⏳ THE SCORCHING ISLE: Oracle Event One ⏳

[beleos]

ARRIVAL

All Bearers have heard whispers of them - the Oracles. Mysterious and unknown entities of an abstract nature, they serve as the heart of each faction’s cause - both as a means to an end and a very real stepping stone in achieving their objectives. To claim an Oracle means growing ever closer to victory: to see your homes restored as they were, or to herald in a new one of your making.

So you go.

A Cornerstone has been set up for each faction; one for the Zenith and one for the Meridian in Yima’s manor and Heliopolis, respectively. They warn you that upon transportation, your safety cannot be guaranteed and there is no telling what waits for you beyond - to be prepared. To make sure you have whatever you deem necessary with you before you go, as there is no telling when - or how - you will be coming back. CONTINUED HERE...

NOTES

Upon your arrival, you woke up with an HOURGLASS NECKLACE. Please refer to the Time Mechanics on the OOC Summary and bottom of this post for details on its usage.

The COURTYARD is frozen in time. Player Characters and the Great Tree are the only signs of moving, free life in the courtyard. During the intro, time magic does not work.

Characters are free to investigate but cannot move beyond the courtyard if you choose a prompt during the intro. You may mingle among your fellow Bearers or speak with [MR. TIBBS] if you so choose. (Also? LOOK AT HIM HELP)

Iconoclasts and Stargazers will notice Aspect benefits/detriments now.

All characters will be weak for the 24 hours - think like mild flu - and unable to leave until Mr. Tibbs has dispersed them. This is the time in which any threads with the NPC will be carried out.

The INTRO concludes with said dispersal of PC’s once interactions concluded. They will be sent to a location around the castle of your choosing; they are free to move about freely from here. Your prompts can start with you waking alone or in the presence of others - whatever you’d like!

Your character will innately understand how to use time magic from this point forward. It will come naturally to them, like a skill they were born with.

CASTLE: OVERVIEW (p a s t)

The Scorching Isles is home to the Atirat, a people of sea-dwellers who have the ability to walk on land. (Think mermaids with the ability to shift back and forth between human and mermaid forms.) As such, much of the Scorching Isles is covered in large bodies of blue water and glistening pieces of ice to accommodate their lifestyle.

THE CASTLE, however, is what dominates the landscape and it's where the Shard-Bearers will be spending their time. The white castle with colorful glass windows is obscured by a thick layer of clouds and fog. Nearly every location on the island has a thin layer of fog that rolls through it, which gives the entire Island an inescapable chill. The castle has artfully built rooms with a CAVALCADE OF DECORATIVE ICE, lavish mirrors, and white plants accented with blue decorations. Several portions of the castle are submerged due to the aquatic nature of the native residents.

And everywhere you go, you find them - STATUESQUE BODIES FROZEN mid-movement. They are haunting reminders of the power in your Hourglass - the very real power to decide their fates.

The castle has many winding paths to explore, as castles often do. There are sleeping quarters, HALLWAYS, a wine cellar, and a few large rooms presumably for diplomatic affairs. Players can use these rooms at their own leisure for whatever purposes they see fit. (Exploration, combat, or supply gathering.)

However, many of these rooms will require some strategy to access their full potential! Atirat were much more comfortable being underwater than many Kenosians may be. Therefore, rooms of higher importance may be COMPLETELY SUBMERGED or require swimming through an underwater pathway to reach them. Very minimal supplies will be kept out in the open for all to reach. More desirable supplies - such as warm clothing, small weapons, treasure, and the like - will be located past or within one of these flooded areas.

Players may gather supplies within and preserve their Sand or use their Sand to make other rooms accessible and gather whatever lies within! The larger the asset you attempt to unfreeze, the more Sand it costs - and the more drained/vulnerable you will be as a consequence, so choose your path ahead wisely.

Currently, a pervasive fog is preventing you from wandering beyond the Castle's limits. Should you try to venture past it, your Sand will rapidly be stolen and you will find yourself suffering the same fate as the islanders if you don't move back to safety quickly... However, if you ask Mr. Tibbs what lays beyond the mist - he will tell you about the thriving farmland, the once-bustling village surrounding the castle, and the beautiful coral reefs beneath it. Sadly, they're beyond your reach - but maybe if the Bearers decide to unfreeze them when the week is up...

LIBRARY (s a f e z o n e)

The ROYAL LIBRARY - A treasure trove of knowledge, history, and glimpses of a fractured past scattered throughout. The lower floor of the Library is void of much reading material and contains several intricate-looking art pieces on decorative pedestals.

A spiral staircase dominates the center of the room, with its once delicate structure overtaken by sheets of formidable ice; it leads you toward the upper levels where a sea of books awaits. There are isles and isles of books, most perched on intricately carved shelves. Many books lay in piles or are discarded onto the floor, and scattered papers are common throughout.

Curious Kenosians may pick out books from the shelves and read on various topics, but players may also pass through this room on their way elsewhere. This area will function as a safe haven where violence and the taking of others' Sand is not allowed; do not disturb the books or Mr. Tibbs won’t be happy!

NOTES

Characters who wish to receive a book with lore specific to the island may comment [HERE]. You will be RNGed a book from a pre-written list of topics. The books may give you a deeper look into the island, its inhabitants, and its history! (Only 1 book per player! Please assume all other books they read are about commonly-available topics.)

THE EATING PARLOR (p a s t)

There are no basic amenities on the island. No hot water, no warm beds, and no salacious magazines (that you know of. heh heh). That would make the Eating Parlour a wise stop for anyone. After all, this could be the perfect chance to procure some provisions!

The EATING PARLOUR has all the equipment one would need for meal preparation. Dried plants hang from the ceiling, and the walls are lined with mason jars filled with every strange manner of presumably edible thing (Is that a head over there? Hmm… maybe you should check).

The parlour also comes with a garden under a massive windowed dome so that the inhabitants could have fresh produce at hand. Many plants have withered, but there are some salvageable plants if you know how to look for them. But beware… Some of the plants have a strange blue glow. These plants can spell potential disaster.

If someone should make contact with these glowing plants, they will crumble into glass shards - glass that will quickly burrow its way under the skin and curse that person with Blight. Blight will make all resources within that person's vicinity slowly age and eventually crumble to dust. (Which I relate to on a personal level tbh.) Iconoclasts will be immune to its effects.

NOTES

Please see the "Blight" section below for more information on its effects.

TREASURE ROOM (f u t u r e)

Faint singing can be heard coming from this room. Once you hear the song, it dulls your senses and leaves you in a haze. There is no stopping your feet from guiding you to it through the doors and into the Treasure room. The door slams shut at your back, sealed with a wall of ice and magic.

Players will find themselves lured to an icy chamber bordered by a ring of cold blue fire. There is a deep pond that surrounds the platform you’ve found yourself standing on. Beyond its glassy surface and crystal clear water, one can glimpse all manner of treasures - from crowns, jewels, ornate statues in various statues of repair, scepters, spears, and books that seem impervious to the water's cold chill.

As you come to your senses, you will find yourself frozen in place and at the mercy of a large statuesque being before you. This beautiful and horrifying figure in a perpetual song is the SIREN, the only Atirat you’ve seen in person. She measures nearly 20 feet (6 meters) from her head to the tip of her long-finned tail. She cradles an icy shard in her arms, singing to it as if it were a child.

She sits serenely in front of a large hourglass filled with white sand, which is bordered by a spear and a lance. Emblazoned in faint text at the base of where she sits reads: “The future lies in our hands.”

NOTES

Welcome to the Siren’s Chamber! Players must use their wit, charisma, or some good ol' fashioned elbow grease to escape the room or break the Siren’s magic. The Shard that the Siren holds contains dormant time magic that players may activate by using the Sand within their necklace. Players can access the future in 5-second intervals and use whatever they find in that time period to escape their predicament.

For example, if they activate the shard by using their time magic, that shard will begin to glow blue. The room around them will shift, and it could change to a point in the future where there is a sword nearby. If you can grab it, now you have a weapon! When the 5 seconds are up and time returns to the present, you will still have that weapon on your person. You may also try verbal communication if you’d like. If your character is someone who would try and talk their way out of a situation diplomatically, they may give it a try!

It is up to player discretion/creativity to think of a scenario you’d like. Each “future" does not have to be the same across player encounters! What one group experiences may be tailored to the player wants (because branching timelines exist). Let your imagination run free!

HALL OF MIRRORS (p r e s e n t)

Should you reach the rightmost wing of the massive castle Library, you will find a door hidden in the very back of one aisle against a wall; it looks as though the door used to be concealed by magicks that have since dissolved.

The stairwell leads down and into darkness. Once you reach the bottom, shimmering light cast from an unknown source beneath sheets of glistening ice will illuminate your new surroundings; you are in a maze of mirror-like ice. This labyrinth is silent save for the quiet creaking of shifting ice that may disquiet you and leave you uneasy regarding the stability of this area… but it holds beneath your feet.

Mr. Tibbs had told you that the “Kaleidoscope” - where your Sand is counted - rests through here, so eventually, you must brave the journey. Is it a trick of the light? Maybe the product of an especially active imagination…?

Did you just see one of your reflections move without you?

NOTES

Please refer to the OOC Summary for details on the Hall of Mirrors!

THE BLIGHT and TIME MECHANICS

BLIGHT

Blight is an infliction that will age supplies and infect people with a creeping disease that steals their Sand. For objects, this includes weapons, food, and items like cloth. It will take a few days to deteriorate things beyond use - so watching your supplies and acting accordingly is in your best interest. Generally, it will make it more difficult for PC's to get by given that their already scarce resources will dwindle and deteriorate - especially since it's 'contagious' through touch.

The Blight will not act quickly enough to severely hamper infected persons, but repeated exposure will cause effects to a person's body - notedly protruding VEINS in the face and extremities, a lower body temperature, and increased agitation. These effects start out mild and grow more severe with each 'dose.'

Characters must touch an object/person that is Blighted to become inflicted with Blight themselves. When that happens, it will become easily identifiable as Blighted from the faint blue, shimmering outline around the infected subject, as well as the WITHERED, FROSTBITTEN or ashy appearance it takes as it progresses.

However, there is one single perk with Blight. (Or is it a perk?) Players will feel reduced impact by the cold surroundings, making the climate around them somewhat more hospitable. Beware of falling victim to a chill you can't feel...

TIME

To use your Sand, each character is granted access to and innate knowledge of a spell they channel from their Shard that automatically manipulates their Hourglass. This allows the remote control of Sand (aka gathering and dispersing), as well as the ability to pull Fragments of time from Shards.

Fragments are literal pieces of you taken from your Shard. They manifest as memories or images displayed on little shards of broken glass (think of the memory being played out in real-time on the mirror's surface), and can be crushed to convert into Sand automatically, either voluntarily or by force. The only stipulation is that the parties must be close to one another, and the Fragment must be exchanged while both Bearers are still. This means someone has to give it to you, or you need to immobilize them before you take it - one way or another.

Once the Fragment is crushed, the memory and associated time of that person's life is lost and your character will suffer amnesia until the Oracle is claimed. How deep this goes is up to you; they could lose a large chunk of time - even all their memories surrounding a person or place for a big payload of Sand, or they could lose very little for a meager net gain.

Sand is automatically gathered or distributed by your Hourglass and added/subtracted to your running total. No need to micromanage. Convenient!

Please note that using Sand to unfreeze anything (resources, a door which can be then opened, etc) is an unpleasant experience. Each time you use Sand in this way, your character will be left feeling weakened and flu-like for an hour or two, which will leave them vulnerable. This effect stacks and scales up to outright KO-ing them for a few hours if they go crazy, so unfreezing too large of an area is off the table!

NOTES

• An OOC POST will be coming shortly explaining how Sand is going to be tallied and the Oracle claimed.
• Should your character attempt to unfreeze any NPC's, please respond [HERE]. NOTE: unfreezing NPC's may result in physical violence with CW's for severe mental instability/illness and a potential reference to self-harm.
• HAVE FUN!!!

CODING

Comments

[settingup]

Who gives a shit what the otter would get pissed off about?

[ Not that Atsumu has deep issues with Mr. Tibbs himself, but he's cold and miserable, and if he's being dragged out here to help deal with this problem, he should be allowed to burn whatever he needs to in order to warm up. ]

It ain't like there's a buncha firewood lyin' around easy to find either.

[ He finishes his short tirade with a small grunt as he crosses his arms firmly in front of him, trying in vain to warm himself up. There will be no disagreements from him about wishing he'd come better prepared for this. ]

[zauneyete]

Well then.

[ Silco said, and gestured at the books. ]

Be my guest. As far as I've understood it, to pull these books free, we must... invest our sand. Pull as many as you would like, and I'll even light you a fire.

[ Silco, obviously, wasn't going to spend his sand on that, regardless of whether he was going to piss off Mr. Tibbs. He also didn't want to deal with anyone else throwing a fit about it, but he figured if Atsumu would invest the sand, he could perhaps sneak a little fire. Although it might set more on fire without control.

Oh well. Not his problem. ]

Alternatively, we could light a piece of furniture on fire.

[ He said, looking at the finer pieces in here. He didn't have much care for the finery, it all reminded him of Piltover with the fine, high backed and plush chairs. Clearly, these people had not wanted for anything, and now they were all frozen, and suffering. Go figure. Money couldn't solve every problem. ]

Personally, I would rather we use our sand in the end, and save what we can otherwise. [ Take, even, if necessary. ]

[settingup]

[ Right, that whole little issue of needing to spend Sand in order to get kindling-- sorry books free. It's not like Atsumu is really looking forward to dumping out all of his Sand either, especially given that if he runs out and needs to make more, the way to do it doesn't sound but so appealing.

Still, he wishes he hadn't visibly balked at the suggestion literally the second after he does it. Silco has proven himself time and time again happy to poke at Atsumu, and he feels like he doesn't need to give the man more ammo to use again him.

He tries to change tactics by approaching the closest chair. It's ornate looking, but small enough that it's not like someone could sleep on it anyway, and if one really needed to sit, they could just park themselves on the floor.

The cold, cold floor, but it'd work still.

He's tugging the chair over, hoping that Silco will let it go that Atsumu did not respond to his suggestion Atsumu use his Sand to unfreeze the books. ]

Ain't it harder to set something like this on fire?

[zauneyete]

[ Silco's lips twitched into a sharp, almost-there smile for just a moment. He did not point out that Atsumu had decided that his sand was too precious for investing in books, or that he'd finally agreed with him.

Or the fact that he'd drug over a Whole ass chair.

Silco, though, was a ratty little man from the undercity, and he knew that sometimes, one had to do what one did to survive. He could have lit the chair on fire, but since he was Trying to not catch the eye of anyone that might come into the library -- he wanted to keep a low profile unless he was reaching out to strike -- ]

Let's try a new trick, hm?

[ He touched the cushion of the chair with his hand, and stepped back. Because Prestidigitation, beyond just lighting fires, can apparently warm 1 cubic foot of non-living material.

So enjoy your heated chair, Atsumu. ]

Go on, sit.

[settingup]

[ A whole chair, no matter how ornate or heavy, isn't too much for a guy like Atsumu to solo drag about. A little exercise does the body good in these kind of temperatures anyway, because it helps warm a guy up, though not nearly enough to make any of this tolerable.

God a bonfire would be nice right now, but he'll have to settle for whatever it was Silco just did to that chair. Which he will give a suspicious look to, before giving an equally suspicious look to Silco. ]

You didn't do anything weird to it, didja? It ain't gonna light on fire as soon as I sit on it or something, right?

[ You know, he's asking those questions, but he's doing it while simultaneously moving to sit down in the chair. He probably should have waited for an answer first if he was really concerned.

Instead, he'll be treated to a warm seat that doesn't seem to be lighting him up, and his brow raises as he wiggles in the seat to adjust and get comfortable.

Huh... ]

Not bad.

[zauneyete]

[ Silco's eye narrowed, as if he was about to say that no, he hadn't lit it on fire, because he wouldn't do that to an ally -- he would -- but Atsumu had already moved to sit down, so he didn't even need to wage a protest.

Especially when he started moving around it, as if he was experimenting with the warmth. Really, Silco hadn't bothered to try to do this yet, so seeing someone else deal with it, and get the desired results... was encouraging for Silco. He would keep that in mind for later. ]

See? Smarter solutions. No need to draw anyone's eye, here.

[ His eyes flicked to the rest of the library, for just a moment.

Silco tended to stay near the darker, more remote areas, but Atsumu had caught him a little more out in the open, and Silco did not want to encounter...

Well. Let's just say he'd be getting into a fight with someone later, and having it start in a neutral zone wouldn't exactly be pleasant. }

We're going to need to be creative to stay warm here, I think. The nights thus far have been worse than the days.

[ But, thanks to his Demon, Silco had his own room all to himself. And now he knew how to warm it up. ]

[settingup]

[ Stealth and secrecy wasn't the kind of thing a guy like Atsumu needed to learn in the type of world he grew up in. In fact, avoiding attention was about the last thing he wanted to do, given his particular passions and hobbies. So the way Silco happens to be slinking around right now earns him a confused look from Atsumu, before he very unsurreptitiously twists around in the chair to look where Silco was trying to subtly glance.

Seeing nothing of particular note, he sinks back down into the warm chair, and carries on like nothing just happened. ]

Think you can make a bunch more of these then?

[ Heated chairs for all, or maybe some heated beds to actually get some decent sleep in. ]

[zauneyete]

I'm afraid I am somewhat limited in scale. It is...one of those spells that we can get when we select our attunement.

Unfortunately, we would need a pack of them, to keep a place warm, since I can only warm so much. [ A cubic foot. Oddly, Silco doesn't seem to feel the cold, or he isn't showing it. Then again, he does appear to be wearing layers upon layers of clothing. Not bundled up, but certainly wearing enough to stay warm. ]

You'll just have to enjoy that while it lasts. Hopefully it will warm you up, yes? Then, we can talk about what you're going to do to help us... score a victory.

[settingup]

[ Ah, well fuck. Neither of Atsumu's spells are going to do much good here either then. He didn't have keeping warm in frozen temperatures in mind when he made his choice, and the other talent he seemed to pick up recently won't be much help either.

Something he won't have long to worry about though, because Silco's comment has him sitting up straighter in the chair, brow furrowing with concern. He doesn't like the way that was said at all. ]

You have something specific in mind?

[ Atsumu does nothing to keep the suspicion out of his voice. ]

[zauneyete]

Of course I do.

[ He says, with a roll of his eyes, the question implicit in the motion. Are you really asking me that? ]

Alenroux is an island that has no claim. It is strictly impossible to keep it locked to either Zenith or Meridian. An island like this presents opportunity. Resources that could be distributed onto Highstorm, which would allow us an edge, as we can use that as opposed to struggling through fighting off the Meridian and only occasionally occupying it. The seasons there make it difficult, and labor can be lost.

Is it not better to have a steady supply of resources? Food, metals, raw materials that can be utilized later?

I think the answer of what we should focus our effort on is obvious.

[settingup]

[ It's a fair question! And the indignant look he gives Silco back says as much.

To a boy who has never worked in industry a day in his life, and doesn't actually know all that much about what is and isn't useful to a craftsman, it's hard to gauge what might be needed here. Hell, even after Silco's explanation he's not entirely certain he's got a good concept of all of this, except... ]

There ain't much food to be had here.

[ In miserable frozen castle. They're barely scraping by for themselves currently.

Though there is plenty of metals at least... ]

What kinda raw materials anyway?

[zauneyete]

There are grounds outside, are there not?

Beyond the possibility of using it for food, there is water, metals, raw materials like gems, chemicals or plants that could be turned to chemicals, stone...

[ He ticked them off his fingers one after the other, after the other. Unlike Atsumu, Silco did know what was required for industry. Not only was he an industrialist, but he'd worked the mines as a boy, and he knew what his betters had valued -- all the easier to smuggle with, in his early days -- and he could see the potential in this. ]

[settingup]

[ As cozy as he is right now sitting in his new heated chair (courtesy of Silco), Atsumu does manage to look disgruntled at the list being ticked off right now. The bridge of his nose wrinkles as he pulls a face at everything Silco is listing, because it sounds like he's being asked to go outside and scratch around in the dirt until he finds something. ]

Wouldn't it be easier just to steal stuff already in the castle?

[ Not that he's ever stolen anything (that didn't already belong to friends or family) in his life, but... ]

[zauneyete]

[ Thankfully, Silco is a father, and he knows how to talk to teenagers. Or at least he knows not to roll his eyes at said teenager, when he asks why they aren't just stealing. ]

Sure, if you want momentary satisfaction. We can steal what is here, but that will not last long.

[ A beat, then. He considered. ]

Our sand is supposed to be invested, at the end, is it not? Toward something that would serve our goals would be best. Resources, and the like. It's a much more efficient use than just stealing. Anyone can do that.

[settingup]

[ Sometimes just avoiding the desire to scoff at seemingly obvious questions is enough. Atsumu apparently doesn't have a great comeback for Silco's line of reasoning here, based on the way he's grunting in lieu of a response, and curling up on himself to keep himself warmer on the one heat source he has now. ]

So you think we should go root around in the ground outside or something?

[ As if they're going to create their own fully functioning mine in the brief period of time they're here. In all fairness though, it's not like Atsumu has ever had to do much in the way of resource gathering, and even in video games you get it by killing enemies, which--

Well, that is one way of getting more Sand, but there's no way in hell Atsumu's emotionally braced for that particular route. ]

[zauneyete]

Of course not. We will send others this way, once we have secured the resources. As far as I was able to tell when we first entered, most of the grounds outside is also frozen. Should we not invest our sand in unfreezing that, when given the option?

[ He asked, his tone more...authoritative in tone. Knowing. Silco was, after all, always the logistics guy. Even when they were young, and he'd been scraping and scrabbling his way out of mining, the whole point of teaming up with a bruiser like Vander had been to use his brawn and Silco's brains to make the smuggling lanes that they'd manifested.

So Silco knew how to make something out of nothing, at least. ]

It would be to our advantage, if we used our sand in that way, once we are asked what it should be used for.

[settingup]

[ Atsumu frowns thoughtfully, pulling his legs up close to himself and resting his chin on his knees. It's not like Silco doesn't make some sense, but Atsumu still isn't sure what out in those grounds he should be looking for. Even spelled out it seems like it'll be rough going to figure out what is or isn't actually useful to unfreeze. Then again, he's not going to do any better in this library, where he isn't that interested in spending his time reading. ]

So all the stuff and none of the people, huh?

[ Not that he sounds like he's really arguing with that. ]

Alright, but most of the stuff outside all looks the same to me. Nature's all kinda just nature.

[zauneyete]

The people are an unknown element, and certainly of variable use.

[ He said.

It's cold, hard calculus, but Silco was a man who addicted his city to a drug all for the right to force an uprising against Piltover. He wasn't opposed to burning the wick at both ends, after all. Destroy what they had to get the chance to make more. It made perfect sense. ]

Sure, but when converted into the resources necessary, it may be of use. Nature is just -- plants. But plants when burnt make fire or food. Rocks are simply stones but can be used for building, or mining for precious resources.

And you would be surprised what people will do for that.

[settingup]

[ As limited as resources are, both Highstorm and Springstar seem like prosperous enough cities to Atsumu. His understanding of these things is pretty marginal though, and it likely won't be until the a later Blight follows them over that he starts to appreciate the true concept of scarcity.

Amazing what it does to you, growing up with enough money to live comfortably your whole life in an area that isn't struggling to survive.

He gives Silco a skeptical look for his seeming overestimation of the resources he's telling Atsumu to gather. Look, something to burn for fire sounds great to him right now, but-- ]

For rocks?

[ But fine. He shrugs, not necessarily looking to fight over this one. ]

I'm goin' for the plants first though.

[ Food and fire... definitely his highest priority at the moment. ]

[zauneyete]

[ What a difference a comfortable life makes! Silco's head tipped, in acknowledgment. ]

You've never seen what mines look like, have you? There's... desperation when it comes to resources, and any possible way to extract them is encouraged. If you think that people would not give, take, or sacrifice a great deal for the wealth they provide, it would do well to learn.

[ Silco had learned to, after all. Then again, when you start smuggling your way out of the mines and learning logistics on the fly part-time while you're trying to fight your way out from working down in the deep caverns...

One learns these things rather quickly, don't they? ]

Plants, rocks, it doesn't matter. Take what you want for Zenith, just be sure it's for Zenith.

[ His tone says, very clearly, he thinks this is for the best. ]

[settingup]

[ Atsumu squirms uncomfortably on his cozy heated chair for a moment, the reality of his situation verses whatever it is that Silco has seen and lived is starting to hit some. He might not be fully aware of what Silco has been through, but the implication that he's got some first hand knowledge of this is loud and clear.

It's easy to get annoyed at his fellow Shard-bearers for making assumptions expecting knowledge or skills from him that he doesn't think are fair to expect out of him, but so many of them came from places were things were significantly more fucked up than they were for him.

And it feels weird having that thrown into his face. He doesn't exactly feel guilty about the life he had, but he does feel a vague discomfort with the obvious discrepancy here.

So instead of acknowledging most of what Silco just said, he grunts out a quiet, non-verbal response, and sits there for a few seconds before finally replying only to the last statement. ]

'Course it's gonna be for Zenith. Who else would it be for?

[zauneyete]

Well, you never know. Someone may tug at your heartstrings, about the situation in Springstar, perhaps. Or maybe they'll beg something else out of you.

[ He shrugged. Atsumu was young, and perhaps a touch foolhardy. That seemed to be the sort of thing that could motivate him to make a choice that Silco would call unwise.

Silco intended to guide him otherwise. He may have only one teenage child, but for some reason, all the kids seemed to need leadership, and well. Silco was more than willing to nudge them in the right direction if needed. Whether they actually needed it or not was up for debate, of course, but Silco certainly thought so. ]

Think of this as just...friendly advice, hm?

[settingup]

[ In the most teenager move that Atsumu could possibly manage, Atsumu actually rolls his eyes at that comment, or at least he looks off to the side with the sort of bored agitation that only a teenager can really pull off. ]

Their situation is their own problem. It's got nothin' to do with me.

[ Besides, as far as he can tell they're not doing any worse than Highstorm is, and considering he lives in one of those cities and not the other, he's going to prioritize the one he sleeps in. ]

If I'm puttin' in the work, then I'm not givin' up what I find to them.

[zauneyete]

[ Silco actually laughed, a slight bark of sound that's almost surprised, but he really shouldn't be. Atsumu was Zenith, after all, wasn't he? }

Good. See that you hold that resolution, hm? I'm sure it will pay off in the end.

[ A beat, and then: ]

Well, shall we get back to... doing all of that work?

[settingup]

[ No... Atsumu didn't really want to leave the warmth of the chair that Silco had made, but he guesses he doesn't get much of a choice.

The sooner they figure out what they need to be doing here to get their stupid oracle, the better too he supposes. He'd rather leave this whole island behind rather than stay only semi-comfortable in a chair that doesn't actually warm up all of him.

So with a heavy sigh Atsumu pushes himself up onto his feet again, giving a rueful look to the chair. ]

Guess so...

[ He couldn't sound more like he was sulking if he actively tried. ]