epidemiology | EVENT ★ GONE FISHIN'

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EVENT ★ GONE FISHIN'

Thanks to your help, repairs to the flood wall are complete. The Nalawi are still largely without their Gifts, so they are thankful -- without the aid of ALASTAIR recruits, they would have surely drowned or been eaten by sea monsters.

Despite the barely averted disaster, the residents of Komo have decided to go along with their lives as planned, perhaps to bolster morale instead of giving into despair. By chance, their annual fishing contest is scheduled for today! As honored guests, recruits are invited to participate.

FISHING CONTEST

Dugout canoes are provided for all participants, patterns that suggest fish scales burned into the wooden sides. Curiously, no fishing rods are offered; if a recruit requests one, they will be given a strange look, but the harbormaster will acquiesce.

Due to the rough seas, the passage between Komo and the other islands is still inaccessible. Contestants are reminded to stay behind the reefs or venture east toward open ocean for their quarry. It’s only when the contest begins that the quarry in question is actually announced . . .

Sharks.

You are fishing sharks. And, judging by the lack of equipment (or the puny fishing rod you requested), you’re expected to do this by hand.

The tiny deer people don’t seem bothered by this predicament at all: the goal is to catch the biggest shark, by length and poundage. Better not embarrass yourself in front of the locals.

GET PUMPED

Mettaton has announced over the jewelry that he will be hosting a celebration in tandem with the fishing contest, in order to help the native Nalawi and the ALASTAIR recruits get to know each other better. This includes singing, dancing, and all sorts of different performances -- and, of course, reporting on the actual fishing.

If you aren’t the fishing type or maybe you just need a break from chasing sharks around, this is a good chance to bust a move and show your teammates how you can get down -- or just sit back and watch! It’s bound to be entertaining one way or another.

Plot for the stage here!

Olivia will be the final performer in the showcase. Anyone who witnesses her dancing may feel themselves super-charged by the spectacle . . . with possibly unexpected results! Characters may feel even more determined to win the fishing contest, or perhaps they’ll take this surge of optimism to help rebuild some of Komo’s destroyed buildings before the day winds down into night.

THE FEAST

After the fishing contest, the sharks will be collected and prepared. Grilled shark, fried shark, shark caviar, and shark jerky from the results of last year’s contest. There are fruits and vegetables and breads available as well, but if you want some protein, you’d better go native.

During the feast, some of the Nalawi perform dances and song. The subjects range from their goddess Nalanni to love songs. Want to show off your talents again? Now’s the time! Or, if you’d prefer to step away from the excitement, the beach is quiet and empty, and the baths are unoccupied since the whole of Komo is at the gathering.

As the feast winds down, the Nalawi will pass around their very potent alcohol for a toast to Komo’s health. Someone shouts, interrupting, wondering what good that will do if Nalanni has abandoned them. Concerned murmuring fills the gathering, spoiling the mood. ALASTAIR recruits may attempt to put them at ease -- otherwise, the feast will disperse on a sour note.

OOC INFO

If you would like your character to win the fishing contest, please sign up below. You must thread out fishing in order to participate in the drawing. There will be only one winner, decided by RNG. The winner will be contacted on April 1st. The prize is a necklace of shark’s teeth, which has a one-use spell that will make all sharks in a one mile radius sleep for 30 seconds.

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[crystal blue eyes that are almost too unnatural to be just a single shade focus on aqua, and rin pauses openly like she didn't expect the question. (she probably didn't.) she figures she would have been taken at her word, but, well... if it was rin learning, she can't deny she'd be asking for her fair share of clarification, too.]

It goes back to our world. Are you really sure you want to know? ... It's sort of boring, inconsequential. [she explains.

—it's not really either.]

[ Well... Aqua can't help but be curious. Promises have always been important to her (and favors do count as such), even if the majority of her own have been indefinitely unfulfilled. (What happens when you're worlds away from the people you care about...) ]

Only if you don't mind telling me.

[ She always has the option of asking Lancer later, but it would be nice to hear it from Rin herself. (Whom she imagines might use less exaggeration and needless embellishing of details...) ]

[to the contrary, in this case, lancer may be far more likely to dismiss the favor as not even a favor—or, like rin offered first, something inconsequential enough not to be worthy of note.]

I guess it makes more sense if you know my Servant. His name is Archer. [rin furrows her brow and forms an interesting face as her eyes drift across the sand.]

Even if you don't, though, it's not hard to understand. My Servant betrayed me. Lancer was there when he was gone. We formed an agreement so it wasn't like it wasn't for his benefit, too, but that's that.

My traitor of a Servant left me to die, and Lancer took him on in battle so that ingrate would come crawling back to me on hands and knees, begging to be forgiven.

Archer...

[ It's a familiar name, and it takes her a moment to place it. (No accompanying face, but she remembers an important network transmission a while back.) ]

The man who slayed Michel.

[ ...It makes all too much sense, now. Rin had been imprisoned in the castle with her, separated from her Servant. A Servant's task is to keep his or her Master safe... (Granted there's more to that in the assassination of an important political figure, but the reasons are as seemingly obvious as they are subtle.)

At any rate, if the pair is reunited now, Aqua assumes the aforementioned crawling and begging has been accomplished in some manner.

So, then... ] ...And have you forgiven him?

[ A contract and a pardon are hardly the same; Aqua herself isn't sure how she'd face such a situation, though, she can't imagine the same circumstances in the first place. (It isn't just what Rin's told her just now, but whatever intrinsic bond she acquired along with her Command Seals.)

She may not always (or even often) see eye-to-eye with Lancer, but she trusts him implicitly. ]

Correct. He took Michel's life.

[it's a flat response, suddenly, devoid of much overt emotion. in her steady voice and steely eyes reflecting the moon, aqua might be able to see a glimmer of the hard composure that similarly powered this girl's servant to kill a man. she's soft and incomplete compared to the actual archer, of course, but she at least doesn't hold michel's murder against him to any degree.

was it done to save rin? not entirely. a cleaner like archer will always seek to eliminate those who ruin life for countless others, and michel, consumed by summoning demons, was practically a target for his swords from archer's first day in chantes.

more difficult to answer is the question about forgiveness. a moment, and,]

—No, I haven't fully forgiven him. That would be foolish of me.

[yet another cool reply.

if aqua believes lancer will never betray her, she's also got another thing coming; still, first things first.]

[ Aqua's own view of murder is more subjective than one might expect. There isn't true death in her world as it exists here, concepts of good and evil repurposed into terms of light and dark.

Michel and his demons were undoubtedly forces of darkness, everything she's sworn as a Keyblade Master to vanquish. Had she been burdened with the task, she would've done just so, with the same merciless resolve she'd exercised so many times with Vanitas. (With Master Xehanort, Braig, anyone who threatened the balance of the worlds... Who simply threatened the safety of her friends.)

It isn't to say it would have been easy—never that, no. While Archer may exist for such a role, his act can still be seen as a favor on behalf of an overwhelming number of recruits and citizens alike.

And so there's no judgement from her end—for either of Rin's statements.

She nods, attention turning back to the distant, dark horizon. ]

...But you trust him enough.

[ That's framed as another question. (Surely, Rin must see something in this man to have allowed him another chance.) ]

[rin is beginning to learn one thing about aqua: she knows how to ask the pointed questions, though she's grateful for the unconditional understanding.]

I trust him to do what he's meant to do.

[she realizes it's a weak answer. really, rin's just rephrasing the same sentiment—she trusts him enough because she trusts him to do what he should. but she explains, in the language of masters and servants,]

He can protect my life and he's strong enough to be an active threat. It's not that I would sleep with my defenses down in the same room with him [she has done exactly this too many times to count, by now], but that he's a passable Servant. He's also the Servant I summoned, so he belongs to me.

And he's such a wild horse that if I ever let another recruit form a contract with him, and he made the whole room burn down in flames, I could never forgive myself for that. So think that it's at least partially about hooking a leash around him.

A 'leash'.

[ Well. That sort of put things into perspective. (The dog that bites the hand that feeds...) Servants are incredibly powerful, single-handedly capable of dismantling armies and nations and worlds, and it's not so unusual to hear that certain restraining measures would be necessary.

She mulls over everything so far for a moment, before deciding, ] ...I understand.

[ ...Even if Rin's not being completely honest (not that Aqua would know her well enough to tell), that's still a pretty honest answer. She's a responsible young woman, genuinely dedicated to her Servant in her own, particular way.

So, then, to advance the topic... Aqua shifts a little, folding her legs neatly by her side and brushing off a spot of sand from her ankles. Then levels her gaze with Rin's. ]

...I am not very familiar with the Grail Wars, but I can assure you I have no interest in it. My objective aligns with ALASTAIR's; I will assist in protecting as many timelines as I'm able.

[ Her arrangement with Lancer—unforeseen and indefinite—doesn't change anything in that respect. ]

[restraining measures are absolutely necessary. the servants have minds of their own; no one can deny that. for that matter, the guidance of a master may not always be correct, but... if one is to enter into a contract, that confidence needs to be there or no contract at all.

her dedication to archer is true. so is her devotion, which is (mostly) for his own sake.

rin blinks widely, surprised, once the grail wars come up.]

Well, I... think it's good you have no interest in any Holy Grail War. After all, the Holy Grail won't ever appear in this world or any one we go to. We might not even be in the same universe.

[ It's a relief to hear and she nods in response, slowly letting tension ease out from her posture. (All she knows of the War is that it's a bloodbath... If it's something that can be permanently avoided while they're here, all the better. She won't question the mechanics behind it, trusting whatever external force there is keeping the world(s) in alignment.

With the one major issue out of the way (Not Murdering Each Other), Aqua's mind starts to wander elsewhere, trying to find inquiries and other such curiosities for Rin to answer...

...Or perhaps it's best to let the other girl decide, ]

Is there anything else I ought to know...?

[ Instead of haphazardly fishing around for answers, she suspects this might be the most efficient way of gleaning whatever information she might need. (It wouldn't be the first she's resorted to this strategy...) ]

[if only she knew the reality. the holy grail war is a complete massacre, a joyless deathmatch between seven magi all hacking each other to pieces to satisfy an incredibly human greed, and the most problematic aspect is that it wouldn't exist if not for humans, one of which rin can count among the number of her ancestors.

it's evil. it's forbidden. the holy grail is corrupt, archer had said—if anything, it damned humans to death, bringing in servants like caster and gilgamesh and—

well, that supplies the next topic.]

Lancer might try to kill you. At his core, he's as vile as the rest of them.

[the "rest of them" being servants, she means. she presents this without emotion. her posture stills carefully, though, waiting to appraise aqua's judgment of that.

in essence, she shouldn't worry about rin murdering her, she should worry about lancer murdering her.]

[ She blinks at Rin, her expression conflicted for a moment. (It isn't worry or fear—she's a bit too naive for that, bordering on self-righteous—, but simply a contradiction that twists a knot into her reason for all of a second.)

Because Lancer has already tried to kill her. (Under possession no doubt, but he wouldn't be the first. —Or even the second.)

However, ] ...He's saved my life before.

[ And vice versa. Enough times she hasn't bothered to keep tally. (Whatever the demon brought out of him she's well aware of, and still,) ]

I trust him.

[ The same, blind faith she has in her friends. (And though she doesn't claim to know much about him, she's been tethered to him long enough to tell that even if he isn't someone wreathed in Light, he's no creature of Darkness, either.) ]

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EVENT ★ GONE FISHIN'

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