Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

[voidtreckermods]

Ritual

The jellyfish is no more and as red team take stock of their injuries, or collapse from exhaustion the lights zip around them, singing their song of joy. They gather around the light that had been inside the jellyfish and now that it has been released it is obvious this light is different. Stronger. They surround it and the song gets even louder as they begin to move towards the plinth.

In the caverns where the purple and orange team are there is a stillness. For those in orange team still in the cavern they can only hope that the instructions they gave out had been followed. Luckily for them they have been, Purple team have done a remarkable job of defeating the crabs and cleaning the temple. The priests gather around the shell on the alter, arms linked together in prayer as they seek to re-sanctify their temple. As their prayer begins they will invite the voidtreckers to join them, though no one is forced into taking part in the ritual. They suggest that they use their strange wrist jewellery to open communication with their friends in Bui.

The monster on the beach is defeated and though the fight is still raging against the crabs, a beacon has been built and lit. The islanders who are not fighting gather around it, linking arms, drawing any voidtreckers who don't object to joining them into the circle.

The song begins hesitantly, almost as if everyone has forgotten the words and only half remembers the tune. The SCA translates, the prayer is simple, a blessing on the land and its people, deliverance from the darkness and hope for the future.

The light from the jellyfish reaches the plinth and is set upon it. The song heightens and the light shoots upwards, blinding in its brilliance.

Through the dark storm clouds a light streams towards the island, most of it towards the beacon on the island though there is a break away light that goes towards the train, where some of orange team have set up a second beacon. It swirls around those on the train roof, singing a song of happiness and bounces back towards the island.

The light reaches the main beacon and hits it with a strength that lights up the whole sky. The light splits more solidly into two and speeds off over the ocean. Light pours into the underground caverns, not caring about the ocean and rock in the way, the light pools into the shells, the caverns glow warmly.

Outside the storm calms, clouds roll back, the sun shines. The sea stills. The wind stops. The sun is rising, a beautiful dawn. Any monsters left scuttle away, vanishing into the ocean, away from Bui.

Those with any powers that they couldn't reach before find them returned in a rush. Those who can sense life find this world teeming with it. A song that dances between every plant and creature.

Some of red may have evacuated to the train but those who stayed to see the ritual through, the world around them seems to melt away and they find themselves back next to the rock pools. Among their number there are some confused looking islanders who intrinsically draw closer to those who helped free the lights.

Orange and Purple

Down underwater there's noise and a babble of voices as the citizens of Bui wake up. There's a shimmering around the city now, like a shield though they can pass through easily. Parents scramble to locate their children and all check on loved ones and friends.

The familiar voice of train announcements is heard through Orange team's SCAs. Orange return to the VoidTrecker Express. Once everyone is on board it flies low over the ocean, skimming the waves.

In the underwater temple the priests finish sealing the ritual and then it is time to begin the return trek. There are no monsters this time and after a few hours, as they emerge onto the first of the sandbanks they will find the VoidTrecker Express is waiting for them.

Red and Blue

The monsters gone, those of the island gather everyone from the rock pools and for a few hours everyone sleeps.

At about noon the islanders begin to stir, begin putting things to rights. Wood is moved from the strategic points to more communal campfires on the beach. Any dead monsters that haven't been gathered for food have been washed out to sea, disappeared into the depths. They begin to prepare food and won't turn away any helpers. Though those who have been fighting are encouraged to rest.

The islanders bring blankets and start to gather. Everyone is exhausted but the children, in the way of children find the energy to play in the sea and the sand.

Beach Day

Early afternoon the train lands on the beach and everyone gets a holographic message to their SCA.

Mission successful. Well done Voidtreckers. Enjoy the rest of your day. You will find suitable clothing in the dressing room. A new recipe has been added to the kitchen information points.

The dressing room is indeed open once more, this time it holds swimsuits of every style, shorts, t shirts, wraps and beach skirts. Sun hats and sunglasses can also be found. It's a bit of a mush mash but they should be able to cobble together something other than their uniform wet suits.

Time to laze around on the beach or for those who still have energy swim or play. A few hours later a ripple across the water brings some of those from Bui and they swim or lounge on rocks to talk.

Food and stories

Food is cooked and shared, the islanders will happily try the voidtreckers' offerings and share their own. As the sun begins to set they gather around the fires. Stories and songs are shared and there's even some dancing for the brave.

Voidtreckers can choose whether to sleep in their own beds or spend one last night on the island before the train flies off into the sunrise and into the void.

Comments

[mtsilver_conquor]

Eva hums thoughtfully. "Typically, 'Ropes are sold as single items, but I know you can get ten packs and I know they do large scale bulk packs for businesses. It could be worth a try at least."

[sell_tickets]

"If you ever show that to the girls, my brothers might just try to throttle you. Something like that only fixes half the problem." and no this was not a place to compromise.

[achickenformylove]

"I should like to see that if you did make one." It sounded like it would be a wonderful combination of nature and art.

[achickenformylove]

"I know that is what he was hoping for. That would be with Wei Ying. He approved of Lan Sizhui as my son and helped to raise him when I was unable to be with him."

"Were you close to your cousins?"

[rieper]

Her description was crude but entirely accurate, and honestly probably a bit easier to understand than anything else that could be said for the motion. He nodded at her and then watched her attempt to mimic the motion.

"More like this," he said and showed her the motion now that he was well above the water and close to her to she could watch more accurately now.

Honestly, she was a quick learner and good at mimicry when it came to physical movements and though he wouldn't say he was impressed--that was a little hard to do--he was always grateful for how quickly she picked up on things. He wasn't exactly used to teaching even if he had pretended to be a teacher once or twice to get where he needed to be for a hit.

Her movements weren't that far off now but she might as well practice and perfect them now before she dove back into the water.

[callmegladio]

Dangerous thinking. "Cautiously." Gladio corrected him gently but firmly. "Living in fear won't do. But deliberately going out of your way to antagonise something we know nothing about is stupid." He looked away from the sea to Edge. "Are you a stupid man, Edge?" He asked, there was no mockery to his tone, just calm. It was an honest question. Because right now he was having trouble working it out.

[mtsilver_conquor]

"I wouldn't blame him too much, not if it's supposed to be a homage to his favourite character."

She nods sheepishly, hand digging into Princess's fur - there's a blink at that, then a wry smirk as she nudges her pokemon back towards the human he's supposed to watching over. "True. Anyway, what'd you plan on doing? Outside not going near the water and or potentially getting soaked?"

[mtsilver_conquor]

"It's weird, though I guess that I worship pokemon as gods would be weird, too," Eva says with a sheepish smile.

"I'd say that's a lot of responsibility for a god, but hahaha... can't really say it is, not without making the ones I follow look like overachievers."

[myblueskies]

"Yes we sometimes stick together sir!" He nodded, "But Elfnein was really interested in the underwater city. And Joss can't swim and we got to protect him at the moment so I went with Joss to help him out and Elfnein went to the city!"

He grinned, "Joss is on purple and I'm on blue but we try and help each other, all three of us!"

[mynameisallen]

Allen simply nodded for the moment and went about carrying on with his sandcastle. When it was finally done... It was hard to tell it was even a sandcastle, but certain bits were at least there.

Creativity and art were never the young mans strong suits.

[laurefindil]

[He'd be hurt to know that, considering...]

"Erestor and I have been at Elrond's side since we were all sent to Imladris to make a refuge. My duties were primarily relating to defence and his mostly concerned administration, though as the centuries went on and we became closer friends, there was a lot of crossover. He is an elf of many talents." Glorfindel was sure the admiration he felt for his old friend showed in his voice.

[laurefindil]

"Ah...so?" He held up his hand and let it glow more brightly. "Like that?" Elves were full of spiritual energy, and he was more full than most. He wondered if it were similar.

[laurefindil]

"Robot suit? Like...Tony's?" Glorfindel asked. He wasn't sure why someone felt the need to hunt ghosts, but it was likely something from Danny's world.

[mynameisallen]

"I honestly don't remember a lot about what they looked like. Everything that happened, happened so quickly. I didn't think to actually pay much attention to what they looked like. But maybe it was a baby because they weren't exactly human-sized if I remember."

[mynameisallen]

"Not necessarily used to. New arrivals get thrown into missions pretty quickly some as young as children. I know it was like days after I arrived when I got thrown into my first mission. We are lucky we have weapons, but some other jobs have to go out without one just to do research on places we might have to go to... They kind of have a rather high mortality rate."

So he's made it obvious that children were even involved where he was from. That was nothing new to him at all. If he had been found before Cross found him, he was sure he would have had been in the war much earlier than he had been.

"But the thing is, kids here can just go on Orange team here. That team seems to have a lower chance of anything actually fighting related. That or they have the choice to not go at all." he knew at least some people did tend to stay on the train if needs be.

"That's the thing, arriving here sure we have no choice, any world that is always the case, we don't have a choice. However, we do have some kind of choice in what we do when it comes to missions the kids included. Which is still better than back home."

[laurefindil]

"May I ask why he needed to?" Glorfindel asked. "Were you out on a mission?"

He smiled. "One in particular, a cousin on my mother's side. We went in different directions once we came to Middle Earth, though, so our paths did not cross again until the Third Age."

[ooc: Making this up, actually, but it amused me, so...]

[mynameisallen]

"There's a social bodyguard now?" Allen said not in a serious tone as he smiled. It was at least one of those moments where Allen for once didn't put on his usual polite act and seemed to be a lot more comfortable.

But it was a moment or two as he looked around as if he was looking for something. It wasn't long before his golden friend Timcampty finally flew down and landed on his head.

"Timcampy I was wondering where you had gone."

[blitzcheer]

It's not a pretty picture of Allen's world, that's for sure, a grim line of Tidus's mouth emerging as he listens to him. By the end of what he says, Tidus is silent for a moment, before sighing and looking off towards the sea.

"Then, I say it's up to the rest of us to help each other. Let people know more 'bout what they can do and don't have to, and see what we can get to prepare everyone. Not everyone knows they can switch teams... if we can make it better for people even in a small way, even if we've already got it better than some people, that's gotta be better than nothing, doesn't it?"

He taps a thumb against his chin as he thinks, but then looks at Allen, offering him a smile.

"We'll keep it from being as desperate as what everyone where you're from had to deal with."

[knifewithnoname]

She watched him carefully now that she could see his arms and his hands properly and after a moment she copied, changing her movements to mimic what he was doing. She remembered to keep her hands cupped like she was trying to catch the water.

After a few moments she took a breath, just in case this all went wrong and she went under again and lifted her feet off the ground.

It was a strange feeling and she fought away the instant of panic as there was nothing holding her up except her hands, circling and pushing the water.

She stayed up for a few seconds before a wave knocked her balance and she went under. At least this time she remembered to put her feet down and she stood up spluttering again.

She's not about to give up.

[sizedoesntmatter]

Yugi smiled slightly.

"It is a good thing that they owe me. So I might wait till later to get it."

[sizedoesntmatter]

"Do we not have a way of knowing that?" It was admittedly a worrying thing to say the least all things considering of his situation here. if they were to go back and then recall nothing, then what?

The things he figured out about himself here would revert?

[irrationally]

She looks right back at him, though she's frowning rather than smiling. She doesn't seem angry though, not necessarily - if anything, something seems a lot more thoughtful about the frown, like she's not too sure what to think of his words. She's been thrust around for all her life, constantly being told by others - even as they contradicted each other - what was best for her.

She's never been in a situation like this. Sure, the train is practically doing the same as the people back home did, still trying to guide her path, but there is a lot more freedom here still than back in the hospital or the asylum or the orphanage. She's never had the time to spend however she wanted to spend it like this.

"I'm not even sure what would catch my interest." Or what her interests even are, honestly. "It feels like such a waste spending my life doing nothing when I've fought to hard to have that life in the first place. It feels like I ought to be doing something more."

[irrationally]

"Magic.. Well, I suppose that's one way to call it." She shrugs a little, glancing at her knife before making it disappear into thin air again. "I've never really considered what it was that allowed me to do this. It just felt natural to me. It's a rather normal thing still compared to some of the things I've seen back home, so I suppose it makes me slightly more adjusted to a situation like this than you are."

[sizedoesntmatter]

He nodded slightly "I know he will at least try, but... Even if he hurts me please don't kick his ass. I don't condone that." He hoped the other wasn't serious, but Yugi was going to playfully play it as not at all serious.

[irrationally]

"That.. is how all children lived there though." There's a slight pause in the middle of that, some hesitation. Nerdanel seems to have such a big heart, and though Alice may seem cruel at times, she'd never want to break one of those or give it pain in any way. "Many die of poor living conditions, or a lack of proper food, or even worse causes.. It'd hardly be fair of me to just run off on my own."