The Hawkins Cemetery (10) - Between constant destruction and expansions, Destiny City is always changing–and yet, forgotten by time, something of an old world remains. An old, unfinished, eyesore of a building finally gave way and crumbled, and while the city was clearing debris, they found something strange–an old dirt path that led downwards. An exploration of the area led to an underground cavern, but the greater mystery is that there is an unmarked cemetery underneath Destiny City. An old metal gate marks this as the Hawkins Cemetery, and Destiny City is alive with questions. Articles have popped up online and in the papers, podcasts are aplenty, and even the local news is eagerly asking questions.
The Hawkins Cemetery is not exactly open to the public, but it really isn’t too hard to sneak in. The City is quick to respond to disturbances, but as long as you aren’t making mischief, you’re mostly free to explore. There are no lights leading into the cemetery, or in the cemetery itself, but once you arrive it is impossible to miss the strange glow illuminating the area. Bioluminescent mushrooms grow all around, casting a soft white–and sometimes grey–glow about the room. It’s enough to make your way around, but if you want to see, you should come with your own lighting. There are rows of tombstones and statues, and even a few strange trees. You aren’t alone down here; if you keep to yourself, you’ll find that while this might be a cemetery, there’s still life all around you.
Maybe a particularly historic Destiny City cemetery did not strike most people as an appropriate location for a date with Helene, but if anyone asked Kaifeng, that was because most people were chronically boring.
……Also, technically speaking, Kaifeng had not……per se……billed this patrol as a date outright……when he had asked Helene if he’d wanted to come out tonight and get acquainted with Hawkins Cemetery.…… What Liánlí had said, when asking Helene this thing, was “We can go on patrol together around this really cool place in town, it’s a little bit creepy and strange, but I’m pretty fond of it, and I really hope that Huan-ge will like it too?”
(He had then, shortly thereafter, texted Ming-er to make sure that he and Qi-jie were still having date night this evening—thankfully, they were—so that Liánlí didn’t need to feel guilty about not inviting Ming-er out when……it wasn’t like he wanted to stiff Ming-er or anything? Not when they were actually kind of friends for more than just making Qi-jie’s life easier, now?
But, like. Liánlí had needs, okay? And one of those needs, recently, had become time he could spent with Huan-ge/Helene without also needing to account for other people and needing to, like……not make them feel left out, or like they were third-wheeling for Kaifeng and Helene, or whatever. His little wispy friend didn’t seem to feel that way, floating around amidst all of the bioluminescent mushrooms and assorted pretty things of Hawkins Cemetery, but most people tended not to like third-wheeling.)
……And right at this moment, while Helene was looking at something else, Liánlí’s curiosity pricked up at the sound of……something? Maybe? Sounded like something rustling around elsewhere, nearby.… He did feel another aura besides himself and Helene, but it was another non-Chaotic aura, so Kaifeng hadn’t thought much of it, but……maybe they needed help? There was only the one of them, so far as Kaifeng could feel, and maybe it was one of the teenagers he’d seen running around town before, or another senshi from a different world, like Huan-ge and Fang.
A quick squeeze of Helene’s hand and a whisper to let him know that Kaifeng would be back quickly, and Kaifeng set off in the direction of the rustling. He approached slowly, cautiously. He didn’t know what sort of fellow White Moon Knight-or-Senshi he was going to find, nor what condition they’d be in when he got there, and the last thing Kaifeng wanted to do was scare them or make them feel threatened.
genovianprince_
Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2023 12:15 am
Stribor didn't know where he was.
He'd woken up to a dead planet. The last thing he knew was smoke and fire. The civil war raged on despite the Chaos infecting the planet, and everything went to s**t so fast...
He thought he'd died. But he hadn't. He woke up to a dead planet. To a song in his starseed and a star in the sky that called to him with it. He followed it. Off his planet, away from everything he'd ever known. Trusted it.
Now... he didn't know where he was. What he did know was that a Squire was approaching, and he sat up, ears twitching to the sounds.
"Hello," he called out, peering into the darkness illuminated by the bioluminescent mushrooms. It was gorgeous down here, and he was grateful for the pretty mushrooms lighting the space. It wasn't exactly just like daytime in here or anything, but it was enough for his poor night vision to perceive things well.
Thankfully, whoever was on the other side of Kaifeng’s search called out to him, making it that much easier to find them. Tiptoeing carefully around the glowing mushrooms that helped make Hawkins Cemetery so lovely, he still tried to move quickly. As he got closer—before even looking to see whether he was dealing with a free-range teenager, or a new senshi who wasn’t even from ‘round here, or someone else entirely—he tossed the New Friend a bright smile and a friendly wave. “Hi, there! Kaifeng of Saturn, at your service.”
As he finally got close enough to see whom he was greeting, the answer on the “who?” part became clear: definitely another off-world senshi like Helene and Fang, then. Sitting down on the ground, the senshi looked pretty young. Probably not entirely innocent—just because whoever they were, they would’ve had to survive so much turmoil and trauma before making it to Earth in the first place—but they had a sweet, round face, green eyes full of unspeakable gentleness, and—the most obvious tells that they weren’t from around here—rabbit ears and little furry peets.
“You’ve come a long way to get here, haven’t you,” Kaifeng said gently, crouching down to get closer to the new alien senshi’s level. Towering over the poor bun made him feel……sort of cruel, even if he wasn’t really doing anything harsh. “Are you hungry? Thirsty, maybe?”
He didn’t have too much in his subspace, since Liánlí and Huanxi had had dinner together before coming out, but Kaifeng did have water and some snacks. And, if need be, he could leave this new, friend-shaped alien senshi with Helene, power down, and go pick up some takeout for the poor little bun.
genovianprince
Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2023 12:43 am
Stribor looked the Squire over, noting the colors and symbols—aha, a knight of Saturn, then. From what he knew, most of them were gentle in how they handled the dead and everything. He liked that. Perhaps he shouldn't trust so easily, but this Squire's deep well of gentleness in his tone, in the way he approached Stribor, all of it—well, it made it very easy to just trust him.
At the question, he twitched a bit, assessing himself—he hadn't really thought about anything after waking up, other than following the call in his starseed. Now that it had been mentioned to him, however...
"Starving, actually," he said, with a little smile. "I've been asleep for a long time. Water would be great, too. Thank you so much, Squire of Saturn. I am Stribor, Senshi of Gentleness."
Listening attentively, Kaifeng nodded (partly because everything Stribor had to say made sense and sounded very expected, and partly to let Stribor know that Kaifeng was listening), then reached into his subspace. He grabbed up the water first, one of the metal bottles that he regularly refilled and chilled in the fridge before coming out. Once he had the top twisted off, he handed it over with a small smile (one that he hoped seemed kind).
“It’s probably been about a thousand years, yeah,” he said, keeping his tone solemn, because this was very serious and would likely be a lot for poor Stribor, who was already on a whole new planet and everything. “You’re on Earth now, by the way.… Destiny City, Virginia.… And I don’t know if it helps or not? But there are other senshi like you in town, too. A lot of them—and a lot of us Knights—we’ve all been reincarnated from whoever we were before? But then there are senshi in town like you, who’ve all come a long way and been through so much.… Two of my friends, the senshi of progress and the senshi of chrysocyon? They’re like that. And my zhiyin—he’s the senshi of inhibition, he’ll be the other aura you’re feeling right now—but he’s come a long way to get here, too. Plus, there are more who I know of but haven’t actually met yet.”
A quick hum as Kaifeng considered the snack options he had……but ultimately, he decided it was better to ask: “I don’t have anything that’s really good for a meal in my subspace, more so snacks that can tide you over until we can get you something more substantial, but……do you have any allergies, or cultural things about food, or other things you can’t eat? I don’t wanna give you a snack that’s gonna make you sick, y’know?”
genovianprince
Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2023 1:11 am
A thousand years? Gods. He knew it had been quite a while. It had to have been, for his planet to be so thoroughly dead. Not even Chaos worked so quickly, or so he'd thought. But to hear it... a whole thousand years... His heart clenched.
He already knew everyone he'd ever known was long dead, but it was quite another to truly hear it from someone else's lips.
"Thank you," he said quietly as the water was handed over, taking small sips. It was too cold for his tastes, hurt his teeth, but it was still hydrating. Slowly but surely.
Senshi of progress and chrysocyon... He couldn't say he'd heard of them. Probably didn't know them. But that was fine, he could make many new friends here, it seemed. Who'd been through the same sort of wringer he had, waking up after a thousand years to destruction and Chaos, only to land themselves...
on Earth, of all places. His heart lurched with excitement—truly, Earth? Sure, after a thousand years, life was probably quite different here, as well, but it seemed like plenty of people were living here.
The question made him blink, ears folding back as he considered this.
"Well, I can't stomach red meat, but I don't... I wasn't allergic to anything that grew on my planet, to my knowledge, and I had plenty of exotic, imported food that didn't make me sick."
Oh, no, Stribor’s ears folding back like that was possibly the cutest thing that Kaifeng had seen since waking up next to Huanxi this morning……or pretty much everything else with Huanxi’s face and general person.…… Well, Kaifeng could pick a specific reference point later, if it became important. The crucial aspect of things, at the moment, was that Stribor’s ears were incredibly cute, doing the folded back thing like they did.
Still, Kaifeng had promised snacks, and since none of the ones in Kaifeng’s subspace contained any kind of meat, he didn’t need to worry.… He considered the options for a moment, and ultimately settled on a little container of strawberries. “These are fresh,” he promised, cracking the container open and handing it over so Stribor could enjoy. “There’s a farmer’s market around here where I get most of my produce, they always have the best stuff. Most Terrans aren’t used to seeing people other than humans, so we’ll have to talk to a Mauvian about getting you a glamour charm and a phone? But once we do that, I can take you there. And, uh……”
They’d need to talk to Huan-ge, make sure he was okay with the idea that wandered into Kaifeng’s head. But he tried so hard to do good in the universe, Kaifeng couldn’t imagine that Helene would be opposed to the idea. “You’ll need a place to stay, right? Because there are a bunch of spare rooms at my and Helene’s place.… Could be a home for you too, if you wanted?”
genovianprince
Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2023 1:46 am
Stribor's ears perked right back up at the sight of strawberries. He made an awed sound and took the container gently.
"Thank you," he said, pulling one out to pop in his mouth. "We had something similar on Stribor; they were one of my favorites."
He tilted his head at the offer, considering it. Well, Kaifeng seemed honest. "I will need a place, yes. Thank you again. I will figure out how to repay you in time," he said formally.
