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

[blitzcheer]

Tidus hears the gurgled laugh, sees the air bubbles escape, but he's not immediately worried, throwing the kid a wink before kicking at his legs. He wraps his arms around Romeo and breaks their heads above the water's surface, giving them some space as when his hands hold onto his forearms. His chest deflates as he lets out the breath being held, and finally he can laugh.

"Didn't think I got lost, did you? I'm a pro swimmer!"

[myblueskies]

He is still as Tidus scoops him up and out of the water, he takes a huge gasp of air and then laughs some more, flinging himself backwards to float on his back.

That had been fun!

"You are such a good swimmer mister Tidus! How did you hold your breath for that long?"

[blitzcheer]

"Practice!"

Swimming on their backs isn't a bad idea at all, is it? So Tidus kicks up his legs, lets his head fall back, sighing at that weird sun hits his skin.

"I can teach you! You can learn on the train too, but you need to keep it up! A few minutes each day, and you'll learn to hold your breath longer and longer."

He says it like a challenge, but one with an obvious reward.

[myblueskies]

"You can?" He grinned up at the sky, still floating on the water. "I will practice lots and lots mister Tidus! I promise! I will be the best breath holding student you ever had!"

He's very excited, he likes learning new skills.

[blitzcheer]

"Alright then, why don't we get started now? You can do it even like this!" With the pair of them floating on the water--part of the exercise was being relaxed.

"Are you good at counting in your head?"

[myblueskies]

"I am!" He keeps treading water. "I can count really high now!"

In his head was a bit trickier, but he could try really really hard!

[blitzcheer]

"Then try for me right now," Tidus says. "Hold your breath and count it, and tell me how long you go for, okay? No hurting your lungs over it. I wanna know how long you can do it without practice!"

Because you need to compare times! That's the fun part, helps you know you're getting better and improving. Clearing the lungs out first helps, but they can do that after--give Romeo an extra boost in time.

[myblueskies]

"Okay!" He grinned, moving off his back so he was treading water again and then took a big breath, bringing a hand up to clasp over his nose so no air escaped.

One... two... three

He counted and counted until he let go of his nose and let out his breath. Mister Tidus had said not to hurt his lungs after all.

"Thirty eight!"

[blitzcheer]

Tidus hears Romeo rock himself upright in the water and decides to follow suit, just to watch. Smiling, but staying quiet. No need to get him excited and break his concentration!

"Thirty-eight? Good job!" Tidus congratulates, but then hurries to continue, a serious expression turning on his face. "Alright. First thing first, I want you to take a deep breath--but a comfortable one. So about...five seconds in, five seconds out. Like this."

And Tidus will go first in example, opening his mouth, and- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, breathe out- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Repeating it with an 'again', before finishing.

"This clears out your lungs and gets you ready! So, you do it now," he nods with a grin.

[myblueskies]

Romeo beamed at the praise and then listened carefully as Tidus explained the next bit. Deep breaths, counting to five. He watched as Tidus demonstrated and then nodded.

"Okay!"

He took a deep breath in, counting to five in his head and then breathed out counting to five, letting all the air escape, five in again! Then five out! He grinned.

[blitzcheer]

Time for more sagely nodding.

"You got it! You do that before every time you practice, to clear our your lungs. Now... take a good deep breath, and hold it again! And count in your head how long you hold it for! I'll hold it in with you," he offers.

"To the count of three?"

[myblueskies]

He nodded, he would definitely do that every time he practised! He was determined to get really good at this!

"Okay!" He waited for the count and then took the biggest breath he could, clamping his hand over his mouth and nose again, determined!

[blitzcheer]

It's got to be a count to three with a build up. And so-

"One... two..." You ready, Romeo-!? Tidus is putting his fingers over his nose to pinch, his other hand close to his mouth! "--Three!"

And it's holding their breath time! Tidus isn't expecting a big difference between Romeo's times, but he's here to count the seconds with him, cover his face the same way as him too. Good luck buddy! Even a minute would be amazing...!

[myblueskies]

He was ready and he held his breath as best he could. He counted slowly in his head like last time, determined to get past thirty eight, maybe to forty! Maybe a whole minute!

He kept all the air inside him, watching Tidus too.

Forty, forty one, forty two. Almost there, he was so determined!

Forty nine, fifty!

He let his breath go, almost sinking in the water with how relieved he was. "Fifty! A whole minute!"

[blitzcheer]

The same time Romeo gasps, Tidus lets go too, flinging his fingers out as his hands move away from his face. Then using them to steady Romeo, "hey hey" quickly said, but with a laugh.

"Mmmm, nearly a whole minute," Tidus corrects, "but you're so close! You'll get the next ten seconds easy! And if you can do that, maybe one day I can teach you how to play blitzball!"

He says, but then pauses, his smile turning sly.

"Buut... I can start teaching ya now. If you wanted."

A good kind of sly.

[myblueskies]

"Wait?" He pulled a face. "I thought a minute was fifty..." Is it sixty? Was he ten seconds too short?

His face fell but then Tidus grinned at him and his eyes lit up. "Can you?"

He wants to learn! He's not even sure what blitzball is but if Tidus likes it it is sure to be fun!

[blitzcheer]

ROMEO WE WATCHED BLITZBALL ON MOVIE NIGHT.

"Sure can!"

And let Tidus raise up his right hand, the gold band that all of your characters are going to get used to on his wrist glistening with the water. In a second there's nothing, and then, with a sparkle a blitzball emerges, plopping onto the water's surface as light as a beachball. Tidus plucks it into his hold, letting it spin between his fingers.

"I can show you a move right now, but it'll send us back on the beach--but it's super cool," he promises, not about to undersell the water sport. "Wanna see how far it can go?"

wrap then?

[myblueskies]

Just because he's seen an anime doesn't mean he understood what it was about!!

But he's quickly distracted because Tidus pulls a ball out of thin air and then does a cool trick.

"Yes!"

He nodded, he can't wait! This is turning out to be the best holiday ever!