This month's wanderings

[killedwithlove]

Who: Cole and anyone who doesn't get away fast enough
Broadcast: No
Action: Everywhere but the Marsiva and Tourist. Sorry Fenris, the Three Twins is fair game again.
When: During this month.

[Cole does this thing, where he parks the Pathstone alongside other ships, and then visits. He does this in a big circuit and then keeps doing it.

He likes visiting. Be prepared to be visited!]

Comments

[mikangirl]

[You can come visit the Bloodsport. Nami's just there with her feet up on the bridge computers and playing Never Have I Ever on the network.]

[killedwithlove]

[Cole appears on the bridge through the door, which is a novelty from him.]

Hello, Nami.

[mikangirl]

[She glances up, eyebrows lifting at the person who's entered. She likes the hat, but she's pretty sure she's never seen him before.]

Hey.

...have we met?

[killedwithlove]

You promised to teach me to swim, but it's okay, people often forget me. We met on the ship inside you.

[mikangirl]

[Um



...yeah you're getting such a blank stare. Sorry, Cole.]

Ship...inside me?

[killedwithlove]

Yes.

I'm not doing this right.

We met. You told me about Luffy and your pirate crew. I told you about the fact I nearly drowned. You said you'd teach me to swim.

[mikangirl]

[It's another few moments of blank staring and turning gears before it clicks. The only possibility.]

Ah! When we were all on the Marsiva, you-- dreams, right? [Oh, that's awkward. She was hoping if she just never mentioned it-- but that's not Cole's fault.]

What's your name?

[killedwithlove]

[Cole nods.]

You said you'd teach me to swim. Would you still do that?

[mikangirl]

If I said I would, I suppose I better. [It's blunt, but she still smiles a bit.] If we ever get the chance, anyway.

What was it like? In... there.

[killedwithlove]

It was nice. There was a ship, with trees that smelt nice. The breeze was soft and warm and the sun was bright, but not scalding.

[mikangirl]

[Oh. Well, that sounds kind of nice and hits her with all kinds of nostalgia pangs. It's almost been a year.]

...probably just as well you never got to see it when it was stormy. If you can't swim, it'd have been terrifying.

[killedwithlove]

I would have gone below deck then. So I couldn't fall overboard.

[mikangirl]

Smart guy.

Do you have any experience swimming at all? And I don't mean nearly drowning, I mean-- any attempts since then?

Aboard the First Breath

[tallasaking]

[Tyrion is in the Engineering room, with a book open to something that looks complicated and mechanical, and he is methodically taking apart the self-same thing in front of him, eying all the parts and then the book.]

[He blinks when Cole suddenly appears before him, instinct making him use the screwdriver as a blade, before he lets out a surprised laugh.]

...One typically sends a crow ahead, when one is coming to make a call, Cole.

[killedwithlove]

I don't have a crow, and I don't think one could fly between the ships.

[He sits himself down next to Tyrion, completely unperturbed about being menaced with a screwdriver.]

Pilot Augment makes sure I know how to do the things I need to. Is Engineering Augment showing you the same?

[tallasaking]

.... well I would not think any of us would without a ship.

[He smirks, as he turns back to the book.]

Yes, but it does not help me understand it. Hence why I am reading the instruction manual.

[killedwithlove]

[Cole nods and hugs his knees to his chest. He really is quite a tall boy, but folds up very small.]

I don't understand lots of things, but people are usually nice and explain when I ask.

[tallasaking]

Well, that is because we all know what it is like not to know things - so we are glad to pass on our experiences.

[He looks over at Cole.]

Do you have questions for me now?

[killedwithlove]

No, not everyone wants questions asked. And everyone has questions they don't want asked of them.

[Cole wrinkles his nose and hugs his thighs to his chest.]

No. Not at the moment.

[tallasaking]

Well I know that to be absolutely true.

[He tilted his head a little.]

So have you come for a story, instead?

[killedwithlove]

Only if you'd like to tell me one. I understand if you'd rather focus on what you're learning.

[tallasaking]

Oh no, I promised you a story ... and so I shall.

[He thought about it, and went with the Legend of Valyaria.]

Three thousand years after the Long Night ended in Westeros, across the sea in Essos, settlers in the Valyria peninsula discovered that dragons had settled there. Using powerful magic the Valyrians tamed the dragons, and learned to breed and control them, using the creatures to establish an empire that spanned across Essos after consuming the former Ghiscari Empire, creating a society that was fueled by magic. The Valyrians even spread as far as a set of islands off the coast of Westeros’ Stormlands, where the Targaryen family emigrated with their own dragons.

After 5,000 years of prosperity, however, the Valyrian empire collapsed in disaster. A cataclysmic event spurred by the Valyrian’s heavy use of magic (and the volcanic mountains they had settled in) tore apart the Valyrian peninsula, with many dragons and Valyrians perishing in the aftermath.

As former citizens rebelled and established the Free Cities of Essos, the Targaryens and their three dragons thought themselves to be the last surviving Valyrians. In an attempt to ensure that the Valyrian legacy would survive the cataclysm, they looked to Westeros....

[killedwithlove]

[Cole doesn't know what the Long Night is, even if he can hear the importance of the name.

But he listens attentively, nodding along and not interrupting half as much as he used to while listening to stories.]

[tallasaking]

[Tyrion ends the tale there, because after that is the war for Westeros, and he is fairly certain he does not want to go onto that many thousands of years of history.]

There are many more tales - but rarely do they end well.

[killedwithlove]

[It doesn't feel like a story. It feels like a piece of history, unending, spinning on and he follows the thought.]

Drogon is wild as his namesake, reaching and expanding, like heat, burning, consuming.