(1.3 is almost here, y'all don't have to wait long for that reaction chapter lol)
If Welt got 100 credits for each time the Astral Express had to make an abrupt stop to avoid crashing into a planet that popped up right in front of them... he would have 100 credits.
They'd been going along business as usual, about to make a jump... when suddenly the starry expanse of space before them was abruptly occupied by a whole planet that wasn't there three seconds before.
They were able to stop before they rammed right into it, but it did cause quite a scare. It wasn't every day that a planet just spawned itself in front of the Express.
Fortunately, according to the Archives, it was a planet that regularly changed locations. It spent a little bit of time in one place, then blinked away to another. How it happened? There wasn't enough data to explain this phenomenon, but Dan Heng wasn't going to just let the opportunity to find out slip out of his grasp.
March 7th took one look at the planet, and immediately decided, "No way! It gives me the creeps! I mean look at it, that looks like the type of planet a horror movie would be set in!"
She wasn't wrong, it did look pretty freaky...
In the end, Welt and Himeko accompanied Dan Heng as he decided to take a look at the planet while March stayed behind on the Astral Express with Pom-Pom to keep her company.
Upon arrival, they found that the planet was... pretty empty. It was like one giant battlefield, structures razed to the ground and destroyed to the point where you could hardly tell what they used to be.
And the corpsesβ good grief.
Some were more... recent, than others.
Most were just skeletons, there being extensive damage to the bones, specifically the skull, and weapons scattered everywhere.
Other corpses were more recent looking, wrapped up in roots and looking as though they'd been slowly drained of everything they had, only leaving husks behind.
The trio came across something that looked like a town, full of a bunch of run down houses destroyed by war. And an over growing tree, from the looks of it.
Massive roots coiled around buildings, and husks that appeared to once be humanoids. Didn't matter what they were, they were dead now. Drained of all vitality they once had.
"What happened here?" Himeko murmured as they continued through the empty town, careful to avoid stepping on the corpses on the ground.
"Nothing good, from the looks of it. Stay close, we don't know if it's safe to be here right now." Welt warned, and Himeko nodded while Dan Heng slowed his pace a little so he wasn't too far ahead.
They wandered for a bit, following the path of the roots away from the town and towards a hill that seemed to overlook the sea.
At the very top was a tree. A big tree with massive roots spreading out in all directions. Its great branches seemed to blot out the darkened sky as the trio approached, golden leaves emitting a haunting glow from far above.
Dan Heng began towards the tree first, reaching it and wandering around the base as he got a good look at it.
Well and Himeko weren't far behind, the fiery haired woman observing the tree in awe while Welt kept his distance. He did, however, spot a little white thing near the base of the tree which prompted him to get a little closer.
He approached carefully, finding that it was a little white lion plush. It looked more like a tattered mess of fluff and fabric, but the general shape was clear enough for him to tell what it was supposed to be.
As he neared, he spotted a hand holding onto the plush. Not a completely decomposed one, or one that looked like an empty husk, a hand of someone who was actually living and breathing.
And what do you know. There, amongst the roots at the base of the tree's trunk, was a woman kinda just sitting there. She wasn't dead... or unconscious either, she was sleeping.
Full on snoring, snoozing, not a care in the world.
She was kinda secured to the tree, though...
Did they leave her there,
No! Of course not!
They worked tirelessly for a good thirty minutes to free her from the tree that didn't seem to want to let her go.
Everytime they cut one of the wooden tendrils, another replaced it and literally tried PULLING HER INTO THE TREE TRUNK.
The tree seemed very insistent on keeping her, and all the jostling around seemed to be rousing her from her rest.
After about an hour or so, they finally got her free and the tree kinda just died on the spot. Withered and crumbled while the woman slowly awoke.
They couldn't spend much more time, though, as the planet was about to do that teleporting thing again.
They headed right back to the Astral Express, Dan Heng carrying the woman in his back while she stubbornly held on to her plush and that broken sword she'd had with her.
This woman had a name, one that took a good few days to get out of her as she quietly stayed in her room or wandered about the Express in silence.
She watched everyone in silence, never speaking but only saying a couple of words when asked about something or greeted. Skittish was what Himeko referred to her as despite y/n always being willing to talk to her.
It didn't take long for the navigator to get y/n to open up. First she began to talk around Himeko, then her and March began to hang out more and more.
As for Welt, mm...
"Psst... Mr. Yang!"
The man glanced at y/n who was peering around the corner into the parlor car at him, Mimi in her grasp as usual. Everybody else had retired to their rooms to get some rest, but he remained awake to sketch that week's adventures in a notebook.
He'd assumed y/n would've been too tired to be up, and yet here she was. How odd, but it sort of made sense since she spent a lot of time sleeping during their visit to this new world over the previous seven days.
"I didn't think you'd still be up." Welt commented as y/n wandered into the parlor car and took a seat across from him, setting Mimi down on the table, "Can't sleep?"
"Nope, too loud." it was dead silent with the exception of the music in the parlor car but Welt wasn't going to tell her that, "What are you up to? Sketching?"
"I am, want to take a look?" the man offered and y/n nodded eagerly, happily accepting his notebook and admiring it with bright e/c eyes.
While the woman had certainly opened up quite a bit, there was always something odd about her. Initially, she seemed to hear and see things the others couldn't. She was paranoid, forgetful, her mood shifting and changing at random.
And voices, she often complained about voices even when there was nobody speaking. She never elaborated on these things, quickly moving on as though nothing happened.
Still, it left Welt feeling uneasy.
"These are from when we were on the last planet, right? They're all really good, Mr. Yang..." y/n breathed, looking up from the notebook and at Welt, "Are you some kind of artist?"
"I suppose you could say that." he laughed quietly as y/n returned the notebook to him, an eager look on her face.
"Could you teach me how to draw, then?" she inquired with a little tilt of her head, "If it's not too much trouble."
"Teach you to draw?"
"Mhm! I'd like to learn!"
"I mean, I suppose I could?"
Y/n did not have a natural talent for drawing, nor was she exactly teachable. She was very determined, but the most she could manage was stick figures. It was still something, and Welt was a patient man, so he promised to keep teaching her.
He lent her a notebook to practice in, but he didn't expect her to carry it everywhere with her. She carried it everywhere, no matter the environment or situation, and whenever the trailblazers were preparing to move on to the next world or taking some time to rest, she always showed off her progress.
Her dreams were a common theme of her drawings, as certain triggers caused her missing memories to slowly flow back like water dripping through a crack.
There were drawings of swords, one of a lion, another of a big tree. Then there were the drawings she scribbled out. Y/n claimed their were too unnerving to continue drawing, so she just scribbled until she could no longer see them.
That wasn't concerning at all.
And then y/n died.
Once, twice, again, each time she kept coming back.
The unnerving drawings she scribbled out decreased in number over time until they just stopped being drawn completely, and she seemed better.
No more voices, no more things only she could see.
Y/n seemed okay.
Her newfound discovery of her inability to die made her happy, as she could "protect the others from now on"
Still, Himeko and Welt agreed to keep an eye on her.
She was a member of the Nameless now, and she was family. That meant her self destructive tendencies regarding fighting had to be managed, otherwise the consequences could be dire.
"Mr. Yang! Look! I drew a portrait for Pom-Pom!"
A proud looking y/n and an equally proud looking Pom-Pom showed off the woman's notebook to Welt, featuring another crudely drawn portrait of the conductor.
Her drawing skills remained relatively the same/
"Isn't it wonderful? She captured my image perfectly!" Pom-Pom declared with glee as y/n grinned.
"I'm gonna draw one of Miss Himeko next! What do you think, Mr. Yang?" y/n chimed, eagerly shifting in place.
Welt glanced at the eyepatch covering her missing eye, she just couldn't stop losing body parts these days, before smiling, nodding in approval.
"Seeing as the conductor is so happy with their portrait, I'm sure Himeko would love to have one as well." he hummed, patting y/n on the head and earning a look of joy from her.
"Here! Let me draw you next!"
Welt agreed and sat still for a while, Pom-Pom watching y/n draw as she got to work. Dan Heng was walking by when he stopped and took a seat to watch, Himeko noticing and doing the same.
Eventually, when y/n finished, Dan Heng, Himeko and Pom-Pom all looked at the picture with blank looks.
"...what in the world?"
"Is it bad?" y/n asked in a nervous tone.
March popped in to get a look at it and her eyes damn near popped out of her head, "WHAβWHAT IN THE?!"
Welt was scared now.
Y/n sheepishly turned the notebook so Welt could see itβ WHAT THE π?! DID SHE GET POSSESSED BY LEONARDO DA VINCI OR SOMETHING?!
There, on the notebook amongst a bunch of crude drawings, was a gorgeous portrait of Mr. Welt Yang himself.
What in the... how?
"Ohhh, I want a portrait too! Me next!" March exclaimed, shaking a nervous y/n back and forth.
"No way! Miss Himeko is next! Wait your turn!" y/n shouted before ushering Himeko into a seat, "Sit! Sit!"
The others all watched as y/n sketched a portrait of Himeko and the finished product was... goodness. Gorgeous. Perfection. It couldn't compare to the lady herself but it was still dazzling.
March 7th was eager to have a pretty portrait of her own, but... y/n's sudden mastery of portraits was limited only to the senior members of the Astral Express.
When they beheld March's portrait, they were all in a mild state of confusion.
"What... what is that?" March asked blankly.
"It's you!" y/n chirped.
"That's me?!"
"Mm!"
March took to pressing a perfectly happy y/n about the sudden decline in portrait quality, Dan Heng getting up and walking away to escape the noise while Himeko watched on in amusement.
As Welt watched the exchange, he heaved a sigh and shook his head. Ah... the Astral Express sure had been lively lately.
He glanced at y/n, comparing her current self to the version of her they'd pulled from that tree.
The man smiled a bit.
This liveliness, it was nice.
It was no longer warm.
The darkness felt... cold.
No longer welcoming.
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