Week 1.

[azumods]

WEEK 1. As Cynthia had promised, the sun does indeed rise the next morning. Whether you slept or not (and sleeping inside the Pokémon Center you were in before seems totally fine by the attendant), it seems Cynthia kept her word; she left sometime shortly before sunrise, and you haven't been bothered by Team Galactic and those that work for it in the interim. It isn't advisable to return to the headquarters building, however. At least not for the time being. However, a new day does dawn, and with it comes the knowledge that you're in an unfamiliar city, completely on your own. There are several things to be done before you can leave: gathering supplies and provisions, finding maps, obtaining new clothes... Of course, your new "companions" are still with you, and they don't seem willing to leave your side; they'll follow you dutifully, but they still seem...wrong, horribly so, and it doesn't seem to be wearing off. Maybe if you work with them a little...? Try to talk to them, train them, teach them to do things... Who knows? It might do them some good. CURRENT LOCATION: VEILSTONE CITY POKEMON AVAILABLE: WITHIN CITIES MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week one of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget that a write-up is due this weekend! Feel free to investigate the city as you see fit this week; we ask only that you try to stagger investigations and be mindful of what's already been checked. If you wish to investigate, notify the mods in your comment subject for your top-level and we'll get on it as soon as possible!]

Comments

[hyruglyphics]

[ The golden haired princess blushes a little at that, because it isn't that big, but she does hand off the lemonade and sits down next to the other. The Beldum continues to float next to her without much comment the whole time, settling in near both girls and also looking at the mienfoo without comment. Still, for Zelda's part, ]

I never realized that was a mean which could store drinks cold like this! If this water's actually fresh then... that's truly amazing.

[ A lot of the machines in the city are? But she takes the coins without incident, giving a slight bow to Rin as well in thanks. She just did her part and Rin opened her eyes to something amazing?! She's so glad. ]

Honestly, a lot of the technology in this city is...

[ She makes to open her water can once she's put away the coins. ... Wait did Rin pay for her too? ]

[heritrix]

[Yes! She said she would, after all.

Technology, though. Rin has tried not to think about it—just what is up with that weird incubator at the Pokémon Center? The assistant said it was for healing? Nuh-uh, sister. But that means Rin has little to add there, so she comments on their drinks instead.]

Well, I doubt it's fresh; it rarely is if it comes in a bottle. But if it's mineral water, that's the next best thing. Some brands can be really good.

[hyruglyphics]

I would wonder how they could get it fresh but still inside this bottle...

[ Unless they had fresh water in the vending machine? Though this is a weird bottle. this can... she fiddles with it, trying to work out the opening until she finds the tab and-

Oh, that's cool! ]

Mineral water? Is it infused with rocks?

[heritrix]

It depends. [Rin holds a finger in the air.] If it's real mineral water, then yes and no!

Good mineral water comes from a natural spring, and undergoes minimal to no treatment. The only accepted adjustments are ones that ensure it's safe to drink, basically. Instead, the minerals found in the water are naturally infused: salt and sulfur compounds you'd expect from an underground water source.

It's popular in some countries, though, to just put water in a bottle, carbonate it, and call it mineral water. Even if it's not, it sells better that way.

[hyruglyphics]

[ . . . ? Okay, that's... ]

What is the carbonating process?

[heritrix]

[Rin taps her thumb to her chin.]

Mm... I've never done it myself, but you'd have to add gasses, right? So there's probably a complex set-up to accomplish that, on a wide scale.

[hyruglyphics]

Adding gas to water...? Is the process to make it some sort of elixir?

[ That said, she opens the water finally! And siip ]

[heritrix]

...I'm not sure. What are you defining as an elixir?

[hyruglyphics]

Potions...? Liquids made with animal, plant, or mineral components in order to produce augmented effects on the body?

[heritrix]

[Oooh.]

No, it's nothing like that. [There's a light behind Rin's eyes, though, as if she finds the very idea exciting.] I would make that sort of thing, but actual elixirs aren't common knowledge to the public.

[hyruglyphics]

They aren't? Why not?

[ Siiiip - oh. It tastes a little metallic, but like spring water! That's neat! ]

[heritrix]

Politics, and some legitimate sustainability concerns.

[Siiiiip. Ah, she likes this lemonade a lot, tbh.]

Honestly, I'm more surprised you make it sound like it is common place where you're from. Or am I mistaken, and that's a privilege of the royal family?

[hyruglyphics]

No, they aren't uncommon at all, actually. More or less anyone who isn't a Goron must take a Fireproof Elixir to visit their city unless they wish to risk significant burns, for example. Perhaps more common for travelers than for those who live in villages, but nothing unknown to the populace as a whole.

[ Politics... and sustainability? Oh, perhaps the animals made into them are rare? ]

[heritrix]

So they're readily available. And theoretically, anyone could make them if they put in the effort to try... Amazing...

[She sounds in awe, actually, attention fixed rigidly on Zelda even as she takes a long drink. When she lowers the bottle from her mouth, her eyes are sparkling bright once again.]

Hey, I want to guess something! Tell me if I'm hot or cold. Your world... It's probably abundant with spiritual energy, right? Magic?

[hyruglyphics]

[ Zelda's eyes drift a little bit towards the horizon, taking in the sunset a little bit. She gestures for the Beldum to look too, and it does! But it's... you know. Not that aware. But she does keep glancing back at Rin now and again before she speaks up again. And when she does, Zelda blinks once and... hot or cold? Oh, she means if she's more or less accurate. But uh...

What a question. She frowns a little, her brows knitting together as she considers it. A pat of her wonders, if it is so abundant, how she did not access her power for so long. But ... ]

I don't have a good comparison to other worlds, of course, but ... there are abundant ancient spirits and magic is not precisely uncommon, though those who harness it for spells for not as common.

[heritrix]

[That's more reserved of an answer than Rin would have expected, though it's only barely an oddity on her radar in the moment. Her excitement at the implications that paints of Zelda's world blinds her, perhaps.]

Seriously? [Her mouth forms an "o".] That surprises me, given the high potential. It doesn't sound like there's a drain on resources, for a world so rich with magic that anyone—

[heritrix]

[Ohhh. Rin cuts herself off mid-sentence, a thought occurring to her.]

Oh. [...] Mm, no. I think I get it now.

[Thumb to her lower lip, Rin stares at her feet. Absently, she strokes her Mienfoo's head, fingertips rubbing lightly into the fur behind his ear.]

It's more than just anyone having the potential to learn it; it really is commonplace. The energy goes to quality of living, and routine tasks... Yes, it makes sense only a few would specialize in casting higher level spells that way.

[hyruglyphics]

[ Zelda lets Rin complete her thought, and honestly she's grateful that she does, because it allows her to better contextualize what Rin's saying. She drinks her water once, and once it's her turn to speak, she does so. She thinks she gets what the other was getting at now. ]

Most of my immediate friends and companions had developed a particularly potent technique of their own, and we have found evidence of there being other runes that contain the ability to harness them as spells. There are magicians and fortune tellers as well, of course... and there are magic weapons that contain powers of the elements? But I would not say that anyone can be a mage or a wizard. Though anyone will effort can find one of those items and make use of them.

[heritrix]

Runes! [She drops her hand back to her side.] That's a dying art in my world. Though perhaps it'd be better to call it a specialized interest? It's like the redheaded stepchild of the mage world.

[Even as she chats about that, Zelda's description is turning over heavily in her mind. Rin's bright smile fades into a smaller one, as if she's being treated to something sweet and whimsical.]

...It's amazing to think there's a world like that, that grew so differently from my own. There's just enough points where I can see what might have been a common starting point, but the result is completely different. I'd love to see it for myself.

[hyruglyphics]

[ Redheaded... what do redheads have to do with anything...? She blinks, but keeps her warm smile. ]

Honestly, I am fascinated to imagine a world of mages. [ So she says, but, ] You didn't mention magical talent at the introductions the other day?

[ Though Zelda didn't either, so... ]

1/2

[heritrix]

Ehhh~?

[Eyes large and bright, Rin has to grace to look sheepish as she laughs.]

I suppose I didn't, did I?

[heritrix]

[But her laughter turns warmer, like she doesn't mind she was caught slipping up at all in this instance.]

Mm, it wasn't really relevant at the time, but calling that my only reason for leaving it out would be a mistake. You see, Magecraft isn't something to speak of casually in my world.

[She brushes back a long lock of her hair.] There's no point in keeping up the secrecy here considering our situation, but that's the law that governs us normally. I didn't want to break it without conferring with my peers first.

[hyruglyphics]

[ How is being able to use magic not... relevant? Her's agape at the other for a moment, a shocking intake of breath as she tries to comprehend that. But more to the point, her peers? ]

... You have your peers here, Rin?

[ No one had really seemed to recognize each other in that first room, had they...? ]

[heritrix]

[...Oh. She realizes too late how that must have sounded; and really, thinking of it like that makes her recall the people she'd much rather have on her side. Rin closes her eyes, masking the strain behind them and her smile somewhat.

It's only been a few days, but she misses them. So much...]

That might be too generous of a term. It's complicated. I never met them until I woke up in that room, and each one of us remembers world events differently from the other. But there's enough in common that it's clear we come from the same world, even if there's a difference in timelines.

[hyruglyphics]

[ ... The sad thing is even ignoring the Hyrule Historia she actually has a frame of reference for that ]

... Ah! So is it matter that you are apart in time, or - no, you said differences, so it is a matter of divergence. [ She nods ] ... How strange, that happened to three of us. [ Wow. ] Then... are all of you capable of magecraft?