Independent children being independent

[attheclocktower]

Who: Xion, Shion (savedbyasong) and several others!
What: Monsun is gone which means eviction/moving time is now; Also Xion worries about her brother in several peoples' direction.
When: February 10th onward
Where: Islet 4 for the moving prompts, wherever your character is
Warnings: Some death/suicidal ideation mentions, references of the Sunocalpyse event and some Tower of Animus events. Will add as needed and watch subject lines! Also Ardyn being Ardyn.

A. Islet 4, Shack 4; OTA

[There's... a lot to be upset about. Angry, even. They could be angry about everything they did in the Tower feeling worthless; about being sent back to square one. They could be upset about being separated from those they loved. They could even be irritated about small things, like how they're having to move, with Monsun and Chol both disappearing.

And maybe they are feeling those things in private. But despite everything, Xion and Shion honestly seem excited at the idea of building a new house together. They've settled their meager possessions in pretty quickly. After that, it's working on trying to patch up the walls and roof, round up basic tools and supplies, things of that nature. There's plenty to do, but they're both happy to do it. Even if ah, they have much more in the way of enthusiasm than experience. And they're also more than happy to chat with any visitors. Especially if those visitors do have that experience!

If nothing else, Excalibur (Xion's carefree, cheerful multicolored catdog of a Dream Eater) is happy to bark greetings at passers-by.]

B. Islet 4, Shack 1; Closed to Shion and Ardyn (chronologically before A technically speaking but w/e)

[Asch's message on the rock - along with the Storyteller's dreams - gives them some warning. Xion knew that Monsun would be disappearing, and that Ardyn had warned her full well what might happen when he was... well, no longer at his best.

Still, that doesn't mean that the two of them are ready on the doorstep with their bags packed the island finally does vanish.]

C. All over; Closed to semi-close CR

[There are some times in the days that follow where Xion isn't found in the company of her adoptive brother. They weren't glued at the hip (as much as it might have seemed that way at first, with how clingy the two were on his arrival). And Xion herself felt a little awkward asking this particular question with him present.

She doesn't doubt that Shion is skilled. He's smart, so much more than he gives himself credit for. But she still worries, a lot. There were so many unknowns in the Tower, and there were unknowns here too. Something could happen to her, to all of them. She could disappear, or they could be separated, or... something. Anything.

With that in mind, she seeks out several people, those she knows fairly well and trusts. She has a request to ask of them, after all. They don't need to wrap Shion up in bubble wrap, just... keep an eye out, that's all. If things ever get bad again.]

[[ooc; if you're not sure if your character would be approached, hmu at gorsecloud]]

Comments

shion and xion thread, set sometime after moving

[savedbyasong]

[There was still a lot to do. Neither Xion nor Shion really knew how to make a ruin such as this inhabitable and as awful as things had been in the tower they had at least had a roof over their heads and a bed, well pod... So these were not skills Shion had picked up.

Xion had an excuse, she was only three years old. But Shion- the only reason he was useless here was that he had grown up in luxury, never knowing what it was to have to struggle to survive. He knew now. But it was not enough, despite everything he had been through he was still a pampered city brat deep down.

He was determined to change, determined to learn and do better. To make this house somewhere he and Xion could live. Xion deserved a nice place to live. So they had been working hard and now Xion had gone out somewhere Shion was still working.

He was exhausted though, he had pushed himself too far again. He kept forgetting these last few days that he was not as strong as he had been, no where near as fit. Just working for a day on the house made his muscles ache, Xion was much stronger than him when once they had been matched.

He spotted her coat, it had gotten very warm and so she had left it. It was ripped, damaged from the fight that she had told him a little bit about. But not everything. Shion had known Xion a long time, he knew when she was holding back on telling him something.

He had a sewing kit in his knapsack, given to him by the storyteller according to Xion. He got it out now and sat on the dirt floor, Xion's coat on his knee. Sewing clothes wasn't something he had done a lot of, Xion could make clothes and he had watched her do so, helping her out sometimes. He could stitch wounds though, fabric couldn't be that much harder.

He sewed, focusing on the stitches. The movement of the needle, focusing his mind on the task instead of letting it fly out of control with all the thoughts that crowded it.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion had been out... talking to people. But she'd also stopped at some of the more jungled areas near the Storyteller temple. From there she'd been picking up vines, sturdy-looking branches, and huge leaves - things she all hoped might be able to work well to make patches for the roof. Nothing permanent but... enough to keep the rain off.

She really had no idea what she was doing. Oh well.]

Shion? I'm back.

[savedbyasong]

Xion? [He looked up from his sewing to see Xion entering dragging what looked like half a jungle. He jumped up to help her pulling in branches and leaves and vines.

He has no idea how to go about making these into anything useful but he assumes Xion has a plan. He will follow Xion's plan.] You should have said, I could have come and helped drag these back with you.

[He guessed the leaves could work like sheets? To go over holes. They wouldn't be strong and they would have to be replaced a lot but... it could work.]

[attheclocktower]

Well, we may have to get more later, so you can come with me then, if you want.

[This is... going to basically be a trial by error. And yes, as he thought, they'd probably need to be replaced a lot. But maybe then they'd be able to figure out a more permanent solution.]

I figured we could use leaves to try to sort of... cover the holes. And use the branches and vines to help support them. It's just an idea, though.

Islet 3

[thermalwind]

[The sun is shining and Keith takes the opportunity to check over the lumber he’d made out of the left over logs from the defense of Chol. He can’t treat it properly and he doesn’t have any stories to do it with. He stretches, rolling his shoulders as he studies his little shack. He wants to expand it. It would never be his home in the desert.

But he could get it close. He takes his time stacking the lumber and is bent over sketching a house plan on the dirt when he hears the sound of someone coming his way. He rises to his feet, leaning on the wall of his home and observes. Dark hair. Small. Moves cautiously but still makes enough noise to alert people.

He sighs and drops back down, resuming his sketching. Xion. No threat.]

Hey. Be with you in a minute. [Keith finishes his sketch and looks up.] What do you need?

[attheclocktower]

Hey.

[She smiles to see him doing well, but also can't help but peer over at his work curiously. A lot of wood, sketches in the ground... Huh. Given the house behind him she can't help but wonder if he's doing the same thing she and Shion are... although probably with a bit more expertise.

Ah well, either way.]

I um... I kind of wanted to ask a favor, if that's okay?

[thermalwind]

That’s fine. [He climbs to his feet and motions for her to follow him.] Talk to me while I measure this out.

[The shack has a foundation or should. His house in the desert had been on hard ground. Keith had checked the dirt about his present home and been satisfied with it.

He paces the length of the future front porch with a critical eye. He knows just enough about home repair and expansion to pull this off. He’ll need stories for supplies. He is loathe to do that. They might need them.]

[attheclocktower]

Well...

[Admittedly his work is momentarily distracting, but she shakes her head after a moment, pulling her thoughts back to the matter that brought here here.]

I was right, about my brother. He's here now, we actually just found an empty house together, and... well, that's not really the point.

[She sighs, finding a point nearby to sit down looking at her hands.]

Shion's smart. A lot smarter than me. He knows first aid and how to give medical help. He's really great at science. He's read so many books. He trained with my dad just as much as me. And he thinks I'm the amazing one.

I guess I'm just... worried. When we got sent back to our own worlds from the Tower, our bodies sort of... went back in time, so he lost a lot of the training he did. And besides he... he's usually the first one to believe he's not good enough to do something, even when he is.

[And that can be just as much a problem as actually being incapable. As actually getting yourself into trouble all the time.]

So um... could you just... keep an eye out for him? Especially if we ever somehow get separated.

C; somewhere else on islet 4

[bloodyashes]

[Xion won't have to go far to locate Asch; he's camped out on the same islet for the time being, working on getting that big ole tent set back up.

Rather... close to Ardyn's shack, actually, but at this point two-thirds or so of the tent walls are up, so if Xion doesn't want to be seen by her previous daemonic landlord, she doesn't have to be. Asch himself is taking something of a break on the floor pillows inside; from the way he's curled up, he might well be asleep.]

[attheclocktower]

[ Yeah that tent is kind of a dead giveaway. And something of a relief, that she won't have to go hunting him down, or spend days remembering to keep an eye out for him. Given how much time he'd been spending on Monsun, she had no idea what he was planning to do, now with it gone.

Those are thoughts for another time though. For now... she just has to hope she's not actually waking him up. ]

Asch?

[ Quiet voice, quiet steps, hopefully enough to not disturb him if he actually is resting. ]

[bloodyashes]

Mmmmmmm?

[It's not quite coherent, but the sound is definitely one of someone who heard her voice. Asch makes another small sound before reaching up to rub at his eyes.

Yeah, he was probably sleeping, but he'd rather be woken up by her than by a nightmare.]

...Hey.

[attheclocktower]

[Dammit.]

Ah- sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up.

C. Islet 1

[shatteredlenses]

[Unsurprisingly, once everyone--and that means everyone--has been forced to leave Monsun, Ignis can once again be found spending a fair bit of time outside of the cottage he shares with Noctis and Prompto. The garden he'd painstakingly created was all but ruined during the darkness and it's only his cautious nature that keeps that loss from being a devastating one. Fortunately, there are more coffee seeds to plant and more witch hazel to transplant. Once the ground is cleared and prepared again, that is.

Ignis' very focused as he works moving sticks, rocks and whatever else has managed to find itself into the area. Some of the things he comes across, he's fairly glad he can't see to be certain of their identities. No doubt the creatures that emerged during the darkness left behind their fair share of 'gifts.'

Focused as he is and unable to see Xion's arrival, she will be better served by calling out to him as opposed to waiting for him to pause long enough to notice her.]

[attheclocktower]

[ All the same she does wait a bit, a good minute or two, trying to see if there's a pause or gap in his work. Eventually though, she does indeed speak up. ]

Ignis? Is um... I wanted to ask something. Is now a bad time?

[ Since he definitely seemed very busy and she did not want to interrupt that right now. What she wanted to talk about was important, but not urgent, it could wait an hour or day or two. ]

[shatteredlenses]

Xion?

[Ignis pauses in his work, first tilting his head toward the sound of her voice, then taking a moment to pull himself to his feet--it's a less graceful movement than it should be, but it's a million times better than he was not that long ago--turning full toward her and brushing the dirt from his pants as he does.]

I always have time for you, my dear. What's on your mind?

[attheclocktower]

[She ducks her head, relieved and shy all at once.]

Well, um... There's something I wanted to ask... for your help with, if that's okay.

[Two things though, she realizes, remembering a promise she made around a month ago. But one of them promises to be a lot more complicated than the other, so she'll save that one for last.]

b

[scourgingstars]

[Well, that sure was a thing that happened. Ardyn couldn't even articulate how furious he was over the whole miserably humiliating affair, but now that he was back on the islets that miserable streak of humanity had gone blessedly silent.]

[Just one minor problem to deal with today before he could actually be left alone, Hresvelgr trotting a few feet behind.]

Out. You have five minutes.

[Until what, he didn't really know, but it served as motivation all the same.]

[savedbyasong]

[Since arriving on these islands Shion had done a lot of sleeping. He might have not existed for a month and a half- and he is still not thinking about what that might mean, but that didn't mean he was any less exhausted from the events of the weeks before they left the Tower and his prolonged wandering of his dead world.

Xion had sort of warned him. She had told him that Monsun was disappearing (he also wasn't thinking about how an island could just disappear) and that this shack belonged to someone else who would want it back when he returned.

But a warning didn't really prepare him for being woken by a time limit. He came to awareness straight away at the unknown voice, scrambling to his feet before his mind registered that this wasn't necessarily a threat, he wasn't being attacked. He still moved over to Xion though. He nodded at the words. Five minutes, that was fine. It wasn't like they had much stuff at all.]

[attheclocktower]

[Thankfully she'd only been dozing herself.]

Ardyn?

[She blinks bearily up at him, a note of disquiet in the back of her mind- and then as her mind clears of sleep-fog, she remembers. That memory tempers the open surprise and unguarded familiarity. She's seen Ardyn at his best... well, now it's time to meet the worst.]

You're back.

[She doesn't react as efficiently to the warning as Shion does. Still, she's better about it than Excalibur, who trots up to Ardyn and squeaks a hello.]

[journalname]

[Asgore has been mobile for the most part, not settling down in any one place just yet. It's...well, honestly, it would probably be easier for him to do so if he were just among strangers again. Now...

It doesn't matter. He's not hard to find when Xion goes looking, out on the beach apparently contemplating the water. He brightens visibly when he sees her - she's one of the few here he could reasonably call a friend, after all.]

Ah, hello! How are you today, Xion?

[attheclocktower]

Pretty good.

[Practically back to normal, even. Except for some things that were so close to her normal that it didn't really make a difference. She probably look better too - standing taller, overall in better spirits. And happy to see him too!]

How about you?

[journalname]

Well enough, thank you.

["Good" isn't something he's been much since he got here, but he's subsisting. It's...still a little hard to think of this in the long-term; for all he knows that this is likely to last a while, it's still tempting to hope that he could just be whisked away back home soon.]

C

[encircling]

[ She has... been taking care of Karin. It's been a lot, and she's mostly kept to their little cottage. She doesn't want to leave Karin alone, but sometimes, she has to. Mira doesn't do it for very long, mostly because of her own anxiety.

But she's always happy to see Xion. Mira greets her with a faint smile. ]

Hello.

[attheclocktower]

[Xion brightens a bit, seeing her friend.]

Mira! I, um... are you busy, at all?

[Was now a bad time? Because just as with Asch, this can wait if it is.]

[encircling]

[ She shakes her head, and her smile turns a little bigger. ]

For you? Not at all.