#arthur01

Luke had spent enough time in the Sea of Crises to decide that he hated it.  The streets were too cramped and the locals completely unhelpful.  Though he’d mostly resigned himself to not making any progress on the ‘Where in the galaxy is this?’ front.  He was cold, tired, the Force still wasn’t responding right, and his back hurt.  Mare Crisium was too crowded for a hermit used to only seeing fish caretakers day-in and day-out. 

He’d also found out, much to his displeasure, that the locals had a fondness for mischief.  More than a few of them had simply tried to scam him.  Others resorted to childish pranks. Tossing a banana peel under an old man’s feet (they’d been surprised when he was apparently still agile enough to dodge it and trip them in turn).  The one that had really got to him, though, was a local with a fondness for manipulation.  They’d lured Luke in by pretending to know what was going on.  He’d fallen for it, initially.  Some small part of him had indeed been desperate for an answer of some sort.  But the trick had been revealed with a pointing finger and a nasally laugh in his face. 

Even after all this time, he’d had to remind himself not to give in to the rage that swelled.  He had failed, of course.  A day’s worth of frustration at being denied peace came howling out of him loudly.  Leaning into the rat, he  threw up a hand and reached out with the Force to send a nearby trash bin careening over the rat’s head.  The effect was near instantaneous as the rat (and every local in a 10 foot radius) scrambled away at his outburst.

Anger quickly gave way to shame though.  Self-control had been the one good thing he’d had left.  After the disaster with Ben it had taken him ages to build it back up.  He loudly shooed the troublemaker away and parked himself on a nearby bench.  It was uncomfortable like everything else in this Force-damned place.

The Destiny’s Bounty was Lloyd’s home for as far as he could remember. From when his uncle took him in and gave him a proper place to stay after he had been forced to find shelter after being kicked out of Darkly’s, the Bounty was something that Lloyd had a bit of a sentimental view towards. During his time in Spirale, there were plenty of times Lloyd found himself thinking of the Destiny’s Bounty- and how his friends were holding up without him. But he knew that as far as he was aware, there would be no possible way for him to ever go back.

Yet, here he is now, standing in the middle of the Destiny’s Bounty. But... something feels different. It’s not until he hears the sound of attempted stifles of laughter does he realize exactly what’s happening, and the sight of a much younger version of himself running off with a whole amount of spices no kid should ever have access to only confirms it. 

“Hey, isn’t this that  time Sensei Wu had that awful idea of a lesson for the others?” Lloyd muses quietly, as he spins on his heel and starts in a jog after his younger self. He gets way too caught up in his own memories to realize that a stranger is aboard the ship with him until he darts right by him, and he stops in his tracks, right in front of the kitchen as he turns to look at the unfamiliar face standing just a tiny bit away from him.

Some people carried an aura that was regal and powerful, a light unto itself that could serve as a hope or a warning. Some people were brilliant, tacticians, warriors. Others were patient leaders.

Yoichi did not consider himself any of the above. He was meek at times. Easy to push around. Not to mention how much of an idealist he was, which was exactly the point Gekkoin was deciding to dig into at the moment. Arguments between him and his demon weren’t common, though.

Normally, they got along. It might have been mundane to talk about their favorite colors, but it was better than nightmares--which he knew bonded demons were more than capable of giving.

You know, Gekkoin piped up in his mind (not that he was asked for his opinion) I could get us out of here pretty quickly.