lifeaftr | Day 2 - Around the Island

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Day 2 - Around the Island

Who: Prompto, OTA
What: Exploring and survival
When: Day 2
Where: Different places around the island
Warnings: Dumb boy

Early Morning - Oatmeal - Around Weiss' camp, OTA
As promised, Prompto went to seek out Weiss' camp with some freshly made - and sugary! - oatmeal. The way Ignis worked out perfectly good and normal meals with so few ingredients amazed him. If it was him, he'd probably be trying to figure out how sugar was supposed to go with beef.

But there he was, calling out Weiss' name with a small pot of still warm but quickly cooling oatmeal. A piece of cloth had been thrown over it in an attempt to keep in the heat. She had said she didn't know when she would be leaving in the morning. Hopefully she'd still be around.

Morning - Survival Fruit and Veggie hunting - OTA
Food was a top priority for obvious reasons. Noctis had his fishing. Ignis had his cooking. Laurent seemed to be a hunter of sorts. Nyx had the ability to lounge around with his shirt off. That left the ever popular fruits and veggies.

He'd seen much of the beach and coastal areas the day before, so he searched further inland and managed to find a palm tree with a bundle of coconuts waaaay at the top. If he wasn't short on ammo he'd have just shot them down, but he couldn't be so reckless with their limited supplies.

Instead, he could be found painstakingly improvising his way up the trunk.

Exploration - How wide is this island? - OTA
After a comfortable stash of food and drink was put aside for that day, the ever present need to figure out their dilemma rose. For the time being Ignis had chosen to stay behind, but Prompto went on ahead with everyone else who had decided to see how long it took to reach the other end of the island.

There were precautions, of course. Should the island be so wide that they couldn't make it to the other end in a reasonable amount of time, they were to head back so that they wouldn't be caught in the dark. Beyond that, it was mostly a matter of safety in numbers. No one would wander off and get lost, right?

Evening - Night at the Ruins - Open to Women and Kids
Like a good boy, Prompto was back at the ruins by evening. It was the only place with solid shelter they had thus far, and with Iggy in such poor shape it wouldn't have been a good idea to go camping in the wilderness without any camping gear.

The chill of the night air rose, and after keeping to himself for some time he finally got to his feet and walked over.

"Hey... You look cold," he said as he shrugged off his thick winter coat and offered it.

Evening - Night at the Ruins - Open to dudes
For a while Prompto could be found tucked into a corner, quietly trying to get his phone to work. It would've been nice to place some King's Knight with Noct... They didn't have a place to plug their phones in, but maybe he could hook it up to a Leiden potato or something.

While he was putting his phone away a burst of wind cut through the ruins, creating a haunting howl. Prompto tensed up, scrunching up tighter until the wail subsided. Glancing at the man next to him, he asked with a forced smile, pretending that he wasn't bothered at all. "Hey, you, uh, don't think these ruins are haunted, do you?"

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With Jaune on board, Weiss hands him the pot of oatmeal again. She's not quite at the level of telling Jaune not to leave her, but she's glad he's at least not hiding anymore. Not hiding his words, or the fact that he's hurt. It's not like he could hide that from Weiss anyway- she heard his screams to save Pyrrha and couldn't deliver. At the very least, she knows not to push away someone who needs help.

That's all she says on the matter then, leaning in to look at Prompto's picture.

"That's gargantuan! I would've thought that was a Grimm if I had seen it in the water."

Wait... "Is that Noctis in the back? With the hat?" Is he touched in the head when it comes to fashion like Jaune?

Edited 2017-08-19 03:18 (UTC)

He just stares at the oatmeal, then at Weiss. Finally giving in, he starts eating small scoops of the oatmeal. The idea of wasting food doesn't sit well with him anyway. They've finally dropped the subject. Thank god.

He glances over at the picture, does a double-take, his eyes widening at the size of it. And then...

"I guess you were pretty...whale off after that," He states with a completely straight face, still eating the oatmeal. He rolls his eyes and snorts at Weiss's next question. "No Weiss, that's obviously someone else. She's probably cute," A closer look and he noticed the difference between the Ignis he knew, and the Ignis in the picture. "Why were you just standing there?" He wouldn't comment on it, for now.

Prompto snorted at that. If that was the quality of Jaune's jokes, there was definitely someone around that he would get along with just fine.

"Someone had to get the camera setup for the shot!"

Don't question why the camera is in the shot. Game logic.

He'd never heard of a Grimm, but all fish seemed to have pretty weird names. He faced the camera towards Weiss. "It's a chocobo moogle hat." This is what happens when you let Noctis dress himself. "Do you... like chocobos?"

He had to restrain himself from showing any excitement. He was a pretty big chocobo fan himself, but he wasn't ready to exclaim it from the top of the hills in front of her like he did with Noctis. Gotta stay cool.

Weiss just gives Jaune a look. Has he been filling in for Yang or what? That was terrible. Weiss is pretty sure even her own attempts at puns are better than that. (They are not, Weiss's are the worst.)

"I have no idea what a chocobo is. Or the other thing, for that matter."

It kind of looked like something you'd get at a rally for a chicken-based fast food place, maybe? She's squinting at the picture to try to see if she can discern anything else from it, but then just adds.

"At least you and the other blonde have a better fashion sense than Jaune and Mr. Chocoboodle."

She hasn't met Ignis yet, the only one she's really sure who is in the picture is Prompto, so he's just the other blonde for now. She also doesn't look particularly confident about the word "Chocoboodle." She's never heard either term, she's going to take a minute to learn the names.

Jaune just shrugs and eats the oatmeal. What? He's trying to help and he always thought Yang's puns were pretty cool.

"It looks like a duck." He assumes it's some kind of bird. "Can you eat it?" His eyes light up in interest.

That light quickly dies at the expense of his dignity. "What is wrong with my fashion sense?!" His voice gets high in that annoying way it does when he's upset and he stands up to make a point. Can't Weiss see he got new jeans and shoes?

"And Mr. Chocoboodle looks cool. Him and tattoos are the only two who look like they're dressed for fishing." No offense Prompto, but his taste in fashion is at stake.

That's Iggy. [He pointed him out quietly in the picture for Weiss since she didn't seem recognize him.] Iggy, me, Noct and Gladio. But no one seems to have seen Gladio here.

[No chocobos?! Their world really was a dark place. That had to be fixed.

He pulled the camera away protectively from Jaune at the suggestion, like he might be able to attack through the picture somehow.]

You don't eat them!

You ride them.

[As he turned it around to flip through more pics he kept talking.] Noct and Gladio are the two who get all excited about fishing, so it makes sense they'd be dressed for it. Iggy always dresses up nice. [And there he flipped it around on another picture.]

Those are chocobos. They're really cool. Oh, I have to show you something!

[Excitedly he started flipping through again.] While we were traveling we found out that a black chocobo had laid an egg, but she went missing. So we went and found the egg and brought it to the ranch. Ah, there!

[He turned it back around to a picture of a baby chocobo.]

Isn't it adorable?

[His tone was drowning in glee.

Wait. Shit. Big manly men didn't go around calling things 'adorable'. He cleared his throat real fast and tried to save face in front of Weiss.]

I mean... I'm glad we found it in time.

Edited 2017-08-19 22:20 (UTC)

"Jaune, you would have to have one for there to be something wrong with it."

It's completely non-existent in her opinion. He may not have holes in his jeans anymore but except for the red sash and the updated weaponry he's wearing pretty much the same thing when he met her. Come on now, Jaune. Get with the program.

"That makes sense, though. I rode a Giant Nevermore once, though he really wasn't happy about it."

She's going to intentionally remember that very differently than what actually happened. She held on for dear life to a Nevermore and accidentally fell and Jaune caught her with his back. Thank god Pyrrha had showed him how to work his aura at that point or his cause of death would've been Weiss's ass.

"That last one looks like the pudgiest baby Nevermore if someone took its mask off."

Which actually made her look amused. She wasn't about to go squeeing over it and calling it adorable (that was something reserved for cute widdle doggy-dogs) but it was a unique thing to learn about, which she appreciated.

"Not everyone can afford designer dresses. We'll see whose clothes hold up against these elements. If I even decide to keep wearing them. It's hot here."

He just stares at them both like they're speaking another language. "Yeah I don't think riding birds is ever something I would consider a good idea." He looks at the first photo in admiration, but his reasons are much different from Prompto's.

"Imagine how many chicken nuggets you could make with just one of those..."

That backpedaling earns Prompto a thoughtful look from Jaune. "I guess I wouldn't eat that one. And it kinda does. Do baby Nevermores exist?]

"So Nevermores are like chocobos?" At least they had something, though he wasn't picturing them flying around on them.

He shielded the picture from the food-obsessed Jaune again with a resound scolding. "You have oatmeal." At that moment he swore that if there was ever a chocobo on the island, he would defend it to the death from the threat of Jaune.

Glancing down at the screen, he recalled all the pictures he used to take as a kid. Now that he had friends, well, it was mostly all pics of them, but before it had always been animals.

"What else do you guys have on your world? Do you have cats or dogs?"

Weiss rolls her eyes at Jaune's declaration of potential clothing removal. If miss ice queen here can handle it, she's expecting everyone else to be able to. Even if she's hating it.

"No, absolutely not," Weiss said, holding up her hands as if to stop him right there, gesturing as she speaks to emphasize her points, "Not unless chocobos fly around terrorizing villages and eating people, anyway. Ruby and I only rode one because we snuck on its back while it was sleeping because we got minorly misplaced in the Emerald Forest and she thought the aerial view would help us find the relics more easily."

Chocobos definitely sounded much friendlier. As for Jaune's thought, she tilted her head. "I don't think I've ever seen a baby Grimm, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. They have to come from somewhere, don't they? Besides evil dragon drippings."

Which was definitely a new one. She's still not sure how to interpret that information, but they sure did spawn out of puddles that came off of that creature. Happier creatures, though, are what Prompto brings up. Weiss nods.

"We have both! I have-" she reaches for her scroll, then remembers it was broken on the beach and sighs. "I had pictures of Zwei on my scroll, but it broke in the water. Zwei is Ruby and Yang's dog, he's a corgi and he's the cutestlittlemuffin." Her voice gets a little high pitched as she talks about him, but she manages to contain it. The dog is not present, she's not going to go full baby-talk without the presence of an actual adorable doggy.

Weiss's wears a dress that doesn't look like it's of too thick material, albeit the skirt is fluffy. Jaune's whole body is practically covered with heavier fabric and armor. It makes a difference.

"A Nevermore would kill you," He adds, making a face. "But if I had chocobo nuggets I could put them in my oatmeal." Which is delicious and a completely reasonable idea in his opinion.

"It didn't say anything about it in the story." If all Grimm really did spawn from evil dragon drippings, then Jaune was fine with never learning about where they came from.

He shoots Weiss a sympathetic look. At least he got his own scroll to play the same message, he wasn't sure what he would do if his was broken. "Zwei is super cute," he adds to the completely masculine and testosterone driven conversation. "We also have bunnies!" he finishes cheerfully.

"You have a dog? That's awesome. I always wanted a dog."

But he'd never really been allowed to have one. Not that he hadn't made an attempt to keep one. "Or maybe a chocobo. They're definitely not vicious. And definitely not for food." Jaune. He was shooting him a look.

"What's a bunny? Is it cute, too?"

He wasn't really familiar, though he had seen similar. It was kind of fascinating hearing about creatures on other worlds. It felt like opening a fantasy book - he just wished he had some pictures to go along with it. He was fortunate enough that he had his own camera and had taken a ton of pictures to share.

And he would need to take some on the island, too.

"I don't, Ruby and Yang do. But it lived with us for a little while when we were at Beacon!"

Weiss doesn't know for sure where they come from, but she'd prefer not to find out if there are more terrifying dragons. She just knows what she witnessed at the Fall of Beacon.

"Jaune doesn't understand what is and isn't food, you'll have to excuse him." She's not even sure that Jaune realizes the little trees on his plate are broccoli, not a decorative forest. "Which story is that? I don't think it mentions their origins in anything I've heard.."

"Jaune, did you ever get any pictures of Zwei? I know I sent you at least one. Or maybe.. a video. Or two." Listen, Weiss can't contain her love of dog. "They're little hoppy animals with big ears, Prompto, and usually referred to as 'rabbits.'"

"Hey." Jaune shoots them both a betrayed look. "A lot of things can be food. That's a waste of good resources." His anger over the nonexistent chocobo nuggets is forgotten when Prompto asks about bunnies. "Are bunnies cute? Please, they're the cutest critters ever!" Grabbing a stick, he begins to trace shapes in the sand while he talks.

"Have you heard of the Tale of Two Brothers? Ruby's uncle might have given us his own drunken version you've never heard before." But he thinks he was being honest about this, for once. He isn't sure if he thinks the story is true, but he doesn't think Qrow was lying about Ozpin believing all the crap he made up.

"I still have them." By the time he grabs his scroll, he's finished his mediocre masterpiece in the sand. "That's a bunny." He flips through his scroll until he finds a few pictures of Zwei, not with him performing action scenes but rolling on his back, chilling out in front of the camera, and being avoided by a blurred leg that suspiciously looks like Blake's.

"Here." He holds the scroll out to them both.

Hands on knees, he squatted slightly to look at it, and laughed. "It looks like Carbuncle! Kind of."

Prompto was happy to look at pictures of a dog, enough so that it distracted him from the scroll for a bit. It took him straight back to his childhood, flipping through pictures of all the cats and dogs he found, and he wore a rather mindless smile while he looked at it.

After a moment he tilted it this way and that, looking the device over. He did seem to understand it pretty quickly. It had a lot of similarities to their phones, it looked like, but they used holograms.

"This is really cool. Is this what phones look like where you're from...?"

"I would ask what a Carbuncle is, but I take it you're just going to point to Jaune's drawing."

Though at the end of Jaune's little spiel about bunnies being the cutest ever, she mutters under her breath that "nothing is as cute as Zwei." She's just saying, Jaune, you're definitely wrong.

"It's a scroll. It.. used to work like a phone, before the Cross-Continental Transmit system was destroyed. They're still good for keeping track of local team members' aura levels and digital media and such, though."

Briefly Weiss stared at Jaune's scroll, then reached out for it, gesturing for him to give it to her. Hers may not be working, but she can still input herself into Jaune's scroll. He can keep track for both of them, though she hadn't thought of it until now.

"Which one is the Tale of Two Brothers again?"

Weiss tended to be a little more into non-fiction than fiction most of the time. That was more Blake's territory.

"Carbuncle? Maybe that's your world's version of bunnies." Like chocobos were the world's version of delicious food.

He heard that Weiss. He mumbles back, passive aggressively, "You wouldn't be saying that if he was wearing bunny ears."

"Phone?" It was his turn to be confused. As Weiss gestured to him, he hesitated briefly before trusting it to her. He had no idea what she was planning to do.

"The Tale of Two Brothers are about two gods that were supposedly real. The younger brother was the god of darkness or whatever and he was tired of his older sibling, the god of light creating everything. Eventually he got so fed up, he made Grimm babies who were just as destructive as he was, which made the god of light finally have enough of his destruction and offered a truce that they work together to create something else. That something else happened to be humanity. Then we were given four gifts: knowledge, creation, destruction and choice. Supposedly those four gifts have a physical form and are relics that are guarded in the four academies. According to Ruby's drunk uncle, anyway." From the way his tone changes he clearly doesn't trust or respect Qrow.

He readily handed it over when Weiss wanted it. "I'm not sure what an aura level is, but it does sound a lot like a phone, still. We all used to hang out and play King's Knight before we went to bed on ours. Err, me and Noct and them, that is." He was so used to being with the guys he wasn't even sure if he needed to specify, but these new people didn't know them quite as well. At least it was nice to think back on those peaceful times, though.

"Carbuncle is like... Noct's spirit guardian or something. You should ask him about him. Maybe he even still has his little figurine of him." Being that Carbuncle was one specific entity, unlike the bunnies. "Oh, the Storyteller looked a little like him, too!"

He knew of Carbuncle but didn't see the possibly divine-ish creature himself - except when it would randomly photobomb one of his shots. What a stinker.

"So that's the story of the gods on your world? There's only two?" To him, that was a low number of gods. "And the gifts sound kind of like the crystal... Maybe. Do they protect people?"

They're practically having a muttered bickering fest here. Sorry Prompto. "I clearly would because it would still be Zwei with additional cute points."

Weiss straightened up as if that was clearly the correct answer and she didn't need to keep arguing, focusing instead on adding herself to Jaune's scroll before handing it back. At least this way, if they were separated Jaune would be able to know if she was okay or not. It'd probably help him worry less, and it'd help her have someone to watch her back even if something happened.

"I'll ask him whenever I run into him again. I'd like to know more about your world." Spirit Guardians sounded like another thing on Weiss's long list of things to be nosy about. "Is it a spirit like a ghost or something else?"

Weiss seemed like Jaune's story was a lot less believable to her than Prompto was taking them. Her eyebrow was quirked and she crossed her arms at that point. "That sounds fake and I don't exactly trust a man who intentionally starts fights with my sister for no reason other than that he's too inebriated to behave like a respectable human being."

The bickering continues. "You just admitted that bunnies are additionally cuter than Zwei. Meaning they beat him."

Look he could continue arguing about this forever if she let him. He's probably debated over more random subjects with his sisters. When he realizes what Weiss did with his scroll, he smiles and looks relieved.

"If he is a ghost then he's the cutest spirit guardian person ever." He doesn't quite understand what a spirit guardian is, but it sounds like a cute intagible pet.

Jaune didn't disagree with her. He didn't trust Qrow at all and he hated having to depend on someone who was almost, if not just, as bad as Ozpin. "I don't trust him either, but with Oz dead he's all we got." Yep, he's shortened it to Oz. Authority figures who get innocent teenagers murdered don't get full names. Glancing back to Prompto, he relaxes, if only a fraction. "I guess they could. But they're worried about them falling into the wrong hands. Because they're so powerful, if someone with bad intentions was to gather them all, they could use them for destruction instead of protection."

"Umm... I think it's more like a divine being of some sort? I know there's messengers that are like go-betweens for people and the gods. They're not the gods, but they're not human..."

And it was something relatively new to Prompto himself. Noctis and the rest of the group hadn't been surprised when a divine messenger just appeared. Prompto was just a pleb. He didn't deal with this stuff until recently.

"So just anyone can use the items if they find them? There isn't a certain family dedicated to handling them?"

It sounded... kind of chaotic. If anyone could grab them and use them at any time, how did they keep the world in order?

"If Zwei is a 7 and bunnies are a 3, you add them together and get a 10. At no point do the bunnies outcute Zwei, they're just an accessory to improve upon him. The bunnies are still a 3."

Weiss is crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at Jaune. This is clearly a very serious argument, in which Prompto should probably not get between if he has any level of common sense. The fact is, Jaune and Weiss are both morons, even if Weiss is academically smarter about it.

The fact that she was imagining a rabbit with a little mail satchel and hat probably would've attested to that if she'd shared. Messenger rabbit is carbuncle, got it.

"Prompto, it's a fairy tale. There are loads of them, it doesn't make it real. If there really were items like that around, I would think people would constantly be at war over them. They'd at least be noted in some kind of textbook, and the man who told Jaune that story is a drunk lech with no concept of respect for others. He made the whole room stink when he visited Ruby and Yang. He's not what you'd call a credible source."

The question of how they would keep the world in order is the one that makes Weiss more skeptical than anything.

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Day 2 - Around the Island

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