middleofsomewhere | Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

Entry tags:

Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He's already following Tidus's look towards his leg, one eyebrow raised, before he realises what's being referred to. How strange to be worried about by someone other than his other half or his subjects.

"I'm difficult to put down." He goes for reassuring, but given his demeanour it comes across more as confidence... or arrogance. And then, because he has indeed had to explain this to a particularly aggravated medic already, and he entirely understands the boy's priorities, "All immortals heal quickly from such wounds... but thank you for your concern. She cleared me to walk on it."

Under most contexts, difficult to put down isn't so reassuring no matter the tone, though one couldn't argue that the guy wasn't right. He was still standing after all, and he'd stood long enough to keep standing. You've gotta give cockiness credit, sometimes.

But then he goes on, and Tidus's brow dips as he 'explains'--caught on the word immortal, and his expression doesn't shift even once the man's done.

"Immortal... so wait, you mean like..." He waves a hand, or more like lets it flap a little. "You won't die ever, or it's just really hard to do it?"

There may be certain etiquette when asking about one's immortality, but Tidus missed that class.

He laughs outright. Open curiosity is refreshing, as is the boy's informal behaviour.

"It's 'really hard to do it'. Luckily for me! Wounds from demonic beasts like these are unpleasant, but..." He gestures to the scar, which may have even faded a fraction more during their conversation.

In fact, as far as he's aware, the only thing that will manage it permanently is being beheaded by the enchanted sword sheathed at his hip. His cockiness has grounds, at least! That's one piece of information he would rather not share with his comrades.

"I would rather take the blow than see a mortal struck down, and here we are."

He makes a sound close to huh!' with all the trimmings of being impressed, hands thrown behind his head as his upper body leans in a slump. Immortality is a weird word to him nowadays: unsent can technically be immortal, can't they? And calling something immortal didn't really mean they were...

But Tidus can't deny how quickly the man's made his recovery, and isn't this whole void thing--being opened to multiple different worlds and reality--odd, but interesting? He mulls over this reality he's a part of before letting his arms drop again, smiling at the man and lifting a clenched fist.

"As long as you're still careful too. A stabbing's still a stabbing, right?" Now, his concern is fond, even jovial; Tidus knowing he's telling the guy something he already knows (obviously!), before he points the thumb of his fist at himself. "I'm Tidus by the way! And I'm glad you're doing better!"

The boy, no, Tidus's easy banter keeps a smile firmly on Gyousou's face. There's something bright and unassuming about it, like the warmth of the sun, freely given.

"Saku Gyousou," he introduces himself in turn. And then, because every time he doesn't include his rank Taiki looks deeply sad, "King of Tai, a kingdom now far behind us."

He rests one fist in his cupped palm, and bows. Shallow, but still a sign of respect. Tidus has fought well, after all. "To ask after one's comrades is to show great virtue."

From the King of Tai to the shallow bow, Tidus's face lifts and rests in an expression of 'oh?', surprised. This is a turn of events, and Tidus is temporarily without words, though Saku's last few give him something to latch onto.

"Hey, it's alright! It's nice to meet you too," he offers, in exchange specifically for a bow the compliment. Is it a fair exchange? Tidus hopes it is. "I was a star blitzball player back home! ...That's a sport," he remembers to add in quickly. "But that doesn't mean much here either. Unless playing's a mission one day," he ends on a joking note.

But hey, a title for a title, right?

Given that he fully realises that half of the train's residents wouldn't know how to bow if you held a sword to their throat, he takes no offence.

"Impressive! I've never heard of it," he agrees, cheerfully. "The only ballgame I've played here is ping-pong. How do you play? It must be an exciting sport, to expect such fitness from its star players."

Ping-pong? That's a game he'll have to ask on, but since Mr. King here asked first--

"Sure is!" Grinning at the compliment to his sport, Tidus jabs a thumb back towards the ocean. "We play underwater! Two five minute matches, six players, and the goal of scoring the ball in the other team's goal! --Oh, right," before he gets too carried away, "has ping-pong got goals?"

Since he realises right at the end there that, oh, only ballgame the guy knows. Hopefully it made sense though?

"More or less. We do have games with goals in Tai," he points out, mildly bemused. "It's a shame we aren't based somewhere like this for longer, I'd like very much to see a game of blitzball... but how does one make a living from a game?"

The concept of celebrity isn't one he's ever encountered.

"The fans!" Tidus throws out his hands, like it's obvious! Or he's growing all the more animated the more they talk about his profession.

"It's the fans you're playing for, who come and see you play! Everyone has a team they cheer for, and you're playing for them as much as you are to beat the other team! They pay to get a seat to watch you, and you give everything you've got for them, and your team! And yourself, too!"

The exhaustion of the past week is nowhere to be found in Tidus by the end of that, a hand brought back in and turned into a clenched fist, words impassioned, full of heart. He motions a hand towards Gyousou.

"We ever land somewhere with a stadium and a game playing? I'm taking you to see one," he determines, then assures, "It's amazing! The energy in them can't be beat!"

Will it be blitzball? Who knows. That's just Tidus's feeling right now.

He laughs again, equally energised by Tidus's performance. Ah, that's it. He is a performer, as well as an athlete. He supposes such a phenomenon might occur in a kingdom, given it had enough time to settle. Certainly Tai couldn't have supported it yet...

He places the idea to one side, in a partition for projects to improve Tai, should he ever be fortunate enough to return.

"I'd like that. Who knows, I could even become one of your fans!"

The idea amuses him enough that his eyes almost flash with mirrored enthusiasm. "When we get back, I think I'll look into whether the 'cinema' has recordings of past games."

The idea of the man becoming one of his fans gets a pleasing short laugh, a "Sure!" following the remark that ends in a grin. Right now, it even seems possible: that they're not going to be going back on the train, stuck there until another life-threatening event on some planet occurs.

But who knows? The future is limitless in possibilities. Maybe the train can give them a vacation somewhere fun.

For now, Tidus is pleased by Gyousou's positive response, hopeful.

"Lemme know if you do! I haven't seen anything, but someone's always in there before me." The first sour note in ages, but it doesn't last long. "If you ever get bored, show me how to play ping pong sometime. Maybe I'll even find you for a game first! I figured I'd learn all the ball games they have on the train while I'm around, you know? Enjoy myself!"

"Ping-pong isn't quite as exciting," he confides. "But it has the advantage of being easy to learn, and only requires two players."

He pauses. There is something he's curious about, that they've drifted away from in his interest about Tidus's profession.

"If I might ask. Is swordsmanship a part of your sport, as well...?"

"Huh?" The question catches Tidus for a second, but then he laughs lightly, shaking his head. "No no, nothing like that. I learnt to use a sword to protect someone, a summoner -- I was her guardian."

Which may present its own line of questions, but Tidus blinks, thinks to ask himself:

"You know what that is? A summoner."

No need to explain a guardian.

He shakes his head once more, bemused. "Somebody who summons. I have no idea, I'm afraid."

He gives a huff of a laugh. "No prob. That's pretty much it! She went around on a pilgrimage to ask for the strength of beings called the fayth so she could take down a nasty problem in the world. And she did it," he shares with a grin. "I went with her after I washed up where she started her trip from! Actually, she's here too--"

Which is said as he looks over both shoulders, though the effort to locate her is a short one as he looks back. "She went with team Purple." Lifting a hand, he gives a short wave. "It's been two years since all that. Now she goes around on adventures with some friends of hers. Maybe you've seen her? She got blue and green eyes and wears her own outfit--a white top and a blue halfskirt on this side?"

Watch as he gestures to make out where the halfskirt sits.

The idea of identifying someone by a signature outfit amuses him in and of itself, as does Tidus's abortive attempt to locate her. But then, given their identical uniforms, he supposes it is an effective choice. Half-skirt gestures aside.

"I believe I've seen a woman that matches that description." Although, he hasn't seen her closely enough to note her eyes. "So you were contracted to her by chance, and, having separated for a time, you both find yourselves here, on another kind of pilgrimage."

"Y-yeah," he says, though the energy he'd described her with hesitates with the rest of him, head lowering with his gaze.

"I know none of us should be here," in the sense that none of them made the choice, "but I wish she didn't get dragged into this... she's been through a lot." He looks up at Gyousou, his mouth a thin-lipped frown.

"She put a lot of herself into being a summoner, and now she's got the chance to live her life. And I know her--she'll help anyone that needs help." Even in a situation like this. "But I don't like the thought of her being pushed around. 'Specially by something that snatches her away from home."

He airs his grievances, annoyance bitter by the end in the weight of his words, the way his shoulders hang, nothing but an innocuous comment letting it leak. An old passion suddenly brought forward in the most unexpected of places, but it's bothered Tidus since the first day. That he'll always be happy to see her; happy to know that she's alive, she's healthy, that she's well--

but she shouldn't be anywhere he is. She shouldn't be used by anybody.

Once again his immediate reaction is to backchannel, nodding. His face is grave by the end of Tidus's little rant.

"I feel much the same way about my own companion," he admits. "He deserves happiness, and yet here I know that I cannot guarantee it. His kind are pure compassion, incapable of violence, and utterly unsuitable for a role that places him in the middle of a battlefield every month..."

His voice trails off, his own anger at Taiki's inclusion in this journey rising, and he gives Tidus a wry half-smile at their similar reactions. "It may be that all we can do is ensure they live comfortably, with at little pain as possible, while we are here."

The nod of his head is slow, but decided by the end, sharp in its agreement. So they both had someone important they wanted to protect.

"Did you both show up on the platform at the same time too?"

"We did indeed. Although it was the first time we had seen each other in years... I'm told it made for a dramatic sight for the others."

What the? Even for the first time in years--

"I bet!" Considering the way he and Yuna reunited--well, he doesn't want to think about what anyone was saying about them. Tidus sits with his surprise, the similarities to their arrivals.

"What do you think made them do it? Bring us like that. I haven't seen Yuna in years, and you haven't seen your guy... we were at completely different points in time. They could've picked anyone."

Anyone else, other than them. And if Gyousou wasn't from a different point in time as his companion, Tidus doesn't think to consider, or give any thought to, too focused on what they do have on common.

"I can't begin to guess," he demurs. "We were from the same moment, however. We had both been... separated, by the schemes of one of my generals. Perhaps we were all brought together because our fates are too entwined to do otherwise."

Tidus tries to mull over it, but this isn't exactly the best place for it, and he already knows the end result: one giant mess of a headache for him. How was he meant to guess the motives of a train ... person/whoever that didn't even say hi to them?

So with the short-lived expression of reflection, Tidus sighs, folding his arms before himself.

"Guess we'll never know 'til whoever's running this feels like sharing it." Disappointing, but Tidus wasn't going to let his mood sour, tugging on a smile even after a beat. "Anyway, I should let you get back to your special someone. Let's enjoy the the rest of the day!"

More than happy to leave the navelgazing for the time being, he nods one last time.

"He should find me soon. Thank you for your concern, and your time! And my regards to Yuna."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Under the Sea: Conclusion and aftermath

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject