middleofsomewhere | Wings of Wonder: NPC Interactions and Investigations

The younger sali sees the knife and sword and screams grabbing Ryo's wrist. "No! Don't hurt him!" She'll be easy to shake off if he chooses too. The sali is a young shepherd and not a fighter. "Everything was fine before all you outsiders came!"

The older sali lets loose the arrow towards Jingyi since the further back intruders he sees have started fighting amongst themselves. There is no interest in talking and no sign that any of the younger's words have reached him.

Well, she hadn't stabbed him in the back. That much is good, at least. Everything else, not so much.

He tenses when she grabs him, but he doesn't shake her off. She's afraid, and the last thing he wants to do is make it worse, but with the situation the way it is, there's not exactly room to be gentle. "If everything was fine, we wouldn't be here," he says, tone level but urgent. He gestures at the older sali. "He's chasing you, attacking us, and not listening to anyone. Unless you know how to stop him, we have to at least defend ourselves. I don't want you getting hurt either."

Gods, he hopes Jingyi has his half of things well enough in hand.

The sword cuts down as he dances out of the way, slicing the arrow in half, momentum from the redirect leaving one side buried in the trampled grasses underfoot.

"Ryo! Ask if they can get us to the Forever One here—if this man's not listening, maybe pouring energy into the Forever One can help!"

Meanwhile he doesn't glance back to the struggle behind, putting faith into the ineptitude of someone dodging arrows and the likelihood that Ryo knew what he was doing in an exceedingly precise way with that knife. He keeps his attention on the man with the bow, and listens for if they do end up taking off at a run—if this younger sali is even willing to work with them, given her complaints out of fear and confusion.

The younger sali nearly stomps on Ryo's foot as she tries to disarm Ryo by tugging on his wrist. (She's not doing a very good job of it.) "We didn't ask for outsiders to attack us or help us." All she wanted to do was her new job of keeping her woolie safe, and she has no idea where it has run off to in all this chaos. Now this outsider she has never seen before is acting like he knows everything and is threatening the other sali. "I was doing just fine not hurting anyone. We don't hurt each other."

Jingyi will have little trouble dodging or slicing the remaining arrows. Still, he may have to switch tactics as the older sali places a hand to the ground once he's out of ammo. Thorny vines burst from the ground, aiming to whip and restrain Jingyi.

The younger sali stops her struggle with Ryo at Jingyi's words. "H-How do outsiders know of the Forever One?"

She's going to have to try a lot harder - he's been through much worse. I was doing just fine not hurting anyone; we don't hurt each other sinks deep, and for a moment he has to bite back his words, because the first thing to come to mind won't help: that not hurting anyone doesn't mean they won't hurt you; and that the other sali is doing a pretty bad job of not hurting anyone else.

(There is still a frightened, angry child in him, and that's not going to help here.)

Trying to think of something to say goes nowhere, and his attention snaps back to the battle as the older sali's attack changes, summoning vines the way he's seen Persephone do. He tears his wrist from the shepherd's grasp and hurls his knife, not at the attacking sali but at the vines themselves, hoping to sever at least one of them and give Jingyi some room to maneuver.

But Jingyi says the right words - something important - and Ryo remembers the conversation over the SCAs earlier and snaps the pieces into place. Jingyi's right - that might be the key. "I spoke with one earlier, on the center island. They asked me to bring them crystals." To help another voidtrecker - another 'outsider' - but that's beside the point. "There's one on this island, right? Can you take me?"

"Are you kidding me?! No one said anyone had plant magic!" That said, Jingyi was playing dodging, slicing games, learning firsthand if any vines could sprout two new vine ends once severed, and making a distressed sound (of annoyance) when one vine with all its thorns slaps against his side and tears into his sarong.

"Oh come on, I just got this! I only have one outfit, can't you leave it alone!?"

All as he continued fighting against the vines, cutting them down where he could, dodging when too many came, and otherwise trying to buy Ryo and the young sali time.

Though a delayed thought rattles through his head, and he says, "Your Forever One might clear this guy's head! If we let him chase us there—"

Is not his best plan, but he yelps as another thin vine whips at him and scores across his arm with its pronounced thorns, Jingyi moving with it's momentum and catching around it with his arm, switching his sword to his offhand to bring it up and slice through the plant matter with a smooth motion. The thorns are lodged enough in his arm he doesn't get a chance to immediately tear it off him before he's fending off another two vines in tandem, slamming a third aside with his tail, which the vines seem to slide off his scales and only catch in the blue fur of his mane and tailtuft.

Edited 2021-09-14 08:14 (UTC)

"There's more than just him..." the young sali murmurs. Then she steels herself. The Forever One might know what to do. About the sali acting really weird and these outsiders.

"You'll have to keep up with me!" She bounds in the direction of the shelter housing the Forever One on this island.

The older sali is distracted by the escaping young sali. This gives Jingyi an opportunity to break free and follow the young sali or attempt to subdue the older sali while Ryo gives chase.

You'll have to keep up with me is all Ryo needs - he turns in time to see the young sali leave and goes from zero to flat sprint, keeping up with her as best he can. He's at a disadvantage - she knows the terrain better than he does - but he can Sense her, and he's quick, and he'll be damned if he loses her when they're finally making progress.

Jingyi is capable - he should be able to handle himself, and Ryo can heal him afterwards. They don't have time to discuss any plans otherwise.

Jingyi, left to play subduing games with an older gentleman bent on doing him physical harm, only scoffs out loud and avoids rolling his eyes because he's actively engaged in this fight. Which isn't much of a fight, because he's not intending to hurt anyone, so.

He darts in to tackle the older sali directly, his ultimate goal being to subdue. But if he must, he will turn that tackle into a shift (cries, sarong, survive) to lift himself and the sali up into the air just above the grasses, in order to sight after Ryo and the younger sali, to come along after them.

Also, consequently, to be a target for... birds... but that's only if he can't subdue and tie up the older sali using the rope in his qiankun pouch, because if he can? Then he's hauling the older sali along while grumbling and following after the oath left by the two running away now.

The older sali goes down upon getting tackled; the vines shudder and fall limp to the ground.

By that time, the younger sali and Ryo are a far enough distance away from the two that the younger sali slows a little. She'll turn her head, looking for movement in the plants. They will reach the shelter soon enough.

Keeping up has been an exercise, but he's managed it, and it's easier to keep pace when the young sali slows down a bit. He sees her looking through the plants. "They're both a ways back," he says, guessing she's worrying the attacking sali is trailing them. "We should be safe." Unless the older sali somehow figures out a way to hide himself from Ryo's Sense, but for now, he can still Sense Jingyi and the other sali a ways behind them.

Jingyi manages to truss up the older sali, as politely as he can, bemoaning the state of his general dress at the same time. Cloth doesn't hold up well to thorns, it turns out, and he's rather annoyed by this, even as he's worried about what's doing this. Sarong damage is easier to focus on.

"I don't want to invade anything, and have you noticed I'm not attacking you? You're attacking your own people!" He says after collecting the sali's weapons and tossing them into his qiankun pouch, hefting the tied up sali and carrying him, princess style, when he starts off after his friend. He won't mention it to anyone but... between spiritual sense, which doesn't work for him quite as well right now, and his, well, his nose, which works perfectly fine, he's scent tracking Ryo through the grass where the means of their passing through isn't obvious.

"The real invaders came with the storm, and they're all flying around. Haven't you seen them? The bird-things."

Through the mess of the long-stemmed grass that's overgrown everywhere, there will come a point where it doesn't grow, the land opening up. There's a large building, circular, round-roofed, a barn beside it. The air is relieving for the sali with them once she comes through it, but for Jingyi and Ryo, there's a repulsing quality - a little like something is telling them to stay back.

Ryo will be able to Sense a Forever One in the direction of the building.

Quietly, unknown to either of the Voidtreckers, however, comes a voice to the one guiding them, clipped and impatient:

'Child, who comes with you? Who are those? Foes? Tell me if you need help, I'll kill them.'

If the sali reassures they're help, then the air will lessen on its push back against them. Somewhat.

For a split second, Ryo is grateful for the clearing - grateful that the terrain has opened up, that they're close to their destination, that he can Sense the Forever One in the building, or at least in that direction.

And then the foreboding feeling hits him, and he skids to a halt. He hasn't survived this long by ignoring his instincts, and something here feels wrong - potentially dangerous. Like a warning.

"Do you feel that?"

If Jingyi expects an answer from the older, captured sali, he will only be disappointed. He only gets glares and attempted wiggling out of his bonds.

The young sali breathes a sigh of relief as the air changes near the shelter. She stops moving as the Forever One speaks within her mind. She's safe even if these outsiders are planning something.

'Great Forever One. They say they're here to help and have spoken to another Forever One already. They stopped one of our own from attacking in their confusion, but they also weren't afraid to fight either. And they made me lose track of my woolie!'

To her, this is still a great injustice because she just got her job.

Jingyi was still in the process of catching up, carrying the older sali who does an impressive imitation of a worm that Jingyi occasionally has to heft up and shift his hold on, when the wiggling gets too squirmy.

"I'm not happy about this either," he says, gaze dropping down as he follows the scent trail after Ryo. "I don't think anyone enjoys being carried as an adult."

He wonders at any exceptions?

He does eventually catch up, appearing with the trussed up sali in his arms, unharmed but rather surly looking. The off feeling hits him when he reaches Ryo, and he frowns.

"Yeah. Something doesn't like us." He glances down at the older sali. "Really hoping this helps with your head, Uncle."

'Bastard storm,' the Forever One hisses, for other reasons than any shared by the young sali. But for the uncle and their glares and foul mood, Jingyi will suffer their wiggling no more - when they slump unconscious, weight now sagging.

'You,' the Forever One directs their attentions back to the younger sali. 'Go - if you can't stand up to our people, search the buildings, make sure none are harmed, tell the ones who listen to come back here. I will deal with these two, three. And stay safe,' they added like a frustrated aunt, more warning, but still with the edges of concern. 'Stay alert. You are one of us.'

Which is another way of saying, you are strong, in this context. Poor sali is likely more used to the more calming tones of the Forever Ones of the East, but Enshala has no time for that.

As Jingyi and Ryo will learn, as there's a tug to their bodies that pull them forward, a sharp pain in their mind as they feel - not a suggestion, but a command:

Come.

They will know the way, led there, with only some of the uncomfortable feeling leaving.

There's a silence from the young sali that Ryo doesn't quite know how to parse, but he is grateful for Jingyi's arrival, even if it means bringing the older, decidedly not peaceful sali with him.

Slightly less reassuring is when said older sali abruptly goes limp, and a moment later a presence forces itself into his mind. If speaking with the Forever One on the central island had felt like a needle slid under his skin, then talking with this one is akin to getting stabbed by that same needle. There will be no gentle feelings of care and concern from this one, will there.

He glances sidelong at Jingyi - he's not the only one who feels that, right? - and starts moving in the direction he's being pulled - a direction that matches where his Sense tells him the Forever One is. "We should get moving. I don't think they'll like it if we make them wait."

The young sali's ears flop flat to her head, concerned that she had upset the Forever One so soon after being old enough to finally help the community. However, now she had a new task given to her, and she won't give Enshala a reason to get more upset with her if they were.

'I will go. Thank you, Forever One.'

She shoots both Ryo and Jingyi a look before bounding off to the nearest building. She'll call out for anyone hurt or stuck out loud and through her gem. The audible calls are intermixed with calls for her woolie.

Jingyi's frown only cements when the one in his arms goes limp, though he tucks the sali closer to his chest. Dead weight feels different than struggling weight, and while easier to manage, it's disconcerting along with helpful.

He is, however, trained to respond in various ways to situations like these. He grunts, then speaks to Ryo, already stepping forward to take place in front of Ryo (sorry, Ryo, you're his squishier party here, he's going to meatshield) heading in the commanded direction.

"Who has patience when your home and people are under attack?" He pauses. "... Okay, to an extent, probably Zewu-jun."

Either way, so summoned, he leads the way to the Forever One, carrying his unconscious burden. The ropes have already loosened, and he figures should be easy enough to pull of once he can set the uncle down.

Their destination is not out of sight, a large building not built unlike the others around them. Some of the force of the link lessens as they start in the right direction, given them some credit they will continue in what's otherwise an easy path.

Two stone markers sit on either side of the door however, a stronger, repulsing feeling, markings glowing at their presence. They die down after a few seconds, pushed in as they're given permission to enter inside.

Inside, they come into a mix of a lobby, a living room; circular, but not matching the entire size that the building truly is. There are sali with eyes already on them, suspicious (a glance from Jingyi's horns, to Ryo's lack of them) but also exhausted, two sitting on cushions. In the centre, or by it - with in the middle a fire pit - sits a statue, the Forever One. Chin lifted, four horns that point up and back; hands on its knees, legs crossed with hoofed feet pointed upward. Lap covered, it has a dominating posture.

"Give," speaks up a sali woman, already waiting to the side for the three, arms ready to accept the unconscious one. A young child sits near the Forever One, a hand over one of its.

"Auntie--" it starts, then, "--E-Enshala says, to speak, tell us where you came from." There's a fluster, but the young sali doesn't shy away, features tight with determination. "Tell us what you want."

Edited 2021-09-17 08:20 (UTC)

It takes a moment for him to realize what Jingyi is doing, and then he speeds up, settling in to walk alongside Jingyi and giving him a pointed look. Just because he's squishier doesn't mean he can't handle himself.

Though Jingyi does have a point, in his words if not in his actions. "Fair enough." There had been no clear and present danger on the center island; there definitely is down here.

The pull on their bodies leads to a building, and Ryo hesitates as that feeling of warning flares up again - but it dies down, and they are allowed to enter.

And immediately scrutinized. And questioned.

He really should have been thinking about what to say when they did get to speak to the Forever One - Enshala, evidently - but when would he have had the time?

But that train of thought is unhelpful at best, and he needs an answer, and...weird as the truth is going to sound, it's also their best bet here. "We come from another world," he says, simple and straightforward. "We - all of us - travel from world to world, helping people who are in danger or in need. We found out about the storm, and the birds, and we came to help you." It's all he has, at the moment. Hopefully it's enough - if not to convince them entirely, than at least enough not to get them thrown out or attacked.

Jingyi gives a pointed look right back, because in this conversation they haven't actually had, it's not a lack of Ryo handling himself, but a presence of Jingyi being able to take more hits so that Ryo is free to move as he needs to, thanks. Teams work in coordination, right? You give each other opportunities!

All of this feels so pointed, and he resists shaking his head to shed the sensations they feel along the walk, his tail behind him twitching and lashing at the tip in agitation. Once they're up those stairs and inside, he's blinking at the circular room, the sali and their exhaustion, and then handing the uncle off to the sali addressing him.

"There might be chafing," he says to them, nodding toward the ropes neatly (and not cruelly) acting as restraints, "He struggled before we got here."

When the youth sitting with the Forever One, with Enshala, speaks, Ryo's the first to answer. Jingyi knows he would have put it differently, but aside from a glance at Ryo, he doesn't contradict him in the where question. Instead, he approaches the rest of it, tail held low and curling back and forth behind him:

"We want you to instruct us how to help. We don't know your islands, your people, or your needs. We won't be here long, we never stay more than two handfuls of days. Make use of us in whatever ways you can to address the ills the red storm blew in."

Confusion mixes into the looks of suspicion the exhausted sali already wear, the unconscious sali and the woman who took him already having left to the room through a clothed doorway. One sali opens their mouth, but then they look towards Enshala. The younger sali sits with a somewhat wide-eyed expression, glancing at Ryo and Jingyi from the statue, then settling on them again.

"Everyone wants to know what you want in return. Your price. We won't accept help from anyone if the price is too high."

The young sali speaks these words as if their own, backing them, chin even lifting with its voice firmer.

"If the debt is fair, we will accept you."

All eyes turn to the pair.

Their price?

The utter weirdness of talking to a living statue, he can handle. The fact that his magic isn't working correctly, he can handle. It's this - it's putting a price on his help towards people who need it - that wrongfoots him entirely, and he can't keep the look of surprise off his face. He comes from a world where help is given as needed, with the understanding that it will be repaid in kind the next time someone else needs help, and for the most part life on the train has worked similarly. What are his skills worth, in an even exchange?

He doesn't have an answer, and he's pretty sure that much is obvious.

"We-" Oh gods he has no idea what he's doing. "We, uh-" Oh, he has nothing. He shoots a nervous glance up to Jingyi, praying that he's got a better idea of how to handle this. Please help!

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cw: injury, nondebilitating

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Do you want a Forever One in this thread?

Yes please!

Re: Yes please!

Forever One postin'

I immediately love them

young sali and older sali posting

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forever one

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young sali ollies out, take 2

bye young sali, we never knew your name, ye of woolie faith

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