[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

[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.

[turntex]

That is...definitely not a plot twist he'd expected, and an eyebrow arches over his shades while he frowns slightly in confusion. And yet, the moment where he progresses to acceptance is pretty clear on his face. After a moment, Dave just nods as if in understanding.

"...This is actually somehow less weird than just a straight-up talking monkey."

It's the simplicity of the talking monkey thing, maybe. He's too used to excessively complicated shit these days. Murderous omnipotent ultimate spirit dog carapace man? Sure. Oddly maternal-sounding monkey that is actually an Asian woman in disguise? Yeah, that's fine. But simply a talking monkey? What the fuck.

[meanmonkey]

"I'll keep that in mind," she says, folding her hands in front of her. "Magical talking monkey: weird. Magical woman who can turn into a talking monkey: less weird."

She lets out a soft sigh, eyes flicking around. "I wonder, young man, if you could help me? I haven't quite learned my way around yet, and you seem more familiar with this place than I do."

[turntex]

Dave nods, shoving his hands deep into his pockets. Is that a response to her analysis of his concept or weird or to her request? Who knows.

"Yeah, I've got more than my fair shair of experience navigating labyrinthine fuckin' cold metal corridors by now." Belatedly, he realizes he own language, and even looks slightly abashed for a moment. It's easy to completely dismiss complaints over his coarseness from dudes like Wash, but he can't help but feel a little bad when it's coming from what seems like a decent older lady. "Sorry. I mean, yeah, I can do that."

[meanmonkey]

Her smile widens a little, in that slightly distant, mysterious way that mothers have sometimes. He corrected his language without reprimand, that time, and that bodes well for his decency, in Sariatu's opinion.

She inclines her head gratefully. "Thank you. These are, indeed, labyrinthine cold metal corridors. I don't relish getting lost in them." It's her own way of trying to tell him that she doesn't mind his strange way of talking, just to be considerate of the language he uses to do so.

She starts walking - not sedate but not speeding along, clearly expecting Dave to fall in with her and direct her. "Now, the first thing I'd be interested in finding is this... Habitat I was told we each have?"

[turntex]

A nod. "There's a whole level of that sh-- stuff. 'S big mishmash of random landscapes and city blocks and whatnot all cobbled together like an amateur cartographer after a bender." Hands shoved deep into his pockets, Dave shrugs. "No idea if there's any way to find a specific person's place short of just wandering around and looking for the familiar stuff, but some people picked some strange as hell pieces of home so at least it makes for an interesting walk."

As if he isn't one of the people with a strange as shit personal habitat. But Dave does love chucking rocks around his glass house, so whatever.

[meanmonkey]

"With luck, then, I'll be the only one who requested a bamboo forest," she says. If nothing else, though, she's sure it'll make for an interesting journey.

"Forgive me, my manners are..." she trails off. Her manners are severely atrophied since she hasn't met anyone new except Beetle in years. "Rusty," she settles on. "I am Sariatu. Thank you for your help."

[turntex]

"Dave," he offers in return, and takes his hands out of his pockets like he intends to...what's even appropriate here? Defintely not a fistbump, she probably doesn't even know what that is based on that outfit. A handshake? Do you do that for women? It seems like the kind of shit you pull out when meeting someone's dad for the first time. Shit.

Awkwardly, he hesitates a few moments befoee shoving his hands right back into his pockets and turning on a heel, inclining his head in the direction of the hall ahead.

"There's a lift to the hab deck down here."

So smooth.

[meanmonkey]

It's almost cute. Someone should take this young man under their wing and teach him how to people. Definitely not Sariatu, as she can be abrasive and brusque, but someone.

In the meantime, however, she just follows his lead to the lift.

"Are there many children your age here?" she asks. And okay, he's a tiny bit old to be called a child, but if her son were his age she'd still consider HIM a child, so....

[turntex]

He doesn't argue the "children" thing, mostly because he agrees. Maybe some sixteen year olds would get defensive over being called a kid, but Dave is cool still being a kid. He doesn't mind being treated like one, since that experience was largely robbed from him anyway between Sburb and Bro.

"There's a good handful of us little scamps runnin' around here, getting underfoot and all that." He has to pause to think about the actual number, mentally counting off while idly making their way to the lift. Him and Karkat, Kubo, Dipper and his twin sister, that Pidge kid from movie night, the mini-Reaper who he's pretty certain has to be a kid... And hell, who knows who he hasn't even met yet.

[meanmonkey]

She sighs softly.

"I wish the being who brought us here didn't feel the need to drag children into this quest," she says, almost too quietly to hear. "You deserve something better than fighting."

They all do, even if she hasn't me them yet.

[turntex]

Standing in front of the lift access, Dave pauses with his finger hovering over the button. That was...perhaps the most sincerely caring and motherly statement he's ever heard directly in his life. Shit. It aches in his chest a little, because hell, he wishes the universe wanted something better for him than fighting all the time too.

His pokerface doesn't slip, though, and he manages a shrug after a moment, pressing the button to call the lift.

"Nah, I'm used to it. This shit is pretty tame compared to everywhere where I came from. Whoops. I mean stuff. Better me than someone who has literally no idea what they're doing, right?"

[meanmonkey]

"I agree," she says. "Sending people who know nothing about battle into one is a recipe for disaster."

She says, with the world-weary tone of someone who has worried about that immensely before. Who knows what a moon princess like herself could've worried abo- Kubo, it was worry about Kubo.

She does hone in on the fact that this young man has seen battle enough to feel he knows what he's doing, though. "You're a warrior?" she asks. There's no dubiousness there, only a sharp, focused curiosity.

[turntex]

"Yep. My Bro made sure of that."

Something about that curt response and his closed-off body language, posture stiff and shoulders just slightly hunched, suggests he doesn't really wanna talk about that.

The lift doors opening, he indicates for her to join his with a little nod towards the lift and steps inside himself.

"So we're looking for a bamboo forest?"

The smoothest of subject changes possible.

[meanmonkey]

She leaves it, for now. At least, directly - she might talk around it a bit, to try to ease more out of him, but if he wants to avoid it, she'll let him without much fuss.

It's not like she's his mother, after all.

"Yes," she confirms as she steps in. "On a large hill or mountainside."

A brief pause.

"Do you know if I can get a sword here?" she asks. "I don't want to fall out of practice."

...Well. Not any worse than she already has the past few years, that is.

[turntex]

Dave nods in acknowledgement of that little detail, and then again at the sword thing. Neato, Asian shapeshifter ninja lady. That's rad.

"Could probably ask the locals, see if there's an armory or somethin' you can raid," he says, and pauses for a moment because now that he thinks of it... "Hell, I should probably find one for myself before I actually get sent out to deal with baddies. Maybe sword technology is advanced enough now that they've got something that won't break on me."

[meanmonkey]

Sariatu smiles wryly to herself.

"A sword unbreakable?" she asks, probably more amused by that than she should be. It just seems... ironic, that he's wanting for a thing that she had until her sister cut her down. "I used to have something like that. It was very useful."

[turntex]

"So did my bro." He grins saying it now, and the word sounds different somehow in this context. "I think he gave it to my mom, though? Or she borrowed it or something. I dunno, I just heard she killed an evil alien fishlady with it and it was awesome."

[meanmonkey]

"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.

[turntex]

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.

[meanmonkey]

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."

[turntex]

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.

[meanmonkey]

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."