When you awaken in the morning's hush (open!)

[savedbyasong]

Who: Shion and open!
What: Shion works on the memorial garden, followed by some training and finally quiet reflection. I will match formats!
When: 27th May. All day.
Where: Story Tellers temple, Islet 4
Warnings: General self decrepting thoughts, threads might contain casual mentions of horror and existational nonesense because it's Shion. But I'll add if anything specific comes up.

Do not stand at my grave and weap; I am not there I do not sleep

Shion had been quiet since the attack on Bliss. He had a lot to think about and he knew everyone else did too. But broaching difficult subjects was not something he was particularly good at. Not when he was aware that it was sensitive. He had just made sure he was visable in case anyone wanted to talk. He had spent the days working on the garden, fixing the house, playing with the cats.

He was at the Story Tellers Temple today. He tried to go at least every few days to check the message rock. The list of the missing had more names on it, including Yuka. He had been expecting that, he had continued to go to the room of glyphs in case she turned up there, but it seemed she really was gone.

He memorised the names and went over to where he had began his memory garden. He had left some coconut bowls there in case anyone else had wished to add their own memorial. He took some now, writing the names on them in chalk. Many were people he did not know. It didn't matter. He would still remember.

He moved between the beach and the temple, collecting sea shells to decorate. He was soon deep in his work, but he would still look up and greet anyone who he passed.

I am a thousand winds that blow; I am the diamond glints on snow

He had looked at the calender, he knew the date. Three years. Sort of. Three years since Reno had given him the pin and challenged him to do better. It felt like a life time ago, even if some of those months were missing. He had still been so young. Broken and self pitying. Weak.

He still was. Was again rather. The months of living on this island had raised his general fitness, it was not as difficult as when he had first arrived here with his old body, weak and used to hardship. But he was still not as strong as he had been... four months? One year? Time was fake but he still could do with being stronger.

So for most of the afternoon Shion can be found training. Running laps around the iselts. Basic strength excersizes outside his house, pushups and such. He pushes himself hard, not letting himself rest even when he is exhausted and every muscle is screaming at him to stop. It had been hard three years ago as well. This time he has no teacher, no stern but patient Reno to tell him to keep going. But he has his own determination, he knows what his aim is.

He practices fighting drills as well, fighting thin air with a grim look on his face. He should have done this months ago, rather than getting swept away with everything. He continues training through the day.

I am the soft stars that shine at night; Do not stand at my grave and cry

Finally Shion stopped, washed up and took a coconut bowl of water to drink. He sat on the grass near his house, watching the ocean quietly.

He missed Reno. All the time but today was especially sharp. He often did things that he knew would disappoint his dad, he wasn't a good enough brother to Aster, he had made a million mistakes since arriving on these islands. Lost control. Got into petty fights.

But this time... He had saved Aster. It had hurt but she was alive. They had killed Bliss. Gladio had been right when they had spoken. Sometimes being nice was not an option. Shion had known that, known if for a long time. But it seemed everything lately... he had had to be cruel, hurt others all in the name of saving them. Would Reno be proud of him for that?

He had no idea and Reno was a somewhere out in the multiverse. The pain of missing him was sharper because he had been in his dream and in Aster's dream. A Reno happy and content, with Elena. He wondered where Reno really was, on his world? Or somewhere else? Stolen to another place...

He stared out at the ocean a thousand thoughts crowding into his mind at once. Worries for Aster, for Ceej, for Ren. Worries about how they were going to leave here and if they should. If Tim was right and in doing so they would cause damage beyond repair. Worry for the Story Teller. Wondering about Stories and sequals. He let his mind drift, lost in his thoughts.

Comments

Do not stand

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Muffet sees the garden, and it's only a moment later that she understands what it's for. Perhaps it's not surprising that she should recognize it so quickly- after all, she was the one who recorded most of those names, to begin with.]

[She doesn't really know the young man working on it, having only seen him in passing at Storytellings, but she still steps up beside him after a brief pause to pull off her gloves and put them away in a pocket. There's work to do here, and she wouldn't want to get them dirty.]

May I help?

[savedbyasong]

Of course! [The answer would have been the same whoever it was who was asking, he was happy for company. Shion turned to her and smiled, he only vaguely knew of her, he had seen her at Story Tellings and she had been speaking to the Drifter at the meeting Shion had held. She was... a very noticable person, being a giant spider.]

You're Muffet, right? [He smiled at her, pausing in his work for a moment.]

[prettypurpleparlor]

Ah, it seems you've the advantage of me.

[She smiles, and curtsies briefly.]

It's a pleasure to meet you. Since you know my name, might I ask yours?

[savedbyasong]

[He blushes slightly, he hadn't meant to seak any advantage. He just... liked knowing things.] It's a pleasure to meet you as well.

[Another smile.] My name is Shion.

[prettypurpleparlor]

[Don't worry, Shion, it's just a saying.]

A lovely name, dearie. I take it this garden is yours?

[savedbyasong]

Thank you. [He looked around.] I made it, but it's for everyone. Someone is kind enough and diligent enough to keep a list of those who disappear, but I wanted to... [He pauses, searching for words. It had started with Asch. Asch whose parents had not made him a grave- not one with his chosen identity on.]

Remembering is really important...

[prettypurpleparlor]

Yes, it is.

[She smiles gently. Normally this is where she'd say something about being flattered at the compliment, but the topic's a little more serious than that right now.]

I'm glad to hear that my list is helpful.

Do not stand at my grave and weap;

[aurabble]

Jaune spots the familiar mop of pale hair. At first in the brightness, he mistakes Shion for someone else, but the flash of sadness is gone before he knows it and he's smiling just as easily. It's been a while since he ran into one of the first people he met here, he should probably say hi--

The smile falls when he realizes what's written on the rock. "What... What is all this?"

[savedbyasong]

Shion smiles brightly when he sees Jaune though his smile fades as he sees Jaune lookiung worried. He remembered how he had been when they had first met, Jaune's panic about everything Shion was telling him. Not that Shion blamed him.

But his voice was gentle when he spoke, "Sometimes... People disappear. We don't know where they go. This list was made to remember them."

A simple explanation.

[aurabble]

He starts to trace his hand over the names, never touching them, afraid he'll mess them up. He spots his name. And Weiss.

"It must be strange." He murmurs, dropping his hand and moving away. "No one knows? Even that campfire jerk?" He means the Storyteller. He hadn't told any stories. He hadn't seen the point. But the fact that this memorial garden exists means that people here cared enough to get attached to the ones they lost. It seems pretty messed up to him.

[savedbyasong]

"Apparantly the Story Teller has said that they return home, it might be true." But if it were why not just send them all home? It seemed to good to be true and without evidence Shion was not going to believe it.

Of course in the Tower it had been true, people disappeared for short periods or forever, those that came back had spent the time wandering their dead world, devoid of any life. Shion had wandered his. Here though... Asgore had no memories of the time he had been missing.

It might be that they might return but the world not restart from whatever suspended animation affect it was under. He's seen Jaune's name on there as well and he glances at the boy.

"Is that your full name?"

[aurabble]

"They can say anything. Doesn't make it true." Bitterness leaks into his voice. The Story Teller had the full advantage here, and trust was difficult to earn.

"Hm? Yeah. It is." He averts his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck. It's just weird. It's too surreal for him to grasp. He extends his hand. "Can I see your chalk for a second?"

[savedbyasong]

Shion blinked at him and handed him the chalk. "I never met them but they will have been from a world like yours, probably almost identical. But not always."

Shion had never ran into another version of himself and he thought it would be weird. Weirder still to find that a version of him had been in a place and now was gone.

He watched Jaune, concerned for him but giving him silence and space to process his words.

thousand winds

[catpiper]

[He's playing a game-that's her first thought.

Training is a foreign concept to her and whenever it looks like someone might fight, whether it be a solo exercise or with another, she finds ways of mysteriously vanishing, taking care to remain out of the line of fire. It freaks her out and while she may choose to stay nearby and watch, she doesn't particularly get it. Training. Fighting. That's for brave people. She's okay with staying Out Of It.

And while Shion is part of the brave beansquad, the laps he's running is reminiscent of tag, not fighting. So she uh. Starts to chase after him? Yeah. It's bad.]

Who's it? Who are we running from?

[savedbyasong]

[He's concentrating pretty hard on running and breathing. On keeping going despite the fact all his muscles were screaming at him and his lungs were burning. So he is surprised when she speaks.

It's Ren and he hasn't seen her in the waking world for a while. The dreams they shared are still at the forfront of his mind. He hopes that escaping them did not cause her too much pain. It probably did though. But he has gotten to know Ren quite well and he knows she does not pause to think about such things much.

Her question though, he makes sure to smile reassuring.] No one, don't worry... We're in no danger, there's nothing chasing us. [No monsters, nothing to be frightened of. Just running.]

[catpiper]

[That was the lowkey concern of the day and it helpfully answered her other big question-no one's 'it' for a game of tag because Shion's alone.]

Why are you running? Is it fun?

[savedbyasong]

It's quite fun. [He used to grumble a lot, when Reno decided that running laps was what they were doing for hours. But actually he sort of liked running. It was hard and exhausting. But it made him feel good.

And concentrating on breathing and running, not falling over his own feet. It mostly kept him focussed, stopped him from getting too lost in his own head.] It also will help me be faster in the future.

[catpiper]

[That reasoning resonates with her-tag's fun and that whole game involves running. Not to mention it'll be easier for him to escape the dangerous situations that sometimes come from malfunctioning manapools or other island shenanigans.

And heck, she's got energy to burn and no pressing appointments for the rest of the day. Or ever, really, except for dinner time.]

Can I run with you?

[savedbyasong]

Of course. [He smiled at her, she already sort of was running with him. But he had no qualms about her joining him.] Do you enjoy running too?

soft stars

[yourattention]

[The dream after his dream was . . . unsettling, and he'd needed to be awake. He'd needed to do something with his hands, so he'd made a basket that was more him playing around than anything. It's to the point where if he's making a basic basket he barely has to think about what he's doing, muscle memory completing the steps for him, so when he really doesn't want to think he has to get creative. When he's done with it, he doesn't actually know what to do with it. It's not like he technically needs any more baskets - actually, that's the last thing he needs, probably.

That leaves him with a basket that's too nice to just leave at the rock like he sometimes does and a bunch of screaming Bludrocs who want food - which is how the basket ends up filled with eggs. And it's not like he can't use the eggs, but he's just. He needs to apologize, doesn't he? And everyone can use more food, so once both the Bludrocs and the Cariborn are fed, he gathers up the basket of eggs and takes it to the islets. The plan is to just leave it there, in front of Shion's house, but then Shion's, uh. Actually there? And Connor doesn't know what to do, because up until this moment his idea of apologizing was to just leave Shion stuff until everything went back to normal, but that's really just the analog equivalent of texting someone to break up with - no. Stopping that train of thought right there.

It wasn't real. It seriously wasn't, so even if he's been forced to admit that that one bit was accurate (and he knows there's more self-examining to be done there, but he's just not going to do it now or ever, honestly) he's not going to. It doesn't mean anything here. It doesn't.

In the end, he just kind of stands there helplessly, holding a basket of eggs and at war with himself over things he can't change.]

[savedbyasong]

[Even lost in thought Shion realises there is someone there and looks over. He freezes when he sees Ceej. It's not that he's been avoiding this meeting... It's not. It's just... Aster had taken the dream worlds really hard, he hadn't wanted to leave her for long.

But really yes he had been avoiding this, because he felt awful. Even though breaking Ceej's dream had been necessary to save his life Shion still felt awful about it, about the things he had used to break down the dream and Show Ceej reality.

He got to his feet a moment later and stepped towards Ceej, reaching out. Shion paused arms faltering. Not sure whether Ceej would find it weird to be hugged. If that was weird now after the strange dream world that had decided to make believe they were together, that they loved each other. If a distance should be maintained, because that wasn't real and this was the real world. Maybe. It was a world that wasn't a dream anyways.

It was stupid. Shion never felt awkward about hugging, about touch in general. Except with Tim but that was because Tim disliked it. Ceej was his friend and that was real. Even if nothing else had been. Even if everything else had been... well there was a lot to think about it and it was another reason Shion was missing Reno today... He was about the only person Shion felt he could talk to about stuff like this. Shion put his hand on Ceej's arm, not a hug, a compromise.] I'm sorry... I should have come and checked on you earlier... Are... Are you...

[He falters because of course Connor wasn't okay. No one was okay but Ceej... He probably would say he was fine. The biggest lie anyone ever told.]

[yourattention]

I'm fine.

[Connor gently steps backward, breaking contact. He doesn't - he can't handle that, right now. Awkwardly, he holds out the basket to cover up the fact that he moved away to keep Shion from touching him.]

Here, uh. For you and Aster. You can keep the basket.

[savedbyasong]

[Well that answered that... Shion's hand dropped awkwardly to his side and he blinked at Ceej sadly.

It actually... answered another question as well of who the mysterious maker of baskets was. He's not actually surprised it is Connor. Connor has a lot of talents, knows a lot of things.] Thank you, it's really pretty. [He smiled and took the basket of eggs gratefully.

Which left awkwardness once more. But Shion was determined not to let this change things. Ceej was his friend and that was all that mattered. No god meddling in their minds was going to change that. Just because their minds had been turned against them didn't mean they would be driven apart.] Do you want a drink of water? Come and sit down.

[Trying to act normal.]

[yourattention]

[There's an excuse already forming on his tongue, but he swallows it because he knows that Shion will let him. Shion will just let him run away forever, because Shion is sometimes too nice and at some point, Connor is going to have to admit that it's not viable to just box up everything bad and shove it in a corner of his brain. It's not healthy, and maybe the first step to getting better and not fucking everything up all the time is sorting out at least one of the things he needs to fix.]

. . . Sure. [Connor swallows.] I'm sorry about . . . everything, I guess.

[savedbyasong]

[Shion busies himself with filling a coconut shell with water from a larger bowl in the moments it takes Ceej to answer. Because he's not sure what he will do if he says no. If he walks away. He has nothing... no way to ask Ceej to stay.

But he doesn't. Shion expects to look up to a retreating back but instead Connor has spoken... Apologised.]

There is nothing you need to apologise for Ceej. [He passed the water over, doing something with his hands that wasn't reaching out. He didn't want to chase Connor away. He met Ceej's eyes, his gaze intense.] Nothing you did... it's nothing you need to be sorry for. Even if you had had any control over what your dream did, you didn't hurt me. You did nothing wrong.

[Unlike Shion, he may have done exactly what was necessary but he knew he had hurt Connor. Sometimes the only way to save someone was to hurt them. But it didn't make it any less awful.] I'm the one who needs to apologise... I didn't mean... I was trying to break the dream. I didn't... [Breathing. Breathing was good.]