WEEK THREE

[mayorityvote]

WEEK THREE

19 Villagers

They say nothing is healthier for the mind and body than physical labor - especially if you can hold the fruits of it in your hands and store it in your kitchen. Whatever cruelties you have witnessed or endured in the past week, your fields need tending to and they reward you with as quick as harvest as always.

If drowning your grief in work is not enough for you, there are new spots to explore in Puffin Town. Allow the novelty to distract you from your dwindling numbers!

Always remember, the value of a community is not measured by it's size.

(( OOC: Murder proposals are due by Tuesday at 4 PM EST / 1 PM PST for this final week! Get your bloodthirst in or forever hold your peace! Gift submission is still open as well!

If your character has been planting Astera, here's a reminder to report it at the Astera tracker - this does not need to have been threaded, we're just taking stock on an OOC level.))

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[moonblades]

[Childish, maybe, but it also suits them. Even with his limited dancing skills and her limited life experience, they could probably manage more than this, but she doesn't really want to.

Kurapika can get spun, though, if he's willing to twist and duck under her arm with the flourish.]

I think she's used to people not disagreeing with her, maybe...or not being able to. [It isn't the first time that Adela has reminded her somewhat of a Consul, though she'd always hoped she'd be different from them in the end.] When I think about what she said - that she's setting us free - I shudder to think of her final move.

[moonblades]

So I could get away with not giving you one? [It's a joke, of course. She's not an NPC.]

It's silly, but... [Her ears go back against her head in what is clearly hesitation.] While I was away, you did a good job looking out for everyone. As long as you didn't feed pancakes to any of the animals, then I'd like you to have this.

[Mio sits up and produces a BEST FARMER award.]

[moonblades]

... How do you think I feel?

[They're already committed to making sure That Night never happens again, but it's starting much the same way. Mio tries to mitigate her impulse to respond, already shaking a little. But instead of lashing out at him against, this time she tries to put her feelings into words.

When she thinks about the days and weeks she already spent never even calling Noah by his name, now that there are so few days and weeks in which to use it, it feels like such a waste of time. So much time she wasted being scared.]

Noah. [She stops dancing abruptly and holds his face between her hands.] You can't be afraid of the future. I've been so scared of what's coming that I...almost didn't let myself have what I have now.

[revelate]

[This has to stop.

In so many words, that's what she's getting at. He isn't her Noah when he's acting like this. Her Noah isn't someone who'd fall into despair over everything he can't control. They were brought together by their determination to strive towards a better future regardless of if they'd be around to see it or not.

Giving up is how hope dies. If he gives up now, he may as well be dead. Dying here, dying now, would be no different than abandoning Mio when she's entrusted the future to him. Does he really want to give in and let Mio down?

Noah draws in a breath, long and slow, his eyes closed. Give him a moment. If he opens them now, they'll just end up stinging.]

...Right. No sense in fearing the unknown, is there? Not when we've come this far.

[Despite his efforts, his eyes are a little red, a little dewy when he looks at her again.]

I promised you I'd carry on. No matter what comes to pass, I won't go back on my word. Just... understand that even if we had another term, or ten, or twenty to spend together, I'd always want for more. I'll always want you by my side.

[revelate]

[Noah bites his lip, hesitates to speak. The way Enkidu describes themselves is how a tool might— as if they exist only to be used. Then they go onto describe Gilgamesh and their finite life, and as they go, something coils painfully tight in Noah's gut.]

...Maybe I'm not that different. There's someone I want to protect at any cost— someone whose life is nearly at its end. If I can help her achieve her goals, if I can make her happy, then my own life will have had purpose. I'll have found it worth all the pain, all the struggling. To me... so long as I'm useful to her, it doesn't matter what anyone else might think.

[revelate]

[That's a logical answer. A reasonable one. Maybe that's why it doesn't sit quite right with Noah.]

"There has to be another way." That's what I'd always told myself day in and day out. I've spent my entire life on the battlefield, but no matter how much death I'd seen, I always wanted to believe people wouldn't kill if there were another way to survive.

We had other options here, or so I'd thought. Murder is the easy out, and so people take it. Is that not what's happened here week after week?

[revelate]

So you do care about others. You're a lot more compassionate than you like to think, Kurapika.

[moonblades]

[He's close to crying, even after he manages to hold it back - and that's enough to finally inspire her own tears to fall. They're shed through a smile. That promise of his means the world to her, even if their world is still very small, even if he doesn't know how much it means.

She knows now.]

Me, too. That's what I'd want as well. I want to live with you for as long as I can. But... it can't be at anyone's expense. It can't be at your expense.

[If she could live on, she would. If there was some secret answer that would allow her to see more, to learn more, to spend more time with him...without destroying anything equally precious, she'd want to have that extra time. What if they had children or started a farm - a real one, not like this?

And she knows he agrees with her, because he's the Noah she knows.]

[moonblades]

A bunch of worlds interconnected like that... It's hard to wrap my mind around it. I'm glad you've got the know-how most of might be lacking.

[Even basic information is better than nothing at all.]

If those ways to empower it without more senseless death are true, I'll do whatever I can to enable them.

[revelate]

[...Right. When she puts it that way, Noah gets it. He can't predict what the future holds any better than she can. He can't assume his life will lose all meaning, that he'll be without purpose once she's no longer a part of it. Besides... if he can find nothing more to live for, then at least he has his promise to her, doesn't he?

He promised he'd continue to play her tune and carry her legacy forward. He can't very well do that if he gives in before his finite time is up.

Suddenly, two-odd years feels like a long, long time. His resolve's still there, splintered and shattered though it may be, but he isn't without hope. Not yet.]

...No, I suppose not. You'd never forgive me if I gave up now, would you?

[Seeing tears roll down her cheeks only cements that. Noah breathes steadily through every shaky breath, one hand pulling Mio closer while the other thumbs at the damp hollows beneath her eyes.]

What you've given me will carry forward long after we're both gone. You can rest assured of that, so... don't cry, Mio. Please don't cry.

[enkiboo]

[ Enkidu has always known what it's like, living like that, and they know few people can understand. But, listening to Noah talk, they feel as if he would be able to understand them well.

If things were in a lighter way, they could smile; they cannot and will not, though it touches their heart, bringing something soft and sorrowful. ]

...I understand that feeling completely. Even if Gilgamesh's life is bountiful, it would have come to an end if I did not defy my creators and paid the price. I feel I haven't changed a bit since then, so...

Maybe that's what I think that, even if the world keeps on making you both struggle, I wish for you to be able to still be by her side.

To be able to make her happy, for as long as you are able. Finding happiness in someone you can care about to that extent is precious, no matter how finite the time you have left with them is.

[revengier]

You're still trying to prove that?

[ Gross. ]

[revelate]

No.

[ :) ]

I already have. We're beyond the point of of you proving otherwise.

[revengier]

Why bother pointing it out, then? You have other things to occupy yourself with. Focus on those.

[ And leave him be!!! Stop trying to power of friendship him! ]

[liberazoth]

... what should we be doing instead, then? If we've been trying to find a way out and keep failing, is it... really so wrong to try to make our situation at least livable? So we can keep trying? I don't think any of us is tireless...

[ it makes sense to him that they can't always be doing. he doesn't think any of them actually intends to want to stay here.

but... given what had happened yesterday. what Noah had yelled out, during the middle of it all— what was it? that mio doesn't have time? maybe some people can't afford to rest. is that why? ]

What would you rather we do, at this point...?

omfg i mISSED THIS AUGH

[rightmove]

[OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SHIT!!!]

A Yoo-hoo? Are you kidding?

[He is THRILLED. He hucks the apple he was eating over his shoulder (bye bitch) and happily takes the bottle.]

Thanks, pal. Where'd you get this?

no problem a lot sure happened!

[duckinghell]

Quackquack, quack!

[ Unfortunately, its explanation is all in duck, but it seems very happy that Healy is thrilled! ]

[rightmove]

[There's a long pause as he looks at the picture, simmering.]

You know, I really would. Maybe a tall cliff to lob it off of.

[...]

Let's put it in the blacksmith forge.

[rightmove]

[Yeah, he's not sure why he asked. The answer is about what he expected.]

Right. Well, I owe you one.

[On second thought, he's gonna save the drink for later. A special occasion, perhaps...]

[duckinghell]

Quuuack.

[ It nods its head no. Enjoy the gift! ]

[rightmove]

As long as you're all right.

[She's got her priorities straight, as far as he's concerned.]

Don't beat yourself up. None of us really know what the hell is going on around here. You're just doing what you can.

[Which is better than he can say, honestly. He feels like he's just twiddling his thumbs lately.]

[shamen]

A what now?

[Sorry, he isn't familiar with the actual proces of things.]

If you can make me some, I'll exchange with you. What would you want for them?

i died anyway goodbye chilis...

[shamen]

depends on how much cabbage you'd want in exchange. i just need them for an experiment.

[shamen]

I don't think that's the ingredient's fault so much as it's the user.

[He points out, and it's a bit of a sour point for him, given his expression darkens for a moment.]

Not everyone plans on experimenting on other people.

[shamen]

I'll give it to you at the farm. Don't worry about hurrying back for it.

[I'll just assume he never got to give it to him because things happened.]