Emet-Selch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unnecessaryflourishes) wrote2020-08-21 11:32 pm
unnecessaryflourishes) wrote2020-08-21 11:32 pm
(no subject)
[The forests of Rak'tika are never particularly loud, by most standards. Oh, there are the various noises of the creatures living there, but the vast majority of the inhabitants tend to not stray too far from their relative villages and - provided one knows where to go to avoid the usual paths - it's a perfect suitable place to take a nap. As such, it should perhaps come as no surprise that's exactly what he's done. Simply settled in against the trunk of a suitable tree and let himself drift away.
As such, he is quite unaware of the fact that between one moment and the next he's not the only individual from another world present in the forest. Instead, he sleeps on, quite unaware of anything else going on.]
As such, he is quite unaware of the fact that between one moment and the next he's not the only individual from another world present in the forest. Instead, he sleeps on, quite unaware of anything else going on.]
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[She scoffs, shaking her head as she peers up at him.]
Maybe to you, perhaps. I spent my whole life under metal plating and a cloud of smog, it'd probably be incredibly interesting. Gaia didn't have forests like that back home, so what else is out there for exploring?
Then again all that light makes you a little queasy doesn't it? It's enough to give anybody a headache with the way it rings like that. [Her nose wrinkles a little.] It's not like that everywhere on this planet, is it? How do any of the plants and animals survive without night?
Oh, that makes sense! It's a lot easier with chocobos isn't it? I wonder how easy it is to get a black chocobo...Wait, what's an amaro?
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[It would seem that someone doesn't exactly have the patience for an endless barrage of questions. There's a reason he'd waited until after the Warrior of Light had become acquainted with the basics of life as it is on the First to make his appearance, after all. And not all of it had been coming up with suitable plans for how to deal with the situation.
Still, a question is a question, much though he might be running out of patience.
There's no snap this time. Instead, the image simply changes, from a map to a creature that looks loosely like a chocobo might, were chocobos to lean a little more draconic.]
There. An amaro.
[No sense of scale is provided with the illusion, but presumably it's similar in scale to a chocobo, given the implication that they're beasts of burden.]
And it is like that everywhere. No one here has so much as seen the night sky in a century.
[Plus or minus the places where the Warrior of Light has done what is their wont. But that is something that he can get into if - no, when - she asks.]
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Her fingers are tangled in her damp hair for want of something to keep her hands busy, carefully trying to tame the unruly mass as best as she can, winding it into something at least somewhat resembling a proper braid. Yet the need to keep her hands busy doesn't mean her mind isn't constantly at work, and her spike of interest fades as she lets out a croon of delight at the sight of the strange creature.]
Aww, it looks so soft! I'll have to see if I can find one later.
[Resigned to her hair being a lost cause for the moment, she cocks her head, a hand lifting to press her knuckles to her lips as she thinks.]
Well no wonder you look so tired, anyone would be at that point. Honestly I'm just amazed that any plants are still able to grow properly, much less the animals surviving. That kind of imbalance would normally kill everything, wouldn't it?
[The words aren't there; she's no scientist or scholar, just a shattered remnant that can feel the balance of life all around her and here everything feels...odd. Too loud in the wrong ways, too quiet in the others. Still, she pauses, cocking her head and leaning closer than most people would consider polite or welcome.]
Thanks for answering my questions, by the way. I know your nap was interrupted and you're helping me even when you're so worn out and probably have more important things to do other than get more sleep, but I do appreciate it.
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[He's never much bothered with them, personally. Mostly out of a general lack of a need to. But he knows well enough that the Crystarium has amaro, all the same. Even if he's never made too much of an effort to figure out where.]
And the imbalance did cause that sort of upheaval. Fully nine-tenths of this star is empty. Barren of even what life can be found here, and even this [he gestures at what is, presumably, world around them] can be prone to tending towards stagnation. Few could say this star is thriving, though people have managed to eke out some semblance of existence all the same.
Still, I don't see what that has to do with me.
[He's frequently tired, yes. And makes no secret that he's quite fond of naps besides. But that doesn't have anything to do with the Flood of Light, and the realization of the assumption she must have made dawns on him slowly.]
Oh. You're assuming me to be a native of this shard, aren't you?
[It's understandable, perhaps. But he very much isn't.]
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[She's not going to like this answer, she knows she won't. Aerith is already having to shove the loss of Gaia into a box in a dark corner of her mind where she shoves all her hurts to deal with later. Much later. The sort of later that borders on Never which she knows isn't healthy but how else is she supposed to make sense of the world?
A flicker of a frown crosses her features and she presses a hand to her forehead. Blinding light, like a wave crashing against the shore but too large, too much, cresting higher than the highest buildings, ready to wash everything away before it goes solid.
A wall of glittering, blinding crystal that leaves shimmering clouds to choke the skies.
The shudder grips her before she can stop it and her hand falls, her gaze distant even as she blinks owlishly at him.]
Well how was I supposed to know? It's not like you told me otherwise, silly! But if you're not from here then where did you come from? I'd ask how but somehow I feel like it's a little obvious with how easy you make everything look. But really, you look like you haven't had a proper sleep in ages. Have you?
[Worry creeps into her gaze as she comes fully back to herself, studying his face with a surprisingly intense look. Peering up at him, she takes in the slope of his shoulders and the sharp shadows of his features. There's something almost uncanny in the way she meets his gaze, then.]
When was the last time you had a decent night's sleep and a good meal? Do you even remember anymore?
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You do realize I wasn't present to witness it personally?
[He'd had better things to do with his time, even accounting for the difference in how fast time moves between the shards.]
But as I understand it, the local heroes did a little too well in eliminating the forces of darkness. Thus did Light rise ascendent, resulting in what you see before you.
[Or feel, maybe, given that the Ocular doesn't exactly have windows.]
And you didn't ask. Although where I happen to be from is... irrelevant. Not here; that's all that matters.
[Given that she barely knows about the idea of shards, much less the Source, the last thing he wants to do is to have to explain the Sundering. Fortunately she offers a reasonable enough topic for him to turn his attention too, for that he very nearly feels the urge to squirm under the uncanniness of that gaze.]
And whyever should I not remember? It's hardly the sort of thing one simply forgets.
[And whatever else he may be, he's not forgetful. Although he might grant that he has forgotten the feeling of getting a decent night's sleep, somewhere along the way.]
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[But his next statement catches her off-guard, brows furrowing again as her hand lifts, knuckles touching her lips as she thinks. They did too well? If that's what doing too well looked like, then...what did that say about Gaia? Somehow it feels like what's happened here is connected to her Planet, why else would she be yanked along? But on the other hand, what happened to everyone back home?
Her eyebrows arch again, and she's back to staring up at him.]
Okay, so you answered one question, but it sure sounds like it wasn't recently. Aren't you a little old to be needing someone to keep an eye on you and make sure you get proper rest? And this is coming from the girl who just woke up in a lake.
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You said it yourself. Who can sleep, with this excess of Light polluting the skies?
[It's another non-answer. Or at least, not a direct answer to his being too old to need someone to keep an eye on him. But it is a truth, and it's not as if she hasn't already commented on the presence of the Light being enough to give someone a headache.]
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[There's a finger prodding at his side, a persistent jabbing that will not relent until he does.]
You can talk for ages and still not give a straight answer! It feels like you just enjoy being frustrating.
[When she sighs it's heavy, her nose wrinkling as she thinks.]
Or is it because I ask too many questions? I suppose that's fair, I guess I did just bother you because you were the first person I saw.
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Like, for instance, not giving a straight answer. Which it should be noted is still not his immediate response.]
Forgive me. I've forgotten what it's like to speak to someone with such a genuine interest.
[The apology is - mostly - genuine. But there's still something in his voice that makes it ring just that little bit off. Like it's something that's almost forced, regardless of how true it is. Still, he does at least continue on. And better still, the almost-forced tone is gone from his voice.]
Besides, it's not as if I didn't choose to answer. Although I'll admit that, yes, I wasn't expecting quite so many questions.
[Even if he probably should have, between her being an echo of one of his oldest friends and newly arrived to the First besides.]
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[Not that she can really talk, but that was then, and she'd had her reasons. Still, the poking stops, and the wrinkles along the bridge of her nose smooth out as she smiles bright enough that it lights up her eyes.]
I'll try not to totally overwhelm you with them, next time. It's just that this place is so interesting, and the company's pretty fascinating too.
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[And in fairness, they wouldn't be wrong. He is an inveterate schemer, and has been actively working to nefarious ends for centuries besides. But that doesn't mean that he's any less capable of offering genuine advice and assistance all the same.]
Still, the restraint is... appreciated.
[That he's still willing to answer the questions is probably a good sign. Especially when he could have just as easily brought her to the Crystarium and then disappeared off into the darkness again. But that she's willing to make an attempt to not overwhelm him either is still something he's not going to complain about in the slightest.]