2019-05-16 - Intermission 6: Sing-Along
| Intermission 6: Sing-Along | |
|---|---|
| Summary: Madoka shares cocoa with Steven and Fuu. Steven shares a song in return. | |
| Who: | |
| Where: Ski Course Kubota | |
| OOC - IC Date: 5/16/2019 - 06-02-2015 | |
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ Ski Course Kubota +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
Hokkaido's mountains have some of the thickest, driest powder anywhere, and
every winter they draw skiers from far and wide. This particular resort is
set into the high-altitude foothills of a majestically-ridged peak,
encrusted year-round with snow. Hardy alpine trees delineate the various
courses from one another, and Kubota offers a good variety thereof, from
bunny slopes to the black-coded expert slope. Oddly, the easiest slope and
the hardest slope are right next to each other. Red metal chairlifts offer
an easy way up to the top.
Beneath the slopes, thick evergreen forests permit hikers to explore the
mountain at a more meditative pace, with the particularly ambitious
utilizing snowshoes to range beyond the path. The resort is some distance
from civilization, requiring a bus to travel up desolate mountain roads, and
so exploring around it reveals a wealth of frozen lakes, shallow caves, and
winter fauna.
Kubota has a lucrative sponsorship with Olympic skier Saeko Yamamoto, who
often winters here while working as a celebrity ski instructor.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"I want to erase every witch before they are even born! Every witch, from every universe, from every dimension, from every past, and every future. With my own hands. I don't care what I become. I don't want to let all those girls cry, all those Puella Magi who believed in their hope and fought against witches. All their friends who tried so much to help but could only win pain. I want them to live on with smiles on their faces. I will destroy the rules that prevent that. I will change them. This is my prayer. This is my wish. NOW -- fulfill it, INCUBATOR!"
And the whole world fills with light, light transcendent, light overflowing...
...until it begins to fade...
...separating into individual motes...
...that land in hair and on shoulders and tickle eyelashes and noses.
It's snowing.
The good kind; big fat flakes, but falling with a sort of gigantic, ponderous grace, rather than plummeting with any urgency. Not too many to overwhelm the sky, which is the sort of overcast that is just thin enough to be able to know where the sun is, above and behind.
Madoka's sitting on the steps of the lodge, just watching the snow come down, transfixed by the sight of it with the sort of simple joy, and quiet awe, that this kind of beauty can inspire in those who open their hearts to it.
She's in her school uniform, but she doesn't look cold or even chilly. Playfully, she exhales a long stream of steam, which tumbles upwards to join the clouds above, like tobacco smoke.
There's a big thermos in between her legs, and as the other two approach, from out in the snow, she has a pair of paper cups ready.
Soon, the smell of cocoa -- marvelous cocoa, KANAME house cocoa, far better than anything the real Hokkaido ever had to offer -- joins the scent of winter already in the air.
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
So much pain. Despair. Hoplessness.
Then warmth. Light. Pink.
The warmth was so inviting. So kind. Was this what it was like to...
There is a sudden cold prick upon the forehead. Then another. They are short lived, though the temperature drops sharply. Thankfully it knows when to stop. The temperature of a winter wonderland. And yet, it does not bother Steven, whose eyes flicker open.
There he stood, in the freezing cold, no goosebumps or frost, only aware of the weather, not affected by it. Still in jeans and that pink starry shirt of his. He can feel the snow on his feet in flip-flops. It didn't matter.
The lodge was nearby, wasn't it? And look, someone was standing there!
Someone most important.
"Madoka!" he calls, trying his little best to run in the tall snow. He bowls over a time or two, mostly laughing a bit to himself as he gets coated in the white stuff like a doofus.
"Hey, you made it!" he says. "Or were you here already waiting on us? Ooooh, cocoa!" It smells delicious.
"Is this... Hokkaido?" he asks. It sure looked like it, though no one was around. Where was everyone else? A thought that was there, but strangely didn't trouble him right now, as if soothed.
"Haha hey! We had a snowfight here, didn't we?" he mentions, looking just down the ridge. "Oh man! THat was amazing what you did back there! Super cool!" THe boy's eyes are full of stars. It was like right out of a movie! The real superheroine shows up at the last second and defeats the evil force!
...But what now? That wish sounded complicated...
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"That was quite the wish you made, Madoka-san," Fuu observes with a friendly smile. "For all that the Incubator said its species doesn't have emotions, I think you inflicted a big one on it."
She's facing towards the lodge, as though coming back from the slopes or something ... not that she's dressed for skiing; rather, she's outfitted in a green dress, 'nice' in the way she'd wear among friends rather than to a formal event. It's vaguely medieval-Europe in style, with a snug but modest bodice and a long skirt: not a really modern design (although it might also be familiar to AkaMira adherents). The smell of the cocoa, as much as the sight of Madoka and Steven, draws her closer to the steps; if there's room to sit down conveniently, she does so, smiling and nodding to the other two as she settles in.
"I almost wish -" Fuu stops briefly, smiling ruefully at the unintended wordplay. "- that I'd had your wisdom and insight back when the Key was in my possession. But there isn't much point in dwelling on that ... I'm just glad we stopped Walpurgisnacht." She pauses briefly, pursing her lips. "*Did* we? Or, rather, did you?" She glances at her hands, flexing and wiggling her fingers, looking down briefly at the rest of herself.
Then she shrugs gamely, accepting the situation. The cocoa smells too delicious to disbelieve in.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"Steven! Fuu-chan," Madoka greets back, bubbling over with delight, though she looks faintly embarrassed by their praise. In any case, there's plenty of room to sit.
She passes the cocoa around, and keeps a third cup for herself. It steams the air much more than their breath ever could. Heat pours through the paper; not enough to burn, and not as much warmth as is pouring off the girl herself. She's a steady, fierce flame of a person right now, and all of it is undisguised affection.
Which is not to undersell the drink. It's amazing, just like Papa taught her how to make. The true essence of chocolate.
Well, now the true essence of chocolate has left a little moustache on Madoka's upper lip.
"Not yet, I think," she answers Fuu, as to Walpurgisnacht, "But soon."
She drapes an arm around Steven's shoulders. "We sure did," she agrees, as to the snowball fight, her smile warming even further, into a slightly naughty grin, as to the memory. "I never was very much good at fighting," she acknowledges, wryly. "Not even with snow."
And now she's signed up to fight all the witches everywhere forever, for all eternity.
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
There is no way he would pass on some hot cocoa. He has heard some things about Kaname cooking. One sip, and his eyes light up! "Wow!" he says, looking eyed-eyed at the cup. "This is crazy business, here!" What a nice little outing. Seemed quite the stark and sudden change. Or was it even sudden? How long did it take?
"Psh," the boy lets out, batting a hand toward Madoka. "Not too much better myself, but I always improvise something. Its that a magic power, even?" he asks, laughing.
"B-But hey now! You made a wish! That means you can do cool stuff like fight and save people and everything! I mean, I think you just saved a toooon of people, so that's a really strong takeoff the starting line, if you ask me!"
"Good for your superheroine resume, yeah?" he jokes. A look to Fuu. "Hey, Fuu! Glad you could join us! Good job out there! I saw you from the uh, ground, haha. It sucks not being able to fly sometimes!"
A pause. "I like your outfit, you look like you fit out here better than us two!"
If there were other people here they would probably be quite concerned for the shorter two. "Something must have happened if we are here and not beaten up, I guess!" the boy says jovially. Some part of the wish went right, he thinks!
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
Fuu takes a careful sip of the cocoa, testing its temperature, then a larger sip as she contents herself that it won't scald her tongue. The *perfect* temperature, to go with its exceptional scent and taste. Her own recollections of the snowball fight aren't quite as nostalgic, although she does give Madoka a reassuring smile.
"There's more than one way of fighting, isn't there? Even if you're not at your best at straight-up snow-slinging, for instance, you can find ways to turn things to your advantage. You're smarter than you give yourself credit for, Madoka-san, and you have a stubborn streak to match; I don't think anyone else could have found the solution that you did."
She sips some more cocoa, partly to hide a sheepish look at Steven's praise. "I may command the winds," she admits, "but I still can't really *fly* - it's just jumping, and putting as much of a boost on those leaps as I can manage. But I managed not to get killed this time, either, so I guess I'm doing something right."
At least, she *thinks* she didn't get killed. She was conscious right up to the big light show, and it didn't seem like she was dying from anything at the time (she's had enough 'my everything hurts' moments to be *fairly* sure of that much).
"So ... the fight isn't actually over, then?" she asks Madoka. "I hate to resort to game references, but if something that happened means Walpurgisnacht is beatable - in the vein of a cutscene separating the 'unwinnable' fight from the 'real' final battle - that would be a step up from where we were." She finishes her cocoa, then glances at the empty cup ...
And with a supremely sheepish smile, offers it for a refill, hoping that there'll be one.
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed.
"I think what you do is wonderful, Steven," Madoka says, softly, earnestly, looking fully and only at him for a moment. Her eyes are gentle, but the admiration in them -- and in her voice, and in her smile -- is very real. "You're smart, and funny, and kind, and brave... even when you're scared. That's what courage is, right? I hope that... when I become a magical girl... I can be half as good as you are."
Not half as good at being a magical girl.
Half as good.
Looking back over at Fuu, she shakes her head, once, which makes the brilliant red ribbons -- the brightest things in this wintry snowscape by a mile -- tremble, at the tips of their bows, above her slender shoulders.
"No... don't worry. I think... your fight against Walpurgisnacht is over," she says, reassurringly. "You all did so much. Gave so much. Everything, and more. You've saved my life... so many times."
And presses the lid of the thermos, gushing out more cocoa for Fuu, then topping up Steven and herself.
"Thank you."
Raising the cup in a toast, she drinks to that.
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
"I mean it was super awesome that you-- oh."
His eyes look to meet hers. He turns a little flush in the moment. The sensation of falling snowflakes hitting skin becomes something he is actuely aware of for this small time. A strange sensation, for sure. "O-Oh I uh, eheheh... I guess so! I mean I uh, I just like helpin' people and being a cool magic warrior n' stuff."
His own eyes grow sad for a moment. His lips pucker inward as he clamps down on them with his jaw. His eyes twinkle, and he bursts with his voice all at once!
"You'll do great!" he says, throwing his hands up in the air. He jumps up from where he is standing, and animates as his heart leaps. "You'll get to do all sorts of cool things!
A fist is thrown forward. "You'll get to make cool attacks and name them awesome things!
Steven pirouettes in place. "You'll get to have an awesome outfit, strike that same courage and hope into others that see you!
A heroic pose is taken. It may or may not be Sailor Moon's pase. (It is.) You'll get to make a cool catchphrase that will scare evil away!"
He takes a breath or two, and starts to settle down. "And that is just for starters...!" The funny thing is Steven doesn't particularly do any of that himself. He just likes it when others do it cause they nail everything. The words, the transformations, the poses...
The landings. Steven is terrible at landings.
"Oh, so like, super-jumps... That is still really cool, if you ask me!" he adds toward Fuu. Man, she can summon tornadoes and stuff too! Thats bugnuts crazy.
With Madoka's toast, he lifts his class too, to join in! "I would join in again to help but I dunno how to get back. I sent Lion home..." Can he even get back? This was Hikkaido, but...
"There's no I in Team, right Fuu?" he says, looking toward her with a big smile. Its bigger than the usual too! He seems so happy to be here, just with them. In this moment.
<Pose Tracker> Fuu Hououji [Infinity Institute (10)] has posed.
"You're welcome," Fuu replies, raising her cup in reply, then drinking. "And thank *you*, too, for reminding us what the rest of us are supposed to fight for. Just for being Madoka Kaname-san, a good-hearted girl who was pulled into seeing what the rest of us magical girls - and boys," she adds, inclining her head to Steven, "are called to do. Even if you're only now becoming a magical girl in your own right, I think you're off to a good start."
And she smiles, even chuckling a little as she nods to Steven. "Quite so. We're at our strongest when we work together - as we've seen with so many past fights. Queen Metallia is still the one that sticks out in my head, but there have been so many others."
She sips some more cocoa, then looks pensively at Madoka. "So we'll be going back, in some form, to that moment or one shortly after?"
<Pose Tracker> Madoka Kaname [Ohtori Academy (10)] has posed. <SoundTracker> Wish - FFXIII-2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN_8R_vN3rI
Madoka collapses into giggles at Steven's impression. It spills right out of her. "Uehihihi," she laughs, then gasps. "Uehihehe...heh. Yeah. Thanks, Steven. I won't forget... no matter what."
Flicking nearly-shed tears of humor from her eyes, she sets the thermos down at the snow below the bottom step, twisting it into place, one-two, with a crisp, icy sound.
Then she gets to her feet. The mountain, above them, is casting a long shadow.
"Stop looking at me like I have all the answers!" she says to Fuu, still laughingly, as she takes her first step on her path. Her brown loafer does NOT crunch into the snow. In fact, as she takes another step, then another, she leaves no footprints at all. "I only have the one, and I think that's going to have to be enough."
She turns around and salutes them back, with the Sailor Moon pose. She's really good at it, like someone who's practiced it before.
"The rest -- will be up to you! Sailor Madoka Says! Take good care of everyone! And don't forget... to take care of yourselves, too!"
She returns to them with three quick steps, and throws her arms around them both, holding them tightly, fiercely.
"And I won't forget... it's a promise," she whispers, before the light returns, rises up to reclaim them all.
<Pose Tracker> Steven Universe [Juuban Public School (6)] has posed.
"Good, good! Steven says, clapping his hands together. "To be a good superheroine, one must uphold justice! And look pretty dang great while doing it, too. That has to be a tenant, or something."
As Madoka turns to talk to Fuu, the boy gets an idea. While they speak, he turns around and goes in the lodge. "Aha!" There is a bit of crashing. "I'll clean it up, I swear!" he says, and comes back out with an accoustic guitar. "There's always one hanging up in these." He strums it once, even as Madoka stands up and walks.
"No better way for a sendoff, then something to inspire you with, eh?" he says wit ha smile. A look to Fuu. He begins to play. Even now there is a rising sensation in the air.
BGM Change - Sing along!
Wintergatan - Star Machine 2000 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEeiRXOlWUE
~ Out on the hills of Hokkaido we first met as we played in the snow,
~ We all had quite the snowfight then we got to share some hot cocoa!
~ It was fun, but it couldn't last, as we all had our things to do,
~ But at least on that day, I could say it was really swell meeting you!
~ Then one day in the future, we were both at the Crimson Rose Ball!
~ Kassie was dressed to the nines and there was nothing but reds in the halls!
~ I saw you there, dressed lovely and fair, as you giggled with your friends,
~ It was an evening to remember and help yourself to be free and just be you!
~ To be you!
~ To be you!
~ To be you!
~ I remember the day I saw you setting alone at the seaside park,
~ You learned of a terrible tragedy, and hearing it nearly split your big kind heart!
~ I was there, don't despair, I would never let you sit and cry alone,
~ I would give you a shoulder to lean on, until you gained back your cheery tone!
~ Just be you! I say no matter what, you gotta just be you!
~ If you hadn't listened to your heart, then everyone would have been through!
~ You took a chance without a second glance and saved the world right on cue,
~ The future is looking ever-so-bright because you believed in yourself and got to just be you!
~ To be you!
~ To be you!
~ To be you!
~ Then, tragedy struck again, as we all met around you at your house,
~ You were tortured with a truth that I am sure you would have rather lived without...
~ But all your loved ones came together right at your bedside,
~ Me and others, sisters and brothers, held you close and would care as long as you would just be you!
~ Now look at you! Look at what you've become! Im so proud to know you!
~ I couldn't have hoped or dreamed for something better to have come true!
~ From normal girl, to magical hero! In that crucial second or two,
~ Be a bright and shining star, now! Just as long as you remember...!
~ Just be you! I say no matter what, you gotta just be you!
~ If you hadn't listened to your heart, then everyone would have been through!
~ You took a chance without a second glance and saved the world right on cue,
~ The future is looking ever-so-bright because you believed in yourself and got to just be you!
~ To be you!
~ Where you go,
~ Just stay true,
~ To be you!!!
The final lyrics land just as encompassing light and warmth return.
