First Soma Link. (Action)

[oursomalink]

Characters: Shing Meteoryte and YOU.
Location: The Plaza
Time: Late Afternoon to Early Evening
Style: Either or. I don't really care. lol
Status: OPEN SESAME LOL

Shing awoke with a start, coughing up some water as he dragged himself up and glanced around him. Feeling his hand brush up on a piece of coral, he paused, taking a much closer look at his

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[fireflowered]

She had heard that the Station Master was allowing access to the island again, so she had been on her way to go see if she could find any leads about the whereabouts of her friends. As she made her way over there, though, she was doing a quick scope of every other place in the city she'd been to, just in case she missed anything. Nobody could ever say she wasn't thorough.

It was as she was making her way through the plaza that something caught her attention.

... let's revise that statement. It was someone, rather than something.At first she only saw a resemblance. There were a few people here who looked like Shing. This might have just been someone else who looked like him. Either way, he was new. She could tell by how soaked to the bone he was. May as well stop to help someone new, right

[oursomalink]

"Kohaku--?" Shing blinked -- he had not been expecting to encounter her so soon, but it was a welcome surprise. All doubts about it being actually her were gone the moment she hugged him, though. He was sprawled out on the ground a second time, but he really didn't mind now that he knew she was here.

Clinging tightly to her, he smiled as he gently lifted her head so she was looking at him. "It really is you... I'm glad to see you, Kohaku!" He was more curious as to why she was here, but he'd ask about that later.

In between the hugs, he tilted his head, not really noticing that he was still drenched at the moment. "Do you know where we are?"

[fireflowered]

Kohaku was trying hard not to start crying, but the tears in her eyes were a good giveaway that she was going to in another five seconds or so. She clung to him as tightly as she could manage, not caring at all if her clothes got wet at all. Nope. She was just happy he was here with her. Though, a part of her would probably wonder later if she should be as happy as she was at the moment.

She sat up a little and looked at him as he asked that question.

"U-Um, yes ..."

And then she realized how cold and soaked he was still. She bit her lip and starting pushing her way to a standing position, moving to help him up as well.

"But let's get you dried off first. Come on, my place is this way."

She wasn't going to let go of his hand. Nope.

[oursomalink]

Shing blinked, nodding dumbly as he stumbled onto his feet. Honestly, it only hit him that he was still drenched, sneezing again as he followed Kohaku. Still, he was more concerned about her starting to tear up as he walked alongside her.

"H-hey... don't start crying, okay?" He asked, moving to wipe a tear from her cheek. "I-it's all right... I'm here now, right?"

After a few more moments, it becomes quiet again, though Shing decides to break the silence this time with a more important topic. "You still haven't told me where we are, exactly."

[fireflowered]

Kohaku sniffled a little and nodded, wiping away more of her tears with her free hand.

"M-Mhm ..."

During those moments of silence, she managed to calm down enough to be able to answer him as they walked.

"We're not in Celirand anymore, Shing."

[oursomalink]

Okay, well... he had a suspicion that he wasn't on Celirand anymore -- had they even encountered anything quite like this back home? -- but hearing it from Kohaku herself made it somewhat easier for him to believe. It didn't mean it was any less outrageous, though, if the expression of shock and frustration on his face didn't make it quite clear.

"So... where are we, then? Does anyone know?"

[fireflowered]

"This city is called Vatheon. As you can see, we're underwater." She held his hand a little tighter as they continued to walk.

"This place pulls in all sorts of people, from all sorts of different worlds, timelines ... and none of us can get back home."

[oursomalink]

Admittedly, as Kohaku was explaining Shing thought that it would be kind of cool to meet people from different worlds and timelines -- up until the point where she mentioned that they couldn't leave. His expression became one of shock as he stared at her.

"W-what...!? Tell me you're kidding..." He could feel his hope of getting out drop just a bit. "So... what now, then?"

[fireflowered]

"I guess we live here until there is a way home," Kohaku said, looking over to him with a sheepish smile.

"I don't want to say I've given up hope of ever getting home. I don't think anybody here really has. But until the time that we can find it, we just have to make do with what we've got. The good thing is that most everything we need for living here is free. That's how I was able to get a place to stay so quickly.

Not only that, but most of the people here are really nice. We're all in the same situation, and most of them seem to have the attitude of 'we have to work together' more often than not."

[oursomalink]

This was all too much for him to take in at once, so Shing spends several moments in quiet thought, occassionally glancing at Kohaku before returning his gaze to the ground. Well, at least he wasn't going to be spending the entirety of his stay here alone, but... that just raised the more troubling question of when or if they'd ever be able to get home. Would anyone even be able to find them if they weren't on Celirand?

Still, it did help him calm down a little knowing that there were other people who were willing to help them out. "That's good, at least... has anyone tried to find a way out of here?"

[fireflowered]

Kohaku glanced at Shing several times as well during their silence, trying to judge how he was reacting to everything. He seemed troubled. Kohaku sighed a little, giving his hand a gentle squeeze as they continued walking. They were getting closer to the place she'd been staying in now ... it wouldn't be long before they could get him dried off.

...

Oh, but she didn't have any clothing he could wear. And while she admitted to herself that seeing him in female clothing would be funny, she wouldn't want to do that to him. So, she tugged at his hand, pulling him in another direction.

"Sorry, detour. I remembered that I don't have any clothing that would fit you ..."

As for anyone finding a way out ...

"I'm told people have tried. Nothing yet. But sometimes, people will randomly get sent back home ... we can never seem to tell when it'll happen, or who it'll happen to."

She sighed a little.

"I've only been here for a little over a month, so I'm still getting used to things ..."

[oursomalink]

"Kohaku--?" It takes a while for that to sink in -- oh, right. Yeah. She did have a point, he did need some new clothes now, didn't he? Though now he was letting his thoughts run away on them as he briefly wondered what kinds of clothes she had, and how nice they would look on her...

Breaking off that train of thought before he distracted himself too much, he managed to catch enough of the rest of Kohaku's statement that he was able to respond back. "A month? That's... strange, though. When I last saw you, it was only a few days ago..."

Worrisome? Yes. Enough so that Shing's expression changed into that of deep thought, something he admittedly wasn't that used to. "...how?"

[fireflowered]

Kohaku looked to him, then looked away, biting her lip and trying to think of how to word this next thing.

"I've heard ... that this place does weird things, time-wise. Someone can arrive here, and then if they ever get a chance to go home, they can arrive back at the exact point in time that they left. It's really crazy."

[oursomalink]

"That... they can do that?" Shing stared at Kohaku again, not quite believing what he was hearing about that bit about the time. Still... it's not like Kohaku had any reason to lie to him this time, right...?

He didn't even notice that his hands were shaking.

[fireflowered]

Kohaku did, though. And her first instinct was to help him with that. she stopped, taking both of his hands into her own and looking up at him and into his eyes seriously.

"I don't know if it's true or not, but that's what I've heard. If you want to try and find a way out of this place, then you know I will be by your side the entire way, no questions asked. This place isn't a bad place, though ... it might seem a little scary, but it's really not all that bad."

In fact, the only bad thing about it she'd seen so far, aside from Kraken attacks and disappearing people, was the fact that most of the people she loved weren't here.

Shing was now, though. And he was just as confused and afraid as she had been when she first arrived. She wouldn't let him go through it alone. She squeezed his hands and gave him a gentle smile.

"We'll find our way, wherever we are. We're together again."

[oursomalink]

There's a pause as he felt his hands on his -- he'd been hiding his fear better than he thought, as he now noticed. Sighing, he relaxes a little into her grasp, slowly nodding and smiling sadly at her. "I trust you that it's not that bad... I admit, I want to try and find our way back home if we can. But I wouldn't want to leave without you, though."

After several moments, he pulled her into a hug, tearing up a bit as he sighed into her shoulder.

"Thank you, though, Kohaku... for being here with me. I wouldn't know what I would have done if I didn't find you here..."