come_sailaway | JUNE EVENT: CAMP

JUNE EVENT: CAMP

early on June 10th, Friday's morning announcements end with a request for everyone going on the latest excursion to meet her in the atrium. she seems in noticeably better spirits than she had been last time, and she leads them cheerfully to the tender. once they are all aboard, and the door is securely shut, the interior fills with gas, and, perhaps, their last thought before they slip into unconsciousness is "oh shit, not again."

passengers wake up on a rickety old school bus, driving down a dirt road surrounded by woods. what is it that they notice first? that, no matter what they were wearing before, they are now wearing a camp t-shirt and legitimately horrifyingly short shorts? the overstuffed backpack between their knees? the words "take one down and pass it around" dying on their lips? the fact that Friday is absolutely driving the bus?

or, maybe the fact that it's already slowing down, pulling up in front of a massive wooden sign, saying:

CAMP AION

when they get out of the bus, Friday is the one to divide them up into their cabin groups, and she is the one to give the counselors their very official-looking clipboards and whistles. she explains that they are in charge, and that she will be back to pick them up in a week, and... very little else. she responds to nothing outside of whatever is on her unseen little script, and she gets back on the bus shortly after, leaving them there.

welcome to camp. let's make some summer memories!

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[The last time he and Lumine set together under a bright moon ended... well. They both know how it ended. But now the night seems peaceful, the roofs are occupied by other brooding edgelords, and maybe Natsuno is hoping to make a better memory this time. Her quiet company isn't bad, all things considered.

He's content to sit silently at a short distance and watch the illusions, but when she speaks up, he replies.]

You've been in many of these? Pockets of reality, I mean.

[ She idly traces another constellation in front of her, making yet another illusion of stars appear, nodding her head. ]

Gods can make those sorts of things with enough effort. I haven't been to many, but they're usually not made to torment people for entertainment... [ Though, with how fucked up some gods are, it wouldn't come as a surprise for her to hear that. The few gods she's actually friends with certainly wouldn't, she thinks. ] Though, I definitely prefer traveling among the stars than wherever it is we are.

[After three months on the ship, Natsuno stopped being surprised that other passengers know gods or travel the stars. His best friend here was born in space. It's still weird, will always be weird, but he's learned to accept that there's a big and strange multiverse out there.]

So you lived on a spaceship?

A spaceship?

[ Lumine's actually never seen anything like that, so she's literally just imagining a seafaring ship in space. Maybe a bit akin to what one would see in Treasure Planet, actually. It makes her laugh a bit. ]

No, uh... we just had the ability to travel through it on our own. I imagine a vessel would slow us down, actually. I doubt we'd have seen nearly as many worlds if we tried to take a ship into space with us.

Oh. More magic then.

[Honestly, almost everything is "magic" at this point. Some passengers insist on different terms, others even call it another form of science... but Natsuno would rather just say "magic", accept it and move on.]

I never traveled. [All he could do was look at the national highway and imagine how one day it'll take him far away from the village. He thought about cities, not even another country, so hearing that some people can easily travel between worlds...] What's it like?

[ Lumine doesn't argue. Mostly because Natsuno is absolutely right, it is magic. She just wishes she had a way to explain it better than "yeah, my brother and I are basically shooting stars." ]

Well, certainly better than being shipbound, that's for sure. [ Bad joke? ] I love meeting all the different people and learning about the different worlds. What it's like to live there, what different quirks they have, and how they've structured their lives and how being in this new world affects that. Were I not more focused on getting everyone home here, I'm almost certain I would be nosy enough to start asking people what their realities are like, too. If I could just... [ She drops her hand, and the illusions of stars that she made disappear with a sigh. ] ...guarantee we'd all be safe, maybe I could relax enough to do so.

[Natsuno isn't too keen on the "meeting people" part, but the rest sounds... fascinating, really. You can probably learn a lot by observing instead of socializing (ew). She can be as anonymous or involved as she wants, stay if she likes it, leave if she doesn't - the ultimate freedom.]

I think a lot of people would appreciate not being nosy, actually. [That's him, he's "people". Oh, getting to know people is good for team building and working together, blah blah blah, it also gives you emotions and it sucks.] Not all realities are pleasant.

Mmmh. Perhaps. You'd be surprised how many people might be excited to talk about where they come from, and their experiences. Though, I suppose a lot of people on this ship specifically don't exactly have pleasant things to talk about.

[ Apocalypses, war, plagues… she's heard vague mentions of all of these from some of the other passengers. Still… ]

I don't think there's any reality that necessarily qualifies as "pleasant," though. It's true, I do find learning about the other places fascinating, but everywhere I have been has had it's fair share of strife. It's just a constant between worlds. But I believe that beauty and wonder are products of the negativity that lies in a world. I suppose that's a rather… morbid way of thinking about it, but… I've just seen a lot of horrible things, so it makes me appreciate things like community and their lifestyles and experiencing the pieces of the world that feel… [ Pause. ] …human.

…

Sorry, I'm rambling.

It's fine.

[She is rambling, but Natsuno doesn't mind.]

I don't think it's "morbid" if you choose to focus on the good. Can't say I feel the same, but.

[He shrugs. She's optimistic, but no naive, so while Natsuno doesn't necessarily agree with her point of view, he can respect it.]

Mh. I would say it's less focusing on the good and more understanding that you have to take it with the bad. More or less, anyway. Obviously, there are some things that leave very little room for good, but the flip side to that is sometimes there are things that leave very little room for bad.

[ Once mortals come to realize that, maybe there'll be less strife in the world. And immortals who haven't figured that out, yet…? ]

You live for as long as I have, and thinking any other way just drives you mad.

[He gives Lumine a surprised look. He's learned not to judge anyone on the Serena Eterna by appearance, but it's still odd to hear it said so casually.]

How old are you? [And then he adds awkwardly, because while he's curious Lumine is his friend and he doesn't want to pry:] I don't mean to be rude. It's just - I became sort of immortal not long ago, and... I guess I'm looking for perspective.

You became- ? [ Oh, no, poor thing. It's one thing to be born that way, but to have it put upon you must feel more of a curse than anything else. Her fingers twitch momentarily before she settles them over her chest for a moment with a sigh. ] I'm a few centuries old, I suppose? I want to say maybe... 600? Young by immortal standards, but old by mortal ones.

May I also ask how that happened to you?

[600. Maybe it is young - look at the captain and Jenny Storm - but still mind boggling. Natsuno will be able to reach that age, provided he's not killed, but he can't even imagine what can fill so many years. No wonder she travels between worlds...]

It's like a disease, I guess. [His go-to explanation, since he doesn't want to say vampire. Aren't they spreading like a disease, killing most of their victims but making some of them rise and spread their cursed condition.] Most people die from it. Others rise as living corpses. And a few turn out like me.

... You're not, like, a zombie, are you? Ah, no judgements if you are, of course! I know a little zombie girl back on Teyvat, and she's sweet as can be, I just...

[ She gestures vaguely to Natsuno. ]

You don't really look like one.

Uh. No.

[He really shouldn't be surprised by the casual reaction - she'd seen things in 600 years of travel, after all - but it still gives him a pause. Because if she's so worldly, maybe he can just... tell the whole truth.]

Vampire, actually.

Oh. [ Those are kind of like zombies, really. She just nods a bit, and there's not much of a reaction. She gets it, Natsuno, don't worry. ]

Well, hm. Speaking from my own experiences might not give you the perspective you'd like, since I've sort of just… traveled. Lots of flying around the stars and observing planets and their cultures within the people who live there.

But I have met other immortals. Gods, sure, but demi-gods and, as mentioned before, zombies. A lot of them are old and cranky, honestly. But they've found their purpose in life in different ways. Protecting people and those they care for is the general theme between them. Though there are simpler motivations, too. Wanting to make friends. Wanting to find pleasures to make themselves happy.

So, I guess I should ask... what makes you "you", Yuuki?

[He's silent for a long moment until finally, he admits:]

...I don't know. I had plans for the future, back home, but once I turned they didn't matter anymore. Then I died, for real - and ended up here. Right now my "purpose" is to kill the captain and yeah, keep some people safe... but I don't know what else. Or if I should even have something else.

Well, I can tell you one thing, the worst thing you can possibly do as an immortal is believe that there's nothing left for you. Obviously, I cannot speak for the world your from, or the things you've seen, or whatever may be going on there, but I can at least promise you that somewhere, sometime, you'll have a place to belong and people to care about. It's a little easier for me to say, since... I do have an immortal brother, but... at the end of the day, I'm fighting for even him, too.

[ Especially him, actually. Lumine has a lot of feelings on whether or not she'd sacrifice people for him or not, really. ]

But I've seen gods and immortals lose their way too often for my liking.

...I used to think that feeling like a belong will make me lose my well. That as a vampire, I shouldn't feel comfortable about anything. Now I'm not so sure.

[If people he's grown to like and respect keep telling him they don't mind, that it's who he is and not what he is, maybe he should listen to them? Or at least, open his mind a little bit?]

So I'll think about what you said.

Oh, if people all believed that had to fit into the molds of "what" they are, instead of "who" they are, there would never be any change in any world. Could you imagine? A world where everyone is exactly the same? That would be miserable.

[ She laughs a bit at the thought. She's picturing something like a bunch of men and women in stuffy clothes, all saying the same three things to each other. So, like, just rich people, honestly. ]

Of course. I'm sorry I can't offer much else, but... when we figure out our current predicament with the Captain, maybe I could even give you a few more options for how you want to be "you"?

[He doesn't laugh or even chuckle, but nods in agreement. That's how misery starts, when people decide what you are and then expect you to perform the role, not bothering to ask what you want.]

...yeah, I'll appreciate that.

Thank you.

[ Lumine, herself, is much too free of a spirit to be thrown into a role and expect it to stick. Even her role of "hero" back on Teyvat feels a bit disingenuous sometimes. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. If she was all valor and no selfishness, her self-preservation would be incredibly low, and isn't that a problem? ]

Don't thank me yet, I've hardly done anything, Yuuki.

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JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

night

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tmw you re-read your tag and notice all the typos

that's me all the time tbh