117.0

[encryptedlock]

[Backdated slightly to this morning.

York wakes up not only on the floor but in a completely different room than where he was before. There's a moment of panic - it looks entirely too much like something from home to be recognizable as the castle immediately - but as always Delta is there in his mind, reassuring him. Yes, he can still access the CastleNet, and look around a little. This is Noble Six's room.

The question then becomes why is he in Noble Six's room, and how did he get there? And why is his journal mostly blank?]

Hey there, castle. It's me, and I seem to be back to normal now. So. What kind of loss was I on and for how long?

[UNSC filter, sans Maine]

And what the hell is going on with the journals?

Comments

Lady Galadriel (now with the right account)

[encryptedlock]

As well as can be expected, I think. It's a little strange to lose a week out of your life like that.

How about yourself? Did you like Paris? I mean, it's another country and about five hundred years in the past compared to where I'm from, but it's still my world.

Master York forever

[inafadingcrown]

In truth, I did not know what to make of it. It was like nothing I have ever experienced. The city was most fair and had a charm of its own, yet I found it loud and overcrowded for my own tastes; I do not think I could live there long, but I did enjoy my stay.

Of course, I had also other adjustments to make. [Being human, York. It was weird.]

Lady Galadriel forever!

[encryptedlock]

Paris is considered the most romantic city in the world - and even in those days you didn't even get called a city with less than five hundred thousand people. That's a lot bigger than the city here - and I'm guessing bigger than you'd be used to, too. Me, I'm a city boy. I love that there's always something to do and people around. Here? I can't even get a real delivery pizza, and you have no idea how much that bothers me.

I bet it was. Delta always finds it weird to have a real body of his own.

[inafadingcrown]

Having never sampled a pizza myself, I am rather certain I do not.

[She chuckles] Thankfully, my change was not quite so great. But even subtleties are enough to disrupt one's balance for a time.

[encryptedlock]

[He chuckles.] It's my hometown's specialty, let's just put it that way. Sure, the castle can give it to me, but it doesn't have that same feeling. Sometimes it's the imperfection that makes it real, you know?

Yeah? It's gotta be mostly internal, though, right? I mean, you look enough like one of us on the outside, compared to some other people here.

[inafadingcrown]

I do.

Oh, indeed. Our senses differ a great deal, for instance. I had not realized the full extent; the entire world seemed to me dulled and muted.

[encryptedlock]

That bad, huh? Well, given that the city's so busy anyway, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Just think about how much overstimulation it could've been.

[inafadingcrown]

I hesitate to say it was "bad," for had I not been accustomed to my own senses they would have been more than adequate. I had no difficulties functioning. But you are right, I would hate to think of the assault on my hearing, in particular.

[encryptedlock]

And now, if it ever turns you human again--and I hate to say it but it's likely it will--you'll be a little more prepared. Seems like we get some kind of change like that about once every six months.

[inafadingcrown]

If they tend to be as peaceful as the last, I will have few objections.

[encryptedlock]

We aren't always that lucky - but that's what people like me are for.

[inafadingcrown]

And, as always, I am most grateful for your presence and goodwill.

[encryptedlock]

Just doing my job, ma'am. If I wasn't ready and willing, I never would have signed up int he first place.

[inafadingcrown]

As I express my gratitude to my own men, so I will to you. It may be your duty, but it need not be a thankless one.

[And then there's that strange moment when she realizes that she knows what he would look like in Elven armor...]

[encryptedlock]

Thank you, then. Never hurts to hear it, especially when there are more than enough people back home who blame us for never doing enough.

[And hey, if the castle ever turns into her world some day, they can all get really confused together!]

[inafadingcrown]

An easy thing to say for those who have never experienced battle for themselves. [Implying that she has? Maybe.]

[encryptedlock]

[Once again she impresses him. That's exactly the problem with that kind of person.]

And who don't bother to volunteer, or even half the time pay their damn taxes. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

[inafadingcrown]

[One benefit of having emotional scars from the First Age: she knows exactly what she's asking of people when she sends them into war.]

A touch of bitterness is understandable, I think.

[encryptedlock]

[He sighs a little.]

Yeah, well. Perspective can really help with that, and that's something I hope they'll never have. Almost self-defeating.

[inafadingcrown]

I am no soldier, but that I understand all too well.

[encryptedlock]

Well, and you've been around a little longer than most people. Bet you've known plenty of people in the military.

[inafadingcrown]

Few of my kin have not been. Lord Celeborn fought in the wars of the First Age, as did my brothers. Lord Elrond did as well. I myself have seen battle, though long ago.

[encryptedlock]

Good. That's exactly the way it should be - near the beginning of the war, our Fleet Admiral made a rule that you couldn't command if you didn't have any field experience. Can't tell you how many lives that alone saved.

[inafadingcrown]

I could not concieve of any war being conducted otherwise. It would seem to my people both foolish and cowardly for a general to neglect to take the field.

[encryptedlock]

[He snorts a little, amused.]

See, it seems that way to us front-liners, too. But there's a lot of people who think you can learn more about war in a classroom than out there doing it yourself.