Reset [Chapter 2]
Mar. 13th, 2011 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
esp_dragonFandom: 1/2 Prince
Summary: It didn't matter what had gone wrong, because there was a much bigger question to ask: what happens when a self-aware NPC dies?
Rating: K
Notes: I still ship Kenshin and Sunshine a little bit - you can tell here. :3
Argh, tenses. And argh, pronouns. D<
Genre: Friendship/Tragedy
Word count: 4,176
Total word count: 10,398
Status: Work in progress
The elf grinned at him, his head bobbing up and down. "All right!" he cheered, a fist raised in the air. "Now we just have to get out of here." Then he blinked and turned to glance at him, uncertainty written on his face. "Uh, I'm Prince." There was a small pause as the elf hesitated, looking away. He collected himself, taking a deep breath, and glanced back at him. "Do you mind if I call you Kenshin?"
What difference did it make? None. And he had a feeling that Prince would call him that anyway even if he said yes. He shook his head.
Prince grinned widely at him, his shoulders losing the tenseness they had.
Lantis Ilyushin also beamed at him. "And I'm Sunshine," he said, placing a hand to his chest.
He frowned at the change in Lantis Ilyushin's name, but did not say anything. Seeing how everything else had changed and not changed, it should not be so surprising that Lantis Ilyushin had changed his name. It could also explain why Prince seemed to want to call him by 'Kenshin' rather than Demon Lord.
Prince was looking up and down him, his eyebrows creased, and one side of his lips lowered in a puzzled frown. Prince laughed weakly when he saw him staring at him, a hand behind his head. "It's, ah, your clothes."
Looking down, he did not see anything that was different from before. His haori covered his tunic and leggings well, and his katana was within easy reach. It must be a quirk of Prince's to ask strange questions.
"Kenshin," Prince began slowly, taking his attention away from his clothes, "how did you get here?" The elf's eyes kept wavering towards the door.
It looked like he was going to have to get used to sudden, nonsensical questions from Prince. "I walked."
At his reply, Prince blinked and then laughed. "I meant the path - we might have, uh, destroyed one of them," he rambled, waving a hand.
That was not a problem; there were at least three different paths that could be taken out of the palace. "The highest one."
There was another pause before Prince shook his head, snorting. "Ah, never mind." He hummed, crossing his arms. "You can get out from here, right?"
He nodded, then frowned as some information solidified in his mind, demanding his attention. He could not leave, not without... But that had been fulfilled, Prince had said. So was it fine for him to go? Since meeting these two, it was becoming a regular occurrence to not understand, along with the flickers of maybe-memory beating at the back of his head, even in the short time that he had talked to them. Who did he believe? The whispers or these two?
"It's okay," Sunshine said softly, his eyes gentle. "You can leave the cave - and you've done it before," he added.
Prince nodded beside him. "Yeah. You were the one to lead us out last time too," he said with a weak chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.
Yet another thing he did not remember, not fully, but he had some flashes of greenery and buildings that definitely did not exist in Snow Village. He knew they were not lying -Sunshine was not capable of lying- and he nodded slowly to their words. There was a path from here that they could take to get out of the cave, if the other flickers were correct - unless that was the one that was now impassable.
He turned away, but paused when he heard Prince begin to talk.
"Ah... Can we rest a little first? I'm a little tired."
Tired? He cocked his head at that, but acquiesced his request, turning to face them again.
Prince flopped onto the chaise longue, limbs spread like they were attempting to take up as much space as possible. He then manoeuvred himself quickly to a sitting position, scooting up to the head. Sunshine followed and perched himself next to Prince. The pair looked at him after that -Sunshine expectant; Prince also expectant, but there was something else in his expression that he could not pin down- but he was not sure why. He stayed standing; Prince sighed when he saw that but he also smiled softly at him.
"Sooo..." Prince drew out as the silence began to stretch, swinging his legs lightly, "how are you?"
He stared back blankly. The word 'fine' was on his lips -or he could just not answer- but then he actually thought about it. For the most part, he was confused - confused the most about his memories, confused about the voice in his head, confused about these two people, one who he knew, and one he did not yet who seemed to know him well.
"Confused," he said finally. He would have continued to think about the whole situation but then he noticed how Prince was looking at him.
His eyes were wider than before, eyebrows raised, mouth open slightly. "You... wouldn't have told me that before." There was something in his voice that was different, that said that this was significant.
He would not have? But did they not know each other well?
Sunshine nodded in agreement. "You didn't say much."
If he did not say much before, why was he talking more now?
* * *
That was so weird. Lan couldn't really think of a time where Kenshin had told her how he felt. Yeah, you could tell by looking at his face -in some ways, he was one of the easiest people to read- but he never actually told you so much in words.
... Maybe she should stop expecting Kenshin to be a certain way. If his memories were really gone (but they were going to see if they could fix that) then was it fair if they pushed Kenshin into a preformed mould of him? What if all they did was just make him act a role, rather than let him be himself?
And that just wasn't acceptable.
She knew Kenshin, not as much as Sunshine (she doubted anyone knew Kenshin better than him) but the way Kenshin acted -the way anyone acted- was from their memories and how they affected them. Without his memories, Kenshin was not going to be the person she knew, and maybe he was never going to be again if he didn't get his memories back. Even if he didn't, he was still Kenshin though, and that was what mattered.
There was still trust there though, or maybe just trust of Sunshine, and he wasn't attacking them, but he wasn't fully relaxing either, always keeping a wary lookout on the door.
Slowly, Lan could feel her energy building up again, and the cuts and bruises were fading little by little. A bit too slowly for Lan's taste, but none of them were healers, so there wasn't much else they could do.
"Kenshin," she said as she stood up, stretching a little. He turned his head away from the door, his full attention on her. "I don't suppose you have any potions with you?" she asked hopefully, not expecting much.
He frowned slowly, his gaze turning inward, and then shook his head. "No."
She grinned at him. "Heh. Didn't think so." Ah well, it was worth a try. Lan wasn't completely up to full health yet, but by the time they bumped into a mob, she should be. The quicker they got out of here, the faster they could try bringing back Kenshin's memories.
"All right," she proclaimed, readying herself, "time to get out of here."
* * *
Kenshin had been guiding them around the cave without pausing once. Lan couldn't remember if he'd been like this the last time but the pace that he was setting and the fact that he never hesitated at the forks was... a little different. He walked slower than he had before, but he made up for that with seeming to know exactly where he was going. The last time though, they'd been grinding levels, so they'd never really needed a distinct direction to go - and they hadn't really been paying that much attention to the NPCs either, Lan realised with a squirm in her stomach.
She wasn't exactly sure, but it felt like they were gradually going up. The paths seemed like they were on a small incline, though they never actually looked like it, but she could definitely feel it in her legs after a while. She was also right about there not being as many monsters on this side of the cave, but they did bump in to one or two every once in a while. The fight never lasted for very long.
Some places that they passed looked a little bit familiar, and Lan hoped that it was because she'd seen them from the last time they'd came. But, she'd left the cave from two different exits before, the first time where she and Kenshin had to squeeze through a hole -very hidden, surrounded by thick roots that they'd had to hack away at for ages to get through- in the ceiling, and then when they were leaving with Sunshine, where they'd walked back out where they'd come in.
The sound of thundering rain and wind was getting louder though, something she'd been hearing for a while, but it sounded like it was coming from everywhere now, so that had to mean they were getting close to a place that had access to the outside. Kenshin hadn't said anything about that, but he hadn't really said that much at all really since they'd started moving. It kinda worried her, and as soon as she stopped seeing enclosed walls all around her, she was going to start prodding him.
They reached the entrance of a familiar looking doorway, and Lan's face blanked when she realised that yes, she had been hearing heavy rain, but it was also coming down in a steady torrent of water from the semi-open hole in the ceiling. There was no way they were going to be able to keep their balance while clambering up the thin steps while also being beaten down by the rain. Damn. It'd be best if they waited the storm out before trying to leave.
Kenshin didn't seem to think so.
While Lan had been thinking about what to do, he'd continued forward, mindful of the miniature sea that was winding its way through the room, but definitely not stopping.
She took a couple of steps forward and grabbed him by the arm. He stiffened under her touch, and when his head snapped to look at her a second later, his eyes were wide, almost confused. "We probably shouldn't go out yet," she half-yelled, trying to be heard over the gushing rain and howling wind. "It'd be too difficult right now." And she really didn't want to be the one leading them over the Eastern Continent when she couldn't even see, if the mist that was falling in through the hole was anything to go by.
There was a pause, Kenshin frowning a little. "...Like the snow." His words were pretty muffled and quiet, but she was sure that was what he said.
Lan nodded to that, her hair slapping her in the face and she winced. "Yeah!" Except they'd continued on anyway, so maybe that wasn't the best example. But that storm had been entirely plot-related and conjured by the system, so it would have happened, and would have continued to happen, until they'd finished the quest or gave up. This one wasn't a quest, so they could wait.
Kenshin continued to watch the steady fall of water for a little longer before he nodded slowly and turned back towards where they'd came from. Sunshine was, unsurprisingly, looking curiously around the massive room, but he didn't ask anything as he left. Not yet, anyway.
Taking one last look, Lan followed after them.
It was only after they'd left the sound of rain behind that she realised that Kenshin shouldn't have remembered their experience in the Snow Village.
* * *
Sunshine's room, and the cave in general, felt warmer after being close to the outside - but maybe that was because by the time they'd reached Sunshine's room, their clothes had dried completely. Lan peered up at the crystal ceiling, wondering if she could see the rain, but it was too bright to see anything and she eventually turned her head away, her eyes hurting. And then she started to think about it - the ceiling was far below where the outside was, so what was creating the light? Magic was the simple answer, and she didn't think about it much more after that.
She hummed. "So what should we do while we're waiting?" she asked, wondering if they should have maybe stayed somewhere closer to the room leading to the outside, so then they could leave as soon as the storm let up. Here, they couldn't know when the storm was over. Still, it was a lot drier and they'd actually be able to hold a conversation that didn't involve shouting here.
There was suddenly a muted ringing in her ear that she recognised instantly, especially when neither Sunshine or Kenshin reacted to it. Oh, great. Her alarm to get up. But they'd barely-! She sighed, scrubbing her face with a hand. She desperately wished to stay with them, but she had to cook breakfast and go to university. Dammit.
Sunshine was looking at her, understanding in his eyes. "You have to log out, don't you?"
She nodded, trying to think. Kenshin didn't know about players, about being an NPC. Maybe. What he'd said earlier showed that his memories weren't completely wiped, that there was still something there from after when his memories might have ended.
"It's all right," Sunshine reassured her quietly, "I'll talk to him."
Obviously he would, and possibly, Kenshin would talk back, if his more open self earlier was any indication.
Kenshin was glancing between them, his brow slightly furrowed as he tried to follow their conversation.
Ugh. As much as she wanted to stay, Lan knew that her alarm was going to go off again soon. "I've got to go," she told Kenshin, whose eyebrows deepened even further. "I'll try to be back as soon as possible, okay?"
"Okay."
He didn't look like he was but... If she kept thinking, Lan knew she'd probably never get up, so she logged out before she talked herself out of it.
* * *
The conversation Sunshine had had with Prince had not made much sense. Prince was going to leave by himself? Because they could not leave from the fastest route? The storm would not last long so they would not have to wait for long.
The elf glanced at him, waved his hand in the air and then he froze, his form going translucent before disappearing like he had never been there.
What? He blinked, waiting to see if something else would happen. There was a rustle of cloth as Sunshine padded towards him, slid a hand down his arm, grasped his hand and then started tugging him towards the chaise longue. He followed, not needing the guidance but not resisting either.
He sat down first, leaning back on the seashell, his legs over the edge. Sunshine sat the the head of the chaise longue and then swiveled around so that his legs were covering his own. That... was familiar, even though there was not a specific memory tied to it. He frowned, trying to find what it was, but when he tried, the things that were clearest to him were the last few days, fighting the Dark God, and Kaoru. The rest were disjointed images, splashes of colour and a murmuring mass of voices that could not be understood.
"What's wrong?" Sunshine had his head tilted to the side, his hair trailing over his shoulder.
"I... This is familiar, but I have never..." But that was not true, was it? Sunshine and Prince had both said he had done things that he could not remember doing and it was obvious now that his memories were fragmented and nearly non-existent.
Sunshine beamed at him. "We used to do that a lot when you came here. I'd ask questions about the world outside and you would answer them."
He did? "We used to?" What did they do now?
A nod, Sunshine's hair bouncing up and down. "We're with Prince now, in the Central Continent."
The Central Continent. Hm. He did not recognise the name. "We are in..."
"The Eastern Continent right now."
Were the two continents far away from each other? He looked away, gazing blankly at the stairs.
Sunshine settled down further on the chaise longue, stretching his legs before relaxing. "You told me about the world outside when I asked about it, so now I'll tell you about the world outside." He beamed at him.
He was not entirely sure if the sudden feeling he got at those words was ominous, but he was fairly sure that was it.
* * *
Ugh, her stupid brother took ages to eat, Lan grumbled as she logged on, and she had a couple of readings to do that would probably be done while she was cooking breakfast and riding the bus tomorrow. She'd managed to do some of it while waiting for the pots to bubble for dinner, which was good, so she wouldn't be trying to cram as much information into her skull at once. Still. It wouldn't have been fun if she'd been reading it with all the time in the world anyway.
When she entered Second Life, she looked around and - Huh. Both Kenshin and Sunshine were on the seashell thing, Kenshin facing her while Sunshine was sprawled across it, his legs covering Kenshin. That was weird. Kenshin didn't mind? Though Sunshine did do things and couldn't be stopped once he had an idea (or question) in his mind, Lan just didn't think Kenshin would let his legs be used like a footstool either, and she was thinking of the Kenshin with all his memories.
Neither moved away from each other when they saw her, though Sunshine waved when he did, and Kenshin looked at her, his face more open than it had been before which Lan was relieved to see.
Grinning at the pair, she stretched, double-checking that everything was in order. "So, ready to go?"
"Yup!" Sunshine beamed and swung his legs over the side, Kenshin smiling softly beside him.
"All riiight, let's go already!" She was tired of all these surrounding walls; she couldn't wait to see the open sky again.
Lan was the first one out the room, but she waited for Sunshine and Kenshin beside the door - she knew they turned left here, but that was as far as her knowledge went. She hummed, glancing up at the jewel on the door, and then frowned when she noticed it was different. Wasn't that...
"Prince, you don't have to break off another piece," Sunshine said as he held out a gem that was about three times the size of his palm, "we already did."
She stared at it before looking quickly between them. "Wait - why did you - uuuh-"
With a huff, she stopped herself, sorted out her thoughts, and then tried again. "Why did you do that?" She hadn't asked them to, and she hadn't said anything about it the entire time they'd been in the cave, so how had they known?
"You spent a long time trying to get a piece last time and I thought you might want another one, so we broke off another bit."
Ha, that was definitely true - she'd probably spent an hour slashing in the one direction before her attacks had finally gnawed their way through to the back, and then she had to slash in another direction for half-an-hour to break it off completely. Her arm was aching by the end of it. Jing and Yun hadn't been able to help with their abilities, and getting a part of the jewel had been a last-minute realisation so she'd told them to carry on ahead and she'd catch up with them. It was a good thing Kenshin had marked out where they'd passed or she'd have never found them and would probably still be wandering the cave.
"Thanks," she said warmly, taking the jewel and placing it in her pouch. She grinned at widely at them. "Okay, time to really go!"
* * *
Prince really was hard to understand; there did not seem to be any reason behind why he did things (Why did he need a piece of the door? Sunshine had not known either.) but he normally did not understand other people so it should not have been much of a surprise.
Going to the exit went faster this time, now that he knew for sure what path to take instead of attempting to rely on briefly seen images and trying to follow a fragile feeling of knowing that dissipated as soon as he thought about it too hard. The trip was quieter in one way in that he could not hear any wind or rain as they approached the last room. In another way, that could have been because he could not hear them over Prince.
"Aah, I can't wait to be able to eat food again! And drink! And see the sky again!
"Hmm, but what should I eat first? ...Wah, there's too much choice!"
Sunshine had said that he would also enjoy seeing the fair sky again once they left; Prince had grinned and slapped him on the shoulder.
Was there something that he missed? He and Sunshine had not really talked about him, what he liked or disliked. It had largely been about the world: locations, cities, how long it took to fly from the Ghost Cave to Infinite City. He had had flashes of a sparkling blue body of water stretched under him, and stone buildings that were not from the Snow Village when they had been talking, but not more than that. Maybe he would remember more when they arrived in Infinite City.
The room with the exit was completely dry and showed no signs of there ever having been a lot of water inside it a few hours before. The stone stairs were on the other side of the room and mostly looked stable; some steps had crumbled away, leaving uneven gaps - they were small enough that they would not need to jump over them though.
But with every step that he took towards the stairs, and every one after that as he began climbing them, the whispers in his mind demanded his attention and began to conflict, growing louder and louder.
'You have to Stay. You have to Wait.'
'You already have. You Stayed and Waited and then you met Sunshine and Prince.'
'You cannot leave the cave.'
They did not make sense. Why were the whispers telling what to do when they had only given him information before?
'You have left before. You can go.'
'You are only allowed to leave with another person.'
But he was leaving with Sunshine and Prince, so then that would not be a problem. The whispers paused at that, but only for a few seconds. It was only by running his hand along the wall beside him, feeling the sharp points under his fingertips that he did not stop under the onslaught.
It did not take long to reach the top, and it only took two slashes of his katana before the hole was large enough for them to get through easily again.
Pulling himself up, he moved away from the hole and stared at everything around him. The sky had been the first thing he had seen and now that he was seeing it with his own eyes rather than hearing it described, he was having brief flashes of the sky being different colours: a light grey; turning pink; completely black except for spots of white.
The ground was soft under his feet, and there was a much higher abundance of green around him. Again, he saw other images overlapping the trees around him: the trees were thinner, their overall shape different; there was a uniform spacing between other trees; wrapped around another tree was a large purple ribbon.
There were no other sounds apart from a light gust ruffling the leaves and someone pulling himself out the hole. The whispers had quietened down to nothing as soon as he had stepped outside he realised.
"Kenshin?"
He turned away from the sights to see Sunshine sitting on a floating... he couldn't tell what it was, and Prince was standing next to it.
"You coming?"
He started walking towards them; he could look closely later - now it was time to go 'home'.
"Yeah."
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Summary: It didn't matter what had gone wrong, because there was a much bigger question to ask: what happens when a self-aware NPC dies?
Rating: K
Notes: I still ship Kenshin and Sunshine a little bit - you can tell here. :3
Argh, tenses. And argh, pronouns. D<
Genre: Friendship/Tragedy
Word count: 4,176
Total word count: 10,398
Status: Work in progress
The elf grinned at him, his head bobbing up and down. "All right!" he cheered, a fist raised in the air. "Now we just have to get out of here." Then he blinked and turned to glance at him, uncertainty written on his face. "Uh, I'm Prince." There was a small pause as the elf hesitated, looking away. He collected himself, taking a deep breath, and glanced back at him. "Do you mind if I call you Kenshin?"
What difference did it make? None. And he had a feeling that Prince would call him that anyway even if he said yes. He shook his head.
Prince grinned widely at him, his shoulders losing the tenseness they had.
Lantis Ilyushin also beamed at him. "And I'm Sunshine," he said, placing a hand to his chest.
He frowned at the change in Lantis Ilyushin's name, but did not say anything. Seeing how everything else had changed and not changed, it should not be so surprising that Lantis Ilyushin had changed his name. It could also explain why Prince seemed to want to call him by 'Kenshin' rather than Demon Lord.
Prince was looking up and down him, his eyebrows creased, and one side of his lips lowered in a puzzled frown. Prince laughed weakly when he saw him staring at him, a hand behind his head. "It's, ah, your clothes."
Looking down, he did not see anything that was different from before. His haori covered his tunic and leggings well, and his katana was within easy reach. It must be a quirk of Prince's to ask strange questions.
"Kenshin," Prince began slowly, taking his attention away from his clothes, "how did you get here?" The elf's eyes kept wavering towards the door.
It looked like he was going to have to get used to sudden, nonsensical questions from Prince. "I walked."
At his reply, Prince blinked and then laughed. "I meant the path - we might have, uh, destroyed one of them," he rambled, waving a hand.
That was not a problem; there were at least three different paths that could be taken out of the palace. "The highest one."
There was another pause before Prince shook his head, snorting. "Ah, never mind." He hummed, crossing his arms. "You can get out from here, right?"
He nodded, then frowned as some information solidified in his mind, demanding his attention. He could not leave, not without... But that had been fulfilled, Prince had said. So was it fine for him to go? Since meeting these two, it was becoming a regular occurrence to not understand, along with the flickers of maybe-memory beating at the back of his head, even in the short time that he had talked to them. Who did he believe? The whispers or these two?
"It's okay," Sunshine said softly, his eyes gentle. "You can leave the cave - and you've done it before," he added.
Prince nodded beside him. "Yeah. You were the one to lead us out last time too," he said with a weak chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.
Yet another thing he did not remember, not fully, but he had some flashes of greenery and buildings that definitely did not exist in Snow Village. He knew they were not lying -Sunshine was not capable of lying- and he nodded slowly to their words. There was a path from here that they could take to get out of the cave, if the other flickers were correct - unless that was the one that was now impassable.
He turned away, but paused when he heard Prince begin to talk.
"Ah... Can we rest a little first? I'm a little tired."
Tired? He cocked his head at that, but acquiesced his request, turning to face them again.
Prince flopped onto the chaise longue, limbs spread like they were attempting to take up as much space as possible. He then manoeuvred himself quickly to a sitting position, scooting up to the head. Sunshine followed and perched himself next to Prince. The pair looked at him after that -Sunshine expectant; Prince also expectant, but there was something else in his expression that he could not pin down- but he was not sure why. He stayed standing; Prince sighed when he saw that but he also smiled softly at him.
"Sooo..." Prince drew out as the silence began to stretch, swinging his legs lightly, "how are you?"
He stared back blankly. The word 'fine' was on his lips -or he could just not answer- but then he actually thought about it. For the most part, he was confused - confused the most about his memories, confused about the voice in his head, confused about these two people, one who he knew, and one he did not yet who seemed to know him well.
"Confused," he said finally. He would have continued to think about the whole situation but then he noticed how Prince was looking at him.
His eyes were wider than before, eyebrows raised, mouth open slightly. "You... wouldn't have told me that before." There was something in his voice that was different, that said that this was significant.
He would not have? But did they not know each other well?
Sunshine nodded in agreement. "You didn't say much."
If he did not say much before, why was he talking more now?
That was so weird. Lan couldn't really think of a time where Kenshin had told her how he felt. Yeah, you could tell by looking at his face -in some ways, he was one of the easiest people to read- but he never actually told you so much in words.
... Maybe she should stop expecting Kenshin to be a certain way. If his memories were really gone (but they were going to see if they could fix that) then was it fair if they pushed Kenshin into a preformed mould of him? What if all they did was just make him act a role, rather than let him be himself?
And that just wasn't acceptable.
She knew Kenshin, not as much as Sunshine (she doubted anyone knew Kenshin better than him) but the way Kenshin acted -the way anyone acted- was from their memories and how they affected them. Without his memories, Kenshin was not going to be the person she knew, and maybe he was never going to be again if he didn't get his memories back. Even if he didn't, he was still Kenshin though, and that was what mattered.
There was still trust there though, or maybe just trust of Sunshine, and he wasn't attacking them, but he wasn't fully relaxing either, always keeping a wary lookout on the door.
Slowly, Lan could feel her energy building up again, and the cuts and bruises were fading little by little. A bit too slowly for Lan's taste, but none of them were healers, so there wasn't much else they could do.
"Kenshin," she said as she stood up, stretching a little. He turned his head away from the door, his full attention on her. "I don't suppose you have any potions with you?" she asked hopefully, not expecting much.
He frowned slowly, his gaze turning inward, and then shook his head. "No."
She grinned at him. "Heh. Didn't think so." Ah well, it was worth a try. Lan wasn't completely up to full health yet, but by the time they bumped into a mob, she should be. The quicker they got out of here, the faster they could try bringing back Kenshin's memories.
"All right," she proclaimed, readying herself, "time to get out of here."
Kenshin had been guiding them around the cave without pausing once. Lan couldn't remember if he'd been like this the last time but the pace that he was setting and the fact that he never hesitated at the forks was... a little different. He walked slower than he had before, but he made up for that with seeming to know exactly where he was going. The last time though, they'd been grinding levels, so they'd never really needed a distinct direction to go - and they hadn't really been paying that much attention to the NPCs either, Lan realised with a squirm in her stomach.
She wasn't exactly sure, but it felt like they were gradually going up. The paths seemed like they were on a small incline, though they never actually looked like it, but she could definitely feel it in her legs after a while. She was also right about there not being as many monsters on this side of the cave, but they did bump in to one or two every once in a while. The fight never lasted for very long.
Some places that they passed looked a little bit familiar, and Lan hoped that it was because she'd seen them from the last time they'd came. But, she'd left the cave from two different exits before, the first time where she and Kenshin had to squeeze through a hole -very hidden, surrounded by thick roots that they'd had to hack away at for ages to get through- in the ceiling, and then when they were leaving with Sunshine, where they'd walked back out where they'd come in.
The sound of thundering rain and wind was getting louder though, something she'd been hearing for a while, but it sounded like it was coming from everywhere now, so that had to mean they were getting close to a place that had access to the outside. Kenshin hadn't said anything about that, but he hadn't really said that much at all really since they'd started moving. It kinda worried her, and as soon as she stopped seeing enclosed walls all around her, she was going to start prodding him.
They reached the entrance of a familiar looking doorway, and Lan's face blanked when she realised that yes, she had been hearing heavy rain, but it was also coming down in a steady torrent of water from the semi-open hole in the ceiling. There was no way they were going to be able to keep their balance while clambering up the thin steps while also being beaten down by the rain. Damn. It'd be best if they waited the storm out before trying to leave.
Kenshin didn't seem to think so.
While Lan had been thinking about what to do, he'd continued forward, mindful of the miniature sea that was winding its way through the room, but definitely not stopping.
She took a couple of steps forward and grabbed him by the arm. He stiffened under her touch, and when his head snapped to look at her a second later, his eyes were wide, almost confused. "We probably shouldn't go out yet," she half-yelled, trying to be heard over the gushing rain and howling wind. "It'd be too difficult right now." And she really didn't want to be the one leading them over the Eastern Continent when she couldn't even see, if the mist that was falling in through the hole was anything to go by.
There was a pause, Kenshin frowning a little. "...Like the snow." His words were pretty muffled and quiet, but she was sure that was what he said.
Lan nodded to that, her hair slapping her in the face and she winced. "Yeah!" Except they'd continued on anyway, so maybe that wasn't the best example. But that storm had been entirely plot-related and conjured by the system, so it would have happened, and would have continued to happen, until they'd finished the quest or gave up. This one wasn't a quest, so they could wait.
Kenshin continued to watch the steady fall of water for a little longer before he nodded slowly and turned back towards where they'd came from. Sunshine was, unsurprisingly, looking curiously around the massive room, but he didn't ask anything as he left. Not yet, anyway.
Taking one last look, Lan followed after them.
It was only after they'd left the sound of rain behind that she realised that Kenshin shouldn't have remembered their experience in the Snow Village.
Sunshine's room, and the cave in general, felt warmer after being close to the outside - but maybe that was because by the time they'd reached Sunshine's room, their clothes had dried completely. Lan peered up at the crystal ceiling, wondering if she could see the rain, but it was too bright to see anything and she eventually turned her head away, her eyes hurting. And then she started to think about it - the ceiling was far below where the outside was, so what was creating the light? Magic was the simple answer, and she didn't think about it much more after that.
She hummed. "So what should we do while we're waiting?" she asked, wondering if they should have maybe stayed somewhere closer to the room leading to the outside, so then they could leave as soon as the storm let up. Here, they couldn't know when the storm was over. Still, it was a lot drier and they'd actually be able to hold a conversation that didn't involve shouting here.
There was suddenly a muted ringing in her ear that she recognised instantly, especially when neither Sunshine or Kenshin reacted to it. Oh, great. Her alarm to get up. But they'd barely-! She sighed, scrubbing her face with a hand. She desperately wished to stay with them, but she had to cook breakfast and go to university. Dammit.
Sunshine was looking at her, understanding in his eyes. "You have to log out, don't you?"
She nodded, trying to think. Kenshin didn't know about players, about being an NPC. Maybe. What he'd said earlier showed that his memories weren't completely wiped, that there was still something there from after when his memories might have ended.
"It's all right," Sunshine reassured her quietly, "I'll talk to him."
Obviously he would, and possibly, Kenshin would talk back, if his more open self earlier was any indication.
Kenshin was glancing between them, his brow slightly furrowed as he tried to follow their conversation.
Ugh. As much as she wanted to stay, Lan knew that her alarm was going to go off again soon. "I've got to go," she told Kenshin, whose eyebrows deepened even further. "I'll try to be back as soon as possible, okay?"
"Okay."
He didn't look like he was but... If she kept thinking, Lan knew she'd probably never get up, so she logged out before she talked herself out of it.
The conversation Sunshine had had with Prince had not made much sense. Prince was going to leave by himself? Because they could not leave from the fastest route? The storm would not last long so they would not have to wait for long.
The elf glanced at him, waved his hand in the air and then he froze, his form going translucent before disappearing like he had never been there.
What? He blinked, waiting to see if something else would happen. There was a rustle of cloth as Sunshine padded towards him, slid a hand down his arm, grasped his hand and then started tugging him towards the chaise longue. He followed, not needing the guidance but not resisting either.
He sat down first, leaning back on the seashell, his legs over the edge. Sunshine sat the the head of the chaise longue and then swiveled around so that his legs were covering his own. That... was familiar, even though there was not a specific memory tied to it. He frowned, trying to find what it was, but when he tried, the things that were clearest to him were the last few days, fighting the Dark God, and Kaoru. The rest were disjointed images, splashes of colour and a murmuring mass of voices that could not be understood.
"What's wrong?" Sunshine had his head tilted to the side, his hair trailing over his shoulder.
"I... This is familiar, but I have never..." But that was not true, was it? Sunshine and Prince had both said he had done things that he could not remember doing and it was obvious now that his memories were fragmented and nearly non-existent.
Sunshine beamed at him. "We used to do that a lot when you came here. I'd ask questions about the world outside and you would answer them."
He did? "We used to?" What did they do now?
A nod, Sunshine's hair bouncing up and down. "We're with Prince now, in the Central Continent."
The Central Continent. Hm. He did not recognise the name. "We are in..."
"The Eastern Continent right now."
Were the two continents far away from each other? He looked away, gazing blankly at the stairs.
Sunshine settled down further on the chaise longue, stretching his legs before relaxing. "You told me about the world outside when I asked about it, so now I'll tell you about the world outside." He beamed at him.
He was not entirely sure if the sudden feeling he got at those words was ominous, but he was fairly sure that was it.
Ugh, her stupid brother took ages to eat, Lan grumbled as she logged on, and she had a couple of readings to do that would probably be done while she was cooking breakfast and riding the bus tomorrow. She'd managed to do some of it while waiting for the pots to bubble for dinner, which was good, so she wouldn't be trying to cram as much information into her skull at once. Still. It wouldn't have been fun if she'd been reading it with all the time in the world anyway.
When she entered Second Life, she looked around and - Huh. Both Kenshin and Sunshine were on the seashell thing, Kenshin facing her while Sunshine was sprawled across it, his legs covering Kenshin. That was weird. Kenshin didn't mind? Though Sunshine did do things and couldn't be stopped once he had an idea (or question) in his mind, Lan just didn't think Kenshin would let his legs be used like a footstool either, and she was thinking of the Kenshin with all his memories.
Neither moved away from each other when they saw her, though Sunshine waved when he did, and Kenshin looked at her, his face more open than it had been before which Lan was relieved to see.
Grinning at the pair, she stretched, double-checking that everything was in order. "So, ready to go?"
"Yup!" Sunshine beamed and swung his legs over the side, Kenshin smiling softly beside him.
"All riiight, let's go already!" She was tired of all these surrounding walls; she couldn't wait to see the open sky again.
Lan was the first one out the room, but she waited for Sunshine and Kenshin beside the door - she knew they turned left here, but that was as far as her knowledge went. She hummed, glancing up at the jewel on the door, and then frowned when she noticed it was different. Wasn't that...
"Prince, you don't have to break off another piece," Sunshine said as he held out a gem that was about three times the size of his palm, "we already did."
She stared at it before looking quickly between them. "Wait - why did you - uuuh-"
With a huff, she stopped herself, sorted out her thoughts, and then tried again. "Why did you do that?" She hadn't asked them to, and she hadn't said anything about it the entire time they'd been in the cave, so how had they known?
"You spent a long time trying to get a piece last time and I thought you might want another one, so we broke off another bit."
Ha, that was definitely true - she'd probably spent an hour slashing in the one direction before her attacks had finally gnawed their way through to the back, and then she had to slash in another direction for half-an-hour to break it off completely. Her arm was aching by the end of it. Jing and Yun hadn't been able to help with their abilities, and getting a part of the jewel had been a last-minute realisation so she'd told them to carry on ahead and she'd catch up with them. It was a good thing Kenshin had marked out where they'd passed or she'd have never found them and would probably still be wandering the cave.
"Thanks," she said warmly, taking the jewel and placing it in her pouch. She grinned at widely at them. "Okay, time to really go!"
Prince really was hard to understand; there did not seem to be any reason behind why he did things (Why did he need a piece of the door? Sunshine had not known either.) but he normally did not understand other people so it should not have been much of a surprise.
Going to the exit went faster this time, now that he knew for sure what path to take instead of attempting to rely on briefly seen images and trying to follow a fragile feeling of knowing that dissipated as soon as he thought about it too hard. The trip was quieter in one way in that he could not hear any wind or rain as they approached the last room. In another way, that could have been because he could not hear them over Prince.
"Aah, I can't wait to be able to eat food again! And drink! And see the sky again!
"Hmm, but what should I eat first? ...Wah, there's too much choice!"
Sunshine had said that he would also enjoy seeing the fair sky again once they left; Prince had grinned and slapped him on the shoulder.
Was there something that he missed? He and Sunshine had not really talked about him, what he liked or disliked. It had largely been about the world: locations, cities, how long it took to fly from the Ghost Cave to Infinite City. He had had flashes of a sparkling blue body of water stretched under him, and stone buildings that were not from the Snow Village when they had been talking, but not more than that. Maybe he would remember more when they arrived in Infinite City.
The room with the exit was completely dry and showed no signs of there ever having been a lot of water inside it a few hours before. The stone stairs were on the other side of the room and mostly looked stable; some steps had crumbled away, leaving uneven gaps - they were small enough that they would not need to jump over them though.
But with every step that he took towards the stairs, and every one after that as he began climbing them, the whispers in his mind demanded his attention and began to conflict, growing louder and louder.
'You have to Stay. You have to Wait.'
'You already have. You Stayed and Waited and then you met Sunshine and Prince.'
'You cannot leave the cave.'
They did not make sense. Why were the whispers telling what to do when they had only given him information before?
'You have left before. You can go.'
'You are only allowed to leave with another person.'
But he was leaving with Sunshine and Prince, so then that would not be a problem. The whispers paused at that, but only for a few seconds. It was only by running his hand along the wall beside him, feeling the sharp points under his fingertips that he did not stop under the onslaught.
It did not take long to reach the top, and it only took two slashes of his katana before the hole was large enough for them to get through easily again.
Pulling himself up, he moved away from the hole and stared at everything around him. The sky had been the first thing he had seen and now that he was seeing it with his own eyes rather than hearing it described, he was having brief flashes of the sky being different colours: a light grey; turning pink; completely black except for spots of white.
The ground was soft under his feet, and there was a much higher abundance of green around him. Again, he saw other images overlapping the trees around him: the trees were thinner, their overall shape different; there was a uniform spacing between other trees; wrapped around another tree was a large purple ribbon.
There were no other sounds apart from a light gust ruffling the leaves and someone pulling himself out the hole. The whispers had quietened down to nothing as soon as he had stepped outside he realised.
"Kenshin?"
He turned away from the sights to see Sunshine sitting on a floating... he couldn't tell what it was, and Prince was standing next to it.
"You coming?"
He started walking towards them; he could look closely later - now it was time to go 'home'.
"Yeah."
no subject
Date: Mar. 14th, 2011 11:49 am (UTC)"Uh, I'm Prince."
Aw, Lan. <3
Lantis Ilyushin also beamed at him.
... that name, gosh. XD;
And then Kenshin comments on the change in name, eee. As well as Prince wanting to call him Kenshin rather than Demon Lord. *___* Hey, I think both names are great improvements.
Aw, Lan is so hesitant with Kenshin here.
He nodded, then frowned as some information solidified in his mind, demanding his attention. He could not leave, not without... But that had been fulfilled, Prince had said.
Eee, I really love this paragraph, from this feeling that's compelling him, to those flickers of maybe-memory. <3
"It's okay," Sunshine said softly, his eyes gentle. "You can leave the cave - and you've done it before," he added.
*pictures Sunshine saying this* *melts* I adore Sunshine being reassuring! And then all this they have to tell him really brings it home how things are different.
His eyes wider than before, eyebrows raised, mouth open slightly. "You... wouldn't have told me that before." There was something in his voice that was different, that said that this was significant.
:O So first I squealed when Kenshin said "confused", and then my eyes widened when Prince pointed out that Kenshin wouldn't have said that before. (Cue more squealing). Kenshin must reaaally be confused.
... Maybe she should stop expecting Kenshin to be a certain way. If his memories were really gone (but they were going to see if they could fix that) then was it fair if they pushed Kenshin into a preformed mould of him? What if all they did was just make him act a role, rather than let him be himself?
It would not be fair at all, no. *__* Can I flail at Lan for being so thoughtful about this?
She knew Kenshin, not as much as Sunshine (she doubted anyone knew Kenshin better than him) but the way Kenshin acted -the way anyone acted- was from their memories and how they affected them.
Yessssss to this whole paragraph. :D (Sunshine knowing Kenshin best! People's actions affected by their memories! Kenshin still being Kenshin!)
Hahaha, Lan asking Kenshin about potions... XD;
"...Like the snow."
Ooooo, Kenshin has memory of snow!
So yeah, I was definitely flailing when Lan realized Kenshin shouldn't have remembered that.
Logging out!! Explaining to Kenshin. *___* Did Sunshine explain in the end?
"I... This is familiar, but I have never..." But that was not true, was it? Sunshine and Prince had both said he had done things that he could not remember doing and it was obvious now that his memories were fragmented and nearly non-existent.
I feel like giving Kenshin a hug, but that might not be wise. XD; He sounds so lost here! And he has no recollection of these things they're telling him about.
"You told me about the world outside when I asked about it, so now I'll tell you about the world outside."
I love this role reversal. <3
I think Kenshin and Sunshine on that seashell thing must make a pretty image. XDD
"Prince, you don't have to break off another piece," Sunshine said as he held out a gem that was about three times the size of his palm, "we already did."
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA XDDDD OH SUNSHINE.
And then Kenshin commented that Sunshine didn't know why Prince wanted a piece of the door either. *dies laughing*
Sunshine had said that he would also enjoy seeing the fair sky again once they left; Prince had grinned and slapped him on the shoulder.
So cute!! I guess this reference went over Kenshin's head since he doesn't know Fairsky. :')
Whispers. :O Really like the capitalization in Stay and Wait.
He started walking towards them; he could look closely later - now it was time to go 'home'.
Home! ♥
So this chapter was what, 2000 words shorter than chapter one? Will the next one follow the same pattern and be 2000 words shorter? XD; I hope not! XD;
no subject
Date: Mar. 14th, 2011 02:45 pm (UTC)Aaaah, so that's why the ff.net stats went to a new day an hour before it normally does. XD I was wondering if I'd been remembering wrong the whole time.
XD I had completely forgotten that Sunshine's name was translated to be even longer in the novel. XDD So many letters!
"Aw, Lan is so hesitant with Kenshin here."
Considering how he could send her flying away easily if she startles him too badly, she has to be careful. X3;; And she has no idea what he knows and how he'll react to things.
"*pictures Sunshine saying this* *melts* I adore Sunshine being reassuring!"
:D Hee! So do I~ I love the fact that he's here and he's actually the one with the most information!
":O So first I squealed when Kenshin said "confused", and then my eyes widened when Prince pointed out that Kenshin wouldn't have said that before. (Cue more squealing)."
Eeeeeeee! :D :D I'm happy I caused this reaction! \o/
"Kenshin must reaaally be confused."
Ha...hahaha, yeeeeah, he really is. Poor him.
"It would not be fair at all, no. *__* Can I flail at Lan for being so thoughtful about this?"
And then I read you fic and I was like 'aaaaahhhhhh, poor Ryoma with all these people putting all this pressure on him! D: D:' Of course you can flail at Lan for being thoughtful! ♥ :3
"Hahaha, Lan asking Kenshin about potions... XD;"
1. He might not even know what potions are. 2. Would he even pick them up? *laughs*
"Ooooo, Kenshin has memory of snow!"
:D Yup! ....Just barely. XDD I'm not sure if he was even aware he actually said that.
"So yeah, I was definitely flailing when Lan realized Kenshin shouldn't have remembered that."
*grins*
"Did Sunshine explain in the end?"
^ ^;; He didn't. They kinda went in circles of Sunshine explaining something, Kenshin asking questions about it, Kenshin then getting flickers of something else, asking about that, Sunshine explaining... XDD But they didn't talk about players or the system. And then they went to get a piece of the door at some point. Sunshine probably went on tangents as well.
"I feel like giving Kenshin a hug, but that might not be wise. XD;"
No at the moment, no. XDD
"I love this role reversal. <3"
daslkdj So do I~ :D
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA XDDDD OH SUNSHINE."
He was just adorable at this point. I didn't know if Lan was going to ask them to help, or if she was even going to try getting another piece when she knew how long it would take - and then Sunshine just came out with another piece. X3 ♥~
"And then Kenshin commented that Sunshine didn't know why Prince wanted a piece of the door either. *dies laughing*"
Well, it is a little strange that you want to break a piece of a door and take it home with you. *innocent look* XDDD
"I guess this reference went over Kenshin's head since he doesn't know Fairsky. :')"
XDD Yeeeeep.
"Whispers. :O Really like the capitalization in Stay and Wait."
Yeeeeah, Kenshin's just a tiiiiny bit broken and bugged. :C
"So this chapter was what, 2000 words shorter than chapter one? Will the next one follow the same pattern and be 2000 words shorter? XD; I hope not! XD;"
Waaaaah, I knooooow! XDD;; That's really not good. Fight scenes always lengthens my word count by a lot. The fight with the ghost was over 1,500 words by itself. I think the last part is going to be about 3k at best. XD;;; I've been totally wrong about my word count though before. :'3
no subject
Date: Mar. 30th, 2011 01:03 am (UTC)So ffnet is affected by daylight savings too? There's no option for setting your own time zone? :O
Which version did you use here for Sunshine's name? :O
It's like Lan has to be wary of a vicious and easily spooked... cat. XD; There's no telling how he may react!
I think, if Sunshine had been the one to go through this, he would probably still be a lot like how he is now. And he'd be asking questions to fill in anything he might not understand. :3 Kenshine would be supportive, though probably not as verbal and active about it as Sunshine is here? XD
The thing with Prince of Tennis is that it's all about tennis. XDDD Truly, I thought it was a bit overdone with how they needed him to regain his memories within the day so that he could play his match. It was the championship match and all... I guess it did make things more dramatic. XD
Ahhh, Sunshine and Kenshin's conversations must be really hard to follow for any bystanders if both of them keep going on tangents. XD
It is such a funny image, Sunshine taking a piece of the door. =P I guess he kind of owns it?
The last chapter ended up being around 4k? Not bad. XDD
no subject
Date: Apr. 11th, 2011 11:00 am (UTC)"So ffnet is affected by daylight savings too? There's no option for setting your own time zone? :O"
I don't think there is. ^ ^
"Which version did you use here for Sunshine's name?"
I used the manhua-version - I'm more used to it. XD
"It's like Lan has to be wary of a vicious and easily spooked... cat."
XD Very true!
"And he'd be asking questions to fill in anything he might not understand. :3 Kenshine would be supportive, though probably not as verbal and active about it as Sunshine is here?"
*snickers* Yeah, I'd say Sunshine would be pretty similar. Though, he was supposed to fight people who didn't know his name and hmmm... ... D: Sunshine could have been a whole lot different from what he's like currently.
"I guess he kind of owns it?"
Haha, it is his palace, so he can do what he wants with it. XD
no subject
Date: Apr. 12th, 2011 06:34 am (UTC)I tried searching around ffnet. Can't believe there's no option for time zone. :O
I'm not used to any version of Sunshine's name. *still can't remember it* Or well, I only know "Sunshine". XD
I can imagine Sunshine being very different without his memories. D: But I can also see him around the same with his curiosity.
I wonder if game developers would ever fix that door. XDD