sixthiterationlogs | if the sky can crack [OTA mingle]

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if the sky can crack [OTA mingle]

Hail had been falling for two days now, peppering the ground and shredding the grass but rather than melt away like a late spring storm it had only intensified, growing in diameter and moving from a mild annoyance to damned near deadly. As the storm raged, ice flew up through updrafts and was forced back to earth in the downdraft, accumulating layer after layer of murky debris until it went hurtling toward the earth with wicked accuracy.

Shingles were ripped from roofs, the wind howled and lightning cracked. The hail had driven both humans and animals into the safety of the indoors, to the dark corners of buildings that might withstand the assault. With only candlelight and the hushed voices of villagers to stave off fear and boredom, the storm raged like a sentient being heedless of those who might be caught in the path.

After the storm, a calm came over the land and weak sunlight glinted off smoke-tinged ice. Steam rose from the melt and humidity was thick in the air; petrichor hung heavy, a soothing scent after a savage display of natural fury.

[OOC: Your hail mingle post. Feel free to have characters on the run, gathering animals or inside the Town Hall waiting out the storm.]

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Margaery bolted up from her chair as Moana let out a scream, her body braced for a shower of ice to pour through a broken window. The sounds outside resumed their steady fall, no shards of glass were scattered over the floor. It seemed as though everything was as it was before.

She knelt beside Moana, offering her a hand to help her back to her feet. The pigs were hard to miss, but Margaery's first concern was to make sure that Moana wasn't injured.

"You have never seen hail before?"

Moana winced when Margaery abruptly stood up. "Sorry." She apologized before running a soothing hand over the piglets fuzzy back. Itiiti wasn't calming down though he seemed happy to wiggle his head between Moana's arm and side to drown out the sounds of the storm outside.

She took Margaery's hand with her free hand and rose to her feet. It wasn't so hard to do with a small pig in her arms.

At Margaery's question Moana shook her head.

"No, I haven't. I hadn't seen snow before arriving here either. I didn't know it could be so..." Another crash hit the side of the hall. "-violent." She finished with a frown.

"All storms are. They take different forms." She heard of typhoons and seen spouts appear over the water. Hail was nothing new to her, but still deeply frustrating and a little frightening. The weather here had become ominous.

"It will be all right." She offered Moana, drawing a chair near the window. "The worst it can do is break the window. So long as we are inside, we are safe." It was little comfort, given the noise, but offered all the same.

"Where were you when it started?"

Moana knew of typhoons but their homes had kept out the water. Nothing like snow or hail had ever fallen from the sky. She turned her head back towards the window but had decided to take a seat on the floor so she could hold Itiiti easier.

"There are rain storms on my island sometimes. It's usually just through one part of the year though and it's never cold enough for ice balls." That's how she was referring to hail.

Her attention pulled from the window to Margaery. "I was at the river. Itiiti was very update." She looked down at the little piglet again. "What about you?"

Looking at the piglet, Margaery's mind drifted towards Gilbert, left alone in her bungalow and likely whining at the door for her. As much as she wanted to wait out the storm, a part of her feared how her dog was doing without her. He didn't like to be on his own during storms.

"Do you bring him with you everywhere?" She nodded at Itiiti in amusement. It was the first pig she had seen in the village. She made the mistake of becoming attached to her livestock, and given how kind Moana was, it seemed likely she would be much the same. "Is he new?" Was it a boy? It was a bit hard to tell.

She glanced back towards the window. "I was walking to the inn. There was never a storm like this the summer before. The weather seems to always be intense."

In Moana's mind this pig was special. It reminded her of Pau and the life she used to have on her island. She had no trouble eating pig and the bunny she was taking care of was meant to be eaten but Itiiti was special. To start, it had a name. You didn't name your food because then you would become attached to it.

"Sometimes. He usually stays at the inn if I'm really busy but he likes to follow me. Pigs are really smart." They were smarter than dogs though Moana didn't really have a basis of comparison since there weren't dogs on her island. "He actually showed up when I did a second time. In a box." She paused. "With a coconut." It seemed like a rather random footnote to add.

"He's sort of new. He reminds me of Pau. A pet from home."

Moana's gaze looked back to the window with a frown. "I hope everyone is okay." She was a little bit worried.

That had been Margaery's first mistake. Each of her animals had a name and personality. While she had tried to detach herself emotionally from them of late, it seemed to be impossible. She knew her animals. It was hard to think of them of becoming food, which someday they would.

"He is the first pig I have seen in the village." It was strange in retrospect. There were cows, goats and sheep in the woods, but she hadn't seen a pig. Chickens and rabbits were left by the observers, as were cats and dogs. Moana's pig was significant. "You left the village only to return?" She had seen that happen before. "That happened to Thorfinn not long ago. He disappeared but returned a few days later. Time had passed for him in his world, but barely any did here."

Margaery's eyes flicked towards the window, her thoughts wandering to her friends. "I'm sure they are. Anyone outside will seek shelter."

To Moana, a pig was very normal. They didn't have cats or dogs on her island. There were pigs, chickens, mountain goats and a lot of different birds and rodents around. Itiiti just felt like another part of her home that had found her here.

"Is he?" She asked looked down at Itiiti who had calmed down now that Moana was holding him. "I did. I don't really know how or why. I can't explain it. I went home for just a day." A lot happened in that day but Moana has been trying not to think about it. "I know." She nodded her head. "I ran into him after that but he wasn't able to talk very well and he kept saying he was bad." She frowned at the memory. Moana missed Thorfinn. He was one of the few people that she could talk about her gods and her stories who would then tell her similar things in return. She'd always wondered how alike their homes were.

"Yeah." Another piece of hail smacked against the side of the hall and Itiiti was trembling again. "How long do you think it will last? I feel like we should do something." Moana didn't think she'd be able to sleep through the noise.

"Did you return with new memories?" It was what happened to Thorfinn. He had gone a certain age, only to come back older. It was strange, but part of Margaery suspected that the observers were toying with them. It was a glimpse of home before they were quickly brought back. At least for herself, she wasn't going to be tossed about in that manner. There was nothing to return to.

"He forgot how to speak the common tongue during his time away from the village." She glanced back towards the window, the memory hurting her heart. He was another friend and family member now gone. She missed their morning walks and the conversations they had, even if they were stilted. He had been kind to her and compassionate where she knew little of it. It was a loss that resonated with her.

"I don't know. The storms in this place are unpredictable and long. There isn't much we can do but wait it out. You might get injured if you go outside in this."

Moana shook her head. "I did. It's just a day." She was gone for a day and she'd gotten a days worth of memories. It matched up decently well, Moana didn't think anything strange about it.

"I think that's part of it. You forget things when you leave. You forget everything." She admitted with a frown. "If he learned it here, he'd probably just forgotten." It was as if the memories from this village were lost. It upset Moana and it wasn't something she felt comfortable sharing with a lot of people.

Her fingers brushed against Itiiti who continued to tremble. "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep." She remarked calmly though the tension in her shoulders was obvious.

"Time is very different." She was curious to experience it herself, but there would be nothing for her. All she could do was make her own conclusions based on the stories of others. It seemed to be dependent on whether or not the memories were pleasant.

"Only a day?" That seemed strange. Why would she pulled away from one day and live that day in her world? "Did something significant happen to you where you were?" It was the only meaning she could find in this.

"You grow used to the noise after a time. If you hear it continuously, it will no longer be strange to you. I was the same with the silence."

Moana's expression faltered. "You could definately say that." She replied while trying to figure out where to start. It was only a day but so much had happened: the ocean, her island, her grandmother, leaving, Maui. Moana sighed, "It's a lot. I don't mind telling you but it won't make much sense unless I tell you the legend first."

Dark eyes peeked over at the girl. "Do you want to hear?" Moana didn't mind sharing. She was open and found no reason for secrets. There was nothing in her life that could be used against her.

"I've never heard silence." Moana admits suddenly. "Even when it's quiet I can hear animals or bugs. I don't know what silence sounds like." It was a very curious thought.

There wasn't much else to occupy herself with and the story seemed interesting, just given the word "legend". It would help Moana keep her mind off the hail and distract her from any other large balls of ice that smacked against the window. "I would."

She didn't know anything about the other woman's world, save that it was an island and warm. One of the few pleasures about being drawn to this place was learning about the different worlds others came from.

"True silence is frightening. When a sound interrupts that nothing, it is almost like music." The Black Cells had been that for her. A pit of nothingness only interrupted by water dripping on the stones when it rained or footsteps interrupting the night.

Like music. The words ring through Moana's head as if they were trying to remind her of something. She pushed the thought away and refocused on the story.

"Well, when the world was first born it was the goddess Te Fiti who gave life to all the islands. The power to give life was in her heart and there were those who sought her heart." She paused, interrupting her own story. "The heart is a stone." She had a few people ask her if it was a real heart when she'd arrived back in the village. "One of those who sought the heart was the Demi God Maui. Who was known as a shape shift, master of earth and sky, and a trickster. He stole the heart and Te Fiti crumbled. As Maui made his escape, he was attacked by the lava demon Te Kā, causing the heart to become lost in the ocean. Since then darkness has begun to spread, draining life from island after island." Moana paused and then continued.

"It's said that the ocean will choose someone and they will find Maui and force him to return the heart." She shifted carefully around Itiiti before continuing. "That's what I was doing. I found the heart. The ocean chose me, and so I went to find Maui. My island is dying." She couldn't hide the pain in her voice.

"Maui and I were heading towards Te Kā to return the heart and then I came back here."

It was a beautiful legend, much nicer than the ones told in her world. There was a great deal of fire, ice and blood. The names she spoke sounds beautiful and exotic, evoking images of the island she had described earlier. If she never could return home, Margaery hoped at least to someday see an island surrounded by crystal blue waters.

"The ocean chose you?" She asked, this sounding closer to magic than anything else. "How would the ocean choose you? How did you know?" She offered a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry. You will return to them eventually and help them. I truly believe that."

Time apparently stood still in their world, waiting for them to return.

Moana paused, "The ocean is a friend of mine." She spoke as if she chose each word carefully. It wasn't magic on Moana's part but the ocean communicated with her, in it's own, usually frustrating way.

"It's hard to explain but it's just like having a friend." She didn't know why the ocean couldn't return the heart but that didn't matter. Moana would do anything for her island and her people.

"I hope... I can do it."

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if the sky can crack [OTA mingle]

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