2024-07-20: Setting Sail
- Log: Setting Sail
- Cast: Shige Kiwako, Mia Tamaoka
- Where: Northern Steppes
- Date: July 20, 2024
- Summary: Shige makes a long overdue trip to her hometown, North Window, intending to check on the memorial she made for the dead and to reconnect with her past. She brings Mia along to teach her bout the town and its history, as well as the events that lead to its destruction.
=============================<* Northern Steppes *>============================= The northern regions of the Elru continent are composed of broken, barren hills, their soil frozen and crusted over with rime. Little grows there, and even less lives. The monsters and wildlife of the region are notoriously fierce; a monster seeing a traveller will chase that person down for weeks if necessary, as that may be the only protein it sees in that time. The Steppes have been the dominion of the military Kingdom of Arctica since before the Day of Collapse, but in recent years their castle has been silent and unresponsive. The walls sit shattered and broken, the gate open and scored with long-dead flame. BGM: Wild ARMs - Migrant Bird of the Wilderness - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfRBmqBlzzQ
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige's drifting along the tundra of Arctica. She's got passengers, one of which is definitely living. Aside from herself of course. She's sober. She's cleaned herself up a surprising amount, going as far as to actually braid her hair and and avoid the homebody look she normally goes with, if she's not doing her other job.
Hanging at her hip is the everpresent lantern, but on the opposite hip now rests a revolver and a series of rounds. And a deck of cards sits nearby, strapped down. She hasn't fully learned what she needs there, but that's a project to work on.
As for why she's returning home after all this time? She's not sure. She never intended to return. She never wnated to. And despite that, when asked about her home and other.. things. She had decided on a whim almost, to go back. To show what was.
Before leaving, she had stocked up on supplies. There's a bottle of alcohol, still sealed in wax behind her. She's got flowers. She also has food, supplies and other things just in case.
Finally, she's been silent for some time. Focused. And she had warned the younger charge to bring warm clothing (Very warm.) and supplies of her own just in case. Not that she intends anything bad to happen, but why not prepare for the worst just in case.
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Shige has been... a subject of both fascination and concern for Mia. Now taht she's trying to be more confident and determined, having the woman tell her to quit doing crimes in Team Rocket is... well, not what she wants to hear, at the moment. But on the other hand, Shige is practically the only other person she knows with powers and abilities similar to her own Spiritsight, and having a chance to actually learn how to manage her powers, from someone who at least seems willing to entertain the notion that they bother her...
... well, it's a bridge she doesn't want to burn, quite yet.
She is bundled up quite thoroughly for the trip. A long, fur-lined coat, thermal tights, boots, and gloves. Purri is snuggled up in her coat, too, her head poking out of it as the two stay bundled close together for warmth. Her backpack is loaded with extra food and supplies, and her pokeballs are within easy reach.
She's silent too, looking at the landscape. Someplace so cold and desolate... it's not quite like any place she's seen on Energy Nede. Even in the Field of Power pokemon seem to live and subsist. To see a place so barren...
... it's kind of sad, really.
Finally, a quiet voice asks, "Shige? W-was this always... like this?" Maybe it got caught up in this desertification, too? However that process works.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige herself, wants to see the better in people despite herself, most of the time. That it doesn't point inward is some level of problem she needs to get over. The cockpit, for what it's worth is relatively warm. By Shige's standards at least. And she's only wearing a coat, blouse and slacks. The boots are cozy. She's fuzzy. And from the area though.
"It's a tundra, a lot of it was always like this, but there used to be more here." She shrugs. "I didn't see much outside of the town I was from and the ocean though." She's got a strange neutral tone to her voice. Clearly keeping herself in order by force of will more than anything else.
With the wind howling past, "We prayed to Lucadia and Aru Sulato back home funny enough." There, a hint of emotion sneaks in. Bitterness maybe? Her hand almost reflexively starts to move towards her hip, but she catches herself. "I liked it though. The sunset against the sea and snow was pretty at some point. Sitting there next to a fire and listening to the wind."
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia thinks she's chasing the best version of herself... whether she is or not, time will tell.
Used to be more... "Oh, I s-see..." Since they're in the cabin for now, Purri squirms out from the coat to take up a position where she can gaze out the cockpit window. Mia leans forward to watch, too. Didn't see much besides her hometown... "... I d-didn't get to leave L-Lavender Town until I went on my Journey..."
There are... quite a few things about Lavender Town that still bother her, that she's not willing to admit to yet.
Those names... "Are... th-those Guardians, too?" She's trying to get a grip on what the spiritual landscape of Filgaia is like, still. Sunsets over oceans and snow, next to a warm fire. "That sounds n-nice," she admits, quietly.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige might have different ideas of what's best. For obvious reasons.
As they drift across the tundra, Shige eventually notes, "If you're at the right angle, you can smell the ocean. We're getting close." Even after all these years, she knows the way home. Something of a stray cat joke there, surely.
"They are in name only." Which definitely affirms she might have some grudges there. That she's a shaman probably is something of a conflict of interest and she usually pushes it aside. She hasn't started a bar fight yet at least.
She stares forward, briefly lost to the memories. "It was. We ran the pub and inn of the village. Used to go out with everyone else for fishing. Learned how to sail and the duties there too." She's got a funny tone to her voice by now. Somewhere between fond memory and trying to stay composed.
"When I left the biggest ship was still visible in the water. Just the prow though."
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
"Must be nice, to l-live in a place with a view a-and a smell like that..."
"In... name o-only?" Mia watches Shige's reaction for a moment, then looks to Purri. Purri looks back, and makes a little shrugging motion. She's not sure. So Mia asks, "Did... s-something happen...?" Can you stop being a Guardian, somehow?
An Inn. "Oh, d-did you have a lot of visitors...?" Seems like they're traveling an awfully long way out, but... maybe that makes sense. Someone who took so long to get there must've needed a place to stay before heading back, right?
Purri jumps down, casually walking over to Shige's leg to rub up against her side for a moment. She's an emotional support cat, that's kind of what she does.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige nods, "It's nostalgic, in a way." She never has anything that smells like that. Even here in the cockpit, it smells more heavily of incense and spilled alcohol.
"Not much of a guardian if you can't save your people." She states flatly. There's an edge there again. The water's visible now. There's no buildings though. "It's why I went and yelled at Ge Ramtos too." She says that in a way that suggests it was literal.
"We had a few. We were... more a pub? But we had guest rooms. Fishing village had some traders make their way up. We got supplies we needed, they got cheap fish and ice."
The feline does reach down though, scratching the other feline behind the ear as she steers the way. "I'm just glad my mother never saw what happened." She sits back up at that and says, "Get your coat on and get ready. We're almost there."
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Nostalgic... "Hmm." Shige wants to remember something of her home, at least.
"I g-guess..." Mia doesn't know the Guardians, so really... she can't pass any judgement. She'll just have to take Shige's word for it on that front. "I w-wonder if something kept them away..."
The rooms were for the traders, that makes sense. "Ohhh, I s-see... W-were they really trading f-for ice? I wonder how they k-kept it cold to take it back to... wh-wherever."
Purri purrs, and then when Shige gets ready, the pokemon scampers over to Mia and hops up tino her arms. Mia shrugs her coat on and pulls up the hood for warmth. Purri stickers her head out under Mia's chin. "R-ready!"
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
The feline glances back briefly at the simple comment.. in a sense. It might explain Shige's comfort near ships and portside bars though.
Shige does actually know the answer here. And she even knows on some level it wasn't their fault. She's aware it's irrational in a lot of ways, especially with what she knows now even.
"They're losing power." She states flatly after a moment. She still doesn't show off her silver medium. "It's what I was told when I made my complaints heard." She looks back and adds, "Don't spread that too far. It'd be bad for everyone to know." She thinks. Maybe it would encourage more practivity? She's not going to touch that either way.
As they near a little bay area, there's not much standing. Hillsides. The prow of a ship jutting out of the water, but no buildings aside from the remnants of the docks leading out to the ship frozen there.
There's something nearby. A little monument of sorts, but Mia might not recognize it.
Even then, with the snow covering it all, there are hints of what was there. And hints at the shallow indentions suggesting craters. Something Mia might not know off hand.
She gets to her feet stiffle. Moving to grab her overcoat and hood. She also takes the flowers and the bottle and puts them carefully in her satchel.
"You put it below deck and you use a bit of magic in a room to keep it cool. Mostly I figured it was for keeping the fish though."
She's doing her best to keep it together at this point. Talking about anything else is probably helping.
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
"Losing p-power...?" Mia looks thoughtful at that, turning that over in her head. She's not aware of the full nature of Filgaia's woes, but... "Is th-that why everything is turning i-into deserts, t-too...?" They're a big part of Filgaia, Filgaia has some big problems... that seems possible, right? Some pokemon are responsible for caring for the land, afer all. "Or... is it the other way a-around...?" she continues pondering.
"I w-won't tell." She won't even tell Anne! ... Probably.
Mia would love to keep helping by distracting Shige, but once they step out of the ship she falls into a hushed silence. This... does not look like a town. Not anyumore, at least. She walks through in silence, eyes scanning the area. Even without actively tapping into her Spiritsight...
Something is seriously, seriously wrong.
She turns, maybe by chance or maybe by instinct, towards the monument. She heads towards it, pausing once she's close enough to look at it in more detail. Then she looks to Shige, and the rest of the town. "Wh-what happened?" her voice comes out in a quiet whisper, as if she were afraid to distrub the long dead.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
She shrugs, stating flatly, "I think it goes hand in hand. Some of it went over my head. Shamans still have what needs to be done though." She glances back, stating simply, "And for all my problems, I can state that one as truth."
Brushing herself off, she adjusts her coat, then steps out on to the deck. Nodding to a few shadowy figures who are looking out over the fields. Maybe they see something different? Shige certainly does, in a lot of ways.
She kicks the gangplank down with her heel, then makes her way down with practiced confidence. Waiting at the bottom for Mia to get down safely as well. Then she makes her way towards the edge of the 'town'.
"That was Kiku's place there. She and her husband used to handle a lot of the weaving and sailwork." Pointing to another place, "That was the smith's place." You could even still make out the hints of the forge's chimney under the snow, jutting out just so. She repeats this for the whole place. She remembers all of their names.
She doesn't answer yet though. Can't bring herself to do it. There's the corner of a larger building near the water that she stops at though. Pointing up, roughly where the window would have been. "My room was up there. Used to look out over the docks."
She's got a tense look to her. The same look she gets around any Hyadeans. Clearly agitated, conflicted and under it all, just sad and lost.
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia gives the shadowy figures a wide berth. It's not that she's afraid it's just... easier, on her senses, that way. But she does try to take everything in as best as she can.
She has no problem walking down the gangplank. She's been working on her balance, after all, and she can stride down it confidently now. She listens as Shige starts to describe all of the buildings and what they were and who they belonged to. "Kiku," she repeats quietly to herself. She repeats this for everyone Shige mentions, as if trying to commit everything to memory. It's important to Shige, and... she wants to pay it due respect.
Shige's bedroom. Mia looks up, then over to the docks. "I bet it a r-really nice view," comments Mia, for a lack of anything better to say.
Purri, from inside mia's coat, nuzzles up at the underside of her chin in a particular way. Mia just nods and wordlessly opens the zipper on her coat. Purri jumps out, then strolls over to Shige to rub up against her leg once more.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige lingers there for a moment. Looking up at what used to be there. The wind blowing past the destroyed town. Eventually she gathers herself together enough to points past Mia towards the docks, on the shore. "I woke up over there." Taking a moment to put a hand to her side. Almost like she was remembering that. At least she didn't show the scarring.
"I don't remember how I got there anymore." She pauses, looking from where they stand, then back. Maybe she's trying to dredge those memories up after years of drowning them out instead.
Eventually she shrugs and gestures, "Let's go." Making her way towards the edge of the town. North along the waterfront. There's a short cliffside.
She reaches down and carefully picks up Purri if allowed, not wanting to trip over the cat... or step on her while she's clearly distracted.
"Well. This was my home." She says. There's something in her tone. She's still holding things together mostly well.
There's definitely been attemps to pull at something on her hip. Mia may or may not realize it was her liquor. Not the bottle she'd brought and intentionally kept in a pack.
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mis frowns as she looks over to the shore where Shige indicates. She woke up there. That's... nt right. Nothing in this town is quite right, and Mia can't quite bridge the gap yet... not on the full story. Not without some extra context. But whatever it is, she gets the sense that it was bad.
She can't remember... Mia takes a step a little closer to Shige now, too. To be a more supportive presence. Shige still hasn't said what happened, but... Mia can't bring herself to press the issue. She knows that people handle grief and loss in different ways.
"Wh-where are we going...?"
Purri does allow herself to be picked up. And she curls up into Shige's arms, nuzzling against her in h9opes of providing some reassurance. (Mia kind of needs a lot of reassurance sometimes.)
"I..." This was her home. Mia looks around again, and says the only sincere thing she can think of in the moment. "I'm s-sorry."
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige reaches out and puts a hand on Mia's shoulder. She appreciates the effort. It's absentminded in a way. "I told you about the train right?" She asks, as they pick their way through the snow. Shige quietly guiding them around the basin of some crater.
"Doesn't smell the same any more." She notes, a little quieter. Her thumb's idly petting Purry as she walks. "I guess without everything around it just goes back to smelling like the sea." That's almost a disappointment. She'd had to have known it, but..
"Where everyone is." That's Shige's only response to Mia's question.
"I haven't been home since it happened." By now, it's clear they're heading towards the stone marker. Though it's at an angle as they get closer. Something that gets a frown from the feline beastfolk
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
Mia looks up to Shige at the hand on her shoulder. She lifts her own hand to put it on top of Shige's. She can do that much, at least. "Y-yeah. The one that t-takes people to... t-to the afterlife. Right?"
She's... not sure she's ready to take on something like that.
"I g-guess after so long..." She can't really bring herself to finish that thought, though. It's a bit obvious, Shige doesn't need her to say it.
'Where everyone is.' "Oh."
Hasn't been home since... Mia unconsciously brings a hand to her chest as she contemplates that idea. Something aches about that statement, and she can't afford to let herself linger on it. And yet... the question comes, small and quiet and just a little shakey. "... h-how long?"
She sees that tilt, and isn't sure if it's supposed to be that way or not.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige nods. Continuing the long walk to the edge of town. She might be slowing down subconsciously. "Sometimes you wake up with a black ticket. You're supposed to use it to board." She laughs and says in a quiet tone, "Don't need it any more even if the dick of a conductor thinks I don't belong.' She pulls a face. Humor helps a bit.
"I woke up with one over there. Everyone else did too." As they get closer, the stone was there before. If one had to guess. There was carving in it, some kind of waystone maybe. Names had been crudely carved onto the surface. Nearby, there are probably corroded tools. There's the hint of a pick and shovel nearby too, if Mia's paying particular attention.
She stops short of the marker.
"Years now. The metal demons just attacked out of the blue. I didn't even know what they were before that night." There's a briefly guilty look. One that grows sorrowful. She's clearly conflicted. "I've met a few of them after. They don't even know their own heritage and death rites." She waves her hand. "I... still owe someone liquor after the last time I ran into her."
There's a quiet moment. "I don't know if they'd approve or not."
She reaches down, hand gone from Mia's shoulder as she pulls the flowers free first. Finally stepping forward.
"I pulled everyone from the town. Tried to make sure I got family with family." She points a few spots out. If Mia's math is quick, she might have a rough estimate of how many this actually was. Maybe not.
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
The black ticket... That sounds familiar. "I r-remember..." She doesn't need it anymore. ".. b-because you yelled at your boss...?" Or it might be because she has the Medallion, but Mia doesn't know about that.
Shige woke up with one... even if she wasn't dead yet. That's... ringing some bells. "B-because everyone else was..." She gets that part. Mia draws a sharp breath as she sees the names carved into the stone... and she pulls out her camera to take a picture. These aren't getting posted online, though. These are just... for preservation.
So there'll be some record of the names, even if they fade from the stones.
Attacked out of nowhere... Mia looks up to Shige. "You m-mean, the Hyadeans?" Using the right names are important. (A fact that she is all too keenly aware of.) Mia reaches up to put a hand on Shige's arm as the conflict tugs at her.
"If who w-would approve of what..?"
"You h-had to do that all by y-yourself...?" This is... a lot ot take in. And maybe the full weight of it isn't hitting Mia yet. Maybe it'll hit later. Maybe she's trying to hold herself together for Shige's sake.
<Pose Tracker> Shige Kiwako has posed.
Shige shakes her head, "No no." Regarding the ticket. "I joke about it because it helps. I'm a guide. I can feel when it's near. I'm pretty sure I could even beckon it."
She runs her fingers throug her hair briefly before carefully moving to set Purri down so she can walk over to the marker. Pushing against it with her shoulder to get it standing properly again. She... instinctually reaches out to stop Mia from taking pictures. She's seen what Nedians do, but she stops herself. "Please don't stick that on a board." She's... clearly thinkign a literal board probably. She's heard the lingo, she hasn't seen it.
"I had to borrow tools from the smith's place to do it. I didn't know what this was at first." She pats the stone grimly. The flowers are set down at the post.
The whiskey bottle is also removed this time. It's set down, untouched and unopened.
She's sure she's supposed to pour the whiskey out, but that can be later if she does.
Her ears flatten at the name. She notably tenses too. "Them. Yes." She glances over, "Someone resurrected one of the big demons. That's where I got hurt because I wanted it dead at all costs." A hint of darkness. She might try to help, even the Hyadeans, but she can't help it.
"Everyone here." She offers a sweep of her hands. "They've moved on. I saw to it myself. That was my first ride. And where I got the lantern." She pats it lightly. "I did. Every body, as complete as I could get them." She doesn't pull away at least. She's just standing there at this point.
<Pose Tracker> Mia Tamaoka has posed.
"Oh. Okay." Mia doesn't really turn to humor to cope with her problems, but... she knows that some people do. Purri, meanwhile, jumps down easily enough, making her way over to Mia and hopping back up into her coat to stay warm.
Mia looks up to Shige and nods. "I w-won't. Promise. I j-just... wanted to document it. Th-that's all." Shige has her journal. Mia has a smartphone.
She watches, quietly, as Shige straightens the monument, and then sets down the flowers and the whiskey. What can she say to all that?
But she does catch that reaction of Shige's ears. If it means anything like it does on Purri... And she explains the injury more, and this time Mia can put it together. "... Oh. I s-see."
Everyone here... it's an overwhelming thought, to have to put to rest so many people, all by one's lonesome. Words fail her, and Mia instead just steps forward, and hugs an arm around Shige's waist, one-handed. It's not much, but... maybe it'll be enough, in the moment.