Happily ever after with a little flavor

[missrecalled_mods]

Sponsors for the ship? So... Sponsor'ship?

Rare had an hour seemed so long on the Isle, or carried so much hope. The King and Queen spoke to all who wished to speak with them, and to Yen Sid. At one point they even opened the barrier enough to go back to the ship where they conferred inside a silence spell with Sylvando. And once more for the King and Queen to return a few minutes later. Then back on the Isle they pulled a few individuals aside once more. Oddly, not those from the Isle this time. Aqua first. Then Lea. Then Æn'kae.

Finally the hour came to an end and the King and Queen called for everyone's attention. Mal stepped forward to address everyone.

"Alright, so here is how this is going to work," she told them without preamble, once she had their attention. The wind pulled at her purple hair, pulling it like a banner behind her. "Here are the terms by which we will take the people we will name to Auradon. Each person will be assigned a sponsor. If you want to change sponsors you may let us know once we are back in Auradon. Your Sponsor will be watching out for you. You need to check in with him, her, or them, regularly. How often that will be will be between you and your sponsor, but the sponsors will report to King Ben and myself. Behave and you'll get to stay in Auradon, and we will let you know when your probation is over and you no longer need to check in with your sponsor. Break the rules of Auradon, hurt anyone, steal.... depending on how bad the act and how many were harmed, we may, with your sponsor decide to give you a warning... or you may wind up back here. This is a chance to prove that the sorting magic was wrong, that you are good people. Or can become good people given the chance." Mal looked and sounded like she was clearly waiting to make her own judgments.

"As I list each name, please go to your sponsor if he, she, or they is here. If not, come stand with the king and I."

She took a deep breath. "Xion, your sponsor is Lea." she pointed to him, suspecting that she didn't actually have to, but it was good to set a pattern.

"Utau, you are with Sylvando, who is on the ship so come join us." Then a bit of a wicked grin. "He's also keeping an eye on Nadeshiko and Nagihiko, why not let him keep an eye on all three of you," she said, knowing she was throwing fuel on an explosion waiting to happen. But she trusted Sylvando to sort out which of the kids actually belonged on the Isle.

"River you are with Æn'ki. Hope you like animals," she said with a grin that wasn't all that softer than her last as she gestured to him.

"Morgana and Emporio, you are with Aqua," she added nodding to the woman with the blue hair. "Of course we understand if any of you want to stay..."

She turned to the Headmaster. Doctor F.... We're aware of you, and your efforts, I assure you. We'll be speaking with those heading to Auradon. But for now, stay where we can see you while the rest of you, those coming with us? You have ten minutes to get your stuff if you have any and say goodbyes to anyone if you want to. Goodbyes with the headmaster will be supervised so we can make sure he is being as good as he claims these days. Alright. Ten minutes, starting now!"


**************************************************

The gathering of belongings and saying of goodbyes was accomplished in the allotted ten minutes without much trouble. Getting everyone onto the boat, then equipped with lifejackets- thankfully the boat's owner was a bit over prepared so there were enough for everyone, if only just-, and reasonably settled for the trip back took a bit longer, however. The boat was a large catamaran, painted mostly in blue and purple pastels. The life jackets however, were the standard safety orange, and so stood out as sharply as they were meant to. The water was still rough so once everyone was equipped, Sylvando advised those unused to boat travel to settle down somewhere until they were in calmer waters.

Getting back to the mainland took time as well, though not quite as much as getting there had, as the tide was in their favor for the return trip. Still, there would be plenty of time for conversation, awkward silences, or angry glaring during the trip. And Sylvando himself wouldn't be adverse to conversation, provided it didn't interfere with the steering of the vessel. Those without their sea legs would also want to be careful walking around, as the boat-while large for a catamaran- wasn't large enough to prevent it from rocking.

Once they'd reached the harbor and the Bibbity Bobber had been secured in her berth, her passengers and crew disembarked and began the trek back up to the school. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of junk that had once been clearly blocking the road before the path to and from the harbor had been cleared. All of it was the sort of things one might expect to find in a modern city- cars, sign boards, fallen trees and lamp posts, etc- but there seemed to be too much of it for the simple vanishing of the populace to account for it all. Very odd.

Once they arrived at the school, they were led past the pretentious sign and statue of King Beast and directed into the lobby. There, they were issued phones and information sheets. On account of everyone being exhausted, no formal welcoming ceremony was planned for that evening, and those staying were directed to the dorms to get showered and settled in. Since that was sure to be a process in itself, Ben, Mal, Sylvando, the other sponsors, and anyone who still had the energy would likely be around for all that as well until everyone got settled. Thankfully the exhaustion had been anticipated, and it was announced that there was soup in the kitchen's refrigerator that had been premade and portioned out and needed only to be reheated for supper at each person's leisure.

The next morning however, proved that Auradon was still Auradon and couldn't really go without some kind of official welcome, as those who came down to the lobby would find a simple but tasty breakfast of muffins, fruit - provided by Malia-, tea, and coffee waiting for them along with the eternally chipper Sylvando, ready to answer any further questions they might have.


****************


Professor Yen Sid and the Headmaster stood and watched the ship through the barrier until they could no longer see it. Then the headmaster, looking bitter, turned on his heel, stalked back to the school, muttering under his breath about needing to speak with someone. He did not say who, but it did not seem like it was likely to be a pleasant conversation.

Yen Sid, on the other hand, turned to those who chose to remain. “Shall we get these supplies in before the humidity destroys them?” he asked, gathering his things into his bag before grabbing it and one of the boxes.

Comments

[misery_called_npcs]

"Then I look forward to my conversations with her."

[queen_butterfly]

Another little pause. "...I hope there's at least one of them left, anyhow." She frowned, chewing on her lower lip again. "....Though... I suppose that if there aren't, there might still be others that knew them....?

"Oh, it doesn't matter. I thought everyone gone, and yet someone eventually did find me... and my friend...." She snuggled into Aqua's side again, hugging. "I'm sure we'll find someone who--"

A pause. Quieter, "Chell may have known them, but.... But he was lost some good many centuries ago." From how she said it, it was clear that she didn't mean he'd simply taken a wrong turn at the creek. And now her mood was killed again. Lovely....

[aquawayfinder]

"But he isn't lost here," she said gently. "He is here, working hard to help those who need it, isn't he?"

[queen_butterfly]

"Yes, but does that help for the someday you mention? ...He said he fell in his forest and has been asleep since... but I have no idea where his forest is. Or if it still stands, when I am from. I thought to ask him what became of him, when we met on the shore, but...." She shook her head. "Clearly, we ought to speak more yet, and figure out how to find each other, whenever it is we each return.... If that's even possible. What if his present is yet in my past, and his forest was destroyed, between then and my present?"

She looked back up to where those illusory unicorns were idling, and made a face, more a wince than anything. "I can't imagine he knows anything of what's become of the world in his absence... including that so many of our kin have been wiped from the face of if....

"Why does everything have to be so complicated? ...If you could help me not to forget to sort all of this out with him when we can, I would appreciate it. I'm beginning to feel that perhaps I ought to be writing all of this down...."

[aquawayfinder]

"I will do my best to help," she assured her. "But you might be making things harder on yourself, by borrowing trouble you might never encounter. It is wise to plan for multiple bad possibilities, but you need to plan just as much for the positive ones."

[queen_butterfly]

"Yes, but always first things first. Where is he? And depending on when he wakes, the answer to where I shall be may change quite drastically. I think we've been over this before, my sister?" She was careful to use her native word for the title, peeking up at her with a small smile. "If I find myself back, when he is still gone, I should like very much to wake him once again."

Quieter, "He need not remember this world yet, for me to welcome his return to our own with all haste... assuming it possible."

[aquawayfinder]

She reached over and rested a hand gently on Mallia's chest. "Your hearts are connected. I am confident you will find each other again. In any and every world that contains you both. And I would be honored," she said, taking her hand back, placing it on her own heart instead, "to be your sister as well as your friend."

[mist_the_point]

"Aye, the material seems unduly flimsy, especially when wet," he said. "A wooden crate or cloth sack would be far more durable. But we're hardly in a position to be especially picky." He gathered together a few more boxes and the slings bearing the plant pots while Chell stacked the remainder on his borrowed desk top. "Would that we could have shown ourselves as something other than beggars. The generosity of those on the mainland does them credit, but I dislike relying on charity." Especially as it could not be counted on to last forever.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"...I can't even begin to describe all the ways that wouldn't work," Lea said. "Look, can we just save this conversation for sometime when I'm not exhausted? Because right now I really don't have the brainpower to try and translate your logic into actual logic."

[hotheadwarmheart]

Apparently there was and Lea couldn't quite bring himself to be surprised by this fact. "Probly a good idea," he said. "And I appreciate you backing me up on this one. I wanna help out here but don't wanna do it in a way that seems like I'm meddling you know?" He and Mal had already had a conversation about that.

[elvendryad]

"The wine fairy was among them... I take it that word of her never reached you, where you lived before? ...Or do you honestly expect anything less than generosity from our kind, when they are able?" He peeked back at him, raising an eyebrow, seemingly a little amused, settling the last few of the bigger boxes into place before he crouched to get his hands under the edges of the wooden board again. "Though, if it truly troubles you... consider that I sent the ent that arrived with me back with her. I dare say they may be in our debt for that." That hint of a smile of his only grew a little more, and he turned back to the cargo.

A slight pause, and then he dug in deeper, scooping the sand out from the sides and brushing his hands off again. He reached under, feeling the areas at the sides again, and satisfied now that it wouldn't simply slip out of his grip, braced himself to stand with all of that at once. He adjusted his shoulders forward again as before, seemingly doing something inside them, under his plating, and Foulques could likely hear a few quiet creaks as he did. It was a somewhat slow and definitely careful task, rising while holding it, but he did, and by the time he had it settled to carry, it was clear enough too that the continued soft sounds had been Chell rotating part of his upper body to better give it support.

There, the boxes could lean against his chest and shoulders, without completely obscuring his view. He could step a bit sideways; it wasn't exceptionally difficult to do so. While carrying so much weight, however... over sand....

He glanced down, turning a little more to check the way he'd be heading, and then began stepping that way. They should get back to the school before the boxes fell apart from the water at this rate, easily enough. Probably.

At least the dirt would be sturdier to walk over than the sand, once they got off the beach....

[queen_butterfly]

She managed a bit of a smile in response to that last statement, and hugged more onto Aqua's arm again, leaning back against her, practically demanding -- though gently! -- more hugs. "I'm afraid you have more confidence in him and I finding each other than I do. And have overestimated how much time we spent together, in the last... quite a few centuries. I think last we were actually in the same place, it was the town in which we both spent our earliest years." Her smile faded some at that, her voice growing quieter. Absently, she dismissed the unicorns' images, silently retrieving their energy as she did. Perhaps Aqua would notice the faint slip of shadow that tried running along the frosty ground toward her? Or perhaps not; it was faint and entirely fleeting.

"It isn't that I know him. It's that I know our kind. It's how I can be so certain that no matter where or when you should find yourself, should you be able to come visit, you have but to make contact with any of them, use our words as is our custom, and they will accept you.

"...And I think our worlds may work quite differently. Had I been able to find anyone in mine, after the fire... I wouldn't have tried to retire. But I couldn't find even my other half...." The term didn't seem to quite translate; she was most certainly using one she hadn't yet taught Aqua. Therefore, it wasn't likely to be one in common use in proposing good relations on meeting someone.... "So, I ought to rely on planning, not faith, when it comes to finding others back home. Why do you think I've been insisting on you learning some of the greetings?" She peeked back up at her again, seeming amused. "I wish to take no unneeded chances, with something so important."

Time skip?

[nobodys_puppet]

She looked hurt and hunched in, but nodded. They could discuss it later...

[aquawayfinder]

She tensed at the shadow but when it proved to not be Heartless or Unversed she relaxed again and gave her friend another warm hug. "Love isn't about quantifying how long you had together. But connections that run deeper and you can work on those here..." she said, kissing her hair gently. "But I am happy to learn all you want. Just please... when you do wind up back, have faith. In your heart. In their hearts. Even if it feels like forever, being alone isn't. I promise."

/nods Time Skip.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Later yes. Later was good. As soon as excess clothing had been removed, Lea rolled over on the bed and promptly fell asleep. And stayed that way for quite some time.

It wasn't until very late into the next morning that he stirred, groggily sitting up, yawning, and stretching.

Re: /nods Time Skip.

[nobodys_puppet]

She was sitting up on the other bed, watching him, terrified if she went to sleep he'd vanish or she would. She finally was with him again, she was too afraid that would break once more. But at least her hood was down now.

[mist_the_point]

That actually prompted a brief bark of laughter. "The closest thing to a 'wine fairy' in the Twelveswood is old Buscarron, and for myself I generally prefer his mead," Foulques replied, his expression quickly becoming serious again afterward. "And I've learned not to expect generosity or consideration from anyone, regardless of their race. Tis a lesson I first encountered in childhood, and one that's been reinforced many a time since; to expect kindness from an unkind world is to invite disappointment." Though this world, he was learning, was much kinder.

For his part, Foulques slung the plant's slings across his shoulders for easier carrying, letting them hand at his sides as he carried the remaining boxes with him, falling into step with Chell with relative ease. His expression as they walked was oddly thoughtful, something in Chell's earlier statement had struck a chord. 'Our kind' he had said. He couldn't honestly still think that...? "Chell," he asked after a long moment of walking in silence, "this may seem a foolish question, but... you believe I am one of your people, yes?"

[elvendryad]

Chell simply turned his head to look back at Foulques as he spoke, smiling at first at the comment about mead, but it faded as he continued. Had he really had it so rough, from so early on? He wasn't sure he dared ask, honestly. And there were so many things to say back to that, but where to even begin...?

He frowned a little as he thought it over... but then Foulques spoke again, and gave him something easier to find words for. Slightly, anyhow. It took him a second, even so, glancing to him again as if he wasn't certain he'd heard him correctly. "'Believe?' ...You plainly are." At least this, however, he could understand some of the confusion over -- he was made of wood, after all. But that ought to simply have been more proof in favor of them being alike in the ways that counted... but if that wasn't self-evident... then that pointed to deeper issues, like an unfamiliarity with things Chell considered rather simple, fundamental, even. Which begged more than a few questions, but where to start with that whole mess was even more baffling a question than how to respond to the statement of just before, and the look on his face said as much. He closed his mouth, rethinking where he'd try, then opened it as another idea came to him, only to rethink that as well and close it again.

Clearly, they had much more to sort out than the dryad had anticipated... didn't they?

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea offered her a tired smile, his mood considerably improved by a round of sleep, even if he was still a but run down. "Morning," he greeted her. Then paused and blinked sleepily for a moment. "Assuming it is actually morning..." He found the alarm clock next to his bed, holding it up and checking what it said. "Yeah still morning. Though not for much longer."

[nobodys_puppet]

She slipped off the bed and went over to stand beside his bed. "What... happens now?" she asked, softly.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Now?", Lea repeated. "Now, we live, and keep moving forward. Or at least I do, while trying to figure out how to get you to a point where you want to do more than just exist and hide in our room. Hasn't worked yet, but hey, 300th time's the charm, right?"

[nobodys_puppet]

She gave him a small smile and laughed. "I do want to do more. I also want to find Roxas," she said with a grin.

[hotheadwarmheart]

He gave a bit of an annoyed huff, but ruffled her hair with a smile. "You know that's not what I mean," he said. "That part's a given. It's basically anything else that you don't want to do."

[nobodys_puppet]

"Like getting ice cream?" she teased, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him. "With you and Roxas at sunset."

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Fraid there won't be any ice cream," he said. "We don't have any, or ingredients to spare to make any. But there can still be sunsets together if you want."