childrenofbahamutlogs | Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky

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Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky

WHO: Noctis and.... anyone near the water!
WHAT: Fishing!
WHERE: On the banks of the creek
WHEN: Early fall
WARNINGS: Check subject lines

SUMMARY: Noctis has one goal in life: to Fish. Luckily it's something really helpful he can do! Come help?

I. So don't you sit upon the shoreline

Noctis swiftly develops a routine, something that is possibly unexpected from those who know him. Staying up all night is a lot less fun when there's no technology, only terrible light given by candles that they have to make to replace. It's awful and maddening and Noctis has never been one for early mornings.

Yet, after those first few days of depression napping, he becomes a regular occupant of the riverbank just North of Town. In the grey pre-dawn hours it's easy to see the small lantern hung from a branch near the water and a sleepy figure sitting in the grass, already casting a line into the dark waters. By the time the sun is properly coming up, though, he's a little more alert, has a few fish already in a bucket, and will give a lazy sort of two fingered wave to anyone passing nearby.

II. Chose to chance the rapids

By the time midday rolls around Noctis' rod has been propped up by a small branch for support, a small bell looped onto the very tip of the rod. The boy himself is slouched back under the tree, baseball cap pulled low over his face, dozing through the late morning when the fish are less active. He's still vaguely aware, he's not foolish enough to fully fall asleep where anyone (or anything) could come up on him. The first round of fish have long since been hauled to the market, trout offered up to be currency for whatever else Ignis needs.

Really it's, if nothing else, a way to be useful here. He has no idea what else to do. No other skills that are all that marketable. Aside from fighting but his style of combat isn't the sort of thing one employs going after a deer or something. They're used to fighting anaks and sabertusks, much more vicious pack critters or absurdly large magic infused beasts. Especially when he can't warp anymore? No way he's tracking down a deer with his sword.

So here he sits, drifting off, waiting for another bite that's unlikely to come any time soon. Half asleep and bored out of his mind.

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It starts off simple enough, a message to meet up at a bridge that goes over the river and out of Town proper. It's a lot earlier than Noctis would have liked but here he is anyway. Not like there's much else to do. Not like he can stay up all night playing King's Knight on his phone.

He is also, perhaps surprisingly to Sephiroth, completely empty handed when the other approaches. Noct is perched on one of the beams that act as a railing for the little bridge, one leg dangling, the other proping his slate up so he can read any of the other little bits of nonsense that have been happening while he's.... admittedly done little more than sleep for the past few days. The little rock goes back into his jacket pocket once he sees Sephiroth approaching, his free hand coming up in a lazy wave that's almost immediately interrupted by dropping that hand down to cover a yawn.

"Not used to early mornings like this." There's only a little bit of a whine to his voice, less than usual at least. The things he does for fish.

Whatever he's expecting of Noctis, somehow none of this is anywhere on that mental list, but his grasp on what other people are actually like based on writing alone is not particularly great.

There's some buried level of immediate regret about agreeing to any of this to begin with, but at least it would be a better way to spend a morning than wandering around looking for something to do.. wouldn't it? Except Noctis doesn't actually seem to have any fishing equipment, and that's ... going to rather put a hole in any plans. "Fishing at night is also viable," is the eventual response as he weighs whether or not he's completely wasting his time here, "If mornings are a trial."

They're not for him, he is insufferably awake and looking as refreshed as anyone could hope to be in this situation.

"Nah... Fish're most active at dawn and dusk." He sighs a little as he pushes off his perch and stretches his arms back overhead, a brief wince flickering over his features.

"Which means if we're gonna catch anything for lunch we should get moving." Noct starts walking backwards so he can look at Sephiroth as he speaks, even if he does groan as he does so. Uuuugh it's too early but he's also bored out of his damn mind.

"Besides the lack of light would be kind of a bitch and it's not like I can just charge my flashlight or anything."

"..Dusk, then." Maybe this was a bad idea and he should have simply refused the invitation. He wasn't an angler, there was no fishing poles to begin with, and anything like socializing was a pointless waste of time!

...No, this isn't about socializing. It's about food, in a very roundabout way. "If it grows dark I will guide you back to town." Low light is not a problem for him at all. "Do you ... require equipment for this task?" Things like hooks, at least? It's not really the time of year to go swimming, he's pretty sure.

"Different fish, different times~" A vague shrug and he's about to turn around so he can actually watch where he's going when Sephiroth mentions equipment.

"Oh. Yeah you wouldn't know... sorry. It's fine." And then Noctis holds out his hand, bright blue light flashing and a sound like the shattering of glass (or crystal?) and... that sure is a very nice, very fancy fishing rod in his hand.

"That whole... Line of Kings thing has some benefits." He flashes the other a slightly smug grin then. There and gone again in a moment.

Sephiroth, an obviously perfectly ordinary teenager with no such similar abilities at all, shows his surprise at Noctis pulling a fishing pole out of thin air with a blink.

Obviously it can't actually be making something out of nothing no matter what Elidibus says is possible, therefore something else had to be at work here. "Can you do that again, please?"

Noct tilts his head, curious but he just shrugs, dismissing the pole back to the armiger. "Sure, I guess?" He reaches out once more, this time moving in a fluid motion as though drawing a blade from a scabbard across his back and midway through the arc the Engine Blade appears in his hand, the weight carrying the swing. Only for it to vanish once more. He turns on his heel, rotating with the momentum of that first swing and resummoning his sword to his hand with the grip shifted from an overhand swing to an underhanded one.

One that he habitually lets fly, sailing through the air towards a nearby tree as he lunges forward, his outline flickering blue for a moment, a spectral sort of afterimage left behind as he-

staggers in place, the sword embedded in a tree a good 12' off the ground and Noctis left standing there, shoulders slumped and groaning miserably. "UUUUGH!!!! I keep forgetting my warping doesn't work anymore."

Everything Noctis does is watched very, very closely. That's not something he's seen before, and it's almost automatic, the impulse to find out why it was happening and HOW it was happening strong. At least he understood where that came from now, even if lately it was a fair bit stronger than before. The appearance of the sword, and subsequent vanishing again, then calling it BACK is tracked.

As is that flicker of blue.

And that it doesn't do anything in the end, but obviously is meant to. The sword, wedged into the tree, is considered, then Noctis himself, then back to the sword. "That should normally be a site to site ..teleport of some form?" Twelve feet up isn't too far, once upon a time an easy enough jump to make, but now.. "...Do you require it fetched back down?"

Maybe making it appear and disappear required touch.

"Yeah. We call it warping. Pretty much as long as I have something to follow I can warp after it as far as I can throw it. Gotta be careful with it though, balance your momentum and how you move cause you're gonna keep moving just.... somewhere else." He shrugs a little. He most definitely ate shit a lot as a kid until he got the hang of it.

"But now all I can manage is phasing. Which like- Great if I need to not get hit but sure doesn't help with covering distances." Noct rolls his eyes a little before he starts to yawn once more. Not surprising both this early and... using his powers drain him a lot faster there than they ever did at home. Even as he yawns, though, he holds his hand out to summon the engine blade back to his hand and then return it to the armiger.

Then he shakes himself as though he can dismiss the sleepiness, hand moving to rub at his eye. "Fuck- sorry. 's not usually that bad but I guess... I dunno, being a whole world away from the crystal makes it all take a lot more power?"

Part of that makes perfect sense, objects in motion tend to stay in motion and that apparently went for warping as well. "..Does that count for anything so long as you can throw it?"

... No, there's really no point in investigating too deeply if it's not possible right now, and this nagging impulse to indulge curiosity is really starting to get in the way. It had never been a problem before he'd gotten here. "Weakness is a common theme in new arrivals. Few seem capable of what they could do on their own planets. I suspect it might be our patron here, as another I've spoken to said his abilities were intact on other planets." Why would Charlie want to nerf a lot of superpowered strangers?

Maybe BECAUSE they were superpowered strangers. "It can't be helped. If it is tiring, I won't ask for another demonstration." Now he'll be too tired to go fishing if Sephiroth isn't careful. "Will you be alright?"

"Oh yeah. Managed to sneak into class late a couple times by warping in after a pen while the teacher's back was turned." He smirks a little, stretches once more and nods back to the path. Walk and talk, Seph, come on.

"I dunno about anyone else but for me at least it's probably more to do with the distance from the crystal. But it always has a little bit of a drain on me. Like I said yesterday, slowly being eaten by a stupid rock."

As he has no idea where Noctis is even headed, he's content to follow for now. There's a lot of river, plenty of streams and who knows where decent spots might be. Especially if the goal really was to fish near the faerie forest, and make use of his offer to stand guard.

A life draining rock still sounded strange to him. "Being here is more beneficial to you then, if that's true. Less of a drain would mean a longer life." That's a goal for most people, isn't it? Especially if they have friends and family around.

For a moment, Noctis' expression darkens. "Yeah. That's why I'm glad my dad's here." Even if, technically, it wasn't the crystal that killed him Regis' health had been on a steep downward trajectory. Something that only makes him think again of all that's been lost- taken from him by the machinations of the Astrals.

It takes some time, walking along the river's edge and gradually growing closer to Fae territory for him to spot the little stream he'd seen from the other side. He's not sure how far it goes but the place the water spills into the main flow of the river is an excellent place for predators to lurk. All too easy to snatch up smaller fish that aren't prepared for the faster waters. So he nods in that direction, increasing his pace a little. Though doing so makes the slight limp in his gait more noticeable.

Who got stabbed in the back, and apparently survived the ordeal. Perhaps this kingdom was one where an infirm king wasn't allowed, and forced to make way for a younger, healthier ruler. Though he's reasonably sure Noctis is pretty young to be doing any kind of ruler-ing, he didn't really give Good Commander Vibes.

"From what I've been able to learn, a 'cleric' on this planet is an exceptional healer. Our .. patron might be able to weaken it further, and give you even more of a lead." And father, as well, obviously. But chances were high if family bonds were worth anything, it would be put to test on a younger subject first to see if it causes strain.

The approach to the faeries' territory draws his attention mostly away from Noctis and to the surrounding area, though he notes the limp. If push came to shove running might not be an option. He knows enough about fish to keep a distance from the water's edge, stream or river, to avoid a shadow scaring anything off, picking his way across stone and ground with careful quiet. "You have a good relationship with your sire?"

"And nix what powers I do still have? No way." Noct shakes his head, glancing back at the smaller boy. He's already at a huge disadvantage with the Armiger as limited as it is, never mind being unable to warp.

The other question surprises him though and he shrugs a little awkwardly. How dare you ask him to talk about feelings, Seph. "My dad? I mean yeah. I-" A beat, one hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck and he turns his head into it to make his neck crack..... and conveniently look away from those piercing green eyes. "They'd only just reported the attack on the city the day before I got here. Hearing he died I- I was pretty messed up. Like, yeah sure we had our issues. He was always so busy with the kingdom it's not like we got to spend a lot of time together or anything but- He's my dad."

"Fair." They're already so weakened, why beg more? Sure he was still healing faster than a normal person could hope to but it was much slower than he was used to, and that didn't even begin to touch on how frail he felt.

Although this is no mission, as far as he's concerned Noctis is a civilian and to be treated like one; when he finally stops, he looks fairly relaxed but it's no accident he's between the hypothetical prince and the equally hypothetically cursed forest. "It must be relieving to know the reports of his demise were inaccurate." That's what it would be right? Relief?

That is enough to get Noctis to halt in his steps, staring at the ground for a moment before returning his gaze to Sephiroth with a solemn shake of his head. "They weren't."

"I dunno how this Charlie guy managed it but... Both my dad and Cor should be dead." For all that he tried to shrug off how much he loves his dad, to play it cool despite the weight of the conversation, it's clear here how deeply Regis' death impacted him. His brow knitting and gaze dropping again almost immediately. "At least... here they're okay."

Without having seen the bodies, Sephiroth can only decide it must be a mistake. Noctis said it had been secondhand information.. saying so again was likely a bad idea, so he doesn't. It's obvious even to him that there was a considerable emotional attachment, prodding at it when it didn't really matter was pointless.

Of course Charlie didn't bring them back from the dead. Dead was dead.

"Bring him a fish," he suggests instead, gaze shifting away and to the forest.

Dead was apparently not dead here.

Noct doesn't have time to get too deep into his head about it though because Sephiroth's suggestion has him snorting a laugh, his expression brightening to something cheerful and mischievous for just a moment before it settles back into that sullen neutrality.

"Good idea. He's the one who taught me how to fish, y'know."

What sort of fish were in the river to bring? Was this a trout type river, or a bass type river? He frowns at the water, as if its answers might suddenly leap out.

No fish helpfully jumps. "What's it like?" He probably shouldn't ask, but maybe it's alright, after all Noctis' father was alive. It's not past tense, it's now. "Having a father, when he was not busy with a kingdom. Did he teach you other things?" Was fishing a 'bonding experience', or was it common?

Noct blinks at the younger boy for a moment, startled by the question. It's the sort of thing that should be awkward to ask but there's that odd lack of understanding again and after a moment Noct is just tilting his head, considering how to respond.

"It's hard to just... summarize, y'know?" There's a lot of life and a lot of time, so many emotions and experiences that it's not the sort of thing he can just explain easily. He looks back at the water, nods to Sephiroth to follow him, figuring they can at least settle in and he can get a line in the water before he really has to start breaking something so big, so much a part of his life, down into something the silver will be able to parse. But he has the unique insight of his soul mate having asked a similar question once upon a time.

"He taught me a lot of things. And... there's a lot of things I learned that I never realized he was teaching me until I was older. He taught me almost everything. I mean, yeah I had tutors, went to school. But the foundational stuff was all him."

When Sephiroth delicately picks his way after Noctis, it's still with careful mindfulness of where the fae forest is in relation to the hypothetical Prince and or King. He said he'd keep the faeries from being a problem, and he would.

It sounded like that went beyond simple educational subjects like math or reading. Those didn't really leave a lasting impact, did they? "Not regular education things."

What were the important things? What had he missed out on?

Noct nods, confirming Sephiroth's assessment as he singles out a decent spot on the bank and gestures for the silver to sit in the grass with him. There's a slight furrow to his brow as he considers how to explain it, pulling his rod and the little binder of lines and lures with it. After a moment of flipping through the pages he stops on one, pulling a small round yellow lure painted to look like a thunder Bomb out and beginning to string it to the line.

"Like... anyone can teach you to read. But it takes a lot more to... teach you how to think about what you're reading. To find the meanings behind how things might be worded, symbolism, the message the narrator is trying to convey, stuff like that. It's a lot more in depth and not something you can just pick up out of a text book or something." As he's tying off the lure, trimming the extra wire and tucking the little pliers back into the pocket at the front of the binder, he looks up at Sephiroth, gesturing vaguely to the rod in his hand.

"Anyone can tell you how to take care of your rod, what lures or bait to use but how you use it is just as important. When I was six and Dad was teaching me how to fish I didn't know he was also teaching me to be patient, to plan ahead, to consider my surroundings, to wait for the enemy -or prey y'know- to make the first move... But he was."

If only that last one had stuck maybe Gladio wouldn't have needed to kick his ass so much. Oh well.

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Like a bird upon the wind, these waters are my sky

For Sephlet

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