From Dusk (Persona/Steven Universe)[Older Version]

[Fecyrineu]

"Did you see a medium to large sized monster! I need to fight them!" you ask the man despite him pointing a gun at you. Sure, guns were scary and all, but you and meanie have unfinished business! Surely this man would understand.

"Put your hands on your head and go down in your knees!" he shouts while still pointing his gun at me. Kinda of a weird request, if you are being honest. Why does he want you on your knees?

"No, I don't have time for this! I have to find the big blob meanie and teach her a lesson!" Forget about being on your knees! Can't he see? Fighting her is more important than whatever this is!

He stood still, aiming the gun at you. He occasionally looked at the door, windowns and the broken wall but his gaze never seemed to leave you long. Was he worried you were going to attack him? Or maybe he thought you are going to run, which wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption to make since guns are scary. Either way, you should try to reassure him that you won't attack him.

"Hey, don't worry! I'm not going to attack you! I just want to find out where meanie is so I can settle the score! You must have seen her, she is big, bloby, ugly, mean and has a weird rock in her body, like me! The rock part, everything else is not like me." Hopefully that will pacify him.

"I said, hands on your head and down on your knees!" That did not, in fact, pacify him. Actually, it only seemed to make him angrier. He really wants you down in your knees. The fear you had earlier is starting to go come back now. What if he does shoot you? That would really hurt your body, and by extension, you! Wait a moment...

"My body is not real!" you shout in realization. "You can't hurt me! My body is merely a projection of my consciousness so that gun of your is kinda useless! I mean, what are you even going to do with it? Sh-"

BANG!

So, you made a discovery. While your body might not be real, that doesn't mean that you can't feel pain. Well, you suppose that is not a discovery exactly, you felt pain before, but it is something that slipped your mind. The pain that you are feeling in your left arm right now immediately reminds of that fact.

"AAAAAHHH" Forget what you just said, guns are not useless!

Before you even realize it, you are already running. It's as if your body is moving on it's own, taking you to whatever place is away from here.

You're outside. The town is changed from before, there is rubble in the streets and smoke is pouring out from nearly half of the buildings. There were also alot of people, some of them had blue shirts, other had black suits, most of them had guns. Guns that were drawn and pointed in your general direction. You immediatly turn to the side and start running. You can hear the shouts of men and the thumping of boots on the ground behind you, and that only encourages you to move faster.

You continue your sprint until you exit the town and enter the treeline, an immense feeling of relief washes over you as you do so. They no longer have a line of sight to you so you should be safe, for now. That doesn't stop you from running though.

The forest starts to get thicker as you venture deeper inland. It's starting to get harder to keep full sprinting speed as you have to constanly dodge the trees in your way. Testing the limits of your reaction time would be fun if not for the danger of bulletholes in your not-real-but-feels-real body. Avoiding the trees is actually so enganging you don't even realize when the floor is no longer there.

You fall into some sort of pit, crashing into a dirt wall chest-first, causing shivers to shook your entire body. You then fall into the botton.

The pit is not very deep, it can't be double your height. It's cramped, the walls are made of dirt and you can feel mud and wet leaves on your back. Eww! Your jumpsuit was so clean after you materialized it too...

You shift to a sitting position and immediatly check your left arm. The cyan skin is still perfect and without blemishes, besides the mud that is. There is no sign whatsoever it was ever shot.

"Why does everyone want to kill me?" First meanie, now gun-crazie too? What did you ever do to them? You don't understand, but then again, when is that new?

You wonder where coffin is. Last you saw him he was with you when meanie destroyed your body. Is he okay? Did he run away when you were inside the mindscape? How long where you in there anyway? It didn't feel like a long time. You hope Souji is okay. You like him, he doesn't shoot you or pierce you with claws unlike nearly most people you've met.

Part of you want to just stay here. After all you went through, getting up seems like an herculian task. And why should you even bother? You wanted so much to help others like yourself but it turns out they don't even want your help.

What did she even want by attacking you? What was she possibly achieve by doing that?

You can't help but have the feeling that you knew exactly what meanie wanted, but whenever you try to recall what it was a feeling of dread overcomes you.

You can't stay here forever. It's only a matter of time before those gun-people find this place, but you don't have to go right now, do you? Can't you just stay here for a while longer? This small pit is a good enough hiding spot, right?

[X] Get up and get out of here
-[X] Why should you do that?
--[] What are you even going to do afterwards? You don't know where Souji and John are. There are people with guns crawling over the entire island, looking for you. It seems like wasted effort, really. Isn't it better to stay here? A place where you can hide and just do nothing? You feel like doing nothing.
—[X] To find a less exposed hiding spot.
—[X] Attempt to hide in and up a cluster of trees. People usually don't look up.
[] Just stay

 

[RookDeSuit]

[X] Get up and get out of here
-[X] Why should you do that?
—[X] To find a less exposed hiding spot.
—[X] Attempt to hide in and up a cluster of trees. People usually don't look up.

 

[Fecyrineu]

While laying down inside your pit, you notice the foliage of the trees covering the sky as if it was a ceiling. Ever since your desperate dash, you didn't look up once, until now. The rays of sunlight are no longer visible on the leaves like they were before and you suppose that's a sign that the sun is moving away.

Do people in general normally look up? You don't really know that normal people are like, do you? The only people you ever interacted with are Souji and John. What do they do when they are not helping you? Do they normally look up? You don't remember them looking at the ceiling.

You don't know what you are suppose to do now or what you should strive for. You wanted to find out more of what is happening, until you were stopped by threatening men. You wanted to find more people like you out there like you so you could help them, but then she attacked you. You want to find meanie and settle the score but what will you even do after that? You're aimless.

Or are you? You remember a feeling you had, back when you were still in that dark, dusty room. You had something you needed to do, didn't you? You don't remember what, exactly, but you had a duty. A purpose you were made for. It motivated you to move foward in your first moments after your awakening. A feeling that you forgot. Why did you forget?

You shake your head. It doesn't matter that you forgot, what matters is that you remembered. You might've felt aimless but now you had a goal in mind. A goal that you couldn't fulfill if you stayed in this muddy pit and let those gunnies find you.

Looking at the leaves once again, an idea comes to you. You can't help but smile at your brilliance.

You get up and try not to wince at the yucky mud stuck to your back, arms and legs. It was in your hair, too! Disgusting...

Right, getting out of here.

You wipe your hands on your clothes and prepare to anscend. You don't know how high you can jump but you're about to find out.

You flex your knees, so much so that your butt nearly touches the ground. You can feel the energy in your body building up in your legs. Your fists made you proud with their punches but now it's your leg's time to shine, metaphorically!

You spring up! For a very brief moment, you can hear a splashing sound as the mud at your feet gets launched. It takes no time at all for you to reach surface level and yet you keep ascending. You are assaulted by leaves and branches poking your face at an incredible speed, some of it even gets in your mouth. Surprisingly, it doesn't actually taste that bad. It's slightly crunchy.

Gravity starts to slow down your ascent and for a short while you feel as if you are floating in the air. You can see the sun half-submerged into the ocean, shinning different hues of orange onto both the sky and the sea. You could see the town you were at. Faint traces of smoke left a few of the buildings.

The entire view was beautiful in an otherworldly way. You could stay here all day admiring it, if it where not for the fact that gravity would not allow it.

The fall felt way less magnific than the rise, mostly due to the fear of imminent impact.

"Ughh!" you mutter as you land. It did hurt, a little bit. Thankfully, you landed on your head and not on your chest so you are okay!

You prepare to jump once again but this time you don't put so much energy into it to launch past the tree tops. Istead, you aim your trajectory to reach the branches of one of the big cedar trees.

Your aim is flawless! You land with both feet on the branch with perfect balance, not tripping or wavering.

You look down and see that there is quite a distance from the ground. A gut instinct tells you that people don't normally look up. A hole in the ground would draw attention to any would-be Plume of Dusk shooters so that is why amist the leaves of the tree tops would be a perfect place to hide. The plan was to stay here and wait until they pass through and leave. Your genius can be scary!

...

Wow, you're bored! This whole waiting stuff is really not for you.

You decide to climb up to the very top of the tree, past all the leaves. With your head above them you can once again see the view of your surroundings. Bichibyu Town and the setting sun are still there. And the ocean...

You had to leave this island. You knew, with a certainty deep within you, that whatever it is you are meant to do, it's not here. Your mission lies across the ocean. When you stop and focus, you can feel a calling coming from far away from this little patch of land.

Of course, the matter was how to leave this island. You couldn't just walk the entire way under the ocean (you coudn't, right?) so you have to find a way out. John said they had a boat, didn't he? Although, you have no idea where they might be. Perhaps their boat is still in Bichibyu? However, you don't know how to drive a boat and you also imagine that they wouldn't appreciate you stealing from them. So you have to find them if you want to leave that way, or just find another exit.

You turn and try to locate the laboratory but you can't. You suppose the hills and the woods are obscuring your vision. Yet it's still there, somewhere, holding the secrets to your existance. Maybe. The computers looked old and unworkable and the papers were rotting so how much you can find seems dubious. Not only that but the gun people were there now, doing stuff. A quick glance at your left arm shows reveal that guns, as scary as they may be, don't seem to be as effective on you as you originally imagined. You could go back in there but it would be a big risk.

From your short time in Bichibyu, you got the impression that it wasn't the only town in the island, afterall, those gunmen must have come from somewhere and you didn't see any boats beyond those that were already in the town. Since this is an insland then these other towns must be on a coast, right? Logically, if you keep walking on it you will eventually find one. You could also go back to near the lab and follow the dirt roads. They led you from the lab into the beach, but they didn't end at the beach, you just stopped following them once the sounds of the waves were so close. Those roads must lead somewhere.

Or you could just go further inland. Looking away from the beach results in the visage of a mountain with thick vegetation that stands out from the nearby hills. If you wanted to flee further from the people after you then it would make sense to go towards that direction. If meanie wanted to flee those people too, then she would probably have the same idea. You want to leave this island already, but you rather settle the score with her first.

You wonder if meanie is the only other wall-person besides you. There was only one other door open in the lab, so it's likely. And even if she wasn't the only one, a gut feeling tells you that the others wouldn't be friendly either.

You truly are alone, aren't you?

You have to make a decision. What are you going to do after you are done hiding in here?

[] Go back to Bichibyu Town
[X] Wander the coast
-[X] Find a boat, and hope this abstract feeling helps.
-[X] "Bye John, wherever you are."
[] Head towards the laboratory
[] Follow the dirt road
[] Head further inland
[] Write-in

 

[RookDeSuit]

You couldn't just walk the entire way under the ocean (you coudn't, right?)

Click to shrink...

She could probably do it, but the water pressure and salt would eat at our gem.

[X] Wander the coast
-[X] Find a boat, and hope this abstract feeling helps.
-[X] "Bye John, wherever you are."

 

[Ave Anathema]

[X] Wander the coast
-[X] Find a boat, and hope this abstract feeling helps.
-[X] "Bye John, wherever you are."

 

[Fecyrineu]

Do you remember when Souji told you that there might be helicopters looking for you? Turns out he was right. Not that you ever doubted him on that aspect but you did think of him when the helicopter showed up. It didn't come close to you but you still decided to quit your gazing and hide amongst the leaves, just to be safe. Cyan and white is not very good camouflage after all. Thankfully, the sun was setting completely, making it harder for them to see you.

Your original plan was to wait for groups of bad guys to pass through below, thus allowing you to slip past and head back to the coast. An infallible plan, if it were not for the fact that it has been some time and they have yet to pass through here. The only sign they were looking for you at all was that one helicopter.

Eventually you decide to start moving. If they didn't show up until now then they would never show up, or at least that's the excuse you are using to justify your impatience. But just because you are leaving doesn't mean you have to scrap the entire plan.

You bend your legs, aim and then leap, landing on the branch of a different tree. Another perfect jump! You're a natural at this. Allowing yourself a smile at your victory, you prepare yourself and then leap again into another tree. After that, you do another leap, then another and then yet another. You strat getting a rythm for this, taking less and less time between each jump as your muscle memory starts to take place.

Jumping through the woods is even better than running through the woods!

You were almost losing yourself on the joy of jumping between branches when you remembered that this is what led you to fall into pit, so you decide to stop. Good thing you stopped when you did, because you started seeing fellow light-sources in the distance moving about. Your yellow wall-people eyes had no trouble focusing into this curiosity.

There are figures in the distance holding little light tubes. Flashlights, you quickly correct yourself. Or torches. They were the same people that were in the town, which made sense since you were getting closer to it. It was getting really dark now and they used the flashlights to illuminate their surroundings. You couldn't help but notice that they weren't pointing the torches upwards.

Smilling to yourself, you continue to jump. You are careful to not make as much noise. You leap without causing the trees to shake or leaves to fall, as if your body was weightless. You are close to them now, so close you can start to hear some of what they are saying.

"...monster...it to the specialists..."

"...order are...prime minister..."

"...horror movie! We..."

You can't make out what they are whispering beyond some words but the fact you can understand anything at all from this distance is surprising. You suppose you can add enhanced hearing to the ever-growing 'things you can do that you're pretty sure is not normal but you are getting used to it' list.

They continue to search the woods, not once looking up, when you leave them behind. After some more jumping, you can't even see their flashlights anymore. Perfect stealth!

As much fun as jumping between tree was, all good things must come to an end. Palm trees don't have the strongest or most stables of branches so you were forced to go back to ground. Once again you can feel dirt, sand and dry leaves beneath your feet.

The beach is up ahead. Looking to the side you can see Bichibyu so you start walking towards the other direction. The town had alot of boats on it but it was too dangerous to go back. As long as you cour the coast, you had to find another boat eventually, right?

You can feel the air move quite swiftly, even when you are standing still. It's making your hair is constantly getting in front of your face and the sleeves of your onepiece to get quite flappy. It's weird how you can feel the wind without moving. Was it always like this and you just didn't notice before or is this a new development? It's stil weird but it's no so bad. Actually, it's oddly calming.

For some time you just wander the coast, enjoying the wind in your hair and trying your best to not look towards the ocean or the sky.

Eventually you reach a small shallow creek flowing into the ocean. On the other side are several umbrellas and chairs. The ground near it had several smashed empty cans. There is nobody in sight.

Being submerged in creepy transparent water once is enough for you so you leap over the creek. As much as you want to get the yucky mud out of your body, you would rather stay dry.

You were preppared to move onwards in your quest when you notice something in the corner of your eye. Upstream on the creak is a small wooden dingy boat. A boat! Just what you were looking for! How convenient. It probably belonged to someone, but they abandoned it here together with all this junk so they probably don't care about it. Besides, you need it.

You skip over to it and after totally not tripping and getting wet anyway you are able to slide the dingy boat across the creek and into the ocean. With one push, the brave little boat starts it's journey across the sea. A quick little jump and you're inside.

The boat barely shakes when you land on it. It merely continues it's rhythmic upwards and downwards movements in synchrony with the waves.

You look backwards, towards the ever-distancing island you left behind. That place is all that you can remember. You have no memory of anything before waking up in that room except the certainty your mission. That feeling of purpose was with you from the beginning, it's something that ties you into whatever it is you were before.

You close your eyes and take a deep breath. That feeling within you, a calling that pulled you over. Barely perceptible unless you paid attention yet always still there. That feeling drawed your eyes towards the horizon. Your eyes could only see the ocean meeting the sky but you just knew there was something further. You just had to go towards that vague direction and you would find it eventually, right? How hard could it be?

"Bye, Yakushima Island! Now I head onwards towards my destiny!" you shout to the small landmass behind you. No more dusty labs and muddy pits for you!

"Bye Souji and bye John, whenever you are." Coffin offered to help you when you were alone and scared. He was nice. You hope you can see him again someday, if only to know he is okay.

Alright, enough feelings! Time to start this thing! You just have to turn on the engine and get out of here!

"Uh." Small problem. There is no engine. This is just a small dingy boat with no motor and that puts a damper on your plans.

Looking around for anything to get out of this situation you start to look around the dingy for anything of use and you find it! Under one of the seats is a paddle! A very small paddle.

[] Maybe using a small paddle and dingy boat to cross an ocean is not a good idea. You could still go back.
-[] And do what?
[X] Go back, after everything? If you can carve through concrete with just your fists then this will be nothing! This is Plume of Dusk, paddling away!!!

 

[Whenyouseeyou]

[X] Go back, after everything? If you can carve through concrete with just your fists then this will be nothing! This is Plume of Dusk, paddling away!!!

 

[Ave Anathema]

[X] Go back, after everything? If you can carve through concrete with just your fists then this will be nothing! This is Plume of Dusk, paddling away!!!

 

[RookDeSuit]

"Bye, Yakushima Island! Now I head onwards towards my destiny!" you shout to the small landmass behind you. No more dusty labs and muddy pits for you!

"Bye Souji and bye John, whenever you are." Coffin offered to help you when you were alone and scared. He was nice.

Click to shrink...

Lol, this is far louder( and not as melancholic) as I intend, but it's good.

[X] Go back, after everything? If you can carve through concrete with just your fists then this will be nothing! This is Plume of Dusk, paddling away!!!

 

[Fecyrineu]

"Paddle, paddle, paddle, away!

Paddle, until the end of the day!

Paddle, paddle, paddle! Paddle, paddle, paddle!

Paddle the boredon away!

Because I'm so booooorrrreeeddd

of paddling, but I'll do it anyway!

Because it's not like I have a choice

I'm commited to my path

i've been paddling for so long

To turn back now would be insane

Paddle, paddle, paddle, away!

Guided by a feeling

A certainty within

A purpose to the mystery

For that, I'll paddle, paddle, paddle away!

Paddling away

from the only place I've know

from this frustation of the unknown

from the uncertainty of fate

from this boredom I'm feeling of this non-ending paddling, THIS IS WORSE THAN WAITING ON TOP OF THE TREE!"

You breathe in, breathe out and sit down. Looking around, you and the dingy boat you're on are completely surround by water. It has been some time since Yakushima was no longer within your line of sight. You can't tell the exact amount of time that has passed, you don't have a clock or anything, but if you have anything to say about it is that is has been far too long! You're not used to waiting. You just walked and did stuff, or stuff happend to you.

"Ughhh, waiting is so bad!" You throw youself backwards and lie down, as unconfortable as it is considering that it's a wooden dingy boat. You can continue your endless paddling later, right now you just want to lay down.

The endless dark expanse above continues to be omnious. There are no clouds in the sky, just an unnatural blanket of little dots of lights. The moon is much smaller than you remember. Has anyone ever been on the moon? You feel like someone has. It must be quite the accomplishment considering how far away it is, just floating in the sky. Hypothetically speaking, if you wanted to go to the moon, what should you do? Would it be hard? It's important information to have! You kinda w-

The moon suddently gets immensely bigger and greenish yellow (or yellowish green). The stars in the sky vanish as green clouds overtake the once colorless void and reflect the yellow glow of the moon. It's... beautiful! You are never going to take this view for granted again!

You get up and look around. The red ocean surrounds your little dingy, as it should! You can no longer feel the wind in your hair, which is kinda sad, but everything else is great! So the world wasn't wrong forever! It must have been a temporary thing. Oh, the relief and joy that brings you!

"Hahaha, yes!" you can't help but shout. No more unsettling unexpected things with the world!

With a smile on your face, you once again stare upwards towards the moon. It'ss still looks so pretty and cool in the sky. You feel as if you could bask on it's imagine forever.

That is, until you remember there's more paddling to do.

"Right. Just because the world is okay again doesn't mean I'm not still alone in the middle of the ocean."

You sit back down and grab the paddle again, feeling the wetness of the red ocean water in the palm of your hands.

"Ughhh, I don't want to do this anymore." You ignore yourself and do it anyway.

"Paddle, paddle, paddle, away!" At least you learned that singing was a thing you could do. That makes it less bad.



...



"-Paddle, pdaddle, zidaddle, laway. Pdaddle de burdum laway, case Imma so, huh?" You stop singing Paddle Away: Incomprehensible Mumbling Editiontm and look towards something in the horizon. You can't tell what it is at first but soon the silhouette starts to take shape. It's a boat, and not a small dingy one but a proper one! Not too big, it probably has a crew of just a few people, but it's bigger than anything you have ever been on.

The boat is still and the lights are off. Maybe they're having issues? If that's the case then perhaps you should go help them. Or maybe they're just sleeping, it is the middle of the night afterall.

You don't really want to meet new people right now, not after the last couple of times you did that, but you also don't want to continue paddling. Could you convince them to give you a ride? If they don't attack you, that is.

[X] Go check the boat out.
[] Nah, just continue paddling. You'll hit land soon, you're sure! Probably. Maybe.
[] You're tired of new people and of paddling. How about you just stop and spend some time to relax and stare at the moon?
[] Write-In

 

[RookDeSuit]

The red ocean surrounds your little dingy, as it should! You can no longer feel the wind in your hair, which is kinda sad, but everything else is great!

Click to shrink...

She has such assurances about what should and should not be, and that's adorable.

edit:
[X] You're tired of new people and of paddling. How about you just stop and spend some time to relax and stare at the moon?

As I don't want to double post, I'll just edit this in.

 

[veekie]

[X] Go check the boat out.

 

[Ave Anathema]

[X] Go check the boat out.

 

[Fecyrineu]

Ultimately you decide to check the boat out. As much as you don't want to meet new people, the dread of having to paddle for who-knows-how-long is too much for you to bear.

Turning the dingy towards the boat, you start to paddle although now you are doing it much faster than before. The excitement of finishing a task you hate is a great motivator! It's still quite a bit far away though...

Some more unbearable paddling later and your boat is near enough to be within shouting distance. You stop, yet the momentum still continues to move you across the calm and still red ocean.

"Hey! Anyone there? If there are, please don't shoot me!" You await with bated breath for an answer. Wait, do you even breathe? You shake your head. Now is not the time to think about stuff like this, they could come out at any time!

After some moments, nothing happens. No one shows up to greet you.

"Hey? Is anyone inside? Can I come in?" you ask again, yet still hear nothing in response. There is no sound of anything whatsoever beyond the occasional creaking in your dingy as it continues it's slowering approach.

Well, what now? This could be your ticket out of this endless curse of paddling, but in the other hand just leaving would probably be the safer option. You will have to find land eventually, right?

What should you do?

[] Paddling is not so bad-

Yeah, right. Why are you even considering this?

You jump into the bigger boat and land in the open area behind the cabin. There are some crates on the rear and a trap door on the ground, nothing that really catches your attention.

You head towards the door of the cabin and knock since you felt that it was an appropiate thing to do for some reason. Still, nobody answers. If they are sleeping then they must very heavy sleepers. Or maybe thier bedrooms You turn the door knob and the cabin opens.

Inside the cabin is a big circle thingy connected to a panel filled with buttons and levers whose purpose you don't know. They must control the boat, you suppose. This definitely seems more complicated than a paddle.

While your new developed hate for paddling is undeniable, you suppose you were quite lucky to find the dingy. If you found a boat like this, you don't think you would be able to ride it.

You turn and look around to see what's on the rest of the cabin when you depare with a familiar visage. A tall black coffin, the very same one that you found on that pier, looms over you.

"Souji, is that you?" What is he doing here? Why is he a coffin again? Is this John's boat? You never saw it before so it's possible.

Were they really leaving the island without you? Well, you were leaving the island without them, but still...

Souji told you that he didn't remember anything about being a coffin and he wouldn't have any reason to lie about that. Does that means he got stuffed into a coffin agaist his will? Who is doing that to him? Is he being stuffed into a coffin or actually being transformed into one?

Does he need your help? If he needs your help then you have to help him! It's only right after he helped you.

"Souji! Don't worry, I'll help you get out of this coffin!" you shout even though you know he can't hear you. It's more of a mission statement you are giving yourself. Time to repay the favour!

[X] Smash that coffin! Get him out that way.
-[] Kouha!
-[X] Punch!
-[] Smash it into the ground!
-[] Write-In
[X]There's gotta be something you can use here. You should look around the boat.
-[X] Focus on looking through the cabin
-[] Perhaps there is something in the opean area before that you missed?
-[] There must be something useful in those crates
--[] They seems very sealed off, though. How do you get them open?
-[] There must be some more stuff under that trapdoor
[] Those buttons sure look pushable
[] The Moon is pretty, don't you think?
[] Write-In

 

[RookDeSuit]

A tall black coffin, the very same one that you found on that pier, looms over you.

"Souji, is that you?"

Click to shrink...

Unfortunately, it's a different person, but I don't see an outcome that doesn't involve bothering a person.

edit: Very ill advised but it's the only way she'll learn. Also scared this will earn the tag: Do You Feel like Hero yet?

[X] Smash that coffin! Get him out that way.
-[X] Punch!

 

[veekie]

[X]There's gotta be something you can use here. You should look around the boat.
-[X] Focus on looking through the cabin

 

[Fecyrineu]

You decide to look around for anything of use. You're not sure yet how you plan on freeing Souji yet, but that's something you trust future Plume with! All you need is to find her the necessary tools she might need for this situation!

There's not much in the cabin. Beyond the control panel and the coffin there is a table with some stuff over it, some chairs near it, a pile of bags and small cointaners in the corner and another door that leads somewhere else.

You resist the temptation of pushing every button and decide to check on the table for anything useful. There are bottles of stuff with a strong smell, some pieces of cloth, a couple of dirty plates and two sets of fork and knife. Very sharp knifes. You decide to borrow one, indefinitely.

You grasp the knife in your right hand. The handle is made out of wood and it's slightly cracked. Age taking it's tool, you suppose. Passing your finger on the blade you barely feel a thing. It seems very dull, or maybe your finger is very impervious. You can't really tell which is very annoying. Despite this, holding the knife in your hand makes you feel a sense of calm. This is how it should be, it's right. It's almost as if the knife itself was an extension of you, which is dumb because this is just a dirty and dull knife you've just found. You should stop focusing on just how natural it feels and go back to searching for stuff to help you free Souji.

You decide to check out the other door. Inside there seems to be some sort of small kitchen. There is a refrigerator, a counter, multiple countainers filled with cans and there is also a sink! You turn on the handle and water comes out! Oh, clean, red water! You put your hands under the stream of liquid and feel pure joy as the yucky mud that has been troubling you since the pit is washed away. Unfortunately, it's still just a sink so it can't wash as much as you like but you can still clean your arms. They're soaked now and you see no towel nearby, but that doesn't bother you. You suppose you could dive into the ocean to clean yourself more but you don't feel like sinking to the botton of the sea.

After some more searching you don't find anything of use. You were hoping to find some sort of tool to break the coffin, but alas, nothing of the sort was there. You doubt that canned peaches were going to be of any help.

You go back to the main room in the cabin and look again at the coffin. Was he conscious in there? You don't think so, a part of you knows that not to be the case, yet there is no way to be sure.

You pat-down the coffin, looking for any sort of opening or weakness, but find none. The surface has a texture smooth like glass and was cold to the touch. It reflected the dim green light of the Moon, but in some angles you could see your own reflection. You really have yellow eyes.

You're future Plume now and you're honestly dissapointed that this shoddy knife is all past Plume could find. You could continue to search the ship for more tools but you're starting to feel there's not alot of stuff you could use here.

"Alright, enough stalling! Souji, if you are listening to me, move away from my voice! I'm going to open the casket and I don't want to accidentally hurt you!" you shout just in case he is listening.

You breathe in, enter into your striking stance and hold on tight to your newly-adquired knife. It was still damp with water but you didn't let that distract you.

You breathe out and move. Your right hand moves at incredible speeds towards the coffin in one slashing motion. You feel a slight resistance as your hand swooshes near the coffin's surface but it doesn't stop your might! You finally end your display of finesse on a dramatic pose and you can't help but smile.

You look up to gaze upon the damage of your attack upon your obstacle only to find it just the same as before. You smile turns into a grin. Not even a scratch?! You felt that you broke through something before with your knife!

You raise your right hand to look at what would've been your instrument of destruction only to find a handle. Just a handle, the rest of the blade was nowhere to be found.

"Oh, screw it!"

You throw the handle away, close your fist and then punch the coffin right in the middle.

CRACK!

The area of the coffin you hit splinters as your fist goes through it. A bright cyan lights radiates from the cracks and shines the whole room. The coffin, whatever it is it's doing, it needs your energy. With your other hand, you grasp your rock, your being, your gem. You can feel as it reaches out to another light, another being. They are like you, aware, alive, in touch with a magnificant and imense sea of lights, of concepts. All you have to do is to pull it out, pull it here, to this time outside of time.

The cracks start to spread and the lights intensifies. The brightness becomes blinding and then suddenly it's done, so you physically pull the person out. As you do, the coffin finally shatters into multiple glowing pieces that burn in blues flames before disappearing and soon the dim green light of the Moon returns to be the only thing illuminating the cabin. There was no signs the coffin was ever there in the first place, not even a small scorch mark on the floor.

You look back towards the person you just pulled, who was lying on the floor. He was short and fair-skinned, had a large blonde beard and was waring a yellow rain coat and hat.

"You're not Souji."

The man groaned as he struggled to get up. He seemed really dazed, was he okay? He didn't seem injured but you were still worried, even if he wasn't Souji.

"What were you doing inside a coffin?" you ask, more to yourself than to the man. You guess he won't be able to remember being inside a coffin either. But he must know something, right?

You shake your head. You can always interrogate him later, right now you need to make sure he is okay. You grab him by his shoulder and help him get up. He almost stumbles a couple of times but you hold him still.

"Are you okay?" you ask. The man only gives some grunting and gibberish as a response. That's weird, was it some language you didn't understand? You thought you knew how to speak all languages! Wait, you do? You guess you do. The man is probably just very disoriented.

"I can't really understand you. What did you say?" you ask, but the man ignores you this time. He seems to be staring very intently at your hands for some reason. He was really focused into it, it's kinda creepy. You let go of him and he finally looks at you. He looks you in the eye, then in your arms, then your eyes again.

"Uh, are you okay? Do you remember being a coffin?" you ask. Istead of being polite and answering, he screams and starts running away.

Are you really that scary?

Now you're alone again. You feel you should probably do something about the screaming man, even if it's his fault that he ran way scared. You did nothing scary at all this time! You didn't even shout at him...

[] You should chase after him
-[] and think of something to say in order to calm him down while you do so. But what could that be?
[] This is a boat in the middle of the ocean, where is he going to ran away towards? It's better to just wait it out. You can do something else istead.
-[] Like what?
[] Write-In

 

[veekie]

[X] This is a boat in the middle of the ocean, where is he going to ran away towards? It's better to just wait it out. You can do something else istead.
-[X] Check the controls. Could you get the boat to go anywhere?

 

[Ave Anathema]

[X] You should chase after him
-[X] My name is Plume of Dusk and I'm really sorry I didnt mean to scare you
--[X]I was drifting by and saw your boat, (if its the Midnight Hour) I'm sure youve looked up and noticed how the world is and I just wanted to make sure you were okay
edit shall we debate?

 

[RookDeSuit]

[X] This is a boat in the middle of the ocean, where is he going to ran away towards? It's better to just wait it out. You can do something else istead.
-[X] Check the controls. Could you get the boat to go anywhere?

 

[Fecyrineu]

You don't feel like chasing after the man. Besides, chasing after him will only make him more scared. You'll just wait it out and then talk to him when he's ready. It's not like he can flee anywhere, anyway.

You decide to check the control panel out. You have a mission to fulfill afterall, and you need to get going. Maybe you don't need to get going immediately, but you are already getting tired of the ocean. You have found out that the life of a sailor is not for you. Paddling never more.

Now onwards, towards pressing matters!

You skip towards the control panel and take in the sights. There are multiple buttons of many colors, some of them are shaped like a circle while other were like light switches. There were three different meters. What did they measure? You don't know! One of them could be speed and another one fuel, but then what was the third one? There were also two levers and, of course, the ship's helm. You had a feeling that you could rotate it to direct the ship if it was moving, which it wasn't. That's a problem.

Alright, which one of these thingamajigs makes the boat go fowards? You guess it's one of the levers but which one? Well, only one way to know. You grab one of the levers and ready to turn it down.

You feel shouldn't do this without the man's permission, but it's his fault he ran away scared. His fault entirely! If he doesn't want to give you a ride, too bad! He could've just said so but istead he acted like you were scary and ran away so he lost his privilige to deny you your ride!

"We're going whenever you want to or not!"

You pull down the lever and... nothing happens.

"That's anticlimatic." Welp, you'll just try the other one.

You pull the other lever and... once again nothing happ- wait, did you hear that right? There was some sort of glurping sound. Was it connected to to the lever?

You put the lever back in place and then pull it again. Yup, there's certainly a glurping sound. It seems to be coming from somewhere under you, in the bowls of the ship.

Regardless, glurps is not why you are here. The levers didn't work so you tried the buttons. You pressed, switch, reswitched and pressed again for good measure.

Yet again, nothing happend.

"Come on! What's the point of all these buttons and levers if they don't do anything. Biggest dissapointment of my life." Well, that not entirely true. Glurping noises, huh?

The floor seems to have welded together from a bunch of steel squares, so you logically decide to rip one out to see where those noises where coming from.

It's a small space that you can't fit in so you just put your inside and use your shiny powers to see. To facilitate localizing the source of the sound you turn the lever again using your feet.

Once again, glurp.

It seems the noise is coming from that pipe! That pipe that connects a thing with another thing. You have no idea what it is nor what it does. You don't even know what is inside those tubes to make the glurping sound. You have no idea how any of this works.

You are starting to think that maybe trying to drive a big motorized boat when you have no idea what you're doing might be a bad idea.

Welp, you guess you'll just have to find some way to convince the man to drive you.

You leave the floor and yuck at the spiderwebs that were now glued to your hair. Stupid spiders, making webs and stuff.

You look into the ocean one more time to take your mind out of stupid spiders and non-functional boats. You don't think you can ever get tired of the look of the ocean. Well, of this ocean, the right one. It's endless red as far as the eye can see. The way the moonlight is reflected on the surface of the water creates the most alluring of patters and how the man paddling away in the dingy boat creates small waves that enrapture you and wait a moment.

You squint your eyes and see that, yes, the yellow raincoated man is indeed using your dingy to paddle away from here.

"Oh. This isn't good."

How are you going to leave here now? You don't know how to drive this thing! You can't swim! You're stuck here! Oh no!

"WAIT!" you shout as loud as you can, hoping the man will hear you. "I'M SORRY FOR SCARING YOU, PLEASE COME BACK! I CAN'T DRIVE THIS BOAT WITHOUT YOU! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE!"

He didn't hear you, or if he did then he just ignored you.

"I HAVE MISSION, A PURPUSE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE! YOU CAN'T STEAL MY DINGY!"

He keept paddling.

"SCREW YOU! I DON'T NEED YOU, I CAN DRIVE THIS BOAT MYSELF!"

You turned around and walked away from the windown. You then turn and go back.

"I WAS LYING, PLEASE COME BACK!" you shout, to no avail.

Are you going to be stuck here? You can't be stuck here, you have a mission! The idea of fullfilling that purpuse that you knew you had to do is what motivated you to get out and keep moving. You have to fullfill it! Not completing it is not an option.

But it's okay, it's fine! You'll just find a way to keep going like you did so far! Yeah, you just need to come up with something. You'll be fine! It's nothing to worry about. You'll be totally okay.

[] Write-In

 

[RookDeSuit]

[X] Learn to Drive
-[X] Is there a manual anywhere?
--[X] Check all the rooms in this Ship.
--[X] Try to not destroy walls or windows- they might be important for continued operation of the ship.

Thinking on it, we probably got the ship to start, but because we're in a time stop it isn't going anywhere. Now, our resident gem definitely isn't experienced enough or knowledgeable to immediately figure this out, but this will be a learning experience.

 

[Fecyrineu]

Alright, breathe in, breathe out. Just be calm, there is no need for panic.

There has to be some way to learn how to drive this thing. This is alot of buttons and levers and none of them have any labels. How could someone memorize what each and every one of them did? They couldn't, which is why there has be some sort of manual around here. That's your reasoning, at least. There could also not be a manual but you don't want to think about that possibility for now.

You start your search by going down the trapdoor in the open area. It was open now, the man must've went inside when he was running. You go down a ladder and find yourself in some dark, dusty room, again.

A quick showing of your light reveals that the room is in fact a bedroom. There is a bed, a wardrobe, a nightstand, a door to another room and that was about it. The wardrobe's doors were wide open and a trail of yellow raincoats led from it towards the stairs. The drawer in the nightstand were also wide open and the bed sheets were sprawled on the floor in one huge mess. You've only been to two bedrooms so far and there's no discussion which one is the nicer one. That old man should take more care of his stuff.

You search the room for anything that can help. A manual, a journal, anything, but find nothing of use. Just clothes and a family picture.

The image intrigues you. It has the old man from before standing next to a blond woman with a baby in her arms and a small child, also blonde. A very bright blonde hair, almost bordering on white. It reminds you of your own hair. They were all smiling and hugging each other. Seeing the picture feels you with an emotion you can't well describe. It must be nice to have someone to guide you and tell you what you should do, what your purpose is.

You shake your head and put the picture back where you found it. It wasn't going to help you fulfilling your mission so it didn't matter. You were here to find clues on how to drive this thing, don't get distracted!

The bedroom turned out to be useless so you procced through the door into the next room. It was a small bathroom. There was no other door leading somewhere else. This is weird. The boat is far bigger than this so there must be more stuff under here than two small rooms. What are you hiding, old man?

You prepare to tear down the wall and find that out when a thought comes to your mind. Perhaps damaging the only thing keeping you from sinking into the botton of the ocean.

You sigh. You want to see what's behind the wall but it's probably just a bunch of machinenery.

You look at the bathroom mirror into your reflection. You cyan skin, your white hair, your golden eyes, your gem. You are not human. You don't have a family, no one to care about you or to guide you. Souji wanted to help you, but he himself claimed he was helping you because he would guilty if he didn't. You have no one like you. Meanie is sorta like you, but looking back, you don't think that inside that blob of destruction there was any sort of intelligent mind. She was wrong, like you but also very much not so. She wasn't family, as much as you hoped she would be back then.

What are you, really? Are you a ghost? Are you a Kirijo Group science experiment? You are not human. You are not normal. You don't have a family. You don't have anyone.

It doesn't matter, all of that doesn't matter as long as you fulfill your mission. You know that. Wasn't it just a few hours ago that you commited towards this goal? Yet look where you are now. It sure didn't take long for you to be stranded in a boat in the middle of the ocean. So much for that, huh? What was the point of all this, then? Why did you claw out of that wall? Was it all for this, to be scared at a confusing world and then attacked multiple times? To be stranded and aimless?

You didn't even notice when exactly you stopped standing and sitted down on the toiled, nor did you care. As you were looking down at your clenching fists, you notice from the cornor of your eye a small magazine rack next to the toiled. The covers told you that they were all nearly about fishing or boats. However, between a magazine about fishing nets and another one about the top 10 ways to clean rust on your boat there was something else. It was a small book with the word "manual" in the title. You quickly grab it, paying no mind to all the magazines you sprawled onto the floor, and skim it. It really was a manual on how to drive this thing!

"Yeah, ha ha hah! Here we go!"

You rush towards the control cabin. The road towards fulfilling your purpose becomes clearer!

Upon reaching the control cabin you sit down on one of the chairs and immediately start reading. The little book was filled with complicated words whose meaning you had hard time grasping, but eventually you started making sense of these convoluted terms. Why couldn't they make it easier to understand? A simple 'this button does this' explanation would've worked.

You're still a little confused on how this works, but nevertheless decide to start messing with the console again except this time you'll get it right!

If you understood correctly then you should press this button, then this one and pull this little cord thing you didn't realize was there before and that should start the engine.

Nothing happend.

Breathe in, then breathe out. You are the complete imagine of total serenity.

Just to make sure, you pull the glurping lever to it's full extend which should've made the boat go ahead at full speed. Nothing.

"Stupid boat! Why won't you wor- ARGHHH!" You are launched backwards as your surroundings move with a sudden force. You fall into the hole you made and hit your head in a pointy metal protrusion with a force strong enough to hurt.

This boat is conspiring agaist you, you swear! It decides to start violently at the worst time it could. You are sick of the ocean and boats. They can go screw it!

Still, you can't help but giggle after your anger at this stupid boat subsides. It worked! The engine was roaring and the boat was shaking as it moved through the water. You could feel the pull of your mission coming closer and closer, even if only very slightly. It was exhilarating! Progress at last! Your cheer is so much that you start glowing. You didn't even want to glow but it's just kinda happening on it's on. You don't mind though, you do think that your glowing powers are very pretty.

As you get out of the hole, you notice the view from outside the window and your smile dampers. The world was wrong again. The sky was no longer green and the moon was no longer as big as it was.

Was this cyclical? You don't like the world like this. Why couldn't it stay the right way forever? You're getting tired of this...

Well, look at the positive side. The boat was moving and you were no longer stuck here. A sense of joy fills your gem as you grasp the helm with your hands. You turn to one side an another and the boat turns with you. It's weird, how such a small movement changes the direction of this entire thing, but also exciting! You are now Plume of Dusk, boat captain extraordinaire!

Where to, captain?

[] After the old man. You should probably clear this misunderstanding and explain to him you didn't intend to rob his ship.
[] Forget tha old man, he made his choice. Towards the calling! Nothing will stop you or hinder you in the pursuit of your mission!
-[] You're not sure, does accidentally stealing a ship and then deciding not to return it make you a pirate?

 

[veekie]

[X] After the old man. You should probably clear this misunderstanding and explain to him you didn't intend to rob his ship.

 

[Fecyrineu]

You looked towards the horizon, where your mission awaits. You want to go there but you can't help but think of the old man. He seemed so happy in that picture, and now he is paddling away scared. And you stole his boat, albeit unintentionally. It was, of course, mostly his fault for running away but you do feel a little bit guilty about it. Just a little though, enough for you to decide to go back to him and explain that you didn't intend to rob his ship. Besides, you yourself know the torture that is paddling through the ocean and you wouldn't want to wish that on anybody.

You rotate the helm and feel the inertia push you to the side as the boat turns. The weight that such a small movement has makes you feel powerful. This is so much cooler than driving the dingy! Maybe the ocean is not so bad.

You continue rotating the boat until it is heading towards the vague direction you remember seeing the man paddling away towards, although you don't remember it that well. The green glow of the moon being gone is not helping things. Before the ocean was red and visible but now it's so pitch black you wouldn't be able to tell where the ocean ends and the sky begin if it were not for those strange twinkling lights.

The corse is set so you go outside the cabin and into the open area. You jump over the cabin and stand on top of it. It's the tallest place in the boat so it would hopefully help you in locating the old man.

It's windy here, so much more than it was before on the beach. Your hair and clothes are constantly waving rapidly in reaction to that. The howling air caresses your skin, it's refreshing. The unending darkness of this world is scary so you just close your eyes to it.

For a moment, everything seemed to fade away. The worry, the fear, the wrongness, it was as if they didn't exist anymore. It was just you and the wind enveloping every part of your body. The way it it shook your hair, not too strongly but not too gently. How it felt in your jumpsuit which you knew that, despite how it looked, was also a part of you. It was just you, the wind and the calling. The calling for you to go towards what you were meant to be. Your mission.

You want to stay here more, as if for as long as you keep your eyes closed then the world will not be wrong, but you can't ignore what's in front of you. You need to keep loking for the old man.

Even from your advantage point you cannot see well. The darkness that covers the ocean, so foreboding as it is, is greatly reducing your visibility. The moon, small and weak when the world is like this, is being covered by clouds. You can't see anything like this.

Are you even going to the right direction? You had the vague idea of where he went, but it wasn't exact. It's possible that you are just driving further away from him istead of closer. Maybe he went to Yakushima? It's possible, but you don't really want to go back there. Perhaps your initial instincts were right and you just need to stay the course until you find him. What to do?

[] Go to Yakushima. That's probably where he is going,but you don't want to go back. All of that paddling for nothing...
[] Stay the course. You trust your instincts, when have they ever betrayed you?
[] You won't find him in this darkness. Just accept your status as an accidental pirate and keep forging ahead towards your mission.