sixthiterationlogs | [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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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?"

[OTA] Too Cold to Swim

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