[OTA] Feb/March events!

[claritatis]

Who: Ignis Scientia (claritatis), Julie Grigio Cabernet (redwinekindofgirl) and Nil (atravellerwithabow).
What: Top levels for the Feb and March events, as and when required.
Where: In the city, outside the city, wherever.
When: Feb/March for the duration of the Kiss Me Kill Me/Field Trip/Flu Season events.
Warnings: Nil.

((ooc: anything welcome! bring me your travellers, people being chased by monsters, anyone needing help, sandstorms, anything at all c: ))

Comments

[claritatis]

[Kate seems content enough to do the checking up on the orb, though that isn't to say that Ignis doesn't go to look at it now and then. It's for curiosity's sake - a wish to understand how the magic of this place functions - and he's on his way there to examine it when she appears almost out of nowhere and walks straight into him.

His first reaction is to steady her with a hand on her shoulder, a soft 'ah' of half-surprise leaving his lips.]

No harm done.

[Then he smiles - that quietly warm smile that tends to only ever be used on her.]

Were you in a hurry?

[dedikated]

( Only for good reasons, the kind of things that put her in an obviously good mood, as illustrated by how easily Kate smiles in return. )

Not really. ( Just trying not to get crushed by falling debris, usual life on a ruined planet. ) Looks like the orb's done.

( She's not picked it up yet, just in case it needs a little longer, but the warm buzzing optimism that seems to cover even this distance from the altar certainly seems to indicate that it is, indeed, finished. )

[claritatis]

Ah. Marvellous.

[The hopeful feeling generated by this place is infectious, and Ignis has noticed it mounting for as helpless as he has been to resist it. It's a good feeling, but one that he's been careful to keep in check - too much optimism can be a dangerous thing when you're in a place like this.

He looks around her, though he can't quite see the orb through the debris they have to snake through to reach the inside of the temple.]

We should be able to start back today, in that case.

[dedikated]

( Strange to think that, when she'd first turned up in Hadriel, Kate would have done anything to avoid the gods' influence. How much she hated standing in the temples and saw Hope as the worst part of it all. Wanting to do anything to close herself off from the emotions the city's overlords fed off because the city was hell and she refused to let it have that much from her.

Back before they'd even heard of The Null, far before they'd moved onto this barren desert planet.

How far things have come.

Humming her agreement, Kate casts a glance towards the direction of their campsite and finally - after too many moments - takes a step back from Ignis and catches his wrist in her hand as she does. )

Need water before we go.

[claritatis]

[Ignis' opinion of the gods hasn't changed much since he arrived, but he knows one thing - in Hadriel, they are a necessary evil, and actively working against them does nothing but cause more harm. Hope, from their limited communication, has seemed amicable enough.]

Mm, we do.

[There was no way that they were going to be able to carry enough water on those small vehicles to compensate for the heat and the sheer amount of heat that this alien sky could cast down on them over the course of a day. Ignis, as someone who dislikes being wet at the best of times, actually finds himself missing the rain.]

There should be some empty vessels at the camp site.

[dedikated]

( As wonderful as the concept of travelling without having to stop to rest during the midday baking session sounds, it's impossible, delaying everything for far longer than is needed. All of that and limited supplies on top of it.

Hope better appreciate it, is all she's saying. )

C'mon then. ( Thankfully, the pool near the temple should suffice, and no one has to worry about sudden flashes of rage or confusion when they take a drink. )

[claritatis]

[They learned to time it well, making sure that the tent was up and there was enough shelter when both suns were in the sky. The coverings on the supplied vehicles had their uses, but they only served to focus the sunlight when it became that strong.

He follows her to the pool, making idle small talk along the way, and once there takes his glasses off to quickly splash his face before he drinks.]

I wonder, [Ignis hums, sitting back at the edge of the pool.] what this world was like before the Null.

[dedikated]

( Folding her legs underneath her, Kate dips a flask into the water and holds it steady as it fills, letting her attention drift over to Ignis as he talks. What this place used to be like - it's not as though she's never wondered, but often the thoughts only come when there's little else to do. When she's not preoccupied with the here and now and the potential for getting them all out of this alive.

And they've always came when Hadriel was just an underground city, an isolated thing separate from anything else. This place is a world, a planet. Filled with all sorts of cities and likely, beings. Little things make sense, like the stained glass fronts of shops as the light filters through. )

What d'ya imagine?

( She tilts her head as she pulls the flask out of the water, fixing the lid and shaking droplets off the exterior. )

[claritatis]

[A planet like this, with two suns and such long days, could have never been a verdant and green land. But, perhaps, the presence of more beings like those in Hadriel these cities might have been each their own oasis of resources.]

The cities are large, but distant from each other. [He muses.] And I've seen little evidence of roads, but we have no way of knowing how long the planet has been abandoned.

[Or what damage the Null caused. He fills his own flask, quickly drinks from it, then tops it up.]

They may have had another means of transportation.

[dedikated]

... The Door?

( The thought comes to her like lighting striking the ground, as though it all seems to fit. If each city in this world had its own Door, it could be possible, right? After all, they have no way of verifying that The Door truly is limited to simply bringing in their worlds. If the gods don't know how to operate or control it - and, after so long in this city, Kate's seen enough to believe that much is true - then who's to say it's even supposed to operate in the way it does now? )

[claritatis]

[Ignis straightens slightly, the expression of surprise that crosses his face clear enough if she happens to be looking for it. The Door. Of course.]

I wonder...

[He looks around them. It's difficult to tell from here.]

Is the coliseum unique to Hadriel, or just its position around the Door itself? [A question they could easily discover the answer to themselves.] Shall we take a look?

[dedikated]

( That's a good question. They've both gone exploring various parts of the city, but Kate has yet to come across anything that looks like Hadriel's Colosseum. She presses her lips together. It would be nice if she'd managed to find a way to see the powers of the original residents, their so-called gods, but at the very least they can find the Colosseum. )

Sure.

( And she stands, quietly musing a million things about travel in this world over as they walk. )

Could be that. Could be Fear. Could be they had powers or something.

( Flight? Teleportation? Swimming through the pools? Who knows how far out the water stretches. )