Yona is trying so fucking hard to avoid these memory bubbles and with every starter I write the way she pops them gets even stupider. Case in point: this time, as she comes across Emet-Selch in the wild west area, a lizard skitters across her foot and startles her into letting out a cry and stumbling back. She narrowly misses smacking a bubble with her hand, twists at the waist, and then trips over a tumbleweed. It's as she gets back up to her feet that a bubble drifts just over where she's standing up, and she pops it with her head.
It's very late at night, and they can hear rain coming from outside. It's strange, Yona thinks - watching this not-much-younger version of herself, with much longer hair, panicking over the body of a man in ornate robes who has just been stabbed, looking between him and a person Emet-Selch will recognize as Soo-won. He has blood on his cheek, and he's carrying a blood-stained sword.
"S-Soo-won... Quickly, call a doctor!" "King Il will not wake again." There's the soft splat of a drop of blood hitting the ground from the tip of his sword, and then: "I killed him."
The Yona of several months ago shakes her head.
"What are you talking about? Y-you aren't someone who could do this..." "You don't know how I have lived for this day."
(Ignore the opening theme and the little aside with Hak, Yona didn't see that part.)
"Wh-why? My father cared for you since you were a child..." "You're right. I loved King Il, too."
Soo-won explains, then - how his father, Yona's uncle, had been passed over when their grandfather chose a successor. How people doubted Il, but his father had wanted to protect him. How King Il had, after ascending to the throne -
Killed his own brother.
"No... my uncle died in an accident..." "That's the official story. But King Il stabbed my father to death with a sword."
The long-haired Yona stares at Soo-won in shock.
"Do you understand? King Il, who was thought to hate weapons and avoid conflict, killed my father with a sword."
She doesn't want to believe it. Then, she didn't want to believe it - and even now, looking back on this memory, she wishes it wasn't true. But it is - Soo-won says it, it's the truth, and watching, Yona murmurs it herself even as the girl she was denies it.
The Yona of the past flinches at her reflection in the steel of Soo-won's sword.
"I have avenged my father, and to honor his final wish, I will become King of Kouka."
Tears fill her eyes, and she looks down at the corpse in her lap. Soo-won admits he hadn't expected her to be here; she admits she had come to tell her father that she couldn't ever forget Soo-won himself.
And then, from behind here, there's the sound of a door opening. A man in dark robes enters, accompanied by soldiers - "Everything is ready." - and glances briefly at Yona before turning his attention to Soo-won - "Did Princess Yona see you?"
Soo-won doesn't speak, but he doesn't have to for this man to know.
"That will make things quick." A flick of his gaze towards Yona, and: "Kill her, Lord Soo-won. Silence the princess."
Yona stares at him, disbelieving, and whispers his name.
His gaze hardens, and he raises his sword.
She struggles to her feet, tries to back away - falls, and knocks over a lantern. The candle spills out and catches a tapestry on fire, and in the ensuing chaos and rush to put it out before someone notices, Yona flees for the door, dazed and confused and wishing so badly that this wasn't real.
She hears footsteps behind her as she runs, and then -
Then, something wraps itself around her ankle and yanks back. She lands hard on the ground of a courtyard, and soon finds herself surrounded by soldiers with the same sorts of weapons her father was said to abhor. The same sorts of weapons her father was said to have killed her uncle with.
"Prepare yourself, Princess. This is for the Kingdom of Kouka."
She turns her head towards where she had been running from, where Soo-won is now standing, accompanied by more soldiers and that man in dark robes. Her vision blurry with tears, she calls out for him -
"Soo-won!"
...and the soldier raises his sword, taking aim at her neck.
(Memshare ends at timestamp 8:02.)
Haha! Wow that's awful give her a few moments, she hates reliving that.]
[he tries to step back as she gets dangerously close to that first bubble, but makes the mistake of relaxing when it's missed... and then there's the other one. then there's the memory--
and ah, that puts a conversation or two into perspective. the way he always seemed amused at something, when speaking of royalty, of nobility; emet-selch has noticed, of course, but kept his counsel. having it laid out in such a way is quite helpful...
though how unfortunate that it comes at yona's expense. he's no stranger to such acts, with as many empires as he's been personally involved in, but they are ever unpleasant to watch. ever depressing, to see the things humans do.
he exhales a slow breath, when it ends.]
...that cannot have been pleasant. Are you well enough?
[emet-selch is, at least, tactful enough to ask after her first.]
yona nods, though, even as she tries to catch her breath. this is not a memory she likes to revisit, and quite frankly, if she forgot it wholesale and never had to think of it again, she'd probably be quite happy.
but it's a major part of why she is the person she is today, too.]
[hmm. she doesn't look entirely comfortable talking about this, but also, she's not really able to talk freely about it in kouka, so!]
The truth is, it was one of the first things I forgot. [so.] ...but it's also not entirely relevant, I think. It's not like Soo-won is going to hurt anyone here - it wouldn't serve any sort of purpose.
Rather, if his skills can be used to fix things here and get us all home... I'd hate for my own grudge to be the reason why people found it hard to cooperate with him.
[a pause, and then...]
...so, I'd appreciate it if you kept what you saw to yourself.
By the same token, it would serve no purpose for me to share it. It simply answers a question or two-- he does have a habit of looking insufferably amused when speaking of nobility and royalty.
[and now he knows why. progress of a sort, he supposes.]
You may rest assured that I will not speak of it to others.
[oh, is that a remnant of the bubble here to finish the memshare? it sure is! he's cut off as they're thrust into observing it, and it begins within a treetop village, surrounded by gigantic, ancient trees.
the group he's with is discussing the death of a friend of theirs; he is snapped at for offering condolences before they've quite acknowledged she is gone, but in a stretch of silence that follows, the person emet-selch pays the most attention to-- the warrior of light, his memory supplies (the remnant of someone he once knew)-- mentions a strange wind gust. they all recall she knew a spell that would transport her directly into the world's flow of magic, the one to which dead souls return.
while it can't be seen in the cutscenes i will also note that, viewed through emet-selch's eyes-- there is a light within every person there, though to his eyes that light also appears rather dim, and the flow of the world's aether is fully visible to him as well, sparkling with a faint glow.]
that sure was something, wasn't it! usually, when you die, that's... that's just it. but obviously that isn't quite the case in his world (his own ability to hop from vessel to vessel aside).]
Amazing...
[he's so powerful? he just?? plucked a soul out of the lifestream????]
Once someone has truly died, 'tis the case in ours, as well. A dissipated soul will become fully a part of the Lifestream, and the energy that formed it will someday become part of another. They belong to the world itself, upon death, and the world will grant new life-- just as the rains fall to the ocean and rise again to the sky.
I did gain the ability to contact the others, yes, but I found it best not to say I had just gained it, as I was unaware whether only one group of us had. 'Twas unsafe to allow it to be too easily guessed before a new week began.
I am aware now there were enough that it would not be immediately obvious, but... I am sure you can understand the reasons behind misrepresenting that information.
[local binch is paranoid about too much info-sharing on the last day of the week.]
It's good that the ability has been spreading - the more who can send and receive messages, the more we'll be able to cooperate, I think. Although... I'm not really sure I want to share our code with everyone.
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dawnblushed) wrote2020-10-11 03:43 pm
w4, monday
Yona is trying so fucking hard to avoid these memory bubbles and with every starter I write the way she pops them gets even stupider. Case in point: this time, as she comes across Emet-Selch in the wild west area, a lizard skitters across her foot and startles her into letting out a cry and stumbling back. She narrowly misses smacking a bubble with her hand, twists at the waist, and then trips over a tumbleweed. It's as she gets back up to her feet that a bubble drifts just over where she's standing up, and she pops it with her head.
A moment later, they find themselves in a castle.
It's very late at night, and they can hear rain coming from outside. It's strange, Yona thinks - watching this not-much-younger version of herself, with much longer hair, panicking over the body of a man in ornate robes who has just been stabbed, looking between him and a person Emet-Selch will recognize as Soo-won. He has blood on his cheek, and he's carrying a blood-stained sword.
"S-Soo-won... Quickly, call a doctor!"
"King Il will not wake again." There's the soft splat of a drop of blood hitting the ground from the tip of his sword, and then: "I killed him."
The Yona of several months ago shakes her head.
"What are you talking about? Y-you aren't someone who could do this..."
"You don't know how I have lived for this day."
(Ignore the opening theme and the little aside with Hak, Yona didn't see that part.)
"Wh-why? My father cared for you since you were a child..."
"You're right. I loved King Il, too."
Soo-won explains, then - how his father, Yona's uncle, had been passed over when their grandfather chose a successor. How people doubted Il, but his father had wanted to protect him. How King Il had, after ascending to the throne -
Killed his own brother.
"No... my uncle died in an accident..."
"That's the official story. But King Il stabbed my father to death with a sword."
The long-haired Yona stares at Soo-won in shock.
"Do you understand? King Il, who was thought to hate weapons and avoid conflict, killed my father with a sword."
She doesn't want to believe it. Then, she didn't want to believe it - and even now, looking back on this memory, she wishes it wasn't true. But it is - Soo-won says it, it's the truth, and watching, Yona murmurs it herself even as the girl she was denies it.
The Yona of the past flinches at her reflection in the steel of Soo-won's sword.
"I have avenged my father, and to honor his final wish, I will become King of Kouka."
Tears fill her eyes, and she looks down at the corpse in her lap. Soo-won admits he hadn't expected her to be here; she admits she had come to tell her father that she couldn't ever forget Soo-won himself.
And then, from behind here, there's the sound of a door opening. A man in dark robes enters, accompanied by soldiers - "Everything is ready." - and glances briefly at Yona before turning his attention to Soo-won - "Did Princess Yona see you?"
Soo-won doesn't speak, but he doesn't have to for this man to know.
"That will make things quick." A flick of his gaze towards Yona, and: "Kill her, Lord Soo-won. Silence the princess."
Yona stares at him, disbelieving, and whispers his name.
His gaze hardens, and he raises his sword.
She struggles to her feet, tries to back away - falls, and knocks over a lantern. The candle spills out and catches a tapestry on fire, and in the ensuing chaos and rush to put it out before someone notices, Yona flees for the door, dazed and confused and wishing so badly that this wasn't real.
She hears footsteps behind her as she runs, and then -
Then, something wraps itself around her ankle and yanks back. She lands hard on the ground of a courtyard, and soon finds herself surrounded by soldiers with the same sorts of weapons her father was said to abhor. The same sorts of weapons her father was said to have killed her uncle with.
"Prepare yourself, Princess. This is for the Kingdom of Kouka."
She turns her head towards where she had been running from, where Soo-won is now standing, accompanied by more soldiers and that man in dark robes. Her vision blurry with tears, she calls out for him -
"Soo-won!"
...and the soldier raises his sword, taking aim at her neck.
(Memshare ends at timestamp 8:02.)
Haha! Wow that's awful give her a few moments, she hates reliving that.]
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[he tries to step back as she gets dangerously close to that first bubble, but makes the mistake of relaxing when it's missed... and then there's the other one. then there's the memory--
and ah, that puts a conversation or two into perspective. the way he always seemed amused at something, when speaking of royalty, of nobility; emet-selch has noticed, of course, but kept his counsel. having it laid out in such a way is quite helpful...
though how unfortunate that it comes at yona's expense. he's no stranger to such acts, with as many empires as he's been personally involved in, but they are ever unpleasant to watch. ever depressing, to see the things humans do.
he exhales a slow breath, when it ends.]
...that cannot have been pleasant. Are you well enough?
[emet-selch is, at least, tactful enough to ask after her first.]
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yona nods, though, even as she tries to catch her breath. this is not a memory she likes to revisit, and quite frankly, if she forgot it wholesale and never had to think of it again, she'd probably be quite happy.
but it's a major part of why she is the person she is today, too.]
...I'm okay.
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[it still can't be easy to deal with, but he'll take her word for it. she's seemed the type who can handle it.]
...you did mention before that you were once more like some of the others, here. I take it such events were what helped change that?
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...that's right. I didn't know what it was like to have to struggle just to survive, before. Now I do.
[...]
I think if I can do it, anyone can. I was... probably one of the most spoiled, pampered people anyone would ever meet.
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[a slight nod, there- although...
well, he has to bring it up. he's curious, if she's willing to talk about it.]
One might expect you to keep more of a distance from the man, after such an incident.
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[hmm. she doesn't look entirely comfortable talking about this, but also, she's not really able to talk freely about it in kouka, so!]
The truth is, it was one of the first things I forgot. [so.] ...but it's also not entirely relevant, I think. It's not like Soo-won is going to hurt anyone here - it wouldn't serve any sort of purpose.
Rather, if his skills can be used to fix things here and get us all home... I'd hate for my own grudge to be the reason why people found it hard to cooperate with him.
[a pause, and then...]
...so, I'd appreciate it if you kept what you saw to yourself.
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[and now he knows why. progress of a sort, he supposes.]
You may rest assured that I will not speak of it to others.
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yona lets out a small sigh of relief, and manages a smile.]
Thank you, Emet-Selch.
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[oh, is that a remnant of the bubble here to finish the memshare? it sure is! he's cut off as they're thrust into observing it, and it begins within a treetop village, surrounded by gigantic, ancient trees.
the group he's with is discussing the death of a friend of theirs; he is snapped at for offering condolences before they've quite acknowledged she is gone, but in a stretch of silence that follows, the person emet-selch pays the most attention to-- the warrior of light, his memory supplies (the remnant of someone he once knew)-- mentions a strange wind gust. they all recall she knew a spell that would transport her directly into the world's flow of magic, the one to which dead souls return.
lucky for them, they have someone who can help. (ends about 36:54 unless you just feel like finishing the scene!)
while it can't be seen in the cutscenes i will also note that, viewed through emet-selch's eyes-- there is a light within every person there, though to his eyes that light also appears rather dim, and the flow of the world's aether is fully visible to him as well, sparkling with a faint glow.]
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that sure was something, wasn't it! usually, when you die, that's... that's just it. but obviously that isn't quite the case in his world (his own ability to hop from vessel to vessel aside).]
Amazing...
[he's so powerful? he just?? plucked a soul out of the lifestream????]
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[he's not humble enough to be like 'oh it's nothing'. just 'it's nothing For Me.']
Her soul had yet to dissipate, as it would have upon death. After that comes to pass, even I may not retrieve one.
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[unless they, like, get reincarnated.]
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[it's a cycle, essentially.]
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[it really is fascinating!]
The... lights that seemed like they were within people when you looked at them, then - were those their souls? Or something else?
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[he nods at that, looking somewhat pleased with this. good to know there's a way to show people, if they happen to see his memories.]
They were souls, yes. I have always had the sight for them.
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[how bright is her soul, she wonders...]
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[he shakes his head at that.]
A pity. I should like to see the true vibrance of this Realm, and of those gathered-- it all seems quite dim, without it.
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...maybe once the problem with the nova has been fixed, you'll be able to see it again?
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...one may hope. But we will need to fix it, first, to find out.
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[-hm. a slight pause, there.]
Ah, though speaking of such things as cooperation... I suppose I ought to offer an apology for being- somewhat misleading, last we spoke.
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[emet-selch no she trusted you.]
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I am aware now there were enough that it would not be immediately obvious, but... I am sure you can understand the reasons behind misrepresenting that information.
[local binch is paranoid about too much info-sharing on the last day of the week.]
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[better safe than sorry!]
It's good that the ability has been spreading - the more who can send and receive messages, the more we'll be able to cooperate, I think. Although... I'm not really sure I want to share our code with everyone.
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