driftfleet | At least there's no elevator music...

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At least there's no elevator music...

[At least two weeks have passed since the Drift Fleet passengers woke up on this strange wing of the Marsiva... Some new passengers have even joined the group instead of being Shuffled off to a fleet ship! The large monitor in the central room remains quiet for now, so how is everyone holding up?

Have you been relaxing? Enjoying the Earth media? If you can even remember them, how have Calibrations been treating you? Has anyone started getting a little stir-crazy?

Don't worry... This ship has no shortage of mysteries, and you'll be seeing a few more soon.]

ooc: here's another mingle for the current game event! players can start or continue threads here from any point during the event. the additional setting information is still being postponed due to sickly mods, but y'all are welcome to post additional topcomments for reactions and investigation once it's up!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When she did her own alchemy training, she survived on Briggs Mountain- which is far in the north, so it's covered in snow most of the year- and fought off bears on her own for a month. She could take on Brother and I at the same time without breaking a sweat.

[Did he just say...]

Bears? She fought bears... alone... in the mountains... for a full month?

And stole food from a military fort. I suppose she didn't fight bears every day, but fighting off even one says a lot. I'd be too scared!

["And stole food from a military fort..." Who was this woman?]

She sounds like quite the teacher. How did you end up meeting her?

She helped save Resembool- my town. She used alchemy to raise walls and hold back a river that was flooding. Brother and I knew that she was a powerful alchemist just from that. She didn't want to take us as first, but we pestered her until she did- I think she saw potential in us. [And wanted to keep them from attempting to resurrecting their mother, even if it had been fruitless of her to try in the end.]

You... pestered her? Until she relented?

[Rather a less glamorous explanation than Wanda had been expecting.]

Yeah... to be fair, Brother and I were pretty young. Granny also intervened and told Teacher she was allowed to refuse if she wanted, but she ended up taking us anyway.

That was rather kind of her.

[Honestly, Wanda didn't know if she would have been that nice...]

How long did you study under her?

It was... and I'm glad I had her, even if the training was rough.

[Al thought for a moment.]

About a year. She started us off by leaving us on an island for 30 days and told us we had to learn to survive without alchemy, but she made sure we had someone looking after us from the shadows. We learned how to stand on our own feet, to adapt, to explore and find solutions withour help- all things that were useful in our lives later on.

That does sound "rigorous."

[Almost cruel really... it wasn't that Wanda was a stranger to that kind of education herself. It had been a different place and a different context for her, but it still sounded a little more unfair that Alphonse and his brother had to go through something like that too.]

I suppose for a woman who fights bears for fun though, it would be pretty par for the learning course.

It is for Teacher, yes. She likes to tell everyone she's just a simple housewife, and the neighbourhood kids like her, but Brother and I know better. We still love her, though.

I am surprised your parents were okay with letting you run off with her.

[Sorry Al, but Wanda may have just stepped on a major landmine. She's totally unaware of it though, instead she plays off what she's said like a joke.]

[Ah- and there was the inevitable assumption. Thankfully, Al can't show emotion. He misses being able to do so sometimes- okay, a lot- but it did help him play his cards close to his chest, if need be.]

Well, Granny wasn't too thrilled about it- she's my guardian, since Mom died and Dad hasn't been seen for a while- but she knew we needed to learn, and that having a proper teacher would help us in the long run.

I am sorry for your mother. I did not realize...

[If there was anyone who could empathize on the dead parent front, it was Wanda. She silently, mentally kicks herself for being so tactless.]

[Al was quiet for a moment. Part of him ached to tell Wanda the whole truth, because he knew he wouldn't get arrested or worse for having broken the ultimate alchemical taboo in this world... but he also knew that trying to raise the dead was likely frowned upon wherever you went.

So instead-]

Thank you. I do still miss her, but it happened so long ago... it's one of those things that still hurts, but I've learned to live with it, too. Death is an inevitable part of the cycle of life. [It was one of the things Teacher had drilled into him and Ed, after all, even if it had been a useless effort to stop them from trying to bring their mom back to life.]

[Wanda's expression looks a little more grim, a little more sullen than before.]

Yes, it is. But that does not make it easier to live through a loved one's passing.

No... it doesn't. Especially with someone like a parent... you kind of take for granted that they're going to be around for a while.

It seems we have both suffered our fair share of loss.

Yeah... but I've always had people to help me through it. Brother especially- we've never been alone as long as we've had each other.

[Wanda gives a sad little smile in response. It was clear that Al and his brother were very close. She could easily relate to that, and the feeling of suddenly being separate from someone who had previously been such a big part of your life.]

I imagine it must be hard to suddenly find yourself in a strange place like this. To be separated in such a way.

It is... we've hardly been apart since we were kids. We've always been a team. I heard time doesn't pass at all back home, but that doesn't make any difference to me here. At least I know Brother is safe, though.

[Wanda's smile becomes more reassuring and her tone more comforting, as she tries to shake off the gloom that had started to hang over her.]

I am sure you both will be reunited again.

I know we will. Even if I have to wait til I go back home, we'll see each other again.

[Wanda smiles encouragingly and nods her head. She then begins to walk over to a vacant punching bag nearby, ready to begin her own practice. Before she starts though, she looks over at Alphonse.]

You and your brother are both lucky to have each other.

[She then turns back to the bag and begins the routine that Jim has been teaching her.]

We really are. Have a good workout! [And on that cheerful note, Al readjusts and starts on his forms once again.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At least there's no elevator music...

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Fin?

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