Scene #9662:

Owner	Pose
Rita Ma	Apple Tree Island, as Regulus discovers, is...! ... A rusty room? That's where the publically-registered artificial Warpgate arrives, anyway! A cable-strewn room in a derelict naval ship with years of salt-breeze rust and heavy bulkhead doors. The room is tilted ten or fifteen degrees, hinting that the ship's run aground. The power must be on, as the Warpgate proves, but the only light is from the ajar door ahead... Which leads out onto a surreal-looking deck. A hundred-foot-tall (or more) apple tree, erupting from what used to be a glass garden dome atop the aircraft carrier(!!)'s deck, is starting to bear fruit; white-blue tentacles of some organic matter are woven in with its bark and its roots, which cascade down off the deck and to the ground way far below. The huge, ramshackle ship is beached on the outer shore of a C-shaped volcanic island, with a small port in its central crater-lake, and a bustling sheet-metal town in the aircraft carrier and tree's shadow. The ocean is unbroken out to the horizon. It's a clear sunny day, slightly cool for the season, and the sky is slightly tinged grayish with the old residue of upper-atmosphere volcanic ash. ... How is Regulus going to get down to where the people are? The only obvious routes to ground level are tarzan-ing down the tree's great roots, scaling down the outside of the ship's hull, or finding a way back down through its mazelike dark corridors.
Regulus	Regulus isn't really the type of person to make careful plans and follow through wtih them whether it be because she forgot about the plans in the days it took to reach the day those plans were intended to come to fruition, or because she just tends to follow her whims. And of course she is going to be interested in a place called 'Apple Tree Island'. Her best friend is an apple! And he's an apple named APPLe and her ship was also called the Apple and her radio station was Radio Apple. So obviously, this island is a place with the right vibes before she's even dropped by. And there's a Warpgate headed right for it! She can just surprise Rita! Regulus used to have a much bigger collection of outfits back in her own era and most of that sunk to the bottom of the thames! But she's been slowly rebuilding her inventory, despite not really having a real job, through a variety of means (busking, shoplifting, various Watch jobs), and she's eager to try out a new outfit on her totally unplanned visit to Apple Tree Island because she needs Rita to understand that she is a fashionable lady about town even if she's from the 1960s and no matter what era she's in, she can dress to impress! This attitude might be more befitting a member of the Concord or the Paladins, but having some of the best outfit ensembles around is a key component of Regulus's identity. She's not just a pirate, she's a swinging sixties pirate all too keen on exploring the many sorts of outfits freedom of expression can bring a young lady. Regulus is wearing a dark red beret with a badge of an apple sliced in half pinned to it along with a blue button at the end. She has traded her sunglasses for a thin black wireframe pair of normal glasses (does Regulus need glasses? She's run around without them, perhaps with contacts? It's a mystery) and she has a pair of headphones hanging around her neck. She's wearing a white and red checkerpatterned skirt and some dark grey leggins with a lighter grey collared shirt as her top. Her left hand as wristwratch on it. With her is APPLe, who is floating around being an apple. "And here we...are?" Regulus asks, briefly confused as she doesn't seem to be in on an island at all but-- --she sniffs! "Ah! I recognize that smell anywhere and--w-woah! Are we mid capsizing? Are you sure this is the right place, APPLe?" "I'm confident, Captain, but I see some light ahead." The two make their way forward, carefully, and when they emerge, Regulus marvels at the apple tree busting through the deck. "Woah!! I heard it was Apple Tree Island, but I expected many apple trees not one giant one! See any you recognize, APPLe?" "Captain, I must remind you, that not all apples get along with one another. Or know each other." "Ahh, right, my bad." Regulus pushes up her glasses. "Oh but they do look real delicious. But we can check the tree out later, right now we should find Rita!" "You did remember to tell her we were coming, right Captain?" "And ruin the surprise??" Regulus looks around. And then looks out towards the ocean, losing herself for a moment as she stares out into the wide blue yonder. "Oh it's been so long since we've sailed the seas ourselves, Mr. APPLe. But to see such a vast ocean ready to be explored, rife with adventure...Doesn't it get you excited?" And then she looks around a little more and admits, "...How do we get down there, though?"
Regulus	Ultimately she comes to a decision. "APPLe...you must leave me behind..." Regulus offers her bag to APPLe. "In case I don't make it, take care of my records!" "Captain... I can't leave you alone up here...!" "But you must!" Regulus cries. "Or our special surprise gift won't make it to Rita and my sacrifice will be in vain!" "My Captain...!" "My APPLe!" They embrace, weeping, before APPLe starts to float down to the town with Regulus's bag to find someone he can ask for help from.
Rita Ma	Up on the ship, seagulls begin to congregate around Regulus, scrutinizing her with their beady little eyes and creeping closer. She doesn't have food on her, does she? Does she? . . . Drifting down from the ship, the first thing the noble explorer Mr. APPLe finds is a group of workmen camped in its shade. They regularly go back and forth between the ground-level entrance to the ship- UNION BUSAN is written on its side somewhere, in peeling paint- and the town, with supplies and work-lunches and tools. High-tech parts and plumbing go in, and scrap metal goes out. "Hey, what is that?" "One of 'em's falling real slow. Can't be the wind, right?" "Nahh, somebody's reeling it down for a prank." "No, maybe it's from the warpgate... hey, there's a little tie." "Hey, Boss! Boss! Come see this!" . . . By the time APPLe has come within speaking range, a pair of the workmen have grabbed a fishing net to try to catch him. The foreman- 'Boss'- has finally arrived, an older man with muscular arms and flat-topped silver hair. "Hey now, what's this all about? Choi, are you slacking on those T-joints?!" "Boss Huorong! Forget about that, a floating apple came from the gate!" "Huh?! And why should I care?"
Regulus	Regulus has food on her. She has a bag of potato chips and a Dr. Pepper, though the bag of potato chips is in her record bag and it plops out onto the deck as she is removing her record player from the bag and setting a record ontop of it in order to play Yesterday from the Beatles while she dances around on the deck. The seagulls have a moment to steal her bag of potato chips right then and there, but they'll have to rip it open first, while she's distracted by dancing and grooving! . . . APPLe notices some workmen! That seems to be a good place to start and as he gets closer, it becomes apparent that the APPLe has tiny stick figure arms as well. He reaches into his cravat and draws out his glasses, sliding them onto his ... face ... as he gets close. "Ah, pardon my intrusion, my good man. This APPLe apologizes for disrupting your work. But the Captain and I have come to pay a visit to Miss Rita, a friend of ours that we have heard lives on this island. She is a polite young woman with long blonde hair? She has a brother here too whom my Captain says she's been told is a remarkable swimmer? I know this is not much to go off of, but the Captain can't seem to get down to ground level so we're in a bit of a ''pickle'' as what to do." APPLe notices how muscular Boss Huorong is and flexes his own stick figure arm in solidarity.
Rita Ma	Boss Huorong opens his mouth, then closes it, then squints, and waves down his men to discourage them from trying to net the very mannerly APPLe. He reaches out and suspiciously pokes APPLe's distinctly un-muscular little stick-figure arm. Poit poit. "Well I'll be damned. Alright. You're sure you didn't come from the tree?" he says, looking between APPLe in front of him and the apple-yggdrasil in the background. "'Course I know Rita. She made the island. I guess if you know her, you must be good folks. C'mon," he says, nodding his head towards the run-aground gash in the Busan's hull that everyone's using as an entrance. The ship's interior is winding, baffling, and only halfway lit, but Huorong knows it like the back of his hand. "I keep saying we oughtta put up signs for visitors," he mutters. "Who's 'the Captain', anyway? Is he an apple too?" Huorong goes up several flights of stairs, pushes open a couple of doors, comes to the Warpgate room via a rear entrance, and emerges onto the deck beyond that... Where two squabbling seagulls have torn open the bag of chips directly over Regulus's head, making the rest of them descend upon her like a plague of nibbly locusts in search of crumbs.
Regulus	''You're sure you didn't come from the tree?'' "Very doubtful, my good sir. The tree I came from was much more humble than that and has long since fallen." He mistakes Huorong's poke poke as an offer of a handshake so APPLe takes Huorong's hand and gives it a nice firm one two handshake. "I see that her model ettiquette has made her many friends here as well. How wonderful." He pauses a moment as Boss Huorong indicates she ''made'' the island but he pushes his glasses back up instead of doing the sort of ridiculous doubletake that Regulus would've. He follows after Boss Huorong, waving from side to side slightly as little sparkles hover around him. "Ah, Miss Regulus is the Captain. I happen to be her first mate. We used to host a radio station, Radio APPLe, but our ship sank shortly after our world integrated--but, ah, before we knew we had been unified." Regulus is curled up on the floor of the deck crying and cover her head and face with her arms and hat as seagulls bombard her all the while Yesterday happily plays on the pristine and untouched record player beside her. r"Mr. APPLe! Haaaaaalp!!" Regulus shouts. "We're under attack! These buzzards began bombarding me shortly after you left!" She does probably look out of place due to how snazzy her outfit is but at the same time she's suffering so it probably levels out in the ned. "My Captain!!" APPLe shouts, shooting little flashes of harmless light at the buzzards to discourage them from pecking at Regulus any further. "My records, are my records okay...!" Regulus cries. "They're safe, my Captain!" "Ugugggh..."
Rita Ma	Huorong is just clicking his tongue- "What a shame. None of your crew died?" he says, not understanding how small her boat was or how shallow the Thames is- when he opens the door and beholds Regulus under siege. "Hey! HEY!! Get!!" he shouts, briskly walking over and waving his arms to spook the seagulls off. One of them catches an accidental backhand, thunks against the deck, and then finally skedaddles with the rest. "Whew. You're lucky, girl. Your size, they coulda carried you off," the gruff man jokes, offering Regulus a meaty hand up. When he puts two and two together, Boss Huorong glances between her and APPLe-- "This how Captains dress in the multiverse?", he says, suddenly slightly suspicious that he's misundertanding, like, a sexy firefighter kind of relationship-roleplay thing. "Well, whatever. C'mon, let's get you going," he says, motioning Regulus and APPLe back the way he came. "Where do you two know Rita and Bota from, anyhow?"
Regulus	''What a shame. None of your crew died?'' "Ah, no sir, we were a crew of two and we were close to the shore. The Thames is not a very deep river either." He has enough sense to not mention that he's a pirate to people who might actually have to deal with them. A pirate in a big city is a bit of a novelty, on an island like this they might be actually a little bit scary! Once Regulus, who is decidedly not Insight 3 Level 30 yet and also is easily defeatable by two aggressive seagulls (she might have been able to handle one seagull), is freed from bombardment she takes Huorong's hand up, dusts herself off, wipes her face free of tears, and clears her throat, "Thank you, friend, for coming to this pirate's rescue!" Regulus doesn't have the same hesitancy as APPLe. "And I'm afraid most captains aren't as fashionable as me! And I dressed up extra special for my visit today! Gotta look my best for one of my dearest mates." She adjusts her hat and checks her skirt to make sure everything is tidy and in order. She rushes over to collect her record and reocrd player, going through the trouble of hastily returning them to her bag, before following after Boss Huorong. "Well we've never met Bota." Regulus admits. "But we met Rita when she was trying to capture us but we were able to make a daring escape!" "We did not know that she was trying to rescue us, sir." APPLe supplies important additional context. "Everything had gone crazy! But after all was said and done, we ended up being the best of friends!" "I'm glad she seems to get along with the Captain, it has been a bit lonely since what happened to our era." "Nothing this pirate can't handle though, rest assured!" Regulus insists stubbornly. "We actually sort of work together now." Do they know Rita's with the Watch?! Better not mention until she's sure! "And had many wondrous adventures!" At least she recovers quickly...
Rita Ma	"Ohhh, a river. I've heard about those. Funny stuff." Huorong, who is clearly I3 level 60 (nevermind that he isn't pullable), is guiding the way down the stairs ahead of Regulus when he glances back and suddenly squints. "Pirate? Captured? Oh, so she's straightened you out from your life of evil, has she?" he mutters. "Well, don't worry. Between you and me, there's all kinds of former ne'er-do-wells on this island. After the war, y'know, we all had to pull together. Guess you could say there's an amnesty of sorts, so long as nobody goes pulling any funny business again." It's a good fifteen stories of stairs back down, which doesn't get to Huorong, but might fatigue poor Regulus's Dr.-Pepper-fed muscles by the end. At the ground floor, she finally arrives at the worksite through the exit-gouge, where the plumbers and welders and electricians engaged in the Union Busan's perpetual maintenance try to pretend like they aren't still staring at APPLe. "If you're coworkers of Rita's, you must be harder than you look, I guess. I wouldn't have the stomach for it," says the manliest, most grizzled guy either of them's probably seen in a long minute. "If I were you, I'd check the port for her first-" Huorong nods to the central crater, along the dirt road past the town- "-and if she's not there, ask around for her house. Take care, now." All along the rolling meadows to either side of the path, white-petaled flowers with black centers blow in the breeze. Regulus and APPLe can recognize them: it's the kind of flower Rita wore in her hair, when visiting the village near Ahn's mountain. Blue-white smooth tentacle-y 'roots' are woven through the volcanic stone, too, most obvious where the waves crash against the island's rocky shores. It's like they're helping it not to erode.
Regulus	''Oh, so she's straightened you out form your life of evil, has she?'' Regulus's expression goes blank as her mind is blasted out of her brain for a few seconds as, sure, she's been called nefarious and criminal but EVIL? What about piracy is evil?? APPLe explains, "We, ah, were musical pirates, hijacked broadcasts--engaged in some theft here and there." This isn't entirely true, Regulus does still do crime she just does her very best to not get caught, not because she minds being chased around by the authorities and having a gas about it, but Sonetto might lecture her and she's really trying to get on better terms with Sonetto right now. APPLe also doesn't seem to have trouble gradually floating down fifteen flights of stairs though Regulus's Dr. Pepper subsumed skeleton is weak and frail and she's panting for breath by the time they finally make it down and she raises her arm up as if to ask for a moment. She's eaten more than one turnip at this point in her life, why is she not super strong and tough and she's been dancing and running around like crazy! Is there something strange in her diet that's causing her problems?? Probably not. IT surely isn't the Dr. Pepper. It's healthy. It's got Dr. in the name even, how many beverages have Dr. in the name? Since Regulus is presently struggling to breathe, APPLe does helpfully add on her behalf, "But we wouldn't dare cause trouble in a dear friend's home without permission." "Y..yeah... Also we don't have any equipment for that anymore..." "Very true, Captain." ''You must be harder than you look.'' Regulus straightens up and laughs, like a pirate, "Ahahaha! Well we're often underestimated, but never beaten! Isn't that right, Mr. APPLe?" "Quite right, Captian." APPLe is still supportive. "Thanks for the help, I'll give you a shoutout on the next broadcast for sure! Whenever that is!" Fortunately at this point they can take a more measured walk towards the port. Regulus glances at the tentacle-y 'roots' that are all about but she doesn't really think much of it. "A volcano Rita made..." Regulus says. "And she says arcanists and humans aren't seen as different here but her arcane skill must be really strong!" She hefts up her bag. "We gotta bring her our little present, though! It's perfect for an island home!" And then, reaching her second wind, she jogs off towards the port, looking from side to side to see if she can see Rita. She is pretty quick on her feet when she is excited, at least. "Did you recognize those flowers?" "Mhm! We're close! I can taste it!" The sea air is doing Regulus good even if she's no longer ''at'' sea.
Rita Ma	"Huh? A musical pirate?" Huorong blink-blinks, crossing his arms. "So..." His eyes narrow, struggling to reconcile this information. "You didn't murder anyone?" . . . The town is beautiful, if a little ramshackle; post-apocalyptic stylings aside, it's not too different from any other fishing town with a trade port. The 'main street' bustles with people in slightly-ragged sturdy work clothing or well-maintained but functional diving gear. A couple of kids try to snag APPLe to investigate him and his apparent magic, but they're easily deterred. Fishing boats in various stages of patchwork repair and retrofitting are docked in the central lake, and Regulus might be able to swear she saw a pale mermaid-like figures on one of the rocks before they slipped in. A gaggle of kids are resting on the rocky shore after swimming, too, so it can't be dangerous! Where's Rita, though? She's not among the colorful crowd unloading their goods on the docks; she's not among those hawking fried fish or seaweed wine; she's not with the kids who are laughing and playing... Oh! Right there, past the rocks- a flash of rare blonde hair (nobody else here is blonde) vanishes into the water. She must be diving for fun!
Regulus	''So... You didn't murder anyone?'' "M-murder??" Regulus stammered, face paling at the idea of it. "This pirate's a pacifist! I only fight back in self defense, I'd rather not have the end of someone's life on my conscience, and I mean real self defense, not the preemptive sort that governments here and there like to engage in. Peace and love, that's what anyone sensible 'fights' for these days." "Of course that was our world in our time, my friend. We are still adapting to the greater multiverse." . . . "Woah woah woah! You gotta get APPLe's consent first before you handle him! He's his own fruit!" Regulus lectures the children. "He's got human rights, same as anyone. Erm. So to speak!" She doesn't feel too awkward when pseaking of human rights as an arcanist on behalf of an awakened. You can take away her era but you can't take away her heart that easily, Storm! This honestly feels a bit like paradise to Regulus. Not really for the same reasons most people might but because there's so many boats!! And you could sail forever! And there doesn't seem to be cops? That's like the third thing that comes up to Regulus's mind. "Seems like she's tougher to find than I thought she'd be. Here..." She reaches into her bag and gives APPLe her spyglass. "Keep an eye out would you?" "Ah, Captain! She just dove into the water!" Regulus spins around and sees a mermaid(?) slip into the water. "Wow, never saw a mermaid before. They don't quite look like they do in the stories." She mulls. "I was starting to worry they all ended up as sea foam." She runs up to the rocks before stopping just as suddenly like she has her auto-sprint on and has to actively toggle on normal walking speed right now. "Hm..." Regulus removes her hat and headphones, sliding them into her bag as she makes her way to the shore along with her shoes and socks. "She's going to be really surprised, ehehe.." "You're not exactly dressed for swimming right now, Captain. Please be careful not to slip on the rocks, it doesn't look exactly safe." "There's a bunch of children resting there--how bad could it be? I've walked many a slippery deck, as you know!" She starts making her way down along the rocks, swinging her arms out for balance as she moves to towards the edge. "She's going to gasp and say 'Regulus! I had no idea you were coming or had any interest in my home?' and I'd be like 'It was Apple Tree Island, of course I had to come, and I've brought PROOF that I was thinking of you! Marvel at my thoughtfulness...!" She hikes up her skirt a little as she sits down on the edge of the rocks and then peers into the water, trying to catch a glimpse of Rita under there before ultimately deciding her vision isn't going to be enough so she takes a breath, leans forward to get a closer look-- --before eventually leaning too far forward and tumbling into the water with a little yelp--fortunately, she DOES know how to swim and quickly stabilizes herself before taking a look around. "She's going to complain about walking around the rest of the day in those clothes." APPLe mumbles, moving forward to hover above the water.
Rita Ma	There are one or two folks in blue uniforms, but they don't have either weapons or handcuffs, and people don't seem to be treating them like cops. Odd! Nobody warns Regulus away from the water or looks shocked when she approaches it, so it must be safe! The water is clear- she can see schools of fish and a sea turtle and even seaweed- but it's also deep with a steep drop into the deep blue of the caldera, and the glare of sunlight on the water makes it hard to see underneath, and so-- Sploosh. "Oh, shit--" "Is she alright?" "Does she know how to swim??" a couple of fishermen hustle over to ask APPLe. But down below, Regulus finds herself swimming with monsters!! Well, sort of. In the far depths, she might spot the outlines of mermaids and Dreaming Current if they feel like visiting the caldera today. Closer by, nestled in caves in the caldera's walls, there's something like a lobster-shark and a weird anglerfish with humanlike eyes, but they seem passive... And further down, a foggy white glow is gradually rising. Luminous ribbons, almost like wings, trail behind it. On closer approach it seems humanoid- like an angel, almost. It's a bit harder to panic with something so soothingly warm-looking here... The elegant angel reaches up with a ribbon to catch Regulus's sunglasses before they can fall, and offer them back to the poor pirate. Soon Regulus is close enough to see her face through the glow, and-- It's Rita. With a half-skeletonized fish sticking out of her mouth like toast. And she says: "Regulus! I had no idea you were coming or had any interest in my home?" No, wait, she doesn't actually say that. What she actually says- in a voice that Regulus can somehow hear underwater, without Rita having to spit out her chewed fish- is: "Regulus?! What are you-- I'm sorry! It's not what it looks like!!" Somehow, even underwater, it looks like she's choking on the fish head.
Regulus	They're actually NOT sunglasses! They're normal glasses! Regulus sometimes wears glasses instead of sunglasses because while sunglasses are COOL and STYLISH, glasses are CUTE and STYLISH and Regulus utilizes all her powers of fashion to her advantage. The Thames is, rather notoriously, not clear at all and Regulus is a little in awe of just how clear it is. Clear enough that she can even see turtles and fish in there! But of course-- ''Is she alright? Does she know how to swim??'' "Ah the Captain does know how to swim." an apple tries to assuage their worries. "It is not too uncommon that the Captain enters the water this way..." Fortunately, since the water IS clear, APPLe can see her swimming around there and not in a panic, exactly. She doesn't have the incredible Bota's breathing capacity but she can still hold her breath for a little while. Regulus's eyes trail over Dreaming Current who has seemingly learned to not 'play' at trying to chomp people's legs like they're Jaws. They do think 'I'm a shark!' excitedly in Regulus's direction, but Regulus can't really speak shark. Or think shark for that matter. It's one of her weaknesses as a piratical arcanist, it seems. It's actually Dreaming Current Regulus is most worried about because of their open wounds that seem inherent to their being, but Regulus's assumptions on the rest is shrimply that they are arcane creatures of this world. Rita told her they weren't even seen as different to humans in her world! She marvels rather than recoils. But huh. No Rita, Regulus thinks, though it'd probably help if she had her glasses on--ahh! Her glasses! She lashes out with her hand to try and catch them but it's the angel that saves them first. Regulus's cheeks puff out in relief as she takes them back and pushes them back on while pushing them extra hard down on her nose so they stick. She didn't bring diving goggles! ''A half-skeletonized fish sticking out of her mouth like toast.'' Regulus blinks. Isn't that dangerous? What if she swallows a bone? And couldn't you get sick eating fish in sea water?? ''Regulus?! What are you-- I'm sorry! It's not what it looks like!!'' Oh shit!! Regulus knew it was dangerous to try eating a fish raw while swimming! What the heck is Rita thinking?? Even if she's a very good swimmer, she shouldn't try to eat while underwater!! Bones are dangerous to digest too! "Mmmphhh!" Regulus expresses in alarm, having no telepathy of her own as she tries to--heroically!--dive down after Rita so she can pull her back up to shore before she drowns or Rita chokes to death and also drowns! Of course, she looks plenty scared and worried about all this too. Of course. "Ah--! Why is she going deeper??" APPLe frets.