O, chain of heaven

The paths going up to and down from the forest all mourn you. Affiliated Enkidu, of Fate.

[ispur-blog]

ynysafallach‌:

Merlin perks up instantly at the familiar voice, the petals at his ears lifting. “Lancer!” he says, in genuine delight. “It’s good to see you.” He’s almost surprised to find he means it.

Closing the distance between them, Merlin slings an arm around Enkidu’s shoulders conspiratorially. “So you’ve been brought here too, huh?” he asks, using his free hand to poke gently at Enkidu’s cheek. “It’s interesting, isn’t it. No summons… Yet here we are. If we have no master to obey, we can raise hell, ne?”

Or they could if their abilities weren’t so stifled. Merlin thinks–hopes–that Enkidu has been affected just like him. If he finds he’s been the only person so grievously afflicted, he’ll be quite cross.

“Ah, have you been housed at this miserable place too?” Merlin asks after a moment’s thought. “Or did you simply sense my radiant presence and come over to say hello~?”

The touch is to be expected, and it’s even---should they say---grounding. “I have,” they respond, putting up calmly with Merlin’s prodding. “It’s interesting, yes... there are many different types of people here, human or not.” Undoubtedly, Merlin knows as much, but it’s something that stands out to Enkidu as being particularly of interest. Distractedly, they puff out their cheeks so that the next time Merlin pokes one, he’ll be met with much more resistance. 

Only to deflate a moment later so they can speak again, after some consideration. “Ah... well, we’re still bound by contract to our Master,” they remind him. “But having a bit of fun isn’t bad either, now and then.” Which essentially means that they’re being a bit of a terrible enabler---or as much of one as they can be, when each of their abilities as Servants have been driven so far into the ground.

“That’s right,” they respond to Merlin’s question about housing. “The third floor. It’s not so far from here, is it?” It’s a rhetorical question, but they smile at Merlin. It’s good to be close to someone familiar, at least. “Although I did feel your presence. It’s difficult to miss, even with my senses dulled.”

[lungtienhsiang-blog]

@ispur

So far, the Medicine Seller has had no reason to leave the Sea of Tranquility. He has heard of the other seas, and while he may decide to look there for mononoke presences soon… well. It isn’t as if he could do anything, without the Sword of Exorcism.

So instead, he has moved steadily deeper into the forests, taking the time to enjoy nature as he has not seen it in nearly a full century. As he walks, his steps are muffled by the dirt path, the surrounding greenery. It’s enough to make him stop paying attention, just long enough that his foot hits something. He doesn’t trip- he never trips- but he does pause, then set his foot down, glancing over at the being he hadn’t noticed.

“Please excuse me. I had not intended to strike you with my foot.”

[ispur-blog]

The paths seemingly never end, winding deeper and deeper into the forest. And yet, despite that, Enkidu is content to move at a slow pace, pausing to note an unfamiliar plant or the cry of a bird---or occasionally the disturbingly human voice of something that might be called a bear otherwise. This time, they’ve stopped because they’ve noticed the presence of a hare, standing over her tiny troupe of leverets. They stop by the side of the path and crouch down, brushing a fern away with a single finger, quietly so as not to disturb them.

The mature hare notices them anyway, hurrying to hide her brood away. They speak quietly, in her language, to tell her that they mean no harm, and after ample reassurance, she lowers her guard marginally. A trait of mothers, Enkidu supposes with a smile. She herds the rest of the babies into their burrow, and Enkidu helps nudge along the stragglers with a gentle hand. The mother disappears into the burrow after the babies, with a word of thanks. It’s then that Enkidu feels a slight impact with their ankle, looking up from where they’ve knelt to be met with another’s presence.

“It’s all right,” they say in response, with a quick smile. After a moment of contemplation, they follow up: “Do you live in this sea?”

[starboundluminary]

Greenhouse Affect (Closed - Enkidu)

Despite feeling rather put out that ‘heaven’ apparently did NOT see fit to give him the jacket his grannie made for him specially, in honesty - knowing this was a band new part of the universe that he’d never seen before had him more excited than anything else!! The wonder, the exploration! The thing that first caught his attention on excitable wanderlust taking ahold of him: woaaah! A clearing full of super old trees, and the biggest one was a building: apparently the phone he’d found on him said he’d be staying there? Man, talk about lucky. “I wonder how long you all’ve been here…man, the stories you’d all haveta say about this place if ya could talk, huh, trees?” He always had a fondness for houseplants, and seeing ones THIS big growing so well made him super happy - yeah, talking to one of the big trees probably seemed weird as heck to anyone, but who cared really? He didn’t mind if anyone saw him saying hi to the trees.

“Come ta think’a it, some’a you trees are species I don’t even recognize! Like, I see a redwood there, but wow. Are some of ya aliens, technically speaking plant-life wise? I guess that makes me an ‘alien’ ta this place too, given I’m not from here…the universe sure is vast, even here.” Patting the trunk of the tree he’d been chatting to in a friendly way, like he would pat the shoulder of a sidekick, the noise of footsteps caught his attention. “Eh? Aw, I got caught out talkin’ ta the trees that quick, did I? Haha…” Rubbing behind his outlandish purple hair sheepishly a moment, he then grinned at the unknown stranger, sizing them up.”Didya come ta look at the awesome trees aroun’ here too?”

[ispur-blog]

The forest is still at this time of day, more so than any other. Normally, it wouldn’t feel so tacit, but Enkidu is becoming increasingly aware of the fact that they can no longer communicate wordlessly with the trees and flowers as they used to. They nearly didn’t recognize it as communication until it was taken away, but now that it’s gone, they know that there was a mutual acknowledgment, a bend in the stem to the gesture of a hand or the rustling of foliage in response to a faint nod of the head. 

Still, they can’t seem to shake the comfort that comes with being in a forest. As such, they’ve returned time and time again to the Sea of Tranquility, at times merely sitting a bit off the path, at times wandering deeper, at times circling the grove of ancient trees just around the Lampadias Suites. It’s when they’re doing the last of these that they hear a voice, clearly conversing with another party.

Curiously, they cast out their Presence Detection, but feel the signature of only one non-floral lifeform. It’s a human---an ordinary one, by all rights---and one who conspicuously lacks someone he could be speaking to. They listen a bit longer, until it becomes clear that he’s speaking to one of the old trees surrounding the clearing. A small smile, content even though it’s slightly wistful, lights up their face, and they walk forward to breach the line of trees, the loam making soft noises underfoot.

“Yes,” they reply, looking up the trunk of the tree Kaito stands beside, like they could possibly see the top. “Even if they don’t speak back, they do make good conversational partners.” Their tone is completely genuine, fond as though they speak about an old friend. “And they’re interesting in their own way, don’t you think?”

[iustise]

@ispur

For someone who had never been to the countryside much, the Sea of Tranquility was something new. And a much needed refreshment from his own place. A tad hard to navigate, but nothing compared to the maze-like structure of his housing arrangement. The plethora of dead ends and weird alleyways were substituted for dense foliage, and the talking rats were replaced by what-would-normally-be-menacing bears. Talking bears at that. 

Goro was certain he could hear someone screaming about how this was unnatural. Secretly he had to agree. Whoever it was was having a bad time, but he had no time to help right now. Akira had given him his address, and fortunately he was early to their meeting. It was just a matter of… navigating. He really had taken for granted the commodity of paved roads.

And for some reason, maybe he should have paid more attention to this surroundings than the weird idea of talking animals. Morgana could talk, but as he insisted he was not truly a cat, the Detective Prince was not sure he could count on that as an example. But thing is, he had not expected the big plant he bumped against to move. 

It was when he realized he made such a simple, elementary mistake. Right, it was a person. It just camouflaged perfectly to its surroundings and seemed so lost in their thoughts that not even Akechi could differentiate Enkidu from the foliage all around him.

“Oh, I am sorry–”

It was odd how this man seemed to adapt with no apparent effort, however. His TV smile was already plastered on his face before he could even really begin talking. 

“I did not see you there. Haha, I guess I was too distracted?” 

Akechi rubs the back of his forehead, minding his body language to not seem too unguarded. But the casual air about the detective was definitely there. Almost too charming to be true. 

[ispur-blog]

To be fair, they had been standing completely stationary upon the path, distracted by the flora; Enkidu didn’t fancy themself to be a horticulturist, but even still, these plants were highly unfamiliar to them. At times they would catch a glimpse of something they thought they recognized, but for the most part, the shapes of the leaves and the colors of the stems when put together were foreign. 

They had been slowly winding the curling frond of a growing vine around their finger when Akechi runs into them, whereupon they let go of the tiny plant. It springs back to its prior position on the trunk of a tree close to the path. Their eyes move faster than their hand does, though, taking in who’s bumped into them. By all rights, he looks like a normal human; in his teens, likely around the same age that Enkidu might appear to him.

“It’s all right,” they say with a smile. “There’s a lot to take in here, right?” They turn slightly to eye the rest of the path, in the direction Akechi was heading. “Were you looking for something?” It’s a long way, twisting until they can’t see it any more behind a line of trees, but the woods are calm and welcoming.

[ispur-blog]

@fathomline​---

The station is crowded today, likely due to the fact that everyone is trying to get out of the dry, stinging sandstorms of the Sea of Tranquility. The weather is as fickle as a certain goddess, Enkidu muses as they stretch their legs out slightly in front of them in their seat on the platform bench. They don’t mind it, but as ever, humans don’t tend to like sand when it’s flying into their face at great speeds.

They stand up so that someone else more in need of it can take their seat, and in doing so they nearly jostle someone else, their foot landing just shy of the instep of the stranger’s. “Ah---I’m sorry,” they say, looking up with a small, wry smile. “It’s busy here today, isn’t it?” It’s an unnecessary question, said just for commentary, when the platform is packed to this degree.

[ispur-blog]

@knightmorph​---

The trees here are ancient, towering things that reach toward the sky unbendingly. They’re not cedar, but they certainly remind Enkidu of another forest that was. These trees don’t respond to their presence as others would, but the very fact that they exist is reassurance enough that this world can’t be that different from the one they’ve been taken from.

Their holophone tells them they’re nearby the Lampadias Suites, which should rest just beyond this line of trees in the grove that they surround. Their Presence Detection tells them that there’s a very large, powerful individual storming about around those Suites.

Really, the presence goes in and out: Enkidu’s ability isn’t strong enough any more to track it around its whole circuit, but thankfully, it’s making its rounds, so they never completely lose its position. At some point, they become curious, and poke their head around the trunk of the tree they’re standing behind, only to be met with a form they’ve never seen before.

They don’t dwell on that for long, though. They step out from behind the tree, walk forward a couple of steps; they’ve always been one to seek out things that piqued their interest---at least, whenever they could. And so they do so now, with the negligence of not having a Master to protect.

“Hello,” Enkidu says, nearly leaning back in order to look Xivu Arath in the eyes. “Are you looking for something? You’ve been around here for a time.” It’s said in a curious tone, their head tilting as they make the query.

[ispur-blog]

@tabardalon​---

They’d been returning to their room in the Palilicium, and unwillingly, at that: the Sea of Tranquility had been hard to leave, what with its verdant foliage, its familiarity, its nearness to another forest they knew well. By the time they’d stepped foot onto the train, it had started to snow, and they’d almost missed the departure for standing stock-still, staring at the sky with a slight smile on their face. But they hadn’t missed it, and so, regrettably, they had returned to the Sea of Crises.

Regrettably, because as soon as they step off the train, they are very nearly knocked off their feet by a full-on blizzard.

By all rights, should they at least be a bit used to this? Perhaps. Chaldea did exist at the epicenter of a snowstorm, after all. But it was one thing to see the flurries spiraling up toward the mountaintop through a window, and another to stand in the middle of a freezing gale. Enkidu isn’t bothered by the cold, but the tiny bits of snow that pelt their face and wet their hair and cloak are somewhat more irritating.

They’re not in a hurry to retire to their room, so they figure they may well take shelter for a bit. Besides, the thick layer of snow on every building softens the harsh decrepit lines common to the Mare Crisium, and it’s not a bad thing to see. There’s another presence there, but they duck under a tattered awning, anyway; it’s not the best place to take cover from the storm, but it does give them the opportunity to swipe their snow-laden hair back from their face and regain at least a partial field of sight.

“This sort of weather... I wonder if it’s common here?” they say, half to themself and half to the other occupant of the space. They’re smiling, almost amused, despite the fact that they look like an Angora that’s been dunked in water.

[ispur-blog]

@ynysafallach​---

The city here is different than the ones they’ve visited in Chaldea. Even Fuyuki, with its charred-husk buildings and smoldering alleyways, is different somehow from this---the Mare Crisium is dark, foreboding, sprawling and winding to its core. Enkidu has barely spent a day wandering the streets, but they’re nearly disconcerted by just how little of the Sea they can say that they know. It’s made more inconvenient by the fact that they can’t feel out the landmarks they know are there, relying only on that twenty-foot radius of Presence Detection.

They walk back into the lobby of the Palilicium, intending on sitting by the fireplace for a bit and figuring out what they should do next. It’s evening by now, and the lighting inside of the building is scarcely brighter than the outside---but it’s not too dim for them to notice a ring of flowers sprouting up from between the floorboards.

They kneel down beside the plants, touching them curiously---gently---with a single finger; they’ve begun to wither, not having the elements to properly develop here in the gloomy building, but unmistakably, they’re daylilies, the flush of color across the petals apparent. Enkidu looks up, gray eyes just barely widened with surprise. The trail of wilting flowers leads across the lobby, up the staircase, in patches just the width of a footfall. 

They cross the distance quickly and follow the path further, up a few more floors. Halfway there, they feel the presence they expected, a mana signature they’ve grown used to detecting. It’s only a short time before they look up to see white robes and pale hair, and a familiar face. Enkidu smiles genuinely as they straighten up to face him. “I didn’t expect to see you here, Grand Caster.”

[ispur-blog]

They wake, but only after a few seconds do they become aware of it. The ceiling above them is new: it’s dark stone instead of clinical-white. As they sit up, they take in the rest of the room as well---it’s jarring, hewn solidly and forbiddingly, though they find that it’s not hard to get used to.

Enkidu stands and walks over to the wall, feet padding lightly across the cool floor. The world feels muffled; they feel the mana signatures of several living things throughout this building, both on the floor they’re on and on the floor below it, but they should be able to feel much more. 

They should be able to trace the lay of the land for kilometres in each direction, feel each heartbeat that hides below the floorboards, but curiously, they can’t. They look down at their hand, flex their fingers; those, at least, are the same as always, but there’s something intangibly different. A few moments confirm it: they can’t change their shape any more, as they’ve always been able to. There’s no outward reaction to this but a slight frown, a forlorn look toward the opposite side of the room.

They wonder, idly, if they’ve been summoned for a different war---but that can’t be the case. Otherwise, they would have each of their powers, an arsenal at the disposal of their Master. That’s the reason they would be summoned, after all. So, why are they here?

The answer comes sooner than Enkidu would have thought. Poking around the room, they pick up a small phone, and as they do it lights up in their hand. Their eyes scan over the text quickly, after which they sigh, this time smiling wryly. They’re no stranger to being taken to different places, or even different worlds, but this is the first where they remember their last Master, as well as the first where they haven’t had their abilities at their disposal.

They tuck the phone into the band of their pants and then smooth out their cloak. "Well, things like this can’t be helped, can they?" they ask softly of an imaginary listener, walking over to the door of the room and laying their hand on the handle. There’s nothing else to it but to accept it, and make something interesting of it. 

They open the door.

[ispur-blog]

Here’s a starter call! Like for a starter from Enkidu---they’ll probably vary in length from one paragraph to several. Soft cap of 4, but if it fills up, feel free to IM me!

[ispur-blog]

With that, I’d like to note that if anyone active from Koi no Yokan is still following this blog, I’ll be affiliated with another group from this point on, Aldebaran Sea. Please feel free to unfollow, and if you’d like to keep up with me, I can also be found on Twitter with the handle pelides! Come hang out!

[aldebaransea]

On prior reserve, I'm Alexei, and here's Enkidu from Fate/. Their app is under /a. or the third header link. Thank you!

Welcome to the Ark, Enkidu! You will be housed in the Palilicium, third floor.

You are assigned the rank New Moon. You also receive a holophone, train pass, and 50 Moon Points.

You retain the ability to sense the presence of others from a short distance (20ft) and communicate with animals. Your weapons will be taken away for safekeeping.

Please be sure to update your app with any powers that have been retained, nerfed, or removed for the time being.

[achillles]

Perhaps it is the greatest grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone.

Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles (via achillles)