come_sailaway | 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.

JUNE EVENT: CAMP

CAMP AION

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

that's me all the time tbh