event } lime, coconut, explosions

[seeingyou]

WHO: All y’all
WHAT: A nice vacation to ease everyone in
WHERE: Various locations on Alkonost Island, including Navi
WHEN: Sept 12-30
WARNINGS: Use ‘em in your threads if needed!

Welcome to Alkonost, the beautiful tropical island on the planet Tetagari where you have just made an emergency crash landing! You’ll be here for a while, so settle in and get cozy with your new shipmates until Navi is repaired and ready for takeoff.

Alkonost is a small island with an eponymous beachfront village, with the rest of the land covered in tropical rainforest, dry forest, and grasslands. Most of the land is still wild, as the Alkonost population is centered at the beach, though ancient ruins can be found a bit more inland. Alkonostians are a humanoid, amphibious people, with light green skin, gills, and webbed fingers; they are friendly and welcoming to tourists, business contacts, and intergalactic refugees alike.

Speaking of business, the main exports of Alkonost are various types of fish, shell jewelry, and a unique, dark red pearl that is only cultivated in the waters surrounding the island. These red pearls are highly prized on other islands and provide the bulk of income for the Alkonost population. They’ve also recently attracted a band of pesky pirates, which has taken to raiding export ships and even the pearl farms themselves, on occasion. Warning signs are posted near the shoreline and will be explained by locals if asked.

While visiting, you can elect to work as part of a fishing or pearl farming crew, or with one of the island’s fruit collection squads, and you’ll be paid daily in fresh fish and equally fresh fruit. For necessities of the non-consumable sort, the village open-air market is open every day for all of your shopping needs. Otherwise, grab some sun on the beach, dance and sing around bonfires at night, get to know your fellow passengers, or just chill on the ship and get to know Navi.

Comments

[shahrrehth]

Clara can't say she's pleased about... well, most of this situation, but she also can't seem to find a way out of it. Which is why, for the moment, she's going to try and do the same thing everyone else is...

beach and diving

Beaches aren't exactly plentiful where she's from; oh there's a beach or two in Metropolis, but it's not as if she gets to enjoy it most of the time. Here, though, not only does she get to help out the local community by pearl diving, but she can spend some of her leisure time relaxing out on the beach, either swimming or just laying out in the sun, soaking up the sunlight in a way that is uniquely enjoyable for someone with her physiology. She hadn't so much had anything one could call a swim suit, but she's made due with some supplies from the locals and a bit of creative tying up. Makeshift though it might be, it's doing what she needs from a bikini and that's the important part.

fruit picking

Fruit picking is a lot closer to the kind of work she's used to from her childhood and that's definitely one of the reasons she takes up some work among those harvesting; she knows the work, she's good at it, and she knows how easy it is to lose part of the harvest if it isn't done quick enough. Besides, it's always nice to be able to get your snack right from the tree you're working on when the fruit's already too ripe for collecting.

pirate problems

Of course someone like Clara, someone like Superwoman, is going to take action on the pirates.

...but she's well aware that doing so in the way she usually would is just not going to work right at the moment. Instead, she's going to start by trying to see if anyone else among her companions is interested in doing something. Hopefully, she can just play helpful back up and fill in a few gaps without spilling all the beans about her abilities. She's not quite comfortable with the idea of that, not even remotely, and she's trying to think ahead, plan out how she's going to handle the matter of her secret if it turns out she's stuck with this crew for the remainder of their voyage.

It's not something she wants to leave to chance and, if she can, she'd prefer not to force it out too quickly. So she's going to start approaching folks she thinks are likely to see what they say. Do you look helpful?

on board

Getting to know Navi, and the space on the ship that it seems like she's going to be spending a lot of time on... those are priorities too. Honestly, it's amazing how many things she seems to get up to in a day. It's almost like she's used to handling two entirely different schedules...

But you're just as likely to find her speaking to Navi or exploring the ship as you are to find her out on the beach. Feel free to join her on any of that, of course.

The other place on board you might find her is the kitchen, stashing food stuff and, perhaps surprisingly, canning up even more things. There’s no telling how much they’re going to need or what state the refrigerator might get to if system resources are needed elsewhere so she’s planning ahead.

...if a tray or two of cookies happen in the meanwhile, we’ll, hopefully her new crew mates like chocolate chip.

wildcard

[For anything else you can think of! I'm on the Discord server and yarnzipan @ plurk!]

Fruit picking

[albatrossomen]

For his part Murmur had been floating around doing what he did best: collecting information. Much of that had been through casually assisting the laborers while prompting them for conversation. He wasn't very useful in the labor department, but the locals didn't seem to mind. Mostly they were happy to teach a foreigner about their island.

Upon discovering a few tidbits that might lead to something very interesting he proceeded to search out a potential comrade or two for the adventure. There isn't much fun in exploring by yourself.

Clara had proven to be someone both pleasantly optimistic, and capable of decisive action when needed. She would make for an excellent traveling companion. He approached with a friendly smile while she was busy in a tree.

"Good afternoon! I hope I am not interrupting you?"

[shahrrehth]

"Nothing that won't survive the interruption," she says as she picks one more of the fruit. She's had no trouble eating them, as Navi had said, and she has little reason to believe he would. So she takes a moment to pluck one more of the over-ripe and unsuitables for Murmur and offers it to him as she makes her way down the ladder.

"Good afternoon. I... don't remember if we did introductions or not, but I'm Clara."

[albatrossomen]

Initially he actually looked a little startled at the offer, but after the initial confusion wore off nodded his thanks and accepted the treat in a conspicuously gloved hand. Conspicuous along with the fact he was not only wearing long sleeves he hadn't even bothered to roll them up in this heat.

That's right mortals have to eat regularly. "Thank you. It was quite chaotic, I am Murmur. Speaking of that you handled yourself quite well in there. As well as some of our more reticent companions."

It took some skill to get nearly everyone cooperating in a crisis, he's impressed.

[shahrrehth]

Clara has noticed these things. But she's just as likely to pointedly ignore them as a matter of something that, until it becomes a danger to herself or those around them, is his business to share when he wants to. She has her own idiosyncracies. After all, she could be doing this work in a full snow suit and be just as comfortable when it came right down to it.

"Good to meet you, Murmur. And... I appreciate the praise, but I like to think everyone stepped up to handle things as well as they could."

She wonders how well she'd handled it, how well she could have handled it, and desperately longs for a friend or two who might have been able to give her a perspective she's realizing she very much craves. Bryce would have probably been a little better getting everyone to cooperate.

"Just making the rounds getting to know everyone or were you looking for me for something specific?"

[albatrossomen]

Her discretion is appreciated. He's aware he can come off as strange, having a history of coming off as eccentric does have it's boons. Namely a good excuse when people do start to ask.

"The pleasure is mine," He says that in a strangely matter-of-fact monotone. So, she was humble as well. Very good, he'd like to think he was a good judge of character. He inclines his head slightly in acknowledgment. "Perhaps. I have no doubt you played some role in prompting their willingness."

Her performance was the entire reason he'd decided to approach her with this.

"Both, I have in mind an expedition of sorts and was wondering if you might be interested in joining me?" She seemed dependable, and this wasn't the sort of adventure one kept all to themselves.

[shahrrehth]

She glances at her baskets, at the work she's done, and while she's been doing things at a relatively human pace, she certainly knows here way around this sort of thing and even then, she's done a lot.

"Do you mind if I finish up with this basket? Wouldn't want to make the person doing stock have to deal with part way done."

[albatrossomen]

He brightened, slightly but it was there. This guy was just a little muted in the expressiveness department.

"Certainly, there is time enough. I think I shall attempt to locate one more to go along. From what I have learned it is likely to be dangerous." Not that that bothered him, he wasn't entirely sure what capabilities Clara had but she had proven to handle herself in a crisis. Now they just needed someone who could handle hostile animals.

[shahrrehth]

"Oh?" and it takes everything to keep her question light and curious as opposed to asking for enough details to make a proper plan.

[albatrossomen]

Oh, yes, he should probably at least give her some forewarning. "I have been speaking with the..." Don't say mortals, don't say mortals. "Natives." Better. "There are some abandoned ruins deeper into the island that sound worth investigating, unfortunate it also sounds like the wildlife may be particularly aggressive."

He doesn't sound too concerned about that. Then again Murmur might not sound too concerned about anything, ever.

[shahrrehth]

That has her dusting off her hands and giving him what she hopes is a reassuring smile.

"Well, I'm definitely interested. And I'm not too worried." She reaches up and fixes her hair tie, tightening the tail before she tucks a few wavy curls behind her ears. "I'm used to camping out where there's real animals. I'm sure we'll be fine."

[albatrossomen]

Plenty reassuring for him. Murmur didn't expect she'd be discouraged by news of danger or wild beasts. Mortals were a resilient lot.

"Wonderful! I do not expect anything beyond our abilities, even so I will seek out an additional pair of hands. Just in case." Better to be safe than sorry, and having a warrior on hand can be useful.

[shahrrehth]

"As long as they're up for the same kind of adventure," she says, but she figures he'd make sure of just that. After all, he'd admitted he was here particularly for her. "Who were you thinking of?"

beach

[fuckregularpeople]

Jane hates this. She has nothing good to say about being dragged on board the ship, their crash landing, or their current repose on this strange land. That said, she doesn't completely ingore that the beach is pretty. She's walking its length barefoot, her combat boots in hand, when she catches sight of a sunbathing Clara and meanders over to her. She settles down around twelve feet away, flopping onto the powdery dry sand.

"Hey, thanks for taking care of Baby Doll."

[shahrrehth]

Clara can't help that there's a moment where she picks up on the 'older' body language and tenses. But when the thanks come, she just nods and gives her a quick smile.

"Kids are kids. Whatever the situation is. I'm glad I could help. She's a good kid."

[fuckregularpeople]

Clara's got it. Jane's definitely not the same person and it goes beyond the obvious physical differences like her look and face not matching Baby Doll's, although they do look similar.

"She needed it." She sets her boots to the side and pushes her toes into the sand. "I'm Jane, by the way."

[shahrrehth]

"I know I'd have been scared if I was her age," and that doesn't matter what her age really was. To be honest, she was still scared. But she'd never been one to let her fear rule her.

She holds out a hand.

"Clara. Nice to meet you properly."

[fuckregularpeople]

"Yeah, it's not easy being where she is." Still, Baby Doll didn't deal with the things Jane worked with. She held out a hand to Clara, however.

"Sorry we're not doing better."

[shahrrehth]

Clara will very gently move to shake the hand before letting it go and leaning her arm on her own leg in a casual slouch.

"I'm going to admit I'm not sure what you mean there. And, kind of ridiculously, I know... ask if there's anything I can do to help."

[fuckregularpeople]

Jane looks at her thoughtfully. Nothing about Clara seems unreasonable to her, even considering how furious she was when Baby Doll took the wheel and fronted. As hesitant as she was to take a chance on anyone, Clara seemed sincere and well-intentioned.

"You don't?" She shrugs with a half-smile that disappears quickly. "I'm pissed we all got fucked over on this stupid Star Wars ripoff. More than that, I'm pissed this happened to me again. I'm really tired of being kidnapped places because people 'need' me." The last three times it happened had been miserable.

[shahrrehth]

That actually... has her pausing and raising a hand to sort of wobble it in the air.

"More just... wanted to make sure we were on the same page." She lets out a breath and, well, now that they're no longer in danger, she can be a little more frank.

"This is my first run on the whole 'kidnapped because people need me' thing," she admits, "but not my first time... well, having everything sort of, um, taken over because people need me. And I can't say I'm happy about it, because I have responsibilities at home" and people she loves but... that's- she doesn't want to put that on Jane, "but I'm trying to see the bright side. Or at least get through it without causing too much trouble."

[fuckregularpeople]

"We're probably not." Jane knows how bizarre she and her alters can appear to others, and her smile returns in a brief flash.

Her bright side's not been as bright as Clara's, it seems. Not really the other woman's fault when it came down to it but Jane still frowns. "Well, I'm glad one of us can see something good in it. I just..." She trails off. "Trouble's hard to avoid."

[shahrrehth]

That actually gets a laugh out of her, though one that's clearly not directed at Jane. Her eyes are distant and veer towards where the ship is crashed.

"Picked up on that, what with the entrance we all made," she agrees with a little shake of her head, "And to be fair, I'm not good at avoiding trouble anyway. I've even been told I tend to head straight towards it."

[fuckregularpeople]

She stiffens at the laughter, but Clara's not mocking her, and Jane relaxes after a second, even chancing a small smile.

"You mean you're pigheaded," she corrects with nothing but good humor, then follows Clara's gaze out towards the ship.

"So what is the bright side? In your view."

[shahrrehth]

She gives one back, just as small. Then she rolls her eyes good-naturedly at the (entirely fair) dig.

"Ma would say it's one of my most prominent attributes," she admits. Then she's sucking in a breath nice and deep before letting it (carefully) out.

"And the bright side? Is that no one's dead. Which means that we're all here to get to tomorrow. And, hopefully, we can get things worked out by then."