MISSION: WISH FULL, PART 1

[ximilian]

● ● ● M I S S I O N   8 . 1

INTRO • WHALECOME ONE AND ALL • SHELLEBRATE GOOD TIMES • A CALL FOR KELP • FYI

// INTRO. GET DUNKED  

After two weeks of much-needed rest, there is once again the unmistakable ping of the earpieces, alerting the team to a new file — and before most of you will be able to read through the file, Viveca’s voice interrupts you.

// VIVECA

Hi, everyone. I’ve located the next orb, it’s on a planet called Xrisora. It’s an underwater society with several cities, and the orb is in one called Qruria. Obviously, the whole underwater thing poses a bit of a problem for most of you, so Degar has been working on creating a spell that will transform you to look like one of the locals. That way, you’ll also be able to swim and breathe underwater.

I’ll see you on the platform tomorrow morning, so go pack your things… just not anything that’ll rust.

She ends her speech there, and then the comms go silent, allowing you to get a better handle for the new mission file and to start packing. Whatever it is you do to prepare — whether it’s training intensely, sleeping the day away, or focusing on what to take with you — you still have a bit of time.

The next morning, it is not just Viveca but Degar, too, waiting for the team on the teleportation platform. The hum of the machine is loud as always, but not quite enough to drown out Degar’s voice.

// DEGAR

This should be fun! Never did have the chance to cast a real big spell on a group like this, but don’t worry — I’ve prepared just the spell.

Just close your eyes and try to imagine your fishiest form, and I guarantee you’ll blend in with the rest of the Xrisora just fine. Good luck everyone.

The golden light of the spell mingles with the bright white from the teleportation machine, bathing you in what resembles the first rays of morning sun. You’re sent off to a chorus of murmuring voices, barely discernible except for the words whispering your personally catered goal—

And before you so much as open your mouth to respond, you can feel it: a splash of cold that feels almost welcome as you breathe in the water that surrounds you, feel the oxygen from it go through the gills you now have.

Welcome to Qruria City, orbers.

TOP

// PART I.WHALECOME ONE AND ALL  

In front of you, the mighty gates to Qruria City rise up, carved into the rocks of the ocean floor, shaped by years and years of sea currents. Behind them, you can peek at the tops of lotus-pod-like buildings amidst gently swaying seaweeds and corals that climb up on the sides of the buildings. Grains of sand move underneath your legs, or tails, or perhaps both — as from around the gates, two guards come forward, one a shark merman, one a woman with the lower body of a shrimp.

GUARD BRILA

I thought we’d had the last of our tourist groups for today. State which city you are coming from, and why.

GUARD XRIOM

Come on, Brila. Our shift’s almost over. You and I both know they’re here for the festival. You’re here for the festival, right?

You nod — and so do some others around you, and that seems to be enough for Xriom.

GUARD XRIOM

See? Just come on in. Enjoy Qruria City.

GUARD BRILA

… fine. Welcome, newcomers — here, you are watched over by Queen Xephia. Long may she reign.

With those words, the gates creak open, letting you swim into the city.

1.0   A series of tall, dark grey twisting towers carved and created from sedimentary rock form a border around lush park-space full of brightly coloured flora that can be found draped across the queendom and its structures like a living blanket. Nestled into crevices and shrouded in coral and plant-life are a series of market places and residences, large swaths of farmland, and places where any citizen of Qruria can thrive in their day-to-day life. The queendom is large and there is plenty to explore, with friendly faces to greet you as you pass them by. All you need to do is … do a little swimming to get there.

The entertainment district is cluttered with underwater grotto taverns, stages for singing, dancing, and gatherings. These spaces are lit by way of bioluminescence, blossoms that have become permanent fixtures and begin to glow the moment the waters become dark. They do lend themselves to creating a certain mood.

Just past the taverns and performance centres are stalls and shops selling simple, practical, and beautiful items: garments, pottery crafted from hollowed out shells and coral, jewelry. You may walk past a stall selling beautiful, luminous necklaces made out of flaming pixie cups — these sparkling plants are bright like diamonds, and famous for imbuing their wearer with a feeling of happiness if worn for over one hour. There are herbalists selling healing tonics and medicines; and just past these shops, cafes and restaurants. Some are no more than holes in rocky caverns, but others are up high in lotus-pod-like structures sitting on top of rock pedestals, grand and famous with large dining halls and sparkling dinnerware promising you the meal of your life.

Beyond the pomp and the circumstance are quiet farmlands where mer-farmers keep their herds of Zavos, caring for them. You might instantly recognize some of these creatures simply by consulting the bestiary that is downloaded into your communications device the moment you arrive in Qruria.

2.0   Even from afar, the royal palace is a sight to behold: made from a marble-like material much more refined than the roughly-hewn towers past the palace’s walls, the structure seems to glimmer as the water currents circle around it, with spires that stretch towards the water’s surface, the entire palace area is lit with bioluminescent-powered lamps. It’s a must-see for any tourist from out of town, and certainly for any foreigner, and some areas of the palace itself are also open to the public with designated tours free to join.

If you join one of these tours, you’ll be led past the entrance gates and into a courtyard (one of many, and one of the few open to the public to view). Depending on the time of day, you may also catch sight of the Queen’s guard training by the barracks with long silver spears in hand. They look fierce, and their weapons look sharp. And while most of the tour is in the service of viewing the architecture and understanding how the royal family live their lives behind the palace’s gates, on the very rare occasion, you might sight the small royal princess swimming past a row of columns, giggling and chasing after her sea dragonling; or making a concerted effort to hide from whatever lessons she’s meant to be in that day.

3.0  There are a variety of different species of fish that also share the city space with the xrisora — a school of mackerel that move around in a synchronized cloud; whales that drift above the city, casting shadows onto the buildings … and even larger creatures, bioluminescent markings on their skin, swimming slowly towards the surface. Some xrisora stop and bow to their direction whenever they are seen.

One species of sea creature, one that faintly resembles a plesiosaur, sticks mostly to hiding behind rocks and coral reefs, shying away from the xrisora and the orbers… except for one of them. It sways its head back and forth as orbers swim past, as if sensing something — and when it sees Finn, Peter, Daisy or Clarke, it makes chirping noises and starts to swim around them, clearly excited.

4.0   As you wander — perhaps seeming a little lost or a little bored, maybe — you hear a little something that sounds suspiciously like pspsps. Looking around you don't see anything, at least not right away. But, then a sprigtly looking little guy bubbles up directly in front of you.

LEVI

Hey, you! Yeah, you. Haven't seen you around before, you must be new. Let me introduce myself: name's Levi — if you're wondering, yeah, after that guy. Leviathan's my great-great-great-great-great uncle's cousin, twice removed. But, listen here, kid.

He's a fast talker and an even faster swimmer. He circles around you, no matter if you're still or moving.

LEVI

You look like the sort that likes to have fun, go on adventures, see the big sights. Am I right? I'm right, I know I am; just look at that sparkle in your eyes! I've got something that might tickle your fancy, y'know, if you're interested. Here's my card.

There is no card.

LEVI

Pop down to Levi's Deep Jingle Pocket Emporium when you have a second. You won't be disappointed. Trust me!

Where, exactly, is this place? Well, if you watch him swim away, you'll be able to spot a small stall in the distance, in the city but right along the edge of it. If you miss it, you can inquire about it to be pointed in the right direction by any passerby. And once you visit him, he'll make an offer promising great rewards.

TOP

// PART II.SHELLEBRATE GOOD TIMES  

5.0   There is a different kind of excitement that can be felt all across the queendom of Qruria City, a feeling of anticipation that bubbles and gurgles in the hearts and gills of every citizen. Twinkling bioluminescent lights are hung like streamers across archways and around pillars of coral and limestone. Bright flags made of different coloured kelp wave and flutter with the current. Shops have started to pull out thematic wares — crowns and flowers, preciously crafted jewelry, small glowing sticks of light, iridescent fabric meant to drape over one's shoulders, or around one's waist all in celebration of something that unifies the whole of the queendom.

If asked what it is that calls for the occasion, one of the xrisora will cheerfully exclaim, “The festival, of course!” before they carry on. The festival they speak of is the Caerulea Festival, and it is the one time of the year when the light from the surface stretches its reach, touching the ocean floor and bathing Qruria with its bright glow.

Some might ask for your help in putting out the finishing touches to the fronts of homes or the frontages of a store. Or, depending on how buoyant they may seem, an excited xrisora might drape a free chain made of small shiny shells around your neck, or weave little corals into your hair.

You’ll find that the energy is the same across the city. Find a way to be helpful if you can, or simply find a place to sit and float, watch as the city around you is transformed throughout the week in anticipation for this festival of light.

6.0   In the middle of the City, there is a protected ‘park’ of sorts, a cluster of coral and plant-life in every colour one can imagine. With tendrils of gold, blooms of bright pink, and curling stems of blue and green, some multi-coloured, others a solid deep shade of its chosen hue, this ocean’s forest will be the main attraction of the Caerulea Festival, the best vantage point for the reach of the surface’s light. A stage with the delicate texture of a giant clam-shell has been set at one end with the park as its backdrop, and it is here that a congregation of xrisora have gathered to hear the Queen speak just a little before nature performs her very best number of the year.

She swims towards the stage in a gauzy gown of pale violet that compliments the greenish hue of her skin and shimmers with each motion of the water’s current or her own movement, her guard and handmaidens trailing behind her in straight lines. Each one of them is adorned and decorated in coral and pearl and jewels not unlike the Queen’s.

QUEEN XEPHIA

People of Qruria, I don’t need to tell you why you have all gathered here, we have been host to the Caerulea Festival for centuries for it is here that the light that touches the city is its brightest and most beautiful, all signs of a good and prosperous year for us all. As the majestic hvalus look upon us from above, may the light and all that is good and kind on Xrisora bless us.

7.0   If you haven’t already been roped into joining in the festivities, you’ll find yourself wanting to do so on your own accord. With stalls and shops open to browse, new foods to try, and music being played all across the city on small sound-stages and in the city’s square, it’s already too difficult to resist, and it would be a shame not to take part. Even under the water, the smell of warm food manages to waft its way into your senses, with market stalls that offer an assortment of savoury platters and sweet delights in bright and appetizing colours of pink and red and rich warm brown. The shops you may have swam past earlier seem brighter and more energetic with their wares and vendors beckon you to try a shawl or look closer at some of the jewelry pieces. At every corner of the city, there are small groups of musicians and dancers twirling with the water’s current, singing beautiful songs that have a hopeful energy to them. It doesn’t take long before the tune is stuck in your head, easy enough to follow along, daring you to sing aloud. If you want to, performers are more than happy to rope you in and let you join them.

You are not the only foreigners who have come to Qruria City for the Festival either. You’ll find during your explorations that the city feels fuller now, with more people in the city’s streets and hanging around the shops.

8.0   After the main event, Queen Xephia opens a large gala that is expected to last until the next morning. The city’s centre is transformed into a space for dancing, singing, and merriment with musical acts that span from energetic ditties, and big band numbers to slower, calmer ballads that sing of love lost, or love regained again. They are tunes of hope and longing and discovery, and the melodies are not unlike the ones you might have heard earlier … only now there is a larger, more unified gathering. As the waters become darker and evening settles, more and more lights begin to glitter around the kingdom, reflected in the flora and the water itself. It transforms Qruria as though she has become a completely different city, but the feeling of awe and magic never wavers.

All manner of fish-folk can find a partner here, whether it’s someone they might know already, or seek someone new. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to learn about the different cultures on Xrisora, and perhaps in your own way learn clues about the possible whereabouts of the orb while you’re at it.

TOP

// PART III.A CALL FOR KELP  

The next morning, you may be slow to rise after an entire day of festivities … or maybe you’re one of the partiers that haven’t even had a wink of sleep yet, dancing until your fins ache and until the rays of sunlight start to slowly filter through the water again, cascading like falling stars.

This magical calm is broken by the clanging of alarm bells in the palace, the sound reverberating through the city, soundwaves echoing from large bells so low you can almost feel their vibrations.

The closer to the palace you go, the more you find it to be in complete chaos: guards swimming to and fro, barely even paying attention to the early visitors.

GUARD BRILA

The guest quarters have been checked!

GUARD ZEK

So’s the kitchen! And the courtyard! And the tower!

Before you think to ask what exactly it is they are searching for, you see the king himself, swimming out into the palace entrance. A small sea dragonling swims around his head in rapid circles.

KING KROLIS

Stop floundering about! They are no longer in the palace. We must search wider. I want every guard, every available xrisora looking for my wife and my daughter!

It is this shocking announcement that ends the merriment of the festival in one swift strike, the information traveling from one onlooker to another — Queen Xephia and Princess Xoria are missing.

TOP

F Y I

• The events in this log take place during the month of August.

• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.

• To submit a search request regarding exploring a specific place or speaking to an NPC, please do so HERE.

• To sign up for a quest, please do so HERE. Characters will get the choice of two quests that Levi has prepared for them, and after hearing the first one, can ask to hear the second if they don’t like the first. One character may sign up for multiple quests. Quests can be done in pairs or larger groups.

• Take note of the bestiary that is downloaded into the communications device the moment characters arrive in Qruria. It is accessible to all orbers, and will update as the mission progresses.

• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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Comments

The Darkling / Aleksander | open til all

[cruelyethuman]

i. Whalecome one and all

a. Arrival

[Unlike every other mission, bar the one that took them to the train, this one requires... patience. To learn how to swim, to breath without choking on the unwelcomed fear of drowning (again), sea water - salty, the taste of brine on the back of his throat- is nothing like the stale lakewater of his memories and that helps.

A little.

The first couple of hours are still spent learning about his body, when it's been under his control and a non-issues for centuries. Learning how to flex his fins, to swish his tail and gasp for breath in measured inhales. Slightly sheltered by a large batch of seaweed, he swims in circles, long black tail twitching.

He watches his own body coil and twist, the blood-red accents of his aquatic body, learning about himself all over again.]

ii. Shellebrate good times

b. Around the city

[He joins in on the celebration, mind occupied and tail twitching. Visiting the market stalls to look at wares, webbed fingers stroking over shirts and shawls (pausing for a long moment at one to pet a huge, black shawl - soft as clouds and large enough to fit a horse) before moving on.

He stops to listen to the music, tail-fin tapping to the notes that are almost felt through the currents and to listen in on the gossip that springs up all over the city as the guests and inhabitants celebrate the light.]

Do you think they know what it looks like? The light they're so willing to worship?

c. Gala.

[This, at least, is familiar, the epp and flow of power through the palace, the etiquette that goes with a good galla and he swims through the throng of people, a glass of something spicy and sweet in his hand.

The sequence of events are familiar enough for him to slip in to it without a hitch, to offer compliments and small-talk, to slips between the lines of bodies, to find interesting people to talk to. About the palace, about the royal family and about the city. The history and the gossip.

Eventually, he finds himself on the dance floor, sliding through the gliding motions of a more formal dance, the formations of groups depending on physical size and on the length of tails and other appendages.]

That is a constant, isn't it. Our fascination with the light.

w i l d c a r d

[If nothing tickles your fancy, drop me a wildcard or reach out at ireth.]

i

[flickerandfade]

[ Like Aleksander, Megatron is dealing with a new body, mainly colored in greys and whites, with a few brighter red accents along his chest and fins. He's also positively massive, measuring at just over eleven and a half meters. His form casts a shadow across the swaying forest of seaweed and Megatron flicks his tail to swim lower, half circling Aleksander with a mild look of concern. ]

Are you quite well?

[ He knows you like to brood, but hanging out alone in the seaweed forest for this long is concerning, okay? ]

[cruelyethuman]

[Hiding in the seaweed had been a strategic retreat from the large group, to sort himself out before anyone could see him flounder on the bottom of the ocean. A dark place to make sure everything was still-- intact. That he came here whole, even if he turned up a little different.

The gills specifically, that drawing breath wasn't going to kill him, when every inhale was cool, a salty reminder of where they had been sent.

Flicking his tail to turn the right side up, only to start listing to the side as soon as he starts talking, the Darkling frowns.]

And what are you? Who are you?

[Because this fish is massive, blotting out the glimmer of surface-sunlight that shimmers down from up above.]

[flickerandfade]

[ Of course. All of them look much different in these forms and it's not as if Megatron makes a habit of pretending to be an aquatic species most of the time. He exhales--which is a strange sensation because you don't really exhale when water simply passes over your gills and the oxygen is drawn out of it. ]

Megatron. I'm not surprised I'm not recognizable.

[cruelyethuman]

I think your-- snout threw me off.

[Something that large, could have been Drift. Could have any of the metal-men, even if one was smaller than the rest. But with the variety of species that turned up as they entered this world, the huge body could have belonged to anyone.

As long as it wasn't Kovach.]

You wear it well.

[He nods, tail flicking and it takes a moment before he's right-side up again, eyes wide on Megatron.]

w i l d c a r d | 🌺🌻🌷

[spacedisaster]

[ Peter, now finally used to his new half manta ray body and all the advantages and disadvantages that come with it, is exploring the city surroundings for any sign of the orb. He doesn't have a lot of luck, but he does have a couple of interesting encounters with the local fauna, such as dealing with a small dozen of sea dragons who have decided that his back makes a perfect spot to sleep on.

After convincing them otherwise, he played with the little things until they got tired and left. Peter is now resting on his belly with the large fins of his manta ray body spread over the rocks at his sides. A large shadow moves above him, and once he gets over his surprise, the guardian spends some time admiring the giant whales that drift above the city.

All in all, he's simply relaxing now and wouldn't mind another distraction. It's why when he spots Aleksander swimming nearby, Peter throws a small conch shell at him to get his attention and then uses one of his fins to wave. ]

Ey, hi! Whatcha doing? Need any help?

[cruelyethuman]

[Unlike Peter, Aleksander has spent his time getting to know himself in private, picking up speed and racing with the currents only when no one is watching. Has kept his trial and error method of finding himself hidden in the seaweed and along the less-traveled paths leading to the city.

But he's still out here, one hand trailing over the blooming flowers.]

I was looking at the flowers. [A flick of his own tail brings him closer to Peter's flat body, the span of his... wings casting long shadows along the ocean floor.] And trying to remember if any of them were poisonous, actually.

[spacedisaster]

[ When they were first dropped on the planet, Peter also had some trouble adapting to his new body, and collided with more than a few people while trying to swim. Thankfully, everyone took it well, being in a similar confused predicament as he was. He can swim pretty fast now, because of his large fins and the triangular shape of his body working well with the currents, so that's fun. ]

The flora on this planet is very pretty. I've heard some have healing properties. The ted herloks are poisonous. They're listed in that bestiary file Viveca gave us. They're the big, yellow plants that look like beach balls. 

[ Peter lifts his upper body from the stone, so he's at eye level with Aleksander instead of staying sprawled like a lazy cat. Green eyes admire Aleksander's new form, going from the man's beard to the curve of his tail and smiling upon seeing the red accents. ]

You look great. everyone has such pretty tails or fins, and I'm stuck like this. [ The blond waves a hand around, gesturing to his fins. They're sturdy looking but also smooth. ] Looking like a sea pancake.

Gala

[deaddrop]

Is that what it is?

[Natasha looks up, though the water overhead is still dark, lit only by the cool flicker of deep sea creatures.]

Not a lot of light gets down this far. I imagine that makes it seem pretty special.

[cruelyethuman]

Even the station set up a sunlight room. Everything loves the light.

[But he swims closer, setting down an empty glass on the tray as a waiter swims by.]

Isn't it special in your world? The sun. The light. We have our own celebrations for it back where I'm from.

Would you like to dance?

[deaddrop]

[Natasha considers that, and what that kind of celebration would mean. What it would entail.

And what it might mean to people down here, or to someone like him.]

Maybe. Probably, all things considered. Seems kind of old fashioned though. I've never been to one.

[Some kind of pagan midsummer thing.

When he offers a dance, Natasha extends one hand, rather graceful even clawed and webbed. A little bit of the ballerina.]

If you're asking, who am I to say no.

ii.b.

[hatejakku]

[ Finn's been pretty scarce from the group. It's doubtless that anyone's even seen him in awhile. But they have probably seen a few large shells here and there. Anywhere from four to five foot tall, just as wide, a conch shell here, a star shell there. Curiously, never two in the same place.

Today, a large tulip shell has shuffled over beside the Darkling, little wonder why he thought he was talking to a person. Except. He is talking to a person. Finn's there, peeking out from the bottom, probably enough to scare the living daylights out of someone. ]

Are they worshipping it? I thought they just think it's pretty.

[cruelyethuman]

They celebrate it.

[He lets the jewelry go, and it settles slowly on the table in front of him. Buoyed by the water, and his fingers trail over the shell gently. Tracing a smaller version of spiral against the hardness under his fingertips.

This place.

So many new bodies, so many variations from what he's used to and the sights - such sights to try and calm the raging storm that wants to seethe in his soul. That Finn is somehow inside of a tulip shell wasn't the strangest thing he'd seen today.]

What is celebration if not worship?

[hatejakku]

[ He comes a little more out of his shell, rearing up to see the necklaces that were gently dropped to the table. He'd heard these things cause weird side-effects and had stayed away, but they sure look pretty. Like everything else down here.

But Kirigan does raise an interesting point. He's quiet for a moment, thinking the idea over a few times. ]

Maybe... a less serious form of worship? Or a different kind. Where I'm from, people celebrate just being alive sometimes. They worship the things they think gave them life or that makes their lives better, but it's... different?

Maybe.

[ Now he's starting to wonder. ]

WILDCARD

[aurable]

Splash. His tail whipped up the water and splashed behind Alek. A shadow, then bright white eyes. Another huge and thrashing, tail whipped past the Darkling.

"I'm sorry!" Drift cried out as he breached, his entire frame crashing into his own created breaker. Drift dove into the water like a breaching whale; popping back up again and thrashing his tail.

"Sorry, are you okay?"

[cruelyethuman]

[One minute, he's swimming behind a pair of guards, eavesdropping on their rather boring conversation and the next, something huge crashes down so close he gets thrown back from it.

The water churns wildly around them both, Drift's body ending up looming over him as he furiously rights himself, tail flicking.]

What are you doing?

wildcard;

[blackfire]

（ he knows better than to underestimate someone many hundreds of years old — that is why in the days on the station that follow his conversation with wei wuxian, he does not alter his behaviour towards the man in any way. there is no distant observation, no curious conjecture. if they pass each other in hallways, or have a timeshare on any of the various public spaces open to all, itachi minds his own business and makes no overtures. in nearly a year, they have not spoken nor had cause to cross paths, and itachi is certain that willful deviation would by nature be suspicious.

but the ximilia is not a large crew, and there is a measure of inevitability on-mission that lends itself well to engagement where there has been none prior. it is a few days in when an opportunity presents itself, and by happy circumstance they happen to be within mutual radius of a frightened sea-creature, half shrimp and half-humanoid, as she tumbles into one of the city's vast squares. she is urgently attempting to attract attention regarding a crew of boulder bison harvesters, who after a misstep had been left paralytic in the paths of one of the rampaging elders. she had fled, she explained, worried for her life — but wishes to return with help, offering the reward of all the harvest proceeds if anyone will assist.

itachi — who is not the least bit identifiable as himself, sharing nearly no physical traits at all with his human form save a predilection towards dark colours and red eyes — does not immediately volunteer. what heroics he ever troubles himself to perform are often done under the cover of furtive secrecy, but he is equally as much waiting to see if kirigan will step forward while the locals hem and haw about the dangers. he cannot gauge the man's measure well enough to know if she has offered sufficient impetus or not. still — building goodwill with the locals has a curious way of increasing their odds of finding the orb, that incentive that drives them all.

so, he puts out a public network message, identified by the single-character username 朱, mentioning the woman's plight, location and the promise of reward, as well as his own willingness to participate in the rescue. kirigan is but one of many in the crowd, and just different enough from his customary self that there is plausible deniability in failing to notice him there. ）

[cruelyethuman]

[The woman, panting and talking too fast, clearly panicky and frightened as she clutches her claws in front of her. The tale of the wild beasts and the need of rescue, the promise of a reward that holds no meaning to him.

But there's a network post, an ask for help. For assistance.

And what is power, if now favors owed.

It's still early on the mission, with no clear path to find it yet or who might hold it and bear the weight of its poisoned promises. And isn't that just the thing? How they've all seen it, over and over again, that any help the orbs lend, is destined for heartbreak and violence, and yet.

And yet, here they are. Still trying to use the same orbs to undo a regret.

He's laugh, if it wasn't so human.

To want.

Instead of answering the network, he swims to the woman, hands clutched behind his back and swimming with his head held high. Asking for details, for information.]

No, madam, that won't be necessary.

[A soothing note to his voice, unaware of who might be watching. But, as with every mission so far, he makes sure to stay calm. To stay in the shadows.]

[blackfire]

（ difficult to say if he is reacting to the network post or of his own volition. itachi draws nearer himself, coils politely arrayed so as to cause the least disturbance in those around him.

if the man eschews a reward, it's very likely because he has found a different sort of value in performing the service. ）

I will assist as well.

（ he has not spoken publicly on the network before, but he does not doubt that his voice will be recognized as belonging to an orber. no one survives to old age in his world without some intersection of skill and luck, and he imagines it's the same for the place alina has painted for him. ）

Come, stranger — we should act quickly. The paralytic will eventually render them unable to breathe.

（ he carries an antidote, having familiarized himself with the local apothecaries and all their sundry wares — but its efficacy will decrease the longer they are afflicted. ）

ii.b

[callada]

[Rosinante drifts over and holds a hand up in greeting. With corals painted on his face and flaming pixie cups around his neck, he's doing his best to look like a celebrating local, and kind of enjoying the whole thing.]

You mean, have they seen the sun? I'd bet some of them have journeyed up there, brought back stories of the blazing glow above the water.

[The sun is both friend and foe at sea, after all. Better than a storm, keeps you warm in the North Blue, but if there's no shelter from it you'll bake alive. He's pale enough to have had his share of bad sunburns over the years.]

Good to see you're doing well, by the way. That was some security back there.

[He keeps vague for now out of habit. Better than just loudly blabbing around the locals that they're from a hell of a lot farther out of town than the average tourist.]

[cruelyethuman]

[He is without a name here. The first mission since he stepped foot on the station, when he didn't find at least a flimsy cover story to hide behind. A habit so ingrown, he shouldn't be able to forget.

But, things being what they are - what they might always be. The rising tide of change and the shifting emotions beyond the stars, he did. Forget.

Had grabbed the first hand that reached out to him in the dark at the bottom of the sea and had held on.

Kirigan's gaze goes... up. And up, until he finds Rosi's face swimming in the water. Painted and softly illuminated by the flower.]

We all made it out alive. [The faces he saw only fleetingly on the station, but Rosi was hard to miss.] I tried to keep us covered, and I failed.

It's good to know that you too made it out.

[callada]

[He smiles his thanks, but then shakes his head.]

You did your best. I thought it would work. Don't be too hard on yourself. It's hard to guess at what some people are prepared for when we're outsiders.

[Especially people who live in worlds with robots and HOLONETs and skyscrapers. He's a lot more comfortable here. He's never spent that much time with the fishmen or merfolk at home, admittedly, but it's still the closest thing to familiar he's seen in a long time.]

ii. b

[singlelogbridge]

[At first when Wei Wuxian glances over at the question, he doesn't immediately recognize the man. Though his features remain largely the same even in his new form, Wei Wuxian has only seen him in passing a number of times and his memory of people's faces has always been shit. It's why he lets out a laugh and tosses the man a wry smile.]

Willing to worship? Not much of a person for celebrations, are you?

[It isn't until Wei Wuxian has fully faced him that he recognizes him as General Kirigan, and while something inside of him neatly twists into muted anger and disgust, he manages to keep it from his expression. Mostly. He'd promised both Huaisang and Itachi that he wouldn't do anything rash, and while the urge to make his ire known is strong, it's wiser for now to play dumb. So he keeps his smile up and looks to catch the man's gaze, continuing on as if nothing is wrong.]

I don't think I'd like to live in a world without the sun, would you?

[cruelyethuman]

No.

[To which question?

Both.

All and nothing, a life lived in the dark for far too long, without the gentle heat of the sun against his skin. Without the balm of a sunset on his brow.

His head tilts, tail flicking in the water. Unlike a lot of the other orbers, he's chosen to stay- well- naked. Chest bared, the scars usually hidden underneath shirts buttoned to his throat, are pale lines all over his chest, patches of twisted skin regrown and long lines running down his back, half-hidden by the fin. Ropes of them slithers across fish-pale skin, almost indistinguishable from the paleness of the rest of him.

A black tail, black fins and just a sliver of dark red to mark the edges of it.

But his dark eyes lift until he meets Wuxian's.]

Not this kind of celebration at least. A world without a sun, is a dead world.

[singlelogbridge]

Like the last one. [Wei Wuxian answers in agreement, referring to E23-b. That the people carried on and life continued spoke more to the ingenuity of mankind than it did the life and soul of the planet. It's hard enough on the Ximilia where the sunlight room offers the only respite. He couldn't live on a world like that. However much people think him—think the Yiling Patriarch—a thing of shadows and darkness, he's always loved the light.

To Kirigan, he smiles, a playfulness entering the expression that he doesn't feel at all.]

Okay, then consider me curious. What kind of celebrations do you enjoy?

[It isn't that he expects the man to answer that he enjoys bathing in the blood of his enemies, but, well. It would be nice if it was that easy, wouldn't it? But any knowledge gained is better than nothing.]