a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance

[simulsimul]

universe list
canon
breached
confessed
dadly
future
grigori
mercenary
MEover
origin
reversal
titans


scenario list
canon: Kratos needs to stop running off
confessed: wing reflex
confessed: actual wingpull
confessed: turning Renegade
confessed: son meets father
dadliness: confrontation
dadliness: awakening
dadliness: illness
dadliness: a fundamental lack of understanding on the word 'abducted'
dadliness: updating parameters
dadliness: assassination assignation
mercenary: hiding in the library
mercenary: aftermath of librarian saviour
reversal: oracle destroyed
titans: storming the tower
titans: safety in the canyon
titans: night horrors


canon
- combo of Kratos and Zelos ending
- Zelos does the stupid thing, but not so far as his death, and is still the eighth member of the party to Derris-Kharlan.

scenarios
scenario one: Yuan tracks Kratos down at Dirk's.


breached
- canon right up until after Botta’s death
- no one uses Yuan’s name around Mithos so Mithos walks right into the Triet base with them
- cue an epic OH SHIT in which Yuan gets a lil bit beat up while covering the evacuation of the rest of the base
- until Kratos appears to intervene and have the Chosen group get Yuan out of there
- Mithos gets Kratos tho and he’s a bit mad cos, yanno, traitor and all
- time to be locked up and punished and need to be rescued
- kind of puts a crimp in the creation of the Eternal Ring plans
- mostly cos Mithos turns Kratos lifeless, with some armour to regulate his mana so he remains a seraph. can't have the seal becoming less powerful, yo
- it does mean he can only obey orders tho
- the first rescue fails miserably but at least no one dies and they know they need to reforge his key-crest
- the second rescue attempt (circumstances of canon-point under percolation) goes a little better, though Yuan almost gets killed by Kratos trying to attach the key-crest
- luckily that and the first telepathy in a while gets through and Kratos manages to break out a la Colette, and heal Yuan enough for Raine to get there
- after which, angreh father-son beatdown on Mithos.

scenarios
None yet.


confessed
- almost successful assassination lands Kratos as an injured stranger in Iselia (1-2 years pre-canon)
- recuperation leads to accidental-on-purpose 'holiday' in Iselia
- doubts result in a request for Dirk to make a key-crest like Kratos' own
- oracle room undergoes some stealth sabotage
- regeneration journey is slightly delayed, prompted by Genis and Lloyd being discovered at the ranch
- Triet is awkward. so very awkward. for the Renegades -- whose side is Kratos even on these days and why was he vanished for two years?
- initial overall journey similar to canon, save that Kratos is a bit less circumspect about advising Colette on how to cope with angel transformations
- there are more overt Dun Wanna Feelings
- then Luin, wherein things happen and the group is in town during the Desian attack. the others naturally want to fight but tis a mite difficult against an army and building-destroying magitech. luckily, angel on their side. unluckily, wingpulls in order to muster the power to cover the townspeoples' retreat
- questions and confessions ensue
- Colette rejects the key crest (for the moment) so there's still hopefully maybe ambiguity about Kratos's position re the last seal
- it wouldn't fit anyway, it's modelled for the hand like Kratos's is because he was a derp and did not specify otherwise, so Lloyd needs to make a thing to make it fit
- slow protective retreat toward Asgard.

scenarios
scenario one: Kratos confesses before Salvation; Raine wants to follow up.
scenario two: Raine's examination of an angel; and also Kratos realises how far he's put his foot in it.
scenario three: Kratos goes to taunt Yuan a little, and also ask for his help.
scenario four: in which Raine makes Kratos tell the children all the things, and Yuan takes too much amusement from it.


dadliness
- Kratos retires in Iselia under the name Irving to raise Lloyd after the death of his wife
- no exsphere. ageing occurs! so does a beard and a braid
- teaches Lloyd swordplay, but on the sly, to avoid the other villagers noticing. his daytime job is weaving
- Lloyd finds the box of their exspheres and wants details. after some prodding by Dirk, Kratos explains how exspheres are made and that one is Anna's life. Lloyd is too young yet, but when Lloyd comes of age (~15) Kratos lets him make his own decision re wearing it
- Lloyd chooses not to wear the exsphere
- Genis befriends Marble and Lloyd meets her, as in canon; this happens before the journey begins, with the fallout
- difference being that Colette is still in the village so they can't be too horrible, so they just demand Lloyd be turned over for a flogging
- Kratos stands in his stead because natch. luckily, they're only mooks and don't recognise the bearded weaver as anyone important
- gives Lloyd his guilt complex early tho
- the oracle happens much the same way except Botta doesn't quite recognise the weirdly familiar bearded swordsman
- he does when he's reporting to Yuan tho
      'there was an exceptionally skilled human'
      /brief physical description/
      /did x other faintly recognizable thing/
      and both he and Yuan are aware that Kratos has been awol for a while, so there's a moment of pure silence and dawning 'no, it couldn't be'
- but then obviously one of them has to go make sure
- cue an interruption just out of Triet.

scenarios
scenario one: Yuan feels the need to investigate; this results in Kratos injured and abducted.
scenario two: Yuan realises he can't kill Kratos with his own two hands; Kratos gets mothered.
scenario three: Kratos gets sick on the heels of his recovery. Yuan mothers him some more. Botta disapproves.
scenario four: Kratos recovers and makes an escape attempt. Sort-of.
scenario five: Kratos recovers more and talks to Botta, when not needling Yuan about his lack of preparedness.
scenario six: Sheena's contract takes a slight shift into undercover instead of assassination work.


future
- Aselia is Earth ~10,000 years in the past
- all is peachy-keen except the tree is now underground and the elvens/half-elves/some humans are in hiding in the centre of the planet, hidden thanks to the summon spirits
- Colette is working with humanitarian aid in various impoverished nations
- Zelos is a diplomat in West Asia / Middle East trying to keep the peace
- Yuan is a crotchety lecturer at Cambridge who's also HUGE into environmentalism
- Lloyd and Kratos are having family time in space
- occasionally the trio on Earth meet reincarnations of people they used to know
- but rarely at the same time and almost never in a position where they meet
- but then they start meeting them
- lots of them
- all in the same span of years
- they're starting to think something's hinky
- until the space-elves attack
- and then they know something is hinky.


scenarios
None yet.


grigori
- at some point significantly before canon, Kratos actually calls it quits
- the Church's institution calls him a fallen angel of vengeance
- really he's just going around trying to help people and avoiding being taken back to Cruxis
- assigns himself to the Chosen parties whenever he can, up to Colette
- ????? idk some kind of profit somewhere

scenarios
None yet.


mercenary
- when Yuan visits Kratos at the beach when Lloyd is 3 months old, he does not manage to escape before Anna and Lloyd return
- accidental attachment to this kidlet who likes pulling his hair
- three years later, Yuan can't stand to hold back while Kratos fights Kvar, so he throws caution to the wind to help
- Anna is still killed but they rescue Lloyd and Noishe and both are branded as traitors
- Lloyd is raised as a Renegade with Dad, Uncle Yuan and the extremely reticent Uncle Botta (how dare)
- meanwhile in Tethe'alla Yuan infiltrates the castle as the library archivist
- stays out of sight, mostly, but has a good ear around the politics thanks to recruiting Princess Hilda
- also happens to stumble on Zelos hiding in the library right after his mother's death
- look he's got a 'nephew' he can't just do nothing (even if all he meant was to recommend a book)
- unwittingly accidentally 'adopts' the Tethe'allan Chosen by virtue of being the only one who doesn't treat him like the Chosen
- sometimes Kratos brings Lloyd to visit and basically they're all separate pairs of exasperated bros
- by canon Lloyd and Kratos are wandering mercenaries, helping people on the sly while gathering intel to send back to the Renegades
- Yuan and Zelos are actively building resistance to the Church using inside knowledge
- the ninja are all Renegades
- Colette is escorted by Raine and by the priests
- yes the 'chain up the Chosen and drag her to every seal if necessary' priests
- she meets Lloyd randomly in Triet but Lloyd doesn't know her as the Chosen. they're a bit out of touch on the Journey of Regen timeline
- stuff happens and they keep missing each other up until Palmacosta, which is a warzone between the Desians (and Dorr as their figurehead) and the Renegades (with Neil as their leader)
- Colette wants to help; priests say no
- out come the chains
- Raine objects, but she has no exsphere so what can she do
- btw Genis got caught in the Iselian ranch and tossed in as a traitor to be made a host
- he gets sent to the Palmacosta ranch
- right after Neil manages to take the city, after Colette and Raine leave it, Botta takes the Palmacosta ranch and rescues Genis, among others
- Genis becomes his little shadow and is much preferable to Lloyd, in Botta's opinion
- Lloyd and Kratos are still trying to catch up to Colette to rescue her when they drop by
- Genis hears what they're trying to do and insists on coming along.


scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan accidentally adopts a Chosen instead of a book from a library.
scenario two: in which Yuan is accidentally-deliberately adopted by the Meltokio Castle Knights.


MEover
- Mass Effect crossover someplace in the realm of 15,000 years after TOS canon
- except started before then, cos elves are really from Feros, planet of the cranky telepathic plant
- got decimated by the protheans trying to assimilate them into their empire
- elves objected, got killed a lot, fled Feros and got stuck in Aselia's orbit
- kinda forgot a few things but planted a seed from the Ferosian mother plant on Aselia
- Origin hasn't forgotten tho, kinda has a grudge against grumblegrumbleprotheansgrumble
- the entirety of TOS happened, and then some
- Kratos, Yuan, Lloyd, Colette and Zelos are the only ones left, but tis okay, they have each other
- somethingsomething natural space disaster, Aselia is destroyed but they manage to move Yggdrasill onto Derris-Kharlan and do a quarian by becoming a roaming ship
- mana is a variant of eezo lbr
- Derris-Kharlan's too big to use the mass relays, but c'mon it generates its own mass effect field so they develop tech to do hops on their own
- they're in no hurry tho, i mean lbr primarily angelic, elf and half-elf population
- so they're just bumming around their local clusters doing thorough investigations on all the things
- so much eezo on their ship
- so much
- suddenly the Normandy running from a reapers comes along to hide behind them
- reapers start shooting
- everyone on Derris-Kharlan objects
- JUDGEMENT IN SPACE
- so much profit and judging of reapers.


scenarios
None yet.


origin
- Kratos tells Lloyd the dad thing in Triet
- dad and son feelings ensue
- they culminate at the Tower of Salvation in Kratos stabbing Yggdrasill in the back
- unfortunately he does not quite die but impales Kratos against a wall and goes berserk on the Chosen party to the point of Yuan stepping in to help
- that is, by threatening to stab Kratos in the back while he's vulnerable (with Kratos's permission)
- Yggdrasill calls his bluff and fails, and Yuan does the thing
- while Yggdrasill is distracted the Chosen's group nail him but good and he retreats
- luckily while heart-stabbing happened, Kratos's cruxis crystal is still intact, and between Raine's healing and Yuan's mana transfusion he survives long enough to be taken to the Triet base and a refresher
- stuff happens in some fashion or other up until opening Origin's seal
- as it turns out, the mana tranfusion has fused the lock, so to speak, and Kratos can't unlock the seal even voluntarily
- only way to get Origin out at this point is to let him fuse with Kratos, so Kratos becomes Origin
- stipulation of this: Kratos refuses to let go of his humanity
- luckily Yuan already has a literal bond with him thanks to the mana transfusion, so with him as his summoner Kratos can keep his humanity, and only use Origin's powers when Yuan summons them
- commitment like woah for a literal eternity
- but hey, they messed up but good and it's the only way they can reunite the worlds.

scenarios
none yet.


reversal
~ 2000 years in, Kratos and Yuan conspire to kill Mithos and succeed, sorta
- he's stuck inside his exsphere, possessing people
- but he manages to survive and while Kratos and Yuan claim Derris-Kharlan for their base, he takes most of the angels as 'fallen', as well as the Eternal Sword
- most of his bases are hidden behind dimensional slips created by the sword - Iselia included
- Origin refuses to trust either Kratos or Yuan with the job, anyhow, and they don't have a summoner
- instead they're forced to fight Cruxis, embroiling the worlds in an angelic war between Cruxis and the new organisation of Chayim
- the Chosen bloodlines are more important to Cruxis than Chayim, but Mithos seals the seals so only the Chosen bloodline can flip the mana switch. Kratos and Yuan need someone to do that until they can reunite them, so the Journey remains an institution, just without compulsory death at the end
- there is angelification tho, if only so Chayim gets more soldiers and so the Chosen can defend themselves against Cruxis
- Kratos sends Anna and Lloyd to Iselia, because even though enemy territory, it's the safest place there is for them
- Anna get word to Kratos that the Desians are using Iselia as a long-term cruxis crystal cultivation location, and that the sword is held there
- her spy succeeds but is intercepted, and Mithos locks down the dimensional slip to prevent exit and access by angels for ~15 years
- Lloyd grows up in a town with a heavy half-elf population and believing he's training to help the good guys
- he has his own cruxis crystal as a host, but doesn't tell his mother due to the faith-based propaganda encouraging hosts not to bring it up or risk the powers not taking
- he wants to help though, so he steals a key-crest to ensure he can fight
- Yuan and Kratos plan to assault the town and shrine but Mithos uses the sword to interrupt travel between worlds, keeping Yuan in Tethe'alla and forcing Kratos to attack Iselia alone.

scenarios
scenario one: Iselia is attacked by Chayim to claim the sword, with the sword already gone


titans
- Yggdrasill captures Kratos before Kvar finds Anna and Lloyd, but after Kratos makes an Eternal Ring
- Yuan figures hell no and raises the Renegades to try and take Derris-Kharlan, rescue Kratos and solve the split-world problem
- the attack fails. a lot.
- Renegades are wiped out, Kratos is still in Cruxis's hands, but Yuan manages to escape with the Eternal Ring
- Cruxis follows him to Triet base, which gets destroyed and the few remaining Renegades scatter
- Botta is still around tho, helping out how he can
- mostly Yuan just goes searching for Lloyd and Anna
- doesn't manage to find them before Kvar does tho, and Kratos hears from Yggdrasill that they're dead
- this is slightly inaccurate, cos Lloyd still winds up rescued by Dirk in Iselia
- where Yuan eventually finds him, not knowing that he's 'supposed' to be dead
- so Yuan settles in Iselia for a bit to watch Lloyd and the Chosen
- cuts and dyes his hair, the whole shebang
- learns how to carpentry, invents a new use of magic lightning and light can totally become a laserbeam amirite
- winds up being Genis's role model just because scholar and magic-user and half-elf who can pass but also takes no shit from people
- is one of Colette's companions on the Journey when it starts
- he's been challenging their understanding of the Church's institution this whole time lbr
- Sheena is still a thing because the ninja have taken over the Tethe'allan base, which has survived, somewhat
- a grilling ensues
- sometime just after the Asgard Ranch Yuan does have to drop the bombshell
- about how the Journey is just a front, he and his bestie are angels, btw his bestie is Lloyd's dad
- how they're out to topple the institution of religion
- forget sacrificing Colette for the Regeneration, when they get to the seal they can do that without anyone dying
- and then move straight on to rescuing Kratos in Derris-Kharlan
- then they get to the Tower and realise Yggdrasill has Kratos under a Prometheusesque punishment a la 'impaled on the Eternal Sword to suffer the Seed's pain and watch the Chosen get murdered'
- luckily this does not happen, as they manage to rescue him and escape Yggdrasill instead, barely
- retreat to Botta's hiding-place in Asgard so Kratos can recover
- and also find out that Lloyd is actually alive
- the Chosen group goes around to make as many pacts as they can while in Sylvarant
- they get up to Aska when Yggdrasill sends his angels to attack Asgard
- cue Yuan and Kratos being unstoppable battle gods together


scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan leads the Chosen's party to the Tower of Salvation to dismantle all the traditions ever, and find Kratos waiting for them in serious need of a rescue.
scenario two: in which being in safety reveals that Kratos is not precisely unscathed, but he's doing his best.
scenario three: in which Kratos is emphatically not okay, but with Yuan's help, could be.

Comments

[simulsimul]

[Kratos bows with a murmur of acknowledgement and absents himself. The stone is already in his pocket; so he moves through what is becoming a makeshift camp, echoes dull and voices soft in the face of them. They're are -- spread out enough that it makes him nervous, even though there's nothing to be done about it.

[He finds the edges of the camp, where darkness is on the edge of becoming a living thing and flat ground becomes dubious. It's here he pauses, taking the stone from his pocket and some deep breaths and trying to orient himself, trying to find appropriate words. Gnome had not been a house-god of the Aurions; those had been Efreet and Celsius. Nevertheless, he knows some words.

[He does not receive a chance to say them. Footsteps behind make him turn, and he catches only flashes of braid and Sylvaranti armour framed against dim light before he's shoved. Even with brace, there's no chance of catching himself; he tries, stepping back, and his heel comes down on nothing, and then he's falling and it's all he can do to cover his head, brace himself against the ground and stone and the hard thud of his body against them.

[Then flat ground again, arresting his fall suddenly, and Kratos gasps for pain and breathlessness, the whole of his body pounding. It takes some time before he can move; and when he does it's carefully, testing each limb first.

[Nothing, mercifully, seems broken -- save perhaps ribs, but he can't tell the difference between bruise and fracture right now. Either one takes his breath away. Another moment more and he pushes himself up painfully, crawling in the darkness until ground slopes sharply up; and when he looks up, hissing at the pain in his neck, he can see the glow over the rim of the camp's lights.]

Hey!

[Darkness swallows his voice, taking away even echo; and over the sound of soldiers murmuring, there's no way he can be heard. So: Kratos starts crawling, grimly, dragging his leg and bracing it so he can pull himself up to his feet. The slope is not a wall -- surely he can crawl up -- surely --

[He cannot. The ground is too loose, and he can't see where it's solid; every time he slides back down in a hail of gravel and dust. And tries again, coughing, limbs trembling, until the fourth or fifth time, when he lays where he's slid, exhausted and chest tight and aching everywhere, and acutely aware of the bitter irony that this may be, after all, where he ends.

[Except --

[Except the blue stone he still has clenched in his bruised and bloodied fist. Kratos puts his head down, exhale stirring dust, and closes his eyes. He doesn't have words; just a mental plea, directed into the ground with all that he has.

[Gnome, please help me. Please.

[Not his house-god. But in this cave, maybe ...]

[conductingresistance]

[In this cave: maybe.]

[Intent matters. Indeed, for spirits, it shapes them. Gnome's been more than conscious of the pitter-patter of soldiers up above; and pretty much more than happy to ignore them, whatever. They don't bug him, he doesn't get fancy with his interior decorating, it all works out for everyone after all, really.]

[Except: there is something.]

[Intent and earth, and a heaviness that speaks of the way Gnome's power filters through the world, the pull to be here. And a plea. Just a plea, none of this posturing nonsense.]

[...well, it's not like it's that much effort. And it's close by, so, sure, why not. Gnome really doesn't feel like getting up, though, so he does a different kind of interior decorating, and brings that particular patch of stone and earth to him. He even remembers to prevent it from running into other stone, which is really very generous of him.]

[He starts thinking about pulling a physical manifestation together as the closest set of Gnomelettes get very, very curious. They see people often enough when they're wandering, but not usually in this way. Also, not usually flavored like this.]

[The end result is that Kratos gets poked in the ribs. A few times. By tiny dextrous fingers. Some hair tugging may be involved.]

Hey, what's this?

That's a human, duh.

[simulsimul]

[There is -- a change. The gravel shifts, and Kratos's head slumps against his arm, for there can be no other reason for the shift than the fact that he's currently laying on something that is in the process of caving in. Except that he doesn't fall; and something in the texture of the air and weight of rock shifts; and then he's --

[Being poked?

[Kratos grunts at the spark of pain the fingers in his ribs cause, shifting to curl in -- except for how his body reminds him that he'd fallen, and it can certainly start breaking things if he's not careful.

[He opens his eyes while propped up on his elbows and the darkness is not so absolute as Shadow must be; but it must be close, even if it doesn't take long for his eyes to adjust to lichens and glowstones, with him already having been in darkness. But then he stares, breathing ragged, because he -- he has never seen beings like this before.]

Gnome?

[It's an exceedingly tentative question, because Sylph is a triumvirate; maybe Gnome is too, and they just never knew? He knows of no one who has seen the spirit.]

[conductingresistance]

Hey, careful, he's squishy.

[There's chattering back and forth. Only two of them, right now, tiny people with strange proportions and gemlike eyes, and dusty pointed hats in different colors.. The darkness is little mind to them.]

[They both laugh, raucous and abrupt, at Kratos's question.]

Imagine that!

Nope! We're Gnomelettes!

[As if this explains absolutely everything. One of them leans in almost conspiratorially.]

We have no idea where you came from.

[There's a brief tussling between them, possibly bickering for the sake of bickering, possibly fighting over who gets to explain what and how rudely. The second one wins at least briefly.]

But you showed up down here so it was probably the Boss!

[Accompanied by a very obvious point, down the way. Visible from here, but some little ways yet, there is openness, and the stones are all arrayed as a theatre; and there in the center, mana, gathered in such strong concentration that it becomes visible even to the naked human eye, rich and brown and cascading in a constant heavy rumble.]

[simulsimul]

[They're making his head hurt. Kratos closes his eyes and takes another breath, and it doesn't help; he may not have struck it, at least not badly, but he tumbled a long way. They don't seem to need him to answer, either, so it's enough to know they're Gnome's servants in ... some fashion.

[And that Gnome heard his prayer, after all. Kratos feels -- rather dazed, and doesn't know how much of that is due to injury, fatigue, or simply the notion of meeting a spirit. Meeting a spirit's servants?

[He pushes himself upright, hand still around the stone; sways when his head dizzies, and waits it out.]

The -- Boss?

[There is. Something extremely heavy-feeling happening down the way. Kratos manages to get to his feet and it hurts, and he sways some more, and leans heavily against one of the stones. And, yes, there is openness; and it is not so much light as -- brightness, of some kind, something so deep and full that it's visible in the darkness, owing to its depth being more than darkness.

[Possibly the dizziness is due to that. Slowly Kratos slides down the rock so he's sitting up against it, and he can't take his eyes from that sight, his heart and breath beating in his chest. That is -- oh. That is --

[He feels as if he's breathing in the weight of stone, but not in a way that it's a burden; it feels instead like sword in his hand, shield in his arm, heaviness but extensions of him; like the depths of Yuan's house in Nidavellir, but inside him.]

Gnome?

[His voice is unsteady.]

[conductingresistance]

Yeah, the Boss!

[There's a clamoring from the Gnomelettes as he manages to get himself up; alternating opinions on how this isn't fair and he's too big and he's lording his height over them how dare he.]

[Meanwhile, Gnome is feeling something of that, that which Kratos is not quite doing, and the way the mana bends and shifts in this area around the friendly new whatever-he-is human, and, okay, interested enough. He picks a form from those he's had before -- tunneling, fuzzy, splash of color -- and reaches all the way through to the mortal-physical plane.]

Whoa-ho-ho let's get a look at you--

[Yep, definitely human. And definitely earth. Gnome might feel a little proprietary at this point. Hey, Volt can fuck right off, he's not here.]

You're one of mine, aren'tcha?

[He doesn't actually need an answer on that one. Gnome bounces, wiggles his claws a bit. Ugh, physicality's always a pain the first few minutes.]

What brings you here?

[Wait, right. Help. Help was what was going on there, wasn't it.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos's head is definitely pounding, and he knows it can't be a concussion; he wouldn't have been capable of getting even halfway up that slope, if it were. But it feels like it, feels like the air and -- and mana warp in and out in his sight until a form is made, and the very presence of it feels heavy also.

[... This is Gnome? Kratos swallows, his mouth dry.]

I -- I don't know what that means.

[One of his? No, Kratos has no idea. This is Gnome? He sounds like a court jester. ... Kratos is not going to say that out loud.]

I -- asked for help. Someone pushed me ...

[Yuan. Yuan and gift and apology -- Kratos forces his fist to unclench and it hurts, his fingers stiff and cramped; but he manages. He casts about for words and finds none; but Gnome doesn't seem to be much for formality.]

I came to the edge of camp to offer an apology for our incursion. On behalf of Commander Ka-Fai.

[His knees are jelly; walking is not an option. Nor is tossing the sky-blue stone. But he offers it so Gnome can see even from a distance, not knowing whether one of the gnomelettes might take it to deliver, or -- Gnome come over to do so himself -- oh, spirits.]

This came from the granite of Nidavellir.

[conductingresistance]

[Gnome looks at Kratos. Sizes him up.]

I don't usually care all that much about whatever they're doing up there, but hey, now I'm interested.

[Also, lazy. He wiggles those same claws again, a pinching gesture, and the earth around Kratos lurches toward Gnome. As an afterthought, the rock he's leaning on goes too.]

You so sure you want to beg clemency like that for people who like pushing you around?

[Gnome's just saying. Anyway, this is his now. Dextrous little mole-claws pluck the blue stone up to look at. He's bigger than he looks; and the air around him pulls with a weight that's hard to resist.]

[...He's going to lord this over Sylph for like. An appropriately human span of time.]

[simulsimul]

[The ground rumbles and Kratos finds himself almost pitching backward before he props himself up; and then a moment later the rock slams into his back, as if it's eager to catch up. That, and accompanied by Gnome's more immediate presence, take Kratos's breath away.]

It's -- it's not for the sake of the one who did.

[Whoever it was. Besides, there's reasons, probably valid causes for grudges. He's Tethe'allan. They're Sylveranti. Kratos maybe means to say this, except it's hard to think with Gnome so close. It's not until Kratos's back leaves the rock behind him that he realises he's being pulled, veeery gently and on rolling gravel, toward Gnome. He sets his feet and pushes back so he's stilled against the rock; though it makes his bad leg tremble with the effort.

[Kratos swallows again.]

They're Sylvaranti. They didn't know you were here, and it was the only escape from the downpour. Commander Ka-Fai understands we're encroaching now, and would like to offer his assurances that we'll limit our exploration and general activity as much as possible until the rain ends.

[conductingresistance]

Huh. Yeah, well, whatever.

[Gnome is not much one for formality. He rolls the stone between his claws.]

Where they are now is fine. As long as no one starts storming down here yelling about pacts or whatever, I don't care.

[He kicks back, lounging lazily on a conveniently-appearing rock formation, and studies Kratos over again. Fluffy for a human. Kind of wobbly? Are they supposed to be like that? Look, it's been a while.]

...so, uh. You hurt or something? What was it you actually needed help with?

[Assuming that's not it.]

[simulsimul]

[Well. That's. Encouraging? Kratos is discovering that even though he'd thought he had no expectations about summon spirits, he had, in fact, had the expectation that they would automatically know things. Like why they brought him to themselves.]

I'm -- crippled.

[The word is hard to say, even with a merciful lack of shame. It's clear that Gnome doesn't know what the brace is; doesn't understand the circumstances. It's easier not to be ashamed by someone who doesn't know. ... Though it's going to get awkward if Kratos has to explain it further.]

If I was hale I could have climbed the slope, but I'm not, even with this as an aid.

[He taps the brace.]

I was -- I needed -- Uh. Are you able to take me back?

[conductingresistance]

[Oh, okay. Now he says it Gnome catches the meaning out of it, whether or not the words actually make sense. Broken in a can't-be-fixed sort of way, but mostly functioning anyway.]

I s'pose I could send you back up, since you brought me something so nice.

[There's a sort of a grin that looks unearthly on his furry face. Gnome tosses the blue stone into the air, admiring it, and catches it again.]

And you're one of mine, and you have manners.

[These are ticked off on his claws, each equally important.]

Where're you aiming?

[simulsimul]

[Alright. Well. At least the gift apparently went over exceedingly well, a fact which Kratos is both surprised and relieved by. If he had to lose his link to home, at least it's to someone who appreciates it. However disturbing the grin.]

I'm. Um. I'm sorry, I still don't know what that means. My family's house-gods are --

[His throat suddenly tightens and Kratos has to swallow, and his tone is a little more husky as he forges onward.]

My family's house-gods were Celsius and Efreet.

[His throat closes entire at the last. This is -- important enough to leave note of just where he's going, for the minute. Kratos has never, as far as he knows, had much connection to Gnome. And he's not sure he can speak again, besides. Can his family even be said to exist anymore? He doesn't know.]

[conductingresistance]

Aw, that's cute.

[Gnome doesn't seem too concerned. After a moment he reaches over and pats Kratos on the head. It's heavier than he means to, he doesn't have a good judge of force and he's very heavy.]

It means, munchkin, that earth mana likes you and you like earth mana. Whatever Celsius and Efreet are up to in their spare time, it's not your mana.

[simulsimul]

[Ow. It does nothing for the whiplash ache in Kratos's spine, that's for sure, but since it's intended to be -- well, extraordinarily condescending, he's just. Not. Going to mention it. To the summon spirit who just laid claim and from whom he wants help. And who -- may have implied something Kratos doesn't particularly want to pursue.]

I -- see. I hadn't -- realised.

[Of course he hasn't. He has no way to tell. But he wonders, now, whether Yuan had known, and never mentioned.]

Uh. I'm aiming at -- Commander Ka-Fai. He's -- of lightning, I imagine.

[Kratos has never seen him spin mana out of anything else. This is all he means to say, but if Gnome can tell the mana affinities of humans, then 'lightning' may not be specific enough.]

And his hair is the same colour as that stone.

[It's not a sticking point if it's a plain description, right?]

[conductingresistance]

Please, I can tell Volt a mile away.

[This is also incredibly condescending. Gnome considers the stone thoughtfully, then tosses it into the air and catches it in his mouth. He's not actually eating it -- he's really just enfolding the essence of the thing into his where he can look at it and lord it over Sylph later -- but it sure is going to look like it.]

Hold on to something, then. Tell your commander you lot are fine or whatever, just don't come visiting. And if you get shoved down here again someone's going to have a problem. Got it?

[simulsimul]

[Kratos tries not to wince at the stone is apparently eaten. Maybe ... it's like candy ... to Gnome? Kratos hopes it isn't. It seems a -- waste of a nice stone, even with how many of them there'd been in the garden. It's the only one he had here.]

I understand.

[As if he can do anything to stop people having a grudge, without proof someone of more authority than either he or Yuan have. But Kratos can tell dismissal; so he braces himself, and reaches back to grip the stone, and takes a breath.]

Thank you. Very much.

[Despite his general state of overwhelm, Kratos is aware that he could well have died there, bare yards from the edge of camp, if Gnome hadn't answered his plea.]

[conductingresistance]

[Gnome flaps a claw as if to wave it off.]

Thank whoever taught you your manners. See you around, munchkin. Just not for a while, mmkay?

[He doesn't wait for an answer. He barely even gestures; then the ground around Kratos forms something of a protective shell -- look he remembered -- and takes off, arrowing up toward the strongest sense of lightning available.]

[And meanwhile, well...]

[At first Yuan doesn't notice. Kratos is not always in his sight, after all; at first he expects it is just a matter of settling people and Kratos seeing to Yuan's things.]

[And then Kratos doesn't turn up.]

[And Kratos doesn't turn up.]

[And Yuan feels something sinking in his gut, somewhere between pained and alarmed, because surely, surely making some apology to the local summon spirit shouldn't take this long. He asks Lieutenant An-Lin; she hasn't seen Kratos in the same span of time. Yuan checks with others: healers, those most commonly on duty in the mess, anyone.]

[No one has seen him and it seems... bad. There's no reason Kratos should have vanished.]

[Tethe'allan territory, something in Yuan murmurs. Tethe'allan territory and caves with passages and what if Kratos has simply gone? He quashes this. No. ... Probably not.]

[At any rate, he's not going to assume Kratos has left when there's a significant chance Kratos may be injured somewhere he cannot get to help. Yuan backtracks to the entrance, looks for anything like tracks; but there have been too many passers-through, and too much wet tracked in with them.]

[By the time the earth starts to move, Yuan is nurturing a low-grade panic carefully under his armor, biting sharp and acidic inside his ribs. Where is Kratos.]

[He has gone to do another sweep of the further-out areas, past the perimeter he has allowed camp, when the earth moves.]

[simulsimul]

[The sphere of stone is appreciated, even though it does little to actually mitigate the speed of the movement. Laying prone against the earth, he hadn't noticed; but now he's sitting up and his back-rest is moving with him, it's jolting and uncomfortable and mercifully not long.

[The sphere erupts from ground and crumbles into soft crust, leaving Kratos gasping and dizzied, and clinging to the rock behind him as if it is anymore stable than himself. It is, once it's actually rooted in ground. Which, apparently, for a summon spirit, is not a foregone thing.]

C- Commander?

[And he is being stared at by the soldiers on watch, because of course he is. At least it isn't actually the middle of camp. Kratos straightens and shakes fragments of crust out of his hair, and peers breathlessly up at Yuan, dusty and wide-eyed, and trembling all unconscious.]

[conductingresistance]

Kratos.

[Damn the fact they're in public. Yuan absolutely can't rush to him, or pat him down for injuries.]

[But he does go over slowly, at least; and he offers his hand down, bending to reach.]

What happened? Are you injured?

[...these are sensible concerns, and reasonable to have about a slave one has no emotional attachment to, aren't they? His usefulness will be compromised if he's injured, after all.]

[This is nothing to do with how all the panic has drained out of Yuan in an instant.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos exhales out as much of his overwhelm as he can, and it does not precisely help against the tremble of shock setting in. After even -- however long -- in Gnome's presence, he feels both too-light and uncontrolled. His hand overshoots Yuan's when he reaches up, so he has to grapple for a hold; and then when he tries to pull himself up he fails, his shoulders and sides reminding him that he'd tumbled quite a ways. Multiple times.]

I -- fell.

[No.]

Someone pushed me into a pit. -- Nothing is broke; just very bruised.

[This last is added on hastily, despite the fact his voice is strained with breathlessness at having to reach. Hopefully, also, his state of frazzle will excuse his forgetting to refer to Yuan with any kind of title.]

[conductingresistance]

Someone pushed--

[Yuan doesn't even notice the lack of title. His brows draw down and his voice has gone thunderous with his frown.]

[He grabs hold of Kratos, leverages a pull upward. Doesn't let go till Kratos is stable on his feet.]

We shall see if there is some healing to be had for you regardless. How did it come to be that you are back?

[He is going to ask, later, in private, if Kratos remembers anything that could point to an identity. But that is best done not immediately in front of other soldiers.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos is not at all stable on his feet. The brace saves that knee from giving in; but the other is exhausted by carrying all his weight, and resisting Gnome's natural gravity. It buckles so that Kratos has to catch himself on Yuan's shoulder, acutely aware of the soldier's watching-not-watching but without the energy to fight the urge to be subservient with Yuan.]

Gnome.

[Kratos's voice is rather dazed.]

He -- accepts your gift, and says that we are welcome to stay until the rain ends, as long as we don't attempt to go deeper. And that -- if I should fall again, 'someone will have a problem'.

[Somehow, Gnome liked him. This is ... only just setting in.]

[conductingresistance]

[...Gnome.]

[Yuan doesn't know what to do with that right now.]

That's... good to know. Your diligence is appreciated.

[Is one rock really worth so much, Yuan wonders. ...He's not going to question the weight of it right now, when it means Kratos is safe.]

Are you going to be able to walk?

[Because if he's going to have to carry Kratos, he's going to need a moment or five to school his face. And to figure out a way to carry Kratos that won't look damnably tender. For the moment Yuan only steadies him.]

[simulsimul]

[An exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Kratos is conscious of the soldiers exchanging wide-eyed looks, conscious of their attention. Can he walk? He doesn't know. He hardly feels present. -- Perhaps that can work for him.

[He takes a step, testingly, and it's not much better than as if he didn't have the brace at all; but he can manage, and sets his jaw stubbornly. No, he will manage. So they can avoid a more awkward situation.]

Yes, Master Ka-Fai.

[Another step, in the general direction of camp, and hoping Yuan will get in front so he knows where he's going.]