melodiesofeternity | (no subject)

Who: Tidus and OPEN
When: End of October
Where: Myste Aura, Nakagawa, Curti Center, and various
What: Spooky mysteries, stone-throwing, and disciplinary studies. Open prompts below, closed in comments.
Warnings/Notes: Mentions of death/ghosts/existential crises, will update if needed

a. a stone's throw away

It's been a difficult month for Tidus' confidence. He's screwed up mission after mission, and it's clear that what he's been doing isn't enough to save this world. The problem is that he isn't sure what to do about that, so he resorts to the familiar at first. If anyone should happen to be in the vicinity of Myste Aura, they won't find him tearing up the blitzball stadium as usual. Instead, he's jogging on a very cool and windy morning, rather underdressed for the weather. And what's with all the fog lately

He shivers, but grits his teeth and presses onward. Maybe if he runs fast enough, he can leave his worries behind. In fact, he's so focused on his task that he kicks up a storm of sand on an unsuspecting person before he finally skids to a halt.

"Whoops---uh, hey, you okay there?"

b. back to basics

His next stop on his quest for self-discovery takes him to the Swordmaster guild in Nakagawa. He'd initially taken up the job because it was familiar, but this month's events have shown him that he has much more to learn if he wants to be truly balanced. He can be found inside the guild going through practice exercises again and again, or once he steps outside, balancing on a nearby fence post. He's actually succeeding at shutting out all the mental distractions for now, looking like the model of a disciplined warrior.

Except it's still Tidus, so he soon starts hopping from post to post.

c. with so much to learn

Finally, he returns to the Curti Center where this whole foray into the unknown began. When he arrived, he'd been full of wonder, questions, and renewed hope. He was now worn down with experience, down on his luck, and a little afraid of what was to come next...but he couldn't let that stop him. So he blew right past all the decorations for the upcoming holiday, retreating into what was very much not his natural habitat: the library. He soon hit the books, looking very out of place behind a teetering pile of mundane documents he'd collected at random.

Was this what it took to be serious?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Marinette nodded and took a moment to do so. She'd stocked up on potions and things and she was probably as ready as she would ever be to go sailing off into the fog.

Which was exactly what they were doing, and honestly it wasn't as bad as she would've been expecting. What was that saying? Hope for the best, prepare for the worst? Or something like that. But the boat didn't get very far before it stopped, and by that point she was starting to shiver.

She peered over the side of the boat in time to watch him testing out the ice. Well this had certainly taken a turn, but she hadn't agreed to this only to turn back now because of a little ice. "I'm still up for it if you are."

Mostly, she was hoping he was still up for it. Because as curious as she was about all of this, she didn't particularly want to be out here by herself. "Hey, look! There's a path?"

"Definitely. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen." Tidus smiled reassuringly and set out on the ice, staying close if she should fall. They would make it there, slowly.

Eventually, the beasts part, revealing that a boat is also approaching in the distance, gliding over the ice. The haggard-looking moogle has the weight of an albatross around its neck. When he reaches them, he begins to spin a tale of woe.

He was quite the sailor in his day, and on one voyage, his crew became quite lost. This albatross had been their friendly guide...the bird lifts a weary eye and seems to glare at them. There's more to this tale, but the poor moogle needs a breath.

"Great! And neither will I~" Because announcing it like meant things would work out the way she wanted it to, right? Sure. Either way, she returned the smile and moved to follow him. Somehow, she even managed to get out of the boat without tripping over her own feet.

The walk wasn't terribly exciting, but that was fine. Staying on her feet was more important. And then she glanced up in time to spot the boat coming toward them. Which might've seemed a little weird to her before, the allure of a story was enough to distract her from that.

Marinette was silent as the moogle spoke, listening with rapt attention until he paused to take a breath. She wanted to say something nice, or anything at all, but it was a lot, and it would probably take her a little while to process. In the meantime, she glanced over at Tidus to see how he was holding up.

Tidus reacted only with a small frown, and the frown only grew as the tale continued. It turned out the moogle had killed the albatross that had helped it so nicely, and that was why he remained haunted in the afterlife. He looked at the humans with desperate, weary eyes.

And the boat approached. The two were members of the man's former crew, cackling. The moogle seemed to be ashamed, and looked up at them.

"If I may make a request?"

The story had taken a turn, and Marinette wasn't sure how she wanted to feel about it. On the one hand, the moogle seemed genuinely ashamed of what he'd done. On the other hand, well, hearing about it now was probably different than being there.

The approach of the moogle's former crew members just seemed ominous and she glanced up at them for a moment before turning back to the moogle.

"What can we do to help?"

"My crew, they're the gamblin' sort. They'd like to play a game with ye. Test your luck on 'em and ye might win me freedom," he explained.

The gamblers seemed to agree, eagerly flipping a coin between their paws.

Tidus frowned at that, then down at the moogle. "You've been carrying all this for a really long time, huh?"

He could say that it had been wrong, but...the poor guy looked like he'd been hassled about it for a while.

He then gave Marinette a small nod. They could do this, right?

Test their luck? Marinette smiled at the word choice, though she hadn't felt particularly lucky since coming here.

And while she'd probably be up for it if it was just her, she didn't want to try and speak for Tidus as well. But the moogle did look like he'd been dealing with this for a long time.

"I mean. I'm in if you are."

What was the worst that could happen?

Tidus gave her a thumbs-up. "You got it! We'll give it our best, man."

The moogle didn't exactly look pleased, relieved, or even hopeful. He had waited far too long, he'd been worn-down by his regrets. But he could simply wish the young humans luck.

"Their ship awaits."

The ship was just a short trek away, and Tidus, being Tidus, called out to them.

"Hey, you! We're boardin' for a minute! Just want to have a little chat."

There was no verbal response, but the moogles backed away from the ledge, giving them space. Tidus gave Marinette another smile.

"Ready?"

Their best was really all they could do, and she grinned in response.

The moogle's lack of any sort of response wasn't terribly encouraging, but there were more important things to worry about at the moment.

And for the moment, she was willing to follow Tidus' lead as they made their way over toward the ship. What was it about moogles not answering right now? Definitely not encouraging. Regardless, she smiled at Tidus and shrugged.

"Absolutely! Shall we?" There was no way this could go wrong. Right?

"Okay! We'll play your game," Tidus agreed, crossing his fingers. His luck had been terrible lately, and taking a poor soul's fate into his hands could be a very bad idea. He really hoped Marinette's luck would balance his out.

He sized them up, nodded, and then sucked in a breath as they held out a coin.

"Call it in the air!"

If they were in Paris, or if she had Tikki with her, she'd feel a lot better about taking someone else's fate into her hands. But now wasn't the time to start doubting herself. They could do this!

Marinette stole a quick glance over at Tidus and then turned her attention back to their opponents to wait.

"Heads!"

[OOC: I wasn't quite sure if you wanted Marinette to call it or not, so lemme know if this is okay, or if I should edit. <3]