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

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

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.

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"That sounds like quite the story," she says. 'Evil alien fishlady'? Ancestors only knew. "And quite the heroes. You'll have to tell me their stories."

She says the words without thinking, as if she were talking to Kubo, but once they slip out... her smile fades and she falls silent, distracted by her own thoughts.

She misses him already, her little storyteller. Stories told without him telling or listening just aren't the same, after so many years and so much love.

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.

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."

That's a familiar way of phrasing things. It tugs at something in the back of Dave's mind for a moment, but then he's off talking as he does and it's gone.

"Yeeeaaah. Things got hella crazy for a few years there. The fishlady wasn't even the weirdest part of everything that went down. That's the kinda story you gotta save for a rainy day, when you have a truckload of time to kill and you're looking to brutally murder it via an extremely long and complicated tale of nonsense."

That he managed that without a single curse is a miracle. You should be proud of him.

It is definitely not Frank.

It is customary enough to clasp hands that she doesn't think much of it. She also feels like this conversation would be less strange if she weren't a monkey.

Which is why she stands... and stands and stands, unfolding almost like origami (but not literally because that would be terrifying) into a tall, elegant woman in red and gold robes, her long black hair slightly streaked with white.

And then she clasps his hand, though she doesn't really shake it.

"Sariatu." A beat, and then she lets out a breath that might be a sigh, and she adds, "Your assistance would be... appreciated."

She wasn't lost. But it can't hurt to follow someone else's lead for a bit.

Well that hardly counted as a question. As if Kubo wouldn't have done it anyway.

"Let me show you around," he said, eagerly, standing up with his hand still on hers. He tugged her gently away from the windowsill, slinging the shamisen on his back, eagerness shining in his eye. "And introduce you to everyone! Wash will be happy to meet you - that's the man who's teaching me hand-to-hand, he wears a suit of machine armor and he's very kind. If you're feeling well tomorrow, you can come to training tomorrow and watch me!"

It occurred to him, then, that she had been awake for a very long time, long for her, and maybe she was already tired.

"You don't feel tired at all yet?" he asked, looking concerned as he lead her out of the observation deck. "You've already been awake a long time."

He hadn't yet assumed she was healed. He'd already gotten the miracle of having her back from the dead, he wasn't looking for another.

Despite the tightness in her chest, Sariatu can't help but laugh at Dave's train of speech as it careens down the tracks and off the rails.

"You have quite the way with words," she says. "My son would like you."

But then, much like his initial mention of his brother, she strikes ahead in the conversation. She's not ready to talk about Kubo yet, she thinks. Soon. He'd been the best son a mother could wish for, strong and brave and kind and sincere, but for now that memory was hers alone.

It felt too much like she was accepting the possibility of the moon king finding him and stealing his eye and his compassion if she told stories about him as a person she once knew.

"For a rainy day, then. I'll hold you to that, you know."

"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.

Dave isn't necessarily the most tactful person, so it's a good thing she pushes on ahead. He might have asked, otherwise.

"Don't actually wait for a rainy day," he advises as the lift doors finally open again on the Hab Deck, suddenly unsure if she actually got it or not. She looks like she's from, what, like feudal Japan or something? "This is space. It doesn't actually rain, unless this universe has some horrific spacefuture rain that is probably made of acid or something."

And as an added distraction from the subject of her son, the Hab Deck now stretches out before them: an expanse of various environments, cityscape, and more.

"Of course I'll come," she says, and then--

Oh. Oh her sweet child. The best of sons, the most kind and compassionate and caring. She is very glad to get to tell him this.

"I've been awake for quite a while, yes," she says, smiling as he leads her. "But no, I'm not tired. I don't think I'll be getting tired like that anymore."

Her smile turns a little mischievous as she thinks of something and adds, "And if I do, I can just escape it by doing this."

And with that she turns smoothly into monkey without breaking her stride. Hi, Kubo, your mom's even more magic than normal, now.

Sariatu sighs in resignation, eyeing Toothless with a bit of a wry smile. "Beaten out on fresh fish by a... winged lizard," she says, shaking her head. "The people of this place are very odd about their food."

She inclines her head slightly, politely, to Hiccup. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meal."

Kubo's smile had begun to light up his face as his mother told him she wouldn't be going anywhere, a miracle on top of miracles - but it lit up his face fully as she transformed, and he almost automatically reached out to put his hand on her furry neck.

"Oh, this is your power here! That's a good one!"

He hadn't expected her to keep her full range of magic, but Monkey was a good form for her to have access to - strong and fast, with good senses and a coat for keeping warm, and big scary teeth, good for intimidating enemies on the battlefield. And she still had her hands, for swordfighting, which reminded Kubo -

He reached around to his belt, where the Sword Unbreakable hung, unimportant until now compared to all of the things they had to share with each other.

"I think you should have this more than I should," he said, taking the sword off his belt and, with about as much formality as he'd ever learned, presenting it to his mother. The handle was covered by a little scrap of cloth, the scabbard plain battered leather. "You might recognize the sword once it's drawn," he said, with a grin.

Sariatu smiles a bit to herself, holding her secret - while she doesn't know things like physics or astronomy, she does know space. She was once the cold north star of the Moon King, his eldest daughter and fiercest warrior. Not great memories, sometimes, but it makes his explanation a little amusing, from her perspective.

"A metaphorical rainy day, then," is all she says, however. And then the Hab Deck comes into view and it's... really quite impressive.

It doesn't take her breath away - she's seen things far more beautiful, and her son (who is the most amazing thing in all of creation, in her opinion) blew her mind on the regular - but it's enough to make her stop to drink it in.

"They just make this," she murmurs, impressed despite herself. "It's amazing what people can do."

Dave wouldn't really call it beautiful either. It's kind of a clusterfuck. But it is impressive from a "look what sentient creatures are capable of" point of view so he nods.

"Some of it is cooler than others. Other parts were definitely not well thought-out. For instance, someone thought it'd be a good idea to have them recreate a section of city from their home but it's spooky as all getout with no actual people in it. Ghost City, Space." Unceremoniously, he begins strolling on into the thick of it, because if they're gonna be searching blindly then might as well just pick a direction and go.

Even though there was a part of Jason that had been anticipating a shape-shifter, he still looks a little surprised to see the transformation happen like that. He takes a step back, but only to make sure she had enough room. Her appearance, in some ways, immediately makes him think of Juno; although, if you had asked him he wouldn't have been able to explain why.

Maybe it was just a feeling, and he hoped so because he really didn't want to have to deal with Juno here.

It takes him a minute to get over his surprise, but the squeeze of his hand helps. He nods, "I was heading for some training, but I'll show you some places along the way. There's a lot to see."

"Dragon, actually." Hiccup corrected. "And it's fine. If I was the type to get annoyed by people asking questions, I'd be the world's biggest hypocrite. I'm Hiccup, by the way. I don't think I've seen you around."

Toothless gave Sariatu a sympathetic look. He could understand the disappointment of knowing there was fish, and not being allowed to have any. Unfortunately, he'd eaten them all already. Of course, that had never stopped him from trying to share his food before.

"...oh gods." Hiccup moaned, recognizing the guttural noises Toothless started making for what they were. The dragon ignored him in favor of hocking up a half-digested chunk of fish back onto his tray, and nosing it towards Sariatu.

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.

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."

Azula doesn't like being rebuked like that. She glares at Sariatu. "My name is Azula. Now, did you just get here or not?"

"A dragon?" Sariatu asks, and she looks both confused and doubtful about that claim... but she doesn't say anything further. If he wants to pretend his giant lizard is a dragon, that's none of her business.

She's about to introduce herself when Toothless... presents her with a half-digested chunk of fish. To her credit, Sariatu doesn't wrinkle her nose or make a face, she simply regards it for a moment, then looks up at Toothless and says, "Thank you for your generosity, but I will abide by this place's customs for the time being."

Then she inclines her head slightly - all the bow she's going to do holding a tray of food, thank you very much - to Hiccup. "Sariatu. And no, I just arrived recently. Still getting my feet." She smiles, then gestures to the open seat in front of Hiccup. "May I?"

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."

"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.

Thankfully, not Juno. Just your average everyday loving mother who used to be a Moon Princess and can turn into a monkey.

"Thank you, I appreciate your help." Sariatu drops his hand and folds hers in front of her. "But if you have training, don't let me keep you. Being prompt is part of the discipline you need to be a warrior."

A hot temper, that one. It reminds her of her sisters. Ironic, how for all their coldness, her family's tempers always burned hot as coals.

Sariatu counters it by refusing to engage. Patience, serenity, and good humor are surefire ways to goad an angry opponent into making a mistake. Hanzo had taught her that trick. This Azula isn't an opponent and she's not trying to goad her precisely, but... well, someone with such a hot temper is someone to watch out for, and Sariatu is curious to see how far that temper will flare.

"I did," she says. "Have you been here long yourself?"

True, it has no elegance, but the sheer scope and riotous creativity of it is enough to give it some beauty, in Sariatu's mind, at least.

"Mmm," she agrees, falling into step next to him. "That would be entirely too unsettling. I'm glad I had enough foresight to choose someplace isolated, instead of a village or fortress."

Not that she would've chosen Hanzo's fortress anyway. Without Hanzo, it would've just broken her heart every time, with people occupying it or without.

"What is yours?" she asks after a moment.

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

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