Finding a House in this Market is... HARD....

[sakatree]

WHO: Hatsu, and YOU
WHAT: Hatsu's carving his room outta the ice! ...Probably.
WHEN: ONE DAY A CALENDAR...WILL EXIST.
WHERE: Sealeo Inn
WARNINGS: Noneeeeexcept for Hatsu's mild cursing. Bad tree.

This way mister, end of the hall is over here!

[Finding the Inn in Illumina wasn't especially difficult. Outside, it was an enormous building carved right from the ice, with strings of lights moving directly up to it. Inside, it was also rather simple. There was a dining hall, a number of rooms available for rent, an office...

...And plenty of space for more, or so he was told. Sealeo had sent their daughter as guide when Hatsu came in, and he was now following a rather eager little one that was literally rolling around with a torch in her mouth.]

Ahaha...you might want to calm down kid, that fire is kind of...

Yeah make sure you don't touch it mister, you're grass type!

Gr- [There were types?! Before he can so much as ask he's shown a wall, the torch somehow slipped into a hook at the side.]

Here you are mister! Just carve yourself a room and it's all yours!

Er...carve..?

Yep! Good luck~!

AUHHHeY HEY WAIT! [Hatsu's shouts fall on deaf ears-or rather, no ears at all, as the spheal has long since rolled off back down the hall by the time the phantump can start protesting. In her absence, he's left turning back to sigh at the wall.] ...Right...let's get started I guess...

[..........................

....About a few hours later, cursing can be heard from the hall.]

COME ON BARELY A CHIP!?

[Along with the sounds of something hitting the ice.] AUUGH I'm giving it everything I've got just. CRACK. BREAK. SOMETHING, I need a room!

[....]

Come onnnnnnn...

[.....]

OOOOHhhhh this would be SO much easier with my guns..!

[This is not going very well, as one can see.]

Comments

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun's managed to find his way to the inn as well, and carving out a room isn't nearly as daunting a task to him. He already knows he can set himself on fire, he just has to figure out how to do it again. All thoughts of that get pushed aside temporarily, though, when he hears the distant yelling of that tree stump ghost not-Yuya he met earlier. It's...kind of funny, he'll admit, hearing him flip out after all that casual glossing over of how elements of the system worked earlier, and he's just rounded the corridor and about to interrupt regardless to point out the entire inn can probably overhear him when he makes that comment about guns.

In the context of Real Solid Vision, that would be intriguing enough, but given what he heard earlier...]

I don't think bullets would do you much good. [Assuming these "guns" even use traditional ammunition.]

[sakatree]

[Ah, woah-

He turns abruptly, beaming.] Kurosaki~ ...Just who I need...

...Ehh, realistically I'd need a working point with those anyway, I don't think I could make anything grow here... [??????????????] But I saw you before, on fire right?

[That is not how you ask for help.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[That sure is a flat look the tiny firebird is wearing right now.] Ask me like an actual person, then, and don't waste my time dancing around it.

[Regardless of how unimpressed he looks with Kashiwa's handling of the situation, though, he nods in answer to the question.]

I don't entirely remember how I did it, but yes. [And now he's just going to give Hatsu a rather dim look until he asks for help like a normal person instead of pretending he's actually pleased to see him for any other reason.]

[sakatree]

[Still just as sunny, he sees-the ghost brings his hands together in a plea motion, ducking his head.] I've been trying to carve a room from this ice for hours-please, please, please help..?

[revolutionfalcon]

[Well, he has to carve his own room as well, so one way or another he'll have to work out this fire thing. Still, he frowns at the plant for a moment before he actually says as much.]

If I can figure out how to do it again, I should be able to help you. [He doesn't exactly sound forthcoming about it, though.]

[sakatree]

[That's enough for him.] Something to combine efforts on then! What happened the first time you went up in flames?

[revolutionfalcon]

[It's not the clearest given the circumstances it happened in, and it takes Shun a moment to dredge up the details of what was happening right at that moment, a slight downturn to his beak.]

I was out in those snowy wastes between here and the glacier, trying to fly here. My wings went numb and I started falling, but I didn't want to give up that easily. I think that's when it happened.

[Determination as the trigger, maybe? Or it could just be the desire to achieve a certain thing...]

[sakatree]

[Fueled by DETERMINATION ey?

He seems to consider this. And then.] So basically you got...

Fired up?

[....Smack him.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[If plants could be withered by a look, Hatsu would be a shrivelled wreck right about now. On the other hand, it almost looks like Shun might set himself on fire by sheer irritation alone.]

Make another comment that stupid and I'll leave you to freeze. [...Okay, he's not that petty, but by god he'll make empty threats if that's what it takes to make him not have to deal with this level of ridiculousness.

He sighs in irritation, then opens his eyes again.] Just keep the wit to yourself, and I'll figure it out.

[sakatree]

Here I'd hoped you'd get pissed enough to burst into flames instead...

[A sigh.] If you want me to be quiet though, alright...

[revolutionfalcon]

I'm not that quick to anger over people making stupid comments. [With that, he turns his back on the ghost plant and closes his eyes, trying to get the feel of what happened back there when he first did this. For a half-minute, it seems like it's just wishful thinking, and they're going to have to dig for it, but there's a sudden spark, and Shun opens his eyes...

...just in time to see what seems to be a visible heatwave burst free and weaken the entire front of the wall instead. That can't be right.]

...That's new.

[sakatree]

[You know what's also new?

The 'THUNK' that says Hatsu just collapsed.

A wheezing voice comes to the air.]

You say that but somehow I don't believe you.............................

[revolutionfalcon]

[Okay, so maybe knocking the plant over was a bonus, but the fact that he doesn't seem to have expected that part should speak at least mostly for the fact that he's telling the truth. Not that Hatsu doesn't deserve it anyway, but still.]

Believe what you want, I'm not lying. [But maybe he sounds just slightly amused at the plant's predicament. Slightly.] It was proper fire before, not just a heat surge.

[sakatree]

At least I can see fire coming..!

[WHEEZING-WHEEZE]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun closes his eyes with an exasperated sigh, though he still looks like there's the ghost of that amusement left on his face.] Then stop complaining and let me try again. It's close, at least.

[Without waiting for an answer, he turns his back and forces himself to focus again. This was a similar feeling, but not quite the same as last time...]

[sakatree]

Ghhh... [Well he's getting up again.

And actually letting the other focus. Albeit only after giving the other a bit of berth. Let's not pass out again now...]

[revolutionfalcon]

[It's hard keeping himself from letting out the wave of heat again, but he can feel himself getting closer to that single-minded determination that brought forth the first surge of fire. He can't afford to lose this focus, or he'll never get the hang of the difference between the two.

Moments later, his feathers itch with a surging heat he didn't notice last time he burst into flame, maybe for all the numbness in his wings last time. But as the blaze spews from under his feathers, he hops into the air and dives towards the wall, boring a clean hole through it and back out. It's not very big, but it's a start.]

[sakatree]

[Enough of a start that it earns a whistle, in fact.

And an odd 'grin' from the tree. Hatsu floats to the hole immediately, peering in to inspect it.] Now that...I can work with, [he cheers, darting back and cracking his 'knuckles' after looking at the dripping hole.]

Let's see how they take plants this time..!

[He has more control over this. Past experiences that as far as others from his home and from Shun's time would be concerned, shouldn't exist. The ghost's eyes shine, and bark seems to move and cover his arms as he throws them forward.] GO-!

[It's not quite real bullets. But the seeds are launched with brilliant force and an alarming amount of precision, plants audibly boring through the weakened ice as they grow outward and within.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun skims into a landing and flaps his wings a little to ensure the fire goes out before he watches the ghostly plant do his own work. The way the seeds shoot out and nail the ice with near pinpoint precision is telling as to how much experience Hatsu must have had with the "guns" he mentioned, and the sound of plants moving through and cracking the ice is a surprisingly satisfying one after the trouble of trying to figure out how to set himself alight again.]

If this was what you were trying to do earlier, what made you think firing the seeds with guns rather than on your own would do a better job? [Because at this point he certainly doesn't think the other was referring to actual bullets - that would have been a waste of time against a wall like this.]

[sakatree]

Because my guns, [he emphasizes without thought of the implications,] wouldn't need a headstart like that.

Hell I could probably get a proper forest going in there with those things, [he mutters, crossing his arms.]

[revolutionfalcon]

[And that entire comment combined with the previous tidbits is what finally makes Shun peer at the ghost plant a little differently.] That sounds powerful, even for a gun. Unless it's something to do with what you were talking about earlier.

[Even if they could make guns that powerful, why would they shoot seeds? Going back to the shadows or the "gloves" they were discussing in the city seems like the better guess to him.]

[sakatree]

If you're worried about it being in the hands of the general population, it's not, [he states coolly, covering his tracks.]

Not even most 'Doctors' and 'Officers' can match that kind of strength.

Of course~ [he adds with a more 'cheery' tone,] If you were far enough in time to talk to Yuuto again, you'd know why~

[revolutionfalcon]

[Shun's feathers seem to rise in irritation at that last comment. "Cheery" is one way of putting it, but to Shun it reads more like a taunt, or at the very least an unnecessary flagging of information not known to him yet.]

Are you done reminding me of Yuto's disappearance like it's funny to you? Or would you rather rub it in some more?

[For such a minor comment, his tone is awfully acidic.]

watch it be more like a year G OD

[sakatree]

[Oiii oii.]

Eugh. You make it sound as if he won't be back-he might be gone at your time point but he's back before the week is over you know..!

[revolutionfalcon]

[Yeah, because that's specific at all. Especially given he doesn't recall discussing where exactly in his time he came from with this guy.]

And exactly what week is this? Because it's already been longer than that. [Not by much, but still.]