Don't you just hate it when you meet a stranger, they decide to travel with you for the foreseeable future, and then they refuse to tell you anything? Just stand there like they're a statue, or like the world's frozen in time? Both? Ignoring your perfectly reasonable questions?
That's how Nora felt right about then. Stonewalled. And when Nora got blocked by literal walls, she tended to take a literal hammer to them. Guess what she did to figurative walls?
"You still haven't told me your name, you know! Come on… Let it at me! At least a nickname? Pet name? Fake name? You're still ignoring me? Uggggh, that's just so rude!"
Yeah. Doesn't take a genius.
Should be noted that, despite the rapid-fire questioning, her voice was still pretty quiet. Especially for Nora. Her teammates (and Ruby, who frankly probably counts) were sleeping. Had a long day walking. She could be considerate! Just not to annoying floaty typewriter people with massive hands that won't respond to the single most basic conversation starter in history! What gives?
Well, if inkbot over there wanted to be a silent thorn in her side, then so be it! Nora Valkyrie never backed down from a challenge! And if that challenge was getting this weirdo sentient lock-monster to open up and live a little, then you'd better bet that she was gonna get it done, come heck or high water. She'd been trying to get taciturn long-haired guys to open up her whole life; there was no way she'd fail now!
(The fact that she'd been failing to get one particular taciturn long-haired guy to open up her whole life did not escape her, but hey. Optimism. Courage! Fearlessness!)
"Hey, let's start over. Fresh slate! My name's Nora Valkyrie! That," she pointed at Jaune's snoring form, "is Jaune Arc, fearless leader of Team JN…PR! Next to him (in what might be the most adorable bromance in history) is Lie Ren, my partner and good friend-but-not-boyfriend-haha-that-would-be-silly! And finally, guest-starring from the famous Team RWBY, we have Ruby Rose! Great friend, always there to lend a helping hand, though maybe be careful giving her food?"
They'd learned that the hard way, back near the start of their journey. A harsh reminder that, in many ways, Ruby had never really wanted, as a child. Not paying attention, she'd eaten all of her food, miles before they were due to reach the next village where they might have a chance to restock. Ren and herself, they'd starved. Knew not to make such a mistake. And honestly Nora wasn't sure where Jaune had learned to so carefully ration his edibles. But he had, and it had never been an issue.
The youngest of them might've truly gone hungry that day, had Nora not given her half of her share of rations. And while Nora was never happy to part with food, she was always happy to help out a friend. And the two balanced out. Kind of.
"Just checking, you don't need food, do you? Not like you have a mouth to eat it with, but maybe you shove it in your chest instead?"
Dead silence. Nora was vaguely disappointed.
It was a little depressing. Absent-mindedly, Nora rubbed her hand over that strange blue glow that pulsed like a heartbeat, felt the strings inside and the power thrumming through them. A really weird sensation. Nothing like it on Remnant, save for some weird Semblance-based shenanigans? Maybe?
Inky didn't even seem to mind her touching its private parts. Nora sighed.
"Wow, it's like you're just… asleep or something. What gives, then? What's even the point?"
"...I've been wondering that, myself…"
Nora instantly snapped to attention. But her silent conversation partner had nothing more to say, retreating back into its isolated shell.
"Oh come on!" Nora almost yelled, barely managing to control her volume. "You can't just suddenly say that and just… shut up again! Whaddya mean? Explain yourself! Talk to me!"
Nothing but the dripping of ink. Her patience was reaching its limit.
Nora didn't even really care about its name anymore. She just wanted a response. Anything. The slightest sign that it was more than the robot it appeared to be. It had replied, once. And the fact that it wasn't impossible made the task seem even more tantalizing somehow. Like getting Ren to, ah, notice her. Twice as frustrating, though.
All at once, the fight went out of her and she deflated like a popped balloon. Maybe she'd been a wee bit… pushy. And by 'a wee bit' she meant 'extremely'. 'Unreasonably'. 'Rudely'. If it didn't want to breach its name or talk about its problems or even give her the time of day… she supposed that was its right. Not everybody was Ren, able to put up with her quirks for hours on end. Even Ruby and Jaune, as selfless and kind as they were, the bonds they'd formed, the troubles they'd weathered together…
Nobody was perfect. And as good as Ruby was at hiding her emotions, she could see it in her eyes, sometimes. Exhaustion. A wish for silence. What was that they said about familiarity breeding contempt? Maybe not sooooo bad, but… Yeah.
When Nora noticed, she always tried to tone it down, as any good friend would. But, by that same flip of the pancake, she wasn't perfect either. If she didn't notice, she wouldn't change.
Reading the inkbot was really hard, given its lack of, uh, face. But she was starting to get a vague sense of tangible frustration, emanating from the ink-dripping abomination. As if it genuinely wanted her to stop, but was unwilling to give in and ask. Silence borne from stubbornness.
Before, half an hour of pestering and commenting ago, it was as if it didn't really care. Apathy. It had heard her, could process every word she said if it chose. Just… out of darns to give. Sinking. Tuning out. Maybe it was asleep, or whatever passed for it. Either way, it wasn't anymore.
Call her insane, assigning emotion and human characteristics to such an obvious nonhuman. Wouldn't be the rudest thing anyone had called her. Either way, it'd probably be best if she gave it some space.
…is what she would have thought, if not for that single line. She was only realizing it in hindsight. In the moment, she'd been preoccupied by that strange combination of catharsis and frustration. She'd heard the sound of Inky's typewriter voice, but not the words. Only now, in a moment of relative calmness, was she able to process.
Her query: "What's the point?"
The response: "I was wondering that, myself…"
She'd only been asking what the point of her badgering was, if Inky hadn't heard any of it. But the way it had replied implied something more. Like it was asking 'what's the point', but… generally, she guessed. What's the point of existence, living. Meaning of life.
Worse yet, and this was the part Nora really didn't like: it seemed as if it had already come to a conclusion. That being that there was no conclusion. No point in continuing. She had the weirdest feeling that, if she were to take Magnhild up and about and try smashing Inky into scrap, that it wouldn't even care. Wouldn't defend itself, nor run away. It would float there and take it until it couldn't float nor take any more.
Nora had been called a psycho. But never a therapist, and definitely not a psychotherapist. She didn't know where to go from here. Or if she should even try. Maybe this was normal for Inky's race of alien robots or whatever.
…If that was the case, then Nora didn't like its normal. Not caring about whether you lived or died…
Nora glanced at Jaune's sleeping form and felt a deep pang of guilt.
Anyway. Inky wasn't on its home planet, right now. And even if it was only a temporary thing, it was technically kinda part of Team JNRR at this very moment. Which meant she technically kinda had a responsibility to help 'em. Might need to take a different approach, though. Clearly, her high-energy style of interrogation hadn't quite worked out. More heartfelt, somber. Like Ren, she guessed. Maybe that would get through to Inky better. Hard for her, but doable.
Schooling her vaguely frustrated scowl into something more like a smile, Nora plopped down directly in front of Inky and sat on top of Magnhild's head. When she spoke, it was with none of her characteristic exhilaration. Softer. Like talking to Ren or Jaune, when either of them was having a moment.
"Hey… Inky. How are you doing? Like, inside?"
"I have been better," it replied, in a quiet click-clack.
Not encouraging. This would be harder than she'd thought.
"What do you mean by that?" she tried. "Are you happy? Sad? Talk to me here, please."
The humanoid abomination's head tilted downwards, empty lock facing her directly. Thinking, maybe? Finally taking her seriously. Some small part of her was vindictive, happy that she finally elicited a real response. It was drowned out by worry.
"...What do you want me to say?" it replied in muffled tones of what might have been anger. "This world of shattered moonlight. I cannot fulfill my purpose here…. The Will of the City…Silent."
Those words again. Ruby had been right to ask about alien hive minds.
"What is the Will of the City?" Nora asked. "Like, is it literal? What everyone wants? That can't be too bad, right?"
"It is miserable," it replies. "It is all the horror of the human condition. If you have not suffered at the hands of humans, you would not understand."
Now that was just uncalled for. She and Ren had suffered. Bandits, jerk shopkeepers, slavers in all but name, even her own mother—they'd endured all that and more. And if not for their combined cleverness (Ren's more than her's) and strength (her's more than Ren's), they easily might not have made it to where they were now. Nora had to temper her furious indignation, her kneejerk response, clenching Maghnild tightly to her side.
Still, it had a point.
Instead, she said a much more measured, "I think I'd understand a lot more than you think. Your City isn't the only place where humans can be awful."
If her tone was a wee bit icier than usual, just the tiniest bit harsher… Inky didn't notice. And its reply was the same drone as it always used.
"If that is the case, then your mask is quite convincing. I could never hide my misery as well as you do yours. It must be a blessing."
"What did you just say?" she snapped.
That was a bridge too far. Her behavior wasn't an act. It was genuine Nora, 100%. She'd changed, over the years. No longer that shy and sullen and scared little girl, pinching whatever food she could get her hands on. No victim for any passing Grimm or casual jerk.
And she'd found her happiness. She was happy, despite all that had transpired. She still had her friends, her Ren. Even down one member (and saying that didn't hurt actually would be lying), she could still point at solitary moments—times when she saved a village from Grimm, when she got to partake in delicious pancakes, when she got to watch the rest of her team sleep in peace, because they trusted her to keep watch. Moments to live for. And she could see more in her future, no matter how dark the forecast got.
Maybe that was this typewriter's problem. Too stupid to look forward, too blind to look back.
She wasn't inclined to be super charitable to it anymore, though. Not when it kept insulting her, making light of her experiences, her personality. Was it really being malicious? Nah, probably not. That didn't mean she had to sit there and take it. Her patience did have limits.
"Look, Inky," she said, before the inkbot could actually reply. "You can sit on your massive hands and cry if you really want. That's none of my business anymore. But don't presume to think you know everything about everyone. Yeah, maybe life sucked for you. It sucked for me too. It sucks for everybody, sometimes. But that doesn't mean I'm just gonna give up and die!"
"The Prescripts see all, know all—" Inky tried to respond.
Nora was having none of it.
"Prescript this, Prescript that! I don't see any Prescripts, I don't see any will of the city! This is the friggin' Anima wilderness! We're the only people around for miles!"
"They are the will of both the people and the City. Are you and your group not people?"
"Our goal isn't to make people suffer," Nora shot back. "Unlike most, admittedly."
"The people. Not your people. Followers of the Prescripts act without fear, for they are fulfilling the cruel wishes of all people. That flow is inescapable…"
More cult malarkey. "Sounds to me like you want something to blame, something you can throw your hands up at and say 'Oh, that's just the way it is! Nothing to be done!'" She punctuated her sarcasm by throwing her hands in the air just so.
Nora took a deep breath and finished:
"Stop griping about how miserable life is, stop being so afraid of experiencing more suckage, and start doing something, how about? If nothing else, just live. Even that can be hard, but it's better than not trying at all, right?"
The sound of Jaune rustling about in his sleeping bag jarred Nora from her irritated lecture, and she realized that, uh, she might've gotten just the teensiest bit loud there. Oops. So much for being considerate.
"Nora… didn't Ruby ask you to leave them alone?" he said, sleepily.
Dangit. Caught red-handed. Nora opened her mouth to utter an apology, but was surprisingly beaten to it by Inky.
"It is fine. We have been having an interesting discussion."
It was… covering for her? Huh.
"Cool, whatever… just keep it down, okay Nora? Long day of more walking ahead of us tomorrow," Jaune said, yawning.
"Sorry Jaune," Nora said, but it was pointless. He'd already flipped around and gone back to sleep.
A hefty period of silence followed. She didn't see the point in continuing their argument. And Inky tended to be quiet.
Still, Nora got the sense that it might've been thinking things over. And if it was, she hoped that it would find the courage within itself. To keep on living.
To… Subdue the next person that insults you three times. Do not kill them.
He wasn't sure why he'd intervened between the girl and her leader(?). He had no Prescript, no particular attachment to this group of children. From what he could tell, they were good friends. The resulting dressing-down likely would have been brief, if it had occurred at all—the boy, Jaune, seemed too tired to speak more than an extra sentence or two. And yet, he had spoken unnecessarily.
To ... Climb onto the tallest building and sing "Happy Birthday" to the fourth person who approaches you.
Perhaps it was because the girl had a point. It was true, he could not hear the Will of the City, was not tasked with delivering any Prescripts, had not been given any himself. And for all that he both expected and dreaded a swift return to that hell, it was perhaps, in error. His odds of going back were, given a lack of information, as good as his odds of staying here indefinitely. And if that were the case, then…
Then he supposed he would have to do something. But what?
To… Stop seeing. Count to fifteen then see again. Destroy the fifth vehicle you see with passengers still inside.
What could he do? Survival, while far from meaningless, was not especially meaningful, either. An accomplishment for someone like him, but not a great one. And he'd once tried to help people, to prove his own will could even ever-so briefly supercede that of the City's. Pointless, in the end. But if there was no City, then perhaps his individual volition could peek above the ocean of awful hopes…?
Still, he was at a loss.
To… Collect four HP Bullets from the trunk of a destroyed vehicle. Use three immediately then hide the existence of the fourth.
Another uneventful day of travel passed. Nora didn't pay him nearly as much mind this time, allowing him to float behind the group in peace. But, strangely enough, he found it disconcerting. Whereas yesterday, he would have much preferred if she'd simply stayed silent, today, he instead almost wanted her chatter to fill his skull, to distract him from the sparking questions he didn't have answers to.
When they'd set camp once again, 얀샋ㄷ요무 was unpleasantly informed that the long-haired boy, Ren, would be keeping watch this time. Not the awkward Jaune or the curious Ruby. Even Nora would have been preferable.
Because Ren, from what he observed, did not speak unless spoken to. He was disciplined, reined himself in and considered his words before speaking. Quiet, taciturn. Not unlike him, before he had Distorted. And that meant that he would have to reach out, if he wanted to distract himself from his growing doubts.
To… only eat, or write, or pull the trigger with your right hand.
It took two hours of the two of them sitting in silence in the dark. Two hours before 얀샋ㄷ요무 finally caved.
"Tell me about your world."
A/N: Well. That certainly didn't take almost a year. Next chapter will likely be out within a similar timeframe.
Also, the true purpose behind You Are A Distorted Typewriter Abomination finally reveals itself: I needed old Prescripts to steal. Thank you everyone for voting on that shitpost. (/s)
Many many thanks to The Alt-Center for helping me beta this chapter.
Oh, right. Key Page.
Nora's Page
HP: 100 (55)
SR: 100 (55)
Ranged: Can use Ranged Combat Pages.
Speed: Speed Dice Slot +1. (Cannot Overlap)
Aura: Damage resistances remain "Immune" until Staggered, at which point they return to normal for the remainder of the reception. Stagger Resist is not recovered if an Act ends.
Maghnild: Blunt Dice Power +1. Blunt damage +1.
High Voltage: Gain Strength and Disarm equal to half the number of stacks of Charge on self at the end of the Scene. If user has 5 or more Charge, deal Stagger damage to self equal to twice the stacks of Charge at the end of the Scene. If user has 8 or more Charge, deal Stagger damage to self equal to four times the stacks of Charge at the end of the scene.
Deck:
(2) Thunderous Blow
On Use: Purge all Charge. Gain 2 Charge.
6-11 Blunt
3-5 Block
(3) Pomegrenade
Combat Start: If an ally is playing a page with the same name, all Offensive dice on this page gain +7 power.
7-11 Blunt
4-5 Block
(2) Flower Power
Combat Start: If an ally is playing a page with the same name, all Offensive dice on this page deal 50% more damage and Stagger damage and gain +1 power.
3-8 Block
5-10 Blunt