voice

[dragoon_pride]

...It can’t be…
...a nightmare…failed...
...couldn’t have… died…

[He’s muttering to himself, so only a few stray words are clear enough to be heard, at first. He hadn't intended those to be heard, necessarily, as he's checking that the phone is even on. Then, he clears his throat and speaks normally.]

Kain Highwind of the Guard reporting in. What is the current situation with the demons? I can… [He pauses, more mentally disoriented than anything. The reality of the situation is still sinking in, the memories of being possessed are… deeply unsettling. Not again. He can’t believe he’s lost himself again.] I can go anywhere I’m needed to continue our fight.

[Sigh. Well, there it is. He's in a bit of denial over what happened, but he knows deep down the truth of the matter. He'd been possessed, and... killed. Shadow, that hedgehog had ended his suffering. For now, he’ll throw himself into fighting, a warrior above all else. Mental distress will just have to get shoved deep down inside. But there is… something else bothering him. He belongs to the air, to the wind. He wants to feel that breeze on his face, to see the sky change in color. He’ll even take overcast if he could just see clouds again. The withdrawal is real.]

This is unrelated, but… How can everyone withstand a place without a sky for so long, anyway? Does anyone know if there's some way to see it again, even for a few moments?

Comments

voice;

[fulcra]

I think the demons are mostly taken care of. Rest if you need to. Maybe try to have some good dreams about open spaces with sky while things aren't so crazy for a few days.

[ she sounds gentle, compassionate. if he's on the guard, he's a teammate, even if ahsoka hasn't met him yet. ]

voice;

[dragoon_pride]

Then are all of those glowing green rifts gone as well? I've not seen one - [Since reviving.] - in some time.

[He's not so sure he'll be able to rest just yet, but... well, maybe after he feels he's done his duty.]

I need to patrol the area I was keeping track of first, just to be certain. But... perhaps that may be my only way of seeing the sky anytime soon. [He's definitely a little sad-sounding about that.]

[fulcra]

If the rifts are still around, I haven't seen them. But I'd probably want to see for myself, too. I don't blame you. [ it is hard to leave safety up to other people sometimes. ] I'm Ahsoka, by the way. I haven't been on the Guard long, so I've been trying to introduce myself to everyone.

[dragoon_pride]

Yes, I prefer to see it for myself. I promised that I would patrol a certain area, and it would be wrong for me to neglect that duty, any more than I already have.

[He had a pretty good excuse, being dead, but even so...]

Good to meet you, as another Guard member... I'm also a somewhat new recruit. I joined over a month or so ago, not long after I arrived here.

[fulcra]

Around the same time as me, then. I admittedly wasn't on board immediately. History with one of the captains and all that. But it's good to know that the rest of the Guard are devoted to their patrols.

( action )

[dragoon_pride]

[As he comes to, manifesting in the temple, Kain doesn't move for a few moments. He's a bit disoriented and trying to come to terms with what happened. He simply lies there and breathes at first, taking in one breath after another. Slow and steady... Mentally, he's a bit of a wreck, but physically, he's in one piece again. That... has to count for something.]

[His mind is his own again. As he moves to slowly sit up, he's pretty astonished at the sensation of... simply having control over his own body. That, and breathing. He takes another long, deep breath, savoring it. He's alive. He's alive...]

[But he was dead not too long ago.]

[The thought horrifies him, of course, that it had come to that. But the alternative, being controlled by something else, is far worse. Kain stretches, glancing around for his weapon, trying to get his bearings. If he'd died again, does this mean he's ended up in another world? That seems to be how it goes, after all.]

Where am I...?

( action )

[dragoon_pride]

[Kain has died before this himself, though the circumstances differed quite a lot. He's woken up here. So of course, he's worrying about ending up in another world again. Well, he might as well look around more, and find out what's become of his lance, he kind of needs that.]

[There's still a weird creepy feeling, though. That feeling when you know you're definitely not alone. Hmmm. After a moment, he starts glancing around... looking around in all directions... then upward...]

audio

[unitas]

...I could paint a sky onto your bedroom ceiling if you want. [ She's usually not one to offer things like this, but she misses the sky, too. A lot. ]

audio

[dragoon_pride]

You would be able to do that? I... That would mean a great deal. What would you accept as payment for such a task?

[It's worth anything to him. Sure, it's not the real thing, but he'll take what he can get about now.]

audio

[unitas]

[ What is it with people offering exchanges for such simple things? ]

I don't want anything in return for it. I like to paint, so I'd probably end up getting more out of it than you. [ Plus, she hasn't painted a sky in a long time. There are a thousand possibilities in her head. ]

We'll have to talk about what kind of sky you want, though? Sunrise? Sunset? Classic good day bright blue with white puffy clouds?

audio

[dragoon_pride]

[For Kain, it's a sense of honor, he's well used to always paying for anything someone ever does for him. It's the way of things. He doesn't feel right otherwise.]

If you're absolutely certain you don't need anything... I won't hold that against you. I appreciate this greatly.

[He's chosen a top room in one of the spires for a reason, and he really likes this notion of it being his sky room.]

A shame I cannot make it rotate between those depictions. I'm of a mind for the classic blue sky and clouds, though. It's the best sort of sky to jump into.

audio

[beautyis]

[It looks like this man's concerns about the demons have been addressed by others, but his question...]

Well! I have never seen the sky before! Never in my life!! Nyeh heh heh! I suppose I have an advantage there! But... even then, it can get sort of hard sometimes.

[Sans' favorite spot; the crystals in the Waterfall caverns, the ones that look like stars. Making up constellations. They did that because they felt like they had to, sometimes. It can get awfully dark in a place with no natural light.]

I suppose! The solution is to make your own sky! Yes, of course!

audio

[dragoon_pride]

A life with no sky whatsoever... I can't imagine it. But then, you wouldn't know what you're missing now...

[Kain has to wonder if this is what Rydia had felt like in the Feymarch, that was underground, after all. Is it weird for the Eidolons as well, coming to the surface occasionally?]

But I don't understand what you mean. How could I make my own sky?

audio

[beautyis]

Creatively! And who are the most creative people around? That's right, artists!! Arts and crafts!! Recreating the feel of a sky through paper, glitter, and duct tape! Make sure to only use safety scissors!!!

[Okay, dial it back. That one got a bit away from him.]

Ah, what I mean to say is...! Express yourself through art! Perhaps even through music or poetry? Then you can relive what the sky is like through all five emotions!

audio

[dragoon_pride]

[That's... a little too much enthusiasm for Kain. He sighs, though, knowing that the other person... uh, skeleton-person?... probably means well. Even if it's a completely foreign idea to Kain. Creative arts, him?]

I wouldn't know where to start, with such a thing. It's not something I have any experience with... I'd surely fail in such an attempt.

video

[skelebro]

[Hope you don't mind skeletons, Kain, 'cause there's one on your video feed right now. Don't panic. He's chill.]

Some of us come from places situated Underground. Never had to worry about seein' a sky before.

video

[dragoon_pride]

[Uhhh... ok the skeleton is a little bit creepy, but mostly because he's used to them attacking people mindlessly. But here, here we have one using a phone. Ok. What is his life right now?]

Then... you didn't have to adjust much, to this place? It sounds like a strange life, to never go above the surface...

video

[skelebro]

Not so strange when you've lived like that your whole life.

[The sky might as well be a cryptid for most monsters. Only ones that remember the war had any sorta memory regardin' what it was like up there.]

video

[dragoon_pride]

I suppose not. [This is all so very strange to think about. It's weird enough to hold a conversation with the undead, let alone what he's telling him. What must that be like... he has to wonder...] Do you even know what to envision, when someone talks of the sky? What it would look like, without any sort of structure looming overhead?

voice

[sciencelizard]

[She wants to ask him if he's alright, starts this message to do so, and then abruptly thinks better of it. She barely knows him. He probably doesn't remember her, and... still. It's too much. She shouldn't insert herself in a place that doesn't concern her.]

There might be, uhm, some cracks in the cave ceiling, but... I doubt it.

[She wouldn't even really know what she's looking for, seeing as she only ever saw glimpses of sunlight through the barrier, in the throne room with Asgore.]

Was it, uh... nice, though? Or, uhm, is it. The sky, I mean. You seem to m-miss it a lot.

voice

[dragoon_pride]

[Yes, the voice is definitely familiar. Kain at least tries to keep track of those he meets here, since it's important to know who may be an ally... or a foe. He ponders that for a moment.]

Fortunately, I can jump high... perhaps I could look for cracks when I do.

[It would be better than nothing, though it's sort of reminiscent of someone looking out of a prison cell at the sky outside. He tries not to let that thought overcome him.]

The sky is everything to a dragoon. It's where we fight, where we belong. When we jump and soar up there... it's like nothing else in the word. So... Yes. I do miss it. [Right, she's one of the... the monsters, like Eidolons, who'd never been to the surface.] I especially miss how much it can change... night and day, and weather...

voice

[sciencelizard]

[She listens, enraptured at the thought of it. Of course she's studied the human world, obviously knows about the cycles of the sun and moon, and Snowdin had some simulated patterns with the snow occasionally melting enough to once again fall from the cave ceiling. But she's never heard a thunderstorm. Never felt a hurricane. Frankly, it all seems kind of scary and unpredictable, but he seems to love it. Adore it.

She wishes she had something she loved that much. Something that... made her that happy.]

That sounds like it makes you, uhm, r-really happy. I'm sorry you're stuck down here, uhm... so f-far away.

voice

[dragoon_pride]

[Kain hadn't really considered it in that way. He's not the sort to be a jumping-for-joy, exuberant happy. And yet... and yet, whenever he stands on a high ledge, the wind in his hair, staring at the world below... there's a peacefulness he can't get anywhere else. Same for when his feet are far off the ground when he jumps. It's quiet and inward but there all the same. Yes. Happiness.]

It does. Make me happy, I mean. Of course, I have to endure its absence the same as everyone here... but that doesn't stop me from missing it.

I hope I have the chance to see it again someday, though.