tushanshu_logs | 01 - The Ambition in A Kingdom of Afternoon Naps

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01 - The Ambition in A Kingdom of Afternoon Naps

Characters: Sion Astal, ANYONE
Date: August! 8/2 and on
Location: Random Turtle Edge, Fire Sector, anywhere!
Situation: Sion Arrives! And then catch all for anything else. I'll add more prompts as I think of them.
Warnings/Rating: None at the moment, moderate chance to change.

A for Arrival:
It shouldn't be this… normal, he realizes. Waking up somewhere, not entirely sure how he got there. Or how long he'd been there, that was a bit more common for him.

Sion blinks blankly at the sky for a long couple of minutes, and with a grunt of effort, pushes himself to sitting up. It's a little harder than it ought to be, and staring blankly at his feet helps him realize why. He's at a beach. Fortunately well above the tide-line, but more importantly.

"… Isn't the ocean… pretty far from Reylude…?" He's far too groggy, and so getting to his feet takes a bit. He doesn't remember the last time he'd been on sand, so his balance takes a moment. Doesn't help that he's wearing nearly floor length robes and a floor length cloak, and he might have been standing on the cloak at first.

"… Ryner~ Plan 'Oh no, the tyrant king will be washed away, naps for everyone!' won't work if you leave me above the tide-line!" Sion cups his hands about his mouth as he calls out something ridiculous that sounds like something Ryner would call one of his silly plots. He looks about for any suspicious sleeping figures, then stands there looking lost for a bit.

"… Was it Ferris…?" It had to be one of the two, Froaude wouldn't pull something like this, Lucile wouldn't let anyone else mess with him. Ignoring the usual pains to the best of his ability, he gathered up the front of his robes and went to search the beach for his friends.

B – After A, By at least a day:
All right, this was a giant turtle. That's uh. That's a new one. Sion kicks his feet out, sitting next to one of those fire fountains. It's a clear-ish space, might as well…

Sure, Asruld had showed him some pretty bizarre stuff, from what he could remember, but nothing quite like this. And Sion himself lived in a country with massive crystal formations, where strange artifacts could produce dragons from whatever they stabbed, or blow holes in mountain ranges.

"… Do giant turtles have problems that regular turtles get?"

Yes, that is the thing he decides to focus on. Pick something ridiculous about the situation, rather than worry about... everything else it implies. Although, now that he thinks about it, there seem to be mostly positives involved in this. Lucile would have to be there, physically, which.. is honestly a sort of freedom. Hmmn.

C
[ Come up with something? ]

((OOC: If you pick A, let me know if you DON'T want Sion falling asleep at some point. Dumb King has just been working for five days without a break, he was about to go and crash in canon)

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Innocent and carefree she might believe, had she not been around as long as she has. Whether he is actually so innocent as he appears will be sussed out over time.

"A tortoise," China confirms. Her smile has a little edge to it. "And that story's more a parable. For cautionary tales, perhaps look to the tale of the scorpion and the turtle." Sometimes it's told as a frog, she knows, but this version seems somehow more appropriate for the moment.

"You can't have been here long if you don't know we do have bigger problems." She tilts her head a little; her hair falls over her shoulder in a dark sweep, like a raven's wing. "The turtle's sinking, inch by inch, and here we all inconveniently still need to breathe air."

"That's the word for it." His eyebrows go up slightly about the scorpion and the turtle. Hmm, what was that... "Ahh... That's the one about natures, isn't it? That something will do something that could kill it, just because that's the way it is?" Sion thinks of Asruld for a bit there, but goes on for a better topic.

Being strangely reminded of Froaude isn't a better topic. He shakes his head, still smiling, trying to dispel the connection. "Not long at all. Probably why I'm still thinking on the turtle aspect."

... Sinking.. Uh, that's really not good. On the other hand- "Has no one tried tempting it up with food?"

Sion this is when you don't bring up your first thought.

"That is the story in question," she says. There's still something about the way her smile curls that suggests perhaps he's missing a joke.

But then he's asked his question, and that dissolves as China laughs. The sound is bells and birdsong and all manner of pleasant sounds that human laughter usually doesn't resemble except poetically. "I don't believe anyone's gone that far," she says. "Perhaps you should try it. It might be educational."

Ah, well, that's what he gets for being new, isn't it? Missing out on things. The connection between the story and this woman who reminds him vaguely of Frouade is shoved aside for later.

"I would unfortunately be in need of education first. What would a turtle eat? I would assume fish or seaweed, if it seeks to go down."

He really is taking her seriously. That's adorable. A sizable number of the latest newcomers appear to have the same sort of earnestness, and China is going to find some way to make use of it.

"Fish, seaweed. Jellyfish, perhaps." China considers. "You'll need great quantities. Tu Vishan is, after all, a very large turtle." And that's all the help she's going to give him on that front, but it really will be educational if he actually does try it. "Do let me know if you succeed."

It could work. Who knows? And Sion is just this ridiculous to try something this weird.

He's going to need help, he has no idea how to fish for this many things. Wasn't there something about consoles?

"Hmm, some of those would be harder than others. Particularly enough, as you pointed out." He's still thinking about at least offering the idea up to others.

"Ah, well, I'd need to know who to ask for. Or just.. use that video thing and announce to everyone, but that seems a little like shouting off a rooftop."

"The consoles do cast a wide net, it's true." But that's what he needs, and the fishing metaphor is entirely intentional at this point. China gives a shrug, a little lift of her shoulders that is, like nearly everything else she does, effortlessly elegant. "Even I don't know who you would talk to about large-scale trawling, however."

She's looking forward to the inevitable bemused reaction of the other Foreigners if when he asks.

"I must say, you're a relief from some of the other new arrivals. You don't look like you've gone on a murderous rampage yet."

Fishing metaphor, that gets a smothered laugh from him. "I should be able to find someone. There's water all around, I'd be surprised if there wasn't any?" Why wouldn't people fish on the turtle??

Murderous rampage? "I'm in too much white and light grey." Sion flaps his cloak a little, smiling cheerfully. "And I don't have any way to get such a mess out of my clothes - I'd be horribly obvious, going shopping while all red splattered."

"Oh, likely enough." It's just that she hasn't made a study of the industry. As far as gaps in her knowledge go, it's not currently a priority, given that it is solely being used to test exactly how gullible this newcomer is.

She studies him for a moment at the latter comment. "An accent of red wouldn't go amiss," China says, genuinely thoughtful about his fashion choices. "But blood is hardly the way to do it." She returns the smile, not even really teasing this time. "In any case, I believe the last culprit used magic, from a distance."

"It does turn brown after a while." Sion agrees on the topic of blood, at least, but he inspects the sashes about his waist. "... I thought I had... Hmn." He fiddles for a moment, and then comes up with a braided and knotted red cord. "How it got inside, I have no idea."

He's wearing too many layers, really, and all the movement is making the chain jewelry on his left hand clink. It doesn't really look like it fits in with the rest of what he's wearing.

"Ah, well, it's incredibly unlikely I could manage that. I'm only really good at one spell, and it most definitely isn't helpful for killing people. ... or, well, killing people far away."

China nods, approving of the adjustment. Her eyes track his hand with its chain for a moment, noting the difference in aesthetics, and she assumes shortly after that it's the setting for his soul gem. What does that say about him, she wonders, and files the information for later reference.

His fashion is difficult to place. She's leaning toward 'not Earth.'

"One spell," China repeats, her curiosity sounding innocent enough. "Why only the one?"

It seems very faintly to be influenced by chinese styles. But only faintly. It doesn't help that no one else really dresses quite like he does, in his world.

"I'm not that good of a magician." An easy smile. He's not that good at a lot of things, when he compares himself to his friends. Then again, Sion's best friend was named his countries strongest magician at 13. "I mean, I could try another, but it's more likely to make my target laugh at how pathetic it is than actually hurt anyone."

That's a lie. Izuchi would probably still hurt. And thinking about it, he probably could drop on someone's head with Kuen, but he's not sure if making himself fall lightly might make it so his weight is lighter or something when he hits.

Local fashions also seem to be somewhat influenced by Chinese styles, but even so, this man stands apart from them, she thinks.

"At least you know your own strengths," China says. It's a little too sweet to be genuinely consoling, but she's still smiling. "Well. Do report if you make progress with the turtle. Or if you decide to snap in favor of a murderous rampage; I'm sure everyone would appreciate the forewarning, if not the damage to your wardrobe."

He's smiling anyway. Well, to be fair, he didn't really stop. Sion's a bit amused by the thought of the last - he really isn't sure what the Hero would do, if he managed to gain control, so the need for warning of a rampage might be accurate. Oh well.

So there's a slight edge to that oh-so-innocent smile now. "Well, they are important things to share. I'll keep it in mind."

"How considerate of you." She inclines her head only fractionally, considers that she's learned enough for now, and half-turns to go. Before she leaves entirely she thinks better of it, pauses to add, "If you're lost, you should seek out the Midnight Hotel, or the Welcome Center." And that is all the help he's getting for free. China turns the rest of the way to go, trailing a little wave of her fingers behind her in farewell.

What's a little more wandering when already so terribly lost? She probably hears him repeating 'Midnight Hotel' in a vaguely amused voice to himself, because that is a little bit of an odd name.

But that's pretty clearly the end of the conversation. Please don't live up to his Froaude vibes - that would mean her please don't murder spree was an indication he'd be intruding on her territory.

... Oh well, he needed to learn the layout and alleys other things about this city anyway.

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01 - The Ambition in A Kingdom of Afternoon Naps

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