3656/Barracks in the Moonlight

Barracks in the Moonlight
Date of Scene:	12 January 2016
Location:	Hikari Sea Port
Synopsis:	Two people on base can't sleep and end up having a heart to heart.
Cast of Characters:	Nagato, 901

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Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Night time in Hikari generally meant a time of peace. Maybe the bunks weren't terribly comfortable, but the ocean played a soft lullaby against the sand of the shore that it could normally lull even the most awake person to sleep.

    Not Hoshi, though. Not this time. In her bunk the light is on as she stares up at the ceiling. Judging by the bloodshot appearance of her eyes, she hadn't slept well at all recently. She glances at her phone to confirm the time, then groans and gets up to go to the door. She'll just... get some water. That should help.

    Slowly pushing the door open, Hoshi glances around fearfully for any other girls. She'd been in her room all day refusing to talk, and she didn't really feel like it now. Closing the door quietly behind her, Hoshi starts to tiptoe down the dark hallway towards... somewhere. Anywhere.

Nagato has posed:
    Down the hall, in another room, a light is on. Usually this late, everyone at Hikari is usually asleep or out on a night expedition. Nagato, however, is another story. The everbusy Admiral is up and awake, the sound of a typewriter echoing lightly in the hallways. Only light mumbling could be heard between each stroke of the keys. "Hikari... Improvement.. Project..." are three words that could be made out admist the typing sounds.

    Inside the room, Nagato's hunched over a fancy looking black desk, fancy paper nearby with a letterhead marking. "Time to get this document finished for Jeannette... and prepare for wednesday... then touring Galandia later this week... approving the base upgrades next week..." she sighs softly, looking back to her bed before shaking her head. Mutsu is sound asleep on it, despite the racket and Atago is up above that...

    Nagato gives a brief smile and cuts the light, only to slip out the door and take a walk herself.

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Distantly, Hoshi could hear the rhythmic tapping and could hazard well enough what it was. That's why she goes out of her way to avoid approaching the Admiral's room. If she ended up interrupting the Admiral on something more important, she'd never let herself hear the end of it. It makes her trip take a little longer... Why did she even leave her bed, anyway?

    Hoshi stops dead, grimancing as fresh memories plaster themselves against her brain. Barefoot, no sword, in her PJs, she was so /dumb/. THe kendo girl spins on her heels as she starts making her way back towards her room, shoulders and expression stiff.

    The closer she comes to her room, the more she picks up her speed. Eventually she whips around a corner, panting quietly--and runs straight into the much taller Nagato. Hoshi bounces back and falls on her butt with a grunt, rubbing her face. "Uh... S-sorry, Admiral. I'll..." She pushes herself up, staring at the ground. "Go back to my bunk. Sorry for... yeah."

Nagato has posed:
    It doesn't even register to Nagato that someone's out of their bunks, much less does she move when Amakasu bumps right into her as she turns the corner too. "Ara...?" she muttered, looking down at to who or what ran into the battleship. "No, you're fine, Amakasu..." she reaches to pull the girl up but she gets up by herself, "What are you doing up this late? Is something troubling you?" comes the dreaded question, a concerned expression coming to Nagato's face.

    "You do not need to go back to your bunk, Amakasu. Let's take a walk, tell Nagato what's going on. You're part of the fleet, so I want to make sure everything is okay with all my girls, especially you." Nagato moves to place a hand on Amakasu's shoulder gently, giving a soft, comforting squeeze, "Mutsu and Atago are sleeping right now and I'm just taking a walk myself. Let me know what's going on."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    In honesty, Hoshi had been hoping to just apologize quickly and slip away, but before she could start trying to edge away, the familiar questions came up. What's the matter, why are you so quiet, yadda yadda... She feels, for a moment, a spark of anger that just sort of... puffs out. It comes out of her as a quiet, long-suffering sigh.

    It doesn't seem like there's any way to get out of this now. The teen flinches slightly out of the hand, but otherwise stays in close to Nagato as they start their walk. "It's a Mirror Forest thing," she says with dull resignation. "And I'm... not sure if I understand it fully myself. All I can really tell you is that I'm pretty sure one of my classmates died in there. I'm not that smart, I couldn't really figure it out." Hoping to change the subject, she lightly brushes her shoulder against the taller woman. "Any reason you're still awake? Sometimes it seems like you never sleep, Admiral."

Nagato has posed:
    "I won't press the issue anymore, however, I am here if you are in need." Nagato comments, hearing the sigh and shaking her head, "While it might not be much of a comfort, I do apologize you lost someone there. Dear to you or not... I..." she shakes her head a bit, with the subject changing, "I was finalizing a document to provde much needed infrastructure and updating to Hikari Seaport. It's... a long affair wrought with red tape, language issues and who wants what." she shakes her head...

    "Sometimes I do not sleep, Amakasu." Nagato turns down a hallway and out the door, moving to sit on the stairs, staring up at the full moon in the sky washing the base with its radiance. "Sometimes, I worry about every single girl here and wonder if I have done right as their Admiral. Every single failed outing, every single shell hit they've taken..."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    The condolences are nice, at least. Hoshi's lips press into a tight line, folding her hands together tightly as they went. "Thanks," she mumbles. It's clearly pretty bad, whatever this is. She seizes upon the change in subject, though. "Oh, good. Uh... You know, my dad's a manager for a heavy industries company. I could ask him if he could do the work here." At least she can offer something.

    As they come to the strairs drenched in moonlight, the teenager pauses and stares up at it as well. Slowly, she comes to plop down next to Nagato. "Is that what it's like to lead?" She quieries without looking away from the moon. "It's amazing you can do it... Doesn't really fill me with a lot of confidence, though. Not for Die Reisenden."

    Well, Nagato made an admission. It's only fair she do the same. "We, uh... The mirrors were acting strangely, so a bunch of us went in to see if we needed to save someone. Turns out there was someone. Might've been from a Gauntlet to get their Persona. I guess he... failed." She leans against Nagato lightly, muttering with her face pressed against her bicep. "We found a monster. Ainsley figured out what it was. He... became a Shadow? His Shadow grew? All it knew was Disappointment.

    "We all fought against it, but one of us tried to save it's life. He even got stabbed trying to save it. But instead... it tried to go towards me. It wanted to die, so it made me use Rosamond to do it." A couple of tears escape her eyes, and she snorts angrilly. "This is so stupid. I was one of the people saying we should kill it anyway, but... I actually killed it. What am I responsible for?... Alfonso, or the Shadow?"

Nagato has posed:
    "Perhaps I can ask if he would like the work then, Amakasu." Nagato gives a brief smile before staring at the moon. "A bottle of sake would be nice in this moonlight, honestly." she whispers, "I sometimes wonder if I can do it myself, Amakasu. Then I am reassured I can with you and the rest of the Fleet." a light scoffing sound, "Just never show weakness in front of Musashi, she will tell you a new one." her vision never breaks from the moon...

    "Die Reisenden?" comes a brief question, blinking just slightly as she looks down towards Amakasu, moving her arm just a bit to wrap it around the girl. She listens intently to what the girl is saying... those mirrors, huh? That trip she did with Amakasu to the Mirror Forest was an interesting one indeed, but this.. "He became Abyssal." she says, as if comparing it to her own experiences. "And you sank it."

    Nagato's finger moves to wipe up those tears and gives a light sigh, "This is an answer I am not sure I can give you, Amakasu. You acted in your own defense and those of the fleet around you. If you've lost no one from something so keen on wanting to bring you and those others harm... you aren't responsible for either."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    A small smile comes to her face, but it goes away quickly. "Yeah. I think he'd probably be really excited if he scored a big contract like this." A bottle of sake in the moonlight. The image, and Nagato calmly sipping at a traditional cup, is actually sort of calming for herself. "I've never heard of that before, sake by night. Then again, I'm not really supposed to drink, either..." Showing weakness in front of Musashi was clearly something that she didn't want to do, and she nods quickly to show it.

    Ahh... Die Reisenden. "It's the group of people who want to figure out what's happening in the Mirror Forest. We're supposed to be a team. We're really not. Half of us are at each other's throats all the time." The answer that Nagato comes to makes sense, too. "Yeah... I guess he did do that. Ainsley said it just wanted to die, so..."

    But it /was/ her responsibility, wasn't it? Wasn't that what it meant to take a life? "I guess... I don't know. I thought we were supposed to be saving people, anyway, Admiral. Then this happens, and... Too late to do anything."

Nagato has posed:
    "Then I should have a few words with him someday." she comments, turning back towards the girl, getting a feel for what Die Reisenden was... completely unorganized. "Perhaps... you should show them what it means to be a team. Be their Flagship. Be their Admiral." she gives a brief smile, "You've accepted the role as a destroyer, you've embraced your role as one of our own. Some of the destroyer groups here talk about you too."

    "There are some things..." Nagato pauses a bit, looking back towards the moon.. Samar, the Abyssal Battleship Princess... "There are some things that just cannot be saved... so you do your best to give them... the best. Let them free of their miserable existance." her tone becomes a bit dark... "As Admiral, I've had to sink plenty of Abyssals, only to leave home empty handed... and seeing some of my own sunk."

    "I used to consider that being too late, but with everything that has been going on... I've learned to ... move on and to do my best to save the next one." her hands clench up and grip the stone steps.. "Admiral..." she whispers. "We can only look to the future, Amakasu and learn from our past."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Blinking, the teenager looks up towards Nagato's face with incredulous eyes. "Me? Lead them? The other Persona users don't like me at all--and besides, I'm not even that smart. I'd just make a mess of things." She /has/ embraced being a destroyer, and part of the fleet, but this and that were two entirely different things. "I'm sure the other destroyer girls are really nice, but I'm an idiot. There's no way it would happen and end well."

    Bringing her knees towards her, Hoshi sets her chin against them, still leaning lightly against her Admiral. This reminded her of their first expedition, when they'd found the Abyssals with the sunken carrier. She agreed, it was probably better that the Shadow died, but... "It still feels so much worse, that I had to do it. Why choose /me/ to do it...?"

    In honesty, Hoshi wasn't even sure if there was anything they could've done to save Alfonso's life. He'd taken the Gauntlet, so he'd chosen to go in, whether he knew it or not. "Why does it have to be so hard?" Hoshi mumbles quietly. "Is there something that likes destroying teenagers? The hell did we do to deserve this, anyway?..."

Nagato has posed:
    "I would not have enlisted an idiot around my equipment. I would not have enlisted an idiot around my port. I would not have enlisted an idiot to be amongst the girls I so care about..." she turns towards Amakasu and frowns, "Amakasu... you are not an idiot on this I swear with honor." she watches the girl and gives a bit of a sigh, "IS this the first time you've taken a life? Is this the first time you ended something horrible? It's all the better for you to lead them, you've experienced what it was like... you have the power to change it."

    She listens a bit more, "The hell did we do to end up as Abyssal ships." she comments, "I'm still trying to figure that one out, Amakasu. Perhaps there will never be an answer. Perhaps there will never be an answer for your question either. We just go day by day, living our life without thinking about it." she tugs her Destroyer in tightly, "It's hard... because you know you did the right thing." a pause, then she shakes her head, "I know not of what else you deal with as a Persona user... perhaps I am just not experienced enough to know. Perhaps... I should traverse the forest as well to find out what you deal with."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Wow, Nagato actually gets... pretty upset about it. She opens her mouth to agrue, but eventually just sort of shrugs slightly as she looks away. "If you say so, Admiral." Yes, she's just trying to avoid confronting this particular part of the argument any further. Instead, she siezes on the other question. "I... Not really? Maybe? We'd fought somebody's Shadow before, and killed it, but the other person was alive... I guess this is the first time for me personally."

    Nagato's question is just as legitimate as Hoshi's. She, of course, has no answer either. Just a dumb kid who was lucky to survive and got a Persona out of it. Alfonso hadn't been as lucky, clearly. The spark of anger flares up again. "We'll make it stop eventually," she mutters. "We just have to figure out what's happening in the Forest so we can make it stop." She glances over at her Admiral curiously. "I mean... You can, I guess. I'm not really sure if you'll end up liking the people there much, either."

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato nods, she knew that dismissal type there. She used it a few times with Mutsu too... "I see. Then, Amakasu..." she thinks.. listening to that muttering, a nod is given. "Amakasu, as part of the Hikari Fleet, you are under my protection just like everyone else here." Nagato takes a small breath, resting a hand on Amakasu's back, rubbing it gently, "If you will allow it, I would like to protect you in the Mirror Forest as well and help you make this stop. Just like you help make this fleet whole."

    "I do not intend to like the people there, not after the last time I was in with you." that French general... the ambush, that weird bird man and his grey fleshed friend... "Admittedly, the encounter had me only slightly worried. It's rare that I've gotten into sortie with otherworldly beings without my rigging."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Looking up at Nagato with wide eyes, Hoshi stiffens and gives a small squeak when Nagato touches her back. She stiffens somewhat, as well. It was... surprising, is all. She'd never expected Nagato to actually show much affection like that. Eventually, she shrugs a bit and shuffles in a little closer to the Admiral. "Yeah... Sure, Admiral. I'll let everyone know that you're going to come."

    She had to admit, though, this might end up being tricky for many reasons. Who knows what would happen if Nagato and Ira were to meet? Or, even worse-- "Uh... Just so you know, Ordria Gudako is also part of the team." Might as well add the disclaimer now while she can. "Maybe... we can look into getting you a gun? Like, a rifle or something. I know it's not cannons, but it'd suck if you had to go in there unarmed all the time."

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato wraps that arm around Amakasu. "Understood. When you are ready to sortie there, seek me out and I shall come." she briefly nods and holds the Destroyer close. "You'll have me around to protect, don't worry." a pause is given, "A gun? As in small arms? That will probably do. I do not mind using my fists to defend myself or you."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    Then it's done. "Welcome to Die Reisenden, I guess," Hoshi says quietly. She takes a moment to dig out her phone so that she can give the Admiral the frequency that they all chatted on. "If you want, you can introduce yourself. Uh..." She sighs when she hears whose on and what they're griping about. "... Yeeeaaaah. Anyway, it'll be nice to have someone else to watch over us in there." For a moment, Hoshi considers Nagato with an elephant gun, still calling it small. It gets a little giggle out of her.

    Glancing back at her radio guiltily, she sighs. "This is probably going to be super awkward. Sorry, Admiral."

Nagato has posed:
    Once the Admiral has the frequency commited to memory, her radio buzzes with sound... and bickering. "So this is Die Reisenden..." she turns towards Amakasu and gives a frown, but that giggle does eliminate it quite quickly, "I see why you... are concerned..."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    What can Hoshi do but give one, big, helpless shrug? "This is what I have to work with," she says honestly. Yes, this gang of weirdos, miscreants, and outright villains are supposed to be the ones who are going to solve the mystery and save Alberichstadt. Isn't it just so heartwarming? "It's not like that all the time. We all really do want to make it stop. But we're a bunch of teenagers who are supposed to know more about this, and we don't."

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato's look gets a bit blank, shaking her head. "I see. Too much bickering and not enough orginization..." she mutters, listening to the radio, "Then the first thing is first. Die Reisenden needs structure and orginization. With the way I'm hearing everything now, pardon me for being frank, but will you have the mental fortitude to continue your expedition to make this stop?" Nagato leans back and gives a slight yawn.

    "Amakasu, it's late. You should return to your bunk. I have one more letter to write and I will be retiring for the evening as well." a pause, "My door is open for you."

Hoshi Amakasu (901) has posed:
    "You're right," Hoshi says simply. No need to argue the point she already has accepted. Whether or not they'd be strong enough... Is a tossup that has Hoshi shrugging uncomfortably. "I guess we'll see, won't we?" Nagato's yawn ellicits one from the teenager, and she nods slowly as she gets up. "Right... Thanks for the talk, Admiral." She leans forward--almost hugging Nagato, before realizing what she's doing. With a cough, she instead offers a hand to help Nagato up. Then she retreated into the dark corridors to escape.