Chapter Text
Atlas
I can't believe it's only been two years... Two years since the war...
The air in the train was heavy and somber as passengers came and went. Some casual conversations filled the silence, but most kept to themselves and their business. It was, after all, the anniversary of the end of the war, the Day of Mourning. Even with the war freshly forgotten, whispers of what's to come and what still are echo throughout the land. The politicians pontificate about the world they don't understand and doubt fills the citizens' hearts. The people are restless and they see no change coming soon. These were tough times for all, from the common folk to the dragons in hiding. Eberron was out of balance.
The mood was hopeless. Yet not everyone had given up. Not Atlas.
Atlas Thuban was young. Not young enough to not know the ways of the world. But young enough to still have hope. He was bred from a long line of strong paladins. It was a lot to live up to the Thuban name. In his homeland, Atlas' mother was well known for her good deeds and her mother before that. The Thuban family had always birthed capable young women and when Atlas came along he changed that. Not only was he the wrong gender, but he didn't share the same faith as his parents either. He denounced his faith, and so his family denounced him. Atlas wanted something different then his progenitors; he wanted to discover the world for himself and find his own truths. And that's exactly what he was doing, standing tall and proud in one of the train cars.
He donned a bright cerulean cap with button it, the logo of the Lightning Trainrail, signifying him as guard of the train. The one who upheld the law of the train car. The one to kindly show someone to their seat. The one to kick people off the train, if it came to that.
Earlier, before he boarded, he had met the engineer of the train, a gnome with wicked pink hair and a sense of urgency about him. He said he was in need of a young strapping lad to secure the train from trouble and trouble makers. Altas, being such, and clad in his family's armor, was an easy choice for the gnome. He offered Atlas the job, which he took without hesitation.
Atlas, now, stood in front of the luxury car. An erect protector of the luxury car, warding off the simple commoners and less than glitzy clientele. The gnome told him "Check their ticket. Look for the stamp of approval. Those who have it can pass by you. And if they don't, don't let them pass." He didn't see the sense in asking too many questions as it was a simple task really, and it made him feel good to help those he could. Plus, it gave him a way out of town and the cash, a nice added bonus.
The train was halfway through the journey from Korth to Fairhaven, both huge bustling cities in Khorvaire. Nothing was amiss as Altas scanned the train car for anything suspicious. If anything were to happen, it might as well be on the Day of Mourning. Those who argued that the war shouldn't have ended still held protests in the town center and loved using the anniversary as an excuse to stir up old emotions. A frown crept at the corners of his mouth. Atlas yearned for that excitement, but it seemed the universe had it out for him to be bored this time.
As his sky-colored eyes jumped from passenger to passenger, he made his own assumptions about all of them. An orc on their way to meet up with family. A dwarf coming home after a long shift. A couple of humans on a romantic escape. And then his eyes stopped at someone, someone who stood out more than he should've. It was an elf with dark circles under his eyes that perfectly matched his patchwork dark cloak. Skin of ash, eyes piercing like sapphire darts, and the elf was... approaching him!? Most unusual, Atlas thought, as he watched an insincere grin swept across the elf's face.
"Hello friend." The elf raised a hand in greeting. His words were gruff but kind.
This was no friend of Atlas'. "Hello." An eyebrow raised in suspicion, maybe today would bestow some sort of amusement.
"How long you've been working this train?" The elf's eyes moved back and forth, barely making eye contact.
"It's actually my first day." Atlas said proudly as he pointed to himself.
"Really?" The elf, in return, cocked an eyebrow of his own suspicion. "What brings you into the thrilling line of work that is train security."
Atlas had an uneasy feeling about the stranger talking with him. He certainly expected the elf to be up to no good and that he could probably pummel him into the ground were a fight to break out. But felt no harm in answering his questions. "I just needed a way to travel, to get from the last town to somewhere... anywhere..." Atlas held onto the word for a moment. "... new. I don't have much coin, and this was a cheap and easy way to explore. So here I am. Train security. It even comes with a fancy hat!" Atlas tipped his hat to show him.
The paladin didn't think the elf's grin could get any wider, but it did. "Doing it for a free ticket? Now, what that tells me is, you're in need of some money."
The elf wasn't wrong. "Why else do you think I took the job?" Atlas sighed, resting a hand on his hip.
"Fair. But what if I told you, you could make better money with me than you could guarding this door?" The stranger tiptoed toward him, closing the distance.
The idea was tempting, to say the least. Atlas did need money, true, and if this, albeit shady elf could supply said money, where was the harm? He entertained the conversation to last a little longer. "What is it that you do exactly? Do you own a business? Are you an entrepreneur?"
The elf's eyes shifted again as he looked down at the train car floor. "Yeh, yeh, yeh. You could call me an entrepreneur. I have many businesses, in fact. I do the things that need to get done. Things that people might not want other people to know about." He winked.
"Oh, like hard labour?" Atlas asked genuinely, which took the elf by surprise.
"Sure... sure. Could be hard. Could be easy. But that's not the point of this. The point is whatever business I am doing, it's so much better than what you're doing now." He looked Atlas square in the eye. "Which is standing in front of this door."
An awkward pause filled the conversation before the words rushed out of his mouth, faster than the lightning rail itself. "What's behind this door anyway?"
"You need a special ticket to get past this door."
"Sure, sure, sure, sure." The elf waved off the nonsense. "I get that. A man of my caliber can see that. But what exactly is behind this door?"
The conversation had turned from curiosity to cynicism, but luckily no one else on board was giving it any attention. Everyone seemed too busy, too caught up in their own affairs to worry about the guard getting questioned.
"It's the luxury cabin." Atlas explained. "Those who paid a much higher price get to ride in... well.... luxury!"
The elf twiddled his fingers. "Ya'know. I was actually supposed to be in there." the elf pointed over Atlas' shoulder.
Atlas frowned. The elf wasn't dressed like the other people he let into the luxury car and he certainly didn't smell the part either. No. Something was off.
"Funny story, I lost my luxury ticket... Well, now that I think about it, I guess it's not actually funny. But I did lose it. I swear."
"How'd you get on the train in the first place, then?" Atlas' wasn't buying it. "You need a ticket to get on."
"Oh, don't get me wrong. I have a ticket." Reaching into his black cloak, the elf flashed what appeared to be a train ticket from a glance. It had the railiner's logo on it. "It's for this car though, the second class citizens. I had to buy it last minute so I could get on the train. But, really," The lef once again pointed toward the luxury car. "I'm supposed to be back there."
The elf smiled, as if a light flicked on inside his head. "Wait wait.Since you are in need of some money, maybe if I gave you a few gold... you'd let me pass?"
Atlas couldn't believe the elf was trying to bribe him! It wasn't in his morals, but he had given up on most of his forgotten god's morals. And he did need the money. "I'm willing to let you try."
The elf, shocked, took a step back. "Yeh?"
Atlas nodded. "Yeh."
Reaching again into his clock, the elf pulled out a few coins and dropped them into Atlas' hands. "So you're going to let me in?"
The elf inched closer. But Atlas stood still, as a chuckle escaped from his mouth. "No. I don't think so. You don't have the proper ticket."
The elf's brows narrowed. "Wait a second, are you trying to tell me that because you're guarding this door, you think you're better than me?"
"No. I'm telling you," Atlas motioned behind him, "they are better than you. They're the ones who paid a lot of money to be in the luxury car."
The elf could see that Atlas' perseverance wasn't waning. "Come'on! Nobody's gunna know. You're the only one checking tickets. It's not like you're gunna let all these people in. It'd be just me. Just me, your good friend Rager."
Atlas' frowned, mulling the thought over. He certainly saw both sides of the proverbial coin. The risk wasn't huge, but also it was his first day on the job. And if he were to get caught letting people in...
The elf saw the trepidation on the guard's face and took a step away. "Alright, alright. I don't wanna jeopardize your job. It is your first day after all."
"That it is."
"What did you say your name was again?" The elf smirked.
"Atlas."
"Right, Atlas. I'll just go back to my seat then. Atlas." Rager waved a hand dismissively in front of his face before turning around and skulking his way back to his seat. Once there, he brought the hood of his cloak up and slouched back in his seat.
It looked like his good friend Rager was done with his ploy... for now. Atlas sighed as he scratched the back of his head. Today was shaping up to be a very interesting day.