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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[Wow, it's not like she'd get up in the middle of the night just for marshmallows!! ...She knows they're in the mess hall, anyway, not over here. Which she might hit up...later... Don't worry about it!! Anyway, he launches into such an outrageous joke that she couldn't possibly take seriously, rolling her eyes with a little scoff and otherwise ignoring that comment entirely. More importantly, Jade's right about this whole situation being nothing like they expected.]

Maybe he's just waiting until we drop our guard.

[There has to be something more in store, after all. Though if nobody's found anything out of the ordinary yet, grumbling about it here won't really get them anywhere, either.

As for...camping, well...]

I've had to camp on the road, but this sure isn't camping. It seems more like some knight training getaway. Why do we all have to get up at the crack of dawn?

[Rip to all remaining marshmallows in the kitchen when this raid inevitably happens....

His joke is ignored, of course, which is quite fine by Jade; the way Rita rolls her eyes and scoffs is all the reaction he really needs, and met with a humored smile in turn--since it's confirmation, hopefully, that she isn't aware of the gloomier slant his thoughts had been taking before her approach. Nope, nothing amiss here, just bad humor at the campfire and nothing more...!

Still, the topic of the background tension at hand does prompt that earlier humor to taper off too.]

Hm...the possibility remains, doesn't it? Three days of quiet--four more to go, if the sign-up sheet is to be believed. Most unfortunately for the captain, I've kept my guard up for rather longer stretches of time than that.

[Honestly, he does tend to be on some vague kind of guard on a constant basis of daily life anymore anyway; this was true back home as well, and remains doubly so on the Serena Eterna, precarious as their collective situation remains even in more peaceful stretches of time. Equal parts a habit of being in the military and just being a rather more alert sort of person in general...]

Either way, I really must agree; this setup seems to have all the pieces of a more remote training outpost--with none of the structure. [...Although, Rita's complaint at the end there sure is earning an amused sort of sidelong glance.] You know, if these were proper training grounds, we'd be getting woken up at least three hours earlier than that! It's already too late if you're seeing sunlight on the horizon. They do say such early rising builds character, though!

It's not like a week is all that long...

[It sure feels kind of long, though, with no books to read or research to do. She has no interest in the crafts or kayaks or whatever other pointless "activities" the camp has available. So she might be starting to get impatient over this whole excursion (and maybe, like Flynn, a part of her wants to believe that Yuri's going to be there when they return to the ship...even as she suspects that's not going to be the case).]

You mean it builds compliance. I'd rather do things on my own schedule.

[She matches his sidelong glance with a grumble, before returning her gaze to the fire.]

Say...nobody knows yet what happens to people who just vanish, do they?

Compliance is generally the point of being a soldier in the military, yes. Not being able to follow basic orders under duress is a poor fit for such a position, objectively; the training is meant to weed out the worst of it. --But, when you're not a soldier, doing things by your own schedule is probably valid enough...

[Probably. Jade would still judge anyone who doesn't get out of bed until noon or something, honestly, but it does all boil down to personal preference in the end. ...And seeing as there's plenty of people within this excursion gathering, Rita included, who likely aren't soldiers in any capacity--it makes the camp elements here and now that much more bafflingly inane, as far as Jade's concerned.

Anyhow, though. ...The tangent Rita shifts to after that strikes a vaguely odd chord, as seemingly out of the blue as it parses from Jade's end of things. She returns her gaze to the fire, but Jade's sidelong glance at her lingers all the same now, the idle humor in his tone fading as thoughtfulness takes its place.]

...No, not from what I've heard. There are a handful of theories to be made, but nothing concrete. So far as I've learned, there are occasions in which passengers simply...are no longer in their quarters, or found on the ship in general, apparently. [A slight pause, in which Jade studies Rita speculatively...and wonders.] Was there someone you knew, recently?

[Who vanished, that is to say. Call it a...well, not-so-wild guess, when you just do the basic math in this sort of way...]

[That emphasis he puts on probably gives her the sneaking suspicion that he might be judging her sleeping schedule choices just a bit... Not that it's her problem if he does! She can match a group schedule to an extent, but when it's this regimented? That's just annoying.

And...well, that's about the answer she expected, anyway, even if having Jade confirm it isn't exactly reassuring, either.]

Apparently so.

[He's right on the money, of course, which isn't surprising. (Isn't that part of why she's bringing it up to him, after all?) Rita's face turns toward Jade again, brows furrowed seriously (seriously worried? her? of course not, no......)]

You must have noticed Yuri's not here. He went missing right before this. Even Flynn couldn't find him. He seems to think--or hope, I guess--that Yuri's back on the ship right now, but...

[It's wishful thinking; Rita and Flynn both know he wouldn't have stayed behind while the two of them went. There's no way. And yet, he might as well have just vanished into thin air as far as anyone can tell.

Where did he go--the implied question hangs heavily in the air, and Rita both wants and doesn't want to know the answer.]

[Jade shifts a bit where he's seated, posture subconsciously drawing more upright as the mood of the conversation chills a bit in this fashion. The serious expression on Rita's face is quite plain, to say the least--and Jade would indeed call it worried for a fact, if he had to guess. Not as if he could blame her, after all--she speaks of someone she knows from home, after all...]

...I did notice he hadn't accompanied Flynn this time around. I'd guessed perhaps they had some sort of falling-out...Flynn has been acting rather strained these last couple of days, after all. [Because there's assuredly a distinct difference, as far as Jade's concerned, between the sensible even keel Flynn maintains on a normal basis, and the decidedly forced cheer he's seemed to be exhibiting in the few glimpses and passing greetings Jade's exchanged with him since the start of this excursion.

Rita's shining quite a different light of context on it all now, though, and Jade's frowning faintly in turn.]

If that isn't actually the case, and more a matter of neither of you being able to locate him at all beforehand--no, I'd say Flynn's hopes may very well be unfortunately unfounded. ...I don't think either of you will see him when we return.

[Rita seems reluctant to verbalize it, but Jade has no qualms about promptly peeling off the bandage for her, seeing as the angle at which she trails off remains quite plain anyhow. The pause that follows between them is certainly a heavier one, all told; Jade watches her speculatively, and wonders what it is she'd actually rather hear about now. ...Technically none of this is really any of his business, objectively, but still--his impressions of Yuri had been favorable enough, between the surface-level acquaintance they'd had and the way Flynn and Rita both seem to hold him in high regard. And with that considered...the blow of the loss is doubtless considerable for both of them, even if Rita seems to be holding steady enough for now.

Hm.]

Of course, there's questions to ask at this point. Some scenarios, perhaps, to consider. ...Would you like to discuss it?

He might think he's putting on a good act, but it's plain as day--and he's going to have to face it when we get back.

["Strained" sure is a way to put it--Rita's held back from saying the obvious around Flynn, even as she finds it hard to stand how much he's pushing himself, in large part because she hasn't forgotten just how much he broke down seeing Yuri's death on the island. It's likely only delaying the inevitable, though.

Even if she was a little reluctant to actually say it out loud, Jade does so easily enough, and apparently his suspicion is the same as hers. If Yuri wasn't there before they left, he's not going to magically be there again when they return. Rita's mouth sets in a grim frown.]

You don't have the answers, either--

[She points that out matter-of-factly, not exactly a yes or no about discussing it...but she looks at the fire again as she keeps talking, anyway.]

It's probably... Saying he went back home... Something like that would be too easy.

[If the captain has a tight enough grip on their "souls", or whatever, to revive them after death, would he really just let one slip away?]

No, I don't have the answers, of course.

[Rita points it out matter-of-factly, and Jade promptly agrees in a similarly matter-of-fact fashion. After all, he'd already be giving her those answers if he could--or so he'd think, anyway. But since he doesn't, and Rita doesn't either...

Well, there's really not much else for it but to discuss it. Which Rita does seem rather more amenable to doing than not, at length, as she starts continuing to speak at the fire anyhow. Jade is a quietly listening presence at her side as she picks out the words, giving her time to set out the thoughts before responding with a soft hum of agreement.]

...That would be the best-case scenario, wouldn't it? Granted, if our presence here truly is a random selection, similar to the items we receive from sundries...it's not entirely impossible that such a thing could randomly occur in reverse as well. [The range of possibilities is still too wide and open, in these sorts of circumstances--not yet knowing the full scope or mechanics of the captain's abilities, this potential cannot be entirely discounted, as far as Jade's concerned. ...But, evident in the pause that follows his words, empty of anything in the way of particular encouragement or false optimism--Jade doesn't think it the most likely case either, all the same.] ...Yet still, the worst-case scenario should be considered as well. Oftentimes, the truth of the matter will generally fall somewhere in between those two bounds...but they'll need to be established all the same. What do you think the worst outcome could be, in turn?

[He has a few ideas of his own, to say the least--especially where their "souls" happen to be concerned, with what they've learned considered. But he's not here to verbalize all the most unpleasant bits for Rita either, to remove that burden for her quite so readily; after all, he's not the one who's going to have to acknowledge those bits on the most fundamental sort of level...if they return to the ship, and Yuri indeed remains missing.]

...It might not be impossible, but it still feels like wishful thinking.

[It's not that different from Flynn, still trying to hope that he'll just be there lounging in the pool when they get back--that one way or another, Yuri's totally fine.

As for the worst possible outcome... Rita's silent for a few moments, still frowning at the flames. Even if she doesn't want the worst-case scenarios to be true...they've already been on her mind, possibilities that she hasn't shied away from thinking about, even when doing so causing an almost painful pressure in her chest.]

If...if the captain actually uses souls as some kind of fuel for his ship, then...

[Unable to finish without fidgeting, Rita sits up straight, hands clenched into fists in her lap.]

Then he could've ended up like a--like that. [Not a ghost, not a ghost, not a ghost...] Either that, or...he's just...gone.

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JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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