RP: Open

[garrusfadewalk]

The first sensation Garrus registered as he woke up was the metal floor scraping his face plates when he tried to move. He groaned, finding the strength to grip the wall and climb to his feet. As the area around him came spinning back into focus, he tried to make sense of why he felt like something was very wrong.

Silence was his first indicator. Heavy, cold silence. No ambient engine hum, no whir from his consoles. The red emergency light was the only light in the room besides the faint glow from his eye piece. They must have crash landed somewhere

Garrus shuffled for the door, still regaining the strength to stand on both feet. By the time he had made his way through the galley to the elevator, he was stable. Even despite the sharp pain in his chest every time he breathed, he moved with reflexive militant precision. Past the elevator, up the stairs, through the powered-down main deck, out of the airlock and--

He stopped in his tracks on the edge of the airlock. The world outside was unlike any planet he had ever witnessed. The way things shifted and swirled was downright unnatural. He reached up and activated his comm, hoping it was still functioning, "Is anyone else seeing this?"

Comments

[itsinmyblood]

Ashley hadn't even realized that the comm was still in her ear. Maybe it was because it was force of habit. Things had been so crazy before they had returned to Earth that she had gotten into the habit of keeping it in.

And with all the insanity of dealing with Kaidan's sudden revival, another Shepard on top of finding her own Commander, she supposed taking out the thing simply got lost in the shuffle.

Hearing it key up awoke her from her sleep, and at first Ashley thought she had imagined it. Because the voice had sounded a lot like Garrus, which Ashley had already confirmed wasn't present. Maybe she was still dreaming but it was better to make sure right? She sat up, rubbing her eyes with one hand while the free one went to her ear.

"Garrus? Is that you?"

[garrusfadewalk]

There's something about hearing someone's last words that makes it so you can never forget their voice. Garrus could remember Ashley's farewell on Vitmire, so hearing her come through the comm now was jarring to say the least. He hesitated for a long moment, trying to figure out if it was really her, or if he'd made a mistake. Was he dead? He steeled himself and replied, "This is Garrus Vakarian. Who are you, how do you have this channel?"

He'd probably misheard. It just wasn't possible.

[itsinmyblood]

Well that wasn't the answer she was expecting. Ashley frowned at nothing in particular, moving over to the closet to change out of her pajama's and into her casual uniform. Garrus couldn't have forgotten her already could he? She paused in buttoning up her shirt.

Unless he was Kaidan's Garrus...

Great.

"Garrus, it's Ashley. Williams? Listen, just.. tell me where you are and I can meet you there. Can you see the Normandy?"

[garrusfadewalk]

This would not be the first time for someone from his past to come back from the dead, Garrus had to admit to himself. He shifted his weight, looking around to the surroundings just outside of the air lock. He stepped off the metal onto the dirt of what looked like a courtyard of some large building.

"She's right behind me," he answered, but not without checking to make sure he still had guns on his person. If, on the small chance, this was Ashley, maybe he wouldn't have to use them.

[itsinmyblood]

"Good. That's good. Then, if you want to turn around and meet me in the docking bay? I'm coming down from the Crew's Quarters." She was already leaving, running a hand down her uniform to try and smooth out any wrinkles. Even if she had Garrus had gotten along perfectly once she had opened herself up to the idea, he always made Ashley feel like she was speaking to the Commander. The Turian's presence simply demanded that kind of respect.

And the more Ashley spoke with him, the more she was certain that this was not the Garrus from her world or Universe as Kaidan had called it.

It was only after the elevator doors closed that she realized she was unarmed. Not something that normally would be concerning, but if this was Kaidan and the Male Shepard's Garrus, then that would mean that to him she was dead. And Ashley couldn't remember how keen the Turian was to the ghost concept.

"Oh and I know this is probably really strange for you, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't shoot me first."

[keelah_selai]

((OOC: Mind if I jump in?))

There was a burst of static on the comm channel, and a frustrated, resonate voice. "No one is going to be shooting anyone, Operations Chief Williams. We don't have enough medical supplies left to handle another round of...what do you humans call it, swiss cheese?"

"Vakarian, where are you? Please tell me you are not the reason there's blue smears all over the common room." Tali sounded worried, and there was some background noise like she was walking quickly.

[garrusfadewalk]

Being asked not to shoot made Garrus even more uncomfortable. It was a very well concealed discomfort as he strode back into the Normandy with a casual gait. That painful twinge in his ribs was back, and he wondered if he was still bleeding under the armor. That could wait.

Garrus stopped, just about to open the airlock door again when Tali's voice cut in sharply. At least that was a recently familiar voice. Someone he could trust was who they said they were. He sighed quietly, responding to her worried question, "Don't worry about me, I'm alright." He wasn't, really, but he'd had worse. "I'm coming back inside, now, at the airlock." Just before the comm cut off, the sound of a whooshing door opening went through.

Seeing Ashley was even stranger than hearing her. She had the right face, but wore her fringe (hair, he reminded himself. Doctor Chakwas had taught him that human word.) different. Her uniform was Human Alliance, and her posture was sure. Garrus kept his hands at his sides, but he was conscious of the heavy pistol clipped to his armor at his hip.

"So," he started, this time forgoing the comm link. Just the two of them, Garrus and Ashley, and a good old face-to-face chat. "Did Cerberus get you, too? I heard they're really good at bringing people back from the dead."

[itsinmyblood]

That actually stopped her short, the pain suddenly everywhere. Everything that Cerberus had done flashed before her eyes, the experiments, the mutations. Seeing the scars on Shepard's face and arms that the upgrading Medbay couldn't heal. And to think that Garrus thought that she had been used by Cerberus, that Cerberus had actually....

But then she had to remember that this wasn't her Garrus. This wasn't the man that her Shepard had decided to be with. And to this Garrus she had died. So Ashley cleared the emotions of shock and pain off her face and tried to smile. t the same

"This is going to sound really strange. But I'm not the same Ashley you remember."

[keelah_selai]

Tali skidded around the corner at the top of the stairs, and slid to a stop at the other end of the CIC. She could just see the back of Ashley, standing in the hallway to the air lock, as she hurried across the deck. The trail of blue splotches told her more than enough about where Garrus was.

[garrusfadewalk]

"You could say that again," Garrus commented to Ashley. It wasn't malicious, or hostile, or cold. He hadn't been any of those things from the start, despite his reservations. It was just the same low voice--gentle even in it's gravelly Turian nature--that he had when he was tired. The expression that had crossed Ashley's face had stripped his reservations away. It was hard for him to believe that anyone could fake that kind of pain, and he was already regretting his choice of words.

Hearing the scrape of sliding footsteps, he looked up and over Ashley's shoulder to see the Quarian swerving into view. He subconsciously straightened his shoulders, settling into better posture, if there was going to be more people around.

"Is anyone going to explain what's going on?"

[itsinmyblood]

Ashley followed his gaze, looking back to where Tali was standing. Good, maybe having someone else there would make things easier to explain.

"We're... not sure." She answered, turning back toward the Turian. Ashley didn't know his mannerisms as well as Shepard did, but at least she didn't feel like holding up her hands in surrender anymore.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

[keelah_selai]

Tali moved forward, the crock of one arm full of medi-gel capsules (the blue kind, for dextro-based life forms). "Garrus, you have dropped who knows how much blood across the lower decks and the CIC - you are going to sit down, and let me patch you up before you so much as think of moving!"

[garrusfadewalk]

[ooc;; I'm SO sorry I didn't reply sooner. This is the first time I've been at home for more than ten minutes that isn't sleeping in a few days.]

"I'm alright, Tali, really..." Garrus tried, but he really didn't protest much. Sitting down on the nearest surface suitable, he let his shoulders relax and rested his elbows on his knees. After pausing and shaking his head, he addressed Ashley's question.

"The last thing I remember..." he mused aloud, trying to remember things clearly. He shut his eyes for a moment as everything came back in flashes. His voice kept it's even keel as he described it. "The last stand on Earth against the Reapers, and Shepard forcing us back onto the Normandy, ordering us to get the hell out of there."

He gestured back the way he'd come, looking up at Ashley. "I was in the main battery, keeping everything stable when we must have hit something. I guess the crash knocked me unconscious, since I just woke up. Where did we land? Where is the rest of the crew?"

[itsinmyblood]

[[OOC: And I'm so sorry I'm just now noticing this!! Please forgive me! ><}}

So it was the same, just as Ashley remembered it. This just wasn't the Garrus from her universe. Nodding, she leaned back against the same table the Turian was sitting on, her arms tightening over her chest.

"I don't know. All I know is that we aren't on a planet I'm familiar with. It's called - Thedas?" Ashley looked to Tali for confirmation continuing when the Quarian nodded.

"And apparently we are in a place called Skyefold. The woman I spoke to earlier said it was located near the Frostback Mountains, but I don't know of any mountain range that looks like this." She gestured to the outside, where the world seemed to be covered in a greenish sort of haze.

"There aren't many of us though. Kaidan's here. And both of our Shepherd's, Tali and I. That's all we've been able to find so far."

[itsinmyblood]

Ashey looked at Tali before she shrugged. After being here a few days, she still didn't know where they were or what this place was called. In all honesty she was scared to venture too far from the ship, because God only knew who or what was out there. Maybe she could talk one of her comrades into a recon mission with her.

"I don't know. I don't think we're on Earth anymore and as far as the crew.... I mean. Kaidan's here, and your Shepard. Then there's Tali, me and my Shepard. But other than that... that's it."

[keelah_selai]

Tali began unlatching the seals and locks on Garrus's armor, pulling sections away and dabbing medi-gel sparingly on the wounds as she found them. She also handed Garrus a ration pack with a pointed look.

"There's been some sort of fictive time-space shenanigans. We're stuck in some sort of strange anomaly called "The Fade" in a fortress called Skyhold. The Normandy crashed in its backyard." Tali settled back on her heels, and looked up at Garrus. "There are others stuck her besides us - people who are used to this Skyhold being stuck on top of a mountain somewhere called Thedas." Tali frowned, and shook her head. "The planet is called Thedas. I don't know what the mountain was called."

[garrusfadewalk]

"I've never heard of a planet called Thedas," Garrus admitted out loud. He tried not to roll his eyes too hard when Tali gave him the rations, but again didn't argue much. He was slow as he chewed the relatively tasteless nutrient and fiber bars. "Are we even in the same galaxy?"

[itsinmyblood]

"Seeing as you think I'm dead?" Ashley mentioned, glancing toward the Turian. "I'm going to say no. None of us are in the Galaxy we used to be." She crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head slightly.

"It's strange. The one thing that seems to be the same is that we were all fighting the reapers. Except for you, Tali. I don't think that they are powerful enough to send us to a place like this but we really didn't know a lot about them in the first place. Maybe they are the reason we are here."