Welcome to Gaia! ::

This rp almost had the corniest title ever XDD ... so i shall leave the title to you

Xander nodded and allowed himself to be pulled along, a smile blossoming on his face when Orah presented her idea. He had to admit, getting to see Ida was much better than a carriage ride around the park and much safer too. “I would love to see your planet,” he said as they made their way into the empty lot.

He watched as Ida powered up and mused at the process. It was very different from becoming a knight which was more a flashing, then bam your clothes were changed and you were magical. He would never cease to be amazed by it, even though he’d seen the transformation before, maybe not Ida, but he’d seen it.

Xander took a moment to focus, slipping into his alter ego, as easily as taking a breath. “I’m ready,” he said before taking Ida’s hand once more. He looked curiously as she summoned her phone, despite having a sister who was a senshi, he’d never been anywhere but Shangri-La and never seen a senshi travel to space.

It was exciting to feel his hand close around hers, but Ida pushed down the flutter as she lifted her phone instead, focusing on the warmth in her chest and the flow of power from it to… somewhere else. Her thumb pushed down on the phone she held and soon their surroundings faded away, changing to a different place.

Instead of an empty lot and concrete under their feet, the sounds of the city around them… grass brushed against their hips and rough ground could be felt under their shoes. Above them stretched a dark sky so filled with stars it was as though no pollution had ever touched this atmosphere. No lights below dimmed their glow and Ida took a deep, clean breath of air. A smile spread over her face as she glanced around, a little startled to see her planet at night, for once. Most of the time, her visits were during the day… Looking down, she blinked at the soft, almost unnoticed glow at their feet.

“Welcome to Ida.” She said as she glanced up again, giving his hand a squeeze before she reluctantly let go. A shift of her feet and the glow suddenly brightened, making the senshi blink again in curiosity. Were those… flowers, that were glowing? “I never noticed that before…” The comment was more to herself than him, said mostly under her breath. She swung her foot, noting how the flowers she brushed sprang up in a brighter glow.

Shang was standing in a lot and then he was feel grass and as he looked up he gasped at all the stars that littered the sky. It was a sight he didn’t often get to see, not in Destiny City anyway. On vacation, yes, when he lived in England sure, but not the bright city of destiny. He could feel tall grasses, and as he shifted he heard the gentle sound of grass brushing against fabric.

He looked to Ida as she spoke and gave a soft laugh, “The sky is beautiful. I don’t think there is a person alive that doesn’t love to see the night sky alight with stars.” When she said she hadn’t noticed something before he looked down to see what she was talking about. There was a glow, that only added to the beauty of the world. He reached down wanting to touch the glowing flower’s, but careful not to accidentally break or crush one.

“Is it like a path,” he asked very curious, after all he didn’t know what the limits where to planets, asteroids, comets and what not that made a home in space. As far as he knew the sky hadn’t been a limitation for a long time and he doubted it was for these once, likely, thriving worlds.

Reaching, the young senshi picked one of the flowers and noted how the glow died as soon as the stem was separated. She turned it over in her hand, twirling it between her fingers as a memory teased.

“A path…” Ida murmured in surprise, glancing around them. These flowers had no organization to them… they might as well have been wild for all the hand of man they showed. But… she remembered seeing them in graceful, curving lines… following a packed dirt path… other paths paved with smooth stones… and as you walked by the flowers glowed brighter as though sensing your presence and dimming as you moved on.

“Yeah, actually. These… these used to be planted along the paths here, for light at night.” Ida rose to her feet again as she held the flower loosely in her fingers, looking about them at the Idan night. So quiet… the sounds of the city was far away from them now, a whole world away. Nothing stirred here save the wind in the grass and the rattle of dead branches in the distance. “They were always used, as far as I can remember… research said it was an evolutionary trait, to alert predators to herbivores that were grazing on them. It was easy to suit them to our purposes.”

It was weird to call it ‘ours’ like it was something she had been apart of… but she had, in a way. In another life. There were a lot of vague memories like that that she got when she was here, exploring the world she used to know more intimately. More concrete memories were farther between, things like people she had known or things she had done. They were like precious jewels, those memories. Rare and special.

“If you want to see the buildings, they’re back that way.” She said as she waved her hand behind them, towards the shapes that loomed in the darkness. When she came here, she always landed in the field before the tree city… the sweeping view of the meadows was always the first thing she saw, rather than the saddening, petrified trees. “I can give you a tour, or we can just wander around. I’ve spent a lot of time inside the buildings up here, but not as much further... I don’t know how far it goes, or what else is out there.”

Shang watched as Ida picked a flower and ceased glowing, the flower he’d brushed lightly with his own hands would not meet the same fate. His curiosity grew as Ida started to speak, he knew that senshi were reincarnated and would see things, remember things on their worlds, but it was strange to see it, to hear her speak, almost as if now was then.

He stared at the flowers momentarily and wondered if there was anything like them on earth. “That’s quite a trait to develop,” he murmured, “wonderful for night time, but I can’t help but wonder how useful it was for the flowers in the morning light.”

Shang straightened up looking to Ida, “is it strange? To remember that is? To have memories that aren’t really yours,” he asked turning and giving a soft smile as the flower lit in response.

When Ida mentioned the city, he looked behind him seeing the buildings, or what he assumed as the building in the distance. Her offer for a tour sounding tempting, he felt it would be interesting to learning more about Ida’s planet that way, but when it was noted that Ida had more to explore, something that didn’t surprise him, he shook his head. “Why don’t we go explore somewhere you’ve never been before? If there is more to explore that we should, maybe I could come back some day and we could back track, but for now …”

A soft blush grew in Ida’s cheeks as he mentioned exploring instead. It felt nice, though she wasn’t sure why it made her feel so shy.

“Okay, well, we go this way then.” She said as she waved a hand between the trees. She led the way at a comfortable pace, letting him walk beside her if he wanted to. With no path in the meadow, it was easy to walk side by side… and they were here to be together, right? As friends, of course. “I’ve looked through most of the buildings around the edge… so deeper in is the unexplored areas…”

Their feet found a path eventually, small smooth stones under their feet. It was over grown at the edges, but traces of flowers remained, mixed into the grass. The path itself was wide, big enough for them to walk together comfortably, and it curved organically, sweeping back and forth and between the buildings. Everything here was curved… rarely was there a straight line to break the gaze. Paths curved up the side of enormous trees, wood railings curved up into arches over it. It was like some fairy tale city of the elves, though the only light was the stars overhead and the flowers at their feet.

The gentle light was soothing though and the longer they walked, the more peace Ida felt. It was like warmth that came up through the very soil, seeping into her legs and rising up through her. It was something she had noticed before, but most times was too busy snooping around to pay much attention to. This quiet wandering gave her time to think, though most of her thoughts were circling around the man at her side… wondering what he thought about Ida, what he was thinking now… She didn’t prompt conversation, glad for a simple, comfortable silence. It was companionable… nice.

The path they walked led them towards what could be called the center of the city… the paths they could see around them converging towards the same point like the spokes of a wheel. The focal point of the court they wandered into was another tree, which wasn’t surprising, but the sight of it stopped Ida in her tracks and for a long time she looked at it in wonder. The tree was obviously old… and in her mind something whispered it had been old even then. It wasn’t as tall as the buildings around them, but what it lacked in size it made up in fantastical curved lines, as though the branches had been trained to curl the way they did, sweeping around in an artful tangle of once-living wood.

“Its… I don’t know… its so old. It was the center of this whole city and it was very special to the people here.” She said, finally breaking the silence between them. Ida stepped closer, letting Shang follow as he pleased. There was some evidence of things having once been tied into the branches, or hanging from them, but after centuries most of the items had fallen and rotted away, leaving only scraps of whatever held them around the old, twisting branches. “Sacred, maybe.”

Shang had no qualms with the silence himself. He allowed Ida to lead the way, though he was walking beside her, through the grass and once they reached the path. Stepping on the stone, he paused momentarily, as though something had caught his attention, but he moved on with Ida. All the curves intrigued him and he wondered about the design, if it was done in a way to accomplish something or if it was just aesthetics. As they walked his eyes were drawn to the path, which wove up and around trees. He was curious wanting to stop Ida as ask questions, but when he looked at her, he just smiled.

She looked peaceful, at ease, in her element so to speak. Beautiful, though, he kept that thought to himself. Shang knew that peace, he experienced it himself, standing on the grand bridge on his wonder that connected the canyon. He turned looking back to the building, musing to himself, as he tried to picture the city filled with life and laughter.

As they were coming to the center, he could help but to notice other paths, lead their as well. Ida seemed to be a rounded city in a manner of speaking, though, he didn’t ask preferring to stay quiet as they stopped at the most interesting tree he had ever seen. The branches simply curled in a way that Shang thought was much like the rest of the city. It was like a dance, fluid and moving, with its curves. Almost like a rhythm, he thought, a dance that didn’t stop, not truly.

“A sacred tree, like for worship? Like a deity or more being important, like serving a purpose,” he said having hung back as she moved forward, but now moving forward himself. He pointed up into the branches before speaking again, “I wonder what was up there. Do you know,” he asked lightly, “or is it a mystery? One maybe worth finding out.”

“Wishes.” Ida said softly as she studied the barren branches. “Gifts of gratitude. Things like that. We didn’t… They didn’t worship the tree. It was just a symbol, a connection to the planet. Like putting up a statue, maybe, but it was alive, living. Grew the way the people did, changed over time.”

She remembered… tying things to the branches with ribbon. Bright colors holding small trinkets, like pendants, coins, rings… sometimes even rolls of paper with poetry on them. More when she was young, fewer as she got older. Even less once she became Sailor Ida, the guardian and protector of the planet. Sometimes… they weren’t even her trinkets. Some people asked her to tie the wishes to the tree for them, like she might be some kind of extra good luck charm. It had always seemed silly to her, but she had always done it, for their sakes.

“It used to flower all the time… little white flowers mixed into silver leaves. It was so pretty.” She murmured as she clasped her hands in front of her, looking up, but lost in memory. Some small bit of that lost grandeur remained… the wood silver like it had been, but darker. “On holidays, there would be a party here. Lots of music and food. It was… always gentle though, not as rowdy as some parties on Earth get. I remember that.”

Ida wondered why that was, in the back of her mind. She could remember a lot of people sitting, looking tired but happy.

Shang nodded looking at the tree wishing he could have seen it, with all the little trinkets attached. The wishes of the people of Ida, it must have been grand. It reminded him what were called a Love Lock bridge, though it wasn’t always a bridge that was use. “I’ve seen something, not totally the same, but sentimentally the same in Paris, where people lock a padlock to a chain length on a bridge. Its done in many places, in different form so to speak, but the sentiment. The sentiment, I don’t think that changes.”

Ida seemed to get a little lost to the memories, but that didn’t bother Shang. It made him a little wistful though wishing he could remember such things about Shangri-La, but knowing it wouldn’t happen. “Maybe some day you will come here and there will be flowers. You never know just what could happen right? Like the paths’ glowing flowers.”

Shang stepped forward wishing he had a ribbon to give to Ida, but he didn’t have any, just thread, but he wondered if that would be okay. He reaching into the pouch that sat on the side of his belt, pulling out the string, before looking at it for a moment wondering what to put on the string. He pouch was filled with medical supplies and how strange would that be to tie to a tree. He frowned before remembering the chain attached to the other side of his belt that had pluto symbols hanging from it and a small, what he assumed was Jade, rod hanging from it (an ornament of sorts, he supposed). He plucked the rod and a symbol and attached them to the string before tapping Ida on the shoulder and holding them it out to her.

“You should make a wish,” he said with a smile.

It was hard, for a moment, to draw herself out of the past. For a little while, there was more light, more sounds… it was almost more real than standing here with him, until his voice penetrated the haze and pulled her back. Ida blinked large brown eyes as she refocused, the world darkening to the gentle Idan night. She had heard of similar customs on Earth too and she wondered at the connection. Different people having the same idea, or a connection between worlds?

She watched as he began to put something together, realizing quickly what he meant to do with it. A smile curved over her face as she glanced around and bent down to start picking flowers. She’d done this so much as a child… muscles remembered the motions, the tucking and twisting required. When Shang held out his trinket, she took it from him a little shyly, her face heating as their fingers brushed. The chain she had woven she wrapped around his, letting the rod hang at the bottom of it. It was hard to tell in the darkness what color the flowers were when they weren’t glowing, but she suspected blue… it would look nice next to the bronze of his chain.

“A wish…” Ida murmured as she approached the tree’s sweeping branches. Most were out of reach of the girl, but some hung low enough that if she lifted up on her toes, she could just reach them. “I wish… for the well being and happiness of the people I care about.” She tied the charm to the branch as she spoke, her fingers deft, as though she had done this uncountable times before. There was even a special knot that she could just quite remember… “For safety, health… and to see this planet healed someday. To see flowers on the branches.”

She felt… such an upwelling of emotion as she spoke, a lump rising in her throat as her eyes heated. It felt… so sad, but hopeful at the same time. Like planting seeds after a fire. This place needed healing, but maybe it was they who needed it more. It wasn’t something she had intended to think about here, but there it was. She sighed as she dropped onto her heels again and came back to stand by Shang, impulsively reaching to slide her hand into his and twine their fingers. It felt right to do now, as some of the stress of life sort of… sank away, bleeding into the ground, the sky, even the shadows. Shadows that held no fear for her, no monsters.



“Thanks for coming here.” She said softly, her eyes on the tree and not on him. Her face heated and she was entirely sure she couldn’t look at him right now without making a complete fool of herself. “Its nice to share it.”

Shang looked at the woven chain of flowers and appreciated the subtle beauty of nature and mans’ or magics’ (he wasn’t really sure) craftsmanship coming together in that way. It was nice, symbolic in a way. As Ida tied the newly created trinket and made her wish Shang felt a bit of pride, at the moment. The wish was genuine and pure and it helped to foster the moment. He honestly hadn’t expected the evening to go so perfectly, he had been certain, he might mess it up somehow before the night had even come around.

“I could not have thought of a better wish,” he said as Ida returned to his side and slipped her hand into his. He looked at her briefly squeezing her small hand gently before looking back to the tree and going quiet. For once it wasn’t hard to just stand there and enjoy himself, without worries, without thought.

Ida thanked him, but he shook his head not realizing she wasn’t looking at it. “I should be thanking you for sharing it with me. I hope one day I can return the favor”, not that it was a favor, but he was sure Ida understood what he meant. She was right, it was nice to share, and this, this thing they could do as a senshi and a knight. Traveling to space, exploring another world, was special and he thought while it should be cherished, it should definitely be shared.

He was content to stand there, quiet under the stars, in front of the tree, but after a bit of time went by he gave Ida’s hand another gentle squeeze, though he made no effort to release it, “Do you want to explore a little more, or do you think we ought to head back?”

He didn’t want to leave, not really, but his concept of time got a little thrown off when he visited Shang and he wondered if it was the same for Ida.

Her hand tightened around his as he mentioned leaving and she knew, logically, that this couldn’t last forever, no matter how peaceful and perfect it was. It didn’t make her want it any more, knowing that, so she put off the decision, stepping closer just so she could share his space. He made her feel so comfortable, he always had, and she valued that more than just about anything. It was like how her father made her feel, or had when she was younger… but this feeling was very different too. There was no comparing him to Art, ever.

“I just want to stay for a little bit longer.” She said softly, feeling warm. “We can leave in a little bit.”

She would have to bring him back, sometime. He seemed to enjoy it, and she know she did. Real life would wait for a little bit.