![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE MEME #5
1. not subtle revealings
[you wake up.
it doesn't matter where you were before. going to bed? dying? opening the door to face a great evil? same result. you wake up in a soft bed with starched sheets in a cool, darkened room, sunlight peeking out from behind thick curtains. maybe you're alone; maybe you aren't. maybe you immediately notice the folded paper on the bedside table near your head. if you don't, you better fix that real quick: you won't be able to even open the door before you read it.
the note itself is written in a neat hand on white card stock; there is a stylized logo of a ship with the words SERENA ETERNA printed underneath. the note reads as follows:
Dear Passenger(s),
As your cruise director, it is my great honor to welcome you aboard the Serena Eterna, your destination for fun and adventure! We know you could have chosen any cruise line for your vacation, and we're very grateful you chose ours! On behalf of the Captain, I would like to assure each and every passenger that will we do whatever it takes to fulfill all your needs and desires during your journey with us.
At your earliest possible convenience, please attend the mandatory lifeboat drill by the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is very eager to get started on all the fun and sun, but safety always comes first! You can find your life jacket in your cabin's closet; carry it to your assigned muster station on deck one, where I will take you through the drill. If you can't find me in the crowd, just look for the gal with the winning smile!
See You Real Soon!
Sincerely,
Gal Friday
you walk to deck one. you have no other choice: every time you try to step in a direction some unseen being considers "not towards deck one," you find your legs no longer move, staying stock still, frozen. whether compelled quickly by curiosity, or delayed by pure stubbornness, the result is the same, and you are left milling around with other similarly curious or stubborn people.
you see someone in uniform near the front of the crowd. she seems to be a gal, but is missing the winning smile, along with most of her other features. she seems to see you, though, rushing to your side and placing a lei around your neck with great formality. a voice, cheery but artificial, sees to come from nowhere and everywhere.]
Welcome! I'm very glad to have you aboard!
[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.
after the drill is completed, you are seemingly free to go. or, well, your legs work, now. and maybe that's as good as it's gonna get.]
2. a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling
[the reflections are missing. all of them. in mirrors. in television screens. on the backs of spoons. nothing looks back at you.
then, figures do show up. not your own, like you'd expect. thin, wispy apparitions, people with pleading eyes and hands, reaching out to place their palms against the surface, from their own end. faces familiar and not, beckoning, mouthing words you just can't quite make out. help me, it might be. get me out, perhaps. just until you're close enough, until your skin warms the surface of whatever it is you're peering into. and then, those same hands wrap, all too real, burning-cold against your flesh, and pull, trying to drag you through the surface, making up for their lack of strength with desperation. any flesh unlucky enough to enter the reflection comes back bone-white and cold, all sensation dead, though it will fade within a few hours.
in retrospect, it looks a bit more like they were saying something different. something more like, better you than me. or maybe it's not even words at all. they look a bit more like they're laughing.]
3. complex mementos
[but, hey. sometimes changes are good! like, today, in Playback, there's a brand-new game available for all the children to play! it's an old-fashioned sort of claw machine, the type that's so large, a particularly dedicated kindergartner could wriggle their way inside. the prizes vary, and sit loose: bags of candy, stuffed toys, firearms, painfully early-00s electronics, actually that one just looks like a dead iguana, tiny ship-branded knickknacks... like all the other games in the arcade, the game starts up automatically upon being touched; lack of quarters shouldn't keep you from having fun! pro tip: they are loaded, and they will go off if you suck at claw games and let it fall.]
no subject
...Pretty obvious and awkward topic change, huh... Rita wonders if he just really likes snakes or something like that, but...blastia, hm? Despite herself, she does scan the ground again for anything similar.]
Hmph... It's possible, I suppose. I don't really see any, though--most blastia models are on the larger side. Anyway, what kind of world did you come from?
no subject
He wonders this, but then she manages to redirect his attention again. Quite breezily, he's choosing to forget the last five minutes. ]
Oh, the place I come from is much different from this.
I'm part of a temple, but I mostly work within the secular world, traveling and helping out when ghosts or demons start causing trouble for ordinary people and such. [ ?? His understanding of "world". ] Actually, maybe this isn't that different...
no subject
As he answers, she freezes for a split-second--then crosses her arms, because yes, despite all evidence to the contrary here, she's stubbornly refusing to agree that ghosts exist. Instead...she fixes him with an unimpressed and very judgy look. Someone who goes around solving supposedly-supernatural problems sure sounds like...]
...So you're a con artist? Appearances really are deceiving, huh. [And before he can interject, she's continuing right on-] Just so you know, I won't fall for those kinds of tricks!
no subject
His reaction to suddenly being accused of a con artist though...is just a mild, tired smile. It's? Nice? That she doesn't think he looks like a con artist?? ]
I don't expect you to. There are a lot of con artists out there, so it's not wrong to be cautious of types that say they can make anything happen. [ Why deny the truth? ] Thankfully, you have your own skills, so there's no need to rely on someone like me to take care of creatures like that for you anyway, is there? You're perfectly capable on your own.
[ So he says. He knows how accusations like this work, and he also already knows she's a difficult type. Why bother fighting? ]
no subject
But anyway--so he isn't denying it! Rita puts her hands on her hips.]
Hmph, you've got that right! Any real monsters show up, and I'll blast them into oblivion!
[Not ghosts, though. Because they clearly don't exist. Ignore all the stuff that moves on its own here.]
no subject
Then that's all you need!
[ He claps his hands, as if settling the matter. ]
Oh, weren't you going to tell me about that world of yours? You said it was Terca?
no subject
It's Terca Lumireis.
[...She is quite a bit more terse with him than earlier, though, because she doesn't feel like getting friendly if he's really a con artist!! So she doesn't elaborate at all beyond that...]
no subject
Shi Qingxuan really hates being ignored, and he doesn't really like being misunderstood either. He had thought she wouldn't really think so badly of him, but... ]
...Say, you don't need to believe me or believe in the things I do, but do you need to give me a cold shoulder because of it? I haven't done anything wrong, so there's no need to treat me like this?
no subject
Because...you're a fraud, and I'm not interested in someone who uses magic for evil.
[She's not even trying to sound cool or anything; this is really how she feels!! Okay, mostly more about blastia-related magic, but still.]
no subject
[ He points at himself, as if unsure she's actually really talking about him. She's young, but how much of her imagination is she utilizing here?! ]
Fraud?? Evil?? Rita, what kinds of things are you imagining?? The Wind Master is a righteous— [ cultivator ] —god, there's nothing evil about my work or my path. If you're worried about those remains, those rites aren't secret, you can observe the rites yourself.
[ Because clearly, she now thinks he's an evil cultivator who uses resentful energy and human remains in his spells. ]
no subject
[It's possible he isn't, but...maybe he's just a really good liar-!]
--I'm not worried about those remains! All that stuff about--you know--that doesn't exist, okay?!
[???? Nailed her point clearly??]
no subject
[ He takes his folding fan out of his belt, tapping the guard against his head with a frown. ]
But, the "all that stuff" you mentioned, what is "all that stuff"?? You can't mean the resentful energy? Young miss, even without training, surely you must feel at least a little bit here. Even without feeling it, the evidence is clear as day, right before our eyes? You can't pass a window without seeing a little ghost trapped inside!
[ ???? ]
no subject
[Either he is one or he isn't, and if he's not, wouldn't the normal thing be to try and make a case for himself?! But then he goes and continues talking about resentful energy and...ghosts-!! And Rita stiffly straightens up and takes half a step back.]
There's not--there's nothing like that! You're just seeing things!
no subject
That poor hairpin, forgotten now, as Shi Qingxuan turns to look even more confused at Rita. ]
Are you feeling okay??
[ He reaches out to try to take hold of her wrist. ]
If you're not seeing them, that's not a bad thing necessarily, but since they are there, it's rather disconcerting that you can't see them at all.
[ They could grab her and hurt her!! ]
no subject
Y--you're the one seeing things! There's nothing to see! It's just--a trick of the captain's!
[You know. A trick. But one that's not actually there?!]
no subject
Okay, okay, let's forget that for now.
[ No bullying the little girl! He stands, but he doesn't walk after her. While she is young, she doesn't seem like the type to want to be placated, so he just speaks to her calmly and openly instead. ]
The captain tricking us is a definite possibility. You're right about that. After all, if he's trying to imitate the way of ghosts and demons, then of course that would make them much more realistic and scary to the people here. Mean tricks like that are still dangerous. There's no need to consider whether the ghosts and demons that appear here are real or fake, or if they're caused by the resentment of the deceased or the captain's sadistic whims. The important part is how to deal with them, don't you think?
So, if we both deal with them in our own ways, then that just means we have two different strategies to cover our bases.
no subject
H-huff why do people see her as a little girl...!She eyes him dubiously, and he...rambles quite a bit there. She still doesn't like it!! Even if he has a slight point.After a moment of glowering at him, she gives in just a little.]
Hmph--so what can you do to deal with--monsters?
no subject
So short she can't see over the bar at restaurants. u_uThis seems to be going well! Better, even! Shi Qingxuan waves his fan, flicking it open across his chest. The word "wind" is scrawled across it in slanting script (now in English!). ]
Can't you already guess? I have my own magic to deal with monsters. Isn't that what you were interested in knowing about earlier?
no subject
nakjnsd no that's Karol!!"Wind", huh...he certainly has a theme. Rita crosses her arms.]
If you can do more than a little gust, anyway.
no subject
TRUE poor Captain Karol...Shhh don't comment on how loudly wind-oriented he is... ]
Of course I can! [ He doesn't even sound offended. Rather, his voice is bright and proud. ] But using spells like that indoors is bad, so let's find your lucky hairpin first.
no subject
He's a true tiny...All he's missing are some windchimes...]
Hmph...so it's back to that, huh...
[Somehow, the hairpin doesn't feel quite as important as it did before...not that it was ever that important, or anything-!]
Don't think this means I believe you.
no subject
[ He looks down again, and around, and...there really is a lot left still. But- ]
What's there to not believe? [ He asks innocently... This is way more believable than the truth! ] Are my skills not enough proof of my identity? Who else will you meet that can control wind like me other than a follower of the Wind Master?
no subject
At his question, she gives him a flat look...before starting to casually list people.] Jade, Venti...maybe some others here whose powers I don't know yet. I could develop more formulae utilizing wind if I felt like it, too, and there was the old man back in my world...
[In other words: she's heavily implying that he's nothing special!!]
no subject
You say that, but you haven't seen what I'm capable of yet, so how can you act like it's all the same? Even if there are such skilled people here, that doesn't change my own expertise?
[ Sigh!! He shakes his sleeves out in a huff and starts walking! ]
Fine, whatever. If it's like that, then let's just go on deck to sort this out.
[ Good thing she didn't want the hairpin that much anyway?? ]
no subject
[Wow, it's like he's suddenly getting a little grumpy for some totally unknown reason?! Huff, well, if that's how he wants it, then she'll follow after him! (As soon as they step away, the mess and smashed claw machine get magically cleaned up, everything returning to the way it was before Rita ruined it...maybe she'll get that hairpin another day...)
Since he's the one so worried about the location, she'll continue to let him lead the way to the deck of his choosing.]
And just so you know, I'm not here to be your target practice.
[You know, as if everyone's as willing to throw magic at people at she is...]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)