Event: Healing Waters

[voidtreckermods]

"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!)

Comments

[10billionpercent]

I think you grossly overestimate what would constitute exercise for me.

[nocawsforconcern]

I'm not joking about pushing you out.

[10billionpercent]

...Fine.

[ Apparently stalling tactics weren't going to work or save him here, and they're out in the middle of the water, so he's going to have the pleasure of being immersed right away too.

He sighs and goes for it, landing in the water with a splash. When he surfaces, those cowlicks that keep his hair up don't hold up to water so it's just collapsed to his shoulders instead. ]

I'm in the water now. Is that good enough?

[ He's treading water, at least, that's something. ]

[nocawsforconcern]

Good! That's a good start.

[Enna dives back into the water after him, surfacing again.]

How long do you think you can keep that up?

[10billionpercent]

[ A force of habit has him raise two fingers in front of his face as he thinks through the math on that one. ]

Based on the temperature of the water, and my general level of fitness, and the amount of energy I've already expelled today, as well as the amount of energy I've taken in...I'd say, approximately two and a half minutes.

[nocawsforconcern]

... That little...

Two and a half minutes. Okay.

I'll let you back in the boat in three minutes.

[10billionpercent]

How generous. By that point, I'll be dead.

[ 32....33....34...No one would ever beat Senku at counting.

He does need both of his arms to keep treading water though. ]

[nocawsforconcern]

No you won't. I'm here. Besides, you have to push your limits to get better.

[10billionpercent]

I push my limits all the time.

[ He isn't kidding about that, he's incredibly active despite limitations to the contrary.

54...55...56...as the one minute mark approaches, he's already breathing pretty hard. ]

Doesn't...actually do anything.

[nocawsforconcern]

That doesn't make sense. So we're gonna keep trying!

[She's treading water by him, keeping an eye on him! But also not helping.]

[10billionpercent]

[ He doesn't need help, not yet anyway, he can keep treading water, but as the seconds tick by, he is beginning to look kind of exhausted. It doesn't make sense. He's been traipsing around an uncivilized world day in and day out for nearly four years and his physical abilities haven't improved at all. ]

I don't know why...I don't have...a hypothesis...I don't care.

[ He still talks even though he needs to take breaths between words. ]

[nocawsforconcern]

I dunno what that means but we're gonna keep going anyway!

[Enna's no human clock like Senku, she can't count accurately for THOUSANDS OF YEARS, but she can at least manage three minutes.]

[10billionpercent]

[ Enna could count for thousands of years if she tried. Practice makes perfect, Enna.

That said, Senku is struggling hard, his movements getting sluggish and that breathing isn't improving. If he wasn't in the water, he'd be just about to hit the ground.

His calculations were slightly off, it's only been 135 seconds when he slips under the water, exhaustion catching him.

That's going to bother him. ]

[nocawsforconcern]

[When he slips under, Enna's immediately diving under after him, hoisting him back up. She's not unreasonably strong- Not impossible for someone her size. But she's still very strong, very fit, able to hoist up skin and bones like him.]

Are you okay?

[10billionpercent]

[ He takes a gasp at the earliest moment, and he's completely limp in her hold. It's a good thing he's not that big or heavy, it's really coming in handy right about now.

Senku shakes his head, catching his breath a little. ]

I'm ten billion percent done.

[nocawsforconcern]

Okay.

[So Enna's gonna just hoist him over to the boat, and.]

Put your hands on the lip of the boat and tread water that way.

[10billionpercent]

[ His expression is somewhere in the neighbourhood of incredulous. ]

I'm thinking there's not one milimetre chance I'm going to do that either. I do mean done.

[ He's so exhausted, but worse, he made a calculation error. What did he forget to account for? ]

[nocawsforconcern]

Yes you are. You didn't even make your first time, so you're gonna go that far before you get back in the boat.

[Enna's going to just. Put his hands on the boat's side, and then hoist herself into the boat.]

[10billionpercent]

[ That seems highly unfair because he's exhausted. He can hold onto the edge, but there is probably no way he's going to be able to lift himself into the boat. ]

Listen, birdbrain, I'm not kidding here, I'm going to drown and while being dead is incredibly fun and all, I'd rather not repeat the experience.

[nocawsforconcern]

You won't drown. I'm here.

[She's sounding a bit annoyed here herself.]

[10billionpercent]

I don't exactly find that comforting at the moment.

[ He doesn't have any leverage here, he's put himself in water that's too deep for him to kick off the ground. It's almost like blindly trusting someone didn't work out that well.

He could demonstrate how angry he was, but that wasn't going to help him. He didn't like it when people didn't listen to him when he was discussing something important.

Senku shifted so instead of his hands gripping the edge, it was his arms. That was a start. ]

[nocawsforconcern]

[Enna's not listening, but.

After about thirty more seconds, she does reach over and grab Senku, yanking him out of the water and pulling him back into the boat.]

[10billionpercent]

[ Senku is very appreciative that he is now not going to drown, but he's also not going to move, he'll just be where he collapsed, thanks, looking up at the sky as he tried to chase his energy.

Enna is not getting a thank you for that. ]