the_isle | Sora Laughing Under The Storm

Sora Laughing Under The Storm - OTA

Open/locked?: Open to all
Who: Sora and whomsoever finds him.
What: Sora's arrival on the Isle
Warnings: Mentions of violence, possible PTSD mentions, murder mentions.

Soramaru came to on the roof of the school, laying out on his back. He blinked and looked up at the sky, drizzling rain on his face. At first nothing seemed odd. Sora was used to waking up under a cloudy sky. Everything that had happened recently had been intense, but it was such a short time compared to the rest of his life, and for a peaceful moment it was though he was before everything again. Where the hardest part of his day would be training with Tenka to prove himself. He allowed himself a small smile, sure today would be the day.

But then he finished waking and sat up, recent events catching up again. "Tenka?" he called, crawling to the edge of the roof to look down. "Chutaro? Sh..." hi voice caught a moment, but he shook his head. Enough to realize that this wasn't the temple grounds. Any other names froze unspoken on his lips. "Where..." he shook his head. Where was he wasn't the right question, he could figure that out later. How did he get wherever he was, and why was he here? Those were the concerns to focus on.

He stood at the edge of the roof to get a look around. Thorns, a lot of them, in pretty much every direction. Though he spotted a path to a large body of water. It didn't look like lake Biwa, but it could be a clue as to how he got here.

He looked up at the cloudy sky then back towards the water. He tried to see if he could see if there was any sign of the tree that would tell him he was looking at Lake Biwa from another side. But there was some sort of... something weird in the air maybe? He couldn't tell.

He might have to see if anyone was around and ask for some help.

For those seeing him for the first time, he probably looked a bit odd with hi Reformation Era clothes; Hakama pants, multiple layers of sleeveless yukata with a happi coat tied around his waist like people in other countries might one day tie a hoodie. He was in his boots and at his waist was what looked like a pair of short katana in hard enamel sheaths wrapped in beads. His dark hair had red on the tips here and there, like on one side of where the hair crossed over his nose between his eyes.

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Foulques stretched a bit as he stepped outside. Another day, another round of fishing to do. Though judging by the morning air temperature, it wouldn't be long before they could begin turning at least part of the courtyard into a vegetable patch. The so-called 'doomstones' would make excellent and sturdy row markers; likely the first time they'd ever actually been useful.

Unexpectedly, he heard someone moving about on the roof and stepped back away from the building so that he could get a proper view. He muttered what would have been a curse under his breath when he spotted the unknown boy. Another child? Why did they keep getting dropped on this gods-forsaken Isle?

He supposed he could figure that out later. First thing was first; the boy needed a way off the roof. "Ho, boy," Foulques called up to him. "A rooftop is no place to be casually traipsing about, especially the rooftop of this somewhat questionable building. A bit back and to your left you'll find a bit where the roof slants down a bit; it should be safe enough for a sturdy lad like you to jump down from."

Edited 2025-04-28 04:45 (UTC)

Boy...?

Sora looked to whoever called him and gave a small start. After everything with the Orochi, seeing the mix of dark skin pale hair and pointed ears was a shock. And he felt his body tense, ready to fight. But he took a breath. Whoever this was wasn't acting like Orochi. Tenka showed signs of Orochi without being the host, so Sora would be wary but not presume the worst.

"Coming down," he said. He knelt, pushing his hand against the roof and sprung off of it to land in a crouch before Foulques. He stood up, annoyed at himself. Tenka wouldn't have needed to crouch and he would have landed standing. So would Sosei, he suspected. He still... had so far to go.

Though now that he was closer he had another shock. The hair with those eyes... Not Orchi, but... Fuma? There was too much he didn't understand here.

He should be careful, he knew. But... he was also Tenka's brother. He gave Foulques a smile, even though he was still wary. "Sorry, I'm not quite sure where I am. Is that the Biwa?" he asked, pointing towards the ocean.

Foulques quirked an eyebrow at the boy just jumping straight down from the roof in front of him rather than looking for the safer spot he'd indicated. Cocky and a bit of a show off then, like many boys of his apparent age; duly noted.

"Not unless 'Biwa' is what you call the ocean," he said. "In any case however, well met; I am Foulques of the Mist, though my given name suffices for most purposes. And you are?"

Edited 2025-04-28 05:58 (UTC)

"The... ocean..." he was stunned a moment. "That's... what the ocean looks like?" Wow... just...

Part of him wanted to go closer to see it. Wanted to know what the ocean was like, even for a moment. But he had responsibilities and he needed to learn how he got here.

"Biwa is the lake near our shrine. Sorry." He looked away from the ocean again and turned back to bow. "I'm Kumo Soramaru, middle son of the Kumo brothers. Briefly 15th head of the Kumo shrine. Ah..." he stood, resting a hand on the hilts of his swords at his hip. "But most people just call me Sora. So... where in Japan are we exactly?" he looked up at the sky and wondered if they had an issue like Shiga had...

"You're welcome to take a closer look if you wish," he said. "I was actually headed that way to do some fishing before I spotted you."

He nodded politely at the introduction. "We're nowhere in Japan, nor- I suspect- even in your own world. How you came to be here is something of a long story, but the shortest version is magic gone awry. I was brought here much the same way, some moons back."

"Magic gone awry..." Was this his fault then? His hand closed around the hilt of one of the blades.

"Alright..." he said, taking a deep breath. "Okay. So... how do I fix this?" he asked, seriously.

"At present, we cannot," he said. "It was no magic of either of our worlds that brought us here, but magic of this world. Someone made a foolish wish to a powerful being called a genie, which resulted in much of this world's population vanishing. Two mages attempted to undo the wish at the same time, and their spells clashed, intermingling with one another un an unexpected way. Rather than returning the people who are meant to be here, the magic instead began pulling people to this world from various other worlds and times. Thus, those of us who've been brought here in this way have become known as the 'Misrecalled'. Not especially flattering, but accurate nonetheless."

"Those who are brought here arrive in one of two places, the first being this one, known as the Isle of the Lost. It was meant as a prison, of a sort, and is surrounded by a barrier that prevents any use of magic while inside it. Inconvenient for us, but a prudent measure, given that some of those it was meant to confine were powerful mages. The other place one might appear is on the mainland, in the Kingdom of Auradon. It is ruled by the young King Ben and his fiancé, Queen Mal. Normally there is a bridge connecting the Isle and mainland, but access to it is currently blocked by these cursed thorns, so the only method of contact between the two places at the moment is by boat. They sometimes visit to share news and supplies, as resources on this Isle are rather scarce."

There was a bit more to explain, but he figured that was quite enough to absorb for the moment, so he paused, allowing Sora to ask any other questions he might have.

Edited 2025-04-28 06:51 (UTC)

"Island prison?" Sora asked, blinking a few times before dropping into a crouch. It was Gokumonjo all over again. Only this time no Shirasu to pull him out, no Nishiki looking for revenge... He started to laugh. It was all so ridiculous how could he not. Tenka was going to be so upset at him, but it wasn't his fault this time. He just kept laughing, shaking his head. He couldn't wait to see how Tenka was going to send someone after him this time...

Foulques' eyebrow went up yet again, even further this time. Either the boy was out of his mind, or there was context he was missing that somehow made the situation funny. He was leaning toward the latter, given Sora's previous behavior. Part of him was tempted to just walk away and wait for him to stop cackling like a lunatic and follow, but who knew how long that would be?

Instead, he simply remarked dryly, "That isn't quite the response I expected to you being told that you've effectively been magically kidnapped."

"Sorry," he said, wiping an eye as he stood again. "It's jut so ridiculous, me being in an Isle prison again, cut off from the mainland. My big brother is going to be hopping mad." And to see Tenka able to jump up and down again, it would be worth it.

"Can't wait to see what he'll try to get me out this time."

Of course this time... he actually deserved it. That thought dimmed his smile some and his laughter trailed off.

"I'm afraid you're like to be disappointed," he said. "Not only is it highly doubtful that your bother would be able to make his way to this world- much less this Isle- of his own will, but while we are here time in our world is effectively halted. More likely, when and if we were to return, we would merely be put back at the same time and place from which we left, but the effect is the same; those in our own worlds would be effectively unaware that anything had happened to us, and thus there would be no reason for your brother to seek to mount a rescue."

"So they're not even going to know I was gone?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head. He felt... very mixed about that. So chose to look on the brighter side of that. "Well, then I guess I'll have a great story to tell them when I get back without them worrying about me!"

Zuko was taking a break from attempting to free whatever spirits-cursed object was lodged in the muck of his uncle's disgusting shoe, taking a long walk around the outskirts of the clearing around the school. Stretching his legs helped him to clear his head, he was finding himself better at that as of late, since the rain. His memories were still fragmented, but he was starting to at least be able to put enough of them together to know that that is what they were. He had somehow gained a few months of time from back home, without ever having left this Agni-forsaken Isle.

He sighed, the walk shifting from meditative to claustrophobic as he began circling for the third time. Fires and ash this place was too small. He turned back towards the school, freezing mid-step as he noticed a figure standing precariously close to the edge.

He started forward at a jog. Getting closer revealed the person to be unfamiliar, but that didn't mean Zuko wanted to watch him fall and very likely end up getting hurt.

"Hey! Don't stand so close to the edge!"

"What? Oh, hold on," he called down. He put down a hand on the edge, kneeling, then pushed off to land in a crouch beside Zuko. He stood up and brushed off his hands on his pants. "Sorry about that, what were you saying?"

Zuko reached out as the boy jumped down. "Wait!"

It was the kind of reckless thing his uncle would have scolded him for, and he found himself missing the old man more than ever. Even as he was annoyed to find his inner voice reflecting the old fart's sentiment.

He crossed his arms and frowned. "I was telling you to be careful. Though it seems that boat has left the docks."

"Oh, well, yeah..." he said with a laugh. "Sorry about that. You don't happen to know how I got here, do you? If I don't have a good answer for my brother when he asks why I just vanished again..."

"For Agni's sake- you've only just arrived here?" Zuko would smash his face into the stone wall a few steps away if he didn't think it would scare off the kid. He really wasn't the guy for this explanation.

"Alright, well, first thing to get out of the way; wherever you think you are, you aren't. This is a different world from wherever you came from. A different world than where I'm from. Make sense? Second, apparently whatever spirit's cursed magic brought us here can't send us back. So we're stuck for the time being."

"Wait... a spirit curse?" Sora asked, instantly alert and serious. "I think you're going to have to start from the beginning." He closed his hand reflexively on the hilt of one of his swords. It was so natural that for the moment he wasn't thinking about the fact that he shouldn't have them. And as he hadn't swung them yet, he wasn't yet aware that they were different than the swords he had worked with for so long.

Zuko groaned. "No, sorry. I don't know what kind of magic. Just-"

His gaze followed the boy's hand to his weapons, and he took a half step back, narrowed eyes resting back on the boy's face. He didn't look ready to attack, though the move made Zuko uneasy.

"No need to get testy. From what I understand it was some kind of a bungled wish or something. It sent everyone who was supposed to be here away, and it's been pulling people from other worlds back ever since. I don't know the specifics on why or how. Just that we're stuck here."

"What... Oh no." he let go of the hilt. "Sorry. Last Spirit curse... well never mind. A wish? How does that even... Okay if you don't know, who can we talk to?"

Zuko crossed his arms, though he'd lost the tension from a moment ago.

"If you're looking for a clearer explanation I think Foulques would be the best bet. He's been here a while, and talked to the people outside this Agni forsaken barrier. Oh, another thing; there's something around this island. It blocks out all forms of magic and makes other abilities and technologies work weird." He was still annoyed he'd missed the last ship from Auradon. There was nothing to do about it now though.

"Island," he said slowly, then looked back out the direction he had been looking from the roof. "And if I guessed this was some sort of prison...?"

"I'd tell you it was a good guess. Supposedly, for this world's villains. What that's supposed to mean about us?" He scowled and looked away from the boy. "I'd rather not think about it."

"Gokumonjo..." he said softly, somewhere between sounding like a swear word and sounding like something that caused him pain. He looked away as well. Took a few deep breaths, then shook his head. "I probably deserve to be here at least, then. So.. I'll do my best to repent, serve out my time, and try to make things better to make up for all I made worse."

Well that... was a somewhat familiar sentiment. "Look, it's uh, not all that bad. It's not a real prison, not right now at least. You can go where you like, and most of the folks here have been working together to make the place more livable."

He ran a hand through his hair, still getting used to having that back. "I'm Zuko, by the way."

"Oh. Sora." Since they clearly were just using given names. "It is okay if it is that bad. I have a lot to make up for. So I'll do my best," he said, offering up a smile.

Zuko wasn't sure what this Sora had done, though he doubted it could be worse than his own wrongdoings. It was probably best to leave it for now. He tried for a smile back, the expression feeling foreign and a bit clumsy on his face. "Most of the work right now is gathering food. I can show you the beach later if you'd like. I should probably show you around inside first though. It's the only place to sleep really, and it's where Chell's been doing all the cooking."

"Sure. I'll be happy to help. Just show the way. Can we see the mainland from the beach?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, kinda, if the fog's not too bad."

He headed away from the beach first, around to the front of the school. "I'll show you the soup room first. Are you hungry?"

"Well if you ask Tenka and Shirasu" That still hurt, but he kept going "my age means the answer is going to be always," he said with a chuckle. "With how much all of us eat and how little we get paid, we're extra grateful to the townspeople back home."

"Sounds like a fr- like a guy I know." Zuko shook his head. Had he really almost called Sokka his friend? His memories were still choppy, but the word had felt alarmingly natural. "Anyway... You don't have to pay for the food here, just help out so there's enough for everyone. This way."

He pushed open the doors to the school, and the faint smell of the ever bubbling pot of simple fish stew billowed to meet them. Hopefully Sora liked fish.

"So basically I'd eat well and my big brother would starve?" He asked with a bright grin. "Works for me." He missed Tenka, and it felt so good to be able to tease at him again. Sora sniffed the air as they walked. "Smells delicious."

Zuko rose an eyebrow. "You want your brother to starve?" Tone? Zuko does not do tone well.

He shook his head. "It's a little bland, but aside from the issue of eating the same thing every day, it's not as bad as it could be."

Sora laughed. "Nah, but I don't mind making him sweat for a bit first thinking I do." He grinned. "I consider it payback. Though not nearly enough. And bland is fine. Maybe I can help out in the market once I find it to get us some extra supplies to mix it up too."

Far be it from Zuko's place to question Sora's relationship with his brother. He wasn't exactly the shining example of brotherly affection to begin with.

He shook his head. "No markets here. Just the shore and whatever you can get out of the water or off the beach. Chell probably wouldn't mind a hand though if you offered to help cook."

"I don't mind at all... but what do people who don't fish do for food if there is no market? Surely some people have jobs that keep them to busy to catch and cook their own food...?"

"I'm not sure how things used to work here. Right now there's not enough people to worry about it. Maybe fifteen, and a lot of them are kids." He didn't seem to include himself in that category, despite obviously still only being a teenager himself.

"If you don't want to fish, you can clean the school, or try to clear some of those vines." He gestured to the wall of thorns that surrounded them, before pushing a hand against the door to the school. "Food's this way."

"Kids.... like.. Chutaro's age or...?" he asked, then blinked. "Oh, right. Probably should mention Chutaro is 12 before I ask a question like that," she said with a chuckle.

The local dryad was heading back indoors with a big armful of freshly-cut branches and a piece of tarp full of thorns. If no one interrupted him, he'd be going into the room set up for cooking, to set those out to dry. They'd probably be destined to be used for firewood for the soup pot....

Maybe find him while he's arranging them, or tending to the fire, or maybe just giving the pot another stir to make sure nothing's sticking to the bottom?

Having been directed where to go next, Sora headed inside, then... stopped dead. Nothing Zuko had said quite prepared him for what he saw tending the fire. Not that he was fully sure what he was seeing. Was that person wrapped in... metal? Were they trying to get around the sword ban by wearing their swords, or.... ?

Yeah, he really had no clue what he was looking at here. So...

"I think it's my turn to look after the fire," he said with a sheepish smile. scratching the back of his head. "If you want to let me get over there, we can talk while I'm working, okay?"

And maybe whoever this was could explain... whatver this was?

Edited 2025-05-13 06:43 (UTC)

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Sora Laughing Under The Storm - OTA

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