sixthiterationlogs | 0I Waterlogged [OPEN]

Entry tags:

0I Waterlogged [OPEN]

WHO: Moana
WHERE: Fountain/Docks/Around
WHEN: December 27th
OPEN TO: ALL ARE WELCOME!
WARNINGS: Mentions of almost drowning…
STATUS: Closed

Prompt i – le mea e te

The waves crashed hard against her torso as the horizon spun and tumbled away. Something grabbed onto her foot and a violent pull jolted through her as another wave trapped her below the surface of the water. Her lungs burned while her fingers blindly groped the lagoon floor. Needles prickled against her senses and her vision began to falter and fade.

This is what she got for trying to pass the barrier reef.

Cold fire filled her lungs and her eyes snapped opened to find a large blackness surrounding her. This water was calmer and colder than what she'd experienced a moment before. She felt fabric constrict across her shoulders and then something new tethered around her feet. She didn’t have time to stop and consider these changes. She kicked at the water moving towards the light above her and the promise of air. She gasped as she broke the surface of the fountain, her fingers clawing at the cement rim before pulling herself up, over and onto the hard cold ground. She pulled off her scrub, the pack, her boots and her socks; feeling their weight press uncomfortably against her. She coughed and gasped, her dark brown eyes blinking away the stars and tears that filled her vision.

Her sight blurred and it took Moana a moment to focus on what was around her. The air was frigid, biting and gnawing uncomfortably at her wet skin. Her boots, pack and navy blue over shirt were tossed messily to her right side. She wasn't on her island anymore and the more she asked herself how she got here the more she drew a defined blank.

"Pua? Pua are you here? Are you okay?" Her voice was frantic as she looked around the base of the fountain. Her pet pig had been in the boat with her and she'd hoped that he'd somehow made it back to shore.

She was in so much trouble.

Prompt ii – Iloa mamao atu

She'd pushed the extra clothes and shoes into the pack. She wasn't used to wearing shoes and despite the fact that the ground was freezing she felt more comfortable without them on. Moana shrugged the pack over her shoulders before ringing out her thick black hair. Water pooled onto the sidewalk as she began to make her way through the small town. She had gotten general information from those she's spoken too but it was hard to believe. The gods wouldn't punish her like this, would they? Is this what happened when people tried to leave the reef? All of her questions felt very silly.

"What do I do now?" She asked no one in particular, her dark eyes moving over the small town. Wandering around helped her a bit but it felt too directionless.

She paused after passing a few buildings and looked up towards the sky in amazement. The snow on the ground had melted away and yet small little white fluffs were falling from the overcast above her. Moana held out her hand and then shivered as the cold ice melted on her skin.

"What is this?" Moana had been born on a tropical island; she'd never seen snow before.

Prompt iii – Na i le punou vaitafe

She had been told there wasn't an ocean and yet she couldn't really believe that. The ocean connected everything; she had to be able to find it. She ended up at the boathouse, her gaze peering around the building and the boats lined up on the docks.

"All rivers go to the ocean right?" Moana began to talk to herself, keeping her tone calm and yet curious. "I've never seen a canoe like this." She paused looking at the small boat that floated next to the dock. She knew how the village canoes were designed and built but she had no idea how something like these boats were built.

"Hello?"

She called, this time louder, wondering if someone might hear her. There was a feeling inside of her, something tugging her towards the rolling currents of the river.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't think anyone knows how this place got here. We all just kind of show up periodically," Jean admitted, shrugging again. This place was full of more questions than answers and this conversation was only reminding Jean of how little she knew about the prison she'd been thrown into.

"Sorry, I feel like I'm just making it worse by not having any more answers than what you started out with. It's not what I mean to do, I promise."

Moana shook her head forcefully. "No, it isn’t your fault. Thank you for talking to me." It was probably uncomfortable, being assaulted with question after question when you didn’t have the answers yourself. If they did have them then it’d probably be more readily available.

"You said there was an inn, right? Where it’s warmer?" She was starting to shiver. Moana had never had problems with her hair being wet but it was so cold that the water refused to dry and only froze to her scalp. Her arms wrapped around her stomach but she found that it didn’t really keep in the warmth. This was what she got for not wearing shoes.

"Maybe we can find out more when it’s warmer."

"There's an inn just ahead," Jean promised. True to her word, there was an inn though it wasn't really anything to write home about - it was still small, still with no power and still in this place. That being said, there would be a fire and probably something to eat and Moana probably needed both of those things.

Jean opened the door for her, holding it so that Moana could go through. "Get inside and get warm. I'll find you something to eat, okay?"

Moana was thankful when she saw the building rise into view. It looked warm but then, everything looked warm right now. She didn’t have electricity on her island so it wasn’t something she missed. However, she did miss her islands heat and comfort.

When she stepped inside she continued to feel the chill through her skin. Her eyes locked on the fire, giving the flames an affectionate stare before turning back to Jean. "Yes, thank you. I’ll be over there…" She pointed close to the fireplace. She knew that she should help the girl but nothing felt as important and urgent as returning the feeling back to her limbs.

Her feet were still bare and the heat made her toes sting as she sat next to the inn’s source of warmth. She wondered if they kept the fire going constantly, just to keep the cold outside the thin wooden walls. There was a lot that she was learning and a lot that she didn’t know.

"I'll make you something warm to drink." There was a little tea now in the village since the presents had come and Jean had managed to get some of it for herself. She set the kettle to boil and steeped it; there wasn't sugar, really, but at least the tea was nice and warm. She brought a mug of it to Moana before settling in with her own.

"There, drink that. It should warm you up, okay?"

Moana had her toes directed at the fire when Jean returned. She wrapped her fingers around the mug and smiled thankfully. "That feels amazing." Her smile was bright and warm; it was amazing to find that a little bit of heat was was worth someone's happiness.

Her chin tilted up and she beamed at Jean. "Thank you. Please sit with me. I don't need to eat anything just yet." She honestly didn't want to eat their food. It was something precious.

"You're going to need to eat something eventually," Jean said, giving her a look. Granted, Moana looked about her age so maybe she shouldn't be mothering her but she couldn't really help it; it was a role she fell into sometimes at the school with the younger students and, apparently, she was falling into it here.

"But for right now, maybe just focus on warming up. It's really cold out there, especially when you're wet from that fountain."

"It is and I really did eat recently. I don't want to waste anything." Her body was going through shock and it was only sitting next to the heat of the fire that Moana was beginning to notice how cold she really was. Her arms began to shiver violently and she had to set the drink down to stop herself from spilling any of it. She hugged herself and waited for the feeling to pass before speaking again.

"I'm sorry. I was a lot colder than I thought." She forced her lips into a smile. "Thank you again for bringing me her." Moana had a feeling that she'd have gotten in trouble if she continued to wander around outside.

When it felt like her limbs were steady she reached for her cup once more and took a small sip of tea. The warmth pushed through her and she felt it reaching out towards her limbs.

"It's not a waste if you're hungry," Jean insisted. She hadn't lived the sort of life where rationing had ever occurred to her and it certainly wasn't occurring to her right at the moment. Not when someone had just come in from the freezing cold.

"There's enough food for everyone to eat, I promise. You aren't taking away from anyone."

Moana shook her head, she was overly stubborn when she'd made up her mind. "Later. Right now I really just want to get warm and then maybe sleep." It'd been a long day for her and it was nearing night when she'd left her home.

"Can you tell me about your home some more?" She'd love to hear it and it'd give her something new to think about.

"Well, most of the time I'm at school," Jean explained. As she did, a little grin came to her face because honestly, school was the best part of her life; she felt so much happier at school than she'd ever felt at home with her parents.

"It's a boarding school and I live there year round. There's a whole city worth of people my age, in a way, and I don't think you really get that anywhere else in life."

Moana's smiled widened. "That sounds amazing. We had classes and lessons but nothing like a school. What do they teach you there? Is it fun being around people your own age?" She was comfortable around all ages but that was simply because of her role as the future chief. She had to be.

There were a lot of things she had to be.

"Sometimes. Sometimes it's hard because everyone is all in there together and so drama happens but for the most part, it's nice to be around people like me."

Other mutants, she meant, but that wasn't something she was going to just volunteer.

"What's it like where you're from? Other than warm?"

"Like this." Moana smiled. "It's a small village and we all look out for each other."

She curled a little bit closer to the fire, her drink held firmly in her hand. She didn't ask what Jean meant. Everyone had secrets and if she wanted to share then Moana would listen.

"What sort of drama is there usually?" She knew a little bit about that though it was usually her who started fighting with her father and the whole island knew about their arguments. It was hard to keep secrets between the chief and his daughter.

"Well, whenever you have a bunch of teenagers together, people date or gossip about one another and it just becomes a mess. I think you end up growing out of it eventually but when you have a couple hundred people who are all the same age? It's basically a recipe for some kind of drama," Jean admitted.

"I tried to stay out of it as much as I could but sometimes it just...finds you."

"I guess I can understand that. I've never had that many people around my age before. It sounds like it could be fun though." Moana didn't really understand the full extent of the drama that Jean was talking about. She'd been considered an adult in her village and when you were working all day there wasn't very much time for gossip.

"Do you miss it?"

"I miss it, yeah," Jean said, giving her a little smile. "I miss being home. That's the worst thing about this place. You have all the time in the world to think and dwell about where you came from but you can't ever get back there."

Jean hadn't realized exactly how homesick she was until she explained it and now that she had, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

Moana tried her best to smile though it was obviously forced. "We’ll find a way and it might take time but our homes will be there waiting for us."

She could appear strong but Moana was just as worried as Jean was. Her father would find Pau, hopefully, and the parts of the destroyed boat that washed up and onto the beach but Moana herself would be missing. She knew that he’d be worried and angry and she felt awful for making all of this happen. It was all her fault.

"For now I might focus on trying to sleep." If she can.

"There's beds here in the inn," Jean said, motioning her hand to the upstairs. "I think there might be a room available. If there's not, there's houses and things too. I live in one."

She shared it, naturally, but that was all right. She didn't mind sharing with Ren.

Moana turned to find the stairs that lead up and then looked back at Jean with a smile. "Thank you. I’ll stay there. Which house do you live in? Don’t you get lonely?" Moana would like to live in a house but she’d never want to live there alone.

She was to accustomed to having a lot of people around her.

"I share a house with a guy named Kylo Ren," Jean said. His name was strange and, in some ways, so was he but he was another telepath and that made her feel a whole lot less alone than she felt otherwise. He seemed to understand her in a way that others didn't.

"It's pretty far from here, though, all the way down toward the end of the road."

Moana nodded her head. "That sounds better. If I get a home I'll want to share it." She didn't feel right otherwise.

She placed her cup down and pushed herself to her feet. "For now I'm going to get a room here. Thank you for bringing me here. Maybe I can come see your home sometime."

"I'd like that," Jean said, flashing her a genuine, if sort of quick, smile. This was the first time she'd been on the side of explaining things versus having things explained and it was kind of nice to feel like she knew what was going on.

"If you need anything, you'll let me know?"

Moana smiled at Jean after pushing herself up from the floor. She’d miss the fire but a bed sounded warm too. More likely than not Moana would empty her backpack on her bed and then burry herself beneath the layers of warmth.

"I will. Thank you Jean! I’ll see you again." Because she wanted to see Jean again so Moana made a point to do just that.

With her goodbye said she turned and headed towards the counter to see if there were any spare rooms. If no one knew she’d knock on doors until she found one. Moana didn’t think it’d be too difficult.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

0I Waterlogged [OPEN]

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

ii

Re: ii

Re: ii