Audio | @lucky

[mindofathief]

[The texting function is so finicky and takes forever, so this voice messenger works much better. There's half a minute of Duster poking at the tablet, checking if it's working.]

Oh.

Hello? Can everyone hear me? I'm at the scrapyard near the edge of the forest. I met a spirit that threw a locked box at me, and I need help breaking it open.

[Why couldn't the spirit be like a normal ghost and leave behind a present box instead?]

...If whatever's inside is important, I don't want to accidentally break it.

Comments

[equinoctials]

[ There's not really much else to see here besides the scrapyard, so this must be... ]

Lucky?

[ Sometimes their network handle ends up being their name, sometimes it's just something they like, or in some rarer cases, it's just one ridiculous typo. He's even more of a man of few words (with strangers), but mainly because his throat - while healed - isn't quite ready for extensive use. ]

...Riku.

[mindofathief]

Just Duster. Lucky's my stage name.

[It hits him that Riku was referring to the name he used on the tablet. Duster scratches his cheek while staring at his bike.]

Anyway, I got this treasure chest. [He gestures at the box behind him, sealed with an old and rusty lock.] I was walking some ways into the forest, near a river. I couldn't find a bridge, so when I turned around I saw this spirit, tried to talk to it, and...I guess it's his present for us.

[equinoctials]

Stage name?

[ Riku climbs off the bike, setting the stand to prop it upright, rubbing his bare fingers before he digs them right into the lined pockets of his jacket. To anyone from a more temperate climate, the cold probably isn't terrible, but to his islander blood it's pretty uncomfortable.

He regards the chest as Duster explains. For a moment, he looks about to say something, and after the sort of headshake that indicates a changed priority, Riku asks: ]

What did they look like?

[ He stoops to get a closer look at the chest. ]

[mindofathief]

I was a musician back home, played bass in a band. DCMC was the most popular group of entertainers on the Nowhere Islands.

[He turns his head to follow Riku, swiveling in place to see him look over the chest.]

I tried picking it.

So that spirit. It looked like a giant bat. It just made noises at me. Why, do you recognize it?

[equinoctials]

Jack of all trades, huh?

[ Nowhere Islands? Funny enough, that sounds like a perfectly plausible name. ]

I don't.

[ He has since stood up, looking thoughtfully at the chest. A moment more, and Riku puts down his hand, closing his fingers around what first appears to be a crystalline glimmer, except this casts no light, condensing into a broadsword-like weapon that resembles...

Well. It kind of looks like a car key.

There's no outlandish flourish - his heart's really not in it, honestly - but he taps the chest with this conveniently-appearing weapon--

--and its lock falls open. ]

[mindofathief]

[Inside the present, there was...

a set a playing cards?

Duster crouches in front of the treasure chest and takes one card in his hand. No wonder this thing was heavy.]

...What are they for? [They certainly don't have these where he's from.]

[equinoctials]

[ As Duster crouches, Riku starts to stand, exhaling a disappointed sigh. A bunch of cards? Apparently he's lost interest, as he looks away as he speaks, resting one gloved palm against his hip. ]

Beats me. Looks like a bunch of junk.

[ That's probably thousands of dollars worth of trading cards though, to be honest. A fan out there is frothing at the mouth over such heresy. ]

Something can probably be made of it. Recycled into materials, maybe. You want me to take you and this thing back to town?

[mindofathief]

They could have protective powers. [Like an amulet. Keep one in his shirt pocket could grant him a boost to his defenses in case spirits attacked him like with that feast people were talking about.]

I can call some people over to help carry this back to the village. I can look after it until we figure it out.

[equinoctials]

[ Riku doesn't see this stuff protecting anything greater than a table. They're about as useless as a coaster, in his opinion, but he's the opposite of someone who would be interested in collecting trading cards.

He doesn't want to burst his bubble, though. ]

If you're sure. Want me to wait around until they arrive?

[mindofathief]

[A weak nod. Duster uses the edge of the chest to lower himself onto the ground, where he pulls out a tablet and waits for more responses.]

...How far have people gone into the forest?

[equinoctials]

Hard to say. People are exploring all the time...

[ Riku doesn't exactly settle in, if anything, his cautious glances around and spread stance suggest he's standing guard. Duster would be better off asking someone with a map who can show him what's been found.

A moment later, an opportunity occurs to him. He glances at him, adding: ] The town hall meeting is coming up, right? You could ask there.

[mindofathief]

[A nod.]

There's a river past here. I can ask if anyone's gone past there yet.

[A look at the scrapyard.]

If we have woodworkers, we can build a bridge in little time.

[equinoctials]

Talk to a white-haired man named Aziraphale. He'll have your bridge up before you know it.

Do something nice for him in exchange.

[ It's nice that Duster's thinking about how he can help them proceed with exploring more and more of their surroundings, that enthusiasm, that drive? That'll serve him - and the rest of them - well in the months ahead. ]

[mindofathief]

[Funnily enough, Duster sounds kind of tired almost every time he speaks. He doesn't devote too much energy into his voice.

Yet he does hope he can get something done in the world of darkness, however small it may be.]

What does he like?

[equinoctials]

[ Riku's reserved manner and often carefully subdued responses tend to cause a similar impression. Maybe he's reading too much into it, but he assumes Duster's questions are pointing to a level of interest in their survival and success here. If he's wrong... well.

Wouldn't be the first time, or the last. Riku considers his question, bumping the knuckles of his fist against the point of his chin thoughtfully. ]

He's a well-dressed guy who seems to always have food on hand. Oh, and he looks after a guy calling himself Soldat. I bet if you did something for either of them, you'd get in their good graces.

[mindofathief]

[That's such a vague hint, but he's gone with vaguer stuff. "Steal something that looks important, you'll know it when you see it" isn't a good beginner-level thief quest, dad.]

Is...this how we do favors around here?

[equinoctials]

[ Just JRPG hero things.

Honestly, Riku could definitely see Aziraphale doing something for nothing. He's the type. The thing is, Riku doesn't feel too good about directing someone else to take advantage of his generosity. ]

Doesn't seem too different from doing favors anywhere.

[mindofathief]

I'd think that if a bridge has to be built, everyone would chip in. It's how we did things in my village.

[The few times he was awake in the day, his dad took him to a house raising project. Everyone pitched in, it seemed.]

[equinoctials]

[ He doesn't think there were probably too many in Duster's village who were routinely recovering from severe, sometimes life-threatening injuries, or struggling with significant trauma. Or were keenly aware that they had less than two years, at most, left on the clock before they faced the real likelihood that they would meet with a fate so terrible, the Lighthouse keeper would rather reset.

Seems like a lot to heap on a guy who just got here.

Riku exhales. ]

Maybe, if that was the only thing going on. Ask around at the town hall, I think you'll get a better idea of the situation.

[mindofathief]

["Just ask."

He's getting better at that part. He'll just do that and actually ask people for more information. Duster lets out a sigh and leans back.]

How long have we been on Beacon?

[equinoctials]

[ He asks a lot of questions. Riku, who can tend to be a bit more pessimistic than some of his other friends, leans against his bike and folds his arms, thinking it's less about any interest in particular and more about killing time until others come.

He could stand to give people a little more credit. ]

Half a year, I think? Ours was the first ferry since the previous group was reset. Back then, we had just Rastus, Dr. Ingram, and Winters to guide us.

[mindofathief]

[That's not a lot of time. But it's also a lot. There's so little of this island (he assumes it's an island) that's been explored in six months.]

We've only come this far?

[Though Riku's answer will have to be quick: help is arriving]