#{ let's rp soon!!! }

[sketchitings]

Fletcher and Yahui from that one episode.

[blitzbuckz]

[daisukerine]

daisuke do you like brainrot :3? (also ily pls dont die)

dude? i'm like, highkey sigma. you don't even need to ask that. my rizz is TOTALLY tight, dude! but i mean, like— i guess brainrot's funny but it gets kinda annoying after a bit. old school lingo is like, wayy better! saying gnarly is way cooler than saying cool.

[xiii-e]

Becoming Sand.

// loading echo.exe ... //... //... // now running echo.exe. // now running extension_██████████ // begin account: XIII-E deployment_state of consciousness.

…the Dawnline. Of course. No info on where exactly but-

They didn’t have to know. XIII-E wasn’t there for the fight, they were there for the people caught up in it; there to keep people from dying. If they had to take up arms, something had gone horribly wrong.

The fact something always went wrong lingered █████████████ in the back of their mind, much like the weight pressed into the small of their back. When you carried a weapon, you accepted you may have to hurt someone. To protect yourself. To protect the people in your care. 

Well. They were good at that too, weren’t they? Designed to break things, if they must. Slowly, XIII-E watched their hand flex, sinew moving beneath flesh, beneath gloves, beneath padding and armor. If needed, they could tear through metal to access the injured. It wasn't hard to imagine what they could do to bone if their orders changed.

Only if I must. The primary directive is always repairs. 

It was hard to keep their head on straight with everything happening somewhere in the ether, somewhere beyond their reach, touched by the ephemeral digital presence they'd been permited. So much learned in such a short time ███ ██ ████ ████ ██ ████ █████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ████ ██ █████ ████ ████ █████ ██████ ██████ ██ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ █████ ██ ██ ██████ ██████████ ███████████ █████ ██ █████████ ████████ ████ ███████ ██ █████ ██ ██ ███████ ████ █████ ██████ ███████ ████████ ████████ there was a lot more on their mind these days. Perhaps this was exactly why they had been discouraged from forming social bonds on the field?

Focus- who were they deployed with this time?

Grant, Jane. Pierre, Liam. Mark--

Names. These were just names, and this wasn't helping. Slowly their lungs filled, then emptied, and instead they looked around. They needed something to do, needed to attend to the work. They knew this unrest. They knew what would set them to rights again.

Follow the directive. Do as you were made to.

Where had they just been, again? ██ ██████ ████ ██████████ ███ ████ ██ ████ ████ █████ ████ They had been... deployed, they'd been deployed with the squadron assigned as their accompaniment. They'd done good work; at least 5 of the injured were stabilised by their hand, a good number more tended to over the course of the conflict. Why did they feel so ill at ease then? They'd done well. Done what they were meant to.

Focus. Look around again, try to see what wasn't right. Eyes flicked to the side, swept across their field of view- nothing immediately out of place. Camp was the way it always was after a fight, chaotic, ever moving. People rushed here and to, paying them no- no, no that wasn't right, that was what pricked at them. Ordinarily XIII-E was a part of the scenery in the aftermath of combat, as the dead and wounded were tallied. But people, soldiers, were looking past them, then at them like something about them caught on their periphery, snagged at their eyes. What was it? What was wrong?

Breath in, breath out. Something felt cold against their shoulder, seeping through the fabric, catching the chill of the wind-

Ah. Right, yes. The dull ache at the edge of their protective shoulderplates, the rip through their medics jacket- they were bleeding.

Or, had been? The stain was still wet but, their wounds closed fast unless severe. It was probably an obvious stain though, the white fabric that shrouded them in the guise of a healer stark in contrast with the red. ████ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ██ █████ ██ ████ ████ █ ████████ ████ ██████ ████ █████████ ██████ It was a minor injury, not worth the fussing. Certainly not across their skin. They could barely feel the break in flesh as they rolled their shoulder, ███████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ███ ███████ ████ █ █████ ████ █ █████ █████████ ██ ███ ████ ████ ███ ██████ █████ ███ it wasn't important.

They should go to the infirmary regardless. It was where they could do the most good, anyway. Always more work to be done, never enough hands. Never enough supplies. Never enough of anything really.

Problems to be solved. That was why they were made, right?

▵▿▵▿▵

Iron choked out the air in the medical ward. Iron and smoke and the tang of acid, as it always was. ████ █████████ ██ █████████���█ ████ █████████ ██ ████ ████ ███████ ████ ██ █████ ██ ███ ████████ ████ ██████ ████ █ ██████ ██ ███ ███████ █████ ██ █████ █████ ██ █████ White coats just like their fluttered here and there searching for what they needed, tools, medicine-

"Fucking damnit when is that next supply drop getting here? We don't have nearly enough of the O negative for-" Frustration, fear. XIII-E's head snapped to the source, a harried looking woman with hair falling out of its tie, eyebags deeper that her voice. Ardence, Martha; senior medical staff. Eyes had snapped to them as well, once their presence was noted, flicked to the stain blooming over their shoulder. They should speak. Before she got the chance to fuss.

"Project XIII-E field medical personnel. What can I do?" From the stain to their face, searching for something, hesitation then- a flick of the head, a beckoning.

"If you want to help, we've got people bleeding out. Bastard bloody shrapnel bomb went off, shredded a number of good people-" Something was catching on their mind, snagging at their thoughts.

"Supplies. You were talking about supplies ma'am. What are we low on?"

The frustration on Ardence's breath as a short, sharp sigh passed her lips was palpable. Never enough, never enough supplies for the injured, the dying. Never enough to feed the endless churn. But this one, if they were right? They might be able to fix.

"Well it's a long list Project but, blood is the choke point here. We've got soldiers who won't last the night even if their wounds close, because of their blood loss. But I can't fix the deficit-"

"I can help. We can." A blink, a beat of silence. They continued.

"Ma'am, a part of my gene profile was ensuring I'm a viable universal blood donor- for situations exactly like this. My recovery period is shortened, and I am able to provide 3 liters on average without adverse effects on my function. It won't save everyone, but it's something."

More silence, and now the restlessness was creeping back in. There was hesitation on her face. They needed to push.

"It is what I'm designed for, ma'am. The one for the many."

"Yes, yes I understand that but- you've already been injured. Is this safe, Thirteen?"

"It's sorely needed, ma'am. Another attack isn't predicted for a good while yet, I'll have recovered by next deployment. We need to move, now."

They were already twisting loose the fastenings on their jacket, shrugging off the fabric, loosing the gauntlets and gloves of their sleeve. Keep moving. Leave no room for uncertainty. They were there to be used, to save people. Ardence's nail dug into the palm of her hand briefly, pressing white crescents into ruddy skin, before a sharp nod.

"Alright. Give me what you can."

▵▿▵▿▵

Things had gone wrong. ██ ███████ ██████ ████ ████

Their arm still stung gently where the needle had lanced beneath their skin, only minutes ago- 3 liters pulled from the body they inhabited, to go to people who needed it more. Good. That was good. █ █████████ ██ ████ ██████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ███ █████ █████ █████ ██████████ ███████ ███ █████ ██████████ ██ ██████ ██ ████ ████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ███████ ████ ████ ████ ██████ ██ ██ ████ ████ ███ ██████ ███████ ██ ███ ███ Ardence had just been giving them further orders when a crash rang out, a blaring siren following. Their comm implants had buzzed ████ █████ ██ ████ █████ ██ ████ █████ ███ ██ ██████ with grave news; a resumption of hostilities, early, far too early. Small force, few in number but plenty of damage done, there were already injured on the field-

They were needed. There was work to be done.

Startled protests blurred into the drone of noise as their focus narrowed, as armor and fastenings clicked back into place, as they slung the heavy cylinder back to its place against the small of their back and started running. They knew where they had to be. Upon call to action, report to the current head of their squadron; they'd done it countless times, would do it countless more.

Count heads. Load into transport, as someone barked the field report in short, sharp words that hammered through their skull.

Focus. Focus. They needed eyes in the present, for the fight to come.

Barely aware of their squadron at this point, the second the crashing of metal against metal rang in their ears like a herald on the horizon they were moving- the second the transport stopped, they were gone. There was iron heavy in the air █████ ██ ███████ ████ ████ and that meant they had work to do.

Find the injured. Tend the wounded. Let nothing stand in their path. They'd done this before. They'd do it again.

Focus.

Blood in the dirt, thickened into mud amidst rubble and dust. There. That was where they needed to be.

Anaysis, field analysis. Take a breath, look around, see where you are. Half-ruined buildings of stone and metal alike, overgrown with the native foliage in a muted green, the remains of urban growth from before the fighting crawled forward maybe- It wasn't important to know why. Knowing that rubble stood in their path mattered more-

Pained noise, human. 2 o'clock; their back straightened, head craning to try and find the source. Visibiity blocked by a wall still half-standing, blocked by metallic remains of a long-finished fight. Their squadron had caught up to their mad dash, slowly sweeping the area, hands on their rifles as they dispersed like oil through water- their hand found the small of their back, the weight shifting. All it took was a button press to arm themself.

Observe safety guidelines. Call out. State intended actions before attempting to breach. Perform as trained.

"Hello in there! Project XIII-E present in the field. Are you hurt?" Calm, neutrally pleasent but authoritative. Trusthworthy. Listen to me, call out to me, let me know where you are. Their accompaniment didn't react to them, letting them work. They knew what they were doing. They were made for this.

Quiet for a moment, two. Another shuddering groad that caught, grew, became a voice. "...Trapped. There's- there's rubble pinning my leg. I can't-I can't feel it."

Likely break, it would have to be set and bound before the patient would be ready to move. They had no confirmation what side of the fight this man was on, but it didn't matter, couldn't matter until whoever this was had been extracted and cared for. Their directive was repairs. Worry about the possible threat once they knew he was safe.

"I'm gonna get you out of there sir, alright? Stay with me. Keep talking. You have a name Soldier?" Loud and clear and calm, keep him calm, keep him focussed on them and not the pain. Can't fix anything until they get in. Their grip on the long handle weighing into their palms shifts with their weight, readying to clear their way.

"M-Mathews, sir. Legionnaire Math-" a hiss of pain, a breaking in the voice. "Legionnaire Mathews."

Judge the lay of the wall, where they could afford for rubble to fall. They swung back.

"Breaching."

An echoing of reinforced material smashing through rebar and stone, smashing down into the ground with the echo of a shout from the trapped man. Their maul (breaching hammer, really. Maul was shorter though) carrying its weight through to a stop, before the downswing, hitting the dirt with a dull metal thud as their body moved before their mind.

The way was clear. Get to the patient. Do your job.

▵▿▵▿▵

The blurring again. Think. Focus. How many had they seen to, in the past-

... the time didn't matter. ████ ████ ████████ █████ ███████ ██ ███ █████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ████████ █████████ █████ ██ █████ ███ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ ██████ ████ ███████ █ ███████ ████ ████ ███ ████████ ██ █████ ████ ████ ███ █████ ███████ ███ ████████ Focus. It was vital they keep a clear mind so they could do their work. People were depending on them. Lives were-

Think back. The trapped leg, set. He was being minded by one of their greener squadmates until he could be extracted. The abdominal wound. Shrapnel extracted, wound closed, patch applied along with bandaging. Accompanying them now. The- the other abdominal wound. Also shrapnel. Also removed, patched bound. Left though. Wanted to find their own squad. The-

This wasn't helping, it wasn't helping they needed to think. They needed to clear their mind. Where had the crashing pain come from? Why did their chest feel so heavy? Why couldn't they-

[Noise. Crashing and breaking and something moving fast, too fast toward them- why was their mind moving so slowly. Why couldn't they move faster. They didn't see the dark glint of reinforced chrome until it was a blistering flash across their vision, propelled into someone just out of their reach. Didn't see the danger until it was driving the body of someone under their care through the unyielding stone and rubble, until flesh gave way to sheer force and split apart and bones broke, until screams were ringing in their ears and blood soaked everything in red, red, red-]

-goddamn think?

...fuck. Fuck. Move-

There wasn't time for explination as their body broke into a sprint, as they heard the echo of a distant crash moving closer, closer. Carpenter, the soldier they'd seen that'd been Carpenter- Their shoulder crashed into his body to confused shouting, a clamouring din that they didn't have time to untangle as Carpenter went flying, in the dirt, but safe. Safe.

Before anyone could ask, the dark chrome was barreling into them.

Every gasp of breath was torn out of their lungs at the sheer force of the crush, stone digging into them even through their armor, hell they'd have a hell of a bruise after this ████ █████ ██ but there was no spray of blood, no snapping of bone beyond the cracking of what might've been a rib- they'd live. They'd live.

Humans were fragile, in ways they were not.

Perhaps that was why the bastard in the mechanised hardsuit grabbed them by the jacket when they saw them still moving, and hurled them bodily through the wall they'd just been crushed against. The sudden influx of sheer pain blinded them like smoke behind the eyes for the eternity of a second, crashing through a haze of rubble and stonedust and a sudden dark that fell around their head like a heavy drape. Suffocating. They barely felt it when they hit the second wall but it seared when they fell to the ground, a jolt through everything they might have fractured or broken in their short flight as they hit dirt, crumpled on the floor with the rest of the scrap.

Ow

fuckkkksake...

▵▿▵▿▵

... it was loud.

Everything hurt, and it was loud.

The... the fighting, there was still fighting going on. Crashing, shouting, gunfire and the clanging ring of metal-on-metal god it was a bloody cacophony; XIII-E's head raised slowly through the swimming agony as they pried their grit-filled eyes open, staring out into the chaos.

Nothing ever went fucking right, did it?

Two down, status unknown but they weren't moving. At least three of the squad had taken up defensive positions, intermittent ducks out of cover to rattle off fire against the armored hostile who they could finally get a good look at (well, as good a look as they could manage through the grit and- whatever that sting was) For a brief second their heart was in their throat, but- not a Caliban. Thank fuck, not a Caliban. Just- just some kind of enhanced heavy-armor hardsuit.

...still not anything to brush off though. The shuddering agony in their chest reminded them of that pretty sharply.

Sitrep. Analyse the damage. A hand pressed into their ribs confirmed there was definitely something either fractured or broken in there; a little more poking and they were 80% sure it was a fracture. No risk of puncture. Good. Then they could move.

Staggering to their feet was a slow ordeal, but their weight held even if their head swam. Even if they stumbled. ████ █████ ██████ ████ ████ ██████ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ██ ██████ ████did they get so tired? When-No, stop that. Crush it down. We rest when the work is done.

The work is never done.

Then we keep moving.

They couldn't fill their lungs without the breath catching on their pain, but that was fine. A low purr filled their chest instead. Leave no room for the hurting, put it out of their mind; pick up their weapon. One foot in front of the other.

The handle of their maul was frigid against their bare fingers, but that was good. That was useful. An anchor through the haze.

Get that fucking bastard away from our people. Remove the hostile. Keep them safe.

Their body moved before their mind did.

Someone tried to yell them down as they broke into a run, tried to reach for them but-- they wouldn't be stopped now. Keep moving. Their weight crashed into the black-chrome shadow trying to carve through scrap metal and it turned, it faltered- oh it shouldn't have given them that opening.

Absently, they felt a dull ache through their shoulder. It didn't matter though. The blunt side of their maul had already connected, full force with the fuckers knees.

Shattering metal sounded like snow, sometimes. Did you know that? Not often, but sometimes. It was the little details.

The flat of their maul came down again, blotting out another dull ache. Thigh this time. They'd just broken his, with a cruch.

Shouting. What was anyone shouting? They couldn't tell. It was all just, noise and shapes. Except for the man in the heavy armor on the floor beneath them now, howling in pain. The man curling in on himself as much as the twisted metal would let him. They could fix this, maybe... if he would let them. If he surrendered. There was a difference, between an opponent and a hostile...

His fingers twitched, as they saw eyes staring at them through tinted glass. They could smell smoke, from somewhere. They could taste iron.

Jerkily, his arm levelled at them, trying to line up a shot-

The flat of their maul came crashing down once more.

██████████ █████ █████ ██████ █████ █████ ██████ ███████████ █████ ████████ █████ ██████ █████████ ███ ███████ ███████ █████ ████ ████ █ ███████ ███████ █████ ███ █████ ██████████ █████ █████ ███████ █████ ██████ ███████ █████ ██████

...

Hostile removed. Attend to squadron.

▵▿▵▿▵

The aftermath was a blur. They were... fairly sure they had been yelled at? The worried, frantic kind of yelling. It had died when they'd given a sitrep. Calm, composed. Clear voice. Don't betray the pain. They could deal with it once the situation was stable.

The return to base was a blur. It was quiet... they thought it was quiet. Maybe they just hadn't heard anything clearly. Maybe it really was quiet, with the shock of it all. No deaths in their squadron at least, it had turned out. Thank fuck for small mercies.

Camp was... camp was a blur too. Faces like poor signal on an old holoscreen, just shapes and colours- smile along, nod and salute and follow the script. Autopilot. God their fucking head hurt.

They needed... they needed a drink of water maybe. Their mouth tasted like iron, their tongue too dry to swallow as it ran over the dull points of their teeth in absent minded consideration. Why was their mouth so dry? It shouldn't have been.

They shouldn't have been so light headed either. ███ ███ ██████ ███ ████ ██ ██████ ██████ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ████ ███ ██████ ██████ ██ █████ ███ ████ █ ████ ████ █████ ███ █████ ████ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████

... they didn't want to do this in front of the squadron. It wasn't hard to find some excuse, claim to be headed for the infirmary (for work, of course. They were fine. They were fine) and duck behind a supply hold instead. They just needed to catch their breath. Steady themself.

They'd be fine. It'd been calculated risk.

... their clothing was sitting strangely against their skin, though. Slowly they brushed (cold, oddly cold) fingers over the fabric, tracing it down where it clung to layers underneath, where it clung to itself in ways that seemed... odd.

Thinking was difficult. Why was thinking difficult?

They put their back to a wall with a stifled whine, and sank down to the floor as the purr in their chest rose again. Keep the pain at bay. Try to rationalise. What was the problem? What was wrong?

Was their hand shaking?

Their arm felt so stiff as they raised it to eye level, blearly blinking through the shifting haze of... colours, colours and shapes.

... that was a lot of red.

There was shouting again. Someone at their shoulder (when did they get there) shaking them, fuck that hurt- they opened their mouth to say as such but, nothing came out. Nothing but a strangled gasp.

It was... really cold, actually.

Someone was trying to pull them to their feet, trying and failing. They couldn't get their legs underneath them. They couldn't.... couldn't...

ah hell. Overdid it.

The dark closed in like an old friend, and then-

then it was quiet.

//

--- [TEXT FORWARD FROM: ADMIN]

ADMIN ID:XIII-E logged as damaged beyond acceptable perameters during current deployment. Status: stabalised, but inopperable. Project XIII-E to be returned to base for repair period. Handler ID: Helios-8 still under workplace review. Handler ID: Helios-8 should nontheless be prepared to accept maintanance responsibilities immediately post approval by overseeing admin. End Communication. ---

[blcssom]

ok activity is still likely to be a little spotty until i'm on vacay wednesday (two days we're almost there 🙃) BUT i'm thinking i may cull some drafts i'm struggling to find muse for and in their place i maybe want.... spotify wrapped starters ???

so like this for a short lyric starter or two xo

[adm1rationofthem0ngoos3]

[c'monnnnn wake upppp]

Matthew groaned, tossing a random rubber ball in the air and catching it repeatedly. He made a few spontaneous mouth sounds, kicking his legs and making dramatic huffs.

"Augh... this is almost as bad as my time in that one asylum.."

[youthful-vengeance]

Live robin reaction.

[sanniewrites]

open to: everyone! (feel free to assume connections) muse: kwon doyun, 28, CEO, pansexual plot: your muse bumps into doyun while he's on a business trip

With all the stress from traveling to a different city for business reason, Doyun felt so overwhelmed. It felt like he couldn't catch a break but that was to be expected as a CEO. Why did he decide to do this as his job again? He wasn't sure but he wasn't going to cut if off cold turkey. He was just complaining after all which he felt was normal with every job. Once he unpacked, it was time to escape the hotel. He wanted to see outside of it instead of stay in like a homebody. He took a little stroll around, his eyes taking in every single thing possible. Though it seemed luck wasn't on his side and he chose the perfect time to be oblivious. Instantly, he crashed into someone which caused him to panic. "I'm so sorry! I hope you are okay. I should have been paying attention better. You aren't hurt are you?" A look of concern taking over his face as he tried to do what he could for the other.

[skullzanta]

Reminder: This is your last chance to enlist! The Final, Climactic Battle of The Great Skeleton Wars will begin in two days. Tomorrow, we must gather our weapons and candy, and prepare to spook some souls. Are you ready?

[2ndsk8terboy]

more proof that your homo

You know, you guys are starting to convince me that maybe I am a boy kisser...

But only if it was Todd probably

[numba1ma]

Only the best mothers make the best sandwiches. And you can bet your ass I make the most incredible ones!

Just ask all 8 of my boys!

[huffle-dork]

Swap Beyond the Crystalverse Chapter 10: SepticPirates

Co-written with @crystalninjaphoenix Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs

Other Multiverse Stories: SITCV | SATCV | GITHV

SBTCV Masterpost

Bro falls, and lands on a city street. But not a modern city street. It's clear from the cobbled streets and clothes the people are wearing. but it's not quite as medieval as Glasúil. The buildings are made of brown bricks with shingled roofs, and the people wandering around don't wear tunics, but instead frilly shirts and the occasional long coat. The sky above is the bright orange and pinks of sunset. The air smells salty. Nobody really looks at Bro as he appears, but he does get long looks for his strange outfit as he stands there. 

Bro blinks and brushes himself off, flushing a bit self consciously as the people looking at him. He takes it all in and whispers to himself, “… the fuck did we fall now…?”

CRASH! 

A window in the nearest building suddenly shatters as a person goes flying out. They quickly get to their feet. A man wearing a red bandanna around his head and a belt around his chest. "Oh, you be making a big mistake here!" He shouts back through the window. He grabs onto Bro's arm. "Come on, Chase, let's—Chase?!" The man does a double-take, looking at Bro. "What in the deep seas are you wearing?! When did you put that on?!"

Bro starts and jerks his arm back with wide eyes, “woah woah woah!! The fuck is happening?!”

"Wait... you got out really real fast, didn't you?" the man in the bandanna says, looking more and more confused. 

CRASH! Another window breaks as a second man gets thrown through it. And then a tri-cornered hat is tossed out after him. The man scrambles to his feet, putting the hat on his head. "Bunch of ass-bastards!" he curses. "Come on, Jackie, let's—Jackie?!" The man also does a comical double-take, staring at Bro. "What in the blue blazes?!" 

And he's staring for good reason, because Bro looks exactly like him.

Bro flounders for something to say. “Why the fuck did you crash through the window?!” Is what he finds himself saying. Then he jumps again as he stares at his other self. “…holy fuck… are you guys pirates?!” he gasps.

"Are you not?!" The man in the bandanna—Jackie—says. "Why are you in the Cove if you're not?!" 

"Must come from very far," the man in the hat—Chase—says. "What bright garb." 

"But he sounds like he's an Angle, or maybe an Éiran," Jackie insists. 

"Then explain the clothes! I've never seen anything like this in Anglice or Éire." Chase gestures at Bro's whole getup.

Bro holds up his hands, grinning nervously, “Oh right me immmm very very very far from here! Some place you all have never heard of- and some place where I thought pirates like- didn’t exist anymore! …so I guess we’re in the past again??” Bro muses to himself.

Chase and Jackie exchange looks. "Are you a friend of Chase's?" Jackie asks. "Or a relative, perhaps?" 

"I don't have any friends or relatives in strange places." Chase shakes his head. 

“Uhhh- not exactly a relative… I’mmmm kinda him like- exactly?” Bro says with an awkward grin.

"You're... me? But I'm me." Chase looks very confused about that.

"Must be pretty far if ye don't think pirates exist." Jackie grins and chuckles. "Well, what brings you to the Cove, then? Looking to join a crew? Because the Septic Eye has openings."

Bro blinks at the offer and laughs, “…you guys are being very casual about being thrown through a window. Doesn’t that like- hurt normal people?”

"Oh, trust me, it stings," Jackie says, brushing broken glass off his shirt sleeves. "But a brawl is nothing! Speaking of, Chase, what do you say we hand it back to those Dark Waves bastards?!" 

"Um—I think this man claiming to be me is a bit more important." 

"Aww." Jackie looks a bit disappointed.

“Oh well, I’m from…. Another world. Where I’m Chase but… not a pirate-“ Bro laughs, “Uh- it’s hard to explain- but um I’m Chase Brody… from the future I guess…??? Depends on how mythical this place is… or like- imagine if you grew up somewhere different and then met that other you? …that’s what I am! …I’m not sure that’s better ah fuck-“

"...no, I'm not heading where you're leading." Chase shakes his head. "But I'll take mystical as an explanation and leave it at that." 

“Yeah okay magic is usually the best explanation,” Bro laughs. 

"Still wondering what you're doing here, Chase Brody from the future," Jackie says. "Like I asked, you want to join a crew?"

Bro looks to Jackie and thinks, “Uhhhh well… me and my brother are looking for something… but god joining a pirate crew would be kickass… even if I’m sure I’m not cool with like- killing, pillaging and stealing-“ as he’s talking, he goes to hold the tracker- if they need to cross the ocean to find this thing… then this might be the best bet! The tracker says that the parts are out at sea, on a ship called the Antithesis. 

"What an unusual glass eye," Jackie says, leaning down to look at it. "Some witchcraft bob?" 

Bro blinks then grins. “Yeah basically! I don’t really get how it works but it shows me what I’m supposed to find.”

"I'll note that the Septic Eye doesn't pillage," Chase says, raising his hand. "We only steal from ships of nobility."

“Oh! Like Robin Hood!” Bro says excitedly, “I can dig that. Sayyy have you two ever heard of the ship Antithesis? cuz what I’m looking for seems to have fallen there.” 

The smiles immediately vanish from their faces. "Your eye told you that?" Jackie asks, suddenly serious. "Well... hang me, then." 

"Don't say that, Jackie," Chase mutters, tilting his hat back. "He's a tough-looking guy. Surely he can, uh... figure his way on and out of there."

Bro blinks comically in surprise. “…damn this boat really brought down the vibe…” he says, rubbing the back of his head. He then smiles sheepishly. “Oh yeah don’t worry about me- I’m.. kinda magic… I guess.”

"Hmm. That would explain your strange clothing... and why you look like me." Chase laughs. 

"If ye be going to find the Antithetis, you'll need to head out to sea," Jackie says. "Need help finding your way back to the docks? I know the Cove can be confusing for people who aren't here often. And I don't think me or Chase will be welcome back in that pub while those Dark Waves sailors are still in there."

“Well… you said you were lookin for crew for your ship, right? Maybe we could.. work something out together?” Bro offers sheepishly.

"Oh yes, that would be a real help!" Jackie grins and nods. "And you can ask Jays about the Antithesis. He knows the most about it." 

"This way, then." Chase points down the street. "Follow us." 

"Ha! The rest of the crew will have fits seeing you!" Jackie grins, and the two of them lead Bro down the street. 

Bro beams and stims a bit, “Brilliant! Oh Jackie is gonna be sooo jealous-“ He mutters to himself as he follows after the other two. Hopefully Alt isn’t too far away- 

————-

Alt lands—lands on the very edge of some sort of platform holy shit—!

For a moment, he wobbles back and forth... and then falls into water with a loud SPLASH!

Alt cries out as he lands, trying to keep his balance- then screeches as he splashes into the water. He breaks the surface and gasps, floundering to try to stay above it as he coughs water out of his mouth.

Squawk! "Man overboard! Man overboard!" 

A bird flies down and lands on the edge of the platform Alt fell off of—some wooden planks of some kind. It looks like a parrot, mostly green, but its head is blue and so are its wing feathers. "Man overboard!" 

"Man overboard?!" A human voice repeats from up above. "Hold on!" Looks like Alt has fallen right into the gap between a dock and a boat. A... large wooden boat. 

A sailing ship.

Alt treads water for a bit to try to get his bearings. It’s hard to glitch when he’s in water… not impossible but not pleasant. He jumps a bit at the squawk then finally looks up to take in the huge ship in front of him. “H-Holy shit…!”

A rope ladder unfolds, dropping down the side of the ship. A man leans over the edge, a man with a mustache. He waves at Alt, and points at the ladder. Then a second face, and a third, lean over the side as well. "Grab and climb!" one says.

Alt shakes himself out of his awe and blinks at the ladder. He swims up and then clumsily tries his best to climb, struggling at bit.

As soon as he gets close enough, the man with the mustache reaches down and helps pull him onto the deck of the ship. 

Alt hurriedly grabs onto the other man and falls to deck, heaving and trying to catch his breath. Alt looks up at the others and then he stares at them wide eyed. “I-I’m… okay… “ he breathes, then weakly pushes himself to his feet, taking the men in.

"Are you hurt?" One of the other men asks. He's wearing glasses, the type where they stay on by pinching the bridge of your nose. He's wearing a long, old-fashioned sort of blue coat. Next to him, the man in the mustache is wearing a frilly shirt and vest, and the third man is wearing a similar outfit, but with the addition of lots of handmade-looking jewelry... some of which include shells, and some of which include bones. Some beads are even braided into his shoulder-length hair. 

"Unusual outfit," comments the man with the jewelry. The man with the glasses rolls his eyes. 

"Yes, in contrast to your normal outfit," he drawls sarcastically.

“I… I could say the same for you all..” Alt mutters. He looks around, “um… where are we, exactly?” 

The man with the jewelry raises an eyebrow. "Did you hit your head on the way into the water?" 

Squawk! The bird from earlier flies towards the group, landing on the shoulder of the mustached man. "Cutlass Cove!" it says. "Cutlass Cove!" 

"As Sam said." The man with the glasses gestures at the bird. "You are in Cutlass Cove. Or, on the Septic Eye, which is docked at the Cove." The mustached man points off the edge of the boat. 

They are indeed docked at a town of some kind, a town that sits on the curve of a bay.

Alt jumps and glitches back from the bird, then hisses a bit, gripping at his arm. He stares at the bird wide eyed then at the scenery. “…holy shit…” he whispers, looking around.

The man with the glasses laughs a little. "What?" He glances at the other two. "That is unusual phrase." 

The man with the mustache raises his hands and... starts to sign. But it's slightly different than the BSL Alt knows. He can still understand it, but there's some guesswork involved. I don't think that's a phrase that exists. 

"Really? It is not some Anglish saying?" 

"Never heard it before--seems a bit blasphemous to the gods, to be honest," the man with jewelry says.

Alt blinks at the others and then smiles sheepishly, “Oh it’s uh… pretty common where… I’m from…”

A faint voice comes from the bag where Alt put his phone. "Welcome to UF-0628724SS," Anti says, his voice too quiet and muffled for the three men to hear. "I like to call it the water world. Cause that's what it mostly is." 

Alt startles a bit at Anti’s voice but relaxes quickly, glad he can still hear him. He snorts a bit at this then looks away from the cove, staring out at the sea. He stares in awe, walking towards the edge at looking out. “This is insane…” he laughs breathlessly.

"...not familiar with that word, either," the man with jewelry says. "En-sain." 

"I can understand from the reaction, though," the man with glasses says. "Grew up somewhere in the middle of land?" 

The man with the mustache nods. That would explain his clothes. 

“Kinda… I live near a beach now but… this is definitely different,” Alt says.

"Where are you from, stranger?" the man with jewelry says. "I'll bet Anglice or Éire from your voice. But I suppose you could be from any in that area." 

"Not Deutsreich, we do not dress like that back home," the man with glasses comments.

Alt turns back to look at the others and sighs, “Alright uh… guessing by how you all talk… this is gonna be hard to explain.” He then straightens up and says, “My name is Alt Brody and- I’m from another world. One very very different from here.”

"Another... world?" The man with glasses repeats. 

"Did you sail off the edge of your last one and land in the water by our ship?" The man with the jewelry chuckles. 

“…yeah that’s pretty accurate actually-“ Alt says to the man with the jewelry. 

The man with the mustache frowns. He looks at the others. Did you hear his surname? 

"No, I did. But the part about the world seemed more urgent." The man in jewelry says.

The man with the glasses reached up, adjusting them. "Well, ah... I am Henrik von Schneeplestein, I am the ship's doctor. This is Jameson Jackson, he is the purser, and Marvin MacLoughlen, he is..." He trails off, gesturing vaguely. 

"I'm the witch." The man with jewelry--Marvin--stares at Alt as if expecting him to laugh or scoff at that.

Alt looks at Marvin and nods in understanding. “You certainly look the part… like a… a witch doctor I’ve seen in pirate- …boooks?” They clearly wouldn’t know what a movie is ah shit-

Marvin grins. "Well... that does make sense, doesn't it?" He turns to the side, making a little pose. "After all, I am also a pirate. We all are." 

"The Septic Eye is a pirate ship, and the Cove has been claimed by us as well," Henrik says. "You must really be from another world if you do not know that about the Cove." 

"Cutlass Cove!" squawks Sam the macaw. "Avast! Avast!" Jameson reaches into his pocket and holds out a little cracker for them, which they immediately start nibbling with their beak.

Alt’s jaw drops. “Nooo fucking way- are you… are you serious?! Pirates??” He glitches a bit in excitement, “that’s so fucking cool!” but quickly stops with a wince. Ugh he needs to dry off… he whispers a spell under his breath then presses a hand to his chest- and he’s suddenly dry again with a zip of green magic. “Oh- that’s much better…”

Henrik laughs. "Well—if you find the pirates' life exciting, then you are not with a nation's navy, clearly. Or the Armada." 

“Oh hell no- I get why pirates do the things they do.” Alt grins. 

Marvin's eyes light up. "A fellow witch, I see?!" he says, matching Alt's excitement. "What spell was that? It'll come in sure handy!"

Alt blinks at Marvin then smiles, “Oh! Uh… I can see if I can teach you! Being wet doesn’t really.. mesh well with my powers.”

"Well—bad luck that you arrived in this world, then," Marvin says. "It's mostly the sea. The land nations are small, some being just islands. Like Éire, that's where I'm from." 

"And it is where our friends Chase Brody and Jackie Menan are from, as well," Henrik adds. "And our Captain Jack." 

"Cap'n Jack!" Sam caws. 

Alt sighs, “I guess that figures…” He then smiles hearing at the others. “Oh you guys do know Chase-! I wonder if my brother appeared by him then…” he muses.

Your brother? JJ asks. 

"Oh, ah... do you know handsign, Alt?" Henrik asks.

“Imm… picking it up mostly-“ Alt says, rubbing his head. “But yeah in my world… Chase is my brother. We’re… technically people from this world too… if you know anyone called Anti… that’s me.” He sighs, pushing up his mask.

"Oh? How fascinating," Marvin says, grinning. He does look a bit... less than hinged, shall we say, but that's probably just the bone jewelry giving him a bad impression. 

"I have never met anyone called Anti," Henrik says. "Or Alt. Certainly not on our crew." 

Jameson shakes his head. 

Alt seems to relax a bit at what Henrik says. At least these guys won’t have a negative image of him. 

Speaking of the crew... now that Alt's really looking around, they're not alone on the deck. There's a woman at the helm, hands on the wheel. There are some men up in the masts. And there's a handful of people around the edges of the deck, tying ropes and scrubbing the deck.

Alt blinks and looks around, noticing the other members of the crew. “Oh damn- there’s… so many more people on here than I thought-“

Jameson laughs—an actual sound. They do tend to blend into the deck, don't they? 

"We were just settling down for the night," Marvin says. "We'll have to ask Jackie and Chase if you can stay on board, if that's what you want. If it's not, you'll have to find an inn on the shore. Plenty of those, though, don't worry your head." 

"Though you said you needed to find your brother?" Henrik recalls. "Another Chase Brody... how strange."

Alt notices that the sun is setting and nods. “Ah yeah… guess this will be a.. longer journey for us this time. Hopefully Chase is nearby… but we’re also looking for something pretty important.” He takes out his tracker- learning the location of the TRVLR piece is on the ship called the Antithesis. He hums and looks back at the others, “…according to this…. It’s on something called the Antithesis? Do you guys know of it?”

All three of the men stiffen in unison. Jameson goes pale as Henrik and Marvin both glance at him. "That is... a ship," Henrik says slowly. "A very... strange ship. Ah... you being a witch, you must know about magic. Have you heard of ghost ships before?"

Alt blinks. “I think so?” …he’s heard of them in a video game before. “But uh- go ahead and enlighten me?”

"They wander the seas, phantasmal ships with phantom crews," Marvin says in a low, spooky voice, like one would use for telling a ghost story. "Some are signs that your own ship will meet its doom soon. Some are simply strange visions. But some will actively attack, leaving damage from cannonballs but no cannonball fragments to find." 

"The Antithesis and its captain are among the most fearsome," Henrik says. "The ghostly sailors will board ships out at night, killing some crew and passengers and... taking... some captive." 

Jameson takes a step back. 

"No one knows how the Antithesis came to be," Marvin continues. "Some say the captain ran aground on purpose on a lunar eclipse, seeking the immortality of ghostliness. Some say the ship was sunk by the Iris Armada. The truth is completely unknown."

Alt’s eyes widen, “Woah…” He glances briefly at Jameson and looks concerned. “…that’s so interesting if it was just like a myth but… sounds like this is something me and Chase need to face now.” He sighs. “cool fun- I can… handle ghosts… probably..?”

"Well... you'll have to be careful," Marvin says. "Can't exactly shoot or stab a ghost." 

And you can't stay on there for too long, Jameson adds. Or... you won't be able to leave. 

"But witchcraft will sure be a good help." Marvin grins. 

“Oh… well that’s- good to know.” Alt smiles at Marvin. He then sighs and looks over near the cove again. “….guess I should start looking for my brother then-“

“Aye, of course,” Marvin says. “I could probably help with finding him—” 

“Ahoy!” calls a distant shout. 

Several of the crew members stop what they’re doing and rush to the bow of the ship. “Ahoy!” Many shout back. One turns around and says, “The mates ’re returning!” 

“Already?” Henrik says in surprise, leaning over the side of the ship. “I do hope the two of them didn’t get in a brawl again.”

In the distance, walking down the city streets, is a man in a red bandanna and two others.

Alt blinks and turn glitches to look towards the streets. He grins as he sees the familiar bright orange of Bro’s jacket. “Hey! There he is!” He laughs, “what good timing.” 

Bro sees the flash of green from the ship and starts to wave wildly towards it.

Jackie and Chase break into a run. "Oh, what's that?!" Jackie shouts in response to the green flash. "Some sort of witchcraft? Never seen the like! What's Marv working on now?" 

"Hmm... I don't think it's Marvin." Chase looks at Bro. "You know what's going on there?"

“Yeah! That’s my brother!” Bro grins. Since they’re running- and because he thinks it’ll be funny to see their faces- he kicks off the ground and bursts into the air sailing towards the ship.  

"What in the blue blazes?!" Chase gasps. 

"Fucking witch stuff!" Jackie shouts, surprised.

Soon enough, Bro is landing down next to Alt with a flourish. “Alt!! Isn’t this so cool?! Pirates!!!” He beams. 

Alt laughs and shakes his head- “I think you just gave everyone on the ship a heart attack bro-“

The whole crew does indeed seem to have had a collective heart attack. One of them reaches for a bell hanging from the side of a mast but another stops her. 

"H-how--excuse me?!" Henrik gapes at Bro. 

"Not a bird! Not a bird!" Sam squawks, and Jameson shakes his head slowly, as if agreeing with the macaw. 

"Amazing!" Marvin gasps, and suddenly grabs onto Bro's arm. "Oh, you're real!" 

Jameson grabs him and pulls him back. You can't just latch onto someone. 

"Ah, sorry."

Bro startles slightly then laughs, “Yeah I’m real! I’m Chase but you all can call me Bro! Nice to meet ya!” 

Alt laughs and rolls his eyes a bit. “Excuse my brother- he likes to show off.” 

“You’re one to talk.” Bro snickers.

Henrik nods. "Well... you do look much like Chase." 

"The spitting image, really," Marvin says. "Except for that leaping through the air." 

“Yeah kinda freaky, huh?” Bro chuckles.

Jameson leans over the side of the ship, looking at the dock. He turns back around and whistles. "Lower the gangplank!" Sam caws. 

The crew members spring into action, pulling out the gangplank and lowering it as directed so Jackie and Chase can come on board.

Once the crew starts to move Bro hurries over to the edge and waves down at them. “Ah sorry! Didn’t mean to leave you!!” 

"Excited to see your brother, huh?" Jackie laughs. "Alright, ye show-off, don't worry about it." 

Bro flushes a bit but grins sheepishly at Jackie and Chase.

"You both dress like that, huh?" Chase comments, looking at Alt. "Might need something new if you don't want all eyes on you." 

Alt looks at his outfit and hums, “…guess we do kinda stick out…” 

Jameson's eyes light up. I could help with that! 

Marvin laughs. "Excited?" 

Excited to give advice to people who will listen to my points on clothes for once instead of putting bones in their hair. "I don't put bones in my hair! Just beads."

“Yes! Oh I love when we get to wear costumes!” Bro stims eagerly. 

“I hate to admit it… but me too,” Alt laughs. “We’d appreciate the help, Jameson.”

Jameson grins. We'll have to go back into the city. There's a clothing shop right on the dock. He leans over, pointing it out. 

"Aye, you can tell by the blue columns out front," Jackie agrees. 

Anyone else want to follow? Jameson asks. 

"Well I want to know more about this other me," Chase says. "Might as well tag along for that." 

"How much rum did you and Jackie have?" Henrik asks. "They're not going to let you in if you wobble like idiots." 

"Not that much!" Chase says defensively. "We, uh... got in a... fight--" 

"Of course you did," Henrik sighs. 

"But we weren't hurt!"

“They both got thrown through a window,” Bro points out. Alt blinks in surprise and stares at Jackie and Chase.

"Hey!" Jackie says. 

"You brainless gulls." Henrik sighs. "Alright, where were you cut?" 

"We weren't!" Chase holds out his arms. "Look for yourselves!" 

"I will be!" Henrik immediately bursts into action, brushing Chase and Jackie down and checking their skin. 

"It wasn't our fault," Jackie grumbles. "Some crew from the Dark Waves were insulting to the captain."

Bro blinks, “…what’d they say?” 

“And what did you do back that got you thrown out a window? Seems like a pretty drastic reaction…” Alt mutters.

"They said that Captain Jack abandoned us!" Jackie growls. "He'd never! Not in a thousand years, in a thousand fathoms! I'd believe he sunk to the locker before I believed he left us!" 

"Maybe you should have said that instead of hitting the man square in the face," Chase says. 

"You got tossed out after me! What did you do?!" 

"...hit his friend in the face." 

Marvin laughs. Henrik rolls his eyes. "Well, you two seem fine, at least. You'll have bruises later but no cuts."

Alt blinks then grins, “Nice- sounds like those guys deserved it.” 

“…what happened to Captain Jack?” Bro asks quietly.

Chase shakes his head. "We don't know. Vanished right off the deck while we were not too far from Anglice. Nobody else on deck at the time saw anything, which is very strange." 

"He left all of his things behind!" Jackie says. "Even Sam!" 

Sam squawks. "Cap'n Jack! Hoist the colors!" 

"We can only guess there was witchcraft involved," Marvin says. "But I'm not sure how it was used."

Bro looks concerned, “…that’s so weird-“ 

“Hm… maybe I could help? I have some spellbooks with me… I could try to see if maybe there’s a trace of what took him still around..” Alt says.

Marvin snaps to attention. "Books of spells?! Yes, if you could find something in them, that would be a great help!" 

But I'm sure the shops will be closing soon, JJ says. How long will this take? We don't want to wait.

“…clothes first- I can do the spell stuff whenever!” Alt laughs. “Especially since if we’re hunting down a ghost ship… we’ll probably be here a bit.” 

“Woahhh a ghost ship?? Like in wind waker??” Bro asks, looking excited.

"Ah, so you told him what the Antithesis is, then?" Jackie asks. 

Marvin nods. "It'll be tough to find it, but maybe that glass eye of yours will make the search easier." 

"So we're going to help them, then?" Chase asks. 

"Of course!" Henrik chuckles. "Do you think we can resist a hunt for something valuable like that?" 

Jameson nods. I'll help out, too, of course. He clears his throat, then smiles. Well? Let's go get those clothes! I'll use my share for it, don't worry, you won't need to pay.

“…I would offer to help but uh- I don’t think we have the right kind of money,” Bro laughs timidly, “So… thanks that’s so nice. We’ll find a way to make it up to you!”

Don't concern yourself, we can get some more! Jameson says cheerfully. 

"Easy enough." Jackie grins mischievously. Chase laughs. "Alright. Down to the shop, then?" 

Down to the shop! Jameson hurries over to the gangplank, and Chase follows him. Sam the macaw does as well, flying overhead.

Alt and Bro shared glances then grin at each other and hurry after the others.

————

The clothing shop, identified with the blue columns as Jameson pointed out, is filled with all sorts of outfits. It's a real eclectic collection, a mismatch of patterns and colors. There are some fancier-looking dresses and coats, but most of it is more casual, better fitted for a life on the sea.

Alt and Bro look around at all the materials and patterns.

“Dudeee this is sick!” Bro grins excitedly. Alt chuckles and nods. 

 A woman walks out from a door at the back, wearing a long red outfit that's reminiscent of traditional Japanese clothing back on Earth. "Oh, Mr. Jackson, welcome back! And Mr. Brody as well. And--oh!" She hurries over to Bro and Alt. "So vibrant! What is this material?" 

The brothers both blink at Haru checking out their clothes. “Uh… cotton I think? Or… something synthetic- that’s why it’s shiny.” Bro tries to explain.

 "How beautiful," Haru coos.

"Ah, Bro, Alt, this is Haru Milton," Chase says. "She and her husband run this place."

“It’s nice to meet you,” Alt smiles shyly.

Haru backs away, looks between the two Brody brothers, and bows. "Nice to meet you too." 

They'll be sailing with our crew for a while and want something suitable, Jameson says. 

"Oh, of course, of course, a pleasure to help." She pulls a measuring tape out of her sleeve. "Though your clothes now are quite amazing. I have never seen anything like them. Do you mind measurements or would you prefer to go by sight?"

“Oh! This is so fancy-“ Bro giggles with glee. “I’m okay being measured.” 

"Fancy?" Chase laughs. "It is, isn't it? But the Miltons take their work seriously." 

“Um- I’d prefer sight,” Alt mutters, messing with his mask.

"Of course, of course." Haru nods and starts measuring Bro, starting with his chest and waist. "Mr. Jackson, please help your friend while I help Mr. Bro here." 

Jameson nods. He looks at Alt and smiles. You like layers, then? Here, I think these are close to your size. He walks over to a rack of coats.

Alt blinks and follows after Jameson. “Oh yeah layers would be good…” his eyes brighten at the sight of the jackets and he grins wide, starting to look through them.

Bro holds out his arms and stays very still for Haru. He laughs, “We don’t have anything like this back home! … or if we do I’ve never been!”

"Oh no, not back home where I'm from, either." Chase laughs. "Me and my family had about four sets of clothes each, and my son's clothes were mine when I was his age." His smile fades slightly. 

Not many space for clothes on a ship, either, so you have to be sure what you have fits, Jameson adds. 

Haru finishes up measuring. "Yes, I see. Over here, Mr. Bro. These should fit your form nicely." She gestures to a corner of the store.

“Oh you have a son?” Bro asks then furrows his eyebrows in concern. But, he’s distracted by Haru and he giggles at the name. “Ha- Mr. Bro…” as he goes to look over where she directs him.

Chase nods slowly. "Yes... I haven't... been home in a while, though. My wife, Stacia, she found out that the ship I was sailing on was a pirate ship, and she was... not happy. She told me to get out, and I... I want to return, but..." He sighs.

Bro winces and looks back at Chase, “Damn… that’s rough, buddy. But I’m sure you’ll be able to get back some day!”

Chase laughs. "I'm sure. But we are far from Éire right now, so it will be a while." He pauses. "The next time we sail nearby, I'll ask the others if I can go see them." 

You don't need to ask anyone, Jameson says. You're the first mate. You can do as you want. 

"Well it wouldn't be right to go off without telling the crew, would it?"

“Oh you’re first mate! …I forget what that means but it sounds important!” Bro laughs.

Chase laughs. "It means I'm second highest, right behind the captain. I'm not sure why Jack chose me, especially when Jackie and Henrik had been on the crew much longer than me--" 

Well, Henrik's a doctor, isn't he? Jameson says. 

"Jackie, though?" 

He's happy where he is. Jameson smiles. You do great, Chase, don't worry. He looks at Bro and Alt. Well? Found things you like? 

"I have a room in back to try the clothes," Haru offers.

Bro beams at his other self, “Yeah other me! I’m sure you’re awesome!” 

In the meantime Bro has piled a couple fabrics and things he likes in his arms, including a bright orange piece- close to the color of his jacket. He grins, “Heck yeah! I’m busting out all my movie knowledge lemne see how this looks!” 

Ah yes, orange must be a favorite color of yours, given the bandanna, Jameson says, chuckling. 

Bro beams and nods then rushes into the room to try stuff on. 

Alt has picked out a dark gray blue coat and is looking it over, smiling slightly. “Bet this will look cool-“

Oh yes, I'm sure it will! Jameson says excitedly. Try something green as well, to bring out the unusual coloring in your eyes. 

Alt blinks at Jameson then smiles and nods, “Alright! Something green…” Alt starts to look around and soon enough finds a teal-ish vest and a green sash. 

"Having fun?" Chase comments, smiling. 

I am! None of you ever listen to me! Jameson laughs.

Then Bro rushes back out, throwing out his arms to show off his look. “What do you think?!” He has an orange bandana wrapped around his head, a soft blue open collared shirt and a gray vest with blue stripes on the front. The vest and shirt are tied with a striped sash that’s yellow, white, gray and blue. He had tall brown boots on and brown braces on his arms and black and blue striped pants. He grins wide, giggling in excitement. 

"Oh!" Chase gasps, and laughs. "You look more dashing than I do!" He pushes his hat back. 

You'll fit right in! Jameson says, grinning. You have a good eye on you. Both of you. He nods at Alt. Make sure that fits. 

Alt grins at Bro and laughs. “Looking good dude!” 

“Thanks! Hurry and go try your stuff Alt!” Bro encourages. 

Alt flushes a bit then checks over his stuff- grabbing a grayish undershirt and pants and hurrying into the back.

"How many eights, Haru?" Chase asks. 

"No more than a handful, surely," Haru says. "Here, let me find the details." She goes around the counter, taking a ledger of some kind from beneath it. 

Jameson goes over there, too, taking a small bag out of a pocket.

Alt comes out after a bit, pulling on the long trench coat and adjusting his mask self consciously. Underneath the coat he has on a teal vest and that gray shirt- tied together with a thick green sash. He has dark blue pants and black boots. He smiles sheepishly. “Not nearly as flashy as Chase but… eh?”

"Not as flashy, but not everyone is flashy!" Chase looks over at Jameson. "Is that something like you'd say?" 

Jameson nods. Don't worry, Alt, it looks great on you.

 Alt smiles a bit more, playing with his necklace. “Thanks…” 

“You look good Alt!! Very nice!” Bro laughs, looping his arm around Alt. 

Alt glitches a bit in surprise then playfully shoves at Bro. 

Jameson takes some coins out of the bag and starts lining them up for Haru. Big, golden coins--very pirate-y. No, wait, they're not exactly coins. They're more octagonal in shape.

Bro then wanders over to Jameson and looks at the coins with wide eyes. “Woah! Pirate coins!! They’re so big-“

"Aye, the pieces of eight are the main form of coin in this part of the sea," Chase says. "Though it's not the only coin. There's... um... I don't actually know." 

Jameson laughs. Silver pieces are another popular coin, and pieces of jade as well. 

“Ohhh- neat!” Bro laughs. 

Haru takes the coins as payment. "I'll assume you just want to wear those out?"

Bro smiles at Haru, “if that’s okay, that’d be grand!” Then he blinks, “oh my other clothes-! Alt can you-?!” 

Alt walks over, stuffing their clothes into his backpack. “Way ahead of you-“

Chase laughs. "Glad that someone thinks ahead, because I also forgot." 

"Pleasure doing business with you," Haru says. "As always, Mr. Jackson." 

Jameson nods, and turns back to the others. Now, let's go back to that ship to try that witchcraft.

Alt zips up the backpack and nods with a smile. “for sure!” 

“Thanks Jameson!” Bro grins.

The group says goodbye to Haru and head back to the docks. The sky is darker now, becoming a dusky blue as the pinks and oranges of sunset started to fade. The Septic Eye's gangplank is still lowered, and there's some music coming from up on the deck. Cheerful accordion and fiddles, along with some singing. 

Chase laughs. "Sounds like they've cut loose while we were gone. I bet you an eight that Jackie started it." 

I'm not taking that, because you're probably right, Jameson says. 

"Pieces of eight!" Sam the macaw squawks from the edge of the ship.

Bro hears the music and starts to rush for the gangplank excitedly. “Ohhh!! They’re throwing a party!” Alt shakes his head and laughs.

The deck is filled with people, a circle of crew around the main mast playing instruments. The others are singing, clapping along to the beat, and some are even dancing. 

"Avast, Chase, Jays!" Jackie shouts, sitting up in the netting you'd use to climb up to a mast. "And our newcomers too!" The crew all shouts in greeting, a chorus of "Aye!"s and "Ahoy!"s and "Avast!"s.

“Aye!” Bro greets and raises his hand. He watches the circle with a big grin and looks up at Jackie. “You guys sure do know how to put on a show!” 

Once they’re close enough Alt glitches up and goes to sit on the edge of the wall of the ship, curiously watching the people playing the instruments and singing.

The crew shouts in surprise as Alt glitches, but they quickly shrug it off. Alt shrinks in as he surprises eveyone and hides his face in his mask. 

"Come on, join in!" Jackie shouts to Bro, laughing. "Ye'll learn the lyrics fast enough! And if you don't, just sounds are fine, too!" 

"You all are going to feel this tomorrow!" Henrik shouts from... somewhere. It's hard to see him through everyone else. 

Bro blinks and looks out before shrugging and then climbing up to sit next to Jackie on the rigging, “Maybe you can teach me!” 

"Maybe I can!" Jackie grins. "Alright, we're coming to a call and respond section! Repeat with me! And now we sail on the bright blue seas!" 

Bro grins back and follows Jackie’s lead, singing out loudly, “And now we sail on the bright blue seas!” 

"Looking for bounty for you and me!" Jackie continues, laughing. 

“Looking for bounty for you and meeee!” Bro sings with a flourish, finding himself giggling. 

"Fighting 'gainst monsters from the waves!" Jackie and half the crew sing. 

“Fighting ‘haunts monsters from the waves!” Bro calls in response with the other half. 

"The crew of the Eye will prove we're brave!" Jackie sings. 

Bro grins and repeats, “The crew of the Eye will prove we’re brave!” 

"And say 'aye aye aye!' Away!" Jackie shouts. 

“And say ‘aye aye aye!’ Away!” Bro shouts too, pumping a fist into the air. 

The whole crew cheers, and the sea shanty goes into an instrumental section, the musicians fiddling away. 

Bro cheers too and starts to clap along to the music. “Damn! This is a riot!” He grins at Jackie.

Meanwhile, Marvin hops up next to Alt. "Can you teach me to do that disappearing thing or is it just in your blood?"

Alt glitches a bit in surprise as Marvin joins him and then blinks at him, “Oh my glitching? It’s… blood… I think. It’s uh… complicated but- it’s kinda only something I can do really…” he says self-consciously, fiddling with his necklace.

"Ah." Marvin sighs. "Would've come in hand to appear and disappear like that." 

Alt chuckles, “It is very useful.” 

Marvin brightens up again though. "Nice coat, by the way! See you still have your bag as well. Your books of spells in there?"

Alt flushes a bit but lowers his mask to smile at Marvin. “Ah, thanks… and uh yup! Lemme see if I can still read it before it gets too dark…” he plops his bag in front of him and pulls out his normal spellbook, flipping through the pages. “Maybe… something with divination…? Or a tracking spell…” he mumbles to himself.

"Oh, you can use the lantern if the shadows get too deep," Marvin says, pointing around and indicating a bunch of lanterns hanging around. "My divining didn't work, myself, but maybe something about your powers will be different."

Alt nods and starts looking through his spells. He hums in thought, “…if your divining didn’t work I’m not sure mine will… my practical spells are still kinda… iffy. Maybe if I had something of his…”

"Do you think you could use Sam?" Marvin points at the bird as they perch on Jameson's shoulder. "If not, there's plenty of his things still in the captain's cabin."

Alt thinks, “Probably something that hasn’t been touched as much by other people… that way his like presence? isn’t muddled with someone else’s… if this even works… “

Marvin nods. "The cabin it is, then." He hops up. "Come on, I'll open the door for you." And he leads the way around the singing crew towards the stern of the boat--the back.

Alt hops down from the wall and follows after Marvin, still looking through his book as they walk. 

The captain's quarters is unlocked. Marvin pulls open the set of double doors, revealing a wooden room with a single set of glass windows. There's a bed in the corner, a wardrobe in another corner, a desk against one wall with a bunch of papers and some books, and a framed map on the wall that is most definitely not of Earth. Little bits of sea-based paraphernalia litter every surface.

Alt enters the room and looks away from his book, taking in all the details. He whistles at the sight of the map then runs his hand across the desk with the papers. Trying to see if there’s anything lingering here… any magic he can sense.

Marvin lights a few of the lanterns in the cabin as Alt looks around, turning the little keys at the bottom. Seems this world has gas lights, as opposed to the world of Glasuil, still with only candles and magic. 

Alt looks at Marvin turning on the lanterns with a bit of fascination before getting back on track. 

Alt can't really sense any magical signatures from a specific item. But there is a vague feeling of something... dark. Dusty and salty, like a turbulent sea. 

He tries to focus on that dark salty feeling, closing his eyes and clutching at his necklace, using the chaos star symbol to channel his magic- trying to see if he could divine… something. Thinking of how the Jacks in the other worlds looked could help maybe?

A moment passes. Marvin leans closer, watching him with interest. 

And then, a shadow forms. A flickering green figure. Alt can't discern many details, but he sees the figure take a hat off its head and hang it on the corner of the wardrobe—where a hat actually rests. And then another figure appears. It seems to walk through the wall from the side. The first figure spins around in shock, and the second one lunges, grabbing onto it before it can react. And then they both disappear.

Alt gasps as the vision forms and watches with wide eyes. “S-Someone attacked him… it must have been a… a ghost cuz it came through that wall-“ he points at where he saw it came from. “Then it grabbed Jack and just… disappeared.” He walks over to where Jack’s hat is and touches it lightly, frowning in concern.

"A ghost?" Marvin blinks. "Oh no. Don't tell me we'll be dealing with that ghost ship for more reason than one. The Antithesis has haunted these waters enough. That ship's captain is the only ghost who'd have a problem with Jack."

“…if the Antithesis’s captain had a problem with him then… that’s your best lead.” Alt says gravelly. “…why would the captain want Jack though? Enough to steal him away with no pomp or circumstance?”

Marvin shakes his head. "I'm not sure. No good reason. Maybe he'd want to make him into a ghost with the rest of his crew? Or maybe it's revenge for--" He stops. "Oh, I'm not sure I should share that. Not my business, really. You can ask Jays about it, see if he'll tell you."

“I hope he’s not a ghost now…” Alt mutters. He closes his spell book and walks back towards the door, raising an eyebrow at Marvin. “…sure- I’ll bring it up with him later.” He shrugs.

They leave the captain's cabin. Out on the main deck, people have broken off into smaller groups that are talking loudly while the band plays a different song. 

"Where did Chase go?" Marvin mutters. "We'll need to talk to him about what to do pursuing the Antithesis. He's the one in charge while the captain is gone."

Jackie is hanging upside down from the rigging and Henrik is shouting at him to be careful-- "I do not want to fix more head injuries!" 

Bro is trying to copy Jackie, giggling to himself and waving down at Henrik. “He’ll be fine bro, chill out!” 

Henrik throws his hands up in the air and curses in German--or, a language that sounds German. Given how they called English "Anglish" earlier, they probably have a different name for that language, too. Bro giggles more, reminded of how him and his Jackie push Dr. J’s buttons.

Alt sticks kinda close to Marvin, warily eyeing the crowd. It’s a bit more manageable now that it’s in smaller groups but- god there’s still so many people… “Oh yeah I heard he was the first mate… um-“ Alt tries to help look around for him. He sees his own Chase hanging from the rigging like a doof and rolls his eyes.

Chase is up on the deck with the helm, leaning back against the wall and holding a brown glass bottle, taking a swing. Jameson in here, too, with a bottle of his own. 

"Ah, Alt! Marvin. Care for some rum? This is fruity." 

"Remember to drink water, Chase, to help your headaches," Marvin says.

Alt blinks at the two of them, hesitates, then shrugs with a grin, “Ah sure what the hell?”

Chase hands the bottle out to him. It is, indeed, very fruity, more like a cocktail than straight rum. 

Alt tries some then blinks at it in surprise, “damn- this fucks.” He grins, taking another swig. 

Jameson laughs. Let's use that phrase in the future. This fucks.

"Alt just did some of his witchcraft in the captain's cabin," Marvin reports. "Says that a ghost might have taken him. Meaning we have another reason to find the Antithesis." 

Chase blinks. "Alright... and you're telling me?" 

You're the acting captain, Jameson says. "Ah, yes, of course." Chase leans back, pressing a hand to his head. "We'll stay in the Cove for the night, and then set off in the morning. I'll assume those glass eyes can give us a heading. Ghost ships are usually only found in fog or at night, so we might be at sea all day."

Alt listens to the others and then nods, “Yeah that sounds good to me. Our tracker… eyes- they can give us pretty specific info on where to look.” He smiles to himself as he hands the bottle back to Chase. “…not gonna lie- I’m actually kinda looking forward to sailing on a real ship like this.”

Chase takes a swig back. "A real ship? As opposed to a fake ship?" He laughs. "I suppose you don't sail much where you're from."

Alt laughs, “No not really- …my friends all got to a little bit back but I-“ He grips at his arm, trying to push back to unpleasant memories of that trip. “…I couldn’t join them.” He shakes his head and tries to smile, “But now I get to so- it’s all good. And it seems like Chase- my Chase- is already getting comfortable being on one again,” He laughs, gesturing towards Bro and Jackie.

Jameson turns to look at Bro and Jackie, frowning. I do hope they don't get hurt. 

"Well, the other Chase can fly, so I wouldn't worry about that," Marvin says. "He'll probably catch Jackie, too." Bro seems to slip for a second from the rigging but catches himself with a laugh. 

Chase smiles at Alt. "Sailing isn't for everyone, but the life can be... the sea can pull to you. The open ocean, the salt in the air..." He laughs a little and shakes his head fondly just thinking about it. "So. Will you two be sleeping on the ship tonight? We do have spare hammocks. Or if not, you can stay in the Cove."

Then, Bro parkours off the rigging and hops over to Alt and the others, “Sup lads! Oh hell yeah are we drinking?!” 

Alt laughs and rolls his eyes before looking back at Chase, “spare hammocks would be grand. We haven’t really had much chances to rest so- I’m afraid if we slept in an inn you’d all cast off without us!” 

“Oh yeah- I’m probably gonna sleep like a baby tonight-“ Bro laughs.

Chase laughs. "You want some? Jays, give him yours, Alt got mine." 

Jameson rolls his eyes but holds out the bottle to Bro. 

Bro eagerly takes it from Jameson and raises it up, “Cheers!” He takes a large swig then blinks down at the bottle. “…dude this fucks!” 

“That’s what I said!” Alt laughs. 

"We'd be sure to remember you I'm sure!" Marvin says. "After all, you'd provide the heading. We wouldn't know where to go if you weren't with us!" 

"Aye! Gus, Mona! Find some hammocks for our two new travelers!" Chase shouts. 

"Aye, mate!" a voice shouts back.

“Hey Marv, what’s a heading? S’that like directions?” Bro asks, taking another sip.

Marvin laughs. "Heading is the direction to point the boat! A course is how you'll get there, you need the heading to plot it out. Chase was our navigator before Jack made him the first mate. Now that's Jackie." 

Which is why he should always be careful not to hit his head, Jameson says, watching as Jackie slips in the rigging for a moment, his foot getting caught. He's going to give Henrik a conniption.

“Oooh okay! Cool! Learning new things!” Bro grins. He takes another sip before passing the bottle back to Jameson and backing up. “Heh- if Jackie is so important I’ll get back to keeping an eye on him then! Just in case~” he grins then hurries back to Jackie, climbing up the rigging a little more sloppily. 

“Oh boy…” Alt sighs.

Luckily, Jackie is just about to climb down and ends up meeting Bro halfway. "Other Chase, I was thinking, you'd be a great topman with your flying craft. Or a lookout. No need to climb all this!"

Bro blinks then grins wide, “Oh yeah! I think my Jackie tried that out last time! That’d be fun- it is fun to climb these too though~” he giggles. 

"Isn't it?! This is why I became a sailor!" Jackie laughs. "Saw them all climbing up the ropes from my windows and wondered what it would be like to do that out on the open ocean." 

“Ha! My Jackie was the same way when we first got on a boat,” Bro grins, “he took to the riggings like he was born to be a sailor!” 

"Someone remind your brother to drink water as well," Chase laughs. 

“I’m torn between letting him get drunk and regret it or trying to stop him,” Alt mutters.

"Well... if you'll think he'll be able to help us cast off in the morning if he weren't drunk, maybe try stopping him," Chase says. "Personally? The drink doesn't come out as much on the open sea, so I say why not take it while you can?"

Alt contemplates this then shrugs. “Chase burns through alcohol quick- and since we’ll be here for a bit-” He glitches over to grab the bottle from Chase before suddenly sitting on the wall behind him. “You’re right! Why not let loose?” He takes another big sip with a giggle. 

"Ayyyyy!" Chase laughs. "Let me get you your own rum, then! So you don't have to keep swiping mine." 

"Henrik better have those headache cures ready in the morning," Marvin says, grinning. Alt grins too. 

The night goes on, the sky darkening and filling with stars. Seems they're not the only ones partying, as there are a couple more ships in the dock lit up with strains of music. And some seems to be coming from the city on land as well. The people in this world really know how to celebrate, don't they? 

Bro and Alt get probably too into drinking- considering how good the rum tasted. Bro talks and laughs with the other boys and the crew- trying to dance and sing to the songs they’re playing or join in any games. Alt tries to see if there’s any instruments he might know how to play- but soon enough gets too drunk to really try.

Luckily, Jackie gets off the rigging before he gets too drunk, and there are a handful who stay away from the rum to keep an eye on things. Henrik is one of those, and Marvin stops fairly early before going to bed, but the rest of the crew goes on until they all eventually trickle off, down to the decks below. 

Jameson shows Alt and Bro where they set up extra hammocks for the two of them—right at the end of the rows, closest to the stairs into the next deck up. Then he heads off. Apparently intending to sleep in the purser's office instead of with everyone else. Henrik must have done the same with the doctor's office, and Marvin disappears to who knows where, but Chase and Jackie take to the hammocks with the rest of the crew.

True to his word, Bro seemed to burn off the alcohol fast but he stayed decently buzzed until they started heading below deck. But, that also meant he had to help Alt who was a giggling mess. The older brother helped get Alt into a hammock before smiling down at him and patting his hair. 

Alt usually isn’t that good at falling asleep around others- but it does seem their adventures have caught up to him as he slips into sleep. Bro climbs into the other hammock and sighs, feeling exhaustion pull him down too.

[araedi]

Part of a lil' Christmas thing I threw together for the crew; @benevolentgodloki and @forevermuses my chaos besties who got this slapped on mugs and mailed to 'em

[elxgantcaptain]

He's relaxing well, a relaxed Christmas period and a chilled birthday... Heaven knows he needed this for MANY years.

[chounaifu]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. . . .

[psn-stalling]

Rotomblr!!!

Friendly reminder that we don't know who voted for what in the league club. Let's not go accusing and beating up people over it alright???

Everyone is already having a shitty day. Don't make it worse!!