spacedragons | AUGUST TDM.

➛ Welcome to Last Eden's TDM for August! Threads here can be counted as game canon.
➛ Feel free to use the prompts to test out a new character or to try out the game's premise!
➛ The TDM can be used for your application sample, though it is not a requirement.

A DREAM, OF A SOUL AWAKE.

You are asleep. The dreamscape ripples, resolves into a vision of a foreign land, and then a world of pure white. There is the sensation of rising through deep water, and then you find yourself in a room of white marble. Your items may be set on the floor around you, or you could have arrived bare-handed - whichever it is, you'll soon be addressed by a couple of tired-looking people in white coats. It seems they're as confused as you are.

A ➛ After getting a brief introduction to the White Moon and choosing a faction, you will be allowed to leave. It's a whole new world, after all - so why not look around? The architecture of the Administrative Zone is very formal, in high contrast to the Free Market which is practically a riot of colour and wares. Merchants from all four nations peddle their wares here - have a look around, but also keep a watch on your purse. Some things can be quite expensive.

B ➛ As you head out of the Administrative Zone's gates, a flash of light catches your eye. The sun-crystal is reflected quite brightly in the window of a nearby building, almost dazzling you - and in that instant you see someone behind you in the street. A youth with white hair and grey clothing, oddly familiar. You blink, and he's gone. Maybe he was never there at all.

TO THE STARS, WE ENTRUST OUR DIRECTION.

The money given to every new foreigner is limited. It seems you will be expected to earn your keep from now on, either through tradecraft or through offering your services to the populace. If taking on small contracts isn't your thing, each faction also has bounties up for the taking. After all, you carry a surprising resistance to the miasma that lurks outside the city walls. Why not put it to use?

C ➛ Fancy taking a ride on a dragon? The roostkeepers of the Ice faction are friendly and will allow you to interact with their charges as long as you're respectful of their boundaries. The older dragons will merely gaze at you pensively, but the youngsters are always up for a game of catch or two. There's also the option of dragon taxi if you wish to travel between regions. If you can fork out the coin, they'll send you across the Moon in the fastest time possible.

D ➛ The inland Sea is abuzz with activity at this time of the year. While the seasonal variations are dampened inside the Moon ship, that hasn't stopped the natives from hanging out at the beach. The Blood faction's side has plenty of revelry, with fireworks set off at night and grilled fish stalls set up along the waterfront. Some of the food on offer may carry potent effects, however - the shamans are used to ingesting enhanced wines, but are you?

E ➛ If you've let slip the fact that you're from another world, you may soon gain some fans. Some natives will be curious and wish to interview you, but others may have more shady intentions. It can be hard to distinguish well-wishers from kidnappers - if you're being cornered by a few very earnest folk, it might be time to run.

F ➛ The roostkeepers will let you ride one of their older dragons if you are going to the Badlands on an exploration mission. It's a desolate landscape barren and devoid of all plant life, but such rocks might hide valuable treasures. Strange ores and crystals jut out of rock formations about a mile or two outside the city walls. Even map information will fetch you some reward from your faction. But don't venture out too far, or your resistance may wear off and leave you at the mercy of the elements.

G ➛ Wildcard! Feel free to utilize minor NPCs if needed. If you have any questions about the setting, direct them towards the FAQ.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[No, don't laugh like that.

Don't laugh in a way that makes it feel as if he's being understood in some way, but at the same time--

That feels like a confirmation. In a way, it made him feel just a bit blindsided at having someone admit that they were once acquainted. It felt like another piece of a puzzle that was represented to him, a piece of his life that he possibly knew or just a stray path that could have been.

But it's also a riddle that presented itself to him, enough that it has him studying Sion more efficiently now.

"We were acquainted, you and I."

"I wonder...will you be able to guess how?"

Any answer he could give wouldn't be the right one, not when it's obvious that Sion is a part of a life that never was available to Lavi.

At the same time, any answer he could give could also be right.]

...Were we acquainted before in a different kind of world similar to this?

[It's a safe enough answer based on the tiny details he was able to depict.]

Aa.

[ ...in the end, any answer which Lavi would give...

(It would always be right.) ]

It was very much like this world, but in a different cluster of stars. [ Giving pause, he lifts a hand to brush the fringe of his hair back, behind the shell of his ear, the even cadence of his voice falling somewhat... sheepish. Bashful, as he divulges a truth which he wouldn't dare dream of hiding: ] You... did not care much for me, when first we met, for I think I represented all that you loathed most.

[ An enemy, garbed in black. A heart that, however sincere, would only be twisted and maligned by the harsh reality of the Quad. ]

At that time, I willingly wore a collar about my neck, and in exchange... I was granted power enough to help the people I saw before me.

[ Even if the price had been terrible, unbearable when his hand had been forced, and found himself caught between defending those who strove to change the Company from within—his family, those who knew the Company could become something beautiful, serving the Quad as an agent of good—and the civilians who would rail against them, for in their eyes...

All those who bore the uniform and crest of the Company were the same: monsters who aptly wore the guise of people. ]

And one day, you realized that. I'd acted stupidly, impulsively when all the world was burning around me. There were so, so very many in need of aid, and I hadn't the hands to save all of them, though I tried. In the end, I failed, and I hadn't even the hands to help myself.

[ And it had been a lesson well learned, a push for Sion to grow stronger still to achieve a peaceful place; a gentler world. ]

You saved my life, on that day, and you were injured because of it.

Though you have walked a different path in this life, I... cannot forget what you did, nor do I wish to. [ A tumult of emotion colors his voice: gratitude, shame, regret, and something threadbare, something as resilient as it is tentative... something like... hope? ]

More than anything, it makes me want to know the you as you are now.

[ And maybe that, there, is just a bit selfish of him. ]

You've many stories to tell, I'm sure.

Edited 2017-08-18 02:03 (UTC)

[ And Sion will be glad to hear them. Always. So much so that--...

He finds himself reaching out to the other man, extending a hand, palm upturned and open. ]

Will you not share them with me, Lavi? Trust also needs somewhere to start.

[So that's how they were acquainted with in the past.

It's a chapter in the book of memories Lavi has forgotten or has closed permanently. However, the way the man described how their first initial meeting went where Lavi didn't like Sion and--

(He's not sure if he even likes him now.)

But then: "You saved my life, on that day, and you were injured because of it."

It makes Lavi bite his tongue, uncertain because even now, there are - were - people he would have been willing to lay down his life for if it meant saving them. However, this man, this person who claims to knew him once upon a time and owed him a great enough debt to always consider him a comrade while at the same time, understanding of the wariness of giving out his trust.

(A Bookman is a Bookman, after all.)]

Why do you think that even by knowing that, we'd be able to become comrades here?

[Is it a harsh question? It could be, but Lavi needs to know how far Sion would be willing to go in order gain his trust. There was a chapter in their relationship that should have been closed, but then again: isn't it like when he and Allen met again?

When Sion reaches out to him, palm upturned and open, the redhead stares at it with some hesitation. He can't be sure to accept that sign of possibly acceptance, of camaraderie that threatens to break past the initial barriers that covers Lavi's heart.]

....Somewhere, but not with stories of a past I can't remember.

Mn. I wholeheartedly agree.

[ For it would be unfair, wouldn't it—a grievous disservice to them both. To Lavi, who did not deserve to bear the burden of a life which he did not (and would never) know; and to Sion, who could not afford to further entrench himself in the past (in the memories of the hundreds of lives he'd lead, the joys and sorrows, the triumphs and regrets of so, so very many 'Sion' assimilating with his own), lest he lose himself in the undertow.

But none of this Sion readily conveys, his expression so serene, so gentle, and so open that it seems impossible, the notion that he could ever waver or falter.

(That, like Lavi, his heart is guarded, too.) ]

Let it start in the present, then. Whatever it is you wish to speak of, whether it concerns the White Moon or otherwise, I will gladly lend you an ear, because--...

[ Earnestly: ] There are no guarantees, save for one: every day that I am present here, I will work toward finding the reason behind our displacement. How it is we've so easily been uprooted from the lives we lead, and what it will take to return to them.

I owe this to you and others, and I will pursue these answers relentlessly with the resources which I have been given, however... [ Here, his eloquence breaks, and Sion speaks freely, perhaps boyishly when he admits: ] I know I cannot do it alone.

I am but a single person, and on my own, I am unsure of what I will be able to unearth, or what I will have the power to change, and that's why--...

I hope we can work together, Lavi. Finding strength in one another, it is what makes us human. [ Human … that beautiful, enduring thing which Sion (the Director, the Hero King) is no longer. ] And even if that bond cannot precisely be called 'camaraderie'... it is something worthwhile, all the same.

What I divulged to you... it was in good faith, so that you might be able to better understand me.

[ And perhaps think on accepting the hand which still remains outstretched, guileless and true. ]

[Memories or not, if there is one particular thing Lavi can pride himself on, it's noticing someone whose heart is as guarded as his own. He's seen it in Allen, in the way the young (former?) god would hold himself and smile with so many secrets that Lavi wants to pry out of him; he's seen it in many of his friends and the way most of them seemed battle-worn or seen too much to properly function without being cautious.

This man is no different.

(Were they too similar in that regard? Too guarded but willing to make friends?)

Emotions are easy for Lavi to read but not understand, simply understanding its roots but not the complexity of the layout underneath.]

Going through this, going through the attempt of finding out the reason why we've been brought here - you can't do it alone.

[He's learned in time that having comrades, not necessarily friends, can do wonders.

(He misses Izuku and Shun. He misses Cardia and Yuto.)

While Lavi can never completely trust Sion - the man is on a teetering edge of one side of the board more than the other - he knows enough that trust can mean nothing or everything depending on how Lavi would want to go through with this.

Does he accept?

Does he want to?]

Then let's hope that in time, we'd be able to grow to understand each other a bit more.

[Finally, he reaches out to accept Sion's hand. It's not a confirmation, but an acknowledgment about what can be offered to both of them.]

AUGUST TDM.

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