middleofsomewhere | Under the Sea: Mission start

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Under the Sea: Mission start

After fleeing the strange shapes in the sky the voidtreckers are perhaps not looking forward to yet another mission and indeed the first few days of Fiddlesticks go by without any strange dreams, no warning that another mission might be nigh. Yet on the morning of day five their SCA's will glow with the colours of the void and a holographic message will appear.

Preperations

The dressing room is open once again, though the clothes this time are simple in choice. A wet suit for each void trecker as well as a pair of flippers, a helmet and a breathing pack. It at least has instructions and there will be a little bit of time for them to figure out how to use them. Apart from that there are some waterproof packs for supplies to be packed in.

They will have a couple of hours to get ready for their mission.

Arrival: Blue and Red

"We are now approaching world #7625000129523. Drop order is Red and Blue, Purple then Orange. Red and Blue team to doors. Arrival in world #7625000129523 in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train shudders and lurches as they exit the void, the view from the window goes from the ever shifting void to a beautiful deep blue sky. They fly through the air and swoop down to land on a sandy beach. The doors open allowing those who are taking part in the Blue and Red missions to debark. The doors close and the train swoops up into the air.

The beach stretches from one side to the other, in the distance as the beach turns into sloping green hills they can see a village. Beyond that there is a jungle. Any red team who check their SCA will see four points, the rock pools.

The villagers have noticed the huge train sweeping down onto their island and so contact is made quickly. They will be quite accepting of the help and explain the situation. They will help any of red team to the rockpools if asked.

Red

The rockpools are built up and indeed made so the water will reach a persons waist if they stand in them. The water is cold but not overly so. When the water shoots up anyone in them will shoot up also.

They will find themselves in a vortex of water, with anyone else who enters that rockpool. The water itself seems to be fighting them, tendrils of water reaching out of the whirlpool to try and drag them further into the chaos. It takes a whole lot of willpower to stay in the centre, the water can be fought with weapons, even with fists. They feel as if they are falling or flying, perhaps both. Surrounded by the pure chaos of the ocean.

Blue

Hopefully they spend the day helping with preparations because when night falls the monsters emerge from the sea. Terrifying twisted creatures. The villagers only have simple weapons but will tell them that fire is helpful against these water creatures.

Hold off the monsters and keep the people safe.

Purple

The doors close and the train flies off into the sky, flying over the island to the other side where it lands on a rocky bay, near tall towering cliffs.

"Purple team to doors." The doors open, allowing the purple team to disembark before flying off once again.

In the cliff face there is a large cave entrance, over the entrance there are symbols, translated by their SCA's. Clear mind, clear heart. Come those who seek to serve.

There are six people stood by the entrance, looking quite surprised at the new arrivals. One, a woman with silver hair recovers enough to speak first. "Ah. Void warriors. We are honoured by your help."

Once introductions are made the spiritual leaders will happily accept the escort and their adventure can begin.

Orange

They fly up and out across the ocean, a longer flight than before but eventually they descend and there is a slight juddering before they land, floating on the ocean.

"Orange team disembark, please use luggage or dressing carriage doors only."

They will step out onto an inflated platform that streches around the train. Down below are the depths of the water and their SCA's show them at the point of Bui. It is below them so all they need to is dive.

The dive takes a while, and depends on their swimming ability but hopefully with a bit of teamwork they arrive at the silent city of Bui.

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Inigo's cheeks colour faintly pink. Sheesh, he must be looking super ridiculous about now. The last time they talked already went relatively poorly, there's no way he can screw up again now and totally make things awkward forever between the two of them.

So he sucks in a deep breath, determined to put himself over the temporary bout of social awkwardness. Come on, Inigo, you can do it!

"No! It's.. It's alright. I was just wondering whether you didn't think I was just some strange guy after last time, you know?" (Even if you do think that, Tidus, please don't say it! Let him keep this much dignity!)

He gets up on his feet.

"I'll go with you. Have you ever dealt with anything before that's like the way the people here describe these monsters?"

What an oddball!!

--but Tidus's feelings aren't that strong, the more out there moments from their conversation explained away with more time on the train, the both of them being on this planet now. He'd assure the guy, but he's already speaking on, and so Tidus focuses on that.

"Monsters with sharp claws, long tentacles, and hard shells? Sure, the world I was on had all of 'em. I can slow some of the faster ones down if my magic works on them." He lifts up his free hand, fingers stretching. "My magic seems to be working okay?"

There'd be some talk about that, some sort of block to powers people were experiencing. But with his hand risen, a soft glow of dotted lights dance off from Tidus's palm and drift upward, fading before he drops it down again.

"And if it doesn't, no problem!" He declares, looking back at Inigo with a smiling spreading across his face. "Everything goes down if you stab it enough!" In his experience! "You said you've dealt with fiends too, right?"

See, now this is such a better subject matter. No getting laughed at, no awkward subjects! Maybe this is Inigo's second chance at interacting with Tidus, handed down from the heavens by the Divine Dragon herself. That's got to be it.

"Yes." Hence why he seems so much less on edge as he speaks. As if might just actually be capable of talking like a normal person! "Although my experiences have been more of the 'stabbing things enough until they go down' variety. I'm not much of a magic user."

Although from what he's heard, that might actually be a good thing here..? Who knows. They'll see when combat actually happens.

"The villagers didn't seem all that well equipped though, so surely the monsters just seem that intimidating to them since they haven't seen worse. I mean, how bad could it be?"

"Yeah, see?" Tidus can get down with someone following the logic of absolute confidence = absolute victory! It's certainly put a spring to his mood to have Inigo be agreeable. "No one wants a face full of claw no matter how much experience they have, but if we both act smart, we'll get through it. I'll watch your back, and you can watch mine!"

And maybe they can try and figure out if there's any more details to go over, but before that: "I'm Tidus by the way. I don't think we exchanged names before. Buuut, it feels like forever since that day," he admits sheepishly.

It's totally possible he just forgot...!

"Inigo."

They definitely didn't exchange names because the conversation just got a liiittle too awkward. (More like a lot too awkward.) But sshh, he's determined to leave that behind them now, hence why he just offers his name and.. gently ignores the rest of that..

Because sea monsters are clearly the easier and more cheery topic here. Monster fighting! Fun! He nudges his head in the direction of the beach before starting to walk. Come on, let's get this patrol thing going!

"Makes you wonder why they only come out at night though, huh? Maybe they can't handle the sun?"

The simple reply doesn't bother Tidus, accepting it with a smile, the name repeated in acknowledgement. With the incline of the other guy's head, Tidus gives a small nod in turn and starts walking himself. Eyes drawn to the coastline and out to the sea beyond.

"Could be. Don't the villagers say fire's effective? So it could be the same deal...or they know that's the worst time for the villagers to get attacked." And the best time for the fiends. "That's the bigger mystery, huh? Why they'd start attacking in the first place. Doesn't sound like the island's had to worry 'bout monsters in the past... did they really have to, before now?"

He knew they were ill-prepared for this, but how random was this whole event? Did they ever see these particular monsters around before? It didn't sound like fiends--or monsters--were as big an issue as they were now.

"That's got to be anyone's guess.. Even if the monsters had a particular reason to attack this place, like one of the villagers having pissed them off or something of the sort, I doubt the villagers would tell us about it." They wouldn't want to risk this sudden newfound help with their monster problem, after all. But...

"If these monsters are anything like what I've fought in the past though, they're very likely mindless. Just attacking anything they see indiscriminately since it's in their nature, and this village just happened to be the closest thing to them. Although that still wouldn't explain where they came from in the first place."

See, Inigo is pretty capable of being serious. In fact, this is probably more serious than he's normally being, in fact.. He considers these missions to be pretty serious, after all, since literal lives are on the line.

"Hmm... well, something definitely attracted them, right? ...Ohhhh." The sound draws out, eyes lifting a second later as an idea comes to mind. "The spiritual leaders, they're having trouble with their powers, aren't they? And we are. Maybe there's usually magic protecting this place that keeps them from figuring there's people about? Something like that."

It was a random guess, but that was probably all they were going to come up with anyway. Tidus idly spins the sword in hand as they walk with the twist of his wrist, letting the tip graze along the sand.

"I just hope that Bui city's okay. I mean, if this place is having monster trouble and they're underwater. When I first read about 'em, I thought they were gonna be more machina-based than they are."

Apparently.

Inigo hums for a moment, idly touching his sword's sheath as he thinks.

"I assume Bui city is doing fine for now. They tend to send the orange team to missions that have more to do with.. well, figuring something out? It involves thinking moreso than fighting most of the time, from what I've gathered." And to keep this from getting too serious, he can't help but add in a slight joke: "That's got to be why we're here rather than there with them, right?"

Get it? Because they're idiots.

"I honestly prefer it this way though. I like being out where the action is, it suits me a lot more."

"Hey-" There's a faux note of offence as Tidus pauses, holding up his free hand in a 'wait' motion, a small smirk that slips into his voice to top it off.

"I don't know about you, but I'm here to swipe a blue hoodie. It's more my colour than the others."

And with that moment of unnecessary theatrics, Tidus picks up his pace again, joining alongside Inigo whether he stopped or not.

"What about you? Didn't I see you in purple on the train?"

Uh-huh, sure, Tidus! It's too late, you're already stuck with the got-to-save-everyone idiots squad! You missed the last stop to get off!

Unnecessary theatrics might as well be Inigo's middle name though, so he doesn't seem surprised in the slightest when he sees Tidus employ them in much the same way he might have. There's even a slightly amused sound leaving him before he hears Tidus ask that question.

"That? Well.." He can't use the 'I'd rather be out there fighting' excuse, since the purple team's mission description had sounded like they would have to protect people by fighting too.. So he's just got to be honest. Even though he's vaguely afraid Tidus might just make fun of him again... He might as well jump straight into the ocean if that happens. "I.. can't swim." Just try to play it off, Inigo! Real casual! You can do it! "So I thought I might not exactly make the best candidate to escort people on a whole underwater journey."

And to confirm Inigo's worst fears......

Tidus hums, a sound of recognition. "That's fair. I would've gone, but I was worried about the island--Purple Team's packed, and I had no clue if it made any sense, you know?"

Purple Team's jobb should have been the dream for him, or Orange (despite Inigo's belief about his brains!!), but if it was between a group of priests or an island of civilians, didn't it make sense that the island would need more fighters on hand?

Still, there was a constant nagging that he made the wrong choice, but the complaint is honest, an annoyance when he speaks. But also, don't call him out for caring or anything. Meanwhile, the waves slosh lazily against the shore, the view of a three-patrol farther ahead of them.

"You thought about it that deeply?"

Despite what it may sound like, this time it's really not an assumption on Inigo's part that Tidus might be an idiot similarly to him.. It's not the fact that Tidus is capable of thought that surprises him - it's more just that Tidus cares enough to put so much thought into what team he should join in the first place. Especially since it's only his first mission.

Now Inigo is starting to wonder if she should feel bad for just having gone along with the default option of sticking by his own team all this time before now...

"I mean, most people seem to assume the train puts us into a specific team for a reason. So we get the tasks that are most suited to us during the mission." Hence why he was always with purple. Fighting at the frontlines just always felt right to him. Why should he think about doing anything else then? ".. Although I guess it didn't really take swimming abilities into account."

"Doesn't give us anything to fight with either, does it?"

Tidus wouldn't think it's him being smart: just lucky, perhaps. Conversations in the week that he's been around, listening to the network about training people, compiling scarce resources; the way so many are left in the dark, the frustrated venting he listened to from Lightning.

He lets out a heavy sigh, picking up his sword to stop it leaving a trail in the sand.

"It sounds like there's a reason behind the teams and who goes where, but..." What does he want to say? Tidus rolls his free hand, circling it as he tries to gather his thoughts. "It's like...a sports team! You need to balance your team! It doesn't matter if you have ten great shooters if you don't have anyone to protect your goal. You need to mix it up, you know? Put people where they're second best, even out your team!"

Does that make any sense to Inigo? It might not matter as Tidus continues on, even putting some speed into his step as he decides to take a lead, all so he can face Inigo as he walks backwards.

"We don't know how many priests there were, but didn't protecting an island sound like more work? More people who need protecting?" Head dipping, Tidus shakes it. "It...it didn't sit right with me. I don't care what a train thinks. I just know what my gut tells me."

He has to think he made the right choice.

He has to hope he did.

It's weird. This conversation is so much more serious than the one they shared last time around, and yet Inigo feels so much more comfortable with it at the same time. And that's not just because it's serious - maybe it's more that it makes him feel a bit better about himself to see someone else worrying like that. It's easy to feel like you're the only one fussing when everyone else around you hides it, after all.

But with Tidus it shines through right now. It sounds like he's trying to justify himself as far as Inigo can tell - maybe even to himself, who knows.

It makes an easy smile appear on his face.

"Hey, if this felt right to you, then you're doing the right thing. You shouldn't worry about it so much." Very rich for Inigo to tell anyone else, but whatever. He can be hypocritical about this. "It's not like you have to listen to what the train tells you. None of us do. And besides.."

He shrugs a little.

"You're already here now anyway. Too late to switch teams. So why think so much about something that's already done? Just focus on what you can do here and now."

Tidus can't deny, his thoughts started to drift to somewhere--to someone--towards the end there. But Inigo's response is odd to him, makes him doubt how he sounded compared to what he meant. Dismissive. Tilting his head in with a one shoulder shrug, Tidus turns himself around, walking back the right way.

"I'm not thinking of switching teams or anything," he explains, his tone light. "That's just what I thought about it, that's all."

And he's not sure what else to say, if there's anything else to say, so Tidus keeps it at that. He probably said too much in the first place, to a guy just here to do a job.

"Ah.."

Tidus' tone might be light, but something about the response feels a little off? Inigo can't quite put his finger on it, but it makes him feel like he just said something really stupid again. Maybe he should just stop opening his dumb mouth, somehow it never seems to work right around Tidus. His cheeks turn a faint pink as he tries to shove down his social anxiety the best he can.

"Yeah, I mean-- I didn't think you were going to, I was just.." He shakes his head. "Nevermind."

The more he says, the more he's probably going to embarrass himself and he knows it.

The awkward attempt of a clarification isn't missed, and now Tidus isn't sure what happened there: if he got the guy wrong, or was it something he said after, the way he said it? But as Inigo drops his efforts, the inevitable awkward silence if Tidus allowed it to end like that threatening to creep in, Tidus adds some cheer to his voice as he attempts to smooth things over:

"Hey, don't worry about it! We've got monsters to look out for, right?" He flashes Inigo a quick smile over his shoulder, rolling both of them after in a show of being prepared. "I get it. Let's not worry about any of that and do what we can."

It wasn't a bad plan, anyway.

Thank Naga for Tidus, because while usually Inigo would be the one to smooth over awkward moments like this, it's slightly more difficult when he feels like he caused the awkward to begin with. But with the other picking up the slack of redirecting the topic a little to keep them from just awkwardly walking in silence, Inigo manages to nod after sucking in a deep breath.

(He's still totally going to worry about it though, even as he tries his best - and fairly succesfully manages - to hide it.)

"Right. The villagers said they should be coming out at night." So.. not quite yet, probably? The sun isn't up at the highest point in the sky anymore, but Inigo figures that by 'night' they mean 'total darkness'. "We should still have a little while before those things rear their heads, but we'd better keep an eye out. Rather safe than sorry."

Who knows if one monster might decide to sunbathe for once and try to devour a villager while it's at it, after all.

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Under the Sea: Mission start

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