Event: Day 301 [OPEN]

[bastionpc]

Who: Everyone who wants to be involved, plus a ~*~surprise guest~*~
Open: Open
When: Day 301
Where: Roathus Lagoon
What: oh look it's time for a core
Format: action
Warnings: none yet

[When Nathaniel calls for one of the all-too familiar meetings regarding cores, he looks pretty unhappy. In fact, he looks like he has some bad news to give. Whatever it is, everyone should come listen, because it's pretty important!]

Comments

[bulletofhope]

Well, not so much? I promised a friend that I'd try to learn how to play the keyboard, though.

It's for a thing.

[ Naegi... ]

[dragonsorcsandwolves]

[Rob will just... look elsewhere and down another Regenerate Health potion to get that wound closing up while hoping to forget that sight.]

[amphibian]

[Okay well that was pretty fucked up but now that the risk of getting caught in the acid spray is gone, Aoi's got more important things to worry about.]

Zuko!

[There hasn't been an opportunity to get in since she went down (for a few moments Aoi thought she might not get up and the panic, the awful familiarity but the wrongness of this happening here to her, had paralyzed her), but with the danger passed, Aoi sprints to her. She drops so abruptly to her knees at Zuko's side that Aoi slides, skins her bare legs on the dirt, ignores it in favor of grasping desperately at Zuko's hands.]

Are you okay?! [Afraid of making things worse, she recoils and presses her hands against her chest.] I—you—I was so— [She has exactly enough tact not to wail you could have died, but the tears welled up in her eyes start pouring down her cheeks.

Asking the question again isn't going to change the answer, but she's at a loss of what else to say.] Are—are you... [Her voice breaks with a hard swallow that is an attempt at restraining a sob.]

[daughterofursa]

[The sheer level of concern Aoi is showing for her stuns Zuko into silence for a good minute. There were tears in Katara's eyes after Azula shot her with lightning, but not like this. Did it look worse than it is?

She's got to reassure her, though, so she finally manages a wry smile.]

I'll be fine. I've had worse.

[The words are a little strained because it does hurt just breathing but it's true. She's been worse off before.]

[amphibian]

[This does a little to assuage her, if the fact that the tears don't come back as fiercely when she wipes them away on her sleeve, but the wide-eyed panic in her expression remains.]

I-I thought—I couldn't— [Words have never come easy to her, and even if she were any sort of eloquent, there may not even be ways to string together the awful hollowness in her chest carved by fear of loss that she has not quite shaken, that she may never find out how to drive away; she can't imagine what it would mean to lose Zuko who is her best friend, who has always looked out for her, who supports her endeavors even as others dismiss them, who has made her feel safe when she thought she had forgotten what that meant—much less articulate it.

And instead of putting all her fear and fondness and feeling into words, Aoi lunges forward to Zuko and kisses her.

It's a little closer to inelegant face-mashing, all desperate emotion and instinct and uncertainty—in seconds she pulls back, wide-eyed and trembling.]

I—I was so scared! I... [Her entire face turns bright red as she actually processes that she's done something. She fumbles for something else to say, like she needs to justify it.] I...I was so scared!

[A+.]

[daughterofursa]

[Okay we're back to stunned. Aoi just kissed her.

Did she pass out?

No, breathing still hurts.

She's also still a girl. Does this mean that's not a problem anymore?

Zuko's going to have to work on processing that more later, because this is when it really hits her that Aoi wasn't just afraid that she got badly hurt, she was afraid for worse than that. She was afraid Zuko might leave her.

She grabs for Aoi's hand.]

I'm not going anywhere.

[bakegarasu]

[... Otoha just stares for a moment because - look he's seen two girls kissing but not two pretty normal girls kissing and he actually flushes for a brief moment, before coughing inelegantly and raising his eyebrows, back to his more stoic expression.]

We should get going. I can carry you if you need. ... And I've got bandages if you want them.

[four_quarts]

[In the background, Ghaleon silently pumps his fist. Finally, he thinks. It took those two long enough.

Alas though, they do need to go, which means doing his job.]

Aoi, would you be a dear and let me check Zuko for any broken ribs?

[legendary_can_opener]

[the dragon turned her head to see what all the commotion was about and-]

[oh. This was a familiar sight. She couldn't help but reflect on the time she'd ambushed a couple of fools who thought it was a good idea to 'celebrate' on the battlefield]

[Mitellux let out a small snort. Did they really think now was a good time for this? Where was their sense of self-preservation???]

This is hardly the time or place for such things, unless you two are trying to make yourself an easy target for anything else that may come by.

[daughterofursa]

[The shock is passing, but there's more feeling to follow, so much more than with her first kiss, that awkward and unwanted peck from Jin. It comes on her slowly, because it's still so hard to process, still so unexpected for anyone to care about her as a friend, much less more than that. Even as her face flushes with embarrassment that this is happening with an audience, beneath the pain in her ribs there's a growing warmth. It's like feeling the sun, only it's not her bending that's gaining strength from it.

The others are right. This isn't the place for it and they should get going, but she really doesn't want to let go of Aoi's hand. This might stop being real.]

I- I definitely cracked a few. At least.

[She doesn't look directly at Ghaleon or Otoha (and certainly not Mitellux this dragon is clearly not aboard the ship), but instead watches Aoi cautiously. She shouldn't need to move out of hand-holding range for Ghaleon to look at her.]

[twinked_witch]

[Megaera just quietly watches Aoi and Zuko, before Zuko admits to cracking a few ribs. Like Mitellux, she definitely favors moving, but on the other hand...]

I think this occasion calls for some ice cream. And I didn't bring any with me.

First, though... Let's get some quick bandaging on you. Ghaleon, think I should use the temporary heal effect just to get her home?

[amphibian]

[Aoi's going to ignore the judgey dragon in favor of gently shifting aside at Ghaleon's request. Doing so absolutely doesn't require leaving hand-holding range; she scuttles to sit at Zuko's side without getting up, squeezing her hand tight—Zuko says she's not going anywhere, but holding her here makes sure of it; she'll hold her hand all the way back to the Bastion if she's allowed.]

Is this okay? [A pause and then she adds, quietly:] You can do something, right?

[legendary_can_opener]

[Wow, show some practical concern and suddenly she's judgmental.]

[Anyway, the dragon just keeps a silent lookout for now. It wouldn't do to move the core now when they weren't quite ready to move]

[fuckthemancers]

[Why not just bring him up earlier, Colin, gosh?]

[But Zulf just gives a shake of his head and goes to get one of his rattletails, coming back after five minutes or so with the large bird calm at his side.]

[four_quarts]

[Ghaleon doesn't answer any of the questions, opting instead to make his way over to kneel at Zuko's side. Gingerly, he feels her sides to be sure that nothing is out of place, and, upon being satisfied that everything is in the correct spot, begins to glow a bit.

After a moment, the glow will transfer to his patient and die down after a couple seconds. That done, he's up and ready to get going.]

That should about do it. Megaera, I would still like you to cast your spell. Her ribs may be mended for the most part, but they're still a bit delicate at the moment.

whoops hello im back...

[fireburn]

[while seeing a dragon was really great, azula let everyone else do te talking (probably for the better of everyone involved), and it was fairly clear the ankelgator fight didn't need her (they had a dragon for goodnesssake) but then zuko is hurt and --

part of her, some deep down sense of sibling loyalty, or at least whatever was left of it, makes her want to reach out and at least ask if zuko is okay but then aoi is there. and that happens. so she stays away from it, letting them have their moment with more than a little flash of jealousy that zuko had become so close to someone in this strange world.]

How lucky for us that we were smart enough to bring healers along.

[bastionpc]

[The trail itself has gone cold by now, thanks to people walking all over the place and this probably being several days old, judging by the drag marks on the ground.

The rattletail will be able to root out something of interest, though: a few strands of what look like light blue thread, stuck on a particularly sharp-looking rock. Whoever dragged the box over here, they caught either their shirt or coat or pants or something on said rock and left behind a clue.]

[fuckthemancers]

[Rocks! The bird knows rocks. It's not like it eats them or something. It gives a loud rattle and squawk as it comes across its find, and Zulf has to place a calming hand on top of its head to make it hush.]

Seems something's been found.

[And you know what? He's not gonna touch it. Gonna leave that to the... professional??]

[notachickenhawk]

[The professional has arrived. Tobias swoops down, seeing his fellow bird in some kind of distress, and he looks down at the threads.]

<What's going on here?>

[superdrowningskills]

[Yes, hello. Did someone call for backup? Because the other professional has also decided to wander onto the scene.]

...Has something happened?

[freedom_engineer]

[Well look at that, the apex predator and the shapeshifter are quickly on the scene. Colin isn't that far behind, but they're both faster than he is...]

We... Well, looks like the Rattletail's a little excited. You two find something good, Zulf?

[He gives Zulf and the Rattletail a curious look before looking back to Tobias and Alucard.]

Someone's been sabotaging our efforts with the radio tower. I was hoping we could get our best trackers on it...