{IC} The Edge of Everything

[Paragon]

The young man looked towards one of the two for some sort of answer, a look of expectation in his eyes. For a moment they looked at him as if he'd just blinked into existence; something about him didn't make sense to the pair he now stood a fair distance away from. The woman there frowned, perhaps thinking about where the young man had come from. But then she started to speak, and the young man began to listen.

"We are apparently at the City of Stars. Smack in the middle of the Infernal Islands… I never imagined it was real. My… someone once told me stories about it too. I figured it was just make believe crap- like fairies- and even if it wasn’t who would have guessed how it survived the Entity all these years. But if you say there’s really a floating city out there, well, I can’t imagine where else we could be.”

The young man let his own frown dominate his facial expression. Those words didn't make sense to him. The City of Stars? The Infernal Islands? An Entity which presumably posed some sort of danger? He glanced at the ground as he tried to decipher their meaning, and found himself unable to. He hadn't heard of them. Or perhaps nobody had taught him about those names. Eitherway, his confusion remained as whole as it was the second he'd walked into the room. He opened his mouth, as if to utter some sort of response before the woman spoke again. "My name is Miro," she said with a brief tone to the voice. Gesturing to the man next to her (whose voice the young man had heard before he entered the room), she said "This is Iadalis". The young man took a slight step back, unsure of how to respond. Was he meant to say his own name? But then the subject changed again, and he found his anxiety alternate from peaks to troughs again. ”Tell me, what have you heard about the city?”

The young man thought for a moment. In all honesty, he knew nothing. He was sure someone must have told him about it in his past, but he couldn't recall. That time might as well have not existed at all. He scratched his head, submerging his fingers in the hair which almost reached his eyes. "I haven't heard anything, actually. This... 'City' is an entirely new place to me..." he muttered in uncertainty, taking quiet steps towards what he presumed was a wind shield for the ship. Outside, he saw a blue sky, pockmarked with silver clouds. Strange, he thought. He felt as if he knew this sight was wrong, like it was a special exception from something else which was going on. As the cogs of his brain scratched and groaned to gain some sort of fluid movement and cooperation, the young man felt frustrated that there was almost no information he could offer.

[Hymusia]

The path she had walked was unmarked for the most part though a small stone path, over grown with plants and moss ran along side the grass and lead, she found, to a large wall that ran as far as her eyes could see. It was taller than she so she could not peer over it and it seemed to be made of flat stone, though creeping vines and thick prickled hedges seemed to have grown wild across it making it impossible to climb. It was impressive though, some parts had thorns as large as her thumb and some vines were as thick and twisted as the chain that held that ship to this land mass.

Briefly she heard someone calling, had another left the ship? Or perhaps they were just shouting from the ship to another on board? Either way she did not pay it any heed, for more pressing to her was the fact a wall usually had a door. Her curiosity peeked she began to follow the wall, walking parallel to it for quite some minutes before the grass gave way to what appeared to be a courtyard. As she had assumed there was indeed a door, the door in question was impressively sized, it looked like they would take at least three people to push them open. If of course they too had not been covered in thick vines, ivy and brambles, they looked intricately carved but from the distance she stood she could not tell with what.

The door likely lead into the city and while that was a compelling enough reason to go back and find the others there was something else that gained her attention. Leading away from the doors, diagonal almost to the wall, was another path that seemed to lead deeper into the garden. It was this path she chose to follow, she would go back, once she had seen all she could see, though she was rather dubious there would be any good reason to do so. The others may have stopped bickering like children by now of course but was there much reason to hope for that?

It certainly was a puzzle, one she would love to figure out and perhaps with the quiet this place afforded her and without the bickering of the others she might well find out what it was about this place and why they were here at all. Of course it was quite assumptive of her to think there was a reason, perhaps there was none? Perhaps someone just grew bored and...however that bought up a point she had yet to think about, while she hummed she unclipped her squeeze box and began to play once again. She remembered speaking to someone and then waking up, those people. People? Yes there were two of them, had not thus far been seen on the ship, or anywhere around the area she had explored. They were distinctive as well, she couldn't quite remember how but she was certain that if she saw them she wasn't going to confuse them with any one else. Where were they and what part did they play in all of this?

[Antonkun]

The sound of her footsteps seemed to be the only noise in the peaceful garden, excluding the breeze. Luna sighed as she continued to listen for any sounds. The humming she had heard earlier seemed to be gone now. No one answered her call, so she slowed down a little, thinking that it was unnecessary to walk any further. What if something scary was waiting ahead? She didn't want to get lost, but still, she was curious about the humming she heard before. Maybe she was lost already - she didn't seem to be walking on any regular path. Her eyes fell onto a small stone path that seemed to be quite old and also forgotten. It gave off an unpleasant, depressing feeling to her. But still, her curiosity made her press onward, until she reached a tall wall, also covered with green. Usually, she loved greenery and plants, but now, it only made her uncomfortable.

She pondered about what to do. Maybe she should return to the ship and see if there was anyone else there? Most likely, she wasn't alone. This place - this garden - however, seemed to be empty and long forgotten. There seemed to be more to this wall though. Something was behind this gigantic wall and there had to be some way to reach that place, right? She gazed up, to estimate how tall this wall was, but it was obviously not meant for climbing. It actually seemed quite strange to her - why would they build such a big wall here, where nothing seemed to exist? And what could possibly hide behind this wall? Obviously, there was something very important here.

Since she was both alone and clueless, she decided to head back. However, she just wanted to see if there was anything else to this garden. She didn't really like the ship after all. Turning away from the wall, she walked a little on the grass, carefully listening for any sounds nearby. Suddenly, someone began humming again, and soon, she could hear music come from ahead. Both curiosity and fear struck her at the same time, but as usual, she couldn't resist the urge to continue and explore. Maybe it was someone friendly who knew more about why she was here? Pushing some flowers to the side gently, she found her way towards the source of the sound.

"E-excuse me?" she said, trying to make herself heard clearly.

[AmongHeroes]

Iadalis watched as Miro addressed the man who had just entered the room. He couldn’t help shake his head in subdued astonishment at the newcomer, “Just how many of us lost souls are there?”

The man did not offer his name, seemingly bewildered by Miro’s question about what he knew about the floating city. It was obvious that the man was no more informed than either he or Miro, and Iadalis’ heart sank. The questions were many, and the answers were few, and far between. It was apparent to Iadalis that if he and the other stranded aboard this ship were to learn anything about their purpose for being sent to The City of Stars, they would have to do the leg work themselves.

Putting a smile on his face that belied his frustration, Iadalis walked up to the man and offered him his hand. “Hey don’t sweat it; none of us know what’s going on. And besides stories I’m at a loss regarding The City of Stars myself.”

The man took his hand and introduced himself.

“Good to meet you.” Iadalis relinquished his grip of Erenway’s hand and slipped them in his hip pockets. He turned slightly so he was facing both Miro and Iadalis before shrugging his shoulders. “Well as far as I know we’re only waiting on one more person; that girl with the squeezebox.” Iadalis chuckled lightly, “But at the rate that people keep coming out of the woodwork who knows right?”

Iadalis glanced between his two new companions, trying to gauge their reactions. “I’m no expert, but it seems to me that we need to get down to the city somehow. All desire for answers aside, we have no food or water on this ship, not at least that I’ve seen. It might be a fruitless endeavor, but in my estimation it’s better than standing around here searching for nothing in particular.” Iadalis shrugged again, “What do you guys think?”

[Irell Starling]

Callefine stood by the doorway to the control room, listing in on the trio’s conversations and yet out of light. She leaned her head close to the doorway, her loose brown curls almost touching the adjacent wall. She could certainly answer Iadalis’s question if she cared to. There were six of them, seven if she counted herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to answer their questions, although true enough she knew very few answers herself, but rather the others needed to learn to work together.

The conversation was promising and she was pleased that fire holder was managing to be up and walking around especially after his operation. She closed her eyes and searched around for the others. In her mind she saw that two of the women were already out and about exploring the gardens. So far everything was going fine, but the ending strain of the prophesy continued to play over and over again in her head. Frowning, Callefine allowed her body to relax as it melted away and disappeared.

-----

Miromi turned to the stranger, studying him. She briefly wondered why he’d chosen not to share his name- perhaps he had been distracted by her other questions- when a question about the number of them before Iadalis brought it up again.

”Let’s see, there’s us three, the two young girls, the young woman and… I know there’s one other person I saw… I think.” She pressed a hand to her head as she strained to come up with a mental picture but all it did was increase her headache. ”So seven, I guess?” She wasn’t sure however. She couldn’t recall seeing this newest man anywhere in the common room so it was possible other people were hidden away somewhere. Miromi continued to eye him and fought the urge to ask where he’d been. He looked genuinely unsure of his surrounds and while that emotion could be false, she tried to believe otherwise.

“I’m no expert, but it seems to me that we need to get down to the city somehow. All desire for answers aside, we have no food or water on this ship, not at least that I’ve seen. It might be a fruitless endeavor, but in my estimation it’s better than standing around here searching for nothing in particular. What do you guys think?”


Miromi considered the suggestion. One on hand, Iadalis was right, he wasn’t an expert seeing as he had just decided to go on a wild goose hunt around the ship. On the other hand, he did have a point about the food and water situation… wait hadn’t she already said that? Nope, nope. If he wanted to play the leader she would certainly let him. Miromi had no interest was so ever in delegating anyone but herself. ”I think it’s a good idea. Clearly the ship isn’t going to fly away and leave us behind and just sitting around won’t do anyone any good.”

A fleeting sense of panic fell across her as Miromi internalized that she would really be steeping into the fabled city. What would the place be like? What would the people be like? How had it managed to escape the Entity? Desperately the woman wished her mother could be there alongside her. Turning away from the men, she pressed a hand to her tattoo again as her eyes closed.

Swallowing hard, Miromi allowed her hand to fall back to her side as her face became impassive again. She would not allow herself to hope. Wishing and hoping where for those who didn't know any better. ”We should get going then."

[Hymusia]

The little path lead further into the small courtyard, it was over run as every other part of this floating island but there was something so beautiful about this place. Before her stood a great fountain, it was broken, or so she assumed, as no water flowed through it's grand basin or from it's figurines that stood above it. The inside was a tiled mosaic, gently brushing her fingers through the accumulated dust she spotted a downward facing arrow. Likely it would take a great deal to clean it and get to see the pattern beneath but judging by this patch it was likely supposed to be a central piece to the garden.

Once again she heard someone calling out, it had to be for her as the others were so loud they would have responded by now. She was the only one who had yet to say anything, let alone shout or be rude to someone. Still though she didn't answer, the female whose voice was calling her was clearly following the sound of her music and so she took a seat on the dusty fountain, brushed aside some debris so she might lift her feet and continued to play quietly for her own amusement. She had to think, this place was a riddle but why would people bring them here? What was the purpose? It was unlike her to be incapable of figuring out a riddle.

When the small slip of a girl came through the flowers, dressed in what could only be considered rather lacking clothing, she only briefly looked up, offered a faint smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, then returned to playing and humming gently. One tune's end becoming the beginning of another which she seemed to make up as she went along, rather nice they were too, gentle but eerie, warm but distant, rather like the player herself.

[Antonkun]

When she saw the girl who was humming by what seemed to be an old fountain, she relaxed. The girl didn't seem to be a dangerous person at all - actually, Luna felt much calmer while watching the girl who seemed to live in her own world. Blinking a few times before she started to walk, she smiled at the girl and then took a seat on the edge of the fountain. Maybe this girl knew something about this place? With that in mind, she gathered courage to speak.

"Eh... do you know where we are and why?" she asked with her gentle voice. She tried hard to not sound intruding, since she didn't want to offend anyone that she didn't know. With her hand, she brushed some of her blonde hair to the side as she usually did, since it tickled her face.

Without saying anything more, she looked into the girl's eyes. She seemed to be a mysterious girl, calm and gentle. A short silence followed as Luna nervously played with her pigtails. Maybe there were other people here too? Or on the ship? She recalled that there were several rooms that she didn't even want to explore when she woke up. There could be things hidden there too. Several thoughts about the garden also popped up in her mind. How could they find out what was lying behind the giant wall? She sighed and stopped thinking as she began to feel tired.

"Do you know if there's someone else here?" Luna asked quickly, curious about this place.

[Hymusia]

Neither glanced up nor stopped her harmonic playing, she was indeed in her own world even as the girl spoke at her. It didn't seem out of rudeness that the woman continued, in fact one got the feeling she was listening intently and the silence, where in only music and humming filled, was simply her contemplating her answer. "I know where we are yes." Her voice was light, whisper soft, one would say it was as if the autumn wind blew through her tones. Soft, warm but with a cold chill following it, whether her voice was naturally so soft was hard to tell but commonly it was put down to illness from living beneath ground. Such was her case, she'd nearly lost all ability to speak as a child, having caught a very bad infection and with no money to have it treated she had had to suffer it's affects.

Still she played, though her humming had quieted now and only the sounds of the squeezebox filled the air, now the gentle girls eyes were open and they focused on the girl before her with an unreadable expression. Again there was a pause before an answer was revealed in her whispered tone. "Oh there are others yes. Though they seem content to bicker and speculate." For a long moment the woman was quiet again, her lids drifting half shut as she contemplated. Perhaps now the girl would go away? She would find the others and they would either come here, or they would go elsewhere. Though this seemed an interesting place to start, in fact the only place to. There was a plaque behind her, she hadn't read it yet though there wasn't much cause to hurry, the words legible despite the disarray the garden and fountain were in, though one would likely need to lean closer than Ina to read it. "Though, would it not be prudent to introduce yourself before sitting with a stranger? I hear it used to be the height of manners." There was a tone that was almost teasing behind her words, though her face showed no such emotion.

Whether the girl took it as a cue to introduce herself or not, Inaya had already closed her eyes once more and returned to her gentle humming along with her playing. They were going no where fast and she had riddles she wanted to unwind before she happened upon more. Besides, sensibility dictated that the 'others' would find nothing upon the ship of interest, that they would then leave it too and they would, eventually, happen upon this little garden. Perhaps then they would stop bickering long enough to work together but she didn't hold out much hope. They all seemed to focus on the why's and how's instead of the who's and what's of their predicament. Even the who's were of little importance, what they were supposed to achieve up here, that was the real question, the only question. A question which would only be answered as they explored further into the place they were bought to.