second feather- [Video]

[charcoalfeather]

[....Boy, it's a bit early to be making a video, isn't it? But it would seem someone's set on it, the way the feed settles on the open window of a room before it's turned around to show... Rakka. She seems rather awake, despite the early hours, peering down at her gear with those big eyes.]

Look at this.

[Quiet voice, Rakka. A simple thing to ask before she moves the screen again, jostling it but actually making it clear that they're going to the window and the gear is heading riiiight through it.

Outside the window was Violet city, obviously quiet and dark at this hour, though not so much now as it used to be. The street lamps provide decent illumination, but that's not what Rakka wanted the gear to see as she turns the gear around so it's facing upwards. Pointed into the dark night sky, you get an impressive view at the expanse of twinkling stars up there.]

They're beautiful, right? ...But at the same time they also seem strange. The stars here remind me of the ones back home. I was wondering if any of them are the same, or if I would even be able to tell. [Off-screen, Rakka breaths a quiet sigh.] Maybe not...

[She pulls the screen back into view of her again.] At least I'm getting used to this world now. It's been... [yaaawn] easier then before... Huh?

[Now is the perfect time for a couple of sleepy Doduo heads to poke their heads into the frame and seek attention via tenderly and repeatedly nudging their trainer. Absolutely. It helps sleep-deprived Rakka notice them.]

H-hey, what's wrong? I'm not doing anything...! [Wait, unless she... oops. Whisper time should still be in effect uuhhh] I'll go to bed soon, really...

[And the feed is cut there. Pleasant dreams, Route.]

Comments

[text]

[quadrangle]

DID YOU EVER LEARN ANY CONSTELLATIONS?

[text]

[charcoalfeather]

[Even at one in the morning, Rakka can recognize that grey text.]

no, but I think I remember reading about them in a book one time.
hi, karkat.

[text]

[quadrangle]

HEY RAKKA
OH. I WAS GOING TO SUGGEST SEEING IF YOU COULD FIND ONE HERE BUT THAT WON'T WORK IF YOU KNOW ANY. SORRY.

[text]

[charcoalfeather]

Ooh. No no that's alright. I'm fine with watching the stars tonight anyway.

[She types as she yawns. Yup. Totally awake.]

do you know any constellations, Karkat?

[text]

[quadrangle]

DO YOU MEAN FROM EARTH OR ALTERNIA?

[Hint: he's stalling.]

text

[pipers_son]

[Well, he wouldn't want to ruin anyone's sleep.]

with how many stars there are surely we have to be sharing the view at least a little with people we know

text

[charcoalfeather]

[not ruining everyone's sleep is definitely a thing that all of them should be doing. Too bad it just can't be helped now.]

how many do you think there are?
when I look up at the sky, I always picture it like what an ocean would be. So it has to be really big

text

[pipers_son]

an the ocean is deep too so the night sky has to be as well
could be more stars than all the people and pokemon her ein this place

text

[charcoalfeather]

wow
that's so many

[She's tired. cut her some slack.]

I wonder just how much of it I'll get to see

text

[pipers_son]

probly not all of them even here
its just too many

text;

[donoteat]

[The night sky here really is beautiful. All the lights back home make them hard to see, and Yachi's never had the opportunity to lie down off the side of the road and stare up at the stars twinkling between the canopy of trees like right now, too uneasy to sleep properly when she should be ready to leap out of her sleeping bag at a moment's notice of wild Pokemon calls. She turns around, leaning on her elbows as the video feed switches off, then types in a message for Rakka to read when she wants.] There are an infinite number of stars in the sky. I'm sure some of them are the same as yours, and one of them may even be the same sun as back home. Thinking that makes me feel less alone.

text;

[charcoalfeather]

[How many times had Rakka had the opportunity to do that? Watching the stars was one of the highlights of her trip, despite the less then stellar conditions. But it's better now, nicer. Warmer.

She didn't expect to have so many people answering her. Do you people not sleep too?]

It helps me too. I know that time seems to stop back home when you're here... but it still helps when I know they're looking at the same sky as me. That way we're still connected.

[donoteat]

[It's hard to sleep a week into a new place that isn't her own bed. Doubly hard when it's outdoors in the darkness without the luxury of street lamps. And triply when you've got a Totodile lying by your side with jaws of sharp teeth softly opening and closing while he sleeps, trying to trust each other more but not yet at 100% sure he won't have a midnight snack.] Is that true? If I never get home, they're stuck like that forever?

[charcoalfeather]

[Lucky that Rakka had finally found a place where she could sleep in a real bed, and not underneath a tree with a fluffy espurr for a pillow. It was the simple pleasures in life that still found some enjoyment with Rakka. She hadn't had to worry about any of her pokemon plotting to eat her yet.]

Uh well
I don't know, it's never happened to me yet.
but if you go home, I think time starts again?

[donoteat]

Oh. I hope I can get home soon anyways. I know people at home who have something important they're working towards, so I don't want time to be frozen for them forever because I'm here.

I heard in your video. It sounds like you miss home too?

Text

[coolskeleton_95]

MY BROTHER WOULD LIKE THESE STARS! HE DOES ENJOY STUDYING THINGS ABOUT OUTER SPACE!

Text

[charcoalfeather]

[....What is this font. Uh.]

outer... space? He liked to study that?

Re: Text

[coolskeleton_95]

HE DOES INDEED! HE'S GOTTEN SO MUCH USE OF HIS TELESCOPE SINCE WE MOVED TO THE SURFACE!

Text

[charcoalfeather]

Oh
uh a telescope doesn't sound really useful when you're underground.

[video]

[lieutenantantichrist]

[Blake is sitting in an armchair, low-lit. There's a Snubbull across his lap, and a book in his hand with a finger marking his place.]

It doesn't make much of a difference. None of those ever look like what they're supposed to look like, anyway. 'Oh, here's a dot by another dot. That looks like a guy with a bow and arrow to you, right?'

[video]

[charcoalfeather]

[Well after talking to so many people through text, switching back to video feels a bit strange. But here we are.]

Uh, well... [Quite the cheery answer he's got there.] Then, what are they supposed to look like?

[video]

[lieutenantantichrist]

[Blake's too lazy to type if he doesn't have to.]

I'm just saying if you're going to name something after something else, it should make some sense. The Big Dipper, now that one looks like something. Just a cup on a stick.

[His dog's ear twitches. He scratches behind it.]

Hey. You from Earth, kid?

[video] laaaaate

[charcoalfeather]

[Aww, a dog.

....Wait, what was he asking? Earth?]

Uh, I...

[She has to actually think about it... which should probably answer Blake's questing in itself.]

I don't think so. Actually, apart from the town I live in, I don't know where I'm from.

[Text]

[in4apounding]

Oh, that is really pretty. I don't know if they're the same as the stars on Remnant or not. I didn't know any constellations or anything.

Salutations, Rakka! It's good to see you're adjusting well.

[Text]

[charcoalfeather]

Penny! Hello! It's nice to see you again!

uh, I mean hear you
read you?

[whoops]