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

Wow cool sinking pebble, Roland.

"It smells...sweet." Which is really what's going Tidus curious, or hanging around longer. But it's almost like a wound the way it oozes out of the side of the rock wall. Is it poisonous?

If anything, it reminds Tidus of Mt. Gagazet, the summoning of the fayth flowing together into one. But barely--he can't fairly compare the two. It's just strange, a sight he's not used to. ...one becoming all the more tempting to poke.

"You ever seen a mountain do anything like this?"

"Yeah, sure...With lava. Not, whatever this is." A lava equivalent? The pebble is ignored and this time Roland returns after a quick trip with a stick, short and stout with leaves branching off to its side. He crouches down next to Tidus, careful not to hurt his knees against the ground, and starts poking the substance with the sharpest end. He moves it around, like mixing something in a pot, twirling it eventually, the substance dripping down slow and sticky as he lifts the stick a few inches up.

"Huh. It's like candy. Melted candy. Or tree sap." It looks like it, that's for sure. He turns his head to look at Tidus, handing him the stick with the substance. "I don't know what to make of it, or if it's safe to even touch. Do we want to risk it?"

Candy? Melted candy? What kind of idea is that. Actually, Tidus wants to ask about that lava concept, but he's distracted by their other options here, the stick now in his possession.

He turns it sideways, and then watching as a piece slowly drips back down (okay, so maybe candy wasn't entirely off--or treacle), he decides screw it--and brushes his hands over the bark to get a smear over his fingers.

"...Yep. Wet and gross," Tidus confirms while rubbing it with his thumb, and then dropping the stick so he can wipe it off properly on the side of his shirt. "Well, it doesn't look like it's doing anything. You don't feel funny, do you?"

"No, not at all. I don't really feel anything, but..." He keeps his gaze trained on Tidus as he experimentally touches the substance, and something about it all just convinces Roland's levelheadedness to go for it. Maybe it was when Tidus wiped it on his shirt. Or the fact that this substance permeated almost every groove and crevice of the area, which means its a natural substance of the planet itself - something that flows like the strangely colored water around its beaches.

Maybe Earth logic won't do, this time around? And if his gamble doesn't pay off...Well, the train is parked and the medbay is open. So as his companion is preoccupied with the stick handed to him, Roland settles unto the ground with his knees fully taking his weight, bending down to touch the viscous thing with two fingers. When he gets just enough for a small dollop - and by all means, there was nothing to note of anyway, his skin felt fine, nothing was stinging or burning which were all good signs - Roland darts his tongue out and eats it.

Fully eats it, ingests it, whatever else have you. His eyes slowly grow wide as he stills completely.

You know, this wasn't meant to be a deep investigation of the Strange Substance oozing out from the side of a ~~volcano~~ mountain. It was a 'huh', a pause in Tidus's exploration of the island and then a simple move along. That was what it was meant to be.

Poking it was one thing. He never considered eating it.

So when Roland does, he just stares. Not because he thinks anything will happen, though that's a possibility. It's the same as anyone just sticking a weird liquid in their mouths. Does Roland see a spill on a table and decide to take a taste?? A green sludge on the ground, mmmm, better see if that's good for dinner?

Staring, that's what Roland gets--because any question of why did you eat it? gets silenced by the look he makes.

"...uhh...Roland?"

Are you okay...buddy...

Don't question his methods, Tidus. Trust in his well-honed instincts to do exactly what is needed in this particular circumstance! And speaking of it; Roland doesn't move, but his face falls into an expression of...mind-boggled. The only motion he makes is when his hand drops back down to the substance, and his brows furrow, meeting in the middle.

The strangest part is he looks at the second serving of the substance, and eats it again. His eyes continue to grow wide until he swallows. Roland turns to Tidus, serious and contemplative.

"It's..." He pauses briefly before nodding at the stream by their feet. "Eat it." Is all he manages to say, before he takes a third dip into it with his fingers, eating more as if every taste gives him a clearer picture. Spoiler: it does.

is this about risk and reward again roland, tidus swears--

Well, he's not dead. He's not choking or having his eyes water at the disgusting taste he subjected his mouth to, so that's good. That's what Tidus was waiting for to happen, but it doesn't. Instead what happens is the guy going for more--and then even more, after declaring Tidus should too.

Maybe Roland's actually secretly lost it. Maybe it's a mind altering substance and now Roland is--

nahhhh. Tidus's thoughts aren't going that far, but he sure wants to know what's getting the guy spooning it with his fingers like a kid with an ice cream tub. Tidus takes a finger, then two, and dips in the ends of them, swishing them about before bringing them back up. Tipping his wrist so the excess falls back into the pool than on his lap.

And quickly, he sticks the liquid into his mouth. And now it's his eyes widening with a sudden realisation, sucking the flavour from his digits and pulling them out. Staring, from them and the goo.

"It's...so sweet! Like--sugar! Wow."

He didn't expect that.

"More than sugar, it tastes...No, it feels..."

Normally, a sharp guy like Roland would be skeptical of it; the feeling of total calm that washes over his body the more he ingests the substance. It wasn't crazy addictive, but it was so relaxing, he wasn't sure if he was just imagining it.

He licks his fingers one last time and stands up, mimicking Tidus as he wipes his hand against his shorts. Any more dipping into the proverbial cookie jar and he might actually be convinced not to move from the spot.

"I guess there's a reason why Jema'grethy is frequented for vacations." He glances down at the colorful syrup oozing from the ground. "I wonder if this can be collected and processed. Might help relieve stress for high-stakes missions."

Collected? Well...

"What about the jars I got? Or bottles?" Given what they mainly had in the kitchen or storage cars didn't have lids, if Roland wanted a way of collecting it...wasn't that all they had to spare?

"I dunno about processing, but uh- there's a girl like you, or woman," he corrects. "Sakura, Purple Team too? She makes candies. She's who I got those moulds for. She knows magic too."

To put it fairly simply. He didn't really know how to define her than...curious. Different. Okay, if unused to being around people. But everyone had their quirks on the train.

"Is that so? Well, if you can spare me one of your jars, I don't see why we can't take some of this back and see what happens?" He hums after he speaks, looking around them. All he sees is foliage and flora of every alien kind, an environment that's both familiar and strange all at once.

"Can Sakura use her magic to figure out if substances like this will potentially become dangerous?" He doubts it, given what they just experienced, but it still pays to be paranoid.

Don't Roland tell anyone they can't make stress-relieving blue and pink candy!

"You'll have to ask her that," is Tidus's unhelpful reply. And to be more unhelpful: "She's hundreds of years old! I dunno if she knows all the spells she can do. But she can do a bunch, so you should have a go."

And speaking of talking, and the fact they're on a world's surface--and the fact from a quick look around (that he didn't expect to help) there's no Sakura in sight--Tidus thinks to ask, "Do the SCAs work?"

That is, the voice chat.

[ What was Tidus implying by saying 'she's just like you' when she's a hundred years old?! ]

He rubs the back of his neck, running a casual hand through his hair. "I guess I will. Maybe I can invite her to chat at the party. That's a useful talent to have, and not just for Purple."

Roland doesn't need to be poked about it twice; at the mention of the SCA's, the Chief Consul looks down at his wrist and starts tinkering with it. Apart from its usual functions, it didn't seem like it was connected to the usual channels during missions. He shakes his head at Tidus.

"No go." He sighs inwardly. "I mean, we are being forced to go on vacation, not a mission, I suppose." Though the logic flies by his head - it's not exactly a small island that they wouldn't benefit from the voice chat up...

Ugh. Tidus's expression deflates, though he wasn't hopeful to begin with. "Figures. Well, she looks about ten and she's got long pink hair, so she's hard to miss if you're looking for her. But now that we're on this island..."

His hands come out to gesture at the wide open area they have to work with. Who knows where she could be? Especially if she's more used to being alone, even if she wants to work on her social skills.

Though, he might have an idea...

"I think she likes high places. Places with a good view?" He points up at the volcano. "Maybe she beat us up there."

He turns around and takes a few steps towards its general direction. He was planning on touring that too, anyway. Roland nods. If Sakura was part of Purple too, then he's already taken it upon himself to assist her should she need anything, even if magic wasn't his forte.

"I'd prefer the summit of the mountain over the volcano, but hey. It's a start. Rocky terrain by the base, though." He peers across the space, eyes squinting and a hand shielding his vision from the glare of the mid-morning sun. "Even if she wasn't up there, it'd be a nice view. Think you can keep up? I know you're more used to water." There's that glint in his eye again. Roland is aware of what he's doing.

Oh, Tidus absolutely knows what Roland is doing, and he's not going to have any of it (but seriously, did the new Purple Leads both have to be pesky sass-mouths, or what?). There's a scoff, Tidus taking a few striding steps ahead of Roland so as to turn around, hands on his sides as he faces him.

"Well how about I find out, and you go get the jars and catch me up? I know I don't need to worry about you getting tired since you're so young, team lead!"

Is he planning to rush on ahead the second Roland's back is turned? You betchaaaaa!

"What, so you can have all the fun while depriving me of a nice hike with fresh air and the great, alien outdoors? You wound me, Tidus." He was about to make a casual remark about getting his exercise in, but he realizes it was an easy opening and he wasn't about to grant him that twice in a row.

But an idea occurs to him, and out of his Arms Band he materializes a small jar of cut-up carrot sticks arranged vertically, covering the interior of the glass in orange. It wasn't one of Tidus's jars, but it was very obviously from the Kitchen Car.

"I packed this as a snack. Let's empty it out and use the jar for collecting."

Always be prepared! And also, mountain climbing can get a President peckish.

Why's Roland got to ruin his fun of ditching the guy for a while and losing him? He looks appropriately unimpressed, if with his mouth set askew, hands still on his sides where he stands.

"What, you're gonna chuck those carrots out, Rol? What happened to sensible eating? You only let me have one apple that time!"

He knows that isn't what Roland is likely to do, but he'll rib him as he pleases. You can't stop him! But Tidus drops his arms, not wanting to hear Roland explain and sigh--or more like, not giving him the chance to correct him.

"We'll eat 'em on the way up. Sheesh, didn't know you wanted to stick with me that much...I'll have to introduce you to more people around the train. More your own age!"

And he's started walking, volume going up so he can be a pest.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Event: Healing Waters

press F for roland's outfit

you only wish tidus could pull it off

and stick roland into the kitty clothes??

why are you so rude to his KING

BUY A CAT AND CALL IT EVAN THEN

WOW RUDE???? HE'S ONLY /HALF/-CAT

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