day 190 ♪ open

[evacuate]

Who: Zia and anyone
Open: Yep!
When: Day 190
Where: Out on Prosper Bluff, then near the Monument; take your pick
Format: I'll match!
What: Zia goes on an adventure for some shiny things.

Zia knows she can survive on the Skyway—she's done it before—but the prospect of scouring the ruined city on her own is daunting. But her plan, formulated late last night while she dusted off a windowsill in an unused room of her part of the tower, needs shards to work.

She pins her hair clip from the festival to her bandanna and decides it's enough to justify not bringing a weapon; she has no idea how to use any of them, anyway. The only other thing she brings is a backpack, empty except for a water canteen, for her spoils.

For most of the afternoon, Zia wanders about Prosper Bluff. She still remembers which paths to take to avoid irritable monsters, how to seem nonthreatening so creatures not too far away will ignore her. Only once does she have to call for Hense's help; the petals on her hair clip shift and the thick barrier of rose-covered vines it summons holds back a raging Gasfellow long enough for her to find a cluster of bushes to hide in until she's sure it's left her alone.

She roots through rubble and flora, filling her bag with shards and interesting pieces of the old world, smiling a little wider with each tiny discovery, but constantly looking for more. Anyone else's appearance makes her jump, but she relaxes and offers a friendly wave as soon as she realizes nothing dangerous is trying to sneak up on her.

Later, when she returns to the Bastion, she's exhausted enough to decide that all the stairs up to her part of the tower are too much to be worth dealing with right away, so she takes a seat on the ground by the monument and digs through her goodies: shards she separates into clusters of five to count, some particularly lovely flowers, and a few shining colored stones. It's a small haul, but if the bright smile on her face as she sorts them means anything, she's pleased with it.

Comments

[evacuate]

[Chance and curiosity brought her here—this pathway looks familiar turned into oh, right. As far as Zia can tell, the area hadn't changed since she found it a reality ago, supply bags and folded tent from the den slung over her shoulders.

Just in case, she scoured through it, and filled her bag with another handful of shards for it. She didn't want to linger, though; this place reminded her of isolation, of being completely and miserably sure that she was the only one left in the ruined remains of the world. She had no use for old memories.

Only as she readied to leave, back to the Bastion, back to here and now and happiness, that she heard the voice. Before she even spun around, she was beaming; she'd recognize him anywhere.]

Raile! [Immediately, she ran to him, flinging her arms around him in the tightest hug she could muster—and stepping back just as quickly, embarrassed.] Hi. You have to stop running off like that. It's been weeks, you know, I've been so worried.

[followsthevoice]

[Well, it might not have been the most graceful of greetings, but Zia seemed happy enough to see him. Raile hardly moved when she ran into him, mostly because he still had a good grip on his hammer and it wasn't going anywhere, but he gave Zia a few pats on the back before she stepped back. It was strange to see Raile smile, and he hadn't quite mastered the technique of it yet, so it looked more like jagged glass trying to force its way through his mouth, but he was smiling none the less despite the chiding.]

Yeah...sorry 'bout that, got kinda sidetracked by things. Speakin' of though, what brings ya all t'way back here? 'S dangerous out this way.

[The fact that Zia was out here by herself made Raile worry quite a bit, but he knew as well that Zia was a survivor. She wasn't about to let a stray pecker or gasfella get the better of her.]

[evacuate]

That's not an excuse. [Her pursed lips, displeased with the answer, widened into a grin at his question, though. Zia shifted her bag off her back and opened it up to display its contents: shards, mostly, with some shiny stones scattered throughout and a few flowers on top.] I'm out treasure hunting! You don't have to worry, I know how to look out for myself.

[followsthevoice]

That's true, when I found ya last time, y'were doin' jus' fine. Still, we both gotta start bein' more careful, thing're different this time 'round.

[New areas...new people...new creatures he'd never seen before and ones that were far more aggressive than ever before. This certainly was even stranger than before, so he had to start putting himself even more on guard...well, at least with certain things.]

Them's some mighty fine treasures you got yerself...might say I was doin a little of that myself. Speakin' of, could y'do me a favor and close yer eyes for a quick spell? I got y'a suprise.

[evacuate]

I know. It's fine, you don't have to worry about me. [She knew her way around, had the magic hair clip—maybe she'd spend her shards on offensive magic, just for the peace of mind, but she had more important things to save up for.

She closed her bag and swung it around to her back again. Her eyes widened at the mention of a surprise.] Really? [It took her a moment to follow the instructions given, out of bewilderment, if anything—a surprise? For her? But she closed her eyes and held her hand out, that look of curious confusion still fixated on her face.]

[followsthevoice]

[Raile had never been all to good with this sort of thing, so once her eyes were closed he went right to work fishing his surprise out of his pack and placing it in Zia's outstretch hands. At first, all she would feel was a familiar weight...Raile had played with the thing once or twice, he remembered how it felt in his hands, hopefully he'd gotten that right; and once she opened her eyes, she'd find herself staring at a brand new, home made harp guitar.

It had taken Raile some time to find all the metal he needed, and more than once he'd stolen away into the forge to iron these things out. All he'd needed was some good strings, which he'd fashioned out of stripped down knifewood bark that he'd let soak in some bull brandy. These things were strong as they came and wouldn't be breaking anytime soon. All in all, it might have looked even more intricate than the one she'd had before, Raile was good with his hands after all and he'd taken the time to carve highly detailed patterns, each one representing a different god in the pantheon.

Anyone could tell he'd put a lot of time and effort into it, but in reality, his only reason for going through all this effort was just to see Zia a little bit happier...she deserved that much.]

Uh...here. I made it m'self, Bastion jus' didn't feel right without hearin' you play. I...hope y'like it.

[evacuate]

[Her eyes only opened once he started to speak. With a gasp, a tiny, tentative peek turned into astonished gawking at the thing in her hands. Zia saved her own harp guitar, but it had gotten so dinged up that she hardly touched it, fearing that anything might make it, one out of countless remnants that really mattered, collapse.]

You made this? [Her voice came out as a whisper. She traced the carvings with her thumb, trying to think of any way to describe any of it and failing entirely. All she could think was that he had crafted this on his own, made it with his own two hands with only her in mind—without question, this was one of the nicest things ever done for her; the nicest that wasn't something desperate and dire.

She only realized how long she'd been staring at it when she felt tears at the corners of her eyes—and even then, it took a moment to go from there's tears on my face to oh, that's me, I'm crying.]

It's beautiful. [She sniffed, shifted the harp guitar to clutch against her chest, and used her free hand to wipe tears off her face in a futile attempt to keep them hidden.] I love it. It—it's absolutely beautiful, thank you.

[followsthevoice]

[For a second, Raile began to silently panic when he saw Zia start to tear up. He didn't want her to cry, this was the exact opposite of what he was going for here! Thankfully, Zia cleared up the confusion before he had a chance to make an ass of himself and his flustered face turned downwards as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.]

O-oh. It weren't nothin' Zia, after all t'cookin' and cleanin' y'did around the Bastion, I thought I could do somethin' to pay y'back, y'know? I'm...just glad y'like it.

[Gods above he could feel his face burning as he kept his eyes locked on the ground. He'd faced down countless terrors and monsters out in the wilds, but he couldn't even look Zia in the face right now. Not with what he had brewing in his head.]

Y'know though...funny chance meetin' out here, I...had somethin' I wanted t'talk to you about if'in y'have a free minute.

[evacuate]

No, it's—it's a big deal. Thank you. [Sure that she'd managed to will her tears to stop, she clutched the harp guitar to her chest. She took a deep breath, calming herself, before she continued, voice steadier now.] Well, we're already talking.

[followsthevoice]

Oh...yeah, y'got me there.

[He laughed, but it was definitely a nervous laugh. He'd already made his mind up on this, so there wasn't any turning back. For good or bad, he was going to take the chance; there wasn't much room for wasting time out here, so he had to make things count where he could.]

I uh...y'see...well it's like this. I've been doin' some thinkin'...especially now that I've had a chance t'sit down an' breath...and I realized somethin'. I uh...about you that is...I-I get this feelin', in my chest when yer around. Like...everythin' is gonna turn out okay, and no matter how tough an outin' on the Skyway is...I have somethin' good t'come home to back at t'Bastion.

[He was trying, bless his little Cael head, even though his emotions were still a scattered mess in his head, he pushed though, hoping that Zia would manage to understand him, even if he didn't understand himself fully with this. He finally brought his gaze up, figuring it was only right he look her in the eye for this, even if his tanned face was burning hotter than the sun at the moment.]

I guess what I'm tryin' t'say...is that...well...I like you Zia. Like...really like you. I know...I've been an idiot...a big one...and it's my fault that yer back goin' through all this again, but I owe you t'truth of how I feel. More 'an anythin' though...I'm jus' glad t'know you, so no hard feelin's if y'don't feel the same...wouldn't really blame ya. If'in ya don't...I'd still like t'be yer friend if you'll keep me.

[Considering he'd chosen to go back in time, he really wouldn't be surprised if Zia knocked his block off right now for being so brazen. Still, the truth was out, it was up to Zia to choose where to go from here. Lemaign help him.]