[Open] To Lose Time

[bearshermark]

Who: Eleven + Anyone!
What: Settling In Catch-all
Where: Various
When: First few days/first week
Warnings: Possible spoilers for Act 2 leading into 3



1. Classes

Despite the urging to take up Draconic Knowledge, Eleven ultimately resumed his previous class schedule without change. And so, dressed in the deep blue robes of Eiather house, he attempted to settle back into the monotony of classwork.

"I recall some of this," he mused quietly, in the lull of instruction when they were meant to be working. Eleven himself wasn't terribly focused, writing sporadic and distracted. "But those memories are vague.."


2. Dragonfire Library

Given a need for somewhere to read and write quietly, Eleven found himself swiftly seeking out a library. While memory served to remind him that the Temple had one, it wasn't until he purused some of the more esoteric tomes of this library that he recalled why he'd had a preference for Raida's. Still.. the information he was looking for likely wasn't all that common.

Various books with titles featuring the word or concept of 'time' made up a small pile on the desk as he flipped through them, brows drawing increasingly closer together.

He set one down with a frown and a quiet admission.

"..Maybe these aren't going to be helpful."


3. Temple of Raida

He'd stood outside for longer than he should, at this point. His golden hawk familiar bristled on his shoulder, catching the light, then shifted to turn its head and preen. Eleven reached up and brushed his finger down the soft breast feathers.

"I should, shouldn't I? You're here, after all. I think that means something."


4. Wildcard

[ooc: feel free to make something else up if these prompts don't work for you! I'm happy to roll with most anything. prose/action is fine.

Also happy to accept TDM threads as canon if you'd like]

Comments

[unswervingcompanion]

Hendrik had been looking for a quiet sort of area to train. It had taken some time for him to get back into the habit of being in this place and all its oddities. There had even appeared to be newer surprises too but of course he tried to take them all in stride.

So as he wandered, he found the Luminary with an unfamiliar companion on his shoulder. The bird was beautiful and that had him slow his step, not wishing to startle the creature so caution was best here.

Staying a few feet away, he then addressed the boy. "I see you have someone new to share adventures with in this place."

[bearshermark]

Eleven started, turning, and Glorious himself pinned the source with sharp eyes.

"Hendrik," Eleven breathed, settling. He soothed a hand down the hawk's back. "Ah, yes. This is- well, his name is Glorious. As you can see by his coloring, he lives up to his name rather well."

[unswervingcompanion]

There was quite a bit of intelligence in those beady eyes staring back at him and Hendrik respected it, unlike the giant birds from back home. This one seemed to be quite the protective thing too and the knight nodded as he received the name.

"So it appears in this place you now have a protective guide."

And he still hadn't made a move towards either one.

[bearshermark]

"He's my protector," he assured his familiar quietly, and smiled as Glorious settled, too.

To Hendrik, he grinned, albeit a touch sheepish. "Yes, I suppose I now have two of those, here. The Goddess demonstrates Her will."

[unswervingcompanion]

He nodded approvingly. "Indeed, she is always with you no matter what planet or world you are in it seems." Which of course he was always glad for even if a part of him wished someone so young hadn't lost so much just to be so aligned. "I trust you two will look after each other then."

Dragonfire Library

[perfectenn]

"What are you looking for?"

The question from behind him was in a familiar voice... but unusual to hear in this place. Tenn, unlike most Valhudor students, favored the accurate to the fantastic, and was usually found doing his research in the academy's main library. It was a rare day when Starchime couldn't satisfy his interests.

He stepped closer to look over Eleven’s shoulder. Tenn was in casual street wear of nondescript cream shirt and tan trousers, and thick-rimmed glasses that he definitely didn't need, but did a nice job in helping to obscure his well-known facial features. The tomes in his arms had spines tucked against his arms, so the titles were unreadable. (But, no, his own secrecy would not stop him from prying!)

[bearshermark]

Eleven blinked, taking in his friend's glasses. Had he ever worn them before?

"Oh, uh," he shifted to make more room on the desk surface, assuming Tenn might want to sit or at least set down his books. He smiled, a touch self-conscious. "Recent events made me curious about time, so I thought I might find something here."

[perfectenn]

Not often. Not this pair of glasses. Tenn usually didn't mind standing out a bit in town - it was good for getting noticed and hired. Today, though, he wanted a quiet presence. He took the opened spot, setting books down gently and sliding into the seat.

"What in particular?" He guessed this had to do with the flow of time in individual worlds, but that would be quite a range of theories. Not to mention the magical potentials. Perhaps Starchime was more suitable for that... but if Eleven was here, he might be searching for older or more esoteric takes? Or something not suited for student eyes?

[bearshermark]

Eleven hesitated.

"Ah... Time magic, I guess. Not to use- just.. to try and understand how it might work. It might relate to how we were brought here?" He didn't sound terribly certain about that, and shrugged.

"I just don't think things like that would be in the school library. But.. I don't know about this place either, now."

Dragonfire Library

[sentbytheseer]

"It's not nearly as impressive as the one by Sniflheim," Erik said, making himself comfortable in the seat across the desk from Eleven. "I mean, I'm not all that up on this magic stuff, but some of this seems a bit silly. I think I even saw a recipe book on food for familiars."

He glanced over the dusty tome in front of his friend and attempted to make sense of it from upside down.

"Time, huh?" He raised a brow and waited for Eleven to fill in the answer to the unspoken question.

[bearshermark]

Eleven smiled, a touch self-conscious. They'd talked about it briefly already, but.. Well, at least it was a relief that Erik was someone he could talk to about this particular subject.

"They don't have tockles in this world," he explained, "..Or at least, I haven't seen any. And I think I'd seen the headmistress performed sort of time magic when I arrived here. Tenn said it's only been a few months, and I guess I wasn't back home for too much longer than that, but.."

He chewed his lip a moment, then shrugged, eyes dropping. "I thought maybe some reading might help clear up a few things."

[sentbytheseer]

"...Alright, yeah, reading seems like a start."

Maybe wasn't his favorite way to gather information, but reading seemed as good as they would get, given that they did have limited resources. The headmaster was a weird one, alright, and he didn't imagine anyone would be exactly forthcoming with potentially world-breaking magic techniques like time magic. Erik couldn't very well leave Eleven to figure it out on his own, not after he looked like a wounded puppy.

"Gimme one of those," he said, reaching over the table to steal a book from Eleven's pile. He plopped it on the table and opened to a plume of dust and a table of contents. After a bit of coughing, he skimmed the page. "So, who's Tenn?"

[bearshermark]

Eleven blinked and waved a hand in front of his face to clear the remaining dust plume.

"A friend. Someone I'd met here, before. He's nice; a performer of some kind. Pretty sensible, as I recall."

He offered Erik a grateful smile, then turned his attention to his own book, skimming for potentially useful information.

"He's in Valhudor with Sylv."

2

[scotch_egg]

He was surprised to see that kid here. Surprised and... a little worried-- a little cautious. He made his way over to him, a stack of books of his own in his hands, and carefully sat across and a little down from the table from him.

"Elliott..." said casually but quietly.

[bearshermark]

Eleven glanced up, taking in the man's appearance with a polite, if puzzled smile. Had that been a mistaken name, or something else? It seemed as though it had been meant to draw his attention at least.

"Can I help you?"

[scotch_egg]

That seemed like the answer to that. It was for the best, of course. It wasn't as if he and Elliott had gotten along. And maybe the kid had never been Elliott to begin with, which shouldn't be as depressing a thought as it was.


"Just thinking aloud." He looked at the book without reading it. "Are you from here?"

[bearshermark]

"No," Eleven said with a bit of a laugh. He glanced briefly to the color of his robes, then toward a golden hawk perched a short distance away, sunbathing in the light from a dusty window. He returned his attention to the man with the same smile.

"But I'm settling in well. This isn't the first time I've found myself here. How are you doing in that regard?"

Classes

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della's at the desk beside Eleven's during Thaumaturgy class, and she also isn't exactly paying attention. Sure, this stuff is interesting and new, but she would never have done the whole school thing again, not on her own call. She's been working on a paper airplane for the last few minutes, and when she hears Eleven's comment? She assumes he must be a native of Anastara; an established student at the school, even if something doesn't quite seem to line up there. Under that assumption, she knows he might not be inclined to chat with a Sundered like herself... But she's all for making conversation, especially since she's pretty bored.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll come back to you," she says, in a rather maternal, supportive way-- Even as she doesn't look up from her paper.

[bearshermark]

"I hope so," Eleven muses, peering at notes that don't much resemble anything sensible to him in the given moment.

More familiar is the shape of the other student. There had been a few of them before, if memory served. "Were you here before, as well?"

[noimpulsecontrol]

Della shakes her head, making a small sound of confusion. "Me? No, this is my first time here." A beat, and then she adds, "Which is pretty weird, really. I thought I'd been just about everywhere by this point."

[bearshermark]

Someone else, then. He couldn't recall if they'd all been related or not and it seemed rude to ask.

"You've travelled a lot, then?" He smiled; they shared that in common if so. "Or do you mean you've been to many different worlds?"

2 - LIBRARY TIME

[treno_nobleman]

It would be easy enough to find Kuja in a library, sorting through this or that, looking for tomes that could tell him more of this world and its history and whatever caught his fancy. But today, he has a reason for being here, and a curriculum to develop. His own experience in the multiverse was expansive on its own, not entirely due to his own curiosity, but experience by itself won't a class make.

And so he has taken to the library's shelves, because he can and because he needs to. For all of his browsing, only two books adorn his arm. Two to start with, and who knows however many more. Ready to dive in, Kuja turns from the stacks to settle in for a few hours' of research, and just as he does so, he spots a familiar figure already occupying one of the seats not far from him.

A moment's thought, and he recognizes the boy. He almost thinks to leave Eleven to his studies, since he seems quite involved, but he doesn't miss what was said. His feet turn course.

"If I might ask, helpful for what?"

[bearshermark]

Eleven glanced up, then again as belated recognition flooded through him. A dance, alongside an undercurrent of curiosity.

"I know you," he said, the man's question forgotten in place of an attempt to recall his name. "From the dance when I was here, before."

[treno_nobleman]

So they both still retained their memories. How convenient for them, to not have to go back through the trouble of a reintroduction and the usual greeting pleasantries. Kuja hummed his agreement, offering a light nod to go with it.

"Yes, the ball. Quite an elegant affair, if I remember it right. And I do believe you did quite well during our time together then." If that was a touch of amusement, he won't offer it up. He'd had a few dances that evening, all of them enjoyable, though only two had approached him that night. Eleven had been one of them.

"I do hope they hold another in time, but let's not get our hopes up. This world is still picking itself up these days."

[bearshermark]

Eleven glanced off, color dusting his face. He'd felt more of a graceless idiot just managing not to embarrass himself too badly, but it was nice of the man to say.

"I'd heard something about the Three Dragon War," he acknowledged. "Is that what you mean?"