The Endless River

[voidtreckermods]

On the morning of day twenty one of the month of Kazoo there is a message on the ICP screens around the train. Their SCA's will light up the colour of the Void and show the following information.

World #398050 is a void nexus known locally as Tshering. As a void nexus this world has strong links with the void and the connection through worlds. World #398050 is home to the Endless River. Legends speak of this river being powerful enough to send thoughts from one heart to another across any distance. All that is needed is for you to know who it is you wish to reach.

On-board

The dressing carriage is open, filled with clothing best suited to a pleasant spring day. Light, airy and in a rainbow of joyful colours and florals. One closet is entirely filled with wide-brimmed hats bedecked with ribbons, feathers and ornaments. A stack of picnic baskets and containers filled with an alarming variety of passenger-suitable foodstuffs and flasked drinks sits in one corner, next to rolls of thick, weatherproof blankets in the four team colours.

The large box marked Do Not Use Yet, filled with small, empty jute bags, is hopefully still sat in the Luggage carriage, ready for passengers to grab handfuls of its contents as directed by the announcement.

Upon landing (after an appropriate countdown), the train remains on the surface, its carriages partially curved to form a gathering site for the day. Welcome to Tshering, the eighth void nexus!



A Day for Picnics

Tshering, system #398050, is a strange place, only habitable by grace of the passengers' SCAs. The sky is shot through with colours, a cascade of sunsets, and through it, the void shimmering through it in seams like a child's painting of the milky way. Still, there's a beauty to the chaotic mash of colours that soaks through its landscape, and in the shelter of the forests of towering funghi that dot its surface, the Void can go unseen by its visitors.

The temperature seems mild, suitable for the provided clothing, and if there are weather patterns around the world they've taken the day off. The funghi are sturdy enough that what air flow there is doesn't disturb their stalks, and carved grooves and holds in some of the larger examples indicate that climbing them to sit atop their glowing crowns is eminently possible, and, in fact, encouraged.

the Endless River

The Endless River is a font of pure chaos, flowing from a multitude of small rivulets across the area to a central reservoir, from which it pours directly upwards, away from Tshering's surface and out of sight, beyond the world's atmosphere.

Anything bagged and placed within the Endless River will also flow upwards and soon be out of sight, passing, presumably, into the Void. Scattered across the surface of Tshering are small, glittering pebbles, as described in the announcement.

The stones are pleasantly cool to the touch, and all passengers need to do is feel. Messages can be in any form that the Voidtreckers wish. Perhaps words, perhaps feelings, perhaps an image from their mind into the stone. Perhaps a mixture. Once they begin their message the stone will glow slightly and continue to glow as they secure it in the bag and cast it into the river. They will feel, almost instinctively, that they need to focus as they do so, thinking of the person they wish to reach all the while.

There are plenty of bags and many more stones; passengers will not be limited in their sendings.

Comments

mami tomoe | madoka magica

[magicurls]

fairytale tea

Mami never quite found the time to make her announcement, but that's all right! She disembarks in a bright blue sundress and wide hat, her hair loosely curled in a messy braid behind her. She appreciates the provided food but packs her own kit, just in case...

And she squeals with delight when she sees their surroundings. It's beautiful...! She immediately gets to work setting up at a nice ring of glowing mushrooms, setting out a ring of teacups and some piping hot white spring rose, a favorite blend.

"Here, why don't we relax first? It's going to be an interesting day, hmm..."

one wish

Later, Mami gathers a few stones and stands at the river, lost in thought. After each declaration, she places the stone in the bag, briefly praying over it.

"Alfredo-san...I hope you're safe, wherever you are. Miki-san...I don't want to put you in danger, but everyone tells me you're so strong. And Kaname-san and Sakura-san really miss you. And...

Mom...Dad...

I'm so sorry. I know I can't ever make it up to you...but I love you, and I wish we could've stayed together..."

At the last, she bows her head. She can't cry. She's supposed to be over this. But she hasn't considered this pain in so long, and it threatens to break over her. She needs to send her love. And her regret.

one wish

[happyends]

At first Madoka isn't close enough at all to hear what Mami is saying. But she does notice the girl standing there by the water. And at first Madoka is tempted to give her some respectful distance, since Mami probably has a lot to talk about, then she sees the girl bow her head like that.

And while that could be in thought too, or even in prayer.. Madoka could swear that there was something different about Mami's facial expression, right before her face lowered from sight.

Something different enough for Madoka to start to approach. Carefully, with concern. Hence why she only lightly speaks up.

".. Mami-san..?"

Re: one wish

[magicurls]

"Madoka..."

Mami's head snaps up to look at her. She squeezes the stones in her hand gently, her indecision still there. She doesn't have forever to make this choice.

"Hello. I've just been wondering...if these wishes can reach across time, as well as space."

[happyends]

"Across time..?"

.. Madoka isn't sure. Despite what the train said, there's a part of her that's unsure about whether or not these messages will reach anyone at all - a part deep down in her, jaded by Kyubey, by some of the things the train has said before.

But there's no way she's going to say that out loud. If Mami wants to believe in this, if it can do something good for her, then of course Madoka is going to encourage it. Regardless of her own thoughts on it.

"Don't you think it should be able to..? After all, all of us come from very different times to begin with. I'm sure that if you really want it, your messge will be received by whoever you want to get it, Mami-san.."

cw: references to death

[magicurls]

"Then I need to reach my parents."

Mami clutches the rocks. Madoka already knows this story, but...

"I'm sorry I didn't save them. With the price I paid, I could've done so much more. It was such a normal day, we were happy..."

But that's in the past. She tries to swallow her sob. "I hope I'll see them someday, after I fight as long as I can to save worlds. That's all."

[happyends]

Of course. Her parents. Who else could Mami want to reach through time, when it sounded like Mami never really had friends - other than Kyoko, who is right here with her?

It makes Madoka go quiet for a moment, but then she slowly reaches out, putting both of her hands around Mami's hands and the rocks in them. Clutching it all tightly between her own two hands.

"Mami-san.. um.. I don't know if it's too forward, but.. I don't think your parents would want to hear 'I'm sorry.'"

Madoka can only imagine what her own mother would say if that was the kind of message she sent back to them after everything..

"I think, instead.. they'd rather hear about you. About the things that are going well for you. The things you hope for, the things that make you happy.. I-I don't know your parents, of course." And Madoka wouldn't want to be rude, so she does look a little embarrassed as she speaks.

But she thinks about what Yondu told her. Every parent out there worries about their child..

"But I think every parent out there probably just wants to hear about their child's happy moments, so they know they don't have to worry or feel bad for leaving them behind.."

Fairytale tea

[redmeguca]

Oh wow. It's been way too long since I've had your tea, Mami.

[Kyoko takes a seat across from Mami, Momo not far behind. The Growlithe sniffs at the kit Mami prepared and lets out a happy bark.]

Oh yeah, don't worry about Momo. A trainer I met back at Keystone told me that most Pokémon can eat just about anything people can.

Re: Fairytale tea

[magicurls]

I just ordered it a little while ago. The train's supply was lacking.

[ She smiles and offers Momo a biscuit---not particularly doggy-formulated, but it smells hearty. ]

Rosetta's been sniffing all the mushrooms. They're so interesting to her...I guess they would be, at this strange fork in the road between worlds.

Re: Fairytale tea

[redmeguca]

[Momo happily accepts the biscuit. Nom!]

Yeah, I guess so. I saw some pretty weird stuff in Fissures, but nothing like this.

Re: Fairytale tea

[magicurls]

"Right. It's almost as strange as....but it's nothing dangerous. Just weird, right?"

She laughs as she nibbles on her snack, a small biscuit.

"We could use more days like these."

[redmeguca]

You won't find me arguing. Much as I love a good brawl, it's nice to just sit back and relax sometimes too. God knows we need it after that last mission.

[Kyoko, naturally, goes right for the pastries. That peach cobbler is calling her name...]

tea!

[ballseeker]

After all of this mess.. Bulma is happy for a day in the sun. Of all things being cooped up in a train like this, she is pleased as anything to have something like a day on their island back home to look forward to, having picked out a nice sun dress of her own.

It's a beautiful place to take an airy break, which is why she's looking over her sunglasses at Mami as she starts setting out her tea set.

"Oh- what tea is it?"

[magicurls]

"It's white tea with rose petal and a sprinkling of dried fruit," Mami shares with a smile, already pouring Bulma a cup. "One of my favorite springtime drinks. It'll keep you in tune with the beauty around you, though this isn't usually what I have in mind for spring..."

[ballseeker]

"That sounds like a unique flavor." And if she's sharing, Bulma will definitely try some, shifting to settle down next to her for a drink. After everything that happened at their last stop, it's nice to be able to just.. socialize. Without there being a bunch going on around them on top of it too.

"Well there's a lot to appreciate here with the mushrooms and everything." Bulma laughs lightly. "Though, the domes on the caps remind me of the houses back in my world. They were dome-shaped instead of more square."

[magicurls]

"It's one of my favorites," Mami smiles, glad to share. It's actually fairly nice here.

"Oh, they must have been nice houses! But was it hard to fit everything you needed in there?"

[ballseeker]

"No, not at all." Bulma shrugs. She often seems to forget just how affluent she is in terms of space and size of homes, but.. well. She's always lived at Capsule as it is, so it's a little difficult to remove herself from it.

"They're just tall enough that you don't have to worry about cabinets and stuff. The main wing of my house has a nice open area over the living room and a balcony.. so you can make them really airy with the right windows and all."

one wish

[fivemilesdeep]

Sending a message to someone who is gone - who's been gone - is...painful. Frightening. Cathartic, in a way he hadn't expected - he feels like he's swallowed sandpaper, but he also knows he'll feel better, eventually. He's just...not there yet.

Ryo's route away from the river takes him by a number of people; it takes him close enough to Mami to hear her speak, and he stops when she mentions her parents. He shouldn't - he knows it's rude at best to listen - but his relationship with his father is so terrible that he can't help but wonder what a normal one would be like-

And then Mami apologizes, and makes it clear that they've been separated, possibly even before the train, and...oh no.

He walks towards her - "Mami?" - and pulls her into a hug when he gets close enough. It might be too much, and he leaves his arms loose - if she wants to push him away, he'll let her go - but her pain echoes in his chest, scraping against emotions already rubbed raw when he'd left a message for his own mother, and he can't let her be alone. Not now. Not for this.

[magicurls]

"Ryo-san...?"

Mami's response is slightly delayed. She's quite distracted with her emotions, after all, and as they threaten to pull her under, her kind healing partner pulls her to safety.

She can't help it, she clings to him as a few more tears escape. "I...um...sorry..."

[fivemilesdeep]

She clings to him, and he holds her tightly, gently rubbing circles on her back. "It's okay," he says, quiet and steady. "You don't need to apologize. Just let it out."

He'd collapsed a few days ago himself, overwhelmed by grief and homesickness, and the people who cared about him had held him and helped him through it. He cares about Mami; doing the same for her is the least he can do.

[magicurls]

Mami holds on for a good few minutes, letting herself come back down to...somewhere approaching calm. When the sniffles fade she pulls back, summoning a handkerchief with her magic to wipe her eyes.

"Thank you...I'm sorry, I just. Haven't thought much about the accident in a while. And when I remembered the void reaches across time too, I thought, maybe...but is that silly?"

[fivemilesdeep]

He holds her and stays silent, letting her cry herself out and only letting her go when she moves back. Hopefully it's helped her as much as it had helped him a few days ago.

It worries him that she still feels the need to apologize, but the conversation has moved on. "It's not silly," he says, shaking his head a bit. He pauses, takes a breath, and continues. "I...sent a message to my mother," he says quietly. "She died when I was born. I've never met her." He looks at Mami and gives her a smile tinged with sadness. "So if it's silly, I guess we're being silly together."

Tea Time

[bakegarasu]

Otoha pauses and nods, sitting down near Mami. Relaxing isn't... something he's used to doing - he hasn't changed his clothes out of the ones he wears all the time. But he's trying, at least.

"Yeah. ... I don't exactly have anyone to send messages to."

[magicurls]

Mami passes him a teacup and a small biscuit to go with it. Everyone is welcome to rest and relax here.

"Mm. I tried to send messages to people who've already died...if they reach them in the beyond, or go into the past. It's unlikely either way, but I'm dead too. So every moment in this strange void is a new opportunity."

[bakegarasu]

He takes a sip and thinks about that. Messages to the dead, huh?

"... I don't know if it'd reach him. Could tell my dad off, but there's no point. Reiji... I wouldn't even know what to say."

[magicurls]

"Sometimes the point is closure for yourself. The other person can't always give it to you, but...maybe saying things will make it easier on you."

Mami stretches in place, eying another one of the strange mushrooms.

"But it's up to you. Some things are best left unsaid."