middleofsomewhere | Event: Healing Waters

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Event: Healing Waters

"Good morning passengers, it is day twenty three of the month of Grasshopper. All passengers of the Voidtrecker Express require rest. Next stop Jema’grethy Island. All passengers prepare to disembark."

It is a very strange morning message that rings through the train on the morning of day twenty three but as the passengers of the Voidtrecker Express wake their screens glow with the colour of the void and a holographic screen pops up for them to read.

World #2554098133741: A world once inhabited by an ancient civilisation and now preserved as a historical site, nature reserve and well-being retreat. It is famous for its relaxing hot springs, calming atmosphere and beautiful beaches.

It is a popular void-traveller destination, particularly among void missionaries as a place to rest and recuperate after difficult missions.

The Voidtrecker Express will spend three days here, arriving today and leaving on day twenty six of the month of Grasshopper. The dressing carriage is open for your convenience.

It is time for a holiday it seems!

Preparation

For those who go to explore the dressing carriage they will find a variety of beachwear and wetsuits. One cupboard has a pile of tents and groundsheets in all four team colours.

One cabinet is exclusively filled with beach towels, in a kaleidoscope of colours, designs and patterns. Another is filled with different shapes and sizes of plain towel dressing gowns. There is even a cabinet with buckets, spades and small rock-pooling nets.

It seems they are in for quite an adventure.

Arrival

"Shortly arriving on World #2554098133741. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The train lurches and rattles as it leaves the void they will get a glimpse of silver-purple sky and a beautiful ocean below.

However some passengers might be a little more than distracted, one staring at that table for a second too long, another seeming lost in thought for a couple of seconds, a longer than normal pause in a sentence. They see a vision, a glimpse of a life that is not their own. Not all at once, but here and there as the train descends to the island.

But then it is gone and things are back to normal. Just in time, as they come to land.

Jema’grethy Island

The train has landed on a grassy ridge, overlooking a beautiful beach of white sand and the ocean beyond. It is warm, but not too hot, a cool ocean breeze cutting through the heat making it pleasant. Behind them is a grassy plain, changing to forest in the distance. There is the sound of birdsong in the purple sky. To the west the land is more craggy, the silhouette of a fortress in the distance. In a word, it is idylic. A sense of peace permeates the island.

A little more worrying is the volcano-like structure in the north. But even a quick glance will show it is not a typical volcano. There is no smoke and the liquid slowly running down it in rivulets is pink and blue.

Exploring the passengers will find beautiful beaches, ragged cliffs to walk and caves to explore. Where it is more craggy the beaches are made of pebbles- perfect for rock pooling.

The place has no people, but it is clearly maintained. The eastern beaches have racks of shallow boats, both canoes and one- or two-person sailing dinghies. There is also a small building in which scuba gear is stored, along with several waterproofed manuals and instructional literature.

Ruins of ancient houses are scattered across the island, but the main settlement is built into a rocky section in the north-west that has been secured with ropes and stairways cut into the cliffs, perfect for scrambles and hikes.

There are no living quarters, but there are sheltered sections with basic toilet facilities marked as camping grounds in five different sections of the island - by the hot springs, within the ruined fortress, beside the harbour, on the eastern beaches, and on the northern face of the mountain.

Hot Springs

To the west are the hot springs. They have both outdoor and indoor areas; the indoor areas being wooden loghouse saunas, changing rooms and storage sheds, whilst the outdoor areas are a tiered series of pools spilling down the side of the mountain and shaded by brightly flowering trees. The waters are hot, mineral-rich and soothing.

Perfect for overly stressed, world weary Void heroes...

(OOC: More setting information is here, please feel free to go wild with the setting and have a fun and relaxing time. You can use this post as a catch all for your holiday or make your own posts on

middleofsomewhere. More information about how the memory event is structured is here!)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nita giggles - yes, giggles - at Bambosh's antics, though she gives a small 'oof' when it decides to start sitting on her shoulder.

"Hey, careful up there," she says, turning to face it.

"Wouldn't want to knock you off by accident or anything."

Turning her attention back to Roland, she quirks an eyebrow.

"Running a social event when we're done here, then? Hopefully we won't all exhaust ourselves here..."

Though that would certainly make things easier for Roland.

Bambosh only squeals in its language again - Higgle! Pig! - before it settles in, small legs dangling out and about, completely content where he's perched.

They reach some rough terrain, but it's not a big deal as Roland allows Nita to go first, supporting her from below as needed.

"Well, it's not all play. There's some work sprinkled in there, too. Gotta get to know Purple more than just by their names on the roster, after all." He follows, and their walk soon resumes. His other arm settles against his hip.

"You're welcome to come. Tell the bouncer by the door that you've got two of the team leads' personal invite. Heh." And he's confident in speaking for Glorfindel on this; it's really the more the merrier kind of deal, regardless of what's on paper!

Given where Nita's been for the past week, she accepts the lack of complexity in Bambosh's language with grace, choosing instead to focus on walking.

"Or what they can do in the field, even," she points out.

She looks briefly surprised by the offer, as well.

"You're sure?"

That's not a decline by any means; certainly Orange Team hasn't arranged one yet, maybe she should poke Kaiba and Eva about it...

Later. Busy later, exploration now. And hey, the trail seems to ease up here!

Nita slows down a little, enough so they can hike side-by-side for this part.

"Exactly. Talent needs to go where it can blossom the best. We're hoping to help people with that." And it's something that Roland believes in regardless of where the universe takes him. It's how he ruled in the first world, it's how he advised Evan in the second.

"Absolutely. Unless you've got plans on Grasshopper 27?" He flashes her a playful grin, catching Bambosh bop its head in time with Nita's steps as he glances to his companion. The trail was slowly becoming more and more pleasant to the eyes, accompanied by a cool breeze coming from the nearby body of water.

"Never hurts to have someone review your resume," Nita jokes - not that anyone on the train should have a resume with them, but the point stands.

"Not as far as I'm aware!"

Shifting her shoulder slightly (she's not sore on that shoulder yet, but she may ask Bambosh to move in a little bit), she takes a whiff and-

"Does it smell sweeter up here to you?"

It encourages her to walk faster again, at any rate.

Fortunately for Nita, Bambosh feels some sort of energy reverberate the closer they get to the next landmark, and disappears from her shoulder in another burst of light. It settles on the ground, right in front of them, tiny as it is, jumping up and down. Roland hums, watching the High Higgledy make its usual high-pitched squeals before turning to Nita.

"Now that you mention it...Yeah, it does. Should we be concerned?" Not that smelling sweetness in the air was anything to be worried about, but who knows what surprises await them? Even if the briefing for this planet was that it's meant to be a place of relaxation. The train only wishes Roland trusted it to take its words for face value. "Let's keep going, see what we can find."

He lets Nita lead, along with Bambosh, only to be sure he can watch over from behind should anything spring up.

"Perhaps... I can do a scan, though, see if anything's amiss."

Nita takes notice of Bambosh making a vacancy, doing her best not to step where he's going to be or anything.

"Good idea. Here's to hoping for the best, though. It'd be a shame if there was a terrible catch to all this..." For as much as Roland is naturally distrustful of the train and its shenanigans, he can't deny how beautiful the planet is.

"Well... there was one weird thing on the way in. Did you end up with any visions?"

It may be an odd segue, but it'll pass the time until they can properly interact with the 'lava flows' ahead.

That makes him stop in his tracks, attention immediately piqued. Bambosh continues on, oblivious, having the time of its life as it studies everything around it.

"What did you just say? Visions?" His brows furrow, reverting back to the version of himself that's entirely too invested in the mysteries of the train. "You mean you saw something too? Something weird? Like you don't recognize it at all?"

Nita nods an affirmative.

"I was able to track down the person it was from - one of the new arrivals. But then someone else had a vision from my life, my perspective - one of my roommates, even."

Which made it only slightly less awkward.

"We don't know whose memory the third one was, though."

His face is the picture of concern, arms crossed tightly against his chest. From Nita's explanation, he can only determine one other thing:

"So they're not visions. They're memories..." He hums. It makes sense. "I honestly thought it was something from this whole trip, to help us relax. I...I saw people in mine, but I didn't know who they were. We were in some sort of restaurant, it was colorful and a little garish. And they were all so young, all students. Like I was still a student, too."

A beat passes.

"But that's all I saw. I don't know who it belongs to. And you had a third one too? Gah. I knew it. I knew something strange would come up sooner or later. It's never this simple with the train..."

"Did you hear anyone's voice? Anything familiar from the train?"

Nita shrugs, though her expression is very annoyed.

"It wasn't ever all that simple back home, either. Just when you think things are going to get clearer..."

She holds up her hands.

"Poof."

And then she pauses, considering.

"Y'know, that mixer might have helped a little; getting to know everyone and all. Though if your person isn't on Team Purple, that's not necessarily gonna help," she admits.

"Well, it might have helped regardless. Anyone can come, really. We're not exactly asking for ID at the door, heh." A light joke to help break the mood, but Roland can't help but shake the feeling anyway. He exhales heavily, Bambosh just darting across his periphery. The higgledy would be fine.

"No. I didn't see a single familiar face, and no familiar voices either. This is...concerning, Nita. I..." He trails off. If these were memories he was witnessing, it wasn't right. These were not his to see, to witness. And neither were his anyone else's. This bothers him greatly, even if all he has to show for it is a deep frown on his youthful visage.

Nita nods, expression turning somewhat grim.

"To you and me, both. We never got the chance to opt-in - or opt-out, more like - for this thing, even beyond the rest of being a Voidtrecker."

"Do you remember any names, or was it all just an impression, gone in a flash?"

It may safely end up brushed away... provided it doesn't happen again."

"Nothing. But...it felt pleasant. It was nice. That's why I thought it was just a vision the train was giving us to accompany this weird holiday on the island."

There's a heaviness in his shoulders.

"But if they're memories, then I can't assume everyone felt the same. For you, was it like that? Or did you see something concerning?" This was all too intrusive; Roland is so incredibly uncomfortable that his usually still facade is starting to grow more and more tense.

"The train's shared visions before, but not with everyone," Nita says - but slowly, because she's thinking of that occasion with all the dreams now.

Maybe then-?

"It might be something related to this world... Mine was more serious than yours," she admits, "But the person in them is all right for now."

Hopefully that was the case for the majority of them here - though she knew some of them had died before arriving on the train.

"Should we be alerting people? Teams?"

There's an urgency there, but his voice is low. "How...We just got here..." Roland looks away, stares at the ground before them. What a waste of a view, if this was the price they had to pay.

Nita nods, before sighing.

"We're not on a mission, though; we don't have the use of the comms. I can send word to two people here, but as for spreading it to everyone..."

No doubt everyone's spread out to enjoy the break.

"But let's keep going for now, see what we came here to see. Hate to only be the bearer of bad news; we should see if there's good to bring back, too."

"Yeah. Yeah, good idea. Let's keep walking, then."

He offers Nita a smile, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. He follows the higgledy's trail as it jumps up and down, poking and prodding as much of the natural environment as it can. For now, he'll do his best not to cause too much panic. There was too much they didn't know anyway, even if it's the source of his stress at the moment.

"May that be the last of the unpleasant surprise. Jema'grethy is a beautiful place. I want to at least enjoy the sights."

The sweet smell intensifies as they climb - not enough to make thinking hard, but enough that she sets Bobo about to running a scan on materials in the area for what it could be...

"Whatever else is going on, this landscape really is harmless; there's nothing here that could kill us if ingested."

She gives Roland an odd look. "You'd think there would have been a flyer on the subject."

That gets him slightly more riled up, turning to Nita faster than usual. "Exactly! If Jema'grethy is a well-known destination for void missionaries, you'd expect at least a couple of tourist brochures. A map of the island, top five best places to watch the sunset, even."

The smell isn't lost on Roland either, but it only makes him wince in silence. It was cloyingly sweet, but it was confusing. What was it? Where was it coming from?

"I'm just glad to know the isle's passed your standards, Nita." Not that he wasn't going to be any less off-guard. It's just not in his nature.

"It'd all be a lot easier if our worlds had been void-active to begin with, I'm sure."

Not having access to the void equivalent of Yelp! was causing them serious worry, here.

Meanwhile, Nita snorts.

"I ran a scan with wizardry; I couldn't tell you that much just by smelling. It's that... stuff produced by the volcano that's making the smell; it's some kind of syrup."

Which was as much as the peridexis could determine with minimal data.

"Syrup?" His mind flies to sweet syrups he's most naturally familiar with - pancake syrups, maple syrups, candied syrups..His confusion doesn't let up.

"Wanna take a detour then? See if we can find a nice stream of...syrup to dip our toes into?" At this, Bambosh suddenly reappears behind his boot, jumping up and down until it settles into a nice waddle in place. That's not a coincidence; he's manually called him back to his side, though higgledies were inclined to follow their charges anyway, even as they wander.

"Should be just ahead."

Not much more work for them; apparently it could be ingested raw... Shaking her head at that bit of trivia, she catches sight of Bambosh teleporting again.

"At least if it decides it wants a taste, it'll be fine. ... Can they even eat?"

Meaning higgledies, of course.

Oh gosh, so adorable! ;a;

Adorable...yet deadly! ;)

the cute, it BURNS!

wait till he orders a 2nd one! it'll be water-based this time <3 nita can see the whole collection!

=O That would be MAGNIFICENT!

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/goes to ask a question on the info page

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May have to hold off on next tag until the Arrival thread is finished. XD

Alright with me!!

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