[Consignment] IC Inbox

[needlebearer]

stark.arya@cdc.org
(0) UNREAD MESSAGES

Comments

day 51

[immunizations]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

youre not pumped to go fight more monsters by any chance
are you?

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

That depends on what we're fighting.

[immunizations]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

i dont know

but itll probably suck

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

I'd better bring all my weapons then

[immunizations]

[One day she hopes to say something as Metal as you Arya. You're an inspiration to us all.]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

how many is all?

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

Zimnij Volk - that's my sword. A hunting knife and the knife roll I got on the Nehada. Teeth from a landshark and a frostbrood. [She likes stabbing things a lot okay.] And the gun they gave me when I arrived.

[immunizations]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

how come your sword is the only one that has a name?

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

I didn't think about naming any of the others. All the best swords have names, but I haven't heard of a dagger with a name before. And I'd never even heard of a gun before I got here.

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

The sword was a gift from my friend, Barnes. The name is in the language he speaks, called Russian. It means Winter Wolf.

[immunizations]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

thats so fucking cool


FROM: ellie@cdc.org

but i dunno maybe you could name the first dagger

i mean

just cause somethings small doesnt mean its not important

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

What's your dagger called?

[immunizations]

[Ellie doesn't come from a world with swords and the right name for things, or even for respect- by and large. But they have nicknames for Joel's guns and now that Arya's asking... She looks down at the switchblade in her hands. It belonged to a mother she never knew.

Ellie isn't sure what her answer will be until suddenly, she does. ]


FROM: ellie@cdc.org

anna

[needlebearer]

[Needle had been more about what the weapon was designed to do, and Zimnij Volk had been Bucky's name, though it still described her and the sword itself rather than being named in honour of someone else. It would have to be someone very special, something very personal. She feels bad asking, in a way, knowing that Ellie has gone through tragedy as much as herself, but as usual her curiosity gets the better of her.]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

Who's Anna?

[immunizations]

[Oh.
She probably should have expected this question, and yet-
Ellie shakes it off. It's not a big deal.]


FROM: ellie@cdc.org

she was my mom

[needlebearer]

[Was. That one word speaks volumes.]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

It's okay. My mother's dead too.

[immunizations]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

did you know her?

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

Yes. But I hadn't seen her in a long time. I got there just too late.

[immunizations]

[I got there just too late. Ellie doesn't ask if it would have made a difference. It's the question that's always been like a rock in her stomach.]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

sorry

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

I am too. About your mother, I mean. No one should have to go through that.

[immunizations]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

i didnt know her or anything so

its not really the same

but thanks

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

It still matters. Did they get the ones responsible?

[Because that's the conclusion she automatically jumps to, it doesn't even occur to her that an illness or accident may have taken her. She's coloured by her own experience with losing her parents.]

[immunizations]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

i dont know

i never met her

but she asked one of her friends to look out for me


FROM: ellie@cdc.org

but thats pretty much everyones story where i come from

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

In that case, being here must actually seem better for you.

[immunizations]

[Better. It's actually a thought she hasn't managed to settle on.]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

well i dunno about better

i mean at least i know how stuff worked back home


FROM: ellie@cdc.org

probably the same for you too huh?

[needlebearer]

FROM: stark.arya@cdc.org

I don't know, either. I'm glad that I have the time and space to get stronger here. But I'd rather be in my own world. I have things to take care of.

[immunizations]

FROM: ellie@cdc.org

what kind of things?