Tana-baa-ta

[survivaltricks]

WHO: everyone!
WHERE: the pasture
WHEN: day 22, all day

[the morning of day 22 begins with a light drizzle, as has been typical for the past few days. but despite the damp weather, a playlist of music also echoes across the pasture, luring you towards the center!]

[there, you will find that someone has planted a large bamboo tree, which is surrounded by wooden tables that are covered with colorful slips of paper and pens. a colorful sign, decorated with random doodles of stars, clouds, suns, and other fun shapes, contains a set of instructions:]

WELCOME TO TANABATA!

WRITE A WISH ON A PIECE OF PAPER AND TIE IT TO THE BAMBOO TREE.

HAVE FUN!

[the music and the bamboo wishing tree are a great start to the festival, but other people have been hard at work to make this a day to remember, right?]

[it's time to celebrate Tana-baa-ta!]

((FEEL FREE TO MAKE YOUR OWN TOP LEVELS IN THIS POST AS WELL! I made a few to get things going, but you should all run wild and free and thread to your heart's content ♥))

Comments

[debug_mode]

[she shrinks back, feeling so called out.]

It's just... he hasn't done anything. He doesn't know anything.

[fishfearme]

What's this? Are you offering to play a card game?

[He sounds interested...]

Re: EARLY EVENING - JUST AFTER SOME FIREWORKS

[wooliefrand]

W-wah wait--!

[when he activates his spell, there's something of a pulsating magic backdraft. Did it work? Mysterious.]

Huh?? Get--you met Coco?


COCO'S STILL HERE?!

Re: HOST CLU--CAT CAFE???

[rugpull]

Delicious eggs for Biscuit...

[finalbows]

_{[ got one. smiiiile. he starts shuffling. ]}

Indeed... 'Tis a card game of fate, dragonlily.

The face of each card belies its true meaning, the way the face of a man might bely his true mind...

I am skilled in listening, to both. And bringing one, to listen to another.

_{[ he finishes his shuffle, and places the deck in the middle of the table, where the both of them can reach. ]}

Here is how we'll do it.
Place your hand lightly over the deck of cards.

[fishfearme]

[Ah, so that sort of game. Chronos was passingly familiar with it, as those who dabbled in the art of divining one's fate via cards frequented the same outcast circles as mercenaries and foreigners within Fódlan. He personally had seen no point in engaging in it - a mercenary's fate was a rather cut and dry thing - but here, in this strange land where his final fate had been usurped...]

Understood.

[...so, on a whim, he decided to play along. He reached out and settled his hand over the deck of cards.]

[finalbows]

Close your eyes. Find in yourself the rhythm of your breath. There is no need to alter it; merely know it, closer, in the moment. Your attention to it will bring the cards', to you.

I'll tell you when is enough.

[fishfearme]

[An easy enough order to comply, even if the ever cautious part of Chronos was a little twitchy at closing his eyes in a place filled with strangers. Still, he did so, standing perfectly still with only the very slow rise and fall of his chest showing signs of life.

...he didn't know if he was meant to do anything else, so he reverted to his usual state of being: no thoughts, head empty.]

[finalbows]

<sub>[ Angel Devil observes him, in that time.
That is a perfect stillness. He has the eye to know. Chronos yet breathes, though, and in its rhythm...

Angel Devil's keen eye can see a history of life. A living being, that unfurled, in time, day by day by day. He hadn't yet had the chance to watch him closely enough to be sure. ]</sub>

...Perfect. You and the deck are attuned. Take your time... you don't want to shock it, pulling away too fast. But you may now open your eyes, and pull back your hand.

[fishfearme]

[Chronos obeys, slowly pulling his hand away as if he was in the presence of a small, skittish animal that'll spook if he moved too quickly, and opens his eyes. He looks over at him expectantly.]

[noarchitact]

Really? I'm going to have to stop in and have Mehrak scan some of the more useful stuff.

[finalbows]

Do you all have a kitchen, yet? It's really worth digging for books about the underlying theory behind... what Rose has in ours, at least. _{[unfortunately, given free reign of a library, angel devil has now identified that microwaves are not REALLY called hot boxes. ]}

[finalbows]

<sub>[ Angel Devil reaches out, and draws three cards, one by one.

He lays them face down, in a neat little row. He speaks a word, pointing at each in turn.]</sub>

Past,
Present,
Future.

_{[ he flips his hand, palm up and out, raising it to Chronos in a beseeching gesture.]}

...show me the card, that you desire to learn from first.

[fishfearme]

[Chronos glanced from each card, his brow furrowing fractionally in thought. Well, time only flowed in one direction, so may as start from the beginning.]

The past.

[finalbows]

_{[ he flips the card. ]}

...The Four of Spades. Respite. Or a need of it, gone unfulfilled. Being... worn in, worn down, in a way that, perhaps, if you were simply allotted the chance... you could have replenished from, in time. This card is the past, so... we'll see what the present has to say, about that.

All things come and go in their time, after all. Though I wonder if 'Chronos' needs me to tell him that...?

[fishfearme]

I don't. No one can stop the flow of time, not even the gods.

[It can be paused briefly, and if the goddess within him was to be believed, even looped back for a handful of moments, but time will persistently march forwards and onwards, following the current of the river it was bound to. That river may split and diverge infinitely, but never deviated from its course.]

So as you say, all things come and go, no matter our preference. [Fathers included. He frowned, his mood dipping fractionally.] What about the present?

[finalbows]

_{[ flip! ]}

The Ace of Hearts! Ah, what a friendly face. A card promising new beginnings... new connections... Compassion, found, though still unsteady and new on its legs. ...are you settling in, well, with your flock?

[fishfearme]

[His answer was a rather half-hearted shrug.]

...I feel that I don't communicate well with them. They likely think I'm strange.

[finalbows]

Well, the cards seem to be wanting to tell you... don't get too disenhearted with that, as you go through this period. Things are still fresh, and in their infancy. Understanding another person isn't easy, let alone six, let alone six who all come from completely different worlds from yours.

...but there is still more hope in it, than you might think. This is the present, after all, and it is the one facet of time with which we may truly negotiate.

Re: EARLY EVENING - JUST AFTER SOME FIREWORKS

[secondbornsun]

[ ??? huh. ]

She is. And she's havin' a te~rrible time bein' locked up on her lonesome. So if ya could, Miss Blossom.

[fishfearme]

That's true... it's possible that my lack of confidence is sabotaging my attempts before I even truly try.

[Not to say he wasn't trying his best, because he was. But as the whole 'watching you sleep' debacle proved, even his attempts to be useful and good had most of the flock staring aghast at him. Not even Perci's gentle explanations really helped clear his confusion up.]

What does my future say, then? Does it say I'll succeed in connecting with them?

Re: HOST CLU--CAT CAFE???

[electricflock]

Some people need the distraction.

[finalbows]

Could it, perhaps, be... that ponderous past of yours... might have ill disposed you to weather the pains of new growth, with hope for change...?

Emerging from a dark sleep, the light of a brand new day can be dazzling... and overwhelming. Especially if one, say... overslept, and the day's goings-on commenced, before they ever got there.

Ah! But that's more on the present. You wanted to know your future.

<sub>[ flips the card.

That's.... the Ten of Spades. AKA, Ten of Swords. AKA, Bad Things.
Hm. He stares at it thoughtfully. He has the power to ruin this guy's day or not rn, depending on how much he's really sold this reading. How much does he want to consequence-free ruin the dragonlily's day. Does he want to?]</sub>

[fishfearme]

...

[It's okay, he can read into that brief pause, the way the card reader seemed to think on his next words. Considering how swiftly he had been to divine what the cards for past and present meant, the pause for future could only mean-]

My future is grim, then.

[He doesn't sound... unhappy about this. He didn't really sound much of anything. Just like he recited a fact off the "soil composition" list.]

[finalbows]

Your future is what you make of it. I will, however, say...

Your path... is not an easy one. Misfortune will find you, in its time, and things that may seem unshakeable, will rattle harshly beneath your feet. The taste of bitterness shall weigh upon your tongue.

My question is this.

...do you trust yourself, to persevere?