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

[miseris_socios]

Ken looks up abruptly from his rock, looking down and back up again.

"... Can you?" It's like people don't expect an eleven year old to have a mortal enemy, geez.

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Errr..."

Well, he's rubbing the back of his head. "I jus' uh. ...Jus' saw somethin'. Surprisin'. 's all. ...Tha' sometimes happens, past 'r future 'r otherwise..."

They might not be talking about the same thing.

"...I don' control it."

[miseris_socios]

"'Something surprising'." He repeats it, looking the other right in the eyes. There's a lot of 'somethings' that someone could see if they had that kind of power...

Hopefully it wasn't anything too bad.

[luckydragonsfoot]

To that, he just brings his fingers in a gun motion to his head, 'fires', and then shrugs.

"Hell'va way t' bring out th' cool fight powers, jus' sayin'."

Ah, it was basic stuff.

[miseris_socios]

Out of all the outcomes, probably one of the better ones. He rubs at his face.

"Yeah, well. I didn't invent it... I don't know why that's what it takes to do it. Apparently other people who can do it who aren't from my area can do it differently."

It'd be nice if they didn't have to use an Evoker...

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Hey, not blamin' you f'r it..." Just. It's just weird. "Jus' didn' uh...expect t' get slammed w'th it, tha's on th' weird power bs t' be honest."

Visions are mean, specifically to him, he hates it. "Honestly I didn' ev'n get a good look at th' end r'sult, went kidna foggy after tha'."

[miseris_socios]

"I mean, I could show you?" It's not like he has to hide Nemesis here. He hasn't really needed to at home since they're mostly active at night, but it's not something he can just tell other people about there.

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Yeah, jus' like tha'?"

Should he be encouraging this, for that matter??

cw: suicidal imagery thanks Persona 3

[miseris_socios]

He shrugs. "There's not a need to keep it secret here like at home."

He takes a few steps back and pulls out his Evoker, raising it to his head and pulling the trigger. There's the familiar gunshot sound accompanied by the sound of breaking glass, and blue fog swirls around him as Nemesis appears in all of her buzzsaw glory.

eyyyy

[luckydragonsfoot]

Katsuya flinches, because suffice to say, you don't just 'get used to' seeing that happen.

...The rest of everything about the materializing is pretty darn cool though! He can't help but grin at the sight.

...

wait-

"...'s she like...gettin' bisected by a saw there?"

Bisected is not the word he wants, he's bad at this.

[miseris_socios]

Ken looks up at the slightly translucent figure and she looks down at Katsuya.

"... She's just... like that? She uses it to attack sometimes. ... It's not like it hurts her or anything?"

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Huh." Well...he supposes some duel monsters are..

"Hey, yer th' better judge in th' end. I guess I c'n see her face clear 'nough, so she must see fine at th' least..."

[miseris_socios]

"Yeah." She fades and Ken relaxes slightly. "She's a part of me, so she doesn't even really need eyes to see as long as I can."

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Nyh, seriously, 's like tha'? I mean me an' Red Eyes are linked, but he'd still have a pr'tty rough time if somethin' took his eyes out..."

[miseris_socios]

"If something hits her then it hurts... and I can only use so much magic. But I can't see through her or anything... the summoning is too noisy to use in a sneaky situation anyway."

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Hohh, it takes energy 'r whatever too?" Come to think he's been wondering how the heck that works with Red Eyes. It feels more like he's just. There. All the time.

If he thinks about it it makes sense why, but still. "Guess I lucked out there, ev'n if Red Eyes can be a right pain."

As if to prove those words, the dragon's head peers out from the shadows. "Ouuurrrrnn?"

"Yeah, you, buddy."

[miseris_socios]

"Yeah. I mean she's there, but it's not like she talks much. Just makes noises and doesn't specify." Like around other Persona-users, apparently.

"... What do you fight with him?"

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Nyhhh...honestly? Whatever th's place throws at us, I guess. Didn' act'lly have 'm around until after I got here. Er...well..."

Well not in this life anyway. "...Hones'ly I don' think th' point 'f 'm is fightin' t' begin with though. Acts more like a big cat half th' time."

To prove that, Red Eyes starts butting their head against his hand.

"Oii, seriously..!?"

[miseris_socios]

He just barely hides a small smile at that. "... Then why do you have them?" It's kind of confusing, Jou. What's the point?

[luckydragonsfoot]

"...Cause they're here?"

A pause.

"Shadows ain't somethin' y' shoot out 'r anythin', 's part 'f yer soul comin' out for whatever reason it wants. I mean, sure it was all danger when he showed up, but tha' doesn' mean he has t' be focused on tha' all th' time righ'? I mean, I wouldn't wanna be tha' wired all th' time."

[miseris_socios]

"... They're called 'Shadows'." He gives Jounouchi a flat look before sighing deeply. "Right. Okay. And yeah, it's not great. I spent a long time being constantly on edge."

[luckydragonsfoot]

To that, Katsuya just shrugs in the direction of...well. The dragon.

"E's comin' outta the shadow ain't he? Makes sense. An' yeah, I bet- you takin' time t' r'lax a bit while yer here at least? 's pretty safe all things considered, so it's good for it anyway."

[miseris_socios]

"I guess. I know things with that name that are a lot more violent."

... 'Relax'... mm. "... More than I thought I would."

[luckydragonsfoot]

"Huh, tha' so." Well, that sucks then. "Guess 's kinda awkward then huh. Well, he's th' only one, so jus' think of 'm as Red Eyes in tha' case..!"

Oh, how unexpectedly wrong he is.

On that other note though- "Didn' think y'd be alrigh' at chillin' 'r somethin'?"

[miseris_socios]

"... I haven't really had any time to relax normally for years. I was more focused on surviving." Probably not something one expects from a kid, but there it is.