❅ One (Video)

[stonebird]

(With so many struggling with Hadriel's newest ploy to break the populace down, Sansa is unsure how best to introduce herself. First, she is sitting, her hands folded in her lap. Then, she stands and absently smoothes out nonexistent wrinkles in her skirt.)

My name is Sansa Stark and I wish to offer my condolences to those of you who are suffering. (She knows the feeling and, thus, her words are not empty comfort.) Living in a land of monsters and nightmares is not an easy task. I have done it twice before and I wondered if anyone else had memories of other worlds beyond the one you call home?

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[lemontree]

[ Oh. ]

You are a Stark?

[ Friends of the Usurper, of the people who took her family, her throne?

Wisdom might suggest discretion in this scenario, but Dany has never been one for that. ]

And where do your allegiances lie, Lady Stark?

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[stonebird]

(She is a Targaryen. Sansa thinks quickly, recalling the name Daenerys. Anyone must be better than the Baratheons and the Lannisters, surely? But she will not lie.)

I am. The eldest daughter of Eddard and Catelyn Stark.

(She gives a curtsy, head dipping gracefully.)

With the rest of my living family and Winterfell, Your Grace.

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[lemontree]

[ Not with the Lannisters, then. And not with her rightful queen, Dany thinks. ]

Your "living family?" [ There's a pause, and then: ] I am sorry for your loss.

[ She thinks of Viserys, of a faceless brother, father, mother. Of Drogo and Rhaego. Her only family now is the circle of those she trusts, one of her own making. ]

Hadriel is not Westeros. My battles are not with you. [ Not now, anyway. ] I think that we can live here without quarrel, so long as no daughter is to be judged by the actions of their father.

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[stonebird]

(Never. She cannot even lie on that point. She is no longer a child under Cersei Lannister's lioness paw.)

Indeed, Your Grace. I have lost my parents, a brother and perhaps others besides. (The truth is unknown to her in the Eyrie.) My home too has been overrun with enemies.

(But she is determined to reclaim it.)

I thank you for your consideration. (That is more than Cersei would give her.) I have no quarrel with your father. I never knew him and -

I believe, for a time, I was betrothed to a King of similar temperament.

[voice]

[circumitus]

By "memories of different worlds", am taking it that you don't mean just having your head fucked with by the gods here to make you think you've lived other lives?

[But Rey is also familiar with what Sansa is actually talking about.]

[voice]

[stonebird]

No. I mean visiting other worlds in truth. (Then again, isn't the outcome similar?) I was born on a continent called Westeros. Then I visited Ruby City, which was located on another world entirely. Now I am here in another world still.

[voice]

[circumitus]

Oh. Like that.

[Huh.]

Haven't experienced it firsthand until this one, but you're far from the only one here who's been through that. Was recognized by a couple of people as being similarly stuck in some other reality, though. That was fucking weird.

[voice]

[stonebird]

You have a good idea of what it is like if you have experienced that much. (She feels like she should apologize, but it's not her fault.) What was that other reality like?

[Video]

[mismanagement]

[Maketh tips her head to the side.]

I have been to many worlds. Though this is not unusual, where I am from. Was there something in particular you wished to know?

[Video]

[stonebird]

Not unusual? Your people have learned how to be...world travelers? (She is very curious.) Have you felt...changed...by your experiences?

[Video]

[mismanagement]

They have, yes.

[Maketh shrugs.]

Not by traveling. By what I observed and did during my military service, yes.

[A pause.]

All worlds look different, but most of them surrender just the same.

[Video]

[stonebird]

Military...? You are a woman, are you not? (Sorry, Maketh, that is unusual in Westeros.) Is that what you seek? Surrender?

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[utulien_aure]

Living with such things never is, but the bravest and the best of souls can make it easier for others.

[If you're confused, Sansa, he means you.]

How are you holding up?

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[stonebird]

That is so and, on that point, I am blessed to be in your company.

(She can rely on herself - she knows that now - but a friendly face never hurts.)

I have faced many scary ordeals. An image will not break me.

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[utulien_aure]

Me? You were the one to reach out to others, to offer what comfort you could to strangers.

[It never does. But her compassion for strangers never ceases to impress.]

I wouldn't dare think otherwise. But that's not the same thing as being well, is it?

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[unitas]

[ Sharon, on any other occasion, would have answered Sansa's question or ignored the post outright. She bothers with few people, except this one catches her eye. She saw her before in a horse-faced young girl's mirror. That same young girl shattered Sharon's mirror upon seeing the faces of Chris and Vincent, near duplicates of her older brother and father. ]

...You've got a younger sister, right?

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[stonebird]

(Family is...a sad affair for the Starks. Sansa is less volatile about it all, but it never stops hurting.)

Yes? Arya. Have you -

Has she been here?

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[unitas]

She... Yeah, she's been here. She left some months back. [ There's a hint of genuine mourning that the young, fiery youth is gone from her life. ] She... really missed her family. I'm sorry you two missed one another.

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[dragonsgrasp]

[This catches his attention, given what he's been through in the gods' war. He hasn't heard of many others who've visited other worlds like that.]

Yes. I've been to another world not my own before this one. I was brought there to fight a war... What sort of other world did you end up in?

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[stonebird]

Are you a knight? (It seems he would need to be to be called on in such a fashion. Sansa cants her head, thinking.) Ruby City was...mostly peaceful. At times, there were monsters that needed conquering, but we had enough residents that could fight that those of us who could not were safe enough.

I did learn how to defend myself regardless - and how to hunt.

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[dragonsgrasp]

I am. I'm a dragoon, a knight of Baron, which is my home, and the kingdom which I'm sworn to protect. [There's considerable pride in his tone... he takes his duties to his people very seriously. Too bad he's been away from them for so long, though.] You were fortunate not to end up in a war... the one I was in seemingly had no end. [He still has no idea to this day how it all actually did end up.] The world you were in sounds almost like this one. Was it at least in the open air instead of a cave?

Self defense is important, no matter where you are... it's always worth learning such skills.

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[64th]

I do. I remember another world. [ she's relieved to hear that someone else had an experience like hers. ] It was a hotel. Have you been there?

[ two years later and she's still hoping she'll find someone who knows her friends from the hotel. no luck so far, but she still has hope. ]

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[stonebird]

A...hotel? What is a hotel? (She knows of inns and taverns, but no hotels! Oh period discrepancies.)

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[64th]

[ oh. that's a no, then. the disappointment registers on her face, but she covers it quickly. ] It's where people rent rooms for the night, for when they travel. Except we weren't traveling and it was against our will.

[ she sighs. ] It's better here but I like the people.

Late to the party but I want them to meet! [Video]

[elegant_and_proud]

This too shall pass.

[It's become Ikaruga's mantra whenever the gods do something horrible in order to get the emotion they need to sustain them.]

It is kind of you to offer your condolences to strangers, though, Lady Sansa.

[She hasn't missed the discussion above.]

Or do you prefer to be addressed without your title?