Three Hots and a Cot [Open]

[Jin]

Th-th-thunk-thunk!

The firmly tied bundles of firewood hit the ground with dull thuds, and Jin raised a freed hand to wipe the sweat from his brow.

It had been weeks since he'd arrived in Twilight Town, and as far as he could tell no one knew anything about a way to get out of the ruined city. They'd all just sort of curled up into balls of dejection and survival instincts. Right now, everyone was surviving off what they could loot from the ruins of stores and houses. Thankfully, the shopkeepers that had managed to get their hands on water materia were happy to sell their services until the funds could be built up to procure the useful trinkets for one's self, but food and other supplies were different stories.

Twilight Town had no farmland, and it seemed like all trade that came into the town had shut itself off. That baffled the orange haired boy. Even back on Tamnia, forests had always had a source of food somewhere nearby and the ever-turning machine of industry always seemed to be stocked with nourishment. That wasn't the case here. Instead, he'd struggled to even find foods that could be harvested for seeds to grow.

That still didn't answer the question of whether or not food could be grown in the Nightfall, but it was best to not think about the worst case scenarios until they happened.

So, along with a few larger pieces meant for rebuilding the ruins, Jin had gathered an abundant collection of wood in all shapes and sizes from the forests that separated the town proper from the mansion nearby. Maybe a little more searching in the outskirts would yield a more promising, long-term source of food, but for right now it seemed that the few dozen remaining residents in the town would be depending on their own ingenuity when it came to growing food.

And making fire, for that matter. There was already a crowd of people asking about what Jin wanted for the wood, and the answer was the same regardless of the type being inquired about.

"I'll take whatever you got so long as it's got a seed. Grain, corn, apples, carrots, whatever.

The firewood went fast, as it usually did. People cared a lot more about staying warm than they did holding onto a half-rotten piece of fruit. It was the larger pieces meant to make up the frames of houses that wasn't doing so well. Jin had hauled in pieces that weighed hundreds of pounds each, and they were meant to be hacked up and refined in order to build replacements for ruined shelters that had been damaged by the Heartless or had otherwise broken down.

He should have figured that contracting and construction weren't going to be high on anyone's list of priorities, but honestly he was more concerned about clearing out land for growing crops as quickly as he could.

The barrel he'd managed to get a hold of was quickly filling up with apple cores, rotten tomatoes, bags of peanuts, and all sorts of produce that could be turned around and grown again. Jin nodded. This was a good first step.

Now it was just a matter of figuring out what these things needed to grow.

[Marmadue]

They were doomed, weren't they?

No, it was better to not think such thoughts. Marmadue had managed to keep his spirits high and stay optimistic this long, despite their grave situation. Of course, the situation had changed and turned even graver, so perhaps an adjustment in one's behavior was warranted. Still, giving into despair felt like it would be the end, the part where he finally gave up and lost his hope. Everything just… Would have been in vain. After all, they had a plan. Whether or not it was going to work was a different story. But they were just… Going to try, he supposed. Despair could wait until then. If they failed…

The Yuke was quite distant as he slowly made his way down the street towards his current home, deep in his thoughts. The sounds and sights went unnoticed by him, until he happened to accidentally brush against a person, apologizing on the spot. There… Actually was quite the gathering of people, he noticed. Just like how he noticed the piles of firewood being carried away. It wasn't something he needed right now, so Marmadue was about to continue his journey.

Until, at least he saw a rather familiar shade of orange peek from between the people, something that made him take a second look. Slowly inching his way closer while being careful about not bumping into someone this time, it indeed was the same man. They had met temporarily, for a short while… Before there had been quite a hasty departure that hadn't exactly left anyone content. Perhaps that was what attracted the Yuke to the man, the need for closure.

"Ah, Mister… Jin, was it? Do you… Have a moment?" Marmadue spoke up carefully as he approached, though his tall stature had made his approach quite obvious to anyone who had been looking up, towering above most people – even the taller males.

[Jin]

The group of people that had gathered around the orange haired man were currently occupied digging through their rucksacks in an attempt to find something fitting Jin's description to trade to him or shaping the wood they'd already gotten up into more manageable pieces. There had to be nearly two dozen of them, but that wasn't very surprising. People needed firewood and they were much more likely to trade for it than they were to go out and gather it for themselves. They either lacked the tools or the resolve and saw trading over a measly piece of food as a much preferable deal.

Still, not everyone seemed to be interested in trading. A familiar helmet peaked over the top of the group, and the bird from earlier worked his way through the crowd before trying to grab his attention.

And of course the aura he gave off was one of the easiest things in the world to read. There was that melancholy mix of reluctance and regret mixed in with some curiousity and a dash of hope that just screamed the tall, lanky character wanted to make up or something.

He didn't even have a hand in the issues between Jin and Max to start with, so why try to get wrapped up in it now?

"Look, unless you're looking for some wood we've got nothing to talk about," the man leveled, not even sparing a glance in the direction of who he was addressing. "I don't need anyone coming in and playing mediator in an argument they have no place in. Your time's better spent getting ready for that thing to show its ugly mug around here again.

That was the problem with these touchy-feely types. They always wanted to maintain a status quo or keep the peace. How was that conductive to anything. Change - positive or otherwise - often required conflict. It was one of the simplest facts of life. People who didn't understand that either wound up as tyrants or hermits. There was no in-between.

Not as far as Jin had seen, at least.

[Marmadue]

It wasn't like Marmadue had expected a warm welcome. This Jin person hardly seemed the type to open him with open arms. Indeed, he wasn't even given a look before he was basically told to leave.
"Ah, please, j-just a moment," he stuttered, perhaps not entirely ready for this. The Yuke wasn't confrontational enough to really force his presence on others, and surely, if he was told off harshly enough… He would go. He knew that himself. That was why he had to act quick, if he wanted anything done.

"I… I know. That isn't why I ah, would like to talk to you," Marmadue could, at the very least, try to defuse the situation just a bit as he awkwardly rubbed his arm,
"I'm… Not involved and I do not have enough information. You two are adults perfectly capable of making your own choices and ah, handling your differences," at least he assumed the two were adults according to their species. That was just more information he was lacking, unfortunately.

But ah, he was rambling now, wasn't he? Getting completely sidetracked. The Yuke perked up, his straying gaze flicking back to Jin and his arm returning to his side, making him look a bit more attentive this time.
"I would just like to hear your reasoning," Marmadue requested. It was good to hear both sides properly – without the insults. Maxwell said things he had never even heard about, yet he didn't think the man was lying. A plan that could save them all… No matter how shaky, if it was the best – or only – option, it felt wrong to not take it.

So, why didn't Jin take it? Was there something he knew the others didn't?

[Jin]

Even without a spine to speak of, the bird in front of Jin could sure as hell be persistent.

Why hadn't he taken some long shot, far and away plan headed by the guy that up until suggesting it hadn't seemed to give a damn about anyone in the group but himself? Especially when there was no guarantee that they'd even be able to find a keyhole in the first place, let alone seal one?

Gee. He wondered why.

"Let me explain a couple of things to you about where I'm from," Jin started, still not making eye contact with Marmadue and instead opting to keep an eye on the dispersing crowd, giving someone with particularly beady eyes a glare and allowing a free hand to motion closer to the swords he'd laid at his side.

There was always someone who didn't think trading was a fair deal and didn't have the ability to gather for themselves.

"Tamnia's not the nicest place on Earth. One central continent and no other land out there as far as we know. That's a lot of people crammed into not a lot of space. Tensions have a way of rising whether you want them to or not."

It was true. War had been part of Tamnia since its inception - whenever that was. Hell, his family had made a profit off the back of conflict after conflict in the past. It had been a way of life for them. The metal that was used to make the swords he took into every fight was the same material that had won and lost wars for factions across historical Tamnia for centuries.

"And when tensions rise, eventually borders stop meaning anything. Same principle applies here. It doesn't matter what kind of barrier we put up. If that thing wants in bad enough, it'll find a way. The best thing we can do is get ready to kill it when it rears its ugly head."

The last of the firewood had been taken away, and Jin had a barrel of food to haul away at some point. There was still work to do out in the forest if any semblance of a long-term food source was going to get set up anytime soon.

"Besides, if that keyhole thing was supposed to keep the Heartless out for good, it would have already been sealed in a way that can't be undone. Since it's not, there's no point in relying on it. Our time's better spent preparing for the coming battle."

"Besides. The asshole thinks it's a good idea to bring kids into the fight. Like I said: War ain't a place for kids. With a stance like that, it's only common sense to not go along with whatever his messed up head is cooking."

[Marmadue]

Marmadue nodded, perfectly willing to listen to the man's story – after all, he was the one who had asked for Jin to speak in the first place. While Jin did not make eye any contact, Marmadue wouldn't have found it particularly upsetting… Though the way the man's hand moved slightly towards the sword by his side was what made him nervous, making his gaze shift from side to side as he scanned their surroundings. Surely it wasn't him Jin wanted to strike down…

But he listened. He nodded. He understood. He knew. Well, it wasn't like he had been alive during any wars himself, but they had been there in his world's past, and perhaps they would have been there in the future. They… Had other things to worry about, at the present. But could a creature like what was going to attack the town be compared to warring tribes?

"Do you… Think that is possible? Killing that kind of a creature…?" Marmadue tilted his head as he looked at Jin, his voice hardly as certain. They had been warned about it. It seemed like a beast of immense power, one that had already destroyed… He could still see it, feel it. A world even more ruined than Twilight Town. A world that truly seemed dead. It just didn't seem like normal weapons could kill something like that. What if it was unkillable? Was a plan that only tried to kill it the only plan that should have been made?

"I… Do not know anything of this 'keyhole'. It seems that ah, we are in the same position when it comes to that knowledge," the Yuke rubbed his arm once again as he continued, glancing down at the tips of his shoes. Jin's words had confirmed as much, neither of them really seemed to know anything about the part the keyholes played. Maxwell had been the first one to mention a keyhole in this whole thing and made it a part of the plan. He did seem like the one that knew the most, at this point. Marmadue looked up.
"…That is why I find it difficult to come to the conclusion you have, good sir. Without further information, I cannot deem it hopeless. What if there is a reason for it to not have been sealed before? Is it too difficult to find? Is the issue not finding the ah, key like the young miss was carrying? Perhaps the answer to the question about why the keyhole has not been sealed is not because it is useless. Perhaps the ah, key elements have been missing from the equation, until now."

The Yuke shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
"I ah, do not think anyone here thinks it is good to bring children into battle, either…"

[Kali]

Grumpy cat is grumpy

It was bad enough that she had woken that day to the sound of life extinguished, and trees toppling. Her home in the forest was dark, secluded, and most importantly, private. But what bugged her more than the interruption was the quantity. Further investigation showed a thick swath of tree stumps, and her ears pinned back. There was no point for senseless tree cutting as such, any house repaired would fall shortly. These fools didn't understand what they were doing. So she opted to take the route of investigation instead, bringing her to the sight of a man with orange hair selling wood. She had seen him around before, a warrior, but something about him always sounded off in the typical whispers of life. Still, she watched him as another creature approached, speaking to her. Her ears perked underneath her hood, and she listened. Jin. He was gathering resources to fight and survive, but the way he did it struck a nerve in her. He was arrogant, and set in his ways. With the crowd dispersing, she approached, hood hiding her eyes as she approached. It was best to hide the emotions in one's eyes when hiding it in your voice, as well. "You think taking life from an already dying world to give people mere fire is a smart idea? You violate the forest I call home for simple seeds and rotted fruit? For as wise as you seem to act, you think with the logic of an immature child." She had passed the two, pawed hand resting on the barrel. She looked inside it, picking out an apple core, and scoffed, tossing it back in. He didn't understand. He couldn't hear. The world cried in pain enough, and to her, he made it worse. The core was discarded back into the barrel, and she shook her head, brushing her hood back. Green eyes locked onto Jin when she turned, determined and sharp, unlike those other souls filled with dread and acceptance. "I am c'Kali Rhaja, protector of the spirits of worlds. This world cried out in pain because of you, and I am here for you to right your wrong. You come seeking food to grow, but none will be grown in the time of battle if you work alone. Most of this you couldn't coax back to life if you tried." She fished out another piece of food, a half-rotted tomato, and dug a hole nearby next to the remains of a house. Tossing the tomato in, she covered it, then placed her hand flat on the ground, shimmering green. When it lifted, one could see a small sprout poking from the ground. She faced the two yet again. "You speak of war as if you can protect everybody. You may know war, but not this kind of war. A thriving world will return its share in kind, but killing more of nature only takes away from what it can offer. I can grow, but not if you eliminate the source of nature's energy. If you wish my help, you will have enough food for warriors at least, and everyone at best, within the week. I can't do it alone, but I could teach. I have traveled the worlds enough to see these blights before, and I can assure you, working with others free of conflict is the best chance for survival." She paused, then spoke up. "And perhaps those are words to take to heart with whoever it is you have strife with. Children should not be on the battlefield, no, but they have other uses. Make amends, or don't. I have seen you fight before, and you are more than capable, but you cannot lead in this world as if it were your own. Right now, life on this planet must rely on each other. We have no room for strife. Those who are stubborn are not long for life."

@the edge and the helmet man

notes: salty, then helpful

mood: :3c

template by BEAR♔

[Jin]

Hopeful sentiment, clinging desperation to avoid conflict, and unceasing naivete.

Had there ever been a time he'd imagined something could be undying? If there was, it was long in the past and had been before his perception of life and death had kicked in. There had been battles he'd thought unwinnable and challenges he'd thought insurmountable, but they'd all yielded to him in time. All but two, at least. Levi and the threat he presented to the world was one, and fnding a solution that didn't involve murdering his brother was proving to be the challenging part. The other seemed to be saving Tamnia from itself, given how prone the world had been to conflict. In no more than a quarter of a century, one war had been waged and another was about to start over the same issue.

Death was absolute to all but the basest forces of nature. Of that much, Jin was certain.

But of course, before Jin had time to point this out to the helmeted figure and before he had a chance to explain how the keyblade and keyhole must have been old enough for this strategy to have been tried before - the fact that one as young as Xion had one in her possession and that Maxwell had seemed so positive that it would work seemed to all but confirm this - they were interrupted in much the same way he had been at the start of all this.

The girl was robed, hiding her more animalistic features from the untrained eye or the unaware passerby beneath the cloak, but she carried herself with a certainty and an aura that betrayed the notion she did it to avoid discrimination. She was confident in her ideals, and seemed to take offense with the actions he'd taken. She did not know him well, though she claimed that his violation of her home was something that would garner him no favors from nature.

He'd met with her ilk before. Not in appearance, but in stance. The Gifted with particularly close connections to nature - closer than his own, at least. While he simply felt the thrum of life in places rich in the energy, they held connections to every plant, animal, and person on a level his own empathy simply wasn't congruous with. While he was geared more towards the sensation of presences and emotions, they had gone so far as to feel what the flora and fauna around them felt to some degree. The effects this had on mindsets were palpable, but not anything too out of line.

"For someone with your skill set, you seem to have developed quite the case of tunnel vision," he said calmly, turning his attention from the Yuke to the girl.

"Life is a never ending process of development and consumption, cultivation and loss. The plants take their food from the soil and the sun, the animals take their nutrients from the plants and, of course, the animals. And, in time, the soil takes its nutrients from the people and plants. But the problem you seem to have is that I've caused pain, yeah?"

Jin sighed. He always seemed to be giving this talk to one person or another. It made him wonder sometimes if his upbringing had damaged his personality more than he thought it had.

"Pain is not a bad thing. There's no good argument you can give to say avoiding it should be a priority. Too much kills you? It's the same case with water, sunlight, oxygen itself. It doesn't do any good? Of course it does. It's just a matter of applying and interpreting it. Pain teaches tolerance. Avoidance. Endurance. Sometimes it's essential in shaping a working system."

A brief flash of memory. The burning ruins of his home, the loss of will in the Colisseum, the ache that came with being so far from home. He glanced down at a palm, flexing it open and closed as a crackle of electricity ran through it.

"Sometimes it's necessary to teach you who you are."

He shook his head once, slowly, then brought his gaze up again.

"But by all means, if you have a better way of producing food I'm more than willing to go along. We need results if we're going to keep living here, though, and I don't have any qualms with cutting down a few trees to prolong the lives of the people here. I'm a forest child too, believe it or not. I know how to maintain an ecosystem."

The girl fished through his barrel, discarding the apple core and fetching a tomato and something else. After planting it, she channeled her energy into the ground to produce her sprout.

Jin could see the merit in promoting the growth of plants, but the issue was creating the space to house what gardens they could produce. They needed fresh soil, crop rotations to preserve nutrients of the land, and then there was the matter of what might happen if they overworked the soil - or the girl, for that matter. Where was the energy to accelerate the growth coming from?

Questions for later.

He gave a curt nod with the advice to reconcile with Maxwell, though he wasn't keen on making nice with the older warrior just yet.

"Maxwell has a big bark, but not a lot of bite to back it up. He doesn't have it in him to attack someone who isn't the enemy. Not seriously, at least. But he needs to learn that children aren't soldiers," Jin sighed. He gave thought of himself for a moment, letting out a wry chuckle. "Or they shouldn't be, at least."

[Marmadue]

Marmadue looked at Jin, hoping that the two could learn to understand each other, see eye to eye. The man just… Didn't really look like it. Of course, perhaps the expression meant nothing, perhaps Jin just wasn't the kind of a person to really show his emotions on his face. He waited for a reply, but the reply never came. Not to him. A new voice spoke up, a feminine one from the side. The Yuke's attention was directed at the newcomer, her features mostly hidden with her hooded robe. He was quite certain he did not know her. Probably had never seen her before, either. He glanced at Jin, just to see if he looked like he might have recognized the person, perhaps a friend of his. But alas, his expression still remained a mystery.

And she certainly didn't act friendly towards the man. Coming in and quickly accusing him of, well, things that he probably had done, but Marmadue was not a creature of conflict himself. Almost immediately he took a careful step back from worry and shock, his gaze shifting from the man to the robed figure and back as if to try to figure out if either of them was going to get physical. Luckily, it seemed like they weren't. Jin was just as willing to retort verbally, however. A dangerous combination, that. The Yuke was not exactly the best mediator, but even he couldn't just stand there and watch. Nervously, he tried to motion with his hands for them both to calm down…

Though it wasn't like he could claim one side was wrong to talk back. They were different opinions, perhaps extreme, yet… It wasn't like there was a side Marmadue could pick himself. Perhaps his side was nowhere close to the opinions of the others, but he could see where the two were coming from. The robed figure, c'Kali as she had called herself… She seemed to have the ability to hear what the others didn't. But there was no life without death, that he knew. Though there would be plenty of death if the people of Twilight Town didn't have food!

Could anything grow without sunlight? The Yuke was no farmer, but he figured that was a pretty important element in growing plants. An element they lacked. However, magic existed, a way to give power to those who might lack it. Curious, he leaned closer to look at the robed figure picked out a vegetable from the barrel of rather miserable-looking food Jin had gathered, buried it and used her magic to force the little seeds inside to sprout. A magnificent performance, a breathy gasp of awe coming out of the metallic helmet he was wearing. It was interesting. A feature of magic he was certain could exist, but to see it… It was better than just thinking about it, wondering if it would work!

Though, how much could a single person do? There were so many who would need food, just a single sprout did not go far…

"Er, I ah, have a suspicion pain itself isn't exactly ah… Good for us. That is why we avoid it instinctively, but the fact that we have such a response is ah, good. Without it, we might not have come this far. But to intentionally cause pain to others… Ah, well, we I do not think we… Should," Marmadue cleared his throat, trying to help the two come to some kind of an agreement. He couldn’t quite agree with Jin's odd glorification of pain, rather living without it himself… But if a plant cried out in pain because it was going to be eaten, well… They would starve, if they avoided such. Did plants truly feel something? He didn't know. His gaze slowly drifted to c'Kali before it snapped back to Jin.

"And that is why ah, we shouldn't attack those who aren't our enemies…? Such a thought is ah, slightly troubling I must admit, sir. A dangerous idea. I can agree with the ah, good miss here. We already have so many enemies, we should not be making enemies out of ourselves as well," the Yuke rubbed the back of his neck. Had he really heard that right? Jin held it against Maxwell because he wouldn't attack those who weren't enemies? What would Jin be willing to do? Hurt the innocent, the non-hostile?
"I-I do not think Maxwell is planning on using children as soldiers. I am unsure where you got the idea…"