wildsaber | 01 ♪ video/action ♪ wake up sleepyhead!

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01 ♪ video/action ♪ wake up sleepyhead!

[The feed shows a nice view of absolutely nothing. There is, however, the sound of someone spitting. Very lovely. He just woke up with a mouthful of dead rotting leaves. His day is off to a great freaking start, that's what.]

Ugh, nasty! Ow--... ow... ow. [Don't let the nonchalance fool you. He's realizing he's alive. Taking in a deep breath, and letting it out.

He's alive.

... And also FREEZING COLD. But wait until he finds a way home! This is impossible, but maybe-- just maybe--]

Hahah... jeez, it's c-c-cold. Am I in K-Keterburg or something?

-- Hey, what's...

[And here's when he brushes the journal off. Hello, there's a half-naked redhead getting up close and personal, and turning it upside down, and then shaking it out a bit. What is this strange and mystifying technology? It sure as hell isn't his journal.]

Weird.

[Feeling something tickle his shoulder, he reaches over to brush it off. And then he notices the wings, red with gold tips just like his hair. He has wings. This is not a drill. Luke drops the journal in favor of screaming like the grown man he isn't.]

W-what the hell is going on!?

[NO LUKE DON'T PULL ON THOSE--] —OW! [Yeah, that hurt more than anything else in his life. Now he's curled up over his knees again, trying not to cry. He almost blacked out there.]

G-guess they're real...

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[That voice is unmistakable - it's his own, after all. And while there's surprise, uncertainty, and trepidation that washes over him at the thought of Luke's return (Does he remember? Where is he from? What does he know? What does he feel?), Asch's initial response is all instinct and impulse-]

"Don't pull the feathers out, you idiot replica!!"

[...Geez-- New feathers again, huh?]

You pull any of those feathers out, you're going to get sick. So don't do it, alright?

Yo! It's a bit like Keterberg, isn't it? [his hand goes up to wave. didn't expect to see him, did you?]

Though I'd recommend against pulling on your wings again.

[Luke clutches at his head as it begins to spin. Wait... Asch? But Asch--

Whatever he's about to snap back, he totally forgets. He's stuck on one little detail.]

Asch-- you're alive! You're okay! Where-- where are you?

[He's so relieved and happy, even though every inch of him is in pain right now.]

[He catches his breath for a minute before responding.]

Ugh... yeah. I won't pull any feathers--

The journal talks...?

[And it's giving me ADVICE?]

[It never sits well with Guy to forget the sound of someone's voice. To cling to whatever memories he still had of those that he no longer could see was, in itself, a small, stubborn comfort. In the months that he had returned to this godforsaken place, the absence of his former master gave him yet another voice to focus on, to dig up through memories of Auldrant and Luceti and refuse to acknowledge the day that those memories would fade.

He didn't want to forget Luke. Really, Guy doesn't see how he ever could.

Worn and weary from a mission nearly an Auldrant month long, Guy's last desire is to be social. He wants to go home, wave off Peony's prodding and Jade's trolling. Maybe sneak through the bedroom window and soak himself in a shower for a while. Maybe the sky wasn't actually blue.

He at least has managed to get in through the window. But curiosity works with common sense to get him to scan his journal, sprawled out on his bed with exhausted interest...

...And the sound of that voice is like a bolt of lightning to his warm nerves. Gloved fingers clench at the binding of the book, a million thoughts flying through his head, all coming to one conclusion. Luke was here. Luke was here.

Alive.

Screw his own privacy.]

Luke--!! [A forced pause - he wants to chide, to call the boy an idiot and tell him to stop messing with things that could hurt him. But it all goes out the window.]

[Literally out the window.

There's a clumsy bit of crashing from the back room of House One as Guy hefts himself back out the open window, breaking into a dead run as soon as his feet hit the ground. No point in using the video, but hope he doesn't mind some jostled voices from his magical book.]

Luke -- Hey, if you hear me, stay there! Don't go wandering off!

[More like didn't expect Peony's voice to come out of the journal.]

Your Majesty...? What's going on?

And what's with the book? Is it some kind of weird fonic arte?

[Whoa, whoa, whoa. Adding to the chorus of people telling him not to push the big red button is his best friend, which demands a lot of his attention. If not all of it.]

Guy? Guy! You're here, too!

[SOMEWHERE. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS BOOK. He clutches it as if that will help.]

Okay. I won't move. I think I hear a river...? But the rest is just woods. I don't think I've been here before.

[Hadn't been here...?]

It's because you probably haven't been here. Don't worry about it.

[His mouth presses tight as he slows his pace, stopping near the central point of the river. Luke didn't remember. That meant no memories of what happened before. No Xion. No Asch. No dark days at the hospital recovering from wounds that should have killed him, or withered evenings at home with barely enough energy to survive his next breath.

It may be cruel, but for Guy, this is a second chance. This is a Luke that won't have to live through those kind of memories. Not while he has anything to say about it.

Okay okay okay priorities:]

Hey, are you close enough to see that river? Try to get closer to it, and watch your step.

[The mention of Keterburg is strangely familiar, it was the first thing she had wondered herself when she first woke up to these woods. But that question isn't what makes her slowly freeze, eyes widening ever so slightly...

It's been some time since she heard his voice, alive, and to hear it again was—

No, that isn't what she wanted to hear just what was he doing?] Don't go pulling them out!

[He gets up slowly, carefully, dusting his knees and glancing around. Ugh, he still hurts... It must have something to do with the freaky wings on his back. He rubs his hands along his shoulders briskly, trying to keep warm even though he's sure his chest could poke someone's eye out right now.

He's also making 'fvvvvfvvv' noises in order to keep his teeth from chattering.]

Watch my st-- oof!

[And there he goes, landing face-first in a crunchy snowbank.]

Uh, found the river.

["That's why you must come back alive... Or rather, I hope you do."

Jade glances down at the video feed, not having yet turned on his own recording, with an odd and distant look. It's as if looking into a window to a different time, a simpler time. No, not simpler. But more... enjoyable.

Could it really be Luke? With all these worlds, with the possibilities of replicas, could it possibly the same Luke that he knew?

Then Luke starts pulling at his wings. And Jade gives a nostalgic smile. He turns on the video feed and immediately replies snappily.]

I'm confident that, if it had its own consciousness, Keterburg would be insulted by the comparison.

[And then he gives a tug at his glasses.]

You know, Luke, you really should take better care of your wings.

I'm not, I just--

[Wait. He leaaaans over the journal, peering down.]

Is that... [His voice is little more than a desperate whisper. Did he really find a way to come home? Why doesn't he remember it?

-- Does that really matter?]

Tear?

[Well, that answers his second question, at least. And the fact that the fonic link is causing him so much pain means that it's regressed, too... meaning he's either forgotten how to handle the link, or he never knew in the first place.

Neither are promising.]

"I'm in the village. Where are you?"

[He tries to get a fix on Luke's position by the area he's in, but the majority of the woods surrounding Luceti is too similar to recognize one tree from another.]

[No, Peony guesses he wouldn't. And is able to realize this isn't Luke with the memories of his previous stay.]

Uh, well... I'll explain it all in due time [Or rather Jade or Guy will], but right now it'd be wise if you got out of the cold before you freeze to death. Where are you right now?

Wh-- Luke??

[Don't mind your best friend's immediate tone of alarm at hearing you fall over. Until he sees Luke for his own eyes, guess who is going to assume the absolute worst.

He's tense in his detour to go try and rummage for a coat, too focused on the journal.]

Luke, come on, talk to me - are you alright?

[What a way to say 'welcome home'. Honestly. Luke groans, but it's in a good-natured sort of way. If Jade is bitching at him then he's definitely alive.]

I just had to know if they were real. I'm not going to go crazy on them or anything, but...

[He rubs at his temple.]

What happened? I've never seen a book like this before. It's like the communicator in the Tartarus, right?

[Sorry, he's just laughing.]

Yeah, I'm fine. I haven't tripped like that in a while. Don't worry, snow's pretty soft. [He bites back a shiver.] I'm at the river. Want me to wait here?

[He can find a stump to chill on, or something.]

[Like Jade ever explains anything.]

Uh... I'm in the woods. I can hear a river, so I'm trying to follow it.

They're essentially similar, but these so-called journals actually have a wider range of capabilities. [He waves a hand dismissively.] Guy can explain in greater detail.

[As Jade jokes, he's looking into the video feed analytically, taking in every detail of Luke's surroundings that are visible.]

I'm going to be coming for you, Luke.

[He knows if he tries hard enough he can reach out to talk to Asch. But yeah, he needs practice. It's not as easy for him as, perhaps, it used to be.]

The woods...? There's a river around here. I'm trying to find it.

[He holds his hand to his head, trying to focus as he starts toward the babbling of the river nearby.]

What village is that? Engeve?

[He brightens visibly. Now that he's getting over the initial shock and pain, he's taking it all in, and he's in fairly good spirits.

Wait til someone breaks the news.]

You're really coming for me? You're not just going to let me freeze solid like you did to Dist?

[Engeve. Ha. If only Luke knew that Asch hasn't seen an inch of their world in like, five years. ...Luceti time, anyway. Still weird.]

"It's not. This place is Luceti, and it isn't anywhere on Auldrant."

[He'll let Luke enjoy that little bombshell while he tries to work through the realization that Luke's apparently forgotten this place. The wings, the village, the Malnosso, everything. Even them.

How hilariously poetic is it for him to be at ground zero again, to have lost everything he had and loved again, and no one has any idea?

And here he thought he couldn't hate this place more than he already had before.]

Now, now, Luke. Don't let that go to your head. After all, most sentient beings are already disqualified from the treatment I would give to Dist. It's the least I can do to thank such people for not being him.

[And Luke is his friend. As odd as Jade may be about showing it. He sets out from the house in his full military regalia, walking with the journal as he talks into it.]

Do let me know any details about your surroundings that I may be missing.

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Page 1 of 14

01 ♪ video/action ♪ wake up sleepyhead!

~fonic link~

[voice]

video;

~fuck you, Asch~

[video]

1/2 [VOICE??]

2/2 [voice/action]

video;

[voice--> action]

[voice--> action]

[voice]

[voice--> action]

[Video]

[video]

~wow rude I'm trying to help~

video;

[voice--> action]

[video]

[voice--> action]

video;

[video]

~i love how passive aggressive these tildes are~

[video]

~kind of like their relationship~

[video]