Of cloudless climes and starry skies.

[belongtonobody]

'Twas Grace that brought us safe thus far
And Grace will lead us homeLucy's voice rang in Inara's ears as she walked. Her heart was heavy with remembered words and looks, too full of emotion to show a drop of it. Every step she took shook the dust of this distant moon beneath her boots, sending it up in faint clouds which clung to her skirt and

Comments

[manwithstyle]

Since he first discovered the large, metallic ship last week, Albus had made a point of visiting it on a daily basis, just to observe. After all, it held for him more curiosity than the Compound. It was during today's daily visit that he noticed her. The woman had arrived so suddenly that, for a moment, Albus had thought she had surely Apparated. Fortunately, his lapse in logic was brief and he was forced to conclude that she was a new arrival, much like he had been nary two weeks before. And, though he assumed her to be a Muggle, albeit a finely dressed one, he thought it best to play polite.

Bowing his head in greeting, he said, "Good afternoon, Miss."

[belongtonobody]

Inara turned, startled but graceful still, as calm as the circumstances would allow. The man who stood there was as unfamiliar as the terrain, and habit led her to look him over and size him up as she took a few steps downward. He seemed both young and not, his eyes kind, his manner genteel; his hair was remarkable, if only for the length.

She smiled, returning the greeting with a slight nod of her own, a dip which carried almost imperceptibly into her shoulders as well. "Good afternoon," she said, warmly polite. "I hope the day finds you well. Tell me, what world is this?" This is crazy. We should know where we are.

[manwithstyle]

She carried herself with the sort of grace that Albus had long associated with the elite. This was, he thought, encouraging.

"World?" he said with the tone of a man deep in thought; absently, one might say. He tapped his chin lightly as he eyed the woman curiously. "Yes, I do suppose one could call it that. Although, 'world' is something of a misnomer." He approached the metallic ship in long, deft strides until he stood at the base of what could best be described as some sort of gate. "I do believe it is an Island," he said, gesturing to the expanse of beach. "The people here call it Tabula Rasa." He smiled. "I've yet to decide whether that name is particularly apt or simply irritatingly true."

[belongtonobody]

Tabula Rasa. It was a concept Inara recalled from studies, an ancient notion of a blank slate dating back to Earth-That-Was, and a curious choice of name of a place. "An island, you say," she echoed curiously. "Well, that certainly is a new one." The sensation that she must somehow have lost time or memory in the space between Nandi's moon and this moment was an unsettlingly new experience as well. "I apologize, I'm not quite myself at the moment. I feel almost as if I turned around and was somewhere else." But Nandi's death was not the business of a stranger, however kind. Small smile never fading, Inara offered a delicate hand to him. "My name is Inara Serra."

[aminorkey]

Peter isn't precisely sure whose fault any of this is, but when one sees a beautiful woman asking for names and questions, Peter knows (as a gentleman) that he's bound to help. "Mal's fault, is it?" he calls to her, demure and friendly.

[belongtonobody]

"Oh!" Inara turned, eyes widening slightly, startled but carrying herself well even so. "Well, it so often is, I feel the accusation can't be too far off the mark. Where... are we, if you don't mind my asking?"

[aminorkey]

Peter watches her with something of a sullen look, though he doesn't mean to be. He simply has been wondering every day why he's there himself, bargaining with God to take him away, even if it means an end.

"Most call it an Island. I call it simplistic living at work." He approaches slowly, extending a hand to help her, like a gentleman.

[belongtonobody]

She was sorry for her outburst now, for betraying any kind of startlement, no matter the situation. With a polite smile, Inara stretched out her own hand - not to accept help, which, she told herself, she did not need, but to shake his once, firm and gentle. "Well, it seems simple enough. Sand and water and trees. Have you seen other people? From this ship, I mean. I seem to have misplaced the crew."

[nevermarried]

Book was feeling a bit nostalgic, and he had tucked himself into the dining room of Serenity to read a bit, try to ignore the sound of the waves. As much as he was enjoying life on the island, there were times when he craved being out in the black again.

He was taking a sip of his tea when she came storming in, a-flutter. He blinked. Couldn't be... She was dressed for an occasion-- between the intricate dress and her veil, she had just arrived on the island.

"...Inara?"

[belongtonobody]

If there was a difference in how he looked now from how he had looked a few minutes ago, Inara had yet to notice it. Her shoulders fell back and her neck arched, head tilting higher as she sighed, relieved. "Shepherd, there you are," she said. "I can't find the rest of the crew, and... Oh, I don't know, maybe shock is driving me crazy." She had nearly said grief, but somehow the word wouldn't pass through her lips. "I could have sworn I saw an ocean out there."

[nevermarried]

Book raised his eyebrows slowly. "That's probably because you did." He took a slow sip of tea and got to his feet, standing in front of her, smiling fondly. "Inara, you look beautiful." She did, really. He didn't want to just jump into an explanation of the island just yet. Let her take it bit by bit. Until she jumped down his throat, that is.

[belongtonobody]

She almost wanted to ask if she had fallen asleep, somehow losing time, place, even memory. They must have traveled days to get somewhere else, but she couldn't remember a journey and she was still dressed as she had been before. It felt... instantaneous. Real. "Thank you," she said slowly, looking askance at Book. "What is going on here? I don't recall there having been an ocean when we landed."

[moraldyslexic]

Doing his very best not to feel cranky about his stupid bronchitis, Lennox was walking Hal down the beach, way down where the spaceship was, if only because it was a spaceship and there was really nothing about it that wasn't cool. Especially when women appeared out of nowhere on it.

"Hi," Lennox called, doing his best not to startle her. When people just appeared, it tended to mean they'd only just arrived and he figured the island itself was startling enough without some guy and his half-sized husky scaring the crap out of her.

[belongtonobody]

Inara turned her head toward the voice, wary and lithe. Her smile warm and polite at the same time, she nodded. "Hello." Eying the dog, she found herself thinking how Kaylee would be clamoring for a pet if she saw the creature. With Serenity firm beneath her feet, it was difficult to feel entirely lost, but there was still something distinctly unsettling about the sudden change in scenery. "What... world is this, if you don't mind my asking?"

[moraldyslexic]

"Uh... well, y'know, that's a good question," Lennox admitted, snapping his fingers to get Hal to sit down beside him, which she did. It didn't stop her from staring at the woman, her tail sweeping enthusiastically over the sand.

"I'm not sure anyone really knows," he told her, making an apologetic face. "Some people call it some latin name that means blank slate, I think. It's... we all just appeared here just like you did."

[belongtonobody]

"Appeared." Inara laughed, a gentle sound that still managed to convey the idea that she thought he might be crazy - all the moreso because she very nearly believed him. "I haven't gone anywhere," she said calmly. "There's just... an ocean here that wasn't there a moment ago."

[poison_pearl]

It is a strange thing, this beast of metal, crouching upon the sand with it's gaping mouth; I am told it flew, but I can no more imagine it leaping into the sky than I can imagine myself stepping onto the air itself.

It is a mark of how strange and unsettling this island is, and so I find myself walking past it, occasionally. This is the first time I have seen someone about it, looking for all the world as if the contraption of metal resembling a folded paper shape is the only normal thing about the place.

A whim compels me to raise my hand, call out a simple greeting. "Hello," I say, and, "Are you well?"

[belongtonobody]

Inara turned to glance at the woman, caution hidden beneath a veil of polite curiosity now that someone was near. "I..." Was she well? Not particularly. First Nandi and - Nandi had died, and now she wasn't sure she actually was in the same place as she had been just a second before. "Yes," she said, "I am. Thank you. Only... uncertain what world this is."

[poison_pearl]

I laugh, at that, sharply and shortly; I cannot help it. "You are hardly alone, in that," I say. It strikes me that, once again, I may have stumbled upon someone new to this island, and must educate them as best I can.-Perhaps not must, at that, but it will pass a moment or two, and I have ever been expert at filling empty time with empty activities. "I am sorry; I should not laugh so, when this is likely an unpleasant moment. I take it you are not where you were but a moment ago? That your surroundings have changed as if they were a painting taken down while you closed your eyes for what seemed the briefest of spells?"

[belongtonobody]

"Very nearly, yes," Inara said slowly, seeming almost suspicious of the woman. "I'm standing right where I was, but the ship seems to have moved." There was an air of wryly exasperated calm to her. She was confused, but appeared mostly unperturbed by the change. It was an unpleasant moment, but there was no need to behave accordingly.