[OPEN] Well. That Didn't Go Quite As Planned

[moneytwin]

Who: EVERYONE
Where: The Temple of Beginnings
When: Immediately After The End.
Rating: PG-13, may vary by thread
What: You fall, you pick yourself back up and you move on. Or at least, you try.


Fished Out Of Water
One minute, you are witnessing the fabric of an entire world implode as it is literally ripped apart by powers unknown. The next, that tell-tale twist somewhere beneath your sternum, before you are bodily YANKED away from Akvos, away from the ocean and the Queen and the King and the Princess.

And land back on (mostly) solid, dry ground.

Welcome back to the Temple of Beginnings. Don't worry, there's no hurry for you to get back up just yet.


Hey, Howya Doin'?
Once you do get back up, now is the time to be taking stock of the situation - yours, your friends, and even those new merfolk neighbours (who may need a hand getting their fins back into the water). There is also the missing members of the Circle to consider: people who disappeared on the journey to Akvos, and those who never made it back..

(There's also that small matter with a certain 'witchess-san' that may be a cause for concern to some more than others.)

Whatever the case, it's a lot to process right now. Take the time you have, because you don't know if it'll be enough for what you need.

---

[[ OOC: Here's an open post for threads reacting to the end of the Akvos world hop. Feel free to use the above prompts, and/or make your own! ]]

Comments

[infailtration]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to something actually hot for dinner.

[ Bread is cooked! The meat in it is cooked! But he feels the same way, honestly. While North starts eating he peels off his soggy clothing and towels himself before dressing again. ]

...that's a loaded question. Not really, but who is after seeing a world destroyed? Not the kind of thing you get used to, apparently. I'm just glad we made it out before it... whatever happened to it. I'm not clear on that either.

[billionaires]

[ he hums to concede that point. who knew he could get used to having gills of all things? ]

No, I'm... well, what do you got? [ it's worth an ask, right? ]

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Uh...

[Hank reaches for the bottle in that pouch around his waist, grimacing.]

It's uh, probably kind of weird, drinking it now but there's this... stuff. From, you know, back there.

[The top of the bottle looks stupider, he thinks, in the open air; underwater the whole sippy cup, sports bottle look had kind of made sense. He holds it out anyway.]

There's probably somethin else back in my room, if you don't like the taste of liquid anchovies. Don't remember how much of that I had left, though.

[brodakota]

Mm.

[North replies, his attention more on the sandwich at the moment than anything else.]

Yeah, no kidding. I feel like they've been a little quiet on those details.

Not sure if I want to know though.

[brodakota]

The optimist in me was thinking relief effort, if any can be offered. But I guess that's an option to.

[And a grim one at that. He'll take another slug of the bottle before offering it back to Hank.]

Really makes you wonder what we were signed up for.

[infailtration]

We probably don't, but might need to. What if they got displaced to other worlds, like how some came along with us back to the Temple?

[ He threw his lot in with the Princess and some part of him still wants to do right by her. What if she's just lost somewhere? ]

I just want to know for sure if they're dead. Not the details or anything.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Come on, you've worked under people like her. She just signed us up to get results.

[He pauses a second. A couple seconds. He has to work himself up to asking this.]

You think there was anyone left? For relief stuff to, you know, even be worth it? I keep... I keep wondering if I'm the only one who doesn't have a single fucking clue what happened back there, people are talking about it like the whole place is just... gone.

[lonered]

[This seemed like a better idea at the time. But at least it is keeping him out of the line of -- literal -- fire. He clings to the tail, moving with her as she tries to shake him off.

If he could just get higher up.

In fact, that's his strategy. He waits for the tail to sweep back and lets go all at once, rising up so now he's hovering above her before he dives, him and his sword on their way down towards Morrigan.]

[nogoldenmirror]

[If she pulls up, she exposes her back and wings vulnerable. If she tries to curl and turn out of the controlled fall, she'll expose her stomach but also could grab at him with her claws.

It's a no-brainer, really, but the risk is higher. Though she has one skill she hasn't used yet directly aimed at him. It's worth it.

She flips over, still falling and lets out a shrill roar that had stunned the shadow creatures countless times in Akvos. If he drops, she'll catch him to prevent him from going splat.]

[lonered]

[So Keith isn't expecting that. At all. And he's caught in it, given that he's not aware enough of what he's up against to have any sort of defense to it.

So he drops like a stone, though he at least keeps hold of his sword.

He snaps out of it in the moment before he crashes into her, eyes flashing yellow, sword drawn up before he remembers himself. Friendly spar. No need to stab. Breathe.]

[nogoldenmirror]

[Aaand she catches him in her claws, flipping up and out of the dive.]

Nice reflexes. Still caught you, however.

[There's a teasing quality to her voice. Hm, to let him go or not to let him go... Decisions, decisions.]

[billionaires]

[ he accepts the bottle with a wan sort of smile, tipping it in his hands, as yet undecided if he actually wants to drink it. he's thinking about two young mermaids in particular, he had helped them to safety. did they make it...? ]

I'm thinking I'm gonna sit the next world out. You in?

[ tony asks like they have any choice in the matter before tipping the bottle back for a measured sip. it does help, a little. ]

[lonered]

[And here is Keith, snagged by a dragon.

He slumps. His pride. But well, that was fun, so he can't be all that cranky about it.]

What the hell was that?

[And why did it knock him straight out of the sky?]

[nogoldenmirror]

[RIP Keith's pride; we knew thee well.]

A dragon's roar. It temporarily stuns its targets for a few seconds. I'm about to let you go. You can ride on my back if you're still disoriented.

[A lot more dignity, there. She lets him go.]

Good choice with grabbing my tail, however. Going for a wing would have one of two potential outcomes: either you lose your grip one-handed, or you accidentally tear the dragon's wing, in which you could also lose your grip and ground the dragon.

In a real fight, go for the legs and the head. Easier to disable or kill.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

Shit. Right. [Hank leans forward, elbows on his knees, to rub his hands over his face.] Don't even talk to me about another one, I don't-

[He takes a breath, lets it out. He shakes his head.]

Yeah. God, yeah, I'm in. We can just stay here and work on that whiskey. The - what the fuck do we call ourselves? The circle of dumbasses? [Yeah, that's not great. Shockingly, Hank's not on his game today. Not that he's really been on his game for months, at least, but. fuck it. That gets the point across.] The rest of the dumbasses need us here. I'm sure Astoria'll understand.

Fuck, if we're gonna start talking about doing this shit again I'm gonna need more to drink than that. You think we could actually talk her into letting us stay behind, cause...

[Hank sighs, shakes his head again.]

[billionaires]

[ he nods, taking another swig before handing the bottle back. it's not a pleasant taste, but it cleared out his throat at least. there's deep sympathy in his eyes and he turns them on sumo instead - not wanting hank to think it's pity. it isn't, but rather a deep understanding of how the other man feels. ]

Talking her into anything doesn't fly, in my experience. Occasionally, you can convince her something was her idea... [ but that's about it. ] But, um, if you... If you want, we could stick together on the next one?

[ he quests gently, hand back in the dog's fur as he catches hank's eyes with a more guarded expression. ]

[lonered]

I'm good I think.

[Let go and he finds his footing. Or whatever the aerial equivalent to footing is, flying up alongside Morrigan once more.]

That's good to know. I'll remember that... if I ever come across a dragon that wants to fight.

[Huh.] You know that would've sounded weird once.

[And now it doesn't. This is his life.]

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[Hank looks up from his hands, surprised, but that guarded look's not that hard to read, and not that hard to read into. He's not the only one who needs... something, even if they can't change anything around them or even talk the one person who maybe can into doing anything about it.

A corner of Hank's lips quirks up, something warm sneaking up onto his face. The look in the guy's eyes, the tentative way he asks, it helps. It actually helps. Someone needs something that he can do, even if it's just being around.]

You make a habit of asking just any old asshole to face down weird, terrible shit with you? Or is it the dog you're really after? I might be convinced to loan out Sumo, you know, if you make a good case and you ask real nice.

[nogoldenmirror]

[Don't look at her; she has no idea. As it is, she can't help the laugh escaping her at that one.]

And I would have thought the sound of allies weird once, yet here we are.

[Her mother's corpse must be rolling around in the swamp they called home as they speak.]

[lonered]

Yeah. I get how that goes though.

[For him that word is friends. But he has them now, and most of it is Shiro's fault for seeing him a lifetime ago.]

Thanks for the spar though. We should try it again sometime. Dragon or not.

[nogoldenmirror]

[Hush she's still getting used to even saying the "F" word. Allies is far simpler at the moment. Yet all the same, she ironically has her boyfriend to thank for that as well.]

I'll warn you: I am terrible with weapons, but I could try as a wolf... [She grins. It was fun, Keith.]

[lonered]

Wolf, huh? Yeah, that sounds pretty great to me.

[And then, almost wistfully.] I have a wolf, back home. Sort of. I mean, he's from the Quantum Abyss, and he can teleport, but he's a good friend.

[Keith misses him. But he'll probably have an idea or two for sparring with a wolf better than he did with a dragon.]

[nogoldenmirror]

It is one of the few forms from home she left me with.

[Sometimes she misses being a bear. Or an insect and startling people with the forms. Ah, well. Yet she listens as they fly about, a quiet hum escaping her.]

...My love has a mabari hound who imprinted on him when he saved the dog. He can't teleport, but the breed is notoriously intelligent and far more understanding of languages than most give them credit for.

[lonered]

[Things Keith is noting here and now. 1. "My love" because aww, Morrigan. Love is great, right? And 2. dogs are awesome.]

Dogs are great. I like animals a lot. Sometimes they're easier to figure out than people are.

[Most of the time they're easier to figure out than people are, honestly. At least for him.]

[nogoldenmirror]

[1. It is terrifying and she hates the sense of dependence. It would have been so much easier for her if she didn't know how it feels, and yet... Yes. Yes, it is. And painful. 2. Dogs are great. Wolves are even better.]

That they are, when they don't leave half-eaten hares in your packs.

[Yet she says it with as much fondness as she does disgust. Tell any of her former allies that if they show up, and Keith is dead to her. She glances to him, debating on saying it or not, before she sighs and relents.]

In my world, part of how mages become shapeshifters is by observing animals and their behaviors, taking on a similar appearance. I often ran further into the wilds to escape, finding refuge with the birds or the wolves. Bears even taught me how to fish like they do.