all over the universe

[solus_unus]

WHO: Caius Vitale
WHERE: From the fountain to the Inn and then around the Village from there.
WHEN: 02.02
OPEN TO: All
WARNINGS: Possible mention of Highlander type death prior to arriving
STATUS: Open

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[Arrival > Inn]

It wasn't exactly a frightening experience surfacing in the fountain and realising he wasn't dead, or even in Ireland, for that matter. He wasn't back in the City either, so for a short few seconds to blink the water out of his vivid blue eyes, Caius glanced around. Needless to say, he knew well enough he wasn't there.

So where the hell was he? There was a pack on his back, and the scrubs weren't anything he could understand.

As he climbed out, something scraped against his forearm, leaving a deep enough gouge to bleed pretty badly, made only temporarily better when the water rushed off him. Immediately, the cooler temperature set into his bones and by the time he reached the Inn, he was trembling.

[Around the Village - Evening]

After finding out that the multiverse snagged him again, it was time to do some exploring. The whole situation was oddly familiar in that each time he took on a new identity and landed in the place where he'd live for the next decade, he did the same thing. So off he went to learn as much as he could. Create a mental map, if so to speak. Like the City, there wasn't much in the way of getting answers.

Until answers did become available, Caius looked up after the sun went down and marveled at something the City didn't have. Stopped right in the middle of a pathway, he stared up at sky while lightening danced amidst an aurora of blueish green ribbons of lights.

It was breathtaking.

Comments

around the village - evening

[guessihavelostcount]

Claire knew that a good time to go to the Inn was shortly after sunset and so she grabbed her jacket as she started out of her house to head that way. She wanted to check in with a few people that she had met since arriving in this strange place and maybe meet a couple more. It seemed important to make as many connections as one could, especially as it seemed that they needed to work together to survive.

Closing the front door, she stepped forward and paused long enough to start tugging her jacket on. As she did, she glanced sideways down the path and blinked at the sight of someone just standing there, doing nothing.

As she watched him with a mild hint of interest, the wind caught his hair and she watched as it danced around his features until he pushed it back. The familiar movement sucked all the air out of her lungs, a shock of recognition rushing through her as she started to ask herself if it was possible. Tucking her own hair back, she took one step forward and then another as she tentatively called out a name.

"Caius?"

[solus_unus]

Much had crossed his mind in the hours since he crawled out of the fountain. The biggest thing was how his healing was being suppressed because the cut he got was still gaping and that wasn't right. It should have healed and no trace should have been left.

The second thing was the inward anger that came from knowing that if he would have remained in Ireland just a few seconds longer, he would have been dead. Not here. The third were faces that he was sure he would never see again. Some of those faces he was fine never seeing again, but there were others that he would give anything...

At the sound of his name, Caius really thought his mind was playing tricks on him. But then curiosity and a yearning pulled his face over his shoulder to see the petite blond.

He turned completely, and gave a smile.

"You really aren't ready to quit me yet, are you?"

[guessihavelostcount]

There was always a chance that it was just someone with his face and not the man that she knew. Claire actually prepared herself for a blank look and a lack of recognition when he turned around to look at her, drawn by the sound of someone speaking.

She was hardly aware of the fact that she was holding her breath, watching as he focused on her...and smiled.

"Excuse you? You're clearly the one who followed me here, thank you." The smart comment slipped out of her with a laugh that was bright and familiar before dying suddenly. A surge of emotion caught her as she realized that it was really him and, better than that, he knew her.

Her vision blurred but she paid it no mind as she started towards him in a rush. There was no hesitation on her part as she launched herself into his arms and threw her own around his neck. If they fell down, they would just have to deal with it. She had him back and that was all that mattered to her in that moment.

[solus_unus]

Somehow the universe seemed to work more in their favor than it didn't and for that Caius was truly grateful. Still, in the seconds it took for her to close the distance there was an overwhelming rush of emotions that he didn't expect to have. Only moments before, he was shouldering some anger that he was ripped from his inevitable end. That he couldn't just go to whatever afterlife his kind went to.

But as soon as Caius heard her voice and then saw Claire's face, the anger was all but swept away in emotion of how fucking glad he was to see the other immortal again.

So which was it this time? Did he need her more than she needed him? Or was it the other way around?

A 'pfft' barely escaped when the momentum of the leap actually sent him toppling backwards with her in his arms. Caius laughed before slipping into thoughtful silence. A few long seconds were needed to ground himself as her really being there.

"I'm so glad to see you." he murmured against her shoulder, the tone of his voice betraying the words. They sounded more sad than happy. For reasons he didn't want to have to tell her just yet.

Arrival / inn

[seekingcrocodile]

He used to clean fish outside, on the porch, where it was easier to clean up the mess and less likely to bother anyone hanging around the inn. But right now it is too cold and snowy to do this job outside, so he's relegated to doing it inside. At least he's doing it in a corner where he's less obtrusive, and doing it over a bucket he scrounged up somewhere so that the mess doesn't end up on the floor.

He glances up when Caius comes in. Another new arrival. There seems to be no pattern to the new arrivals, other than that they seem to be happening more often now. It also seems that even though the weather is colder, the new arrivals are still arriving in the same state as the warm-weather arrivals did.

"There are warmer options in the pack. There should be a spare blanket or two somewhere, and hot water for tea." All things that new arrivals might like to know.

[solus_unus]

Being cold, confused and, by all rights, dead certainly kept a person's mind moving. While Caius was doing a first visual sweep of the place, he missed the guy in the corner. But it was the voice that pulled his attention back.

Killian Jones had an unmistakable accent. But it was the way he spoke to him that immediately had Caius looking at the pirate, long and hard.

"How 'bout some rum? Got any of that?" The words came out in a tremble, but there was an expectant gaze, hoping the other would recognize him. Caius felt like he was in some kind of dream. Or maybe he was really dead and this was somewhere in between.

[seekingcrocodile]

Sorry, Caius. There's no recognition on his face. The fact that his left arm ends in a hook and not a hand also indicates that this isn't the same Hook he knows.

He does have rum though. "I do have some. I save it for special occasions."

[solus_unus]

Oh, he kind of knew that the second the pirate spoke to him. Disappointing, yes. But that didn't mean he wouldn't introduce himself all over again here. Killian was a good guy, and someone he called friend. Caius knew how it all worked; the chances of meeting different versions was more likely than not.

"This isn't really one. But thanks for the suggestions." he replied, sliding the pack off his back and placing it on a nearby table to open it up.

Arrival - Inn

[chosenbytheocean]

Moana had been sitting at a table in the inn, pulling threads of dried grass apart while trying to find all the small fibers that formed the dried grass. It made her fingers hurt but she kept working anyway. She was determined to make this net and then afterwards remake her dress from home. Moana would give anything to have a small piece of her home here but she was going to help others first.

Her head rose when she saw someone walk into the inn and she immediately rose to her feet, quickly stepping towards the taller man. "Are you okay? You're bleeding! Here, move next to the fire." She lightly pressed her palm against the strangers arm drawing him to the fire.

"We need to get you a change of clothes. Ah, let me see if I can warm some water first. Um.. or a bandage. Bandage first." She wasn't a healer but she could stop the bleeding.

[solus_unus]

Given the whirlwind of everything up to that point, if Caius responded much like a deer caught in headlights, well, that was very much how he felt. Between his final moments in his world and up and landing in this place, there was very much a sense of being overwhelmed and disoriented. Especially because of the attention that was being show towards him.

Caius moved towards the fire while glancing about to take in his surroundings. He'd been in places like this before obviously, but it was quite the trip down memory lane to the point where he felt like it was all déjà vu.

"Oh, it's noth-" Caius stopped dead in his tracks and glanced down at his arm again. It was still bleeding. "It shouldn't be.."

Caius glanced up at Moana. "Where am I?"

[chosenbytheocean]

Moana’s expression remained worried, her eyes on his arm. "I was told that the town doesn’t have a name but you arrived through the well right?" A part of her hoped that it wasn’t the case, that there might be another way but she knew that it was only wishful thinking on her part.

Once he was in front of the fire and seated Moana took his hand, moving any fabric out of the way of his arm. It looked like the wound was clean but it was still bleeding. Her head turned back to what she’d been working on and she scrabbled to her feet to collect a few strands of the strong fibers. This hadn’t been their intended use but he was hurt and she couldn’t bring herself to ignore that. She then tore a small bit of her shirt, revealing a small section of her abdomen.

Moving quickly she wrapped the wound and then used the long thin strands of grass to secure it. "This should help stop the bleeding. You should really see Rory or a healer. Rory doesn’t live at the Inn but at one of the houses in town."

She glanced up at Caius, her dark eyes wide and curious.

[solus_unus]

The City hadn't taken his regeneration away, so being in a place where it was dampened was new to him. Still, his expression was almost awe struck as he watched her work, almost as if his whole arm was separate from his body.

Caius looked at Moana briefly, giving a short nod to confirm that's how he arrived before a residual shiver rolled over his wet, cold body.

"I don't know who that is." he told her, brow furrowed. "It's supposed to heal by itself. Why isn't healing? Where exactly is this town?"

Evening - Village

[bit_fairytale]

Amy bumps into something very solid on her way home, her nose wrinkled up in offense at whatever idiot decided to just stand there, staring up at the sky. "We get it, it's beautiful, move to the side," she complains, making a move with her hands to indicate that he ought to be shoving over. Sure, the auroras are the kind of thing that she'd marvelled at to, but they're kind of going on all the time and they've started to keep her up to the point she's had to make a sleeping mask just to rest at night.

The beauty starts to lose some of its amazingness after you can't sleep for nearly a week straight. "Never seen the Northern Lights before?"

[solus_unus]

Well, there had to be at least one person who wasn't as friendly as everyone else been up to that point. Then again, Caius was in the way and it only took a half second for him to realise after that it may have not been the whole reason she seemed irritated.

Caius moving aside was more of a reflexive move than anything and when vivid blue eyes turned to see her, his brow was pinched in mild offense.

"Not here," the immortal answered, hinting at the fact he was pretty fresh out of the fountain. "And not simultaneously with a lightening storm. It happens, but it's pretty rare."

[bit_fairytale]

"Trust me, in about a week's time, you'll be begging for the stormclouds to start coming in again to block some of this off," Amy grumbles, as irritated as she gets. Given that her default state usually exists in a permanent state of irritation, it means that she's not exactly roses to be around at this moment. "I've barely been here a month and they've been going on nearly the whole time."

"There's no night, sometimes," she complains. "It's just this, always this."

[solus_unus]

Caius looked from the woman to the sky and back to her again as she spoke, brow knitting with intrigue. Honestly, now that she explained, he half understood why she was annoyed.

"I actually spent some time in a place that was like this. Two months straight the sun never completely set. So yeah, I'm familiar."

After a moment, he gave a little smile.

"I'm Caius, by the way."

the middle of the pathway - evening [OOC injoke in here Cassian knows nothing about]

[candor1]

(Speaking of creating mental maps. Or recreating them.)

Caius had seemed to be alone; but a little ways off, a large boulder turned its head. Revealing itself to actually be a man sitting on a smaller boulder.

He'd also been watching the aurora. Letting the patterns in the sky become the projections, from recall, of the lines of the map he'd destroyed at the falls.

Perhaps he should redraw it. It was all there now. Memory enhancement techniques were all the easier when he'd researched and drawn the map himself. It had been more detailed than the large map at the inn. And a few people may have been interested in being able to look at it.

On the other hand, having information to oneself could be an advantage…

But an advantage to no purpose isn't necessarily one. And here he suspects better to work cooperatively than alone.

If less comfortable, perhaps…

And it was getting late and he supposed to go inside to favor his bandaged head and hand. [Centurion's orders.] But as far as his mind ranged out here, at least it was released beyond the sky; sticking it back under a ceiling was a gruesome prospect…

So he stayed put. And cleared his throat to avoid startling the other man, if he hadn't already.

[solus_unus]

For the immortal, it brings back some ancient memories, mostly of the man who taught him about the skies and the stars. His time in Alexandria remains some of the only past he remembers with any kind of clarity and Caius isn't completely sure why.

His attention is pulled immediately towards the sound of someone and Caius focuses in Cassian's direction. Caius gives a nod in greeting and comes a little closer.

"Studying, or looking?" he questioned, gesturing up at the sky.

[candor1]

"Looking," said Cassian. "I don't know any of these constellations."

Which, after looking for hours, checking and rechecking against his mental database of star charts and planetary vistas… was…

a relief?

Or a defeat…

He tilted his head, deference or welcome or invitation, to share or to sit. "Do you?"

Around the village- pre or post Claire.... I left it vague

[thesavior]

Emma was a master at getting herself trapped in her own head every once in awhile, although lately she had been settled and not feeling so trapped. She smiled as she walked along the road. She had been so ridiculously happy since Christmas, she thought that she either was possessed by some sort of Alien or the other shoe was about to drop.

She thought a walk was in order, and after leaving a note for Killian she headed out. She loved this time of day, it was like everything in the universe had settled and was quiet. She came to a stop next to a man who apparently had the same idea as she did.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

[solus_unus]

At first Caius kept his eyes up, smiling first before dropping them to the woman whom he recognized as Killian's girlfriend. Chances were she wouldn't know him either, so instead of linger in looking at her, he smiled and peered back up.

"It absolutely is. Haven't seen it happen at the same time as a lightning storm so I guess that's why I'm standing here like an idiot."

He laughed and turned slightly to extend his hand.

"I'm Caius."

[thesavior]

Emma laughed softly, extending her hand in welcome. Emma was a good judge of character, and Caius seemed to be a genuine person with an old soul, although she was not in the business of reading souls, it was more his laid back manner that told her that she was safe with him.

"Emma," She said with a smile. "I don't think you're an idiot," She said. "The fresh air and natural beauty is calming. And this place you need all the calm you can get to survive. Where are you from?"

around the village

[almightythor]

Thor, too, was fascinated by the play of lights above the village every night and he'd started to notice that the auroras made the night skies seem as bright as day. It was like no aurora he'd ever seen before, honestly, and he wondered what this particular omen meant. Was there more danger in store for them here, more earthquakes? Or was this something simply for them to enjoy?

He wasn't the only one who had noticed the colors dance and play above them and when he approached the other man, Thor tipped his head a bit in greeting. It wasn't someone he recognized so he lifted a hand, giving him a proper hello.

"So you also enjoy the aurora, I see?" Thor said, eschewing an introduction or obtaining the man's name and getting straight to the point.

[solus_unus]

The movement in his periphery caught the immortal's attention and Caius lowered his attention to the man. Eyes continued to bounce but he gave a smile and a nod in greeting. Being his first day here, everyone, with the exception of Claire and Killian looked familiar with only one of those two knowing him in return.

"Oh yeah, reminds me of someone I used to know and study under. Can't quite believe there's a lightning storm happening with the aurora's though. It's quite rare."

[almightythor]

"It is rare," Thor agreed. "And it has proven to be dangerous on some occasions. There have been houses that have been damaged severely by the storms."

There had been injuries too and Thor had been lucky to escape those. He put little stock in Midgard superstitions but, all the same, had put an acorn in his house to protect it from the lightning the same as those who once worshiped him as a god had done.

"Mine hasn't been among them, at least."