A Whole New World

[tidesnpc]

Characters: Anyone and everyone from all three ships.
Content: The clouds are gone, revealing the long-sought world below.
Setting: The edge of the continent, near the blast site.
Time: After all the monsters have been fought and the ships head southeast.
Warnings: What you bring with you.

Comments

[killallsparks]

Sitting around the bonfire at night surrounded by his eager listening fans, a certain turtleneck-ed hero was joyously regaling his audience with the epic tale of how he had defeated the hordes of children (very obviously possessed by the work of some mad Spark or other) and saved the continent!

"--And so that is when I, Othar Tryggvassen, (GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER!) cunningly deduced that the thing that was needed to stop the whole mess was a very large hammer! The continent was saved!"

Othar beamed. People actually seemed to be interested. Well, they cheered, anyway.

[princelyspirit]

Yeah yeah, whatever. If Utena heard another word out of this blowhard's mouth, she was going to get sick. So, while everyone else cheered, the skeptical young woman rolled her eyes, stood up, and began to walk away from the campfire.

[killallsparks]

How touching! Apparently that oddly dressed young woman was so moved by the tales of his heroic exploits that she felt she must immediately go off and do some Heroic!work herself. Such initiative should be encouraged! Othar left the rest of his cheering fans, begging off offers of buying him drinks (he'd had enough, and one's head must always be clear in case any nefarious Sparks appeared who were tired of living) and began following the pink-haired woman as surreptitiously as possible.

Meaning not at all.

[princelyspirit]

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up almost immediately and she stopped right in her tracks. Were those footsteps? Was someone following her? Well, if they were, they weren't doing a very good job of it. She spun around to face her would-be stalker, but when she saw who it was, her jaw dropped.

"You!"

[killallsparks]

"Me? Why yes! Who else would I be other than OTHAR TRYGGVASSEN, GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER!?" He struck a heroic pose and beamed at her.

"And if you're out to battle evil and fight for justice, you clearly need a small lesson in Herioc!posing!"

And fashion, he thought. Really, what was she wearing??

[princelyspirit]

Utena continued to gape at him, completely dumbfounded. Just who did he think he was?! She barely managed to pick her jaw up from off the ground, and quickly shook her head at him.

"I'm fine, thanks," she snapped back. "No lessons needed here."

[killallsparks]

Shaking his head at her protestation, Other gave a laugh and smiled. "Nonsense! Why, it is my duty as a Gentleman Adventurer to ensure that all people who demonstrate the proper requirements for being a spunky girl sidekick be taught the basics!"

He raised a hand. "No need to thank me or be modest, I am quite happy to do so! Now the first thing that we obviously need to work on is your stance!"

[princelyspirit]

Utena was prepared to turn on her heel and leave him in the dust, but his words struck a chord with her - and not in the good way. Her eyes widened, her body stiffened, and her hand balled into a fist as her eyebrow twitched uncontrollably.

"Sidekick?"

Her tone was one of terse disbelief. He couldn't be serious, could he?!

[killallsparks]

Ah, she was finally getting it. That was alright; Othar was used to slow-witted people. Not everyone could be expected to operate on his own Sparky level of brilliance, after all.

"You're flattered, I know! But I have a keen eye for detecting good sidekick material when I see it! Again, no need to thank me!"

Taking a step closer, he proceeded to demonstrate- loudly- exactly what she needed to improve on to have proper Sidekick-level stances.

[princelyspirit]

"Flattered?!"

Utena stared at him, completely dumbfounded, while her brain pieced itself back together. After a tip or two, or three, or five, she eventually snapped out of it and took a step back.

"Look," she said, as she shook her head. "I don't know how this crazy idea got into your head, but I am not a sidekick, all right?"

[killallsparks]

"Of course you are!" he beamed. Really, her modesty had been cute at first , but now it was just getting annoying. After all, she was certainly sparky enough to be Hero material. And that was his job, anyway.

"Why, after a little more time spent perfecting yourself, you'll be more than prepared to travel along beside me, getting kidnapped and then heroically rescued just in the nick of time! We'll destroy the Sparks, save the villagers and then be off for cocoa ans schapps! Ah, it's a fine life!"

[princelyspirit]

"And what makes you think that I want to travel with you?" she snapped back. Honestly, did he think she had nothing better to do with her time?

Besides, she was perfectly capable of going on her own adventures, thank you.

[son_of_the_lake]

Hisoka stopped at this campfire and for a moment, simply stared in astonishment. It was that demihuman-hating bigot, making outrageous claims, hypnotizing his audience with the very insanity of his position. Hisoka almost had to admire this amazing man.

Instead, he drained his paper cup, ripped it up, folded the cardboard into a paper crane (not a very good one, I'm afraid). He aimed carefully, and pitched it at Tryggvassen's head.

[killallsparks]

Othar remained completely oblivious to the threat (as was his wont), and managed to bed over just in time for the sad, misshapen paper bird to whiz harmlessly above his head. But Hisoka's presence was not similarly unnoticed, and he smiled Heroically! at the young man he recognized from somewhere, though he couldn't quite place where. "Ah! A new fan come to hear my tales of daring-do! Come, have a seat! I was just getting to the part where I had to single-handedly defeat the vicious venomous cheese monsters of Dr. von Fromage."

[son_of_the_lake]

"Why, thank you, sir," replied Hisoka. "I am a reporter from the Volunteer Voice, a Vohemaro newspaper that circulates in the Bydan-Licere area. Sixty percent of it's subscribers are demihuman. Perhaps you may remember me from the Hanami Festival last year? I would be so pleased to record a tale of your heroic exploits! My editor tells me she will publish it word for word."

And he sat down, pulled a notebook out of his pocket, flipped it open, smiled politely and eagerly, and poised his pencil over the page.

[killallsparks]

"Of course!" The great hero beamed, though whether he was responding to recognizing Hisoka or granting permission for an interview, or both, would be a mystery left for future generations. "Is there any particular story you'd like to hear? The story of how I cunningly defeated Podnasti the villainous vegetable comes to mind!"