grasshopper 1, video

[blitzcheer]

Hee-eyy, is there anyone on board who can whip up some small containers? With magic or--whatever? Is there anything around? I need to make this--

[ He holds up a filled glass bottle the size of about an energy drink. ...if with a fancier bottle to it. ]

Into about--three! They're megalixirs! They'll make people feel good as new out on missions, magic and all! Light! [ And a smile springs on his face, even if he doesn't know she can hear him. ] I got a bunch of them! --Oh yeah, and Bryn! Yuna! I got stuff for you too! Come meet me in the luggage car!

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[draconite]

[ SHE WAS EXCITED, OKAY!!

Which is exactly why she's going ahead and snatching the book from him without so much as a "thank you". Horrible little lady. She starts flipping through the book, growing increasingly more excited the more of it she reads. ]

I can't believe it...! This really is the real thing! I don't know how it's even possible but this truly is Seidrfold!

[blitzcheer]

[ SHE'S EXCITED TIDUS DOESN'T WANT A THANK YOU RIGHT NOW HE WANTS DEETS. Which by the various expressions of joy on her face? They got the riiiight boook!! ]

That's great! [ Hey hey if it is (and maybe even if it hadn't been!), Tidus is coming to see the book from her side, letting her however flip the pages as she pleases. ] So you recognise all these places? None of them look different?

[draconite]

Um, well– They seem to match what I've heard of them before. I haven't been quite so lucky as to see them all for myself just yet, but this–

[ She holds up the book for him to see what she's flipped to. It's a photo of... it's a little hard to tell? Not because the photo is unclear (in fact, it's beautifully framed) but because at first glance, it looks like a pitch black ocean caught mid-storm. But the sky in the image is a perfect, robin's egg blue and the day looks clear as anything.

Once that registers, it becomes easier to see that what's pictured is an ocean of black glass, shot through with shades of ruby red, deep purple and specks of yellow, frozen in the middle of some enormous motion.

Bryn's beaming all over her face as she gazes at it. ]

The Glass Lands! I've always, always wanted to see this for myself! But it's said to be so horribly cursed it's not safe to treat on it... but isn't it beautiful?

[blitzcheer]

[ The two sections of the photos are like day and night to Tidus; like seeing the Zanarkand ocean deep in the night, but then you see the sky above, and it does take Tidus more than a second to get anything close to an idea of what he's looking at.

And then he's still wrong, when Bryn says glass lands. ]

Wait, that's land? So that's all glass? [ Wait, kinda like the Macalania Wood? ] What's the deal with it?

[draconite]

It's incredible, isn't it?

[ She's practically sparkling with glee. ]

It's actually the remains of a kingdom that once stood where the Glass Lands are now. They turned their backs on a dragon they had sworn a pact with and... well, this was the result.

[blitzcheer]

All of that? [ What a...result. He can get the dragon being mad, but turning the land into 'glass' is...bizarre! ]

Guess it's different from just bashing everything in! [ Not that either's good, but! ] Are pacts that big of a big deal?

[ ...he says to the person who completely lost it when she found out Inigo had A Thing with dragons! ]

[draconite]

Of course they are!

[ Said VERY emphatically. ]

But it wasn't just that they broke their promise to him – the story goes that they planned to kill him, too, and make an example of sorts out of him. When you think about it like that, this was really self-defense!

[ it Really Fucking Wasn't ]

[blitzcheer]

I thiiink this goes beyond self-defence...

[ JUST SAYING. JUST SAYING. ]

Why do you think they'd want to make an example out of him though? I mean, if pacts are a big deal -- what would someone get out of that?

[draconite]

I'm not really sure... this all happened quite a while ago, you know! At the very least, it happened before I began living with Teacher, so I don't know all the details myself. I would've been quite young!

[ Or at least she probably thinks...? Whatever, Bryn's not good at math. ]

But from what I can guess... you know, dragons really aren't very well-regarded where I come from. Not by humans, at any rate.

[blitzcheer]

Mmm, I heard that's that the case in another world. Then there's dragons where Inigo's from--I don't know if they like them all, but they like that Naga one.

[ But let's not get too into that because of ensuing threads. ]

But it's pretty drastic to change your mind about someone you made one of these pacts with, you know? To turn around and decide to make an example out of them!

[ Oh, he should ask-! ]

Are pacts a dragon thing?

i just now noticed i didn't pick an icon for that last tag and i'm in physical pain

[draconite]

Of course it is! A promise like that isn't something you make lightly. And to not only break it but to try and kill the person you made it with... don't you think that's despicable? I really wouldn't be able to forgive them, if it were me.

[ Apparently "being a bit shitty to a dragon" is the greater sin here.

But at Tidus' question, her expression goes a little pensive. ]

Hm... that depends, really. A Pact like the one I have [ and you can definitely hear the Significant Capitalization again ] certainly is, though.

1 fear

[blitzcheer]

[ The Greater Good but about Pacts. ]

Can you still... I don't know--sense them? From out here, on the train? Your dragon partner?

[draconite]

[ Bryn gives him a bemused look that has, quite frankly, a bit of a patronizing edge to it – like she's sizing up a kid who's just asked a hilariously obvious question but she can't laugh, because he doesn't know any better. ]

I suppose you could say that... but it's just a bit more complicated. I'm not quite sure how I'd go about explaining it in a way that made sense... you might find yourself confused, but I can certainly try.

[blitzcheer]

[ The look doesn't bother Tidus. Between getting used to such looks back on Spira, the train hasn't been that different in regards to crap he doesn't know. And when it comes to Pacts, he barely gets them either, will admit to that easily.

And Bryn's the only person he's come across to really ever mention them, save Inigo. ]

Try me! If you're willing to explain, I'm willing to listen. [ And maybe, he can even help show where he is- ] I was imagining Pacts were like the fayth where I'm from. You pray to them, then if they accept you, you can get them to help you wherever you are.

Inigo said something about praying.

[ So. Close enough?? ]

[draconite]

I suppose you could pray if you wanted but I'm not sure how much good it would do.

[ She closes the book over, more to give her a moment to think than anything else. She'd spoken about this with Nita briefly, but it's not any easier trying to explain it this time. ]

In my world, when a dragon is old and powerful enough, their magic... and their essence, I suppose, become imprinted on the world in a way. The very idea of their existence becomes a part of the world's overall texture – sort of in the same way a story can become more real than the thing it was written about.

[ She gives him a sheepish smile. ]

Is this making much sense so far? This is quite common knowledge where I come from, so explaining it to someone who doesn't know is quite odd...

[blitzcheer]

[ He folds his arms with a small bump as they come together, head slightly inclined and a hum between his lips. Honestly, it doesn't make sense, but he tries to think of what he knows: of Spira, of stories, but on that thought.

It's not a lightbulb, but he brings his head upright, cuts his hum. ]

Is it like...the land becomes affected by the essence they leave behind? So like, how that one place- [ he nods to the book ] -was still affected after the dragon attacked it? The area just changes.

[ Is he close. ]

[draconite]

Mm... something like that. It's more...

[ She looks frustrated with her own inability to get this across for a moment – but then her face lights up. ]

Oh– no, I understand now how to explain it. Tidus, if I were to ask you to think of the ocean... whether or not you were conscious of it, the idea of "water" would also be at the forefront of your mind. The concept of "water" is integral to the concept of an "ocean" – you may be able to think of water without picturing the ocean, but you can't imagine the ocean without also picturing water.

So I suppose what I'm saying is... in this explanation, the dragon becomes, to the world, what water is to the ocean. The very nature of its existence becomes something that cannot be removed from how you imagine the world.

[blitzcheer]

[ this on the inside but a little on the outside too. ]

... So... [ s...o.... ]

...if you thought about your world right now...



...you'd know every old and important dragon that ever lived?

[ ????????????????????????????????? ]

[draconite]

Well– no, but you see– the thing is– [ She continues in that vein for a moment before trailing off and looking kind of confused herself. It's kind of transparent in that moment that she doesn't really know what she's talking about either.

And then, with a cheery: ] Anyway! [ she just continues as if she had, in fact, successfully explained herself. ]

It's very rare for a dragon that old and powerful to die, but when they do... well, they often would rather their power and influence not vanish from the world with them.

[blitzcheer]

[ ??????????????????? ]

[blitzcheer]

Oh, yeah, sure! That makes sense.

[ yeah yeah yeah he's following yeah yeah yeah yeah ]

So then, pacts- [ because wait wasn't he asking about them- ] Does that have something to do with that?

[draconite]

Yes! A Pact is the way a dragon will pass that power onto someone – though it's not just power they pass on. You assume the mantle of their responsibilities and their influence and everything else that was theirs – in all ways but the physical, you more or less become them yourself.

It goes two ways, of course. It's not so much that they simply hand this power out to anyone worthy... but they give it to people who share their goals and their ideals. I suppose you could think of it as ensuring they leave behind no unfinished business?

[ Which was Very Much the case for Bryn. ]

[blitzcheer]

[ See, now this is much simpler! Tidus can actually follow this! ]

So you've got a big job waiting for you back home! [ That's what he's hearing. ] What's a dragon want you to go and do?

[ He's pretty interested. Dragons sure love to either work with people or murder them. ]

[draconite]

Hmmm.

[ Now that's an odd response. As is the up and down look she's giving Tidus – her expression is suddenly a little serious and she has a look as if she's sizing him up somehow. ]

Well... if I tell you, will you promise to keep it a secret? It's not as though I expect you to run and tell everyone you speak to, but with things like they are right now, it might upset some of the other passengers to hear me speak of it so casually.

[blitzcheer]

[ Wow, it took her this long to check him out?!

No, actually, he's not sure what the look is for, curious--even more so with what follows it, a bit of a blank look on his face. ]

Uh... sure. What is it?

[ His brain wants to make guesses, but what should he even guess...? ]