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!)

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His head tilts at the footsteps, if he had been animal shaped in any way his ears would have pricked up warily but as it is his head just turns to see Tidus coming up beside him with a soft greetings.

Tidus gets a smile before his eyes go back to the two birds making their nest not so far away.

"Hello Tidus." His voice is soft, to not frighten to birds.

It's peaceful, that's what Tidus can tell. The entire landscape, the only sounds the distant waves that creep in your ears only by chance. He settles himself, doesn't rush to speak again after Taiki returns his greeting.

Everything is soothing, easy to relax in.

"It'd be nice if we got to stay on a place like this instead," he says when he finally speaks up, voice gentle, to match the scenery. "Our own little planet. Trees and the seas to watch. Think we can put it in as a suggestion?"

There's nothing serious about it, something fun and wishful. A compliment on the island. Idle chatter.

Taiki is happy sitting in silence, watching the birds, they were making good progress on their nest, sing song-ing to each other, arguing over the best materials to build a home for their young.

He looks over and smiles with a small nod. "It would be nice, if we didn't have to fight anymore."

He couldn't stay somewhere like this. He and Lord Gyousou need to return to Tai. But for Tidus, for Inigo. It would be good if they could find somewhere like this to live, to be at peace and live in a world with calming seas, plentiful fruit and beautiful nature.

That might be asking for the impossible on top of the impossible. It's too bad--none of them should be fighting in the first place, but it's not the part that bothers Tidus so much. If they didn't fight, what would happen to the planets they aided? It's always just the methods of getting them involved.

Tidus hums in agreement nevertheless, so far as it would be nice. A good way to lead into a subject he's been meaning to ask for a while, but never found the time to 'til now.

"King Saku told me-- is it Saku," he asks, interrupting himself, but this is something he's been meaning to ask too, "--or is it Gyousou? Which one should I be saying? Everyone else uses Gyousou, so I guess...? Does it matter?"

"If you want to be formal it is King Tai, Tai-ou." He smiled softly, "But I don't think he minds, you can call him either. Though if you are worried you could ask what he would prefer."

People used personal names, rather than family names more often in his own world than they did in Japan. It might have been because of how families were different, with children being born on the riboku and such things like inheritance not being lawful.

But it's not something he really knows, one of those things that... As a Taika he will always not be too sure of. In the palace most people were called by their titles, rather than their names.

...personally, gramps would be nicer, but he knows he can't say that in front of Taiki.

"Uh--sure, yeah." But yeah, asking the guy, he'll do that. With that small distraction aside- "Anyway, he told me you can form something called a...shirei? A bond," is maybe the better word to use, "with creatures. And they protect you when you need it. Since kirin can't get involved in a battle."

He's going somewhere with this obviously, but waits to say any more.

Taiki clearly wasn't expecting this subject, his eyes snap from the birds to look at Tidus is almost confusion before he nods slowly. After all it would not be too strange for Lord Gyousou to have mentioned it to Tidus.

"Yes." He nodded, "The creatures are called shirei if they serve a kirin. We make a pact with them and as part of that they are bound to us and protect us, since we cannot fight unless our king orders us to."

He can understand the puzzled look he gets, but Tidus waits, nodding as Taiki explains, and it all sounds like what Saku told him too.

"Have you ever tried doing that with anything we've across on the missions? Or...searched for anything," he includes. His hands wave some as he speaks. "You know, to keep you protected. Would it work, you think? I was just wondering."

Him, as opposed to both him and Saku, but it was better to put this all on him than the pair. They agreed to that.

He looks even more surprised at that, studying Tidus a moment before shaking his head slowly. "I don't know." He hadn't thought about it, he hadn't...

"The creatures we can turn into shirei are called Youma, I haven't seen anything like that on any of the worlds, I don't think the binding would work on other creatures. It doesn't work on youjyuu... Sorry they are other creatures, that look similar to Youma."

Indeed he had mistook them at first, until Keiki had taught him. "Even if I found creatures like Youma I don't know if they would form a pact with me... the Youma on my world... They know the terms."

And other creatures wouldn't.

He doesn't think about whether he would want more shirei. Clearly if Tidus is asking then it is something Lord Gyousou has mentioned. He knows he is less useful without shirei, and so he should be looking to find some way to protect himself. If he were to find something similar... If a pact could be made... He couldn't not when not doing so would cause greater problems for his king.

"Couldn't they, uh...be told the terms?"

It feels like a dumb question to ask, but at the same time, he doubted a contract was made verbally, with a list of terms and conditions and signing on a dotted line. Something closer to summoners and the Fayth, and the praying it involved.

"I guess..." He looked down, "It's..." He smiled sheepishly.

"I wasn't brought up in my world, so a lot of things that should be easy for me as a kirin, that I should do by instinct. They aren't. Even before... Even on my own world I only had one shirei. Most kirin have more than that."

"Well, your life was a lot more complicated than theirs, I bet," Tidus jokes, speaking of that other world complication.

"It's okay though if you don't know. It's not like these missions give you a lot of room to try it out." Especially not that last one. "I was thinking about it since the King told me. But I don't know a lot about making contracts or...bonds. Only summoners do that back in Spira."

As far as he knew. No, that was really it, right? Though, there was that one person with all the fiends... and did keeping chocobos count?

"But if you ever wanted help looking into it--you know, we can always try it. Or ask some other people what they think, you know? There's all kinds of people onboard. Someone might be able to help."

He looked down at that, it probably was in many ways. He definitely had not grown up like an ordinary kirin.

He nodded though, he hadn't really thought about it at all, being able to bind creatures not of his world. Or how his powers might be similar to others on the train.

"Thank you Tidus." He smiled at him softly, "It's kind of you to think of that and to suggest it..." He trailed off.

He worried though, if Gyousou and Tidus had spoken about this... He knew his inability to be able to protect himself had been a problem on the last mission and it was something he needed to deal with...

There's a but in that thanks, or so Tidus thinks he can hear. Of course there would be, especially when he's making so clear that he doesn't know anything. But when Taiki gives him that opening (or really, even if he hadn't-), he tries and take his chance.

"How about if I ask? For you. If you told me some more about what you normally do with a bond, and I found anyone onboard who knows about them. Just to see." So Taiki doesn't have to go through it all himself. But Tidus realises his voice has picked up in the hurry to not be dismissed, remembers to settle his energy.

"I just think... even if you don't have an answer now or a solution--you don't have to give up. There's always something that can be done."

He smiles with confident at Taiki, with belief. And he does believe it, whether or not they don't know where trying will lead them. But you'll never know without doing it.

Tidus was always so helpful. Always so... Trying to do his best for everyone on the train. Buying things, coming up with ideas, organising people. He said he would not be good as a person in charge and yet everything he did... It was worthy of a good leader.

He twisted slightly, moving his legs so he was sat crossed legged in front of Tidus.

"We bind Youma of the yellow sea. There's an incantation and hand gestures." Which he remembered, even now, despite only ever doing it for real once. That day was not one he would forget.

"But really... It is mostly a case of pitting your will against that of a youma. The incantation is to focus you but then you meet their eyes and hold... They take their measure of your power, their will against yours and if they... if you succeed then they are bound to the will of heavens. When I bound Gohran... It took a whole day and most of a night."

The most intense staring contest of his life. "I don't really know enough about other worlds to know if there is anything similar."

Faced, Tidus follows suit once he understands what Taiki is doing, hands resting on the ends of his knees as he listens. A will despite the inkling he won't entirely understand, but then--when has that ever stopped him? At least as Taiki speaks, he think he's following well enough...

...enough for his eyes to widen appropriately at the task Taiki went through, for real. Mouth agape, even once he finishes.

"There's no way I could do that!" Seriously, a whole day of--what, meeting eyes? Convincing them? And yet, when he imagines that or tries to, in a blink, he remembers something big. "Yuna-- when she had to pray to the Fayth the first time, she was there the whole day. People got worried--it was actually how we met."

And his expression turns sheepish, a small slide aside as he admits: "I bust through into the temple she was in. Maaaade a few priests mad."

Eheh.

"When you did that," he continues soon after, "there's still a kind of...power I guess, or something involved? You can do it because you're a kirin, right? Kind of like that."

He smiled at that, because he can imagine that. Tidus is not one for calm, not really. He never stops moving. It is exhausting to watch, though it is also... endearing. He's always wanting to do things, help others, fix problems. He has a lot of energy.

He nodded, "Yes only kirin can bind youma into shirei. It is a pact they only make with us."

Which brings him to the next part of why this idea, as well meaning as it was, may not work.

"Even if... Even if we find youma or something similar... It might not work. I don't know how much I even count as a kirin anymore, truthfully."

It's not a big secret, and it's not as if Tidus will use knowledge of his weakness to hurt his king. Gyousou trusts Tidus, Taiki trusts Tidus.

Is there a story in that, or a lack of confidence? Both could be true--maybe it's why Taiki doubts himself the way he does, is so withdrawn. But it doesn't deter Tidus.

"You're still connected to your king," he points out, like it means something. Doesn't it? "You have a power. You've used it. Even if something happened, or you feel disconnected--" he pauses, mouth pinching.

"Why don't we try magic? There's a someone on the train who offers classes. We can ask about a spell. Something simple. It doesn't have to be about pacts or bonds. We'll check it out, but also, we can look at more."

Wouldn't that be best? Find out more about bonds and pacts, but in the meantime, try out avenues. If Taiki had an ability for magic, then why not explore it?

Taiki stared at him, sadly, hopefully. He wants more than anything for those words to be true. He is still connected, he can feel the ouki. It had been slow, a building over the last few months in the palace, until Lord Gyousou had been brought into the courtyard and then it had been there and he had felt it, ever since. He was surrounded by the ouki's power. Even now, sat in this grassy clearing with Tidus he could reach out and point to the exact direction his king was in.

"Learn magic?" He blinked at Tidus and nodded slowly, "We don't... Kirin don't use magic like you do, like those here do. But we can try..."

Who knew how magic from other worlds would work, if his own power as a kirin would work with other world magics. But he was willing to go along with anything Tidus wanted to try.

"Everyone uses magic differently. It isn't the same as what you do as a kirin, but if you have some special ability..."

He raises a hand, palm facing up. An opening gesture--the possibilities he's trying to lay bare. The possibility, even, of possibilities.

"It might mean you can do other things, you know?" His gaze lifts momentarily the skies, and he wonders, bringing his view back down. "Hmm...wonder if we can get any books on summoning? Summoning...conjuring... magic like that? Would the train allow it?"

He nodded, he hadn't thought about it but Tidus' words made sense. If he could do things in his world, he might be able to use magic from others. It was worth a try and he was willing to give it that try.

Any way he could be useful would be good.

"We could try and buy one... Are there any books like that in your world? Do you know what they are called?"

"Uhhh, a friend taught me," he admits sheepishly. "There was a book...but I don't remember the name."

It didn't really matter what the name was, and Lulu was better reading through it than him anyway.

"We can ask on the train." At least they weren't entirely hopeless there. "Along with the...bonding, or making pacts. We can do it at the same time."

He nodded, he hadn't really tried to buy any books on the store but when he had looked at the shop he had noticed you could put in a title. Hopefully someone on the train knew a book on summoning or magic from their own world.

"Yes, we can. Thank you Tidus."

"No problem. You need to do the hardest part if we get anywhere." He nods at Taiki, pulling his mouth into a determined small smile. "Ready to give it all you got?"

"Yes." His enthusiasn is a lot... less loud than Tidus's, a faint smile as he looks up to meet Tidus with a determined nod. He was ready.

After all with Tidus believing in him so strongly, how could he not be?

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Event: Healing Waters

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