vatheon | SHUSH LEVI I AM THE BEST LEADER.

[The staring doesn't really help, no. But luckily for them, the ride doesn't take that long in the first place; so once it stops, the doors open and Yukari leads the way out.

The blue sky is quite the sight to be hold, even for someone who's used to it; and they'll be able to hear and see the ocean immediately.]

We residents built that elevator ourselves so we could have access to this place.

...Nice, right?

[Continuing to lead the way to the sand and beach!]

[The first thing Cielo does is look up and the sky is beautiful. He has to stop himself from transforming right there and then and taking off into it. But of course, he hears the waves and he feels the ocean breeze and. He can see it up ahead.

The beach.

It's...

Cielo makes a somewhat incoherent sound.]

Serph...

[Sorry, Yukari, you're going to have to wait until these two are done with their feelings; Serph isn't following you right now.

Serph almost doesn't dare to step off the elevator; just seeing the beach and the blue sky... What's this overwhelming feeling in his chest? It's forming a tight knot, yet... he's happy? The sun... it's warm. He wants to lift his face and ~~run~~ walk through the sunlight.

If this isn't Nirvana, it's pretty damn close.

He can't speak; he has no words for how he feels. So Serph lightly rests a hand on Cielo's shoulder -- he's seeing this, too -- before he faces the sun and steps out of the elevator, closing his eyes and just letting the warmth of the sun wash over him. If you look, there's the tiniest of smiles on his face.]

[Oh...

Okay. Well, Yukari's kind of nervous for a moment, since she's made herself an impromptu tour guide for this. Especially when neither step out of the elevator at first; but then she sees their faces light up and she decides this can't be a bad reaction. No, not at all.]

Edited 2012-02-08 17:15 (UTC)

[Heh. She watches fondly as Serph rests his hand on Cielo's shoulder and folds her arms.]

I'll take that as a yes, then...

[No worries. She won't interrupt them.]

[The beach exceeds his wildest expectations. Cielo's memories pale in comparison. He follows Serph out of the elevator and for a moment, he's afraid that it's just an illusion. But it doesn't fade away or crumble beneath his feet.

It's real.

If only the others could see this too.

Remembering their guide, Cielo snaps himself out of his awe for a moment to turn to Yukari.]

Thank you so much for showing us this.

[Serph gives Yukari an acknowledging nod.]

It's beautiful.

[And he means it. It's better than anything he could have imagined. There's only two things missing: his other comrades and a boat. No, a ship. There's supposed to be a ship out on the ocean, like the one they had blown up.]

It is, isn't it?

[She's always thought so, too, though she knows it was probably also because she hadn't seen the beach and sun for so long. Still, though, it really is a sight for sore eyes. The sunset is especially beautiful.]

You're welcome. It's, uh...safe to swim around in, too, if you're into that sort of thing.

[Still kind of curious about how strong their reaction is. Hm, but she doesn't exactly know how to bring it up as a question, so...she'll just let them enjoy themselves for now.]

[Swimming? That sounds pretty fun. Cielo, however, is happy enough just being there. Instead, he bends over and scoops up a handful of sand. It's soft and warm and he watches as it slips through his fingers.

Really, he could just sit there all day and be content.]

[Unlike Cielo, Serph's more interested in the water than the sand, and he walks towards the water's edge. He's not used to having the ground shift under his feet the way the dry sand does -- there's something not right about walking in the sand like this, but he can't place what -- but it's not long before he reaches the wet sand where water rolls in and out from the beach.

He stands there, watching the gentle waves for a moment before striding into the water itself. So much for drying off, huh?]

[WELL, you know. They can always dry off later. This is obviously an important moment, after all. She watches the two of them; Cielo, playing with the sand, and Serph with the water, and though it does feel a bit awkward, without a conversation going, she decides she's pretty content as well.

It's rare to find people to be around, where you can feel kind of comfortable and at peace, even without constant chatter. So...there is that.

Rather than forcing any more words, Yukari follows Cielo's suit, picking up some of the sand as well. She's closer to where Serph is, though, so the sand is wet, and she finds it easy to mold it into whatever she wants.

She certainly doesn't want to get dirty, but...well, she's not rolling around in it. And she can always wash her hands later...]

[Serph going into the water catches Cielo's attention and he turns away from the sand to get closer to the water. He's not really thinking right now, the sights, smells, and sounds are just all so new to him that he just has to explore it all.

Oh, what's that in the water? Wading in, Cielo finds that the water is warm. But that's not what has his attention right now. Sticking his hand into the shallows, he pulls up a strange object and he examines it, admiring its beautiful colors and spiral shape. He doesn't know what it is, and he doesn't feel a pressing need to ask Yukari about it right now.

Time spent asking questions was time not spent seeing and experiencing things.]

[Meanwhile, Serph's wading deeper in the water until he's far out enough to submerge himself fully. While the surface of the water is warm, underneath is blissfully cool. Maybe it's the influence of Varna, but the rush of water past his ears as he swims beneath the surface feels right.

This is far different from the dip they'd taken in the waterways of Svadhisthana; the salt and the gentle roll of water feels much more organic than anything he's experienced in the Junkyard. He doesn't have an oxygen tank here, though, so he can't stay underwater for too long.

When he surfaces, he turns to check on Cielo and Yukari. ......Oh. The shore sure seems pretty far away...]

[Okay. So maybe Yukari doesn't really know what to mold the sand into at first, but she settles on the shape of a star. Maybe it's the shape of their communicators, or maybe it's the Chocobo she got to name, whose coat color reminded her of the bright shining lights in the sky...

But either way, she is making a star shape when she sees Serph all the way out there. She...

laughs a bit, but also thinks maybe he should go out so far. :|a]

H-Hey! [She calls out to him, waving, which would either be interpreted as "hello, wow you're really far out" or "get the hell back here"—

But she turns to her other companion for the moment.]

C-Cielo, does Serph know how to—

[...she stops mid-question, instantly distracted when she sees what's in his hand.

That's a really pretty color.]

Oh, cool! You found a seashell...

This?

[He holds up the seashell so they can both get a better look at it.]

It's very pretty, same color as the ocean, ja?

[He then looks up and out towards the water. If there's anything that the beach can't shake Cielo of, it's his natural instinct to make sure Serph is all right. An instinct that's only gotten stronger once he realized that he is essentially Serph's lone protector here.]

Hey, bro, don't go out too far or I'll have to go get you.

[He'll do it too, Serph. He'll fly right out there and pluck you out of the water like an eagle snagging a fish. But for now, Cielo simply sits down in the water because there is this thing with pincers and six legs scuttling sideways across the ocean floor and that it's really funny looking.]

[Serph can't hear a word of what either Yukari or Cielo are saying this far out. They seem fine though, so he gives them a wave before submerging again.

Yukari had said the beach isn't dangerous, and there certainly isn't anything he can see as dangerous. No random strong water currents that sucks him through narrow passageways into solid walls, nope. And he's swum farther distances before, so he's not tired at all.

So he doesn't think too much of it when he swims out further, surfacing when he runs out of breath. Serph squints out at the distance. How far does an ocean stretch for, anyway..?]

Ha, what d'you know? It is! [She laughs a bit, taking another look at the shell.] You can actually go ahead and keep that, if you want.

[Then Yukari's looking back at Serph. He shows no signs of coming back, nor...any signs of having heard her in the first place, really. Not sure whether to be worried or not, but she's giggling again at Cielo to try to hide the fact that she is.

...She doesn't want him to drown on his first day here, if anything unfortunate were to happen out there. :|]

Heh. I guess he can't hear us.

[Cielo really likes it, so he's going to keep it. Into one of his item packs it goes! He looks out towards the open water when Yukari mentions Serph not hearing them. And his dear leader has gone even further out into the ocean.

...that's really, really far away. Further than Cielo is comfortable with.]

I'm going to go get him.

[Yukari might have expected him to dive into the water and swim, but NOPE. Completely oblivious to how some not from their world would take this, Cielo holds both his arms out and the brand on his right leg glows a bright blue. And his body changes, growing taller and when it's finished, a demon stands where Cielo was. Lifting off, he flies over to Serph and dives, gracefully plucking him out of the water with his clawed feet. Cielo returns to the shallows, gently setting Serph down, growling as he does.]

Don't do that! At least let me go with you next time.

[The voice coming from the demon is deeper, more bestial, and yet there's a hint of worry in there. Serph is all Cielo has of the Tribe right now. The next time he pulls something like that, he's getting a Ziodyne in the face, leader or not.]

[The dark shadow that falls over Serph while he's in the water startles him, but not as much as suddenly being grabbed out of the water. But as soon as he realises that it's Cielo that's ~~rudely~~ interrupting his swim, Serph allows Cielo to cart him back to the beach.

When Serph's back on solid ground, he silently takes Cielo's berating -- has Cielo been taking nannying lessons from Gale? But he nods; he understands Cielo's worry, so he won't go out so far next time.

He'll just be fixing his hair so it's not all in his eyes right now.]

[ . . . oh.]

[LJDSLKJAS WHAT WAS THAT EVEN. She doesn't even have a chance to stop him; she shields her eyes from the blue glow and in a moment he was gone. She blinks and suddenly she can see the strange demon coming back with her new friend in tow.

...]

[Okay, but no.

It's okay. Because Serph seems totally okay with him. He hasn't even said anything, simply nodded as he was scolded. It must...

It must still be him.

She stares at the demon form curiously with widened eyes.]

Ci...elo?

[Yes, of course Cielo has been taking lessons from Brother Gale. When you hang out around the guy long enough, you pick up some things from him. Even if you're Cielo, who's more or less the Anti-Gale.

But Cielo can't stay seriously miffed by his friends for very long, and once he's done, he gives Serph an affectionate nudge with his head to show him that he was forgiven.

When he hears his name, he turns to face Yukari. Even though in this form he has no eyes to see her with, his other senses tell him that she's staring at him. And...oh.

She's never seen Atma before, has she?

...well then.

But...she doesn't seem scared.]

That's me.

[Serph doesn't have any outward reaction to Cielo's nudging, but he doesn't mind it at all. Cielo's the one who pokes at the people he cares about, after all.

However, it seems they're wrong about everyone here having Atma, if Yukari's reaction is anything to go by. Perhaps the tattoos mentioned in the brochure from Zelda have nothing to do with Atma; Vatheon is strange enough for that to be true. In some ways, he is glad for that; no one should be required to go through what they do to feel.

But Serph won't hide what they are, especially not from friends.]

Our demons are part of who we are. Dyaus is still Cielo.

[But the eating people thing? That's not something he'll advertise.]

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now with working image link I guess

SPOILERS TEN'S NEVER SWUM IN BEACH WATERS DESPITE LIVING IN BEACH COUNTRY

[1/2] THAT'S OKAY you're also in australia everything would try to kill you

[2/2] also help i talk too much

Nothing to worry about, Yukari, you should see what they've swam through

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