001.

[learntthehardway]

WHO: Diana Prince and OPEN
WHERE: Fountain, Inn.
WHEN: Evening of July 20th and on
OPEN TO: Open to everyone
WARNINGS: N/A will update if needed

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f o u n t a i n

She felt as though she were floating, coolness surrounding her, caressing her skin. Slowly, she opened her eyes and jerked back realizing that she was emerged in water. She floundered for a moment, trying to figure out just how she got there but decided that getting to the surface was more important at the moment. Normally she loved swimming, but she couldn't think of how she'd ended up in.

What stated at first as uncertain movements, turned into calm strokes as she pushed herself up towards the light dancing across the water's surface. She'd always been a sure swimmer, able to swim long distances, hold her breath for long periods of time. But now she found that her lungs were beginning to burn before she even got to the surface. She doesn't understand but as she shot up out of the water, she was gasping for breath.

Diana was still gasping as she pushed her way over to the edge of the fountain she found herself in. She looked around and her eyebrows drew together and she realized that her surroundings are completely foreign to her. She dragged herself out of the water and the black clothing she has on feels heavy and water pools under her as she stands there, trying to make sense of what was happening. She pushed a wet, limp strand of hair out of her face and she shook her head. This was wrong but she knew she had to figure out where she was so she could get back home.

---

i n n

She'd explored the village and hadn't really seen anything that would alert her to anything obviously out of place. Except not a lot of people seemed surprised to see a woman walking around sopping wet, carrying around some backpack she'd come out of the water wearing. She hadn't really tried talking to anyone and though she wanted answers, needed the time to pull herself together, to try and just figure it all out. She might not have known where is was, but she knew she needed to get out of there, to find a way back to where she belonged.

She finally found her way to the inn, and honestly she probably should have gone there first. Inns had people and people meant information. Information meant a way out of there. She stepped inside, eyes blinking to adjust to the change of lighting and then she'd taking stock of the room, examining its occupants. She wanted to ask questions, to get answers but she was also hungry and a bit tired. She pushed that back though and rounded her shoulders and took a deep breath before heading towards the first person she sees.

"Excuse me!" she called out to them. "Where is this place?"

Comments

f o u n t a i n

[chosenbytheocean]

Moana was dressed much like the island princess that she was. Her skirt was almost identical to the one she wore on Motunui with two layers; one woven and the other a plane grass panel. She took the navy blue scrubs she'd been given and ripped a strip of the fabric to tie around her waist as a belt, holding her skirts so that they wouldn't shift as she ran. Her top was a pale tan hue with black patterns of fish and turtles that she'd stitched into the soft fabric. Around her neck was a blue shell that glinted softly in the sunlight.

It's been awhile since Moana has seen someone come up from the fountain, it's been awhile since she's spent any measurable amount of time at the fountain. When Diana had first broken the surface of the water Moana had been sitting at the fountain's edge, talking to no one in particular about what was on her mind. Now she was on her feet and standing a few yards away.

"Are you okay?" She walked forward slowly but was mindful not to touch Diana. Jyn had taught her that not everyone liked physical contact.

[learntthehardway]

Diana leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees as she drew in deep breaths of air. She didn't understand why her lungs had burned so badly, she knew she had held her breath for longer than that before. It was strange and... How had she even got in the water and where had the clothing she was wearing come from?! None of it made any sense.

Her gaze shot up hearing someone speaking. She blinked and then pushed herself up straight as she took in the woman who was edging towards her. She was young, and didn't seem threatening and was trying not to appear threatening. Diana made herself relax so the other woman wouldn't think she was about to attack.

"I'm..." Well fine wasn't even a word she could use to describe how she was feeling. Neither could okay. "What is going on? Where is this place?"

[chosenbytheocean]

Moana didn't expect Diana to be fine. Not when she'd been so rudely torn from her realm and placed among strangers. She paused about a yard or so away, giving the woman room to breathe. "It doesn't have a name." She paused before continuing in a soft tone. "I've just been calling it the Village. We're taken from many different realms and brought here."

She shook her head. "I don't know why or how and the fountain seems to be a one way portal or door." Moana wasn't completely sure how it worked. She'd seen Maui open up a portal once before.

"Are you okay?" She was thankful that it was hot out, Diana would dry quickly. When Moana arrived the ground had been covered in snow and it'd been the first time that Moana had seen snow. "I can get you something to eat. We don't have much but I caught some fish this morning. It's at the inn."

[learntthehardway]

Diana shook her head slowly, eyes closing for a moment as she tried to make sense of what the girl was saying. Different realms and in a place that didn't have a name? How could a place not have a name? Maybe she hadn't heard right. Maybe being in the water had affected her in ways she hadn't even thought of.

She exhaled and placed her hands on her hips. Okay, maybe she had heard right. Portals. That made a bit more sense. "I saw no portal before arriving here. One minute I was doing one thing and then next, I was in that fountain in clothing I've never seen before."

Looking around, her eyebrows drew together. "I am breathing and my heart is beating," she said slowly. "I guess I am as okay as I am going to be considering. I am not hungry, but thank you. It is kind of you to offer."

[chosenbytheocean]

Moana shook her head, her dark eyes peering thoughtfully down at the fountain. "I didn't either. When I had first arrived I thought I was drowning. I tried to swim back down to the bottom of the fountain but something kept pushing me back up." She was an excellent swimmer and even now it puzzled her.

"It's like a door that only opens one way but it always leads here." Her view point of the world was a little smaller than most. She'd just barely left her island and now she's learning about magic, other realms and space.

Moana turned to look back up at the woman. "It's all I can offer." Her voice sounded a little sad but Moana was quick to force her lips into a smile. She didn't want to think of the heart or anything else right now. "If I can help... I'd like too. When I first arrived here. Well, it wouldn't have gone as well without the people here to help me." She would have gotten frost bite on her feet.

[learntthehardway]

She hadn't even thought to try and swim down, her thoughts had only been to be able to breathe and so up she had gone... But now that she thought of it, the way up hadn't at all been challenging, almost as though she had been pushed upwards. It didn't matter now though, at least not at the moment. What mattered was finding out what was going on so she could get out of there and hopefully help others out as well.

"It is more than I knew before and I thank you." Yes, it was more than she knew before but what she'd learned had left her with more questions than answers. She was beginning to think that would be the way of things in this place, wherever it was.

"You have helped plenty," Diana assured the girl with a smile. The poor girl looked sad and Diana didn't want her thinking that she could have done more. But she agreed with what she'd said. People needed to help one another and she was happy to hear that people were banding together in an attempt at doing just that. "How long have you been here?"

Inn

[iron_beneath_beauty]

That was a question she had been asking herself since her arrival. As far as she had been able to theorize, it was a place between life and death. How else could those who died or were dying be able to live again? There wasn't much evidence, but she needed an answer, even if it was provided by herself.

But that wasn't the sort of answer the woman would want. More than a month here had offered her nothing substantial, just more questions and fears, not something someone wanted to hear when they just arrived. However, what could she actually say? "I don't know." It's said reluctantly, a sheepish expression across her face.

"We don't know where we are exactly or who brought us here."

[learntthehardway]

She had heard that once before but she hadn't wanted to believe it. To be brought to an unknown place and a place with no name was just disconcerting. Though to find out that it was unknown as to who had brought them there as well? She shook her head because her thoughts were leading her in directions that made even less sense of what she'd been told.

"And what sort of place is this?" she asked, her gaze having already turned and landed on the woman, no she was a young girl and Diana felt herself getting angry that someone so young had been pulled into a place such as this. But she made sure that her emotions weren't evident, she didn't need to frighten the young woman with her anger.

"And why have we been brought here?"

[iron_beneath_beauty]

More questions than she had answers for. It only reminded her how frustrating all of this was. They were brought here, some of them pulled by death and deposited in this world without any greeting or explanation. They were left in the dark and expected to live with it. As though all the gifts and feasts would be enough to pacify them.

"I don't know. It's a village. Apparently it was standing when the first people were pulled through the fountain. There are strange things that happen. The weather can be intense or last for awhile. We receive gifts from unknown sources. But we don't know anything about it yet."

She frowned, feeling angry herself. "I don't know. None of us do. We are brought in and sometimes we can be pulled out. No warning."

[learntthehardway]

She felt like she was continually reeling and not able to gain her balance. Any time she was thinking she might understand something about this strange place, someone was telling her something new, well not telling her. She didn't even know anyone.

All she knew was that no one was telling her anything she wanted to know.

"None of this is making any sense," Diana murmured as she reached up to rub at her temples. "How long have people been brought here? And how... I just don't understand." Her head felt like it was going to explode and she sighed before offering the girl a small smile. "I'm sorry, I'm just frustrated and I need to go back..."

[iron_beneath_beauty]

She recognized that frustration and shared it completely. There was nowhere to begin for answers, as each attempt to explore beyond the canyon or falls was blocked by supernatural forces...she assumed. there was no one to ask, even those that had been here the longest didn't know.

It wasn't a state she preferred but had to content herself with.

"I know." She chewed her lip thoughtfully. "Some have been here a year, I think? I haven't spoken to them very much." She smiled in return. "You don't need to apologize. I have been feeling the same since I arrived, I just try to find ways to distract myself. It can't stay like this forever."

i n n

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh had been eating breakfast when the woman's voice rung out over the inn and he quickly swallows before turning to address her. She seems like the kind of person who's used to knowing what's going on based on the tone of her voice and the set of her shoulders and, unfortunately, this is the kind of place where nobody knows what's going on at any given point. He puts down his spoon and stands up, deciding to take it upon himself to try and explain.

"It's...complicated," he starts out. "Did you just come through the fountain or have you been here for a few days already?"

[learntthehardway]

Diana turned slowly towards the voice and her head angled a bit to the side as she observed the man speaking. She took a step towards him, sizing him up and trying to determine what sort of person he is. He hadn't told her anything she hadn't realized for herself. Complicated. That was one way of putting it.

Exhaling, she stopped a couple of feet away from him. "I have only just arrived through the fountain."

[rangerbecket]

Fresh arrival. That means explaining a lot more than someone who's had a few days to acclimate and Raleigh gives the woman a friendly smile before offering a hand to shake. He doesn't mind explaining this place to new people. He's been here for a year now and he knows that he came with the first group; so far as he knows, there's no one who came before him, Mark and a handful of others. He feels like that qualifies him to explain how things work here - at least to the best of his knowledge.

"I'm Raleigh. It's good to meet you. I've been stuck here for about a year so if you've got questions, I might have some answers for you."

[learntthehardway]

She looked at his hand for a moment before grasping it and gave a firm shake. He had strength and the Amazon in her appreciated and respected that. She also liked that he was courteous. Perhaps it was strange to look for things like that in her current predicament, but those were things that had been instilled in her from a young age and no matter where she was, she would look for them.

"And I am Diana, it is good to meet you as well, Raleigh." But her eyes widened at what he said next. A year? She shook her head because she didn't want to believe that, but why would anyone lie about something like that? "A year?" Her shoulders slumped a bit because she had been sure she'd be back where she belonged soon. But people had been there for a year? "How?"

[rangerbecket]

"We've all been trapped here. It's frustrating but any escape attempts are thwarted by this place somehow. It's like it doesn't want us to leave and it's going to throw everything it has at us to make sure we done," Raleigh explains.

"There's two sides now but used to be, where the tunnel is now, there was just a canyon wall that was unclimbable. Any time someone would try, they would fail."

[learned_to_die]

Ned tried to make a habit of peeking into the inn on occasion, though not nearly with the same frequency as when he'd first arrived. Oft times it was to check on the food stores in order to see what he might supplement or increase, especially given that the animals of the forest were coming out with a bit more regularity after the blazing heat had driven them underground or elsewhere.

He's finishing up a conversation with Kate before turning to take his leave, when he sees a face he doesn't recognize barreling its way to the front. The woman's clothes are still damp, meaning she's a new arrival. A few hours, perhaps, by the looks of it. With the darkness of her black scrubs and the lightness of Ned's white ones, he can't help but feel a little bit like light and shadow, clashing together, and subconsciously expects a rumble of thunder to follow their meeting.

Of course, no such thing happens.

"Afraid it's not got a name," Ned replies cautiously. "But you seem weary and in need of food. Come and sit by the hearth while I gather you linen and something to eat. Then, I will answer whatever questions you might have to the best of my ability."

[learntthehardway]

She probably looked a sight, still damp, her hair a kind of frazzled mess around her face. But she didn't really care about how she looked, she just wanted information. She just wanted to get out of there and back to where she belonged so she could continue trying to help humanity. Even though she sometimes thought it was a lost cause, she still did it and being stuck in a nameless place wasn't helping that any.

Her eyebrows drew together as the man cautiously approached her. Another not answer. This place seemed full of them and she couldn't help but feel more frustrated. She had hoped coming to the inn would give her answers, but there seemed none to be had.

She nodded finally though and glanced over to the hearth. "All right... And thank you, for your kindness..." She gave a brief nod and moved over towards the hearth, her arms crossing before she glanced around at the other people there.

[learned_to_die]

Ned offers a courteous nod before making an about-face and returning to the counter. A few moments later, he approaches the stranger with a bowl of some sort of stew, carefully held on each of his palms, which he hands to her before leaving and returning again with two mugs of something fermented. Some kind of ale, or at least something similar. He sets one down on the small table beside the chair in which she was sitting, then sat himself in the one opposite her, careful not to spill the contents of the other mug.

He takes a bit of a sip before adjusting himself better in the chair and rests the mug on his knee, looking towards her.

"I believe the stew has rabbit in it," he explains, gesturing towards the bowl with a slight flick of his chin in its direction. "It will be enough to tide you over until nightfall." He lifts his gaze to her face with a soft smile. "I am Ned Stark," he begins, having now learnt to drop the titles that so often came after back in Westeros. "And you are?"

[learntthehardway]

She gratefully took the offered bowl and the smell of the soup actually had her stomach growling. For a moment she looked embarrassed but her hunger was too much to care about the sounds her stomach made for long and she was soon enough digging right into it. Her eyes closed for a moment as she savored the taste and her eyes only reopened when she heard the man speaking to her again.

"It tastes divine," she informed him with a small smile. Truthfully, she hadn't had food like this for many many years, and she forgot how good something as simple as rabbit stew could taste. She'd got use to eating at fancy restaurants and the convenience of grocery stores. This soup tasted of homegrown vegetables and fresh catch.

She lowered the bowl, settling it on her lap. "It is an honor to meet you, Ned Stark. I am Diana Prince." She could have used her own titles as well, though she didn't know if they meant anything here, or if people would care. It was safer to stick to the alias that Steve had helped her create so many years before.

"Once again, I must thank you for your kindness. But it seems like this sort of situation is something you've grown use to dealing with."

[learned_to_die]

"Well met," he says with a respectful bow of his head in her direction. He is joyed to see her so thoroughly losing herself in the stew, even though his hands had no part in its creation outside of having brought in and dressed the rabbit now featuring in the dish. He'd spent his life never learning how to cook a single thing, never needing to know how, but during his time in the village, he's learnt to cook a handful of recipes thanks to the kindness of others, especially Margaery. His more paternal instincts find him smiling a bit, knowing she's being taken care of and well-fed.

"I will be sure to let the one who cooked it know that it is up to standard. We try to utilize what ingredients we can find around the village - wild game, fish, deer, roots, vegetables. They don't always come together to form something pleasing to the palette, but I'm happy to hear this one does."

He lets out a quiet billow of raspy laughter, glancing down to the mug in his hand, swirling its contents about.

"A bit, yes. In my previous life, before I wound up here, I -- well, I had many duties, many titles. But none that I cherished so much as Lord of Winterfell, the stead in which I was born and came to rule later in life." He hadn't grown up there, of course; he'd spent the vast majority of his childhood with Jon Arryn, in the Eyrie. "In addition to having raised six children," he says, sipping his ale. "I like to see that others are looked after."

Of course, Ned's sharing of information isn't purely conversational; it's an open, unspoken invitation for Diana to share whatever she might like about her own past, where she's come from, though he won't force her if she'd rather stay tight-lipped on the matter.

i n n

[ad_dicendum]

Gracchus was on his way downstairs, heading towards the inn's main room to be there when the evening meal was ready, when he heard a voice call out from behind him. He paused and turned to see if whoever it was had intended to speak to him, and saw a stranger, a woman he'd never seen before, but she was looking at him, and clearly had meant him. She was wearing one of the trouser and shirt outfits that everyone had when they arrived here, a strange contrast with his own woolen, purple-striped tunic.

Here, of course, it was his own appearance that was strange, not hers, save for the dampness of her clothing and hair that suggested she was newly arrived with as much certainty as her question.

"I do not believe that any of us know where we are," he told her. "None of us came here by choice."

Re: i n n

[learntthehardway]

Diana's eyebrows drew together as she watched the man turn around and then she got a full view of him. He was wearing a tunic that reminded her very much of the things she had seen men wearing in the stories she'd grown up with. It was an odd sight in an inn that happened to be in a nameless village... But the village wasn't even from...

Oh, she just had so many questions and no one was giving her the answers that she wanted. Even this man, he was just telling her the same thing that she'd been told before. No one knew anything and it was about to drive her crazy.

"So what does anyone know? Does anyone know anything because I've just heard the same thing over and over. No one knows the name of this place and ... What do you know?"

[ad_dicendum]

"I do not think anyone has answers to why or how we are here. The place was abandoned. If it had a name, it has been forgotten."

It was clear that this woman didn't want to hear what she'd been told. He could understand that: finding himself in exile here had been disorienting, even aside from the heartache of being stranded nobody knew how far from his city. She was hardly the only person here to have wanted to know more about this place than the other people here could tell.

"I know there are people here from many places and times, that there are people from places I have never heard of before. I could not even speak the language when I got here. I know there are plants and beasts here I have never seen, and that there are devices that can do things I had not seen."

[learntthehardway]

"And so we were brought to an abandoned place? For what reason?" Diana knew she had a lot of questions but so little makes sense that they just keep adding up on one another. It wasn't that she didn't want to hear what he'd just told her, rather she wanted to hear actual answers. Things that made sense.

Reaching up, she pinched the bridge of her nose and drew in a deep breath. The more the man talked, the less things made sense. So now not only were they in a nameless place but also a place where people were from different times along with different places. She knew that things didn't always make sense. She knew that sometimes people just needed to believe. She was finding that hard to do though.

She exhaled and looked over at him, one of her eyebrows lifting in question. "And what language is it that you speak?"