A Whole New World

[tidesnpc]

Characters: Anyone and everyone from all three ships.
Content: The clouds are gone, revealing the long-sought world below.
Setting: The edge of the continent, near the blast site.
Time: After all the monsters have been fought and the ships head southeast.
Warnings: What you bring with you.

Comments

[orphism]

It was finally over, huh. And that was a gigantic relief to Minato, who felt as if a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Fighting a lightning wielding superentity like that was not really the smartest of ideas, but it was something he had to do to protect the world he called home, and the unsettling feelings of dread have mostly left him.

Minato was glad to have made it out of that fight alive. It wouldn't do him very good to die so soon after Watanuki scolded him, or to break the promise he made to Souji. Still, it was a very close call, and he was still recovering from the injuries, walking around the makeshift settlement with a slight limp. Luckily, he had been assured that it would heal soon.

For now, though, he would browse the makeshift stalls for their delicious food, and seek out his friends.

[find_my_truth]

Souji was telling himself that he wasn't looking for the older young man. It wasn't his duty to keep an eye on him, especially when Minato was a better fighter then him... but in the end it was also his nature to fret over all his friends.

So when he spotted him among the stalls he couldn't help a relieved grin and an eager wave. "Ah, Senpai..."

[orphism]

Just the person he wanted to see. All thoughts of food were immediately shoved aside as Minato turned around and saw Souji there. How long had it been since he saw Souji? A few months, right? It felt like longer.

"Souji-kun," he said, and walked over to greet him more properly. His leg still hurt, but he ignored it. "I'm happy to see you."

Not that he worried that something might have happened. Nope.

[flailingbento]

Judging fair food was something Watanuki was capable of doing even at the end of the world. He browsed the stalls without buying anything, trying to determine by look and smell which vendors were skimping on the meat in their dumplings and which would be worth trying later...

He was interrupted, however, by the sight of the back of a very familiar head - and while the limp was new, he recognized the gait.

Watanuki's first thought - He isn't dead. Relief and happiness flooded him, and he quickened his pace, calling, "Minato-kun!"

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth stepped into the festivities, if they could be called that, with a heavy heart full of conflicted emotion. They had won. The monsters had been defeated, the continent was whole and in tact, and, hope against hope, he and his new crew had made it out of the mess alive.

...most of them, at least. His head hung low in remembrance of those who had been lost, both on the Convoy and in the towns, cities, and villages of the Badlands. There had been too much loss, too many hurt, too many left destitute, and too many who weren't quite so fortunate as him.

However, there was no time to think on such things, not yet. First, there were a few people he needed to see. So, with a heavy heart tinged with both hope and apprehension, he made his way towards the Amestris. He looked different than the last time he set foot on that ship; his uniform and frills were replaced with simple slacks and a plain, unadorned shirt, and his left arm, once flesh and blood, was replaced by a rough, simplistic automail arm. It was only a prototype

[mayovice]

Finally, it was over

[edge_of_honor]

as Edgeworth walked towards his former ship, he saw an officer, beaten and bruised, out of the corner of his eye. He froze immediately, his heart clenched in fear, until he remembered: the impostor, and Bradley, had been revealed, their cohorts scattered and their allies lost. He had nothing to worry about anymore. He was free.

He took a deep breath to steal himself and turned around to get a better look at him. Who knows, perhaps he could point him towards-

His jaw dropped as soon as he saw who it was. Was that...

"Lieutenant?"

[mayovice]

The voice brought Hijikata out from his reverie, and the (former) boatswain glanced up to see the sight of Edgeworth, after all this time. Perhaps just a few months earlier he would have been shocked, but after everything (and knowing that Edgeworth had been alive for a while already), all the samurai could do was to make a small snort and turn his head back to stare at something else.

"Major again, soon," he replied, voice impassive. "Apparently I'm going to be promoted back to my original rank for 'services rendered to the nation' or some bullshit like that anyway." Personally, the officer hardly cared at all - but it was Kondo who got it for him, so Hijikata certainly wasn't going to complain.

[princelyspirit]

Utena stood at the edge of the continent, or as close as the crowd would allow her, and stared down at the world below. Her chest swelled with awe as she stared down at the glittering lights and vast oceans below, and very nearly became overwhelmed with a childlike sense of wonderment. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this way, and wished that everyone in Reial could see this.

She was then hit with a pang of guilt and grief: not everyone could see this. They had been victorious, yes, but despite all their sacrifice, they still couldn't save everyone. If only Prime had-

Utena stopped herself. He wouldn't want them to be lost in grief, not after what he'd done for everybody. However, as much as she told herself that, their victory still felt bittersweet at best.

[drinkitlovelife]

"Utena!"

Kurumi ran over to her, waving and carrying a basket filled to the top with chocolates. She smiled and twirled in place. "Oh, Utena, there you are. This is amazing, isn't it?"

[princelyspirit]

Utena snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Kurumi. She offered her a tired smile, and said, "Yeah, it really is..."

That's when she saw the chocolates. Curious, she asked, "Where'd you get those?"

[drinkitlovelife]

"I didn't steal them from the kitchen this time!" Kurumi pouted. "I actually went out and bought these, okay? Otherwise, Watanuki would be throwing a fit you could hear halfway across town."

[son_of_the_lake]

Hisoka was standing at the edge of the broken land. There were pale green shoots and clumps of new grass poking up here and there, and then the earth simply dropped away at his feet -- practically right out from under his shoes. The bare rocks sheared off downwards into an aerial mist, faint and light

[edge_of_honor]

"Do you see anything interesting?"

Edgeworth stood behind him, just a little ways away, his good hand in his pocket and his metal arm at his side. He had watched Hisoka for just a moment before he announced his presence, to steel himself for the conversation ahead, and the younger man seemed absolutely entranced by the image below. Not that he could blame him: there was a whole new world down there, bigger and more vast than anyone had imagined. He had seen wonder, he had seen fear, but he had yet to see anyone who was apathetic about this turn of events.

[son_of_the_lake]

Hisoka turned, lowering the binocs. "Just...evidence of culture," he said, "if I'm not mistaken, that is. I thought I saw what could once have been...a stone breakwater wall, sheltering a harbor. Such structures are described in some of the ancient songs. Did you find everybody you were looking for?"

[edge_of_honor]

Really now? Edgeworth's brow raised in genuine interest, but the conversation had shifted.

"Most of them," he said, as he walked to Hisoka's side. "The others should be safe and sound, or weren't even in the area to begin with."

[generaltroll]

Grumman paused, considering the chess board in front of him. His opponent had very cleverly placed him in a bind: in order to free himself from check, he would have to sacrifice either a pawn or a knight.

Normally there would be no contest, but that pawn was a critical part of his defense. With it out of the way, his front line would be unpleasantly vulnerable to attack.

"I must say, old friend, it's good to see that you made it through the chaos in one piece," he said, making idle smalltalk as he considered. "I would have so missed these games."

Deciding that the knight was worth less than the tactical position afforded by that pawn, he reluctantly moved his knight forward and to the right, blocking the path of the rook that was threatening his king.

[ooc: This thread is specifically for Iroh, but anyone who wants to do something else with Grumman can just reply to it!]

/amused by semi-matching icons

[myfavoritetea]

Iroh chuckled, an intense kind of smugness on his face that was usually indicative of plotting something. While he waited for Grumman to move, Iroh considered the other board before them. He could not remember whose idea it had been so long ago- to play a game of chess while simultaneously engaging one another in Pai Sho, but it was a wonderful one, and an experience he had missed in the time since he and Grumman had last seen one another. "As would I. It has been far too long between our games as it is."

He moved his hand almost in unison with his old friend, placing the day lily tile at an intersection and effectively blocking the harmony Grumman had been going for, while also bolstering one of his own. Satisfied, his eyes moved back to the chess board. "I am not surprised to see you remain unscathed, of course," he added with another chuckle. "You were always quite good at that."

[generaltroll]

Oh, fiddlesticks. Grumman had always been much worse at Pai Sho than at chess: it was much more abstract, difficult for him to get his head around. Now...he could move that Day-Lily tile, but all that would do it create an open space for Iroh to place another tile and turn it into a harmony of his own. That would be incredibly foolish of him. Instead, he placed another tile down next to it, preventing Iroh from building off of it. Nobody was gaining anything from that corner of the board.

"You know me, old friend, I'm a cockroach!" Grumman said with a genial smile. "I'm not going to die until I'm good and ready."

[myfavoritetea]

Iroh, conversely, had always found chess to be a bit more difficult for him than Pai Sho. The strategy part was fine- he excelled at forward thinking, but he had trouble predicting all of the possibilities. His rook took the knight, putting him in line to take another pawn the next go around, depending on Grumman's move, of course.

"Neither will I, I hope. We're both incredibly stubborn, after all," he chuckled.