leave the com link open at all times."
He smiled at his three little charges, wondering if this was what Aren had felt like all those centuries ago, when he had taken his child self under his wing like a father.
"You can come to me with any question, anything that worries or upsets you. I will protect you, and together, we will figure everything out. But for now, enjoy that you are children, and leave worrying to the adults."  

[shyanimegrl]

His voice came again, their protector's voice. Alery gave a nod to say she was okay when he checked on her. Rubbing, blinking, and testing her eyes, it took her a little while more of this and then she was able to open her eyes comfortably again. Part of her wondered why the light of the surroundings could make her eyes feel funny like just now, but the other part of her was also paying attention to listen to their protector's words. Still she was feeling at a loss for words on her part with the many things she felt she was experiencing all at once. His spoken wisdom, the sounds of nature around them, then voiced questions she felt she could relate to. At this, she realized her feelings may be similar to her companions'. It was all a jumble in her mind and she was having a hard time choosing what to ask and say out loud. Her little hands had transitioned to alternating between scrunching together and loosening her hands' holds on each other.

Like their protector, she felt she wanted to protect, too. His words and his expressions, she felt them influence her, teaching her, encouraging her. He was quickly becoming a role model to her. He replied that they could help by looking around and telling him what they find? "Explore?" She, with seeming calm, stood from her crouching position. The first word she'd chosen to speak since waking was a question. "Okay," the blue-haired child's voice sounded again, her second word zealously said.

Enjoy. Her young mind confirmed in its interpreting that him having said that, it meant to have fun. She grinned to her three comrades as she pointed in the direction of one sound, "I hear water, I want to go see up close." And with that, she allowed her curiosity to lead her steps toward the river bordering the clearing.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

Meridian remained silent longer than the other two children, mostly from the effort of holding himself back from simply running into the welcoming green--green of all shades, from the kind that matched his hair (he might've just woken up, but he certainly knew what he looked like!) to far darker, held in shadow. Shadow. That was what happened when the light didn't hit everything. But the greens, light and dark, called to him, and he found himself only barely paying attention to Ghost's words of warning. Danger? Strange? What could possibly be harmful out there? It was so nice and welcoming! He bet some of it was soft too. He hadn't been too found of the ship's interior so far--sure, it was nice, but it wasn't like this! This was wide and open and exciting!

But not everyone seemed to think so, for the girl with them let out a whimper and crouched down, and their protector had to comfort her. Meridian hovered uncertainly when Ghost beckoned him and the other child over, torn between wanting to make sure she was all right and taking advantage of the free exploration they'd been asked to do. Impatient was the best way to describe the fidgeting green-haired boy, and though he tried diligently to pay attention to Ghost's words about their past, he found most of it going over his head. So they'd left the old world, traveled a really long time, and this was the new world. It sounded like this new world was much better anyway, so, really, there was nothing to be upset about, right?

Soothe seemed to be worrying far too much, Meridian decided. Of course, it was very nice that he was so concerned that they all be happy, and helping was a good thing too. If it was just them, they'd definitely need to be helping each other. But Ghost said there was nothing to worry about, so Meridian took their protector at his word. So their way of helping was to explore and come back and tell Ghost things? Meridian could certainly help that way! The green-haired boy nodded, barely solemn, to Ghost's last bit of advice for them. So Ghost was for telling worries and upset-things (not that Meridian thought he'd be having any of those! But maybe it would help the others) and they got to explore. It sounded perfectly reasonable to him.

And he was so, so glad to see one of his companions ready to explore too. He grinned back at Alery, and offered another bright smile to Soothe as if to say, 'come on, let's go!' He wanted to see the water, and the green, and everything up close too! "Wait up for me!" he said, hurrying to catch up and maybe even beat Alery there. He had a strong urge to be the first one to see it--but if he ended up having to share with the others, that was okay too.  

[Sen Cross]

Ghost watched the two of them running off towards the lake with a smile and turned to Soothe, who was still at his side looking a bit unsure, and crouched down in front of him.
"What's wrong? Don't you want to join them?"  

[chenabby]

Soothe blinked up at Ghost and resisted his urge to relatch onto the man and bit his lip. "U-um.." He knew that Ghost wanted him to go and explore, so he forced a smile to his face and started to trot after the two other children.

"S-sure, I'll go.." He said over his shoulder, hoping it would hide his reluctance, but he sounded about as eager as though he were signing up to be tortured or something equally as terrible, but he just couldn't seem to help it - or seem to obey Ghost, no matter how much he wanted to conform to the elder man's wishes. He wasn't supposed to worry, Ghost had said so.. But it was hard not to worry. It was easy to think that something bad might happen when he had no idea what this place was or where he'd come from!

He tried to focus on following the red and blue haired children, hoping that he would find this... fun, this enjoyment. He had to admit it did not seem likely.  

[shyanimegrl]

"Eee," Alery squealed and hurried forward at the urge to play around with the other children upon hearing the red-haired child's words as he was catching up.

She looked back as she moved onward then paused all-together for a moment as she said, "Let's all race to the water." It was a friendly challenge, spoken with a bright and energetic, smiling expression. In her excitement she overlooked checking if the green and red haired children were actually going to race with her as she looked straight ahead and drew out each word as she said them, "Ready. Set. Go!"

Then, she sprinted. And once she reached a few meters from the water's edge, she placed her hands on her knees as she took in strong breaths to get her heartbeat back to normal.

It didn't take her long to catch her breath and find herself staring in awe at the watery expanse before her. "Wow," was the awed whisper that slipped from her lips and then she looked around to see where the other two children were.

-- time skip to when twin children Casshern and Slven are born, setting remains to be outside the ship --

 

[Cheekiebirdiee]

Slven lead out of the ship by Ghost looked around in amazement, he was impressed with the ship but this..this was just brilliant. This land was his? Theirs ? How far did it go, how far could he go in it ? What kind of things lived here other than them? He was beyond curious, a curious that could get him in trouble later. Amber orbs turned to the side to take in Casshern, wondering how he was taking the new sight. Focused on his twin for the moment he ignored the other children in the area, his hand tightened on Ghost's then let go so he could move to rest at Casshern's side. Greeting the others now with a wide smile, but no words.  

[Shiningamisgirl]

Cassherns mind whirled as real sunlight touched his skin and the view of outside expanded before him. It was so much different than the inside of the ship had been; total contrast to the electronically lit hallways and metal walls and floors. Casshern knew he must have looked like a fish out of water; standing there and gaping at the new sight, but he couldn't help it. He wanted to touch everything, smell everything, ingrain every little visual detail into his mind. He could have stared forever...

He felt Slven look at him as much as saw it out of the corner of his eye. Quirking a small smile his twins way as he squeezed his hand comfortingly in return. As much as the newness amazed him it also worried him. Would the other children like him? Was this place friendly, safe? Beautiful yes..breathtakingly so..but where did it all end? The view seemed to go on for miles and forever! He was glad to have Slven by his side and to know that he wasn't alone in this experience.

"So..children." Casshern hummed thoughtfully; eyes roving over the others. They all looked so different to him; though there weren't as many of them there as Casshern would have expected. Maybe meeting them wouldn't be such a daunting task after all.  

[shyanimegrl]

Being the bundle of energy that she was, Alery had used a lot of that energy to traverse every which way in the vicinity still fairly close by to the ship's entrance. Taking a break from the exploration she thoroughly immersed herself in, it was only after she'd spotted a butterfly atop a flower several steps away that she had finally sat herself down and unintentionally given herself a bit of a breather. She stared, quite a while, how the butterfly's wings fluttered every so often between opening and closing absolutely fascinated her at the moment. And then, it had taken flight as her sight followed upward, bringing her attention to the sky.

That cloud looks like a bunny! And that one..that one loo- "Oof!" As her gaze had lead her body to adjust, her balance gave way to her falling to fully lay on the grass on her back, surprised. However, surprise also swiftly gave way to a very amused giggle. When her eyes scanned one side to another, taking in grass, the sky, then more grass, they stopped upon seeing Ghost and two children.

She stood promptly with enthusiastic curiosity and with bright steps approached the three. "Hello," she greeted them with a friendly smile.  

[chenabby]

Soothe was not around when the twins left the ship. No, not at all. He had no desire to be around; even the two other children were noisy and it hurt his brain, hurt his ears, and he often found himself alone, thinking about where they were.

As it was, he was up a tree. Trees were nice. They whispered softly as the wind shook their boughs, rocked him gently in their branches. He found trees to be the nicest thing he'd encountered on this planet. It was desolate. Lonely. Occasionally he met a small thing with six legs, and he often tried to play with them, but their small legs tickled his palms and he let them go for fear of hurting them. Sometimes he thought he saw bigger things but when he turned around, they were gone. So it was just him, and a tree, and its whispers. Its quiet promises for peace and quiet and relaxation and aloneness. Being alone wasn't so bad. When he'd woken up, he'd feared that most of all, being alone. But now... Now alone was his friend. The other children were nice, yes - with the exception of the two he was supposed to be meeting, since he didn't know them -, and Ghost was too... But alone was his only friend. The only thing that made his head stop hurting.

He sighed and closed his eyes, sliding down the bark of the tree to let his eyes close lightly. He knew he should be getting back; he was already running a risk of Ghost being cross at him, and he was being rude by not showing up. But... he didn't want to. The tree's whispers told him to stay and the leaves tickled his face ever so lightly as though they were trying to hold him back...

It took all of his effort to walk towards the clearing. He did not show himself, however. He waited quietly, behind a tree. He did not want to be seen or be expected to talk.  

[Cheekiebirdiee]

"So..children." Casshern hummed thoughtfully The hum of his brother had Slven grinning a little wider, standing up on his tippy toes for a moment before he lowered himself back down on a giggle. Children. They were all so curious looking! Oh? His head tilted as one of the children approached them, her encaustic manner seemed to amuse the little raven as such Slven mocked her happily as she greeted them. "Hello..." ' Hello. He ran the greeting though his mind, giving off a pleased nod. Yes, this was a good word as well, he should say it to all the children? Slven looked to his twin for praise, did Casshern hear him?

Turning slightly Slven ran his eyes over the 'children' that had gotten close to them. This one was very different from him and Casshern. This one looked...soft? The child's blue hair and eyes had Slven momentarily mesmerized as he looked over it, he wanted to touch this child's hair, to see if it was in fact soft like he assumed. Why was this child so different? Why were they all different from him and his brother? A frown passed over his lips as he thought, said lips parting as he announced touching his chest. "Slven." This was his name, as Ghost had told him and now he was expecting to be told the name of this child.