Timey-Wimey Nonsense Part 1

[lucetimods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The Time Travel Trip 2014
When: HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO
Where: Luceti before it was cool Luceti
Summary: The residents are dragged into the past thanks to John's latest Shift. More information is here and here, and, ICly, here.
Rating: Varied



It's early morning in the quiet enclosure that will someday become Luceti. The sun is rising, birds are chirping in that annoyingly cheery way that makes you want to shoot them out of the trees, and the residents are beginning to wake up. Most of them are heading to work, either to farm, or to build, or to work the shops, or even just to prepare a nice breakfast for their families and neighbours. Everyone has something to do.

And then, out of nowhere, a couple hundred strangers show up in the middle of the woods.

At first there is confusion, and no shortage of caution, from the neighbours; newcomers are common enough, but usually they are announced beforehand, and never in such great numbers. The leaders of the town are called in to ask questions. The newcomers are free to explore, but any aggression will be met in kind; if need be, the Filial of the past will defend their homes. They're hoping it won't come to that, however. You're stuck with one another for a long time, after all.

Thankfully, there is one man who might be able to bring the natives and newcomers together: Tyr.

...And the other guy, maybe. We'll see.


((mingle and explore at will! further questions can be redirected to either of the posts linked above. NPCs will be available for plotty stuff soon.))

Comments

[ahappylie]

Need help with Old Time living? Ask an old dude
[There was nothing weirder than getting shifted to past when you were still awake. 6:23AM was still a time when Souji was fully alert so the alarm didn't catch him completely off guard. He'd put together a small bag containing his uniform, an extra set of clothes, his sword and its cleaning kit, and then reluctantly left the animals as they were.

Once they were settled in, Souji realized that the level of tech was, while familiar to him, not exactly what most Lucetians would enjoy. And so he started wandering the new (old?) village, finding his fellows to see if they needed help with anything. In particular all the wood-burning stoves, how to construct their own heaters, and offering to give cut wood to people who needed it once they were settled in. He sought out those who looked the most lost at their new surroundings and tested how well they were adjusting by asking a simple question:]

It's a little inconvenient, isn't it?

[He's also searching for his students - Sokka, Ginia and Padme - to make sure they're okay and to check in on whether they still want to practice even here in the past.]

House 10
[For House 10 - Hijikata, Kohaku, Sophia, Fayt and Cliff.

Souji went and grabbed everyone he knew, then told them to bring people they knew and now there is a house. Because reasons.

As the days pass by, he settles into a routine of: wake up insanely early, do laundry, clean the house, cook if no one else has, and feeling weirdly lost because he doesn't have Saizou to play with. In the early days, he sticks close to home, trying to get everyone settled.]

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

[Ginia is seated at the fountain - it looks so plain without the mural surrounding it - and waves at Souji as he approaches. Her smile is a little wry at his comment, but she shrugs lightly. It was a little annoying not having electricity, but there was still running water. She'd gone without electricity before, she could deal. Honestly, the lack of electricity was only annoying because she couldn't use her cellphone as much, the device replaced with pen and notepad. She writes quickly and holds up the pad of paper at eye level for Souji to read.]

A little, but I've been with less too.

[The real question was how long they would be in past-Luceti.]

[ahappylie]

[He noted the use of the pen and paper and set himself down on the edge of the fountain with her. He read the words and then laughed a little, nodding.]

I'm wondering what people here will do when they realize they can't just turn a switch and have light come.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

Some will be grumpy about it the entire time. Others only had electricity in Luceti so not having it won't be a big deal. Hopefully there's a good supply of candles and/or lanterns around.

[She had two flashlights, extra batteries, candles, and matches herself, but it was still only good for two weeks, a month tops with careful use.]

Honestly, I miss my dog more.

[ahappylie]

I've run into more people who have had the power than not. [At least since coming here, he had. Some knew how to survive without it, certainly, but most were accustomed to the convenience and weren't taking well to having it suddenly stripped away again.

Although more than the lights, the part about Ginia missing her dog was more important to him. Souji smiled and nodded at the page for a moment before turning to her.]

I know what you mean. [He set his hand in his lap, where Saizou usually nestled whenever he was seated.]　It seems strange to be here without them.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

It's weird not having her at my side. I still reach down to pet her before remembering she's not there. I hope she's safe back in the village.

[More importantly, Ginia hopes she made the right decision leaving Laika behind. If it was true they would arrive back at the exact moment they left then there was nothing to worry about, but who knew what would happen while they were here. Would Luceti as they knew it even exist once they returned?]

[ahappylie]

Fears for the future won't do any good in the present.

[A silly platitude, but one that he has to say even to himself. He left five animals behind, including Kohaku's cat, and the thought of anything happening to them while they were gone was enough to twist his insides.]

We won't know until we return and until then, it's likely our pets won't even notice we've been missing.

[theideaguy]

[In fairness, Sokka's familiar with the primitive is... complex. But from a holistic point of view, this world actually seemed more or less in line with what he would have expected from his own world... or perhaps just a little bit less primitive.

[Of course, he also hasn't had to experience the much more restrict level cap in place that others have been feeling, so that makes Sokka feel as right as rain... or at least as good as he can be.]

Honestly, it could be worse. Of all the recent shifts, I think this is the one I like the best. [No weird mental stuff. No seeing visions. Just plain and simple living.]

[ahappylie]

Really?

[Souji didn't really care for the ghosts or the sudden visit to a giant school, but there had been some fun shifts in the past.]

And don't you think saying "it could be worse" only invites more trouble?

[theideaguy]

Yeah really. I'm already soooooo done with all this messing-with-the-mind weirdness of this place. This... well, okay, traveling backwards in time is still pretty insane, all things considered, but at least I can make sense of it.

[Though he does give Souji a rather flat look when he implies that things can indeed worse.]

Hey, I'm flat out expecting things to get worse. You think nothing wrong or weird is going to happen? We've been sent to five or so centuries ago! I mean, one wrong move and we blow could blow up the future!

[Sokka doesn't really get the details of time travel, but he has a vivid enough imagination to know that so many things could go wrong.]

[ahappylie]

Well, I was sent two centuries into the future and nothing exploded.

[Not really exploded.]

So maybe things won't be so terrible? At least, not so terrible. If they've sent us this far back they probably can't "mess with our minds" as much?

[theideaguy]

But the future is different! [At least he thinks the future is different.] I mean, if you go to the past, you could do something that changes the future when you go back to it! I think... Right?

[Sigh. However, at least Souji does have a point about them not messing with their minds.] Though I guess being in the past does give the fringe benefit that they can't do as weird of things to us here.

[ahappylie]

Or you could learn something from the future that irreparably changes everything and take that knowledge back to the past. Time travel is very tricky.

[Not that this Sokka knew, of course, what Souji was talking about. In fact, it was unlikely that he'd ever let Sokka learn about him that way. He would make sure that Sokka never had to deal with watching him die ever again.]

Aaaand I'd be careful about saying things like that. Even if the Malnosso don't exist as we know them, things may still happen.

House 10

[aerialassault]

[Getting settled in this new time line wasn't difficult for Cliff. It was uncomfortable and frustrating at the worst, but he had his prior experiences with living in underdeveloped civilizations to draw from.

...At least they had hot water, and the benefits of having a few hard wired habits. It was the small things that he could draw comfort from.

Waking up early himself, he joined Souji in time to catch the beginnings of the sunrise starting to peek over the forest canopy.]

Seems almost familiar, doesn't it?

[His breath came out in puffs with his question. He was glad he had packed his heavier pajamas for this trip.]

House 10

[ahappylie]

[The cold meant he had to wash the laundry and hang it early if he hoped for them to dry by the evening. He usually had the wash out just after the sun came up to maximize the amount of sunlight they'd receive. Today, however, he was caught with the items still sitting in their wash bins when Cliff came outside. When Cliff emerged, he stood from his chores and smiled, reaching behind him to release the string that tied his hair back.]

Well, aren't we up early today?

[He couldn't help but tease. Even if Cliff was an early riser on most mornings, Souji still wasn't used to having anyone be up at the same time as his morning laundry duties.]

And yes, it does seem familiar. I used to wake up this early back home to do chores when I was younger.

Did you do chores when you were young, too?

House 10

[aerialassault]

Yeah. I had to sweep the place and, when I got a little older, help the keep plumbing working and the doors stay on their hinges. Things break, and it's not always so easy to find someone to put them back together.

[He glanced down at Souji with a playful smile.]

You didn't break something already, did you? We haven't even been here a week!

House 10

[ahappylie]

I can imagine doors staying on hinges was an issue at home?

[He'd seen Cliff and doors. They didn't work so well together.]

I can break something, if you need a reason to visit sometime.

House 10

[aerialassault]

Me and the boys played rough as kids. It's no big deal, really.

[Cliff and doors have shared a long history of violence together, truly. He huffed, in mock annoyance.]

How do ya know I won't make you fix your own door? Mom and dad were always tough like that.

[etherealblast]

[Much like Cliff, Fayt was adjusting reasonably well for being a space age kind of guy thanks to prior experience. Months on Elicoor had been it's own sort of crash course in surviving with technology less convenient than he was used to, and part of him was really just grateful it wasn't as different as it could be.

Fayt glances up from where he's inspecting the rather dusty looking stove at Souji's question, inwardly rather glad that it was only autumn at the moment. The small stove wasn't going to heat the entire house.]

It's inconvenient, yeah, but not as much as it could be. We've got running water and pre-installed stoves, so no campfire meals at least.

[ahappylie]

We could have campfire meals, if you wanted.

[He leaned back from inspecting the stove over Fayt's shoulder and smiled.]

There isn't a beach here, but a forest picnic might be fun.

[connectingwisdom]

There is a... house? [That was an odd way to put it, but she can trust Souji and follow him along, right...? Because unlike those two other people from her universe, Sophia doesn't have as much experience in old time living. Not that she wasn't willing to learn, but this was going to take some getting used to.]

Are you sure we can just move into any old house?

[ahappylie]

Usually if a place is empty, it means we're allowed to move in as we see fit.

[Souji smiled reassuringly at the younger woman.]

And there are quite a few empty houses here. Unless you're uncertain about living with a bunch of old men like us.

[Well--]

And an angel.

[connectingwisdom]

N-no, that's not it at all! [The last thing she wanted to was offend them by implying she wasn't comfortable around them, they were all good people as far as she could tell.]

All my life Fayt has practically lived in my house, so I think I can handle it. [Though... the angel being part of the household was different.]

[ahappylie]

[His smile widened a little at the corners.]

Sophia-san is just as earnest as I'd heard. I was only teasing.

So you and Fayt-kun have been friends since childhood?

[connectingwisdom]

Huh? [Earnest? Now who could have told him such a thing?]

Nevermind that, but yes. Fayt and I have known each other since we were little kids, right next door to each other.

[And she folds her hands behind her, the smile on her lips almost mischievous.] So really, I can tell you a whole bunch of things about him.