[Open] The end of one story is simply the start of another

[meanmonkey]

Who| Sariatu and anyone who wants to say hi!
What| Finding her way around, meeting some people, all that new person jazz
Where| Legion World, various common places - the mess hall, near the crew quarters, and on the observation deck
When| ...Now? Obviously after Kubo's whole autobiographical storytime dealio.
Warnings/Notes| This is a moon lady who turns into a monkey. Also spoilers for Kubo and the Two Strings I guess, if Kubo himself somehow didn't spoil you.

Sariatu is not sure about this whole "super hero" thing.

That's not to say she doesn't approve, at least theoretically, of what they're doing here. It's a noble quest, and an important one if what the Legion says is true, about all worlds being in danger. Still, these... code names and tight costumes and all that? Silliness that she's not intending to partake in.

She can simply be Monkey, apparently, if she has to fight. She can just use her name. All the rest of it-- well, Hanzo probably would've enjoyed it. Kubo, too. She, however, couldn't give a damn. So for now, she is wearing her own robes, when human, and has promised she'll attempt to work with the costume makers over the next few days.

In the meantime, she has a lot to get used to: technology, reminding herself how to fly (and with this entirely new way of doing so, thanks, ring), find her way around. Today, she's spending time in some of the more heavily-trafficked areas. Anyone near the crew quarters might run into an unnaturally large macaque, walking slowly through the area, looking critically and rather intelligently at its surroundings.

In the mess, one might notice the tall, regal-looking woman in the red and gold robes, frowning at the chef who's handing her a bowl of rice with vegetables and some sort of tofu. "I don't understand how a civilized society can not have fish," she mutters, none too quietly, as she glides away, her expression shifting to "slightly uncertain" as she surveys the large room and the many filled tables.

The same woman can be found, a bit later, on the observation deck, staring out at the shattered moon and the planet below. Her expression is relatively peaceful, and strangely smug and satisfied as she looks at the moon. She's feeling almost friendly, and will smile in acknowledgement at anyone she notices come near her.

Comments

[turntex]

Somehow, a big monkey just chillin' around on the ship is more eyebrow raising than all the aliens and whatnot. Granted, Dave was used to aliens before even arriving here, but still. You'd think he'd be used to this kind of stuff in general by now.

"Shit."

A very eloquent greeting from the strangely-dressed teen that just turned the corner to find a macaque looking around the crew quarters. He keeps a straight face for the most part, force of habit, but a little wrinkle forms between his eyebrows, just visible over the rim of his shades, as he processes this new development.

"Are sentient monkeys an actual thing in some universe -- or this one, I guess, I don't fuckin' know -- or are people just bringing primates on board for shits and giggles now?" A pause before he adds, almost pleadingly, "Please say words back, I don't wanna be that weirdo that talks to regular-ass animals."

[meanmonkey]

Monkey turns to survey the young teen, one eyebrow raised. He's only a couple of years older than Kubo, which makes her chest tighten, but she pushes that emotion aside.

"If people are letting large, dumb beasts run unchecked in this place, I think you would have a bigger problem than being the 'weirdo' who talks to animals," she says dryly, sitting. "And watch your language."

Clearly someone did not grow up with proper parental supervision and guidance.

[turntex]

Someone absolutely did not grow up with proper parental supervision and guidance.

"I'm getting lectured for my foul mouth by a monkey." It's not a question, just the kind of general statement one needs to make out loud to really make sense of it. "I guess that really is the way my life goes these days. Also, there's that dude with the dragon that is pretty large and seems pretty goddamn unchecked to me so that ship has already sailed. It is out of port and halfway to the new world by now. Half the crew is dead of scurvy and the sailors' wives have already gotten loney and started hooking up with the farmboys for solace."

If it's any consolation, that odd tangent seems less like a direct address and more a sidethought to himself, drifting more towards aimless muttering the longer he talks.

[meanmonkey]

She just sort of stares at him for a moment, because that was... that sure was a place that tangent went. Her hearing's pretty good, as a monkey. What the hell is this child.

She shakes herself out of her baffled stare pretty quickly, though. "I guess that would be strange," she admits, and stands up on her hind legs. Or... that's what it looks like she's doing, except she keeps standing up, fur rippling away into silk robes as she stands to her full, human height.

"You certainly have an imaginative mind," she adds. It's true. Bizarre, but imaginative.

[bachido]

Kubo hadn't been looking up when he entered the observation deck. If he'd been looking at anything other than a missing thread in the sleeve of his battered, excessively worn robe, he would have seen the woman standing at the opposite end of the wall of windows, and would have recognized her before taking his shamisen off his back and turning his attention to the tuning pegs.

But he wasn't looking up, he wasn't attending to his surroundings, and he WAS treading by now a very well-worn path to a window ledge where he liked to sit and practice his shamisen. So he kept his eyes down on his strings as he settled into his windowsill seat and began playing.

Several notes in and he continued not to look at the deck, turning his gaze to the Earth. So many people looked at the enormity of the Earth and felt small or inconsequential in comparison. Kubo could not, though. Not when his mother had seen that view and more, each beautiful beyond comparison, and she had loved him more.

His fingers danced effortlessly through the song as he smiled through his memories - at ease, familiar with this place, and a little lankier than when his mother had last seen him.

[meanmonkey]

The shamisen is a surprising and familiar sound, one Sariatu hadn't expected to hear in this place but is pleasantly surprised to find has survived this long. She doesn't turn around when she hears the playing begin - it reminds her of Kubo, and if she doesn't turn around, she can pretend for a moment that it is.

She only allows herself that daydream for half a minute, though, before she turns to see who has brought her this sound of home in such a strange place-- and freezes, her heart caught in her throat.

She takes a deep breath, casting her mind about to see if the distance that had beset her for so long was returning, making her see things that weren't there, maybe seeing a stranger as a familiar face. But the longer she looks, the more details she sees that don't follow. He looks older - not much, but enough that a mother can tell the difference. His father's robes are more worn, and slightly less large than they used to be.

And, when she listens, she hears the familiar, almost-unnoticeable quirks of Kubo's playing that she'd heard for so many years.

She takes a few steps closer, eyes wide, her robes rustling.

"Kubo?" she asks, her voice sticking in her throat enough to almost be inaudible. She licks her lips and repeats herself, a little louder. "Kubo?"

[bachido]

He hadn't heard her voice in two years. He had no idea how much of her voice he'd forgotten.

When he looked up at first, it was with polite blankness, wondering which woman on the ship knew his name to be getting his attention.

He hadn't forgotten how she looked, though, the color of her robes and the path of her scar and how she looked at him with all the love in the world, all the love in the cosmos.

Kubo sucked in a breath. He was imagining her. He had to be.

No, he didn't. At least one person on the ship had died in their world. He knew. The Time Trapper could pull people out of time. There were so many ways she could be here. So many ways - but it had been too much to hope for - but now -

"Mother!"

He didn't manage to get his own voice loud at first, the surreality of his dead mother standing over the view of the earth with him lifting. She was real. She was here. By the miracles of this place, she could be.

His movements had been slow, but he suddenly grew fluid and fast, slipping out of the shamisen's strap and setting it down to get out of his window and run to her.

His mother was here. She had been too much to hope for and yet here she was, and he could not get his arms around her fast enough.

"Mother!"

There was sobbing imminent in his voice.

Observation deck

[blue_flame]

Azula comes to the observation deck every day now, to enjoy the view and to think about current events in the Legion and how to be position herself. It was quite a bit to consider, these days.

She was started though when she first saw the woman. At first glance, she thought it was her mother again but no, this was a different person, though her bearing was the same as Ursa's, regal and powerful and beautiful. All things Azula had always wanted to be.

"Who are you?" she said, struggling to keep her voice steady.

[meanmonkey]

Sariatu turns, confused, when the young woman speaks to her. She's never met the girl, at least to her memory. Granted, even though she's lucid now doesn't make the muddled memories of the years she was deteriorating any clearer.

Still, she's relatively certain, between this location and the girl's reaction, that there is some sort of issue happening that she has nothing to do with.

"Sariatu," she says, arching an eyebrow. "Are you always so abrupt?"

[blue_flame]

"Yes."

She's never heard the name Sariatu before. This woman has nothing to do with her. But there is still something about her, something familiar.

"Did you just get here?"

well his mom was a wolf so...

[notthatjason]

Another day, another chance to get some training in. After his experience on Murder World, Jason was doing his best to get more training in with the Legion's equipment. The future was weird and sometimes difficult for a demigod to navigate and Jason wanted to make sure that his own skills didn't fall behind just because there wasn't an attack to worry about or a war games to prepare for like he'd had at camp.

As he left his own quarters he noticed the large monkey just down the hall. Now there were several explanations for why a monkey could be wandering the halls. Shape-shifting came to mind -- he'd had enough experience with that. In fact, he had a good friend who could do just that, though he wasn't sure if he'd ever seen Frank take on that particular form before. Granted, it was apparently a big enough multi-verse that maybe it was just an intelligent monkey brought here by the being that brought all of them here on a whim. Jason could see that happening too. He knew a wolf-goddess who probably wouldn't have been too pleased by it.

Actually, hadn't Kubo told him a story about a monkey on a quest before? Jason isn't sure why he thinks about that -- but it's another option.

Of course, there's one way to find out.

"Hello," he says. He is polite and not talking down to the monkey. After all, you never know when a monkey could be a god or goddess and when you treat them wrong you wind up a smear on the floor. "Are you lost?"

animal moms are the best moms

[meanmonkey]

"No," Monkey says - not quite sharply, but with that irritated firmness of a person who is definitely lost but doesn't want to admit defeat. "I'm familiarizing myself with my surroundings."

She glances over at him and softens a little. Older than her Kubo was, but still young, polite and kind-looking. No need to be snappish with him, maybe. "I might have been familiarizing myself for a bit longer than expected," she adds, dryly.

truly

[notthatjason]

Well that answers his question about it being Frank.

It is not Frank.

Although apparently the monkey can talk, so there is that. Jason is relieved that the monkey is sentient enough for that -- otherwise he might have felt silly. But, he's used to talking animals, so at least when she speaks it doesn't disturb him as much as it might others on the ship.

"There's a lot to see," he admits. "I've seen a lot of strange things and even I was a little overwhelmed at first. It's pretty easy to do around here."

He looks around, "I'll be honest, I've been here a few weeks and I'm still not familiar with everything. But I can possibly show you the places I do know." He isn't sure if it's customary for the monkey, but he holds out his hand, "I'm Jason Grace."

[wherenoonegoes]

Apparently civilized society had fish somewhere, as the distinctive smell of raw seafood wafted through the air.

if Sariatu decided to follow the fish smell to its source, she'd discover a dragon devouring a massive tray of them. The young man sitting nearby had his own tray of food just as vegan as everyone else's.

[meanmonkey]

Look, she likes poultry as much as the next girl, but they lived by the sea - aside from rice, a large part of the diet of the village was fish. It's something familiar and delicious and if someone else is getting served fish while they serve her tofu, they have another thing coming.

Not that she doesn't like tofu as well, it's the principle of the thing.

She was not expecting to see a very large lizard with wings. That is not a thing she's used to seeing. What even is that creature, she just doesn't know. But it has fish.

"Excuse me," she says, both to the creature and the young man next to it - best not to assume either intelligence or lack thereof, in her opinion. "Where did you get that fish? I was told there wasn't any available."

[wherenoonegoes]

"There isn't. Any fish on board goes directly into the glutton over there's stomach." Hiccup said wryly, earning an affronted glare from Toothless.

"Don't give me that look. Everything I just said was absolutely true," the Viking retorted, before turning back to Sariatu.

"Toothless gets a pass on the no meat rule because he's a mostly wild animal who's diet is entirely fish." he explained.

[kingtyrantranger]

Jason spends most of his day working out. Since he's not a very television or computer-oriented guy, it's really about the only thing he can think of to fill his time with without going to another planet and risking the public.

Today's not an unusual day, meaning that towards the dinner hour, he's on his way to his room to take a much needed shower and change of clothes. His shirt's still well-soaked with sweat, even. He's got his duffel bag, with water bottle and batch of bananas, clutched in one hand, idly munching on a banana with the other, when he spots... A giant, red and white monkey. Well. That was actually pretty cool, but why was it just hanging out in the hall?

He stares at her for a moment before holding his banana in his mouth, wordlessly reaching down, snapping off another from his bunch, and holding it out to her with raised eyebrows.

[meanmonkey]

Monkey stares back for a moment, having heard his approach, and when he offers the banana, she raises a single eyebrow in response.

...Well, he's generous with his food when he thinks he's encountered an animal, that says nothing bad about him as a person, certainly.

"No thank you," Monkey says after a few seconds of silent impasse. "I'm not hungry and I was told there's a place I can get food for myself when I am."

[kingtyrantranger]

He shrugs and tucks the banana back into his bag, biting off the bit of his that was already in his mouth and swallowing. It sort of says something about his life at this point that he considers the fact that the monkey refused the banana more unusual than the fact that it can talk.

"Yeah, they're pretty good like that." Shame about the meat, though. But monkeys don't eat meat, right? "Sorry to bother you, then."

[onei]

There are plenty of strange space future things that Ina's had to get used to, but the costumes haven't been one of them. Official missions are the only time she's suited up, and even then reluctantly; it's still a bit baffling how so many seem to just wear them all the time, but she's managed to assemble a wardrobe of things much more familiar.

It does tend to stand out a bit, dressing so traditionally in a place where most fashion is anything but, but it stands out in a way that she appreciates, so to see someone else who clearly just caught the boat out of her homeland (or at the very least, somewhere much more like home than anything she's heard about here) is oddly heartening.

Unexpected, of course, but she can't complain. Even about the lack of fish.

"It's a bit strange that with so much variety, they're still lacking in something so basic, but I've been told that attitudes about some things have changed quite a bit over time."

[meanmonkey]

"It seems rather barbaric and unnecessary to me," Sariatu admits dryly, then nods greeting to Ina, giving her clothes a pleased once-over. Finally, someone who dresses sensibly. "But if that's what they do, I suppose I'll make do."

She chuckles softly and adds, mostly to herself, "It's better than whale soup."

Right, paying attention to this girl in front of her, not memories of Kubo. "At least you have some sense when it comes to your clothing. The things people are wearing here..." she shakes her head a little. It's not disapproving, just baffled. Why would you want to wear those skin-tight uniforms all the time? It's not everyone, of course, but far too many.

[onei]

"I really can't feel comfortable in most of the styles here," Ina admits. "It all feels so...exposed."

She's had the logic explained to her, of course, and some of it she'd guessed on her own anyway. Less things to be grabbed in a fight, and once they'd showed her how the transuits worked, it made sense that flowing clothes would be far harder to get them on over - but she'd never thought it was possible to feel so naked with hardly an inch of skin showing.

slides in here fashionably late if you'll have me

[good_bamf_ugly]

McCree's still new to the station and makes rounds of moseying about at his leisure. It's the best way to learn the lay of the land. Shame he can't do it in a saddle but the light jingling of his boot spurs as he comes and goes will have to suffice. He's not hard to miss boots aside; he's got a bright red serape over his shoulders and cigar smoke trails behind him as he walks.

Or the fact he's not shy about taking in an eyeful. Yeah not every day (even on intergalactic superhero space station extraordinaire) you see a giant white macaque wandering around. If she catches his eye he'll be polite about it and tip his hat in greeting.

"Howdy." The greeting is amicable enough, but then he overthinks it. "Ape? Uh... Monkey?" Smooth. "Creature." Super smooth. Shoot--Winston would get his goat right now wouldn't he...? Maybe it'd understand anyway and wasn't about to be offended.

always!

[meanmonkey]

Monkey turns to give McCree a very obviously unimpressed look, one eyebrow raised in an expression of bafflement - 'wow, seriously?'. That was impressively awkward.

Every teenaged boy she's met so far in this place has been smoother than him. That's quite a feat.

Still, she's not currently in the mood to turn down conversation, especially with an adult, so she plows forward, hoping this conversation will not prove to be as uninspiring as its beginning.

"Monkey," she says dryly, as she unfolds into her human shape - regal bearing, long robes (beautiful but worn), and long greying hair that would drag on the floor if her robes didn't have such a long train. "But you can call me Sariatu, as that is my name."

[good_bamf_ugly]

To be fair McCree is generally much smoother than this, but sometimes a giant white macaque in space will give a stumble. Or apparently not even that--his eyebrows go up and hide high under the rim of his hat as she transforms, like that isn't the weirdest part of this encounter so far. (It's weird). But not unappreciated as he tips his hat up again in a more impressed gesture.

"Jesse McCree. 'Fraid what you see is what you get with me." He winks, warm and leisurely taking back any of the awkwardness from his initial greeting. "Ain't seen you around these parts, unless Monkey isn't all that you do."