Nathan Algren

Well, the power was still out and the weather showed no signs of letting up, but there was, at the very least, a roaring fire in the living room at 29 Chimera Court, over which Nathan had arranged a few pots to boil. One was just hot water, he needed his tea, dammit. The other was the makings of a stew, with potatoes and carrots and beef, nothing terribly ambitious, but it would be hot and it would be filling, which was good enough for him.

He wouldn't even deny that he actually rather preferred it this way. It was simple, it was quiet, and while he had come to appreciate the convenience of modern technology, this was by far a more familiar way of life.

He was smiling to himself as he sat down near the fire, settling in to write in his journal while he waited for the vegetables to cook.

[OOC: Open to housemates or anybody crazy enough to brave the weather to visit!]

Nathan sighed as he looked out his living room window, a cup of tea in hand. It semed like a nice enough day out, but every now and again... things seemed to creep by, between the house and the beach. He had no idea what the hell they were, but they were likely trouble. And, as much as he wanted to ignore that much...

He'd had enough experience with the island's particular idea of trouble to know that he should at least do a sweep outside to make certain nobody was being attacked by giant slugs in the street or something.

It took him a few minutes, but he gathered both his sword and his pistol, and made his way outside. He could pick off a few of the slugs already, without leaving his front step.

"Well, that's not a great sign, is it?"

It was going to be one of those days.

[OOC: Open for anybody who might catch Nathan in his yard! Warning: Character Death in the comments.]

Unaware of the invitations being sent out to students in the dorms, Nathan was on a similar mission, himself. There were enough new faces around the island these days that even after a semester spent teaching here, he still didn't know most of them, and the first week of classes had come and gone without any noteworthy trauma or loss of life.

And besides all that, thanks to Magnus, Nathan's house finally had furniture. That alone was worth celebrating.

So hand-written invitations in Nathan's tidy, precise scrawl were being handed out to any adult on the island who even so much as looked at the interior of a classroom. Because it was a big house, and why the hell not?

One Week Down, Six More To Go
Barring some manner of disaster, anyway.
Feel free to drop by for a small gathering of Fandom's Teachers to celebrate surviving week one.
Or to compare notes about the students.
Or to drink to forget whatever happened in your classroom this week. You might as well do it in understanding company.
Sunday Evening, May 14
29 Chimera Court

[OOC: I was just about to post this for a Saturday thing instead when Summer's went up. FINE, SUMMER, BEAT ME TO THE PARTY PUNCH. Open for reactions, or to catch Nathan as he's stuffing letters into mailboxes or whatever, if you like.]

Nathan was being weirdly social, lately. Blame it, perhaps, on the fact that he'd had so much socialization while he was in Japan, what with Katsumoto's conversations and the time he'd spent training alongside the Samurai.

And that was why he was in the kitchen, trying to hunt down the tea. He was expecting company this evening, after all, and it wouldn't do to invite her over to tea if he didn't actually have it out and ready to be made by the time she arrived.

... Of course, it had to be in the top of the over-the-counter cupboard, there.

With a sigh, Nathan set about to pulling up a stool to climb onto so that he could reach. One of these days, he was going to just invest in a pair of those platform boots, or something.

[Open for housemates and visitors!]

"//Will you fight the white man, too?//" Higen had asked Nathan upon his return to the village.

Nathan had answered yes. And, when the boy had asked why, the answer was simple.

"//Because they come to destroy what I have come to love.//"

And so it was to be. The Emperor's troops against the Samurai. Nathan made his peace with Taka and her family, and she'd helped him into the armor of her late husband. The red armor of the man that Nathan himself had killed, when he was fighting on the side of those who were now his enemy.

"With any luck," Nathan said, looking sidelong at Tony, "you'll be able to use my ID to get back to Fandom."

No, he wasn't really banking on getting out of this alive. But then, that was the risk that you took, when you fought for that which you loved.

( Tony shot him a look... )

---

( Nathan and Katsumoto met Bagley and Omura... )

[NFB and NFI for distance and time. Preplayed with not_ironmaiden, who will paaay for making me wibble so omg. Large chunks of script lifted from The Last Samurai, and as such, there are spoilers within.]

The trip into Tokyo itself had been quiet, to say the least. The arrival into Tokyo, on the other hand, escorted by at least a dozen Samurai on horseback, was an event to be remembered. Those who didn't scream and scatter from the streets lined up by the side of the road, bowing as the group of them made their way into the city.

Once they were there, Katsumoto had business of his own to see to, with the Emperor. Nathan, meanwhile, had to tend to his own. He'd been here to do a job, after all, and his duties were... Over, perhaps. He really had no desire to crush the Samurai rebellion. But he couldn't simply run away, either.

The military that he saw when he entered the training camp was definitely not the same one he'd left behind half a year ago.

Howitzers.

( I named mine Jericho... )

---

( It was an unfortunate truth that taking care of business meant... )

---

( Nathan was not a happy man... )

[NFB and NFI for distance and time. Preplayed with not_ironmaiden, who kills me ded with win. Large chunks of script lifted from The Last Samurai, and as such, there are spoilers within.]

Nathan had managed, by some miracle, to keep some lolling sort of semblance of consciousness as the Samurai took him and Tony back to their stronghold in the mountains of Japan. Through some sort of haze, he watched Katsumoto lop off the head of General Hashigawa. The rest, haze. There were moments, when he almost had enough focus to look to make certain that they hadn't disposed of Tony along the way. The trek might have lasted hours, days, might have lasted weeks. And then, they were hauling him from the back of the horse he'd been loaded onto, threatening him, spitting in his face. Demanding his name.

He didn't give it.

Winter was coming. There would be no escaping whatever settlement they'd been dragged to.

And then, the haze turned to bright white swimming behind his eyes, and then to black.

---

( Coming to with a start... )

---

( The first time Nathan had handled a sword... )

[NFB and NFI for distance and time. Preplayed with not_ironmaiden, who is smarter than I am and understands the glories of e-mail, omg. Large chunks of script lifted from The Last Samurai, and as such, there are spoilers within.]

The boat (ship, really) that Nathan and Tony had been whisked away to was none other than the same one that Nathan had been passenger on, en route to Japan before he'd even wound up in Fandom. He supposed it was entirely too kind of the universe at large to have his own timeline wait up for him to return, but the circumstances of his arrival could have stood to be a little less... Unannounced.

Portalocity did send a letter of apology, which somehow made it to Nathan on the ship, informing him that it was going to take them some time to work out the kinks in their system, but he would be able to collect a full refund and a lift back to Fandom as soon as things were in order. Of course, he'd have to be the one to order the replacement portal. It was on his credit card, after all.

Needless to say, Tony bitched all the way into Yokohama Harbor. He bitched to their translator, one Mr. Simon Graham. He bitched to Nathan. He bitched to Nathan's friend, Zebulon Gant. And he bitched all the way up the steps en route to Nathan's appointment with the Emperor himself.

( You owe me... )

---

( And so, the preparations for war began... )

[NFB and NFI for distance and tiiiiime. Preplayed with the loverly not_ironmaiden, who rocks my socks. Large chunks of script lifted from The Last Samurai, and as such, there are spoilers within.]

The portal that opened up outside the front door of 25 Unicorn Street was, while possibly a little on the malfunctional side, a more than welcome one for certain individuals.

Algren, for one, was about the closest to thrilled that he'd been in quite some time, to be spat out on the doorstep of his own home. And, for that matter, was finding it odd that he was starting to consider this place to be home, especially in the face of recent events.

It was an almost awkward silence that he felt he absolutely had to break as he stood there, an empty shotgun clutched so firmly in one hand that his knuckles were white.

"Home sweet home."

Unfortunately, he was completely lacking anything remotely witty to say, today.

[Open!]