And I Carry a Bo Staff

[For the past few weeks, Don has spent an increasing amount of time staring out the windows of his winter room, watching for signs of spring. As comfortable as the room is, after two-plus months of living in it he really just wants to get out.]

[To that end, he has been packing for a camping trip, and today - not knowing that winter isn't yet done with Luceti - he shuts down all the systems in his room and leaves the house.]

[Anyone out and about in the village may see the Turtle, bundled in his snowsuit and carrying a duffel bag, heading out of town. He's not going anywhere in particular and isn't in a hurry, so he'd be happy to stop and talk.]

[Luceti is a cruel and perverted world. That's the only possible explanation for why Don revives from his death-by-drowning at the bottom of the lake. He thrashes for the surface with none of his usual graceful movement, and crawls ashore, panting and trying to figure out what happened.

He knows he died.

He remembers there is a price for being restored to the living world.

He lies in the rain, wondering if it will ever end.

When he has enough breath back to sit up, he does so, and carefully checks himself over for what the Malnosso took. Limbs, senses, memories… all seem in order. He stands and walks, and his legs work. He speaks a few words, and his voice is still there.

It doesn't seem possible that the Malnosso brought him back for free, and he's scared for what hidden deficit might reveal itself later.

He has his mask, belt, and pads. All his other gear is absent, hopefully still at home where he left it.

He starts walking.

He knows it will take some time to travel from the western lake to the village, but he knows the way and he's not in a hurry. It will be good to get his thoughts together before he sees his housemates.]


((Don's death penalty is a language disorder called aphasia. Reference post is here, and linked from the index post at the top of his journal. Meet him anywhere on his way back to House 55.

Plotting note: In the near future, Don will want to go to the clinic to find out what's wrong with him. If your character works there, and especially if they would recognize aphasia, please hit me up via PM.))

((Forward-dated to Sunday the 26th, after the village has cleaned up from the ice storm.))


[That was a good last try, Winter, but you are rapidly losing your hold over this ectotherm. He was trapped in C5 for several days, after Luke Skywalker’s guests shook off their movie-marathon stupor to realize they were iced in, but since making it safely back to House 55 he’s been increasingly alert and moving around with greater purpose.]

[Today he put on his heated snowsuit and struck out across the snowy village to the library. He had found this puzzle-box among his things, and he wants to work on it without his housemates hanging over his shoulders.]

[He also wants to strike up a conversation with anyone who so much as glances at him. Cold weather and semi-torpor don’t present many opportunities for socializing, and the normally-quiet Turtle has a lot of pent-up conversation in need of an outlet. It won’t be at his normal intellectual level, but it should at least be better than it has been in recent weeks.]


((Feel free to help Don with the puzzle-box, but I don’t want it to be opened yet.))

[Don has never been to an ocean before, and last time he was at an amusement park he had to electrify the roller coaster to defeat an enraged colony of nanobots.]

[He is determined that this excursion will be one of pleasant discovery.]

[To that end, he takes the teleporter to the beach on Thursday morning, and spends the next two days exploring the park, the waterfront, and as far out into the ocean as his own limbs can take him. (Or farther, if anyone is kind enough to offer him the use of a boat.)]

[At some point during the two days, he opens his journal and leaves the following message:]

Researchers, experimenters, tinkerers, inventors, curious people of all kinds... join the "Scientists, Hypothesizers, and Engineers of Luceti League". I'm starting it right now and everyone is welcome.

[Before Don goes out this morning, he leaves a note on the kitchen table.]

GONE TO THE SMITHY.
BACK TONIGHT.

[Two days ago he was angry with his brothers for being overprotective, but today everything is different. He genuinely wants them to know where he is, because they've all just been reminded how suddenly a person can vanish.]

[Part of him thinks he should have just stayed home, but... April never wanted him to give up on his work, no matter how futile it seemed. With that in mind, he heads into the village to keep a promise. The promisee is gone too, this time kidnapped before he even started working, but he's going to keep his word anyway. It's not like his curse could cause any further disaster.]

[... Maybe.]

[At any rate, he'll spend the day making tuning forks, for reasons he doesn't entirely understand. While he works, he'll keep an eye out for Sokka. He needs to talk to him about... a certain matter.]