Mingle: For a limited time only...

[hearsthesea]

Who: Everyone!
Where: Anywhere on the hub
When: Days 134-139
Open/Closed: Open mingle goooo!

[Copper, lizards, and vines - oh my! With the recent installation of 9S and co.'s scanning equipment and the also recent, significantly wetter rainstorms there's quite a lot to check out on the island right now. Plus, the monitor robot still needs a name. You're not going to leave them nameless forever, are you?

Too bad Genette's put out word that everyone's about to be moving location soon. That means these are the last days the coven has for a little while to get everything in order, whether it's to take things to the next destination or to leave them behind. Get your bags packed and your huts cleaned, everyone!]

Comments

[soulcomet]

a. a lizard quest for wizards (and a lizard)

[anyone who happens to find themselves near the base camp at some point during the day may also find themselves suddenly accosted by Madoka, determined and enthusiastic as ever.]

Hi! Do you have some time to help us out? I can pay you for your trouble. [if food she's squirreled away and/or a terrible drawing could be considered an acceptable payment, at least. but she's willing to negotiate to help round up as many people to help as she can — just name your price.]

b. quest log updated

[anyone who agrees to lend a hand will be whisked away via dragon to the eastern portion of the island, where Madoka is leading a frantic roundup of the coveted first aid lizards. there's no telling what the new world they're going to will be like, so her goal here is to at least gather enough to get them started — to at least temporarily hold together whatever injuries she may come across.]

[though, have a seat next to her as she takes a break from lizard questing, letting one of the little critters crawl across her hands, and she'll offer a small, but rather concerned smile. rounding up the lizards is the easy part. utilizing them, or even safely keeping them, is a concept completely lost to her, and she's maybe having doubts that she's capable of doing it.]

[please give her advice.]

c. cooldown

[it's been a long few days of hard work, and Madoka is, quite frankly, exhausted. but she isn't particularly interested in resting — on one evening, she can instead be found at the beach, one of her usual haunts, a various assortment of supplies in the sand before her. there's a sleeping bag, as if she's intending to actually stay out here late, a box containing one of the lizards she's captured earlier, a notebook, and a dagger, should a boar happen to have wander too far away from the forest.]

[she's not paying attention to any of that, though — she's instead concentrating on a bright ball of energy that's floating above her extended hands, providing a bright light as the night approaches. she lightly sort of tosses it from hand to hand and up and down, careful (she gets only one heal a day, after all), but also marveling that she's able to do this at all. thanks, Eltos pendant.]

d. wildcard

[for anything else!]

a

[splinten]

[Ah, Madoka with a lizard. He can easily imagine where this is going.

Without needing to be asked, he grabs the knife Brie gave him and casually cuts open his palm. He then holds it out to her.]

Here you go.

[soulcomet]

— Dirk! What if this gets infected?

[there is absolutely nothing in her tone that suggests surprise, though, because ... quite frankly, she isn't. it's not exactly the most scolding tone, either. both of them have dealt with far worse.]

[Madoka immediately takes his hand to fully assess the damage, a seasoned healer, and nothing at all like terrified person she was the first time he maimed himself so she could learn first aid. she does, in some weird way, appreciate the sentiment, at least, because she really has no idea how exactly the lizards are supposed to work.]

[splinten]

Then you'll drop one of your sweet heals on me, likely.

[Just try shoving a lizard on his hand. That idea seems hilarious.]

[soulcomet]

You wouldn't be able to escape, either — I can throw my healing spell now.

[said lightly teasingly. but, does she just ... wring the lizard out over his hand? that seems way too cruel, and a waste of a first aid lizard.]

[... ... ...]

[yeah, shoving it on his hand seems like the most logical thing to do, so. it takes her a minute of struggling with it, but soon enough, she has successfully pressed an understandably angry lizard against the gash on his hand. okay, now what?]

[splinten]

Damn. I'm basically fucked. You can't beat Madoka Kaname in a heal-off, she's simply the best there is.

[Dirk will attempt to helpfully pat the lizard so it can chill.]

[soulcomet]

[that seems like a really good way to get bit by a lizard. tread carefully, Dirk.]

I'm glad to hear that you've accepted your fate there.

[splinten]

I'm resigned as all fuck—hey. Rude.

[Yeah he just got bit.]

[soulcomet]

[she can't help but laugh a little, not because he got bit, but because of his reaction. stop antagonizing the bandaid, Dirk.]

[she manuevers her own hand over his, completely covering the lizard. maybe it'll calm down if it can't move.]

Do you feel anything happening?

c

[rootandbranch]

[Geir isn't surprised to find Madoka at the beach. it's the first place he ever really talked to her, after all. winging overhead like a shadow to catch a last glimpse of the sunset over the waves, his eye is drawn by the ball of brightness, and he circles around it a couple of times, wondering. it doesn't take him more than a glance to recognize Madoka, but what power is this...?

...when he lands, it's strangely soft. his wings are near-soundless compared to how loud they should be, and the sand is barely disturbed by his claws and tail. he settles there for a moment, about fifty yards further back from the shore than Madoka, before quietly coming up behind her to look over her shoulder at the light.]

...beautiful...

[soulcomet]

[Madoka turns slightly, to offer Geir a little, slightly sheepish, smile.]

Ehehe, thank you! It's my healing spell, but the Eltos pendant gives me a little bit more control over it.

[namely, she could chuck it into the ocean, if she wanted. but the ocean probably doesn't need healing.]

[rootandbranch]

Those things are really useful. Do the necklaces work any differently than the bones themselves?

[Geir's given the raw bones out to some people -- Homura among them -- but perhaps he should have been warning them to make pendants out of them properly.

in the meantime, she says this is a healing spell... and between its brightness, and its nature, Geir can't help but think of Vern. his summoner is a lightbringer, and told him once that he wished he had healing powers, so he could help others. Madoka seems to have combined both of those things together at the moment.]

...I didn't know that healing could look like a light...

[soulcomet]

This is how it normally looks — like a light, I mean! But, without the pendant, I usually need to be making contact with whoever I'm healing.

[she holds the orb out to Geir, so that he can get a better look.]

I don't know about the bones, though. I didn't take any extras back with me.

[rootandbranch]

[Geir carefully extends his nose over Madoka's shoulder to see the orb better, but he doesn't touch it; he doesn't want to waste her magic if that will activate it. he's not hurt, after all. the brightness of the spell dazzles his eyes in the low evening light.]

Healing is such a good fit for your power from Qri, Madoka. You're so nice.

[soulcomet]

[it is dark out, but the light of the spell illuminates her face enough to show that she's blushing.]

You really think so? I just wish it wasn't so limited ... I want to be able to help everyone who needs it.

[rootandbranch]

Bodies heal themselves, right? When you think about it that way, your job is really to help people help themselves. It doesn't need to be you doing everything all the time.

[he nudges Madoka's shoulder very gently, with just the tip of his nose.]

Helping people doesn't mean you make everything perfect. It just means you make things better.

[soulcomet]

[GEIR, WHY ARE YOU SO NICE. Madoka just. lets the spell dissipate, still unused for now, and turns herself around fully she she can face him and give him the most affectionate snout pat she is capable of.]

You're really sweet, Geir. Thank you.

b

[talim]

If it's any consolation, I've never had a pet, either.

[ jude can tell what's bothering her by the look on her face because he's mildly concerned about the very same thing. with a slight smile, he moves to sit down next to her. ]

[soulcomet]

[that gets a little laugh out of her, thanks Jude.]

These are a lot tougher to handle than cats, I think. That, and I'm not even sure I get how you're supposed to use them.

[talim]

I'm not sure, either, but we can always figure it out together. At the very least, we know they'll come in handy.

[soulcomet]

I'd like that.

[she's quiet for a minute, watching the lizard scramble frantically across her hands.]

... What do you suppose the next world will be like?

[talim]

I couldn't begin to guess.

[ jude rests his chin in his hands with a frown, pondering. ]

We've worked so hard to build everything up here. It's a shame to leave it all behind.

[soulcomet]

I know what you mean. But, maybe it'll be like last time, and we'll be able to come back and pick up where we left off.

[that, and maybe the next world will have more civilization. Madoka is trying her best, but she just isn't cut out to be a jungle kid.]

[talim]

Yeah, that would be nice. Who knows? Maybe things will have flourished in our absence.

[soulcomet]

That's a really nice thing to think about.

[she pauses.]

At least, when we do come back, we'll know where to find first aid supplies. [first aid lizards. same difference, right?]