You're From The Isle If Anybody Asks

[missrecalled_mods]

First Awareness

Those used to this by now probably knew what it meant when they felt their magic return for a moment. For the rest, suddenly their powers were back. Just for a few minutes, but a lot could be done in a few minutes. If the person even noticed their powers were back, that is.

Of course those on the shore might have seen the hazy indistinct shape through the barrier coming closer, might have seen the moment the hole in the barrier opened. Might have seen King Ben leading people down a gangplank through the barrier with crates of supplies....

Unions, Re And Otherwise

Once the supplies were unloaded, the barrier was sealed up again. King Ben seemed to be in charge during the unloading, Once the barrier was closed again, by the green magic streaming from the Queen's finger, it was Mal who seemed to be in charge.

"Alright, listen up. We have 2 hours and the clock is ticking. I'm not FG but we're keeping to a deadline anyway. If you want to come to Auradon or know someone you want us to bring back, you have 2 hours to convince us. You and everyone else, sharing the same 2 hours. Along with anyone who has a supply request for our next visit, or updates. Those of you bringing supplies to the school, time to get cracking. Two hours passes faster than midnight at the ball."

Those Who Left

(Please TL Here for boat and Auradon Shenanigans. TY)

Those What Remain

Once those going back to Auradon had left and the barrier was back in place, it was for those who remained on the Isle to sort the supplies and figure out how to get done everything that needed to be done with the people that remained.

Comments

[mist_the_point]

Foulques made no effort to stop Cassidy or Grey from kneeling before the plants, apparently called 'Witchblood', but did steady them slightly so the movement was as gentle as it might be under the circumstances. He frowned as he listened to her tale, and though his expression grew grimmer as it went on, he didn't weep. The time when such cruelty and death might have shocked him was long past.

"Tis unlikely that anyone is buried here," he said. "Despite appearances, this is no litchyard. But that someone was killed or mortally wounded here? Aye, that I could believe."

"But so long as they'll cause no harm to the surrounding plants or soil, that answers my chief concern. I'd rather not mark them out as especially significant however, not with the old virago lurking about. There are three of the Isle's original inhabitants present, but of them, she strikes me as the most likely to make use of poison. One among them has already attempted murder by means of sabotage- the victim being the man you likely saw being carried out earlier-, and I would rather not encourage any similar underhanded tactics." Mostly because he couldn't defend against them. "A simple circle of stones around them and a verbal warning will suffice to keep anyone from straying too near."

He gave them a polite nod, his grim expression softening slightly. "Thank you for your help," he said.

[dualityinjest]

"Yeah? Like what? Uh... I can say that a lot of this was just kinda everywhere, and I've been collecting and sorting it all out while I've been cleaning up! But you said wires and a flash light and screwdrivers, and... soldering things... and that sounds like stuff that might be in here! Unless it's in one of the other rooms...?"

[thinking_about_it]

Cassidy nodded. "I wish I could do more," she whispered. "Out of respect for our fallen sister, as well as for those of you yet alive here."

Grey looked at him, "I presume the Territory Queen has been made aware of the crime and is dealing with the perpetrator?"

[ubuntu_programmer]

"Let's start with... why were you carrying it in leapfrogging sections like that?"

[dualityinjest]

"Why...?" He tilted his head a good few degrees, like maybe that was a strange question. "Um... because it's kinda heavy?" He looked down to the garbage can full of metal and plastic. "I guess I could roll it on its edge instead...."

To illustrate, he reached back over to it and tilted it, then did exactly as suggested, treating it a bit like a wheel for a few feet, before settling it back down again. "...Does it matter?"

[ubuntu_programmer]

"I mean I should be glad you're not dragging it Silent Hill style, but why not put it up on wheels? Or even tape some cloth to the bottom so you can drag it more easily without it making noise, then you don't have to lift at all... Or bring it in two smaller to carry trips so you can just carry it?"

[dualityinjest]

"....Eh." He gave a gesture that was remarkably shrug-like, for not quite having much in the way of shoulders. "This was quickest. I didn't have far to carry it... it's just kind of a weird shape? I guess I could have just picked it up, but then it's harder to balance." Hence the setting it down every other step, so he could reposition it.

Now, if this thing had been maybe half its weight and the size and shape of a child, he could've easily picked it up, maybe even held it out in front of him while walking somewhere....

[ubuntu_programmer]

"That just seems horrible inefficient and bad for your back. Believe me, I've been lectured enough about my posture growing up to know."

[awkward_turtleduck]

Sun was like a garish child's colouring of the inner workings of a steam ship. It was the only reference he had for what this kind of creature could be. Made? Maybe? By humans? Or some other strange creature from a world beyond his fathoming?

He shook his head. That was the kind of existential thing his uncle would dwell on. He had more practical concerns right now, and if what sun said was true, fresh water would solve one of those issues at least. He'd really done a number on his knuckles and the backs of his hands. Punching a wall was one thing, but the give of the tangled mass of thorny vines had done damage going in and when he pulled his hand back.

He narrowed his eyes up at the stranger, taking a small step away to give himself some space. "Thank you. I will follow you." He didn't need a physical escort, and he'd prefer an easier route to duck away if it looked like he was being led somewhere suspicious.

[dualityinjest]

"Yeah, well... you're a human," he said matter-of-factly. "And I'm not. I can take it."

He picked the broken television up off the top of it, careful to get his long hands around the outer shell even as it tried to fall off of it, and then crouched down a little to set it on the floor next to the bin. "There's gotta be some wires and stuff in here that you can use...?" He reached back in, and this time, came out with a handful of aluminum foil scraps and a busted... well, it was made of metal and plastic, some sort of small appliance, though what it'd once been was anyone's guess.

[mist_the_point]

"I told her and the young King about it myself," he said. "Professor Yen Sid is not a young man, and I wished to see him gotten to a healer as soon as possible. As to punishing the perpetrator, once we know for certain which of the three it was, it will indeed be for her to deal with, though I'm uncertain what punishment she may order. As I understand it, the typical punishment for such crimes in this world is to be banished to this Isle, but in this case that would be rather redundant. But unless she wishes to ask me to carry out whatever punishment she decides on, now that the Professor is in safe hands, there's little more I can do regarding the matter other than keep my eyes and ears open for further evidence to report at the next opportunity."

"My primary concern now is turning this...", he gestured to indicate the muddy courtyard around them, "into a viable garden, which will be no easy task. Not an impossible one, but it will take a great deal of work. Though at least these so-called 'doomstones' will make for unusually sturdy row markers..."

[dualityinjest]

"Oh, uh... okay!" He seemed happy enough with this, and turned to lead on down the hall.

Zuko might recognize the area he was being led to -- it was all the way back toward the front part of the school, somewhere close enough to the room where the cooking happened. Not like it was right next door to it or anything, but close enough Zuko could probably find it again fairly easily. He opened the door, then reached in with his hand and leaned a bit, flipping the light switch on and waiting a second until the lights all came to brightness before he set foot inside. He was humming something to himself quietly all the while.

Inside... there were boxes. And garbage bins. And more boxes. The things in them seemed to be sorted by material, if Zuko cared to look -- paper in this one, wooden scrap in that one, even a bin with pieces of metal and broken electronics and appliances. Sun, however, was going for a shelf nearby, and took something from it, a small rag from a little pile of them. It... wasn't white, but it didn't look like it'd been white originally anyway. It was some sort of solid dark gray scrap, but it did indeed look pretty clean... perhaps he'd washed it?

"All right... one down, one to go!" He stepped back out before he reached back to turn off the lights, and then resumed leading down the hall, this time toward the cooking room. "The clean water's for drinking and cooking... so we can find it there. I think this is a good use for it too. And we shouldn't need much, anyway."

[ubuntu_programmer]

"You still have physical parts that can wear or be damaged. So we'd best take care of you. I apparently have only so much with which to fix you up."

[thinking_about_it]

"She would not punish attempted murder of one of her own by killing the attacker?" Grey asked.

Cassidy put a hand on his arm gently. "She may not choose to. There is no law against murder, so the Queen can be lenient of she wishes."

"If someone had tried to kill one of yours..." Grey started.

Cassidy raised her eyebrows. "You know better, Grey. At least you normally do. You weren't there that day with Weaver's family. but I know you heard the story."

Grey sighed. "This place has no magic, to know there is someone here who is a threat while you can't shield and we can hardly stand..."

"Then we have to trust and rely on others," Cassidy said firmly.

[mist_the_point]

Fouques was about to reply when Cassidy commented with something that made him raise an eyebrow. No law against murder? Really? He listened for another few moments before speaking up. "Neither of you will come to harm while you're here," he assured them. "I may not be able to defend against sabotage or poison, but I'm quite capable of fending off any opportunistic attacks by either the so-called teachers here or any overly curious scalekin that might approach the beach. The lack of magic has no effect on my effectiveness in combat."

"As to what Queen Mal might decide, I don't know her well enough to say. But I strongly suspect that there is a law against murder, at least on the mainland. Here on this Isle..." He glanced at the Witchweed. "Given how it was set to function, I suspect that the previous rulers cared very little what those they sent here did to one another, so long as it was done out of their sight. Thankfully, the current young King and Queen seem to be of quite a different mind, as evidenced by their- and your- efforts here."

[princess_weia]

"Well you don't look like you'd eat much either," she said. "And I bet you've done lots of other nice things too, and could do lots more if you wanted."

[thinking_about_it]

"Thank you," Cassidy said. It is... unnerving to be without our powers, though I am starting to center." She took a deep breath, and clearly Grey recognized something in how her expression shifted.

"Cassidy..."

"This is where you were looking to plant?" she asked, supporting herself on the doomstone as she pushed herself to her feet.

[elianne]

She shrugged, looking away. "Not like we got much choice anyway."

[mist_the_point]

"Aye," he said, though his tone showed that he was mildly suspicious of the motive behind her question. "The only other area of somewhat open land we have access to is the beach, and no amount of work will make that appropriate for growing crops, even if we didn't have to fear them being swamped by an unusually high tide."

[dualityinjest]

"Yeah, but I know what I can take. And what I can't."

He reached back into the bin to pull out another bigger thing, setting it down on the floor nearby to be better picked through -- or at least, to get it out of the way so the rest could be. No elaboration on his knowledge of his own limits was forthcoming without further prompting, though Ian could probably hazard a guess, given the number of little dings and scuffs on his vaguely-a-little-glowy plastic shell casing.

Look too closely, and it might even seem like more of them were on the undersides of his forearms, the outsides of his biceps, and the backs of his hands, than on the other sides of those parts. Plenty on his head, though not really any to speak of on his rays... bits of missing gloss on the backside of his torso....

[thinking_about_it]

"There are some saltwater crops that do well, but I don't know if anyone has seeds for them. Alright then, this is where I can help."

"By digging," Grey said, firmly. "by planting."

Cassidy nodded. "That too. And the Queen's Gift." She turned to Foulques. "May I borrow a clean knife?"

[ubuntu_programmer]

"We all think that at some point. And usually the way we find out we are wrong is painful. Better to learn that lesson from someone else's pain than your own."

[mist_the_point]

"Unlikely," he said. "I have only the popotoes that came from the plants brought from Auradon, and some midland cabbage seeds. Well I suppose faerie apples would be a viable crop as well, but only if one has several years to wait, and we do not."

His eyes narrowed at her request, mild suspicion turning deeper. "For what purpose?" Surely she didn't mean to do what it sounded as though she meant to...

[dualityinjest]

"I'm not built entirely like a human," he said, voice softer, being serious. "I don't get a sore back from lifting stuff wrong, 'cause I don't have vertebrae. I just fall over if it puts me off balance. I don't get tired and have to take a break, I just use up battery power moving too much, and then I gotta go take a nap with my charger again. I know how to fall down and stay safe, and all of that. I was programmed to know those things."

He set another broken thing on the floor next to the TV, something that had once been a stereo... or might've been, if there were more of it. No wonder it had been discarded. "I haven't needed any physical maintenance since I first came online. The only thing actually wrong with me like that when I came here was, I needed oil for my joints. And our friend Foulques had some, so now I don't squeak all the time!"

Considering all the evidence on his shell, he was probably discounting all the cosmetic damage he'd suffered....

[thinking_about_it]

"The thing that makes a Queen a Queen, far more than any ability to rule is the Queen's Gift. Our power, offered through our blood to help heal the Land, and help new plants to go. It is a ritual usually done in Spring during the planting, but it is clearly needed now."

"We have no way to heal you with the barrier up, no way to even put a shield over the wound to keep it clean. No, Cassidy."

"The Land needs it, Grey! you know how important the Land is."

"Yes, and I also know how important you are," he snapped. "Even if you don't."