open your eyes to a new world }{ OTA

[aguidingkey]

WHO: Aqua
WHERE: Bunker, Inn, blacksmith (all south village)
WHEN: January 4th (bunker), January 5th for the rest
OPEN TO: Bunker is closed to Malik, the rest are OTA
WARNINGS: tbd!

---

bunker, January 4th, closed to Malik

Darkness had surrounded her for so long that she wasn't even sure if she would ever see the light again. It was almost as though she belonged to the Realm of Darkness now. Like she was a part of it somehow. Aqua had spent her life fighting darkness and had sacrificed herself to protect Terra from being lost here with her. That all seems so long ago. Sometimes a part of her wonders if it was even worth it in the end. Did Xehanort get what he wanted in the end? She doesn't know.

She just feels so lost and disconnected, forever wandering in the darkness.

Her eyes slide closed for just a minute. But it's a minute that feels like it lasts an eternity. Just like everything else in this realm. The sensation of falling asleep is the last thing she remembers. Inside the tube deep in the bunker located on another world entirely, she sleeps, unaware of where she is or why. Her name and vitals flash on the tube's readout, the only signs that she is alive at all. For now, her body rests within the stasis tube, the magenta scrubs a glaring contrast to the soft blue of her hair.

Inn, January 5th

After spending the remainder of the night and part of the morning in an abandoned house, she decides to take a better look around the southern village. Around lunchtime, Aqua slowly pushes open the door to the Inn. Her limbs feel like lead and she can't tell if it's because she's not used to so much light or because the Realm of Darkness took so much energy out of her all the time. She squints a bit at the flood of light, still not used to it after so long with so much darkness clawing at her. Finally, after she manages to get her eyes to adjust, she makes her way inside, closing the door softly behind her. So many people seem crowded into this one space; it's hard for her to adjust. She will, of course, but a part of her had almost thought she would never see anyone again. Her eyes search for any familiar faces, out of habit, but of course she doesn't see any. Ven is still sleeping and Terra...

She doesn't know what's happened to Terra and that's one of the things that keeps tearing at her.

Steeling herself, she takes a deep breath and heads for what appears to be the kitchen area. She can see at least a couple of people in here. Maybe one of them can answer a few more questions for her. "Um, excuse me," she says to the nearest person, doing her best not to take up more time than she needs to. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you could tell me how much munny a plate of food is."

She doesn't really have munny right now, but she is willing to work for her food and help out as much as she can. Besides, having something to do will help her keep her mind occupied and keep her from thinking too much about what's going on in the Realm of Light.

blacksmith, January 5th

Eventually, she makes her way through the southern village again, ending up in what looks like a blacksmith's building. Taking stock of everything she can find once she makes her way inside, she heads for the first person she can see. "Excuse me. I'm looking for a new weapon."

She isn't at all used to needing help in any form and she's spent the majority of the day asking everyone she meets for help in some form or another. If this keeps up, she really isn't going to know what way is up anymore. Still, she is determined to find a way to help and fit in for as long as she's here. She will pay their kindness forward as soon as she can. Whatever the first person tells her, she eventually finds someone else and asks something entirely different.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

Comments

Inn Kitchen - Veggie Duty

[skyward_eyes]

It wasn't often that Nida had come to the kitchen of the inn to help with meals. The thing was, he'd gotten a bit self-conscious after his birthday. Both Rinoa and Seifer seemed to possess some measure of culinary skill seriously when had Seifer learned to make such perfect pancakes? and Nida could pretty much roast meat over a fire. That was almost literally it. People in the kitchen seemed nice enough, they made meals, maybe he could learn something by osmosis. Or observation.

Instead, he'd been put to task peeling and cutting vegetables. Which, really, it was basics so he could accept that.

It also meant Nida was in position to look up when the woman entered. To be shocked for half a moment by the color of her hair, the shape of her face, the clear warrior strength under her slight build. If he weren't definitely into guys...

And more important than that, the weird word. That was more important.

"What's a 'munny'?" he asked her instead. Was that a unit of currency or volume? He'd had people assume this was a restaurant before, so either works.

[aguidingkey]

It's unfortunate that Aqua doesn't even have one munny in a pocket of her new outfit. There's nothing she can even pull out to show. She pauses for a moment to consider her answer. This is not a question she's has to answer before. All of the other worlds she knows of take munny as, well, money.

"Currency," she says, doing her best to explain. "They're usually small and yellow. I just wanted to know what food costs here, so I know what to work for."

She won't ask for a handout. That isn't in her nature. Whatever the price tag is, she will find a way to meet it.

[skyward_eyes]

"No money here," Nida answered. Yep. Another person assuming this was a monetary society. Not even by half. "We all just sort of... help each other. Some bartering happens. If you're hungry there's some stuff in the fridge, but I'm helping the ladies make soup for lunch now. If you're really desperate to work for it though..."

He held out both a potato and a potato peeler. "Peel these and I'll chop."

See, he can meet you half way. Mostly because he's just about cut his fingers up a few times now with the damn peeler. This was not his calling. The only thing sparing him from it was the fact that the first time his power had accidentally kicked in. That was apparently a thing, the durability. It would be useful in sparring, but for now it meant everyone in the kitchen was pretty durable for the next, what, five minutes left?

[aguidingkey]

Trade and barter. No munny. That seems strange to Aqua. But she is adaptable, for the most part. Likely she would have insisted on helping out somehow, so she appreciates the offer he makes next. Unfortunately, she's not exactly experienced in kitchen affairs. Still, she takes both the potato and peeler, glancing them over for a moment before bending over the table and getting to work. It takes her a little time to figure out how much pressure to use, but she gets going with it eventually.

"How many of these do you need to have peeled?" she asks, both for conversation and for information as she finishes one potato and reaches for another. It doesn't matter to her, but she always does like to know what the goals and limits of any endeavor are.

[skyward_eyes]

"I was asked to do ten. I've managed two," he admitted. So he's really not good at this, but everyone has to learn sometime. Probably best that he lets her learn right now though.

Look at that, she's already doing better than he managed. Geez he really felt like he'd messed up, of course. Oh well, someone else to help out is good, because now he can pull the piece of sanded wood out that has been used for cutting, and he can start dicing the ones he did finish.

"You've got the look of someone new. Am I right?"

Blacksmith 🔨

[whipshots]

"Oooh, um. Well." Brigitte tilts her mask and goggles up to get a closer look at this stranger who's wandered in (much like she had a week ago, in fact). The furnace is slowly building in front of her, the fire roaring merrily along, but not yet hot enough to melt the ore from the mountain. It means she's killing time at the moment while it heats, and can spare some time to look away from her work.

"What did you have in mind? Unfortunately, there's a long list for new weapons. There are some old ones at the inn cache, but right now we're prioritising tools and supplies rather than making weapons." Brig is getting the hang of it, learning to parrot off the forge rules. "And, yeah, I can actually do with a second pair of hands in a few minutes, stick around."

[aguidingkey]

Aqua lifts a hand to her chin for a second. That makes sense. Tools and supplies are important. She can't say how dangerous it is here, but even without her magic, or the Master's keyblade, she should be able to take care of herself. She still feels like she's lost another part of herself, but given everything else... well, at least she's out of the Realm of Darkness for now. Maybe later she'll go see what the Inn caches have left.

"Okay," she says in answer to the request for help. "I won't go anywhere. I've never worked a forge before, but I'm a fast learner. I can help as long as you need it."

[whipshots]

Brigitte shoots her a hopefully-reassuring smile. That sort of can-do attitude is familiar -- it reminds her of herself, a bit, and it immediately endears the blue-haired woman to her. It takes a certain kind of personality for either of them to be faced with a new problem and simply knuckle down to work on it.

"Get some gloves from over there," she says, pointing towards the neatly-stacked pile of heavy-duty protective gloves. (The tidiness all Seifer's doing; if it had been up to her, she'd probably have misplaced her pair atop her lunch.) "Annnd in a couple minutes I'm going to have you hold a piece of molten ore in place while I hammer it into shape. There are some long tongs you'll grip with, so it won't be dangerous. Are you okay with that?"

It's a small sense-check that she's not asking too much; though it's a simple enough task, some people have specific qualms about fire, after all.

[aguidingkey]

Aqua is happy to wait for as long as she needs to. She always does better if she has something to do with herself. It's less time to spend wondering if her strength is enough to keep beating back the darkness. As for the request itself, she shakes her head. Given that she used to shoot fire out of her keyblade, dealing with a little molten ore won't be hard. She doesn't mind fire or heat.

"I'll be fine. I've had worse than a little heat," she says before turning to find a pair of gloves that will fit. Once she does, she returns with them and the closest pair of tongs that it looks like no one is using.

"Okay, just show me what to do." She thinks she has the gist of the idea, but it can't hurt to have a demonstration of how to hold everything.

Inn

[connatural]

It feels like a million years ago since Ashley first tried to make her way around this place, and just yesterday at the same time. She remembers that feeling of trying to make sense of it all, of how you'd survive in a place where you had nothing and knew no one.

So when Ashley is approached, she smiles widely even as she shakes her head.

"As the saying goes, your money is no good here," she says, amusing herself more than anything. "We don't have a system of money or banking so everything is on barter and trade. That said, meals here at the inn are open to anyone, and all they ask is that if you hunt or harvest, you share with the Inn. Or work around the place. Help with the meals or cleaning up."

Which is still almost odd to Ashley and yet really cool. It's nice being in a place where everyone works together to help one another. She suspects if things were like this when her mom was here, she liked it as well. Everyone working for the community, coming together. A kind of place where barriers like being abnormal or not didn't matter.

[aguidingkey]

This is the first place Aqua has ever been to that doesn't use currency, especially munny. The idea is so foreign to her that she pauses for a second, surprise coloring her face. That said, the concept of banking is also foreign, but she tries not to react any further than she has. Maybe later she'll ask about that.

"That's really nice of them. Is anyone in charge? I'd like to do what I can."

She's just really bad at finding things to do that don't involve beating up Unversed and fighting the darkness. Her life hasn't exactly involved a lot of "normal" things and there aren't any denizens of darkness here. That she knows of anyway.

"Is there anything you can tell me about how things work here? I'm used to more active ways of helping out." But she's adaptable. As long as she knows how to help, she will do anything she can to make everyone's lives easier.

[connatural]

"I know that there's a couple that are always here, and I guess they're in charge. Kate and Margaery, that I know of, and Wanda works in the kitchen a lot. So I'm sure any of them could help you out. Or there's a butcher shop, I guess, if you're into doing that."

She doesn't mind hunting, but not so much on the butchering.

"Yeah, sure. Do you want to grab a bite and a table and talk about it? I can share what I know. I haven't been here long, but I kind of like being busy, so I have some ideas."

[aguidingkey]

Names are definitely a start, even if they aren't names Aqua is familiar with yet. Still, that's more than she had before and anything at all is better than nothing. She doesn't exactly wince at the idea of being a butcher, though it's definitely not something that appeals. The offer that follows is a surprise, regardless, and it shows clearly on her face.

"That would be great," she answers, a small smile crossing her face. "Thank you."

She appreciates everything that everyone has done for her so far in the few short days she's been here in the villages. Most people are so willing to help out. It's a refreshing taste of the realm of light, something she has missed for so long. Turning her attention to the food, she picks up just enough to feed herself, not nearly enough to risk someone else going hungry. With that done, she moves to find a place to sit down, waiting for the other girl to join her.

"How long have you been a resident?" she asks, opting to start there with her questions.

Near Blacksmith

[plate_builder]

The person she has found for the question definitely looked like they needed help. But of course they did, because it was Reeve, and the man could hardly be expected to do one thing at once, much less manage less than seven things with every breath. The man had set himself up for a busy day, which meant in addition to his heavy pack from his arrival on his back, filled with paper and writing tools, but then there is everything else. His arms are held out in front of him, with two well used wooden spears. Curled around his shoulder is a serious length of bungie cord. Tucked under one arm is a folding shovel (and what could he intend with that given the fact that the ground is no doubt cold and hard to manage?), a hammer under the other, and if that isn't enough, he's awkwardly trying to eat stew out of a bowl while walking. Everything is beyond precariously held in his grip (except for the stew because that's too precious to waste), and clearly the man needs something like help.

Perhaps needs a lot of it.

Reeve had resolved to get out of the house today for more than a meal, and what better purpose could he have than planning and trying to find a site for the future barn? There was much that needed taken into consideration and while he had an idea of a good location, there were some details he needed to process first. Of course with how awkward everything in his grip was he had opted to ignore the paths and cut across behind the blacksmith to get to the field he intended to study. But as he was off the path he wasn't expecting the voice. And flinched.

Everything but the stew, cord, and backpack fell. At least the food was safe.

"Uh... actually, yes, I could definitely use some assistance."

[aguidingkey]

Aqua had tried to come at an angle where she would be seen. She didn't want to startle him and further inconvenience the person she is asking to help. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happens. A surprised gasp escapes her as the man fumbles and drops nearly everything he's carrying.

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you." A pang of guilt slices through her as she bends to help pick up what he has dropped. "Why don't I help carry this for you?" It makes the most sense to her if she carries this bundle wherever it is he's going. She is certainly strong enough to manage. Straightening again once she has picked everything up, she offers a small smile. "Where were you going?"

Maybe by helping him, she can learn more about this strange world and how its culture and rules work. It's worth a try anyway.

[plate_builder]

"Oh, no problem," Reeve assured the woman as he crouched and put his bowl down on the ground to gather some things. "And thank you for the assistance. I'm just heading off behind that line of houses there. There is a large clearing that I'm going to be working in."

No more explanation than that. He's still trying to get bites of food while he's reaching for the collapsible shovel. If he doesn't eat Brigitte will rightfully worry about him.

[aguidingkey]

Aqua is curious about what he's doing and why, but she is also polite enough not to pry too much, especially since he seems to still be in the middle of eating. Really, she would have picked up everything so he could eat on the way. It wouldn't have bothered her any.

"Okay. I'll just follow you, then," she says at first, willing enough to be an assistant for however long he seems to need. "I'm Aqua." She doesn't add on that she's new to this world. That seems to be fairly obvious to everyone she speaks with. It's hard to fit in as a native when everyone already knows she isn't one.

Bunker

[loyalrebel]

Malik had come down in the off chance of finding some sort of clue others hand overlooked in what was going on here, as well as to get some time to himself that wasn't out in the freezing cold. While he'd been mostly puttering about, he moved in to quick action when he spotted the young woman in the stasis tube.

The readouts were reassuring, even if they didn't entirely tell him much beyond 'still alive'. He banged a few times on the front of it, hoping that it'd start to wake her up even as he looked for how to open the damn thing.

"Give me a moment, I will get you out." he says, loud enough to hopefully be heard through the walls around her.

[aguidingkey]

The banging on the tube has the intended effect. Aqua's hands twitch as her body begins to respond and her mind starts to claw its way into consciousness. Her whole body feels heavy, weighted, like she's not used to using it. She feels a bit like she's floating in water. Slowly, her eyes start to pry themselves open and the first thing she can think of is that everything is bright. After at least a decade of being lost in the Realm of Darkness, just about everything is very very bright. She squints and it's right about then that her brain registers that she might actually be drowning.

So, naturally, panic sets in. Aqua manages to keep it at bay for the most part, though she scrambles a bit at what she can reach in the cramped tube. She can't feel anything with her feet, can't reach anything with her hands that might be a latch to get her out. She even tries to summon the Master's keyblade to break herself out, but nothing happens. That might have something to do with the cramped quarters, but with the way her right hand flexes and jerks, it's clear she was expecting something to happen.

Nothing does and she finds herself gasping for breath. No, not gasping. Something at her neck feels weird and... she can breathe. It's not the normal breathing with her lungs, but her mind is starting to clear up and she feels less panicked. That gives her time to focus on what she can see outside the tube. Someone is out there. Maybe they can help her. She'll figure out what happened to her neck after she's out of the tube.

"Please, can you let me out?" she asks, trying to sound as polite as possible, even with the closed in and trapped feeling surrounding her.

[loyalrebel]

Malik finds the latch to open the tube after a couple moments, though first he again taps on the front of the tank and pantomimes for her to push on the front to help get it open and her out.

He's quick to get the thing open then, not caring that he's getting water everywhere even as he moves to be able to catch her.

"You are alright, I have you." He says, keeping his voice calm and even.

[aguidingkey]

Aqua nods at the motions, showing that she understands. Pressing both hands to the glass, she presses with her not inconsiderable strength. She doesn't have Terra's strength, but she has enough to help push the glass open. Once there's enough of a hole, she nearly collapses out of the tube and onto him. For a few minutes, she coughs, trying to figure out what exactly breathing is and how to get it to work. One hand moves up to her neck as she finally pushes herself onto her feet. Whatever it was on her neck seems to be slowly fading away, skin growing over it and closing those holes.

"What... happened?" she manages to choke out, her other hand rising to the other side of her neck. "What were those things? And how did I..."

A quick glance around shows her that this is nothing she's seen before. Not in the realm of darkness or the realm of light. Nothing looks familiar and even though there was light of a sort in the realm of darkness, it all held a different sort of feeling. Whichever realm this world is in she doesn't know. But everything is hard on her eyes, like she's spent too long with muted light and suddenly found herself in full sunlight. If this is her new world, it will take time to get used to.

Blacksmith

[firacrux]

Seifer, who was at the moment attempting to make a hinge, well, hinge and was entirely buried in concentration didn't immediately look up. He was trying to finish the thing so the pieces fit together and moved smoothly. "Weapon? Nah, you gotta run that by Tony first. What kinda weapon you in the market for?" He didn't immediately look up because he was hammering. Once he had reached a pause point though he did turn to regard Aqua briefly.

She looked new. Probably hadn't heard the no shanking spiel yet.

[aguidingkey]

The question makes Aqua pause. A part of her wants a keyblade in her hand, at her beck and call, so badly. But another part knows that nothing anyone could make would be able to replace either of the keyblades she once carried. A part of her deflates as she glances away and then shakes her head. She takes a breath as she looks back at the young man in front of her.

"Nevermind," she says softly. "Nothing can replicate what I used." Her keyblade is back with Terra anyway. The Master's keyblade is... somewhere. Locked or trapped in the realm of darkness. And maybe all of this is just a dream, another vision like Ven and Terra.

"It would be for defense, not to hurt anyone," she offers next. "It was a large key-shaped weapon. But the real ones..." Her hand flexes, as if trying to grip an invisible hilt, but of course nothing flashes into existence. It's gone. "I guess the real ones can't be replaced as easily as a normal weapon."

[firacrux]

Seifer felt similarly, though a gunblade could be much more easily manufactured in all likelihood. Without gun powder or the ease of making small precise parts though it'd be a task that might be a bit much to deal with right now. That, and Tony had strictly forbidden it. Oh well. He'll learn to use a sword. While Aqua thought it over Seifer watched out of the corner of his eye, making note in her change in body language.

"Something similar, maybe? Ain't sayin' you can't have a weapon you just gotta clear it with Tony first. He's keepin' tabs on things like that around here. Keepin' the lethal violence down." Only so much one could do in such a situation, an industrious enough individual who really wanted to kill someone would find a way. But making it slightly harder to do on accident wasn't a terrible idea.

"Key-shaped? How'd that work?" He perked up, immediately interested when she mentioned a weapon of unusual qualities. Seifer's a big weapons nerd. "I know the feeling. If it helps put you at ease there's not a lot in town that's especially dangerous and would require self-defense. Or if you wanna learn another method we got the dojo. Hand to hand, and I think someone's teaching staves." Easier to produce with all the forest around them, and less lethal while still being a fantastic self defense weapon. "You new?"

[aguidingkey]

Maybe she could deal with a wooden keyblade until hers came back or until this Tony decided it was acceptable to make a metal replica. It still wouldn't replace her real keyblade, or the Master's, but it might serve in the interim. It would be better than being completely defenseless, not for her own sake, but for her ability to protect the townsfolk. Though, maybe learning hand-to-hand combat might help with that. All she has ever trained for was to be a keyblade master, proficient in a very specific one-handed weaponry discipline. Maybe... maybe learning something else would be beneficial.

"Do you think Tony would be against me having a wooden keyblade?" she asks next. "It wouldn't be sharp, but I could still help protect the town with it." Really, she isn't the type to want to protect herself as much as she does everyone else. "And then I could show you how it works."

There are a lot of things the real keyblades can do that a wooden or even metal replica can't manage. But she could at least show him how it works as a simple weapon.

"Yes. I guess that's obvious, isn't it? Everyone seems to know that before I even start talking."