Futuristic VANA [ Atticus ]

[cl0ud]

(She only has it because it was Adam's. She probably won't use it. Or part with it.)

"Yeah, I got it tonight," Elliot says before you even finish your sentence. He walks up to the hill and lays in position, ready to shoot anything. You notice before you head inside that he particularly has the rifle aimed at Adam's grave, though.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus pays no thought to Elliot's aiming of the rifle at the grave, figuring that Elliot waa going to work through it however he was going to work through it.

Atticus retires to the cockpit where Matthew also is, the women remaining on the other side of the ship. However, he decides to grab his X-Bud, pipe, lighter and grinder and head over to the other side.

"Hey, girls. I was going to go out for a smoke. If either of you want to join, feel free; I'm all for sharing," he said with a cheerful tone, not wanting to add to the sadness that preferated through the ship. "If not, that's okay, too."

 

[cl0ud]

Both of them give you their attention until you're done speaking and then remain their mourning.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus takes their silence as a refusal. "Alright, girls, goodnight. If you need anything, I'm right down the hall," Atticus reassured them with a smile, before walking away and heading outside of the ship, waving over to Elliot. He takes a seat with his back against the palisade wall, and begins his smoke session. His tolerance having built and emotions weighing heavy on him, he smokes a bit more than usual.

 

[cl0ud]

You blaze up. You get high. Feels good. You can hear Elliot scoff at you, but this is before you really feel the high, so you ignore it.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

"Fuck a hater," Atticus says under his breath, followed by a bunch of giggles. Atticus heads, instead to the ship, up to Elliot.

"Don't really like weed, huh?" Atticus asks. "It's helped me through...Everythin'. Helpin' right now, heh," Atticus said, taking a seat next to Elliot.

 

[cl0ud]

Elliot ignores you.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus clears his throat, unphased by Elliot ignoring him. "I'm glad we've been undisturbed while we've fortified the ship. I appreciate you helping out Ethel and Ellen today," Atticus explains, before belching quietly, a small plume of smoke leaving his mouth as he does.

"Ellen seems pretty attached to Adam's shooty. Some kind of thing they had?" Atticus inquires casually, though there was an ulterior reason somewhere in his words.

 

[cl0ud]

"They weren't romantically involved. They were childhood friends. Both grew up on the same space station," Elliot says, ignoring your previous comment.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus frowns as Elliot explains their prior relationship. "Damn. That's a hard hand to play," Atticus says, sniffing and yawning as well.

"You don't think Ellen could be a danger to herself because of her grief, could she be?" Atticus asks him. It seemed far fetched, but it who knows, maybe she's not the most mentally stable. "Same question for Ethel, if she had the same attachment."

 

[cl0ud]

"Ethel is attached to all of us. After the village burned down we're all she had left. Neither of them are going to kill themselves, though. But expect them to have a short temper," Elliot says.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus nods. "Hopefully we won't be digging any more graves any time soon," Atticus says, before patting Elliot on the shoulder. "Have a good night, brother. Let me know if you need to be relieved. Oh, you like the improvements I made up here?" Atticus asked with a smile, before heading back to the ship before double checking he had remembered all of his smoking supplies.

Once in the ship, Atticus lies down and sees if he can find a state in his mind similar to the first almost psychedelic trip he had when he first tried the extraterrestrial ganja.

 

[cl0ud]

"It's a little bit more comfortable. More room."

You lay back on your bed. You fold your arms over your chest. You close your eyes and try to relax your brain. Yet after sitting for awhile in complete silence, you are not able to replicate the first trip you had with X-Bud, sadly.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

When Atticus discovers he isn't able to get there, he simply smokes some more of the X-Bud. He doesn't feel like being in this dimension for this night, and feels confident that he'll be able to just sleep off whatever comes his way.

 

[cl0ud]

The sound of air escape an airlock sounds in your brain, suddenly your whisked off onto another planet.

You and Ethel are together. She's in a pastel sundress. You two are under a large tree, in the shade of the mighty foliage. A checkered red-and-white blanket is laid out beneath you two. A wicket basket stands in the middle, gently open with cider and sandwiches inside. A gentle breeze occasionally rustles Ethel's hair. You're on a hill. You can see out into the sea. The sun is setting just beyond the horizon, painting the sky pink, orange, and yellow in a marble pattern. The skies are clear. There's birds fluttering in front of you, singing their songs.

"Atty, thank you for saving me and my friends. I, I've grown really attached to you these past few years. I think I'm in love with you," Ethel says. She goes into hug you. You embrace her. Then she yelps. You open your eyes to see the aggressor from the forest. He carries a machete, a machete that impales the beloved Ethel. As he draws his blade out from her flesh, she falls backwards. A pool of blood forms on her beautiful sundress and she twitches. You look down at your hands and clothes, both are utterly soaked in blood.

The aggressor pulls out a pistol and aims it are your forehead. "You could've saved us."

Before your would-be murderer pulls the trigger, it's body flails back and forth, with new holes forming each time it thrashes. A large, mechanical beast, blurry but recognizable stands behind the corpse, that falls to the ground, next to Ethel's body. The helmet falls of, revealing a brunette with long hair. The face is familiar. It's Alyssa, one of your crew members that had died in the skirmish above this planet.

The beast then moves to you. You can't move. You try so hard but you can't. It lifts up it's gigantic mechanical foot and slowly crushes you under it. All you can do is watch as your life ends to a gray blob.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus shakes to life after the fantasy is over. He doesn't know how long it's been, but he doesn't really care. There had to be a way to get a strictly good trip out of this stuff; maybe it would be easier in an easier environment. He definetly enjoyed the first part of that whole thing.

Atticus still enjoyed it, though, to some degree. He enjoyed the ability it gave him to explore his subconscious; it was a good way of learning the truth about his feelings, he decided, from his fears to his desires.

Atticus falls asleep, to see what his dreams may consist of under the influence of this powerful drug.

 

[cl0ud]

You drift off to sleep. In your dreams, you awake in a magnificent bed. The sheets are as soft as newborn's bottom and the blanket keeps you warm, as if you were in your mother's bosom. The pillows are magnificent as well. Softer than silk and more comfortable than the softest cloud in the sky. You put on your crown and walk out into the grand hall. You sit yourself on your throne, where hundreds of subjects adore you and clap for you.

"Long live the king!" they chant. Then, from the middle of the crowd, you spot Elliot. He's dancing in a jester's uniform. "I live to please you, my lord!" he cries as he juggles and dances, trying to entertain you. Guards at every marble column are armed with rifles and heavy sets of armor. Banners sway back and forth from the tops of balconies that run along the second story of your grand hall. Braziers burn, emitting a low, orange glow across the floor as rays from the sun make their way through the stained glass windows, crafted to be your spitting image.

Next to you is your queen. Ethel. She is in an elegant and long emerald dress. A golden tiara graces her head. Her hair is neatly braided, with some of it encircling the top her head, the rest flowing gently along her back, straightened. Her brown eyes are kind to you as you glance at her. She resembles everything that the word "beauty" expresses.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus smiles over at his beloved queen, before walking over and gracing her with a gentle, caring kiss on the forehead. Afterward, he turns back to Elliot, and scowls at him.

"You're boring me," Atticus says. "Somebody get the Jester a pipe and some bud! Maybe he'll perform better once his mind is lifted," Atticus demands, before sitting back on his throne, that which sits beside Ethel. He smiles again at his beloved wife, before looking out at the court, where the Jester stands.

 

[cl0ud]

Ethel smiles.

The guards beckon to your orders. They hold down the jester and place the pipe in his mouth and packing the bowl. One of the guards removes their helmets and breathes fire into the pipe. The jester protests as much as he can until he inhales the smoke. The guards let him be. He just sits in the middle of the courtroom, asking questions.

"Isn't watermelon juice just water?"​

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus groans as the Jester begins to act stupid. He looks over to one of the rifle-armed guards, then aims at the Jester with a finger pistol, before "shooting" him.

 

[cl0ud]

As you aim your imaginary gun at the jester, almost like clockwork the guard does it with you. You two are synchronized. As you hit your thumb on your index finger, the index finger squeezes on the trigger. The jester slumps over, bleeding on to the floor. “You could have saved us,” the jester’s head says, motionless save for its mouth uttering the words as a pool of blood surrounds the head.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Atticus grins at the macabre scene, before whistling for janitors to come and clean it up, coroners to take the body away. Afterward, Atticus takes the pipe from the guard and breathes his own fire unto the bowl, before taking it all in one big hit. He breathes out, and leans back against the back of his throne.

"Fuck a hater," he said, before starting to chuckle to himself.

 

[cl0ud]

Your servants clean up the gruesome scene. After your puff from the pipe, you find yourself awake again. Severely hungover.

 

[Lord Bradorian]

Since when does weed get you hungover? That was the first question Atticus asked himself as he awoke to the splitting headache. The lack of hangover was what made Atticus like it so much; he in fact didn't mind the feeling of being burned out. But, he supposed, this stuff was a lot different than the marijuana he was used to.

Immediately, Atticus begun hydrating. Drinking lots and lots of water, and putting an MRE in his stomach as well, along with a small bit of the package of hard tack he had.

 

[cl0ud]

You drink two liters of water in little under five hours. You also fill yourself with an MRE and the hard tack you landed with.

The rest of the group is upset with your wastefulness.