[video]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ For those who have ever been to the Sunleth Waterscape, they might recognize the surroundings as the video function turns on. Most people probably won't recognize the bunny-eared woman staring resolutely down at the camera-holding moogle, though. She's been told it's been several months since she was last here. ]

-And you just press-

I know of this place.

Oh... you've been here before?

Yes. [ The camera registers the annoyed look on the Viera's face as she takes the sky phone and turns it over so the rest of the world can see the piece of glass she's holding. It's a magicite shard, but she doesn't know that. ]

If this has meaning to anyone, I would have them take it. I care not for its existence.

Comments

[Video]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ She's lucky neither is Jote. It takes the elder Viera a few minutes to reply. ]

Would that I could see you... without the Humes' prying eyes.

[Video]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[Mjrn falls silent for a moment.]

...the village is here, bereft as it is of the Wood. I could travel such a distance.

[If she's welcome there at all, but that goes without saying.]

[Video]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

The Village?

[ That surprises her and she raises her eyebrows. ]

Then we will see each other at the entrance to the Village.

[ Once Jote's found her way there anyway, ]

[Video]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[She nods, then pauses. Though she hasn't visited the village in soem time, one thing is certain.]

All will not be as you remember...but nor is it lost.

[The village is there, in Gaia. That has to count for something, doesn't it?]

[Video]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

So it would seem. The Wood does not speak to me here.

[ Perhaps. She begins to make her way out of the Waterscape. She wants to see Mjrn, talk to her about things. ]

...What of Fran? Does she yet reside here?

[Video]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

Aye. She never departed this world, as--as others had.

[Nice save there, Mjrn.]

She, too, grows weary of this prolonged conflict. I hope Garland's defeat will alleviate this.

[Video]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ She notices that, but doesn't comment. ]

We have much to discuss when we meet.

[ She is... uncertain how much else she should say, so she won't add anything else, but she'll make her way out to the village as soon as she can. ]

[Video]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[She nods.]

Be safe, Jote.

[Likewise, she'll do the same. It will take a while, since she's not on the same continent, but she made a promise. She won't back down.]

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ One is coming from off-continent, while the other is attempting to avoid humes at all costs. Easier said than done.

Eventually, Jote does make it to the Village. It's quiet here and something feels off. She can't hear the Wood like she could at home. And there are... different people here. She can sense them. But she waits for Mjrn at the entrance, just like she said she would. ]

[action]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[Mjrn hasn't been to the village since it arrived in Gaia. To see it again brings forth an odd burst of nostalgia...and heartbreak. It's not easy for her to revisit the village, even as she's not sure the old laws still apply in this world. She would rather keep herself at a distance willingly than be told she isn't welcome.

Gripping her spear, and with Chit nowhere in sight, the young Viera approaches. She tries to keep any exhaustion felt from her face and movements.]

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ Jote herself knows that laws and people are not the same across Ivalice and Gaia. For all she knows the laws of the Viera do not apply here and she is unsure she wants to find out if her unwilling departure has made things impossible for her or not. So far, so good, though, and she hears Mjrn's arrival, moving forward to meet her sister. ]

Mjrn. You are safe.

[ She'll just... be looking Mjrn over to be sure. Things are different. If a year really has passed, them Mjrn will likewise have changed. Jote feels as though her sisters will always be changing, leaving her behind. ]

[action]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[Mjrn's had time to heal her wounds, though rushing to the village at all possible speed has made her perhaps a touch disheveled. She doesn't care, though, and nods in greeting to her sister. Her relief is unmistakable, even as she dares not move closer thanks to fear or rejection.]

Jote. I am glad to see you are, as well.

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ Jote's arms fold across her chest, but her body language isn't tense. It's uncertain, something she's probably never been around Mjrn before. She doesn't move away, but neither does she move closer. ]

The Wood tells me nothing of the happenings here. Gaia has changed from that which I remember.

[action]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[Mjrn nods, at once grave at sympathetic.]

It has. The Iifa Tree no longer filters the souls of the dead so frequently. Sky people still arrive, as you have, but fewer in number. The time of flux is coming to an end.

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ Jote takes this in with a closed look. Apparently, she has awesome luck. ]

So it has chosen now to return me to this world.

[ Another pause. ]

The Wood... can you hear her?

[action]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[Mjrn shakes her head.]

Long has it been since I ventured into this corner of the world. I...did not believe I would be welcome.

[She pauses, averting her gaze.]

However, other sounds have reached my ears. I hear the voices of the lost souls within the Mist. They become louder with time, especially where it is thick.

[That's a good part of why Mjrn prefers higher elevations these days.]

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ Jote pauses again, understanding Mjrn's hesitance. ]

The Wood has changed. [ No longer does she pick and choose, no longer does she forsake. Now Jote, for the first time in her life, is wondering what her place is. ]

What do they say?

[ Either with words or feelings... what does this say about Gaia? ]

[action]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[She glances back over, meeting her sister's gaze.]

They are in pain, pain that only increases with the passing of time. There can be no peace for them -or us- until Garland's work is brought to an end.

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

This is your goal?

[ Her sisters, the fighters. Both of them. Jote had known it would only be a matter of time before Mjrn followed Fran's footsteps. ]

Fran spoke of a way back to Ivalice. Did such a thing exist?

[action]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[Mjrn hesitates, but nods.]

It did. Matoya, the seer, and others opened a portal. She has since passed, however. I...thought not to inform you. It seemed cruel, as it no longer exists.

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ Well the other sister saw fit to tell her. Someone somewhere probably would have, as well. Still, Jote will sulk for a bit in her way. ]

The leaf will always turn over what it can no longer hold. Others will see what once it carried.

[ Meaning someone would've told her eventually. ]

Gaia... has changed since I was last here. I can sense the Mist, and the Humes as well. [ And the Wood no longer speaks to her. ] Perhaps this is as it should be.

[action]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

...perhaps so.

[She stares past Jote to the village, then her sister once more.]

What will you do, Jote?

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ Jote follows Mjrn's gaze, looking back up to the village, where she could see Viera... and others she was sure weren't here before. Her head gives a small shake. She doesn't know what she'll do. The Village is home to her, but... here it feels different, almost wrong somehow... and she can't hear the Wood. ]

The village of Shumi. Does it still exist here?

[action]

[dewdrop-pebbles.livejournal.com]

[Mjrn shakes her head.]

It does not. I assume it is has been returned to its native world. What replaces it, if anything, I know not.

[action]

[woodguardian.livejournal.com]

[ Figures. Whatever is responsible seems to like toying with her. ]

The the Wood will be my home once more. [ Silent or not, it is her home. ]

Mjrn...

[ Jote still has to see what it's like up there in the village now, but if possible... she doesn't want to be separated from her sisters again. To find them here, and then lose them back in Ivalice, and then find them again... At this point, she would rather be secretive with her duties than be forced to lose them a third time. ]