thearena | 001 not seeing the forest because TREES

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001 not seeing the forest because TREES

Who| Nux, his angst, and you!
What| What a lovely...arrival.
Where| The Village
When| Mid Week 2
Warnings/Notes| Updated if needed.

The Forest

"Trees!" See! He knows what they are now. Those. Those are trees. A lot of them.

Yeah. That's a lot of trees. Not that he's afraid of trees, or anything. It's just, you know, way more trees than people around here, and he's not used to that. He's used to odds that include, like...zero trees.

And a lot more people. "Where is everybody? Anybody?" Seriously, he can't be alone out here. He'll circle the edges of the forest, but unless he hears something in there that sounds like a person, yeah, he's not going in there!

Castle

It wasn't the Citadel but he kind of got the feeling Immortan Joe would approve of the place. It had that kind of homey vibe for the War Boy--stone and dark and not exactly, you know, cheerful. The only spooky part was the emptiness--he'd never been alone, like...really alone before and it was starting to get to him, gnawing on the back of his brain.

Nux will wander the castle's various rooms, until he finds the dungeon. Because right now all he's got as a weapon is some rope and a...he thinks it's a pot? Yeah. He's got to do better than that.

But knocking over that pile of metal? Probably not a great start.

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"Oh." He imagines that would make it hard to remember details.

He scans their surroundings, just to check for any danger that could have surfaced as they chat. "Sounds like you and your... friend got mixed up in some crazy stuff."

As if what Nux is mixed up in now isn't crazy.

It was hard to remember but it all worked out. That's what matters, right?

"It was exciting, though! A rogue Imperator! We were making history!" Kind of. And then it got weird. But still historic.

"History, huh?" He raises an eyebrow, a little amused. Firo's tunnel vision is stuff that he has little to no awareness of history--he hardly cares or knows about what came before and he doesn't even think about what impact he could have on the future. To hear someone talk about it like this guy reminds him of a movie character.

"So how'd that shake out?"

"Restarting history, at any rate, from the old world. Doin' it shiny and right this time." There's still a part of him that's a believer in Joe's words. He has to be, because otherwise...what was the point of all the killing?

"It. Uh. History's funny like that." Apparently. How else to explain him screwing up, cowering in the rig and wallowing in his loserdom and still seem, you know, a proper War Boy?

"Shiny and right." He repeats blandly, not even knowing what to make of those words. How do you make history right? How the hell do you shine it?

He scratches his head. Knowing next to nothing about history, it's hard for him to figure out what Nux could mean. But he does know something about human nature, so he hazards a guess. "...It doesn't always go how people plan it?"

Everything is shiny! Or, it can be, at any rate. It's, uh, a metaphor or something?

"It goes how the Immortan plans it." Yep. He's Immortan Joe, after all. History bends to his will! Nux is just, you know, a bit less awesome.

"What makes this guy so special, huh?"

Firo rubs at his temple, already thinking of his friend Claire. That guy was a major headache who just happens to think he rums the world.

"From his hand we will rise from the ashes of the old world, to ride forever by his side on the eternal highways of Valhalla!" Yeah, that's the kind of thing that Nux recites about thirty times a day.

The poetry is lost on Firo, unfortunately. He leans back against the wall, probably lowering his guard more than he should. "Where the hell's Valhalla? Doesn't sound all that great if all you do is drive around."

All Nux knows it that it sounds good, and even better in the Immortan's booming voice. He makes everything sound badass. It's a skill Nux...kind of lacks.

Wait, what? Excuse the pitying look, because how could you not even.... "You don't drive?" Because if you did, it would be entirely self-explanatory.

"Drive? No, I can just walk anywhere." One of the benefits to never leaving your city.

His eyebrow is going to freeze in the raised position, isn't it? He wants to ask what the heck driving has to do with Valhalla--is it a gas station? a car store--but decides that offering the bit of relevant information he has might help. "My g--friend does, though."

"W-walk?" Why would you do that? When you could drive? "I mean walking's fine in a place like this building, but...outside?" Outside is for driving, friend!

"OH! So you're the lancer, then?" Funny, you look a little, well....scrawny for it?

Firo thinks back to the frequent traffic gridlocks and the price of a car and wonders at how different this guy's world must be. What does a place have to be like that driving is so important? ...Or maybe the guy's just crazy. "Outside. All the time. Everything's close enough that it doesn't matter."

He tilts his head to the side. "Lancer? Dunno what that means, so no, probably not." Lances are weapons, right? He thinks a moment, then offers what he hopes is helpful information, "We use knives back home."

First off, driving is always important. It's skill and coordination and the best thing a War Boy could dream of. "Everything outside? But what about storms? Buzzards?" About a bajillion threats from radiation to dehydration?

"Knives are good, though. I mean, for close in stuff. But a lance is the best. Big explosions. Get 'em from a distance!"

Firo quietly raises his fingers as Nux talks, trying to keep track of all the things he needs to address. As he speaks, he ticks each one off. "Storms? Just get an umbrella. And the only birds we've got where I'm from are pigeons."

He reaches his third finger. "And, um, can you tell me what the hell kinda lance explodes? I thought you just stuck people with 'em."

Oh, Firo. So much you don't know.

"Against a toxic storm?" What kind of magical thing is this 'umbrella'? "It lifts whole cars! War Boys flying! Then bursting into flame!" It was absolutely chrome.

"Our lances explode! How else do you take out the Buzzards? Or Rock Riders? And you stick the vehicles, mostly, not people." Tisk, how could anyone not know this!!

Firo just stares for a moment. He reminds himself that, yeah, he kind of feels like he's going crazy just listening to this guy, but at least they're not trying to kill each other. "...Yeah, okay, nothin' like that happens in my world. What the hell's wrong with yours?"

Rude, Firo, maybe he likes his world.

What? Everything in Nux's world makes perfect sense. The Immortan has an answer for everything!

"The world ended." See? Simple! "And the Immortan came to save us from what's left."

Firo thinks he has the trump card he needs. He raises an eyebrow. "How can you and this "Immortan" thing exist if the world's over, huh?"

"Because." Uh. Wait.

....

"He's the one who survived and is leading us to a new future!"

Damn. There's an answer for everything, isn't there? Firo wracks his brain a moment more, only really coming up with more nitpicking.

"How many people survived, then, if there's an 'us'? Kinda makes him sound less special."

Immortan Joe: he has an answer for everything. All Nux does is repeat what he's heard. Well, and believe it, too.

"Few survived. Only the Immortan's pulled us together, from the wretched and the wastes." See? Sounds all poetic and stuff. "And us?" he points a thumb at his chest. "Half life war boys."

"That sounds..." Uh. He blinks, waiting for his brain to catch up with the words. Usually Firo can concoct something, even if it makes little sense, but he's actually having trouble here. "...not very flattering. Half alive's basically half dead, isn't it?"

"Better half dead than all dead, right? Least you have a chance to make your death big." Irrefutable War Boy logic, right here!

Firo's opinion on this issue isn't that strong, but his curiosity is. "You know, I think most people' say it's only good 'cause you're at least a little alive... what's the deal with dyin' big? How exactly do you do that?"

He has a feeling that the Capitol may love this guy. At the least, perhaps he won't be as distressed by the prospect if dying repeatedly.

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