middleofsomewhere | Wings of Wonder: NPC Interactions and Investigations

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!

Jingyi, who has a thought and is about to pull out the things he'd shoved into his qiankun pouch, stops when Ryo looks at his way all nervously. He blinks in return, lifts his eyebrows, then looks over to the young sali and the Forever One.

Okay, so he doesn't charge for the Lan protections such as they are, but he sure knows bargaining in town, so here we go!

"Assistance in adapting to the energies of your world, as much as can be worked out. What time any of the Forever Ones can spare to work with us to that end I think? Hemla was trying that with a few of us, and sending others to a collective of Forever Ones to the East. Leave to keep camp on the central island. Potential lending of supplies to handle the situations being faced side by side with your people, to be turned back over to the sali after. Shared food and water resources if possible. Uh... do you have... a mending kit I could borrow?"

Jingyi looks down at the various lacerations through his sarong with a frown.

"... Maybe a few mending kits. I can't wear clothing that's not easy to get in and out of when I'm shifting," he says, which explains very little unless someone here saw the dragon who turned humanoid after landing with Ryo earlier. "And this is all I've got."

They are clearly very well supplied assistance. (It would probably help if one of the most put together looking Voidtreckers who doesn't have to presently run around in a sarong were delivering these words, but alas, poor Ryo's there with Jingyi.)

The sali in the room look at one another, more so the older ones slouched with their arms on their laps, two sali covered to their shoulders by wool blankets. "Enshala," one scoffs hoarsely with a look to the Forever One, and the other speaks "Maja" in a clipped tone, a warning given in their glare.

The sali - Maja - sighs with a shake of their head, looking away at first, but then looking at Enshala, in timing with the other sali. ... while the child, mostly looks between the sali with a brow knitted in concern for the most part; a face they try to hide from Ryo and Jingyi when they remember them in the room, quickly turning away.

Until it's time for their duty, and they look again, uncertainly, but not shying away.

"Everyone agrees to speak about this more when our people outside are safe. Bring our people, and bring yours here too. That's what they-- that's what we say," they correct quickly. "We will tell everyone not to attack anyone that looks weird, but talking's hard 'cause of that storm, but Enshala's gonna push it back!"

Their fists are balled at their sides, and if they had a face to show colour to it, it would surely be showing now in their attempt to sound older than they are. But their head snaps to look at the non-sulking sali, asking, "Auntie?", a silence in the air for a few seconds before they nod their head - "Yeah!" - and look back to the Voidtreckers.

"If you can help outside, we'll take your clothes and fix them. We have fine cloaks," they're sure to emphasise smugly. "You can strip and find out when you want."

Ryo relaxes just a bit as Jingyi takes the lead, tension releasing across his shoulders. The 'price,' such as it is, is reasonable, though the last request has him looking full-on at Jingyi, his tattered sarong, and his-

Open wounds.

They're not bad, from what Ryo can see, but he's still standing next to a friend while said friend is bleeding and he hasn't helped yet.

He's kind of a scattered mess today, and it's long since past time he pull himself together.

"We'll put out a call and let them know to come here and bring anyone they can," he says, addressing the child - they're obviously speaking for Enshala, and treating them like the adult they're trying to be should help. It'll be easy enough to call their friends with the SCAs, and the wording gives them wiggle room when it comes to sali who won't listen or are openly violent. Not everyone is going to be able to handle them as well as Jingyi.

"And we can help you outside if you tell us what you need. Just...give us a few minutes to get patched up first, please." In terms of both Jingyi's clothing and his injuries. "We'd be grateful for a spare cloak."

Jingyi, who's at least glad nothing here devolved into shouts or attempts at violence, merely looks perplexed for a moment.

"Yeah, we would as long as we can, but you're not wanting me to strip right now, are you?"

Sure, he's used to nudity in various contexts, but that's a bit much! He's just also not sure if the smugness at their cloaks is a "you'll never want to wear anything else" or not, but he just. Has no filter not to ask like that, right then and there.

"Strip when you want to," the young sali replies, sounding perplexed themselves, looking to the one they had called 'auntie' before. Said auntie sighs, a deep exhale that empties their chest, eyes closing, then looking to the two under tired lids.

"Strip now, strip later, we don't care. Decide for yourself, both of you. Can you fight? Can you retrieve people confused, who don't listen? We want them here, brought back. You..."

They pause, adjusting the blanket around them, their head hanging as they come to a silence. The younger one in the room is watching them with a worried expression, then looks at Ryo and Jingyi.

"If you help people, then help people! Get rid of the birds! The birds!"

It's all Ryo can do not to put a hand over his face at Jingyi's question. There's a time and a place for that, and this really isn't it.

"I'm a healer. I tend to our fighters, and I can help your injured." Simple. Straightforward. Jingyi can speak for himself, when he's not asking about getting naked in public. "Is there a safe place for us to prepare? A room, or something?" Is there a place where they can take care of themselves, and be away from the sali so they can talk amongst themselves, and generally just relieve the pressure of this conversation before it goes completely south? If the pressure on their minds a few minutes ago had been any indication, Enshala isn't going to stand for any nonsense or time wasting, so it's best if they head that off at the pass.

Jingyi tentatively holds up his hand.

"I'd like to strip outside with Ryo please," he offers, because his tail's already starting to curl forward and place all its remarkable tailtuft of fluff at strategic levels up front.

For the rest, still with his hand tentatively up in a pause gesture, he adds, "I have no problem fighting, I'm trained in it. I can safely bring people back here, or get them to chase after me to the same effect. As for the birds, get me arrows, I can work on them too."

Another pause.

"Thank you."

The young sali turns away from the pair, neither facing the Forever One in front of them, their head bowed and fists still tightly woven. They shake it, in an exchange that can't be heard; that leaves the room eerily quiet, beyond the dulled sound of footsteps thudding somewhere else inside the building. The closer pair that comes up to one of the curtained doorways, pushing back the fabric to reveal a sali on the other side.

A mouth opens to speak, but the sali stares at what they see in Ryo and Jingyi - but then resume, jerking their head back. Beadwork curled around their horns jingle in the motion.

"I'm here for the healer. Someone wanted a cloak? -You should both come with me," they decide as they speak, figuring it better than whatever was planned. "To find a fit."

The silence is a little unnerving, but Ryo figures it's a conversation with Enshala, since that's evidently how they communicate. He looks up as the sali with the beaded horns enters, and- there's no way they were close enough to hear the conversation beforehand. Either the sali have incredible hearing, or something else is at work here.

Either way, he raises his hand slightly as they call for the healer - that's it, that's him - and heads towards them. It's only when he reaches the doorway that he turns back to nod respectfully at the child and, more importantly, the statue. "Thank you." For hearing them out. For helping. For not immediately throwing them out for the crime of not being sali themselves.

(Ryo, as it turns out, still has a terribly low bar for what constitutes as kindness.)

He turns back to the beaded sali, prepared to follow them wherever they lead.

"Thank you, people of the Islands."

Jingyi cups one hand into the flat of his palm and offers a brief bow of his head and shoulders to the Forever One, their chosen speaker, and the ones still around the room before he trots right after Ryo and the sali offering to take them to be fitted and let Ryo do what he does. His eyes are caught on all the beadwork, interest noticeably pricking up.

"Thank you, I'd be the cloak requesting one." Horn decorations weren't much of a thing in his clan, and the ones who did (looking to the Jins in particular) favoured jewelry and caps rather than the beadwork he's seeing now. "Really lovely," he says offhand, before his attention directs back to Ryo, his voice pitched low.

"You're going to tell them how it works, right?" How Ryo's healing works, because it does not sound like the time to tell anyone a beat too late not to fight it in the case of wanting two living people by the end of it.

The new sali stands taller than the pair of them, eyes curiously looking them over in interest, but not dallying for their fascination. They walk in a curved hall, hooves clapping against woodwork, ears giving a twitch when Jingyi speaks low, but they don't interrupt, coming to a stop by an entryway.

"Cloak first," they explain, voice subdued and calm; the flitting glance given to them before they walk in, holding the fabric back for them before moving in deeper.

It's a storeroom, or so that much can be figured. Shelving lines the walls, pots the same, large vases on the ground that look heavy just to lay eyes on. Weapons too, of different types of blades. The sali walks to a wardrobe, loosening a latch that pulls two sides of a stretched animal skin across the front, then pushing them apart to reveal the packed inside of fur clothing.

"Leave your clothing with us," they finally speak up, shuffling through the hangings with a look back at Jingyi, briefly. "We will mend them. Try this."

They bring out a cloak, gripping it at the back of its neck area. An animal head hangs for what would be the hood, a thick neck of fur that runs down the centre where it parts. It hangs low enough to reach past knees, a thinner fur used around the rest of the body.

Re: Yes please!

Forever One postin'

I immediately love them

young sali and older sali posting

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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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