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

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth stepped into the festivities, if they could be called that, with a heavy heart full of conflicted emotion. They had won. The monsters had been defeated, the continent was whole and in tact, and, hope against hope, he and his new crew had made it out of the mess alive.

...most of them, at least. His head hung low in remembrance of those who had been lost, both on the Convoy and in the towns, cities, and villages of the Badlands. There had been too much loss, too many hurt, too many left destitute, and too many who weren't quite so fortunate as him.

However, there was no time to think on such things, not yet. First, there were a few people he needed to see. So, with a heavy heart tinged with both hope and apprehension, he made his way towards the Amestris. He looked different than the last time he set foot on that ship; his uniform and frills were replaced with simple slacks and a plain, unadorned shirt, and his left arm, once flesh and blood, was replaced by a rough, simplistic automail arm. It was only a prototype

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth's eyes widened and he quickly glanced away. His arm wasn't exactly a secret, but he wasn't used to it being pointed out so blatantly. Perhaps he should get some gloves...assuming the damn things wouldn't snag on the joints, that is.

Bluntness was what Hijikata was known for, though, wasn't it? It wouldn't be him without it. So, Edgeworth gave him a sidelong glance and the ghost of a smile, and said, "While that may be true, I'd like to remind you that I'm not a civilian yet...Major."

[mayovice]

The boatswain rolled his one good eye at that, feigning exasperation. "Of course, sir," he returned, the sarcasm quite evident in his voice. "How can I forget that. Please do forgive me."

As he said that he shifted a bit from the crate he was sitting on, wincing when he needed to move his bad foot. The black unmoving lump that had been beside shifted, and one ear peeked out from the tangle that had been there. It twitched, and then a wolfish-head poked out to blink one right eye towards Edgeworth before it barked quite happily.

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth stared down at the canine before he shook his head and chuckled darkly.

"Still surrounded by animals, I see. I don't suppose that cat of yours is around here?"

[mayovice]

Hijikata made a snort as he saw Lucied finally waking up, idly reaching out with his one good hand to give the canine a pat on his head. Lucied barked again, sounding quite happy as it got up from the ground, padding around randomly. One would be able to see the new scar that now traced the creature's now closed left eye.

Looking back up at Edgeworth, the boatswain just made a shrug at the question. "Chi's probably trying to get food from the stalls or something. She took my wallet again, not that I can ever figure out why." It wasn't as if he had any francs left in there, seriously.

[edge_of_honor]

"She-"

Edgeworth blinked and shook his head, before he asked, "How in Reial does a cat use a wallet?"

[mayovice]

"To pay?" Hijikata went with a shrug, clearly not in the mood to think about this considering everything else. "Beats me, as long as she returns it to me later."

[edge_of_honor]

"But she doesn't have any thumbs," he pointed out. "Besides, I'm fairly sure the wallet is almost as big as she is."

[mayovice]

"She has paws," Hijikata pointed back out with his usual bluntness. "And she makes very good use of them. I should know better than anybody else." And indeed, because he had seen Chi doing a whole bunch of improbable things for long enough already. Talking was just the start of the list.

[edge_of_honor]

"I'll take your word for it," he sighed. "Besides, we've both seen stranger things, I think."

[mayovice]

"Tell me about it," the samurai returned with a sigh of his own, looking up to the sky and seeing one of dragons flying past with a roar. "Although I'm sure there are going to be even stranger things yet."

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth looked up with him, and said, "You know, just a few years ago, I would have thought all of this impossible. If somebody had tried to warn us what would happen, I would have wrote them off as absolutely insane."

[mayovice]

The boatswain returned with a small murmur of agreement. "I wouldn't believe it too, personally." Nobody would, really, if he had to be honest about it - and ones who did wouldn't be believed anyway. These sort of things... it was only when it happened then would you believe it.

[edge_of_honor]

Edgeworth remained silent as he watched the dragon disappear behind the clouds. With his gaze still pointed at the sky and his voice muted, he asked, "Are you happy with how things turned out?"

[mayovice]

"I'm never happy," Hijikata returned quite pointedly, but then went on after a moment's pause. "But as far as things have gone, it could have been worse." A lot more worse.

[edge_of_honor]

"Why, Major," he said, his tone clearly amused, as he gave him a sidelong glance, "I think that's the first time I've heard you tell an actual joke."

However, he was right about how things turned out. They could have been a lot worse.