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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The evening winds on until every pair has moved to the syrup, to see a memory, to spend time in the cave and return. As they return they may feel... closer to their partner than before. The mountain hums with chatter, new friends, the sounds of comfort.

The final three to approach the syrup are Minako, Nita and Enna. Like everyone before them they enter a trace. They remain and remain. Longer than the pairs... Perhaps it is because they are three?

But moments turn into minutes. They have still not awoken.

Anyone looking in the direction, or indeed anyone still down on the shore will notice the headlights of the Voidtrecker Express switch on, light shining in the twilight.

The cave the three girls are in fills with light.

Back on the mountain top there is another pull. This is fainter, much easier to fight. But for those that will... They are moved to touch the syrup once more and when they do they see a final memory.

When it is over they find themselves on the mountain side once more, where they were before. Nita, Minako and Enna wake up.

(OOC: The linked memory contains a content warning for plague and parental death by plague/disease)

Edited 2020-08-20 07:24 (UTC)

Morning OTA

Is that a humpback whale, in the purple ocean?

Yes. Yes it is.

After an embarrassingly long time (to her), Nita realizes this will be the second time since becoming a Voidtrecker that she's had the opportunity to swim.

And where there's swimming, well, why not fin a little too?

She doesn't much mind the stares - and, if anyone asks, she'll happily oblige them with a ride.

Afternoon OTA (Before the Final/3rd Memory)

But eventually the beachtime fun comes to a close; when that calling comes to her (after many have already felt the pull and vacated the surf - strange!), she tidies herself up and picks a fresh change of clothes, something more comfortable for hiking.

One can find her at the lip of the caldera, though she is not very talkative. Contemplating, waiting.

What is she going to see - or See - next?

[OOC: Will match tense as preferred!]

It is the second whale in the water, though S'reee remains (frustratingly) small. But she's not going to miss the chance to swim with a dear friend, especially one who can more than keep up with her. "All right, now I know why your people use the word 'whale' to describe large things."

Day 2: An Unexpected Memory

She's departed from the cave, settling down into the island for the evening, when some strange memory flashes behind Zelda's eyes. Not her's- not master Gerome's either, despite the earlier two coming from him.

Zelda sinks into the beach sands, folding her head into her hands. "All right," she murmurs, focusing on the details: a boy, some others, a rocky world surrounded by stars.

"So what am I seeing this time?"

Mountaintop

The mountain calls, and Zelda answers. What else is there to do but trust in the hands of the gods?

(Or those of these planets, she supposes. Wither way, it doesn't sound sinister.)

Either way, she finds herself up on a peak early, quietly meditating. It's very odd to do this around people, as others gather on the mountain, but surely the principles are the same as they were in dying Sheikah villages. She'll manage.

Zelda was in luck, not that she or Nita knew it. But there's a whale not far from the shore, listening.

/Want to think out loud about it? ... Or mind-to-mind, if you're all right with that./

Nita was using the Speech, though for the moment it was 'out loud'. Perhaps if no one else came nearby...

There's a bubble of laughter from the bigger whale - and what amusement Nita's having today!

/It is something more obvious once you've been the observer, S'reee! I'm surprised you can't resize yourself even on this world, though./

It certainly seemed safe enough.

Before Romeo's turn

Romeo hadn't climbed the mountain, instead his new friend Xander had flown him up the mountain and it had been so much fun!

He's not too worried about whatever is going on here. Memories are strange things, he has so few of his own.

But if anyone looks scared or sad he will clamber his way over to them, with an encouraging smile or even a hug, or a dramatic hand clasp if they are friends or other kids.

After his turn.

When he comes out of his trance he looks a lot more subdued. Tears brim in his eyes and he sticks near Xander, quiet and sad. He sits and hugs his knees, watching everyone move down to the syrup one by one.

Anyone who approaches still gets a smile, but it is a sad one, an attempt to keep the spirits of his friends up.

Webmind has done his share of climbing (and sailing, and accidental cliff-falling...), and today's climb has him heading in the direction of a significant fraction of the rest of the Voidtreckers.

Perhaps the mystery behind Eva's strangeness will be resolved today, but all that can come up in due time.

Have a friendly robotic wave, Romeo!

"This view is quite spectacular, isn't it?"

Nita may have only just arrived, even this late in the day, but it doesn't take much for her to recognize when someone else has been having a rough time.

"... Need a hug?" she offers, once she's sure there's no new memories heading her way.

OTA (Gyousou may join in threads)

Taiki had climbed up here with the others. He's not too sure what is going on, but the memories he keeps seeing... Xion's memories. They are strange. He knows he is not the only one seeing such things.

He sits next to his king, mostly just watching the others. He will approach anyone who looks to be very alone though, especially if he knows them.

Anyone who approaches him and Gyousou will get a small smile in greeting.

For Xion and later Gyousou

Once they have spoken a second time in the cave they are back where they started, crouched over the syrup on the mountain top.

Taiki looked at Xion and smiled softly at her. "There's someone I want you to meet..."

For Tidus and Inigo

Taiki was a little worried about Tidus. About many people here honestly but Tidus was a friend, a good friend. He could at least be relieved that Gyousou was helping Inigo through what was happening but Tidus...

As the evening goes on and after Tidus has been to the syrup Taiki moves over to him, looking for Inigo to try and communicate with his eyes. He sits next to him.

"Hey..."

For Lea

There is someone else he needs to speak to as well and so as the sun continues to set he makes his way over to Lea. He gets a nervous smile but then Taiki's face grows serious again.

"Hello Lea..."

Roland kept his word when he spoke to Senku on the first day of their unexpected holiday. He had been dutifully collecting as many materials around Jema'grethy as he was able, placing them in appropriate containers, or at least as much as he could spare without depriving the train too much. In his bag was quite a Collection, but without Senku's apparent expertise, he wasn't really sure if they'd be useful or not.

So he waits by the parked Voidtrecker, their arranged meeting spot on the last day of the island vacation, arms crossed and eyes closed peacefully.

He'd been looking forward to this meeting again, if only because having someone else to pool resources with was valuable. His own bag looked a little stuffed, and he was breathing a little heavily when he came up, letting the bag drop off his shoulders with a breathless little sigh.

"Hi." He offered, doubling over to catch his breath. "I didn't get as many rocks as I wanted, but I got refocused into collecting plants for medicinal purposes."

When Roland opens his eyes to greet Senku, he's more shocked to find the exorbitant amount of items he's put into his bag for his research. He blinks, feeling his own collection of items paltry in comparison.

He uncrosses his arms and walks over to him, meeting him halfway.

"Hey," Roland waves, before his hand rests under his chin. "Looks like you got quite a haul. I happened to get some plants, flowers, and even berries for you as well. You can catch your breath first before we look at what we've got?"

"It's fine, I'm always like this." He said dismissively, and stretched out his shoulders a little bit, reaching back to crack his neck, but he could take the break anyway.

"The most interesting rocks are the ones that look like the lava that's not lava, by far. I can't identify them...actually I don't think I can identify any of them, but they work like Earth rocks in that I'm sure they have properties, their durability can be compared to the Mohs scale, and I didn't find anything exceptional in that area particularly."

"...Nita?"

Her head snaps up, and after a few minutes her eyes settle onto a non-human figure out in the waves.

"Should I assume you've become a whale again?"

Roland's not going to pretend that half of that didn't just fly over his head. For once, his levelheadedness was working to keep up - and Senku was just talking about rocks. If anything though, he can see the expertise, hear it in his explanation. He nods, and opens up his own bag which was set on the ground. Roland's already pretty impressed.

The first item to come out of the bag was a jar of the not-lava Senku just described, but it wasn't as fluid as it would have been had Roland collected it closer to their meeting. It might have begun to crystallize somewhat. He hands it to Senku immediately.

"Don't know if you were able to get this much yourself, but just in case, I collected some for your research. You might stand to discover more with a larger quantity, versus scraping it off of rocks. Did you happen to eat it, by the way?"

/Yep. Didn't have much of a chance to talk to you the last time, though, so.../

She fins a shrug.

/It'll make people think twice about approaching, even if they're curious./

Well, hopefully anyway.

Senku looked impressed and pleased at the find. "This is great, I didn't have anything I could collect a sample with!" He declared, rather delighted by that and he tilted the jar of course so it would move slightly.

"Ah, you misunderstand maybe, I didn't scrape it off the rocks, I found rocks that look like this, but crystalized." He turns and sets the jar down carefully.

"I did taste it, it had a calming effect, which is curious. It's also very sweet." He wasn't really a sugar guy, but he opens his bag then, crouching and pulling out plants that look like they might be similar to aloe vera, so he can pull out a blue and a pink rock that looked like sugar.

"A friend of mine got a lot of jars during the last platform day. I asked for a couple of extras. Let me know if you need more materials to collect samples with, I don't mind spending my points to help fellow passengers with things like research and passion projects." He didn't really have a long list of things he wanted to buy - everything was more of a necessity.

Roland listens closely and peers at the plants and the rock that had formed...from the syrup itself? He asks for it to be handed over, palm facing up.

"Where did you get this? I didn't come across this in my excursion."

Senku is free to look in Roland's haul while he remains fascinated with the blue and pink rock. In it, he will find a variety of flora, some preserved by being pressed between books; rocks of various shapes and sizes; a jar of berries natural to the island; shells from the beach, iridescent and shapely; even a jar of sand closest to the shore, and water from the beach itself.

"Perhaps," she agrees, and sighs.

"I assume you've been receiving your share of the visions which have been going about?"

"I came across it." Senku gestured at the area, and he very gladly handed them over.

"It's really interesting, first of all, they taste like sugar but they're not quite sweet enough, same for the lava it's like some kind of crystalized, but less sweet version and I did a flame test on it. Some of this got crushed into essentially, sand and then I threw it into the flames. It didn't really do much though, except emit a smoke the same as the colour, but the smoke had a similar effect to the lava, only a lot more intense."

He did turn to take a look while he spoke though, quite happy to share the results of his research on the island, it has been a very productive visit.

"I imagine it would be quite effective as a source of sweetness but, I'm not sure what other properties it has. Probably on the Mohs scale it's somewhere around a two and a half, maybe three, because a good solid hit can break it apart. I had someone help me with that."

The flora is interesting enough, but he can't identify any of it which wasn't the least bit daunting, that was kind of the best part. He also has a few shells, and he grinned at Roland, holding one up. "I wonder if this is also made of calcium carbonate!" It was a good find, he approved.

/Yeah. Talking about them with the people they're from, too./

Well, almost all the people they were from.

/People fleeing cruel royalty, tales of past Voidtreckers... those are the ones I've received, anyway. What about you?/

Nita is keeping it vague enough so as not to share private information, but she was still thinking about what she'd seen.

Maybe she would be for weeks.

"Most of them belonged to a young man on the train. He must be new; I hadn't seen him before."

And given the nature of the visions, Zelda's as reluctant as Nita is to go into details.

"There is one, though, which I think must be a young woman's." She pauses. "In fact... Nita, have you ever been been on the moon? Or a moon, I suppose?"

/... Yeah?/

She'll put aside the matter of the new young man for now; she might know him, she might not.

/Though - did you end up in some sort of mind-sharing cave to talk about that one? I was wondering why neither of the people I met with last time had a memory from me./

Had someone else gotten Minako's memory from the first time around, then? Nita sounds quite concerned.

She shakes her head.

"No, there was nothing but the memory. Not unlike the first one, after we arrived here."

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The Mountain Top: Grasshopper 25

The Final Memory

(Beach) Valley Low, Mountain High; OTA Morning, Afternoon

Morning

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2! Have a whale.

Re: Morning

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Before

After

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< Before M3, Morning - For Senku >

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