action & action & text | 8/25

[onethousen]

1 | getting the drop on the hot springs

[ Woe upon any who venture into the hot springs in their pink walled, steamy glory, navigating the maze of buckets and stones and attractive dead carcasses of coral artfully arranged to provoke a sense of relaxation on either side of the wooden dividers. A fie upon any who have sought a moment of relaxation, to soak in the heat and breath in of the steam and find their aches begin to loosen their stranglehold, muscles begin to shed tension, skin begins to sweat even more than before.

It is, perhaps, quite enjoyable. Restive. Even, dare we say, rejuvenating.

Then a ten year old comes crashing down into the waters with a startled yelp, splashing everything and shooting back up to her feet, coughing out the water that's inevitably gotten into her lungs.

So much for a restive visit at the indoor hot springs. Thanks, Chihiro! ]

2 | a drop in the sea

Soaked once already, she'd faced the contents of her Fun Survival Pack and been left contemplating the wet suit with the look of a young woman resigned to what was inevitably coming.

A change.

Chihiro managed to get into her wet suit, getting it zipped up after some creative contorting when she almost lost her grip on the zipper. She quietly investigated for available space to drape her clothing on, letting it dry while she took her breathing apparatus and stared down into the pool of water leading to the outside. To the vast ocean that surrounded near everything on this world, from what she understood.

She stood there, eyes flicking between the apparatus in her hands and the water, swallowing in reflex. She understood the fairly simple principle at play here, and it was why she went from soaked in a hot spring to eventually opting to be soaked in salt water. All this base was down here. If she wanted a chance to see an up there, she was going to have to swim and breathe while underwater.

"Is this really enough?" It was supposed to be.

Taking the initial plunge was almost the worst, but once she decided on it, Chihiro simply moved forward off the ledge and jumped into the water. She broke the surface with a small gasp, using one arm to keep herself afloat while the other held the apparatus above the waters level. There was no preventing it from tasting like salt, as far as she knew.

She still grimaced when she first tasted the salt on the mouthpiece, shoving it in her mouth and carefully sinking below the surface of the water. Then staying there, coaxing herself into taking a breath in while part of her was certain she was going to be inhaling water. When she found she could breathe in without having anything worse than the salty taste lingering in her mouth, she dared to move down low enough even her nose wasn't above the waterline.

( i ) Here goes...! Her mental exclamation was accompanied by a flurry of bubbles once she fully submerged, using her arms to propel her down while refusing to open her eyes to look back at the air-filled rooms of the base she'd just left. This works! I'm really breathing underwater! Her excitement carried over in her mental tone, as evident in the smile she couldn't quite make as it was in the way her closed eyes opened, blinking rapidly to adjust to the saline, finding it not all that intrusive in the end. This is incredible...

It wasn't enough to override the hollow pit in her stomach at being stranded a world away from home once more, but with no recourse other than to press onward, it was time to do some relatively safe exploring.

( ii ) To anyone coming across her after she'd taken the plunge, Chihiro was swimming around the base on the outside, alighting on curved surfaces and waving at people when it didn't appear she was accidentally intruding. When one of the unfamiliar fish would come close, she'd hold herself still and pressed up against the base itself, waiting and watching for what would happen next.

3 | text: ask and ye shall possibly learn more than what you knew before

Hello, my name is Chihiro. I didn't know where it was best to ask, so I'm trying here. Is there anyplace new people should generally be sleeping?

[ this had been easier at the bath house when it'd all been pretty straightforward. "follow lin." she'd try to figure out food as well, but honest to goodness, she's not sure she can eat quite yet. ]

Comments

1/2 (not here)

[trainees]

[ "chihiro"? the name is familiar to peter, if only because he's a massive nerd and would watch a certain movie enough times to remember the names of basically every character in that movie.

but maybe it's a coincidence. there's a lot of people with japanese-sounding names... it doesn't mean they're from anime (little do you know, peter). ]

text

[trainees]

nice to meet you chihiro
welcome to the base

there isn't really a designated area for newcomers
there's a couple private rooms that you can snag if you want
we're in the process of making some bigger rooms for sharing
but yeah basically wherever you want?
i'm peter by the way

[onethousen]

[ hey, look, she hardly expected to run into western comics either, the world is a strange strange place. ... not that she knows, either which way. ]

Thank you. It's nice to meet you, Peter.

If it's not important where we sleep, then I'll just look for someplace out of the way I guess. I didn't want to be somewhere I wasn't supposed to, just in case.

[ claiming a private room for herself is way more than she needs, maybe once those bigger shared rooms are done she can... crash with people there? in the meantime, it doesn't feel like it's so important as being "out of the way." ]

1

[sparrowfeather]

[ rose had been relaxing in the hot springs, nothing but a thin white towel covering her up, when chihiro comes crashing into the warm water, splashing it everywhere and making a huge mess. when rose stands up, she almost forgets to grab her towel. almost. ]

What the hell-- ?! Some people are trying to relax in here! Is it seriously too much to ask to get some peace and quiet for a change?

[ oh. oops. it's just... a little girl? and nobody rose has seen around here, either. something tells her this might be her own crash landing onto iniidae. rose came down here in a broken shower pod. she gets it.

in a gentler voice: ]

Uh. Sorry. Hey, are you alright?

[ a lame start, but a start, nonetheless. ]

You're not hurt or anything, are you?

[onethousen]

[ she tucks her chin in at the relative shouting, waving a hand at rose as she tromps to the side, still coughing. she manages a choked little noise (proving she's breathing just fine, all things considered), shaking her head side to side as she hauls herself out of the hot springs to the floor outside. she's a sopping wet mess, her ponytail a sad statement to the same plastered to the back of her head and her shoulder.

when the coughing calms, she manages to speak understandably enough to apologise. ]

I'm sorry! I have no idea what happened. [ or more to a point, as she tries to squeeze water out of the bottom of her shirt: ] I'm not even sure where I am right now... is this part of Yubaba's bath house?

[ she cannot for the life of her imagine this is how yubaba would let anyone decorate, but hey. she hasn't seen all of the bath house either! ]

[sparrowfeather]

[ rose ties her towel around her tight enough so there's no chance of it slipping off before striding up to chihiro, taking a good look at her. oh no. poor thing. ]

Yu... baba? Sorry, never heard of her. Just an ordinary hot spring here!

Let me guess: you have no idea where you are, right?

[ rose's tone is sympathetic. ]

Don't apologize. If it makes you feel any better, I ended up crash landing in shower pod that went haywire and ended up getting drenched, too, so it looks like you've already met someone with at least one thing in common, right? I'm Rose.

3

[goafk]

welcome to the base chihiro ★
we're building some new rooms so for now just use the air mattress you have and sleep wherever you want
careful of walkways though, people have gotten stepped on in the past

[ She's totally not speaking from experience from when she first got to the base. Totally didn't step on a bunch of sick people on the floor, nope. ]

[onethousen]

Thank you!

Okay, I'll be careful to keep out of the walkways. Um, which ones are the busiest? Closer to the restrooms and the lab-place and the kitchens?

[ Poor sick people with low dodge stats!!! ]

[goafk]

Yeah, those are probably the busiest, but honestly? Your best bet is the library. Usually a lot of us go in there to chill out.

[ Low dodge stats and low health apparently...she's never seen so many sick people in one place before. ]

3

[forsage]

Hey there.
New rooms are being made at the moment. So if you want something with a group or something for yourself, let the others know. I'm sure they'll be accommodating to you.

[ that seems about right but he's forgetting something… ]

add

[forsage]

[ like introducing himself and saying his name gOOD LORD. ]

Also: I'm Roderic Pyre. Nice to meet you. If you ever need something repaired or anything, let me know and I can fix it for you.

[ there. ]

[onethousen]

It's nice to meet you, Roderic Pyre. Are you a mechanic?

I don't want to be a bother, and I don't need all that much space. As long as there are places it's okay to sleep out of everyone's way, that'll be fine.

3

[sniptuck]

chihiro is such a cute name! wow

[ that does not answer her question at all. ]

[onethousen]

[ LAUGHS it does not, but given how much trouble she's gone through to get her name back recently she ends up smiling at that. ]

Thank you. I worked hard to get it back.

[ WHO SAYS THAT IN RESPONSE TO "CUTE NAME" chihiro does that's who ]

[sniptuck]

[ luckily for chihiro, hajime.... does not even blink at that response because like? sure. that probably makes sense with context. ]

i'm glad you did!!
i'm hajime ╭(♡･ㅂ･)و
it's super nice to meet you

two

[braavado]

[Korra's just sitting in one of the observatories, knees drawn up to her chest as she stares out into the unfamiliar ocean, when movement above her catches her eye. She looks up just in time to see Chihiro wave at her.

Smiling, Korra waves back and mouths a "hi" at her. That's when she remembers the little discovery she and Kon had made when they first found the base. Tilting her head slightly, Korra wonders if it would work with anyone else.]

Having fun? [She thinks at the stranger, hoping the mental message actually goes through, or she'd just be left feeling silly.]

[onethousen]

[ Chihiro brings her hand back down and clings monkey like with fingers and toes to the smooth exterior. She's caught snippets of mental chatter earlier, not sure if she was really hearing anyone or inventing voices to hear. URSULA hadn't quite cleared it up before Chihiro had determined she needed to start getting familiar with where she was.

It's a relief hearing a directed thought she thinks might actually be from the young woman she sees inside. She can't exactly smile with the apparatus in her mouth, but the corners of her lips quirk up in the suggestion of the expression. ]

Hey, I really can hear you! [ She brings her hand up to gesture over the breathing apparatus. ] I'm getting used to breathing with this on. I think it's probably like scuba diving, only without a tank. Not that I've been scuba diving before.

[ It's an indirect answer, where "fun" was too relative to a need to be moving and face her own fears. Which might have a touch of "don't want to drown" attached to being out where she was now. ]

My name's Chihiro. I'm sorry if I disturbed you.

[ It's not that feasible to bow her head out in the water, but she tries, her ponytail on a delayed bob and swirl along with the motion of her head. ]

[braavado]

[If the successful mental connection didn't already make Korra's smile widen, Chihiro's attempt to bow definitely does.]

I'm Korra. You didn't disturb me--I was having a look around the base. [Korra scoots closer to the glass, putting her hand against it to match Chihiro's.]

Did you just get here today, Chihiro?

2ii

[napstablook]

[ As she was pressed against the base watching a bunch of peepers swimming by, Chihiro would find herself being passed through. Straight through, actually, as a ghost wearing headphones floated right out of the base and into the water.

They realised in a moment. ]

Oh... uh... sorry...

[ You didn't have to use telepathy underwater if you were a ghost, apparently. ]

I didn't... see you there...

(that's the life i swear) then this icon looks way too shocked PLEASE IGNORE... THAT...

[onethousen]

[ She shivers, eyes widening in surprise. An small gasp means extra bubbles out through her apparatus, though she doesn't move away or look frightened so much as simply startled. She's run into spirits before, but being passed through? That is new!

She lifts a hand to wave it through the water, as if dismissing the... incident? They sounds a bit strange through the water, but she can still understand them well enough, she thinks. ]

It's okay, I shouldn't have been... in the way?

[ She's not sure what she should be saying here, to be honest. ]

Um, I'm Chihiro. I found myself here earlier today. Oh, on the base, not in the water.

[napstablook]

[ At least she didn't seem to mind their accidental rudeness? Napstablook still felt bad. They really should just put on their (totally for cosmetic use only) diving suit and go through a hatch like everyone else. Old habits were hard to break, though.

Being around so many corporeal people was tough. ]

You weren't... to know... sorry...

[ But she was new? Maybe they should... try to offer something to help her adjust? Oh this was terrible, they'd be the worst, but it was the least they could offer after doing that to her??? ]

If you just showed up I... I could show you around the shallows... a bit?

2ii

[lightbulbvampire]

[While swimming around, she may come across a glowing Kanaya being followed by a herd of rabbit rays.]

[onethousen]

[ Kanaya, you have a herd of fish after your tail...!

Chihiro pushes up and over the top of the section of the base she'd been clinging to, watching the strange image swimming by in the near distance. She guesses that the one she sees leading the herd of interesting looking fish is one of those who lives at the base... or she guesses? She probably shouldn't presume. Either way, she lifts a hand to around shoulder height and waves, swallowing before sending out a mental call. ]

Hello! What kind of fish do you have following you?

[ She almost asks if this person notices she has fish swimming along after her, but it feels silly. Who... who wouldn't notice that entourage? ]

2

[inyourlight]

For Killua, the hamster tube of the base was nothing compared to the dark, damp labyrinth of his home, but it was still too closed up and claustrophobic to stay in all the time. It was light enough during the day when sunlight would still seep in through the waters, but once the sun set, the darkness was suffocating. He tried to absorb as much of the light as he can.

Which is why, when he hears the girl's voice ringing into his head, he's floating outside the base and participating in some form of sunbathing. He lets weak currents rock him to and fro, and in practicing some zetsu he's erased his presence enough that small, timid fish will actually swim up to him and sometimes through his hair. It's quiet. It's peaceful. He tries not to think of the people from back home who would've been delighted by this, but his nothingness is interrupted by that familiar voice, and he turns his head to see... a girl.

He watches her for a few seconds as she swims around the base before, with a kick of his own feet, he starts to propel himself toward her. She seems to be enthralled by the discovery that she could breathe. It must be her first swim, but she seems to be getting the hang of it quickly. He hangs about her at a distance, wondering if he was bored enough to bother talking to her, when suddenly a large, harmless fish swims by and he sees her plaster herself against the base's wall.

A big burst of bubbles explodes from his apparatus as he fails to hold back a laughter, and he decides to think to her, It's not gonna eat you, you know.

[onethousen]

Chihiro finds the solidity of the base beneath her reassuring, the way her fingers and toes can find grips and she can feel like she has has a means of blending in to the background. It's a heavily flawed idea, considering the dark of her suit doesn't camoflauge with the base itself, but going still instead of panicking and swimming and flailing around felt less likely to be dangerous.

She can admit to herself that it was also too disconcerting to simply be swimming around without something in reach. The surface was far enough overhead that it felt like it might as well be a whole world away.

His mental voice reaches her in a way that the strange fish's passage hadn't; Chihiro jerks her head up, blinking and looking around for who spoke. She pushes up as she does, trying to brace her legs against the base. She ends up propelling herself backward, windmilling her arms to stop her backward movement. I wasn't sure, she 'says' back, carrying some of the tension that had flooded through her along with the adrenaline at the unfamiliar, large shape swimming close by. It's been a very strange day. I've never been this far out at sea before. Her mental pause is almost tangible. Or under the sea this long.

By now she's managed to keep herself still and floating in place, kicking her legs every so often to stay on one level while looking at Killua. Are there any dangerous fish that come near the base?