witchesreign | The Raha Cup

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The Raha Cup

[The day is a bit cloudy, and wind on the water is around eighteen knots. The harbor is bustling with townspeople and visitors. Temporary stalls have been set up selling mostly food and drink or merchandise for the three Raha Cup yacht teams.

[You might need to shove a few people to get right on the waterfront, but the view of the boats in the harbor is well worth it. Once the race begins and the boats are clear of the harbor, remote control boats are available for rental; the race is expected to take two hours.

[At the nearby Balamb Hotel, there is a large TV screen set up outdoors with seating available. Hotel staff are running an outdoor bar for the occasion.

[Throughout the area and within a couple of blocks of both the waterfront and the hotel, a combination of SeeD, Cadets, and uniformed Balamb militia and police are posted as security, in response to threats received by the town council. Normally this event only has police security, so the townspeople seem to resent the need for this increased show of force rather than the fact that they're around at all.]

(OOC: Free-for-all! Feel free to make your own threads as well as using the location threads. NPCs may hit your characters up. You may have your SeeD/Cadet character hired as security if you choose; they will be in uniform, and will be on for half hour shifts so they have time to enjoy the event as well.)

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[He tilts his head to the side, and then nods.] He doesn't mean he wants to forget you, eh.

[Thatch was the same way. Wanting the impossible, wanting to go backwards.] Espio, you're one of the only things keeping him moving forward and for that I thank you.

This is something I get. I'll have to talk to him and I don't know how long it'll take, but it'll be all right. I've been in that kind of state before myself. And he's my kid. Just ask Thatch. That's a big deal. [Cracks his knuckles, flexes his arms and switches them to wings.] Now if you two will excuse me...

[Mumbling...]

...that's not how it felt...

[He's not gonna get a choice about being hauled off, is he?]

[Nope, none whatsoever. Namur slings the chameleon over his back, trusting him to grab on to the fin like before, and dives back into the water.]

[Marco meanwhile flies on out to the island to find Toby!]

[Tobias is still not tiring -- too much practice swimming, too much need to tread water to survive. Marco can easily find him still swimming.]

[Pikachu is shaking her head every so often, irritated about the spray. When she hears the bird, she looks up, her ears flattening a moment before sparks dance across her cheeks again.]

[He whistles to pikachu, not sure if she'll understand his phoenix-speak, but at least he can give a try.]

I trust you to keep him safe, but he is my son and I want to help. I've been through this kind of thing before, love.

Any idea where he's going?

[Pikachu seems to understand just fine, shaking her head and chittering back at him. The gist seems to be that Tobias doesn't want to be around anyone right now.]

I know. I've been the same way. But in that situation, what I wanted was to run away and never see anyone ever again. And it wasn't good for me.

What I needed was to be found and forced to talk, by my father, and by Thatch.

Do you understand?

You know him best. Do you think all that time alone made him happier?

[Pikachu flicks her ear in irritation, musing before replying again. If Marco heard her correctly... she thinks that not being alone, but being back in the wilds with animals and Pokemon, is the best thing for him.]

Sometimes even if we want that, that's not best. That's surviving, not living.

I lived for a very long time like that. Trust me, this way is better, it's just a lot harder, yoi.

[She shakes her head again, letting the sparks intense once more. Seems she's not leaving it up for debate, Marco.]

[Unfortunately, Marco's not one to give up either.]

Please Pikachu, let me heal him.

[His eyes are hard about it. She might be willing to face a phoenix to defend Toby, but Marco will fight the universe for his son.]

[Pikachu pauses, her ears flicking once or twice. Then, finally, the electricity stops.

Only because you're a bird, is the chittered reply. Only because you understand.]

I know, gorgeous.

Help me get him to an island or someplace, I can't touch the water.

[Pikachu nods, giving a sharp spark to Tobias. The surprise causes them both to disappear under the surface for a moment before coming back up, the dazed, far-away look in Tobias's eyes gone. He blinks at Pikachu, who chitters back at him, and nods.

It doesn't take long to find an island and Toby drags himself up, rubbing his arms and breathing a little hard.]

[Marco's fairly alarmed to see his son get electrocuted in the water, however mild, but as Toby swims over, Marco lands down next to him and gives him a phoenix hug.]

[Which he soon switches into a human one so he can rest his chin in the dark hair and hold Toby close.]

Hey kiddo. I understand if you aren't able to talk yet, but I'm pretty confused to what's going on, so if you could help explain it to me, I'd really appreciate that, yoi.

And I'll wait here as long as it takes. [Hours, days, weeks, months. Whichever.]

[Tobias stiffens as he's hugged, but relaxes after a moment, letting his eyes half-closed in an almost dazed manner. After a bit, he leans to snuggle into it as best he can, biting his lip a little too hard.]

I... everything is my fault.

Awwww kid... no. [Hugs hard.] Everyone always thinks that. [Pets Toby's hair softly.]

No look, your Uncles weren't upset because of you and what you said or how you said it, okay? They were upset because of the situation. Because I'm new at being a captain, and sometimes the only way to get bad things out is to let them bubble to the surface, okay?

You did what you needed to.

Or are you talking about something else?

Edited 2013-08-21 20:58 (UTC)

It... it was that...

I know... Uncle Namur was angry at me, I could see it and feel it... he hated me... and Espio said everyone was fighting because of what I said, and... I...

[Yeah, he's not holding back tears, Marco. Have your son turning around to blubber into your chest.]

I... there's a lot that hurts but I... I don't know how to say it... I tried to Espio, and he got upset and...

I don't know anymore! I just... I want to go back, to before I could ever understand anything...

Whoa... whoa... [Super hugs and pets Toby's hair. At least this is easier than when they first started and Toby was just uncommunicative and catatonic. Worse than Ace back then.]

Hey...

No. Your Uncle Namur doesn't hate you at all. There are a lot of things he hates, but you will never be one of them. He might be frustrated, but if he hated you, he wouldn't have come out to get you with Espio.

And I don't know what Espio said, but we weren't fighting over what you said at all. I promise. We were fighting because of a lot of things, but we needed to fight. That's how we fix bad things and get stronger, okay? I was mad at Namur because he was trying not to fight me. So he didn't trust me to handle him. But you trust me to handle him, right?

[Just picks Toby up into his arms and cradles carefully.] I don't want you to go back to being that way. You're a lot easier to handle now. And I asked you to help me cheer them up, right? You did that. You're keeping me from falling apart. So I need you to understand things. But I am sorry that I didn't explain things well enough before. Our fighting wasn't a bad thing. It was what I wanted. So I could make Namur face some bad things. Better now than later. And you did what you should have, all right? [More soothing ruffles.]

[The hugs are much appreciated, and he's clinging as hard as he can. He gets what Marco's trying to explain, sort of, but he doesn't understand it.

So he says as much.]

I don't understand. I don't.

[The cradle helps, some, but he's still just crying. A confused little kid, still unable to comprehend some things.]

I don't understand why it has to be fighting like that. I could hear you, Espio could, and it sounded like you were trying to -- [He can't say it. Not right now] -- and I... I don't know what to say or do and I'm...

I'm afraid.

[And suddenly, the pressure on his heart spills out. That thing choking him that he couldn't get out, that he couldn't put into words, just tumbles out of his mouth.]

I'm scared this isn't real. I'm scared that... that they're just your family, and they don't want me here, or hate me because of... because I can't understand the way you did things... or about Pops... or anything...

I don't know. I don't know how to be a Whitebeard. I don't know how to be anything. I... I forgot almost everything from living with people, I just know animals and outside and everything like that...

Even here at Garden, I... I feel weird around people. I just want to go away and be with animals or alone a lot of the time, but... I kept trying, because you and Espio and everyone wanted it...

[And he's just going to ramble like this for a bit.]

[Marco just grins fondly and then sits back down, setting Toby down next to him, with an arm around his shoulders. He waits until it's mostly rambled down and affectionately pats Toby's head some more.]

Hey.

It's okay, yoi. I was like that too, you know? It feels like a long time ago now, but when I first joined Pops, I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't think it was real at all, either, and most days, I still feel like that. I didn't think I was ready to start living outside of my caves, around humans, much less be a big brother.

But Thatch, Namur, and all the others helped. Slowly. Thatch learned to speak bird just for me, Namur understood what it's like to be different from humans, and still learn to be family with them.

You're right. You're not a Whitebeard. And you never have to be. You just have to be you. [Pokes Toby's cheeks on either side lovingly.] Namur, Thatch, and I, we're all pretty old, eh? It takes us a lot more to get the obvious things that some kids get quickly. We're less adaptable. Ah, how do I explain it? You know how when water trickles down a mountain it starts creating a groove? Eventually it even cracks the hardest of rocks. And the longer it goes, the deeper those grooves and cracks get. We're all like old mountains.

Our Pops was made of earthquakes though! So we're used to everything getting shook up. You don't ever have to feel bad for shaking things up, okay? We might not react well at first, but that's because we're old, and it takes a little while for us to get moving. It's hard to push a mountain, eh? That's why I went so dramatic with that meeting.

[Pets Toby's head more and tries to smooth the hair out over his forehead.] I'm sorry we scared you, eh? Namur left the room because he could tell you were afraid, and he thought I'd get mad at him for that. But I got mad at him for leaving. As I saw it, he wasn't trusting you to be strong enough, and he wasn't trusting me to handle it. That's why I chased him down, eh? To make him remember. He's had too many years in this world, so I think he's forgotten a few things.

[Marco leans back on the ground with his arms folded behind his head to look up at the clouds.] Everyone is worried about replacing each other. [Thatch was worried Grell was replacing him, Grell was worried Thatch might try to take her place, Espio was worried that with Marco's other brothers around he wasn't as necessary, but they were all cogs. No matter how much bigger or more sophisticated they all got together, every single one was important.] When I was much younger, I think I felt that way with Pops too. He always wanted more sons and I thought at first that meant I wasn't enough for him, eh?

[Marco sits back up to give Toby a serious look and lean against him a bit.] But that wasn't it at all. He trusted me so much that he knew he could handle having more sons because I'd help him, and we'd help protect each other all together.

Maybe you're not a Whitebeard, and I can't go back in time to really change that. But that's all right. You're Toby. You're my son. And you are every bit as much part of my family as everyone else. No one can ever take your place. No one. Got it? [Pokes Toby's forehead.] Same for the others. I'll always love Thatch, a little more every day, and no one can replace him, but I feel the same way about your mother and Espio and Namur and Ace and all of the others of my brothers, okay?

[Gives Toby another hug and just sighs.] Give it time, okay? Everything moves so fast, and I feel like I'm too dizzy to keep up, yoi. Your Uncles love you, but they're confused and dizzy by all the swirls keeping me moving too, eh.

[Tobias listens, really tries to. His face falls a little when Marco tells him he's not a Whitebeard, but perks up some just after that.

All he needs to be... is him?

The rest, he does his best to understand, just watching Marco silently as he talks. When his father lays down, Tobias lays next to him, curled against his side and still saying nothing. Being replaced... yeah... that was a feeling, for sure.

He stays laying down, even when Marco gets up, just turning crimson eyes up to the bird. Tobias sniffs a bit, rubbing his eyes; the tears had stopped some time ago, and even though they wanted to flow again, there didn't seem to be any left. He manages a weak smile, though; a real one.

He hugs back, breathing a little easier and not trembling a good deal less now.]

...I think... I understand now. I'm sorry.

The Raha Cup

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