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]

"Hahaha, hey, it let's me swim too! I like it," he admits with a grin. "Plus the more people who know how to swim, the more people I can get to play water volleyball! You ever tried it? I want to someday!"

Someday. Once he got enough people willing to take a go!! Maybe he can even learn some more water-games by then too...!

[happyends]

She shakes her head.

"I haven't yet, but I've seen it before on TV! It seemed like fun!"

Then again, Madoka's standards for what's fun are.. just.. not very high. But at least it means she genuinely means it as she smiles at him.

"So if you ever try to play it here.. um, I could join in, if that's okay?" It's not like she knows Tidus well enough to just invite herself, after all.

And even if she knew him that well, she'd probably be too meek to do that anyway..

"I'm not sure if I'd be very good at it, but I'd be willing to try my very best!"

[blitzcheer]

"Hey, no one's perfect when they start, and we'll both be beginners." Sure, he might know the basics of volleyball, but does she? Regardless- "I always want people to learn new games! I got a pal, Romeo, I know he'll be up for a game. And I'll bring along some more friends--you should too!"

He nods upon saying that, and a way to make sure he isn't just including a bunch of strangers, and she can has people she knows around too. Though, even if she comes along alone, he knows his friends would make her feel welcome. And Romeo will be a good kid to her.

[happyends]

"Oh-- Don't worry, Tidus!" Madoka shakes her head again, but this time it's with a smile. "Romeo is already a good friend of mine. We've both been here on the train for a really long time now, so we know each other well!"

Maybe it's not hard to imagine, considering they both have that friendly innocence about them - though Romeo's is a whole lot brighter and less meek than Madoka's own.

"I'd love to play with him. Romeo is always so sweet, isn't he? Although.. um, maybe I could bring Ple Two.. Do you know her? I think she's still having a little difficulty with finding out how to just have fun like everyone else.. Maybe she'll find out she enjoys sports if she'd try to play along with us?"

[blitzcheer]

Tidus isn't about to make assumptions about Maoka's friend-group -- actually, it's nice to know more of Romeo's friends, glad that the pair already know each other. Smiling that little more listening to her.

But Ple Two--there's a look of recognition that appears when the name comes up.

"Oh yeah, sure! I met her on the train actually, before we landed. She come from one of those worlds with not a lot of fun?" He gives an understanding pull of his mouth before explaining, "I have friends like that too. I'm trying to get them to try out new things too. They should take advantage of what they can do while they're away from home, right?"

[happyends]

She's honestly so glad that Tidus seems to recognize the kind of scenario she's implying here. It's not like she just wants to dump all of Ple Two's personal details on someone else without the other girl's permission, after all, and Tidus's way of summarizing it makes it very easy to just nod to the explanation and have that explain it all.

"Yes, that's what I told her too. That exactly because things are so different for her back home, this is like.. um, an opportunity! Even though our situation is far from ideal, she's at least getting a chance to try things that she never would have been able to do back home, so I'm glad for that." Madoka pauses. Then she smiles at Tidus. "You probably feel very similarly about your friends, huh?"

[blitzcheer]

"Exactly," Tidus says with enthusiasm, even in just one word. "And they find it hard, even if they're stuck on the train with not a lot to do. So we need to help to nudge them into trying something new."

It was kinda nice to know as well he wasn't the only one dealing with this. ...actually, it was more cute, hearing Madoka talk about her friend. They should start a club--some kind of Have Fun Club.

"You don't have any tips for me, do you?" It's a bit joking, but even so- "I took one guy's ticket and just made him buy himself some comics and clothes--with him right there," he adds. It wasn't that secret! "And I'm getting another to try cooking and listening to music on his SCA. Find out what he likes."

[happyends]

Madoka gasps, pressing her hands to her mouth in amazement and shock.

"You did that and he didn't mind?" She's assuming Tidus's friend didn't mind, at least, if he was present for the whole deal. Though she wonders why he couldn't just have done it himself.. Maybe since that friend didn't know just how much fun comics could be? Still, the girl seems very impressed with Tidus's boldness. She could never do that.

"But, um.. with Ple Two, I just started doing things together with her that I would have done anyway, just to see if she'd like them. And also so she wouldn't feel too burdened by me going out of my way for her.. So we did things I do all the time, like playing Hungry Hungry Hippos!"

[blitzcheer]

"He gave me the ticket!" Tidus says extra reassuring, like it's okay! He totally didn't mind! (Inigo kinda did mind but nevermind that--!)

But he thinks about suggestion the same to her, or asking her if she knew if her own friend was familiar with comics, except-- "Hungry Hungry Hippos? Hm, that-- that sounds familiar. What is that?"

Why does it sound familiar? What was a hippo, even? But 'Hungry Hungry Hippos'...

[happyends]

"T-- Tidus!"

Madoka sounds shocked. Genuinely shocked. Maybe she should be over this by now, but how are there so many people on this train who don't know the magic of that game?

"You've never played Hungry Hungry Hippos before?!" It's as if he just admitted that he's never taken in a single breath of oxygen in his life or something. "W-- We have to fix that sometime when we're back on the train! I'm sure Romeo would love to play it with us, we've played it together before!"

Did she totally forget to explain what it actually is? Yes. But to be fair, she's just really surprised, okay!

[blitzcheer]

Wh-whoa, look at the enthusiasm suddenly coming off this girl! Someone really likes Hungry Hungry Hungry Hippos over here!

"Alright!" --and Tidus doesn't need more convincing than that, his expression somewhat surprised, but otherwise willing to go along with it. "Just hit me up whenever, I'll let you know when I'm free. I'm usually in the gym or the games room anyway -- or the training gym," he adds before nearly finishing. "But I got plenty of free time."

Who hasn't on this train?

[happyends]

That is true. Even someone like Madoka, who picks up the slack on doing chores in a major way - especially with the blue team being as tiny as it is - still has plenty of free time. So it doesn't surprise her to hear that.

The gym, though.. that also makes sense! Tidus does seem like he's in good shape, right? He must be good at fighting!

"Okay, then let's play sometime when we're back!" She smiles at him. "Um, I should probably go look for some of the people I know now, before they start wondering where I was by myself for so long.. But I'm glad we got to talk."

[blitzcheer]

Tidus picks himself up onto his feet, nodding at her, hands on his sides.

"Same here! It was nice talking to you. You go have fun."

Well, he had been looking around for a nice spot to bring Yuna to later--he should keep looking around and find that, if he doesn't just come back here. But Madoka might already have dibs later with her own friends!