@ Stone, audio | December 5

[scarsolderthanyou]

Who's shitting great idea was it to show some people something out in the middle of the lake and then kill them when they try to find it again?

[The querulous old man voice is currently very angry-sounding. There's a weird rumbling in the background of his voice. Stone might actually be... growling? Yeah, he's definitely growling.]

Did anyone see what did it? I want to find whatever that was and tear their throat out.

[He's a bit bloodthirsty when he's pissed off. Sorry, kids.]

Comments

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Stone makes an annoyed rumbling noise that would probably be more at home in his winged form.]

I heard a rushing sound, like wind. Then something hit the back of my head. Which means whatever it was, it either has very good aim, or weren't fully solid. I have a lot of sharp spines back there, in that form, and I'm pretty sure nothing bled on me.

[callada]

Some sort of flying spirit, maybe. Couldn't see any light on it from your lanterns though, so not fully solid is a good guess.

[But he frowns, puzzled. Why would a spirit attack someone so far from the lighthouse? Perhaps the air is simply its domain - like the ones he found in the water, that attacked without provocation? Green-eyed spirits are surely not the only ones prone to immediate violence, they just seem to plan it out better.]

Sorry it happened, anyway. And I'm glad Bodhi made it back also. We can't afford to keep losing people.

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Stone snorts at the apology, giving Rosinante a narrow look, but doesn't otherwise comment on it.]

I just wish we knew if it was just some random territorial spirit thing, or if it's something supposed to keep us away from whatever's out there.

[He shakes his head.]

Was it a worry that we wouldn't come back?

[callada]

[So much for offering sympathy. It was worth learning, but he's not a big fan of people dying in the process. Maybe he's annoyed about the delay - about how he's just now saying anything several days after Stone returned. Hm. Should've left him a message on his tablet while the older man was still being revived, so he'd have it on returning. He'll do that for next time something like this happens.]

Yeah, of course. You read the bulletins, don't you? There were people listed on the last one who died in the last attack who haven't come back yet. At this point, that probably means they won't at all.

[scarsolderthanyou]

[More like he's got a similar problem to you, Rosinante: not great at accepting help or sympathy. Mostly because he's used to being the biggest, toughest thing in any situation.]

I can't read those things very well, and the way the text got all scrambled made it pretty much impossible. So the written parts, no, I didn't read the last one.

[He frowns, this time in thought rather than annoyance.]

That's not great, though. Is there any difference between who came back and who didn't?

[callada]

[This is certainly not the first time people have just not come back. How have people, even the more recent arrivals, not heard about the initial massacre after the lighthouse trip? But - fine, he can't really question it. It's normally beneficial to be around people who don't pay much attention but here he just finds it frustrating. They're all supposed to be working together, after all.]

I've never seen any obvious difference, but there could easily be something I'm missing. So far, though...

[Hold on while he pulls up his tablet. He just had this same conversation a week or so ago, he's got the numbers now.]

This might not be entirely accurate if people went missing without Robin knowing, and I don't have the full latest numbers after those recent two weeks. But with the bulletins plus word of mouth, I know of forty-five deaths. Of those, something like eight returned. One case, Eleven - that's the strangest one. It looks almost as if there was a longer gap than usual between her death and revival, something like a month if not two.

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Stone's head snaps up and back.]

Eleven died? When?

[callada]

[Ah, so he knows her. Well, good, maybe he can answer a few questions Rosinante has.]

August. Same time we lost most of the people here when we reconnected Robin.

[scarsolderthanyou]

That isn't possible. She came in on the same ferry I did. Helped lift things out of the water with that magic she has.

[Stone turns a little to try and see the numbers and names on Rosinante's tablet, leaning back and tilting his head to look with his good eye.]

You sure it's the same person?

[callada]

Not completely. I didn't meet her in person then, and still haven't now, though we've spoken recently over the network. I'm hoping I can find someone who can provide some details.

[Still, let's add that info on the tablet besides Eleven's listing. Because if the current one came in on the ferry, that does suggest they might be different people. He'll also have to go through the network, find old audio posts maybe if she made any, see if it's the same voice. It shouldn't be hard to do, it'll just take time.]

Which month was that, when you arrived? I know it was recent, but...

[He sure can't remember everyone's arrival dates off the top of his head, goodness.]

[scarsolderthanyou]

The one when the ferry crashed.

[Look, he has trouble reading the tablet, okay, and nobody has told him about text-to-speech apps. So he doesn't actually ever look at the month name. His world doesn't use the same calendar, anyway, so it's all unfamiliar.

That might also explain some as to why he doesn't know a lot about the lighthouse massacre.]

[callada]

Ah, right. You were there helping unload everything.

[Now he almost feels bad for forgetting that that was the same day Stone had first arrived, but in his defense, the last few weeks were actual hell and have done a good job of keeping him far too preoccupied, both during and after.]

And I'm guessing, since you hadn't heard she might have been here before, she's never talked to you about things in Beacon from before that month?

[Vaguely he wonders when this check-up on a briefly dead acquaintance turned into an interrogation, but it's a gentle one.]

[scarsolderthanyou]

Trying to haul the whole damn ferry out, too, for all the good it did.

[At least Stone doesn't seem to mind it. He's learning things, and now he's a little worried about Eleven. He wants to figure this out, too.]

She hasn't ever said anything like she knew this place. Or had died a second time. It's possible she just doesn't like talking about it, she doesn't talk a lot at all. But it isn't what I would have guessed. Someone could ask her, I guess.

[callada]

Might have to. She might want to know she was here before, anyway. But I'll try to confirm first that it was really her back in August before anyone goes and tells her this is the second time she's been here.

[Since while she might appreciate knowing, she probably won't like it. It makes her a hell of an anomaly and nobody really wants that.]

Anyway, the rest is about what I expected. If you die, the chances are against you coming back even once. We've both been lucky.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Hrm. I'll try not to do it again. It isn't like it's fun. Though who would have thought going somewhere we were shown would make them kill us.

[Distraction only lasts so long. He's still grumpy about that, even if it's been a couple of days.

He eyes Rosinante, and asks finally,]

Where've you been, anyway? I looked for you as soon as I came back.

[callada]

[Yeah, it's frustrating, he gets it. But having not seen the dream, he can't really begin to imagine where Stone went wrong. Maybe there's more than one portal. Maybe that portal back then has nothing to do with the current one. Maybe strange shared dreams are just dreams after all, though somehow that seems among the least likely possibilities.

Stone asks where he's been, though, and he frowns.]

Jason and I took the boat out. Thought we'd head west down the coast and see what we could find. But there's... things in the water. Like fighting fish, if you've seen those. Chewed through the boat. Jason made it out all right, at least. I, uh. Just got back from the church.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Things in the water, things over the water... looks like they're being pretty clear about staying away from the lake.

[Stone scowls a bit.]

So that means you died, too. You okay?

[callada]

Fine, yeah. Strange about the lake, though, isn't it? Seems it's as inhospitable as approaching the lighthouse. I wish Robin or Rastus had ever said that, rather than just giving vague hints about it being dangerous. The forest is dangerous. The lake is worse.

[He readily glosses over the question after his health with a wave of his hand. Yes, of course he's fine. Lucky, like he'd said, right? There are other things the people here should worry about than what happened to him between being devoured by lake monsters and his resurrection.]

[scarsolderthanyou]

[Stone is just going to assume Rosinante is telling the truth. For now. He and Bodhi were fine, too, after all.]

People can go into the forest without being instantly killed. I guess that's the only place we get to go, even if flying is mostly out.

[Irritating. This whole situation is irritating. (Better that than thinking too hard about it. Irritation is a great defense mechanism for predator species.)]

[callada]

Yeah. For now, anyway, until we find out how to ward off spirits before they even approach us. Some kind of alert signal, or repellent, maybe.

[He's just thinking aloud, though. The spirits do follow simple commands, also, but he's not musically-inclined and has trouble with the ocarina. Keeps dropping his and having to glue it back together. It's just not his thing.]

[scarsolderthanyou]

You think something set on killing people is going to stop because we make a signal to them?

[Stone is skeptical.]

Something big enough to swat me out of the sky is going to take some very strong repellent.

[callada]

I'm not talking something that smells bad, like you'd do with insects. There might be something they're intimidated by. Or simpler, a sound they hate.

[They're very sound-oriented, after all. His own ability to manipulate sound is limited more or less to removing it, unfortunately. Can he learn to do more with his devil fruit? That's always been tough, but he can try some more.]

[scarsolderthanyou]

Hmmm. I can make a bigger range of sounds than humans can. I suppose I can give it a try. I probably ought to be trying to learn their language anyway.

[Raksura have tonal aspects to their language, and singing is a big part of their culture, so maybe it's doable.]

[callada]

Worth a try.

[That's that, then. Everyone is all right, despite two catastrophes at the lake in sequence. It's a relief to know they can all move on and keep working at fixing the situation they've found themselves in.]

I won't hold you up any longer. Just glad to hear you're both back.

[scarsolderthanyou]

I wouldn't worry about it. What else do I have to do besides talk to people around here?

[The big project he was working on-- the docks-- is complete, and he's generally useless for things like gardening, and there's nothing to hunt... all he's really got left is talking to people, right? And sleeping, but he's had enough of that for a while.]