'Hey Stark, long time no see! I... kind of lost track of you after the Fall of Beacon. I'm not cross, I just... I am so glad you're safe.' (@terravolksisms)
@terravolksisms
For a long moment, Stark swore the world had stopped. How long had it been since he’d last heard that voice? How many nights had he heard it ringing through his dreams—and, even more so, his nightmares—over the past year? Too many to count, and for a fleeting moment, he swore this was just another to add to the list.
But slowly, he turned around, and faced the speaker of the voice—his gaze immediately catching the bright ginger locks, the awkward smile, and those brilliant emerald eyes staring back at him…and he felt the most joyful and relieved smile spread across his face in months.
“Terra! It’s—it’s so good to see you.”
(I'm assuming they're not in Vale then?)
Stark chuckled a bit dryly, before dropping his gaze again. "We've got some business in the area—trying to broker an alliance with some of the big names over here so that we can get more cooperation over in Vale. It's slow going, but we're working it out." Despite his words, Stark didn't quite catch Terra's gaze—his voice dropped a bit, and he seemed a bit more worn down. Like there was something he wasn't saying.
(I thought it might be fun to push on ahead to either Atlas or Mistral)
'I suppose that makes sense, communicating with anyone is hard these days with the towers still down.' Terra sighed. 'They really should have made the towers able to work without one of them...'
'Are you... alright?' Terra caught onto Stark's gloomy nature quickly. 'You seem a little down. That's, not exactly what I was expecting if I ever bumped into you again.' She nudged him playfully and flashed him a smile.
'I thought it'd be like... I dunno, our first date... maybe?' She scratched the back of her head.
'Or maybe I'm just longing for simpler times.'
Stark chuckled dryly—of course she'd pick up on it so quick. "Perceptive as ever, fearless leader," he muttered, and he came to a stop for a moment. His gaze shifted up to the sky overhead—past Mantle's rough concrete and brick buildings, up past the shape of Atlas floating high overhead, until his gaze finally found the twinkling stars high in the sky—and he was silent for a moment.
When he spoke again, it was...quiet, and hollow. "I just...this isn't where I wanted to be. Back at Beacon, training to be a Huntsman beside you and Ebony and Amy...even though I knew it was a lie, even though I knew I really didn't belong there...I wanted to believe in it. I wanted to believe that I could start over, that I could change, that I could...be someone else."
Another dry chuckle escaped him, and his gaze dropped to his hands—rough leather gloves with bits of metal stitched into the knuckles, the apparel of a thuggish enforcer— "What a fucking idiot."
Terra watched Stark closely for some time, her face etched with concern.
'Oh Stark.' She said softly once he was finished.
And then in a flash, her arms were wrapped around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.
'You always belonged at Beacon.' She told him. 'We all did. It doesn't matter why we were there. It only matters that we wanted to be there to do good. Or try to.'
'And you did. We all did our best. Maybe it wasn't enough back then... but we have to keep trying.' Terra insisted. 'It's not over yet, there's so much more we can... we can do.' She took hold of one of his hands, as always her own hand was gauntleted, armoured like the rest of her.
'You can be that good person Stark. All you have to do, is want to be them.'
