middleofsomewhere | The Mountain Top: Grasshopper 25

The Mountain Top: Grasshopper 25

After the strangeness of their second day on the island for some, with memories and conversations in a cave, the third day goes calmly.

At least until mid afternoon. As the day winds on into evening all of those who have been sharing memories with others will feel a pull.

A pull to climb the mountain in the north. It is a good feeling, that mountain is where you need to be. A sense of belonging, friendship, camaraderie. You don't need to be alone, just climb the mountain.

For those that climb they will find worn wooden benches spaced around the lip of the caldera in concentric circles, the centre set up like an amphitheatre. The Jema syrup spills from crevices around the edges, running down from the peak in well-worn grooves and channels.

The sun sets slowly on Jema’grethy, slowly sinking into the ocean over a period of a couple of hours. During that time pairs of Voidtreckers will feel drawn towards the syrup, to touch the surface.

When they do they will receive a memory and find themselves back in that cave once more. For those watching it is as if they are in a trance, lasting a few moments.

People feel moved at different times and so there are always people aware, sat around the mountain top. It might be that there are other friends they wish to speak to about what they see. It might be that they wish to sit silently and avoid everything, if only their friends will allow it.

But it is a place to be together nonetheless.

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Something rises in him, a roiling anger building within him and his eyes widen in surprise.

Anger is almost an alien emotion in him. He has felt anger at injustice, anger at the suffering of the people of Tai. But more often he felt sorrow. Anger like this, with no reason, out of nowhere. It has no source. He is not angry at Xion, he is not angry at Lord Gyousou. He's not even angry at what has happened here.

And it doesn't feel... He drops his head, steps closer to Lord Gyousou, taking comfort in his presence.

"I'm sorry..."

He doesn't know what he is apologising for, but it feels... necessary.

He watches the two of them, red eyes flickering from one to the other as their shoulders hunch in unison. As Taiki steps closer, as if seeking reassurance even as his face twists in an uncharacteristic annoyance.

Feels, as he has for a short while, the roiling nervousness that isn't his own.

"I'll leave you be," he says, first, a promise to Xion. "But, be aware that you might be feeling some strange effects, if you have just shared another vision. You should be with friends, if you feel able."

To reinforce that, he lifts a hand to ruffle through Taiki's mane, their standard comforting gesture at this point.

She glanced up at what he said, and taking that as permission she turned and fled, looking for Axel.

Or she intended to, but there were just so many people. How had she not realized that before. She froze after the turn, fear filling her. Her hand dropped and she wanted to create a dark corridor and escape but there didn't seem to be anywhere empty enough to do it...

"Xion..."

His voice was pained, he keeps it even, swallows back the tears that want to come. He stands to step towards her, even though she doesn't want... She wants to be far from him, wants him to leave her alone.

He isn't the tallest person on the train by far, but he is taller than her and so can see the familiar red hair of Lea in the crowd.

"He's over there."

His voice was barely a whisper, as he pointed in the direction of her friend.

She nodded and wanted to go to him, but there were so many people in the way, she wasn't sure how to make it without being seen more than she already was. She was sure she'd never seen so many people in so small a place before. Even the fact that they were outdoors didn't make it any less stifling.

Should he approach her again? Should he leader her over to Lea? Should he just leave her?

He has no idea. No idea how to handle this at all and he's terrified. There are too many people, more people than he had ever seen...

No that's not true. Not true at all. But there's still so many and Lea is so far away and if he goes to Xion when she clearly doesn't want to be anywhere near him... He might ruin her trust forever.

He stands almost frozen, trembling. Not sure what to chose, where to go and wanting to hide away, out of sight.

Ah. He watched her turn, and then shy away from the nearest person, watched her curl in on herself even more. And then he watched Taiki reflect her expressions. Followed his pointing finger to Lea, across the crowd.

"Will you both follow me?" He asked, as gently as he could. He wasn't particularly tall, or imposing enough to serve as a physical shield, but he was taller and broader than either of them. Easy enough to part a crowd, quietly. "I'll clear the way to Lea."

She glanced up, surprised. Why? Was he doing it to help her? Why would he want to help her? He wouldn't, right? So then why...?

She was still going to follow, though, if he was actually heading for Axel.

Taiki stepped closer to Gyousou instinctively, taking strength in his calm presence, the safety of the ouki at war with the anxiety flooding him.

He stayed close to him, almost touching him though he didn't actually reach out, just followed in his footsteps. He did glance towards Xion a few times to check she was still following.

Moving was a simple matter of eye contact, polite smiles and murmured gratitude; he made slow but steady progress as people stepped aside to allow him past. And in his wake, Xion and Taiki could follow.

Fortunately, most of those milling around were caught up in problems of their own, dramatic scenes or quiet discussions sparking left and right, and they made their way through without incident. Once they were clear of the main crowd, he could step aside, giving her a clear path to Lea.

She kept herself as hunched and small as possible as she followed them, feeling slightly less terrified. Probably because she was almost to Axel. Right?

"There he is." He gestured at Lea, very close now. He is not sure Lord Gyousou has met him before. He turns to Xion again, giving her a reassuring smile.

It was a clear path, she could probably get to Lea with no barrier now.

Lea was seated on the same bench where Taiki had seen him earlier. He had the air of someone waiting for something to happen, so it was likely he hadn't had his final vision yet, but knew it was only a matter of time.

He heard someone approaching from behind and to one side, and glanced up to see Xion, Taiki, and a man whose name he didn't know. He recalled seeing him now and then around the train, but hadn't really had reason to talk to him til now. "Hey there, Xion, Taiki," he said. "Who's your friend?"

He hasn't met Lea for anything more than brief encounters at meals or in passing, but it's enough to have made a decent enough impression.

"Saku Gyousou," he keeps it short, if affable; he's unsure if Xion is calm enough to have retained his name from the introduction a minute ago, given her and Taiki's skittishness.

Xion slipped past them as quickly as she could without touching either to stand behind Axel. Close to him but... behind. He was tall enough to hide behind and with everything so confusing right now, she wanted to hide. Or better yet, to be away from so many Somebodies.

"Hello." His voice is quiet and once Xion steps towards him Taiki steps back, behind Gyosuou, almost mirroring Xion in hiding.

He knows Lea, he's not particularly nervous around him usually but right now. Right now the only safe place was behind his king.

Lea nodded politely to Gyousou. "Nice to meet you," he said. "I'm Lea, though Xion or Taiki probably told you that already." More likely Taiki.

Taiki, who was currently joining Xion in hiding behind the nearest taller person and remaining silent aside from his brief greeting. If this were a video game, Lea thought that right then would be when a '. . .' text box appeared on the screen, because that sure was some awkward silence. "So, did you guys want to talk to me about something, or...?" He trailed off, inviting one of them to explain what was up.

"The pleasure is mine," he returned, equally affable. If the corner of his mouth lifted at the behaviour of their two dark-haired companions, he made no other sign of his amusement. "Kouri and Xion just had their vision, and I believe she wanted to find you. It is, after all, rather crowded up here..."

He glanced around, trying to catch Taiki's eye. Did he want to add anything...?

Very very crowded. She wanted to open a dark corridor for her and Axel to where they had watched the sunset the other night.

But who was Kouri?

"I scared her..." He spoke from behind Gyousou, looking at the ground trying to rationalise things. Part of him wants to hold onto Gyouosu's shirt, but he doesn't. He keeps his hands at his side. "I'm sorry..."

"Kouri?", Lea said. Clearly Xion wasn't the only one curious about the name. But simple process of elimination led him to a likely answer. "You mean Taiki?"

And speaking of whom, he smiled slightly at the confession. "A lot of things scare Xion," he said. Some that were reasonable to be afraid of, but most that weren't. "But long as you've apologized to her too, it's fine. Apology accepted."

"And either way, you don't have to hide. I don't bite, I promise."

"I do," he agreed with Lea. Regarding the name, at least. He had rather fewer opinions on Taiki's guilt. "Is it acceptable to leave her in your care?"

Apology accepted? Guess who has questions again. How do you... accept an apology? Does that mean that there is a way to not? What would that mean? She was so confused. But she'd wait till there were less people to ask...

He just stared at the ground, "I'm sorry." He said again, this time to Xion. He's already apologised but he does feel very bad for scaring her.

He battles with fear and confusion that are not his and stays behind his king, staring at the ground.

In some ways, Lea would say that Xion was more than capable of taking care of herself. In other ways, though, she was hilariously ill-equipped. In either case, though, she was his friend. "Yeah you can leave her with me," Lea said. "In fact, she'd probably prefer it."

He just wished that he could get Taiki to stopped looking like a puppy who expected to be kicked. "And it really is OK, Taiki. No need to beat yourself up about any of this. OK?"

The Mountain Top: Grasshopper 25

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