sixthiterationlogs | [OTA] Too Cold to Swim

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[OTA] Too Cold to Swim

WHO: Nida
WHERE: South Village Fountain, South Village Inn
WHEN: 1 December 2018, Morning to Afternoon
OPEN TO: ALL
WARNINGS: None

Fountain - Morning

He'd been in the Kashkabald Desert, south of the Esthari continent. There had been reported increased activity in the area from Chimeras, Abyss Worms, and even some Cactuars. While it wasn't normally the sort of issue that drew SeeDs out into an area there had been a client this time. Some organization or other that touted the importance of maintaining ecosystems for the further propagation of chocobos. Nida had sat through his briefing while trying not to roll his eyes. The nearest chocobo forest was far south of there, and sheltered by the eastern reaches of the Alnaj Mountains. Chocobos didn't go over the mountains, Abyss Worms lived only in sandy areas so weren't an issue and Chimeras hunted Abyss Worms so there was safety there, and Cactuars were too small to be a risk. All in all the mission was a foolish one. But there had been a client, there was enough money for a small team of mid-level SeeDs, and so he'd gone.

Still, in a weird sort of way he could understand how there had led to what he was dealing with right now. Chimeras were more than handy with Confuse spells. That would account for the disorientation. And the Aqua Breath attacks could lead to some really weird misinterpretations of the situation when you were also hit with a Confuse. Surely that explained why he felt like this now. Like he was in the water, like it was pushing around him, trying to drown him. Trying to...

Actually, you know what, this was actual water pressing around him. Maybe they had fought themselves closer to the ocean? Maybe he'd fallen in? Weirder things had happened when confused. Nida started kicking, swimming, pushing toward the surface. Good thing he learned to swim growing up near an ocean-side town. Soon enough he's breaking the surface and almost immediately regretting it. In cold water it's easy to forget it's cold. Covered in cold water with cold winter wind cutting like blades over his skin. Training kicks in at that point. First step, get out of the water. Fast. Nida swims over to the edge of the fountain, hauls himself up and over, and lets himself sit on the ground for a moment. Yes, it's stupid, but he's still confused and he needs to get his bearings before he figures out shelter to start a fire and dry off. At least he has his pack though. A pack that, when unslung from his shoulders, isn't one he recognizes. Or his drenched clothes for that matter. He drops the pack in front of him and stares at it for a moment, shivering.

"What in the world is going on?"

A question that seems a bit more relevant when a mouse darts by. It's a cute little thing, but when it runs past his pack, its tail just briefly brushing the material, the whole thing froze over more thoroughly than if it had gotten a full dose of Diamond Dust. And the mouse kept going. Thank Hyne, not touching Nida. But he was left gaping after the thing because how, how how things managed to get worse?

South Village Inn - Afternoon

People came here, he'd been told. They don't know how to get back home, so they'd said. Survival is an important thing, you need to work together, no electricity, no central air, no store to buy things from. It was all a bit much. At least someone had been kind enough to thaw his pack out with strange fire powers that didn't look like traditional magic. Which he supposed it couldn't be because he'd been told that there wasn't magic here. Sure enough he'd found nothing in his mind when he reached for his GF Siren, or his stock of spells. Everything was different. Maybe too different. He's lost, though only in a metaphorical sense.

At least the fireplace in the inn is warm to sit in front of, and it's nice for warming his fingers. The new warmer clothes were nice too, though he'd piled on just about everything he could find. The cold hadn't been a thing he was ready for, and Nida was certain that only this morning (which was also this afternoon because it hadn't been evening yet in the last fight he remembered) had been in the desert. In late May. So the cold he had arrived in was an extreme change he didn't know what to do with.

Now if only he could get something warm to eat, and maybe someone to keep him from drowning in his thoughts.

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Squall had fire powers again.

Ever since he had unintentionally used powers back in the cave, he was wondering about it. Being sick had taken his mind off that, but he woke up today with a familiar feeling of fire in his blood.

Thank Hyne.

He had gotten out of his house quickly that morning to go train his powers before he talked to Rinoa about it. And he did need to talk about Rinoa about it. Their experience with magic and powers varied so widely, he wasn't even sure how to approach the topic that he was relieved to have fire back.

He hadn't put it together that the fire was connected to little ice mice, and that the fire was only temporary. He was fully guessing that something in this place was wearing off, and he was again able to use fire. That made more sense.

He was on his way back from practicing when he saw someone getting out of the fountain. He hurried over--the man would be cold and need some fire--but he was startled when he realized who it was.

"Nida?" ... It had been six years, but he recognized his trustworthy pilot. He couldn't have survived all the insanity without Nida. He ran and grabbed a piece of wood, setting it on fire like a torch. Oh, that felt so good. "Nida, come on, before you freeze."

Edited 2018-12-01 20:13 (UTC)

The voice was familiar, beyond familiar. It was a tone that made him want to jump to his feet and salute. As it was there was too much going on. He was confused, he was lost, he wasn't even remotely sure what was going on because his bag was frozen and he hadn't seen as spell and there wasn't any magic in him and it was all too much too fast.

There he was, getting to his feet because technically it was an order and he obeyed orders from the Commander. Soon he was standing. Where water wasn't dripping it was freezing, and already Nida was shaking. Hypothermia, a part of his mind warned him.

"Squall?" he found himself asking, and he sounded so hopelessly lost. "A mice froze my bag. Except it's not my bag."

Squall didn't even realize how much his tone was that of a commander before Nida's reaction. But he was grateful for that--Nida moving was also key to him not freezing to death.

Unfortunately, he was also fairly certain that Nida was going to be as confused as Rinoa was about different worlds and his own older look. Fortunately, Nida knew a thing or two as a SeeD. Squall had confidence that the other man would, eventually, make it work out. Garden trained them to survive in anything. They'd proven that by facing the actual impossible.

"A mouse?" Squall furrowed his brow and knelt down next to the bag. He didn't see the rodent, but he did see the frost. He held down his makeshift torch to thaw the ice. "It is your bag. But I have to explain why." Why was overly optimistic. Squall didn't know why they were here, but he would do his best to explain things.

The fact that Squall was definitely not wearing his usual clothes might start to be a hint that something was very wrong. And he didn't have a gunblade. But Nida had a lot of confusing things to see.

A wealth of confusing things. For one Squall looked different for someone Nida would have seen only a few days before. Except now it was winter. And there was no way that Mister SeeD Uniform or Leather Belts For Days would wear this.

"I was in Kashkabald Desert. You sent me," Nida mumbled as he wrapped his arms around himself, shivering a bit. "Fighting Chimeras. But it seems a bit more time has passed than I thought."

Comas were, after all, a thing. That could explain a lot. Not everything with the cold or wet or Squall unarmed. There were more questions raised than solved by that. All he could do was hope that there would be answers. At least Squall didn't seem to be sticking to command mode. That was always a relief. He'd never been sure how to handle Squall as his commander, they had more or less grown up together, even if he hadn't been someone Squall noticed much. They'd graduated together. And the only reason Nida hadn't been one of the 'Heroes of Time Compression' was his admitted heavy interest in the Timber situation. And maybe stable time loops. Probably stable time loops.

"You could just Fira it," Nida suggested, looking at the his-but-not-his bag. "I would but I seem to be out of spells. And that someone drew Siren from me."

If Squall shared, he would complain heavily about the lack of his usual outfit. Especially the belts. In Traverse Town, at least he had been able to patch a reasonable replacement for his clothes. Here, he was in the most generic material. At least he wasn't only in magenta scrubs.

He nodded. Nida was drawing nothing but reasonable conclusions. It made much more sense that what happened here was a mission gone south with GFs involved.

Squall frowned, thinking about how to describe anything reasonably to Nida. The silence, at least, was normal. And Nida knew it wasn't personal, either: Squall was just silent around most people.

"The fire spells aren't...drawn like usual here." He actually didn't know where it had come from, and he was just grateful for it. "And we are a long way from Garden and the Kashkabald Desert. Can you walk? I'll orient you back in my quarters." His house, actually, but it felt strange to say that to someone in SeeD.

It was only with the thought of clothing that Nida actually turned his eye on himself to appraise what he was wearing and this was definitely not his uniform. Hunter green medical scrubs? The color was nice, but that didn't mean he thought he should be wearing that, especially not in this weather. Maybe that led more credence to the coma theory.

"I can," Nida assured Squall as he watched his pack slowly thaw. "Just... not too far? I think... That water is cold. Risking hypothermia out here."

He would prefer not to lose anything to frostbite if he can avoid it. Or, you know, pneumonia. Why Squall needed to take Nida to his personal quarters for a debrief was beyond him, but he wasn't going to argue against it. Right now he needed a bit of military rigidness to get his mind wrapped around what was happening to him.

"Hold this," Squall said, holding up the burning torch. That would keep Nida a little warmer, and Squall had managed to unfreeze the backpack. Forcing open the zipper with brute force, Squall reached around until he found the coat. It was not a winter coat, but it should keep off the worst until they got to the house. Thankfully, Squall had chosen a house that was not far from the center of town where the fountain was.

"It's not far," Squall assured, also handing the new coat to Nida. Squall would help him adjust things so that he could put on the coat and take the torch. He took it as a given that Nida would listen to him. Nida was a smart cadet and a talented SeeD--Squall assumed and hoped that he was ready to listen to orders in a confusing situation. Just following orders was one of the perks of being a SeeD sometimes.

Once Nida was more prepared, Squall led him quickly the few minutes it took to get to House 16--a cute, suburban house and a large porch and welcoming light seen in the windows. He could get warm and dry there.

Now there were some instructions Nida could obey. He took the torch when offered and held it as close as he could, because he wanted to enjoy that heat. Not that he was stupid enough to have it so close as to burn him. He'd done a number on his eyebrows the first time he'd had use of a fire spell and he didn't want to do that again. Then the coat was being offered over and without thinking he passed the torch over to shrug the coat on.

It wasn't even ridiculous for Squall to assume obedience, because it was given. Once he had the coat buttoned up he stooped to pick up the pack and sling it over a shoulder. Silently he followed Squall, not looking around too much. Too much shivering, too much confusion. Easier to just trail after the other man, who was older than Nida remembered, and he doesn't even take a look at the house at all.

That was bad on his part. He was trained in infiltration and recon, he should be storing away every bit of data he could get. Everything was too overwhelming to handle right now.

"How far?" he asked, even as they were approaching the porch.

Squall, at lesat, would not be giving him any lectures on whether he was succeeding or failing at his job right now. There would be little judgment on Squall's part on how Nida adjusted to life here. It was hard for all of them.

"We're here," Squall said, going up the stairs and opening the door for Nida so he could get inside. It wasn't much--Rinoa had put nice touches into the decoration of the place, but there was still a huge difference between the tech-advanced Garden and this humble household. What mattered right now was that it was warm.

He pointed to one of the bedrooms. "That room's empty if you want to change. Then we can talk about where we are."

More than anything it was the decorations that gave Nida pause. To put it simply Squall was hardly a decor type of person, which of course led to one reasonable conclusion: someone else also lived here. Interesting. On one hand they had to be used to shared spaces given how they had grown up, at the same time he was surprised Squall would share space.

“Your housemate won’t mind me here?” he asked as he headed for the indicated room. They could address that later he supposed, after he was warmer.

Once he had he door closed behind him Nida took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Okay, keep moving. Chances were that even though Squall had taken out the coat for him and there had been a torch, he was pretty borderline with shock. Explained why he managed to stand there for a while in cold, dripping clothes. Focus. He had to focus.

As he changed he made sure to check himself over for injuries, found none, which was strange because he last thing he remembered was a fight and he knew he wasn’t good enough to get out without a scratch against creatures like he remembered. Maybe another question his CO could answer.

In the end it took him a while ten minutes to get changed into dry, warmer clothes. The other things he was not using remained in the pack and were left on the bed before he stepped back out into the front room.

“Squall, sir? Is there somewhere I should put all of this? To dry better?”

The housemate in question came home just about then. Rinoa was checking in on people who had been sick before and she was on her way back in. They were probably going to have to start taking their shoes off outside of the main door if and when it started snowing, or everything would be tracked in. While she didn't have her signature clothes on, Rinoa still favored everything blue that she'd been able to find so far to wear.

She walked in and shut the door quickly behind her, not wanting to let the chilly air in. Her nose was a little pink from it, but she was in good spirits. "Squall, we're really going to have to think about winter clothes if ----" Rinoa paused as she realized someone else was in the house, and her smile was fast and delighted when she recognized who it was. "Nida! Oh! You're here!"

Rinoa didn't know every SeeD, but she did go out of her way to introduce herself and chat amiably with any who would tolerate it. And honestly, it was so exciting to see anyone from home, like a breath of fresh air in this place they're still adapting to. It's why she simply moved forward and gave Nida a quick hug, because sometimes she just does that, and also since this was already such a difficult situation. Everyone deserved/needed a hug.

"Later." Talking about and to the housemate was 'later' on Squall's to do list. He didn't want to give any firm answer without at least talking to Rinoa first, but he also couldn't leave one of his SeeD completely without recourse. By weird twists of fate, he was the commander.

He took a seat and stoked the fire in the house more to get the heat moving. Nida seemed to be taking a while, but he was probably disoriented. That happened.

He nodded. "We've got a line to dry clothes." And who was that 'we'? None other than himself and Rinoa who happened to enter right there. Squall looked from Rinoa to Nida, blinked when she hugged him suddenly, and shrugged at the other SeeD. That was friendly Rinoa for them.

In a matter of seconds Nida had gone from generally confused about the world to genuinely confused to have Rinoa hugging him. 'What am I supposed to do with this' his expression asked as he looked over her shoulder at Squall before moving as if to hug her back. And then Rinoa was pulling away once more.

Did someone get the license plate of that truck that just bowled him over? Seriously, what was his life becoming.

"Hello Rinoa. I'm going to assume that I haven't seen you in a while on your side of things?"

Because to the best of his memory he'd never warranted a hug from the woman before.

"What's going on here," he asked the two of them, a bit tired sounding. Because the last twenty or thirty or however many minutes had been a touch traumatic.

"Well, not exactly, but I don't know! It's a lot coming here. I just wanted you to feel welcome." Rinoa worried for a few seconds that she did the wrong thing, but then she just accepted it. The hug happened. She didn't actually regret it. Time to move on.

She gestured for him to come into the living room area where there was a place to sit. "Squall, did you tell him anything?" Oh why is she even asking. Rinoa sighed and picked Julia the peakitten up off the arm of the couch so he didn't accidentally touch her. "This is Julia, don't touch her without gloves on, it'll make you drunk, it's a whole thing." What a place to live in! But the kitten was easily shooed off at least to find somewhere else to lie down.

"So we don't actually have that many answers. We've been taken here by some unseen people who brought a lot of people here too, all from different worlds and times, and we're all stuck here."

Squall opened his mouth to actually answer her question and then closed it. Fine. She could read Squall enough to know he hadn't gotten that far. I was going to explain once we had enough time for him to warm up and not die of frost. He thought to himself, assuring himself that his logic was sound. He crossed his arms and glared, playfully, at Rinoa slightly. She was always so quick to jump into things.

Crossing the room, he leaned against the wall, allowing the other two to sit.

"But let's debrief from the beginning." And not from peacats to kidnapping. "You two are from more similar times," Squall began. Not exactly, but the point was they were both from Garden, after defeating the Sorceress, when Squall was Commander. That was close enough. "I've been apart from our home for a few years, but in another world, too." That wasn't important now. Nida didn't need to know everything he had been doing. "But now we have been brought here, as Rinoa said, by unseen people. Sorceresses of some sort. The technology is primitive, but the monsters are low level."

He took a deep breath and looked up. He had spoken a lot, but he hadn't said I'm sorry yet, although it was on the tip of his tongue. But he was Nida's commander, and he wanted to pretend to have some control.

At least Squall could rest assured that Nida would have been quite content to wait until they had enough time for him to warm up and make sure he didn't have frostbite. As it is Nida just listened attentively to Rinoa. While edging sideways toward the fireplace. Sure, he could sit on the couch and all of that, especially with Rinoa moving her whatever-it-was-pet, but there was fire here. Fire Rinoa. At length he found himself sitting by the fireplace, assuming he didn't need to stand on formality and thus at attention.

"I appreciate the welcome, Rinoa, I really do," he assured her quietly even as he categorized away the 'touch strange pet, get drunk' warning. Not that he'd ever been drunk so he wouldn't have a comparison point to say if it was an accurate description.

What did bother him was the fact that Rinoa's version of telling him something was rather... vague. He wasn't going to protest that, but there was some relief in his eyes as he turned his attention to Squall. Technology primitive...? Nida cast his eyes about as he considered the room.

"I wouldn't say entirely primitive. Just... not usual for our experience," Nida said after a moment of thought. "In ways this is sort of luxurious compared to some places in our world. I'm... right to say 'our world' right? If other people here are from different worlds and times, then that means we'd fall into the mix of being a different world..."

Give Nida one thing, he may not be the best fighter, but he wasn't exactly a slouch when it came to reasoning things out with slightly less information. For now he was crossing his arms over his legs as he eyed the room.

"The house seems well sealed against the temperature, which talks to some serious foresight. Multiple rooms. Way better than a log cabin, trust me there. The fireplace has a good draft too. That can be a pain to deal with..."

That comment gets him scrunching his brow, like he wasn't entirely sure why he knew that. Then he shook his head.

"Sorry. I grew up outside of Timber before I came to Balamb. Not all the places out there are really what you'd see as modern. This place almost seems like a step up from what bits I remember."

Rinoa hated whenever there was a reminder about Squall's years away from them, but she accepted it's part of their full story and Nida deserved to know it too. There was a lot of time in between all of them. She waited for Nida to get closer to the fire and settle down for warmth. "If you want anything to eat or drink let me know. Or help yourself, this is your place now too!" She assumed as much since Squall clearly showed Nida the free bedroom and he wouldn't let one of his soldiers just wander off somewhere. He was too good of a commander for that.

"You're right to say our world. You'll hear other people put it that way too moving forward." Rinoa was used to it now, so she used it as freely as the rest. She nodded her head with what she was saying. She grew up in a city, so technology and wealth was something she always knew. "It's a really nice house, Squall picked it out for us." She favored him with a smile.

"We're not going to see massive machines or weapons of war here, probably, but it's livable for sure." There were things she definitely already missed that used to be so easily at hand. But she was optimistic since they already seemed moderately insulated from the weather and that would've been her biggest concern. "Everyone's really nice. We're all in the same boat, so people are quick to help and connect. There's lunch in the inn every day, and honestly you could go up to almost anyone here to strike up a conversation. I haven't met an unfriendly person yet."

Rinoa smiled self-depreciatingly. "But don't worry, not all of them are as friendly as me." She winked. "There's a lot of information in the inn, they have books full of them, on everything that's happened here and items and terms that we should know. I can't say all of it makes sense, but it's helpful."

While Rinoa handled the 'world' question, Squall was struck by Nida's assessments of their surroundings. The other SeeD was right: this place was a perfectly good house, solidly built, and Nida's observations were even better than that. That made sense: Nida's strengths were in recon and subterfuge. Of course he would sort out things well and quickly. He might also have more useful knowledge from growing up in Timber before the Garden--knowledge not related to war that would be useful here.

He smiled slightly at Rinoa's smile towards him, feeling better. He had done something right, although he couldn't take much credit.

"You're right, Nida," he remarked fairly. "This town is comparable to others in our world. But compared to Garden..." Garden was Squall's home. He didn't remember the orphanage or Winhill well, or spend much time anywhere else. His world was full of cars, electricity, and paramagic. "Most importantly, there seems to be no regular access to our powers. The fire that I used today isn't a paramagic spell. It's something else, and it only started today."

It was a lot to adjust to.

"But Rinoa's right. People seem honest and willing to work together. We don't know how long we'll be here or what they want from us, so all we can do is make this world our home." He shook his head. "I wish I could do more, Nida, but Rinoa and I have only been here about a month ourselves."

Was this what being adopted felt like? Because it was a bit shocking to have Rinoa just declare that he had a place here. Granted Squall had more or less directed him to a room, and frankly he would take a room assignment from Squall, but... well, while Rinoa was open and gregarious, Squall was a private sort of person. A willingness to share space with someone other than his Sorceress was outside of what Nida would have expected from the man.

"Thank you both for allowing me to stay, then," he answered, careful to try and be tactful.

Of course it meant he should probably be a little more comfortable. Or practical. Either way he carefully toed off his wet boots and put them by the fireplace, inverted to deal with the moisture inside. Better to dry that way. He'd have to see something about a rack by the front door. Make for less cleanup if they didn't track mud and moisture around inside.

"Compared to a retrofitted Centran mobile shelter that was a remnant of their own wars that culminated in their own destruction by a Lunar Cry?" Nida supplied when Squall trailed off. Yes, he was getting overly detailed, but it that sort of detail that grounded him right now. Information was his game, and that meant the reinforcing to himself that he still knew something was perversely comforting. "I get it, no magic. I may not have been the best spell-caster we had, but I know my affinity with Siren was one of the highest in the program. If she were with me, I'd be able to find her. You get so used to the power that being without it is kind of... dizzying."

Home? Make this place their home? No idea of how long they would be there? It was that comment that truly broke the false bravado Nida was struggling so hard to hold onto. He was tired of losing homes. Of losing people he cared about. His shoulders sagged and his eyes lowered and for a long moment he didn't look at either of them while he composed himself. Garden wasn't the first home he lost, the first family. And chances were that somewhere back in their world it was still standing, which was more than what he could say for his childhood home. Without thinking his fingers went to his wrist to feel for the bracelet he always wore, an old gesture of self-comfort.

Skin touching skin had his head snapping up as he looked at his wrist. It... was gone. Damn, he couldn't be left with even that little? Fine. He forced a smile and nodded.

"Alright then. How can I help?"

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[OTA] Too Cold to Swim

Fountain!

Re: Fountain!

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