Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

None of the group were particularly fussy about what they ate, John in particular seemed to have a stomach that could cope with anything he was offered with no bad side effects. He wasn't put off eating by the disgusting outwards appearance of food (like crickets or deep fried Mars bars), he would complain about how it looked and pull faces at it, but at the end of the day he'd eat it anyway. if Elliott wasn't bothered to cook it was a normal sight to see him and John on the couch eating a bizarre mix of cereal and whatever tinned food they happened to have (more often than not in the same bowl in John's case, Elliott actually having some form of standards and the willpower to get up and grab a second bowl).

"Is there still that massive thing of bacon in the fridge?" Rinaa asked, having slung her hoodie over the back of a chair. Usually for her breakfast she'd settle for toast, cereal, an orange and coffee, but ever since she'd been bitten, those foods just wouldn't give her enough energy to last the day and with more and more of her DNA degrading as each day passed, she was needing more protein and sugar than ever before. "Because if that's going, count me VERY MUCH in." Benji peered in the fridge, then nodded. "Yup it's here." he confirmed. "Greasy, salty and fatty, count me in too." John smirked. Cliff's family made their own bacon and it was hands down some of the best he'd ever eaten in his life.

Charlie took on the job of giving the dogs their breakfasts, knowing that by giving them something to eat it would stop Rhys and Koso from begging food of the guests. It wouldn't stop Meyer, she was tenacious when it came to getting people food. While the bacon, some sausages and some mushroom thing were being fried up a variety of cereal boxes were put out on the table, along with the various fruits, some of which Fia would have seen growing wild on the island. Matteo couldn't resist leaning over and putting a large bottle of fish sauce down in front of Fia. "Since you enjoyed it SOOO much last night, you might wanna put it on your cereal" he told her with a cheeky smirk.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay, hearing about the bacon decided in her mind that she wasn't going to go for it, instead probably going for what Fia was thinking and pick some kind of cereal to have. She just wasn't feeling like having a greesy breakfast for once and wanting to have something slightly better than that. As the cereals got put on the table, Kay went to have a look at what ones they were out if curiosity more than anything, when Matteo put a big bottle of fish sauce in front of Fia.

Fia made a fake retching noise and gag when Matteo put it in front of her, refraining from hitting him in the process. "you're on a thin line already, helping that one this morning, don't push it!" she playfully threatened him, letting him know she wasn't below getting her own back on him before they parted ways if shhe was pushed just that far enough. Kay smirked, tempted to play the older sibling/parent card by telling her not to threaten Matteo but she held back from doing it as she knew it would only make Fia then go for her as she filmed and laughed at her this morning. "she really will too Matteo, I'd watch your back until we go separate ways" Kay warned him, not putting it passes Fia to uptip the entire bottle onto Matteo out of principal.

Fia then looked at the cereals and the fruit, recognising some of them from her walk with the dogs and Rinaa. She poured herself some cereal from the box that was closest to her and she grabbed one of the pieces of fruit. Kay did the same thing, cutting up the fruit and putting it in her bowl with the cereal before pouring some milk in both hers and Fia's bowls.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Matteo just smirked at Fia's reaction to being faced with the sauce again. The threat of revenge just slid off him, it wasn't the first time he'd heard such a thing, and it most definitely wouldn't be the last. "It was so worth it though." He declared, making no effort to move the fish sauce away from Fia, instead grabbing a jar of some kind of syrup and heaping it onto his cereal."If you were on the other end of the stream and/or the one in charge of the dogs you would have done the exact same as I did, or worse. Don't even try to deny it." The threat of retribution didn't scare him, but he doubted Fia would be able to take any kind of successful, at some time between now and them launching he and Fia wouldn't even be able to speak the same language any more, pranking when there was such a massive language barrier wasn't really fun, the best part of the pranks was the reaction and the weird and wonderful things people screamed when caught of guard.

Jay also took one of the fruits, one which had a thick leathery skin on the outside that felt exactly like an avocado skin. Jay pulled out a slim shiv-like dagger from the holster in her boot and began peeling away at the skin. She peeled the skin away so that it fell to the plate in one long, thin continuous spiral. It was something jay did every time she ate fruit with a skin or peel suitable for carving, sometimes, if she was feeling creative she cut the peel in such a way that it formed a sort of sculpture or funny art piece. When Elliott once asked why she did it jay shrugged and made a remark along the lines of 'the art of fruit peeling isn't that different from the art of torture or the art of bladed death, we've all gotta start somewhere' then stabbed the fruit in question with a dagger and turned back to what she'd been doing beforehand. What she meant was that carving fruit and veg was an easy and fun way to teach young kids how to use blades properly and was an excellent medium to demonstrate cutting styles and depth in.

Breakfast was a happy scene, there had always been a contented, homely atmosphere to Cliff's house and a feel that not only was this a place that was lived in, it was a place where things happened and a place that was very much loved. Idle chatter was being traded across the room, along with various jokes and anecdotes, the siblings making various jabs about each other, Nat ending up on a rant about exams and grades, which Rinaa and Moya joined in, the three university students discussing the similarities between their various courses. Jay and Charlie ended up talking about their experiences at military academies, as it turned out that they had both had the 'pleasure' of a particular drill sergeant. Elliott ended up talking with Cal and Cliff about Attil, while John, Chas, Kay and Fia talked among themselves. Nobody brought up what manner of shit could be awaiting them on Attil, which Elliott was grateful for, he'd prefer to end on a high note. For Rinaa the breakfast was over all too soon, a fact she was saddened by, as it meant they were one step closer to leaving Cliff's home planet. For her this would be the last time she'd ever see Cliff's parents and siblings, people she had grown up with and loved. But she had vowed not to cry in front of them, so she did what always did, gritted her teeth, bit her lip slightly and got on with it.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia rolled her eyes as she really fought the urge to open the bottle and tip it all over Matteo when he said it was so worth it instead she pushed the bottle to the side away from her so she could eat her breakfast without the disgusting liquid in her eye line. When he called her out on the earlier prank, saying she would have done the exact same thing she tried to deny it but simply couldn't, "that's different and not the point" she said in a typical defeated teenage manner that conveyed the line 'its only funny when I'm doing it'. She started eating her breakfast seeing how Kay and possibly others just smirked at her defeat, wishing she had longer on this island to truly get her own back on Matteo. She knew it was coming to an end and next time she'd see Matteo he'd be seventeen years older than her, meaning she wasn't even sure if she'd be able to call him a friend anymore.

Like Rinaa, Kay thought that breakfast came to an end far too quickly, having enjoyed the random chatter between John, Chas, Fia and herself. She knew now breakfast was over it would very soon be time to deactivate the runes, she could see Rinaa putting on an air of bravery but said nothing, as she could also see Fia was fighting her own emotions but for different reasons about it. She knew it would be hard for Fia to say goodbye to Matteo and the dogs, having a feeling she would struggle to know how to say goodbye without creating much confusion in Matteo and the others. Fia was also thinking along those lines, how does she goodbye to a friend she had gained without it sounding cryptic or confusing? She really had no idea. "I'm gonna say goodbye to the dogs first if no one has any objections" Fia then finally spoke knowing that would be one of the harder things to do, and so would rather get it out the way first.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Rinaa hadn't realised that her internal conflict was so visible on her face until Moya took her hand in hers and squeezed in reassuringly. The gesture helped far more than she thought it would and once again Rinaa found herself wondering what she had done to deserve the amazing woman by her side. It was obvious to all the Earth group, Jay, Cal and Cliff that the teenagers were struggling with how to say goodbye, but for different reasons. Fia because it was no secret that she'd grown close to Matteo and to leave her first proper friend behind was bound to hurt. The next time she'd see him or any of the siblings, they'd all be seventeen years older and different. It probably wasn't fair or right to compare the situations of both teenagers, but John firmly believed that Rinaa had the worse deal, these were people she not only loved, but gone with. She had been happy spending time with them, particularly Benji, and now she had to make some form of peace withe the thought that she would never see them again. If it came to swapping circumstances, he was pretty sure Rinaa would take the 'meet them again only seventeen years older' option over dying and never seeing them again.

At Fia's statement they all nodded. It hadn't escaped anybody's realisation that the next time Fia saw the dogs they'd be dead, or in the case of Meyer (who was two years younger than the others) very old. She had really bonded with them all, as they had with her, particularly Meyer. The way Fia and Meyer played and acted around each other was very a happy sight, an endearing sight, showed a different side to Fia and verged on adorable at times (depending on who you asked). Rinaa had made, one night, made her way to the hidden graveyard area where the other dogs and horses had been buried. For her it was a sort of pilgrimage (as was visiting Elliott's grave), but also a morbid reminder to herself that death was just around the corner. In her timeline she'd spent too much time just hanging around in graveyards surrounded by the dead, trying to come to grips with it all. And in a way it helped her.

"No objections from any of us kiddo." John told her. "They're outside, best guess in the field near the horses, annoying them." Matteo added, having noticed the dogs slip out a couple of minutes ago. He guessed they went out to do their business, but he couldn't be one hundred percent sure. He was confident Fia could find them.

 

[MzHyde]

Neither Fia or Kay thought that Fia's goodbye was remotely on par with Rinaa's. Fia herself knew that Rinaa had it so much worse in this moment and that as something she could never try to dismiss, yet she also felt her own version of hurt wasn't any less painful because she had bonded with these people and the dogs and she had a taster of what being a normal teenager with friends was truly like. Yet she did also count herself lucky that despite the now impending awkward explanation that she would have to do in seventeen years time, she could indeed see them again unlike Rinaa. With John and Matteo saying she could just take a moment to say goodbye to the dogs, she nodded at where Matteo guessed their whereabouts before exiting the back of the house to where they could be. She whistled to let them know she was out there looking for them.

Kay knew Fia would make the most of her farewells to the dogs, especially with Meyer as like the others noticed the bond between her and them was clear as day and incredibly strong. She didn't particularly know what to say now that Fia had exited the house temporarily, but she guessed it wouldn't be long before they all went to grab their belongings and head to the launch pad, once Fia had returned. It had been such an incredible week at Cliff's family Island, even outside of the incredible wedding, it was time away from the impending situation that they all dearly needed and appreciated more so than some of them would probably ever admit to.

 

[_gallifrog_]

As Matteo had suspected the dogs were indeed near the stables, their ears pricked up at the sound of her whistle. Usually they would have barked to let her know their position, but today they could sense there was something different going on. It had been uncharacteristic for all seven of the family to be together and watch a sunrise, let alone with all their guests present. The dogs were far from stupid, they knew something was up, even if they didn't quite understand it yet. So when Fia whistled they came running to her side.

Back in the house the slightly awkward silence had been broken by the solid clunk as a hefty box was placed on the table. It was the same size as two shoeboxes stacked on top of each other and made from local island wood that had been sanded, stained and varnished to expose the grain. It was pushed towards John, who looked at it, raising an eyebrow in question. "Consider it a sort of parting gift, you said you have some uses for it, and we have far too much of the stuff anyway." Cliff's father explained, giving John an inkling of what could be inside. John flipped open the lid, took one look at the contents and started chuckling to himself, gesturing for the others to come and take a look. Inside were eight large bottles of the fish sauce, neatly surrounded by packing material and wrapped in a second layer of insulating material to prevent breakages during flight.

"Oh I'll find a use for this. Thanks." He told them, usually John actually didn't thank people, it was either implied in his voice or not there at all. But this was different, Cliff's family had taken them all in to their home, fed them, showed them around the island, helped stitch them up (in Rinaa's case), no real questions asked, just accepting that there were far more complex things going on between them and made them feel not only welcome but like a part of the family. They were amazing people and had not only been excellent hosts for the wedding (the island was clearly the perfect venue for Cal, Cliff and their friends) but provided them all with a well needed holiday. The least he could do was use some manners. "Like Pá said, we have loads of it." Benji shrugged, glad that the gift had the desired affect."The bottles will survive the flight, and we've checked, or more precisely Charlie and Alex checked, it is completely legal to bring them to Attil, though even if it was illegal, we'd have given it to ye anyway. Earth is bandit territory, no laws forbid bringing it in. There's just no laws in general on alien stuff." "

Yeah, that's Earth all right, very, very much behind compared to literally every other planet I've seen so far. Most people don't even think aliens exist, despite there being a tights wearin' Kryptonian flying around." "There's always those people." Charlie agreed. "And Kryptonians are super annoying, they all seem to pull the 'I'm the only one of my kind left' card, where as if they actually bothered to get of an interplanetary network, they figure out pretty quickly that they aren't the only one out there." The annoyance in Charlie's tone and the nods of agreement from Cliff, Cliff's parents, Benji, Cal and most noticeable Dan made John smile. Seemed he wasn't the only one who had beef with a Kryptonian. "The one on Earth is a right wanker, and a hypocrite at that." "There's a word for that in psychology circles actually" Cliff remarked, to which John raised an eyebrow and gave her a look of 'go on, tell me more.' "It's 'Kyrpto-complex'. And that was around before the planet got blown up. It's something in them, and the way their body absorbs yellow sunlight only makes it worse I'm told."

 

[MzHyde]

Seeing the dogs appear and run toward her, Fia instantly sat down on the ground so she was more on their level and could say goodbye properly. "hey you three" she greeted giving them each a good pet before sighing, "I thought I'd give you three the first goodbyes. We're leaving this morning and I'm going to miss you all so much" she told them, instinctively giving them all a sort of hug. "I don't know when I'll get to see you all again, for all I know this could be the only time I ever see you. But thanks for being some of the best dogs I've ever gotten to know. I'll never forget you...any of you." she told them, just letting the words leave her mouth without having to think about it too much, she tried not to cry but there was still that one single tear that escaped her eyes. She found it so much harder to hide her emotions with the dogs than with Cliff's family which was why she wanted to go alone and say goodbye to the dogs first, so no one could see her in this state.

When Cliff's father came over, placed the boxes on the table and pushed them toward John, Kay was also curious to what it was all about until the words were spoken about John mentioning finding a use for it. As the box was opened, she smirked, knowing he really would make use of them in just the ways he mentioned the night before. She also noted how John actually said thank you to Cliff's father before they all listened to Benji explain they checked it was legal to take. She knew even if it was, John would find a loophole somehow, its just how he was. As the topic moved onto Superman as Kay only knew him by, she just let him get on with the complaining about the bloke, knowing it was better to just let him get his rant out of his system. Though she did find it interesting that Supes wasn't actually the last remaining kryptonian in existence.

She couldn't help but glance toward the back door and wonder how Fia was getting on with the dogs, her attention being on both John and the conversation in the room and on her kid outside.

 

[_gallifrog_]

When Fia sat down the dogs moved closer to her, pressing right up against her side. It had been mentioned many times by Matteo and his family that this particular species of dog was highly empathetic, not only when it came to people, but to some other animals as well. The could sense the upset in Fia's voice and by moving closer they were trying to comfort her. They didn't understand everything she was saying, but they had been through enough goodbyes and parting of ways to know that this was one. The dogs couldn't hug her back, lacking the right kind of arms, so instead they did the only thing they could and wrapped their tails around her body. The tear didn't go amiss either, and Meyer wiped it away by rubbing his face against Fia's.

It seemed to John that every few years the League would cross paths with a either a Kyrptonian with nefarious intention or a Kryptonian seeking their help in some off world matter. Superman being Superman couldn't say no to his own people, which was fair enough, John supposed, if Earth had blown up and he survived, he'd probably at least consider helping another human he happened to come across. But unlike Superman he wouldn't just charge in headfirst without doing some checking. Technically he wasn't supposed to know about what the 'real' League did, he was only a member of the Justice League Dark (a ridiculous name in John's mind), and a very reluctant one at that. But both Wonder Woman and Batman were in the JLD, and friends outside of superhero life, when left alone they'd chat. A LOT. John had learned that if he hung around in the shadows for long enough, they'd forget he was there and he could find out all kinds of things by eavesdropping on them.

Bitching about Kryptonians didn't last long due to Cliff and Cal deciding that it was best if they headed off to get their various baggage and start putting into the ship. They had a considerable amount between them, including the two armour trunks containing their wedding armour #(arguably the most important pieces of baggage of all). With four extra people (Charlie, Matteo, Nat and Moya) heading back with them on the ship and a vertical launch to factor in, not only was loading up the luggage going to be like a game of Tetris but it would need to be loaded in such a way that if if shifted it wouldn't damage anything. Cliff's siblings headed upstairs to grab their own bags, while Elliott, Rinaa and Moya headed down to the docks, Jay would follow them down, but she was making a side trip to the horses first. "Guess we should get our stuff too then?" "Yeah, and in my case politely tell The House to bog off back to whatever pocket dimension it lives in usually." John agreed.

 

[MzHyde]

The way the dogs moved closer to her and used their tails to 'hug' her back, did bring a small smile to her lips, sensing that they did indeed get she was saying goodbye to them, even if they wouldn't get everything she said to them. She let Meyer wipe her tear by rubbing her face against hers, making a small single chuckle escape Fia's mouth. "thank you girl" she told Meyer. She was completely unaware that Jay was making a divert route to the horses where she was, and thus would have seen her with the dogs. She just really wanted to make the most of being to hug them whilst she could, knowing she could stay much longer. "don't ever forget me okay? I know I'll never forget you" she told them, hugging each of them firmly. She took a deep breath before letting go of them, beginning to stand up and finally seeing Jay was there. "hey, we all starting to collecting our things?" she asked, wondering just how much Jay witnessed.

With the bitching over with, Kay nodded at what Chas said, before smirking at John said. "guess so. Which means going to get Fia so she can get her stuff from The House as well. She has been with the dogs a long time" Kay added, thinking that if Fia was taking this amount of time with them then she wasn't taking it all that well, but she also had faith that her kid would deal with it just fine, the further away from the island they would get. She got up and grabbed her own jacket as well as Fia outer one for her that she left on the back of her seat when she went to the dogs.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay say far more of Fia getting emotional around the dogs than she suspected Fia would be happy with her seeing. She knew that saying goodbye to the dogs would be hard, but Jay hadn't expected Fia to well up in the process. Being an assassin meant that walking soundlessly was normal for Jay, she had to make conscious effort to walk in a way that would sound noisy. The stable floor being strewn with brittle straw, dried dirt and grass didn't hinder her silent walking in the slightest. Jay hadn't intended to spy on the teenager, but Fia and the dogs were all distracted and wrapped up with their goodbyes that she didn't want to interrupt them. When Fia did spot her she made her way over to the fence, vaulting over it in one fluid motion. "Yeah we are, it's time to finish the goodbyes and leave." She confirmed, coming to a halt a couple of metres away from the fence."The others are headed to The House or boats to get their stuff." She then clicked her tongue in the direction of the horses, their ears flickering at the noise. Jay extended a hand as the horse walked closer, letting the horse be the first one to make any move to touch her. These were half wild animals and deserved to be treated with respect. Even when just walking the horses moved gracefully and fluidly like the water that had birthed them. The strength and power they possessed was evident in the way the horses carried themselves. The first horse lowered it's muzzle into Jay's waiting palm, giving her permission to rub it. Jay's other hand came up and stroked along the neck and shoulders of the animal, all the time speaking softly. If what she was saying was a language, it wasn't one Fia's rune could translate.

Fia had indeed been a while, potentially longer than necessary, that fact hadn't gone amiss of Chas, Elliott or John. "Can you really blame her for wanting to drag it out though? She really did bond with those guys." "Yeah, she did, and they seemed to be as attached to her as she is to them." Elliott remarked slightly sadly swinging his coat on. "Can't be easy to say goodbye." Chas sighed as they left the house, Elliott diverting towards the harbour."And the odds aren't good on her ever seeing them again. Realistically the next time she sees them they'll either all be dead or it'll just be a very old, quite crocked Meyer and a new lot of younger dogs." The route to The House didn't take John, Chas and Kay past Fia or the stables. Entering John left the door open as a sort of sign to Fia that they were in there and getting their stuff together. Some of the things John brought with him on the initial journey he'd only brought with him with the intention of putting them in The House, so he ended up with a smaller bag leaving the island than when he first arrived on it.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to what Jay said and nodded, using the bsck of her arm to wipe the remaining tears away. Fia was one of those kids who when she cared about someone or something, she cared with all her heart, but that wasn't to say she didn't know how to keep people at an arm's length, she did know but every once in a while she'd let a being in. She was the same when she knew she was about to time travel back and had to make sure that Max would have enough to cope without her. She hated leaving his little face behind. "okay, guess I should head to The House then" she replied, "and...dont tell anyone about what you saw... Okay?" she asked Jay, trusting that Jay would keep the fact she cried a secret, having a feeling she would have seen that. She watched as Jay said her goodbyes to the horses, finding her rune wasn't translating whatever it was Jay was saying to them. She just guessed it was some sort of farewell. After a couple of short moments, she headed back toward The House, deciding she couldn't look at the dogs or she'd just make it that much harder on herself.

"I can't blame her at all" Kay agreed with the others, nodding in an somber manner that the chances of Fia ever seeing them again was next to zero. She left with the others and headed back to The House with them, noting how John left the door open for Fia, going to get her belongings. Knowing that she'd no doubt be in The House for safety soon enough for when Fia came into the world, she left the dress she wore at the wedding where it was. She knew she wouldn't wear it again any time soon so didn't see a point in taking it back to Attil. So, she grabbed her backpack that she packed everything else in, and slung it properly on her back.

Soon enough Fia could be heard coming in and jogging up the stairs to quickly grab her bags. With everything else picked up, she walked out of her room, closing the door behind her knowing The House would now be able to not worry about having the room in existence for the time being. She walked and waited outside her parents room for them.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Jay didn't reply to the first statement, taking it as a rhetorical one. By now the other horses had made their way over to her, nuzzling against her with their heads. She stroked each one in turn, in some cases running her hands through the tangled hair of their manes, murmuring softly the whole time. Fia was right in thinking it was a farewell of sorts. She hadn't spent nearly as much time around the horses as Fia had with the dogs, but she felt she had bonded just a little bit with the horses. It had been years since she had spent so much time with animals as magnificent as these, so being able to spend what little time she did with them made that part of her happy. While she would miss the horses, she doubted they would miss her too much when after she left, they were still very much wild and really didn't need people around. "If there's one thing I can do it's keep quiet." she replied, looking over at Fia"I won't say anything, don't worry." There was a note in her voice that very much said 'go, get your stuff, the others are waiting, I'll follow on'.

John left the black trench coat behind in The House, he rarely wore it, feeling far more at home in his usual tan number. But what he did do was swap out his old, used shirts, trousers and boxers for new clean ones. He'd learned that if he left clothes in drawers for long enough the magic of The House would sort of automatically clean them. He was tempted to take one of the various weapons from The House with him, as a sort of precautionary measure. They had no idea when Elliott would die, and he did want to be prepared. But in the end he decided against it, a magical weapon would be to incriminating and Jay pretty much had an entire arsenal on her, Rinaa had a lock up that served the same purpose. Both women with their underworld contacts could easily source him a weapon if needs be.

After checking there was nothing left in the room John turned to Kay, and seeing that she was ready to go, he opened the door with a "right, guess we'd best leave then." John wasn't too surprised to see Fia outside the door when he opened it. He could see a slight redness in her eyes, but said nothing. "You've got everything then I take it?" He asked as they made their way to the main entrance way where Chas was waiting, carryall bag in hand.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay nodded and walked up to the door with him, letting him open it and saw Fia standing there. She too could see the signs that she had been crying a bit when saying her goodbyes to the dogs and she really did feel for her kid in that split moment, but like John, she never spoke of it. She knew if Fia wanted them to she would make some kind of gesture of one sort or another to let them know it was okay to.

Fia looked up at John's question and gave a single nod. "yeah, I got everything" she confirmed, before heading downstairs with the two of them to see Chas already standing by the front door waiting for them all. She was glad that neither of them asked about her moment with the dogs and chose to say nothing. It wasn't something she wanted to talk about, and Kay was right in thinking she would give them some kind gesture if she did at any point. In her timeline she would just curl up beside either of them (namely John) if she wanted to talk, just like she did when John sat with her on Cliff's rooftop. It was the unspoken gesture that said 'I'm miserable but I will talk about it/need to talk about it. I just don't know how to make the first sentence'.

"time to go then" Kay simply said, holding onto both straps of her backpack out of an old habit. Her unspoken bit was 'so thanks House, we'll see you soon'.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"Yeah, Cliff will probably murder us if we miss the launch window" John smirked, before adding, as if as an afterthought"and no doubt Jay could hide the bodies scarily easily." Once outside he locked up The House, checking the doorknob once, rattling it, before stepping back, satisfied that it was locked. he didn't say goodbye to The House, that would just be soppy, and so completely not him. If he did say goodbye to The House out loud Chas would instantly questioning if a) John was feeling alright and b) whether the man beside him was actually his lifelong friend and not some kind of pale clone or imitation. He said the incantation that caused The House to dematerialise from this plane and go to the sort of limbo space between worlds, and then with a wave of his hand The House simply vanished, leaving behind a patch of dry, yellowing scrub grass in the exact shape of where the base had been. John looked at the spot, then gave a slight shrug. "It'll grow back" he declared, before turning, hefting his bag further up his back and began making his way down to the harbour.

The others were all there when they arrived, even Jay, she'd packed up her stuff earlier and told Elliott it was okay if he brought it along to the boat. Cal, Cliff, Dan and Elliott were saying goodbye to Cliff's parents and thanking them for being such good hosts. Rinaa meanwhile was saying goodbye to Benji, which ended with him wrapping her in a firm hug. Rinaa had grown on Benji, despite having so many siblings, he didn't always have somebody to talk to who took the same pleasure in mechanics as he did and Rinaa had filled that hole. For Rinaa, Benji was somebody who hadn't changed that much from the one she knew in her timeline, he was easy to talk to and when she explained how she wanted to finish her degree before dying, he was one hundred percent behind her on the decision, saying he believed she could do it (belief in herself was something Rinaa lacked at times and Benji just unconditionally providing it had made her day). So when she hugged him, for what they both knew would be more than likely the last time she didn't hesitate to press herself right into him and bury head in his shoulder.

John started passing down their bags to Charlie and Nat who were fitting everything into the cargo section of their ship. It was just as small and clunky as he remembered it to be, It really was the equivalent of a hire caravan. It would fit everybody and everything, just about. He could smell boat fuel, evidently at some point or another Cliff's family had refuelled the craft so they had enough fuel to sail it to the launchpad. With all their baggage down below he and Chas went to say their goodbyes and thanks to Cliff's parents and Benji (who was the only one of the five kids staying on the island).

 

[MzHyde]

Neither Fia or Kay said their goodbyes to The House out loud, instead just saying it mentally to themselves. They watched on as John did the incantation to send The House away to its location until they needed it again. With that done, they walked with John and Chas to the harbour to meet up with everyone else, where they handed their bags along the line to get them packed on the ship. Fia noticed how Rinaa hugged Benji tightly and smiled to herself, knowing that the two had bonded in a way due to their mutual love of mechanics, and she did feel sad slightly for Rinaa knowing she won't get to see Benji again.

Kay and Fia also went to say goodbye to Cliff's parents, thank them for hosting them as well as saying goodbye to Benji knowing he was the only sibling not coming along. "hopefully we'll see you all again sometime. Thank you for making us all feel welcome" Kay said last, giving each of them a quick hug. Fia said her thanks as well and gave them all a hug to show how much she appreciated their hospitality which also showed she wasn't brought up to be rude. Especially as as far as they were concerned, her parents died when she was a little younger and it was basically Kay and John that were bringing her up through her teenage years.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Chas and John didn't go for the hugging like the others did, but they both conveyed their sincere thanks and gratitude for Cliff's family not only taking them in at such short notice, but making them feel welcome too. "It was really great being here, thanks so much for letting us stay here on such short notice, we all had an amazing time, you've been great to us, and the gaggle of teenagers we brought along with us." "Yeah, thanks for having us all here on such short notice, and letting us run wild on your island. I know we basically showed up out of nowhere and are far from normal or easy to have around. But it's been a great week here, for all of us."

"Most definitely you should all come here again. It was our pleasure to have you all here for the wedding week, you were excellent guests, Fia took great care of the dogs and Artemis and Benjamin got one of the boats back up and running that we'd pretty much given up hope on it ever working again.." Cliff's mother replied with a broad smile, before lowering her voice and adding "And it meant a lot to Cal that you all came as her new found adopted and extended family." "And no need to thank us quite so much, we did what anybody would do, there's plenty of space here and you guys are family now." Cliff's father added with a shrug, it was clearly her father that Cliff got her grounded nature and modesty from."You didn't do what just anybody would do, I could think of a loada people who woulda done differently. You two and your kids are amazing people, you should be very proud of them. It's been great meeting you all." John told them firmly, for once not caring about letting his emotional side take control.

After a final round of goodbyes they finally climbed into the boat, making their way to the seating area, the access hatch being closed and sealed behind them. Rinaa had snagged the seat right behind the two pilots chairs which had one of the best view out of the cockpits and there was nothing anybody could do to move her. If somebody was to challenge her for the seat she would have said 'this is the last time I'll ever be able to see this view in my life. You may get to see it again, but I never will'. Moya was beside her, the seat moulding to her back in such a way that it was comfortable for her wings. With everybody on board the ship was filled to capacity, no spare seats to be had. "Right everybody, strap in." Cal called out from the front.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia smiled nodding at not only what John and Chas said to show they agreed with everything that was said, but also to acknowledge what Cliff's parents said bsck at them. They both saw how John wasn't holding back on showing his emotion when he told them that they should be proud of their kids, Kay hoping that in Fia's timeline someone says that to him and her about their upbringing in Fia. Fia knew the same thing was said to John about her, but that didn't even go through her head at the time. She just noted how John let his emotions show on something.

With all the farewells said and done, both girls got into the ship and sat down, not minding where they were sat but it turned out to be the same seats as they had coming to the island, and neither complained about Rinaa taking the next best seat in the ship. With the command to strap in, they did exactly that as Kay enjoyed the whole memory foam seating once more, remembering she needed to get ahold of some for when she was back home. By this point, the runes had also been deactivated for safety reasons, meaning Fia had made a point just before to say her last words to Matteo which mostly consisted on thanking him for trusting her with the dogs and giving her the best week she's ever had as well as experiencing what having a friend was like. To her it was important to let him know what his friendship meant to her before she couldn't tell him.

 

[_gallifrog_]

To hear John speaking so candidly to Cliff's parents was a shock to Chas, it was rare that John spoke that deeply from the heart when sober, and even rarer for him to do it of his own accord. Usually getting that kind of information from him was like banging your head against a brick wall. He knew that John genuinely meant every word he was saying, and wanted to be damn sure that Cliff's parents knew that too. He agreed wholeheartedly with what John was saying, Cliff's family had gone above and beyond in everything they'd done, and they really couldn't have asked for a better addition to their extended family. Matteo had blushed slightly at parts of Fia's final goodbye, not expecting to be on the receiving end of such an outpouring. His parents receiving such a speech? Yes, they were amazing and he knew full well that they hadn't just done 'what any family would'. But himself? He was pretty sure he had just done what any kid would do. He ended up hugging Fia and thanking her for taking such good care of the dogs, for being a generally awesome person to be around and wishing her good luck with what was happening next with Elliott, the campaign to get a dog and whatever it was she ended up doing in the future. He knew he probably wouldn't see Fia for another couple of years, but he was still oblivious to the fact that there would also be a seventeen year age gap.

Deactivating the runes only took a coupe of second, but it was a disconcerting experience for those who'd never used such a run before, to go from understanding everything to understanding nothing. Cliff's siblings were all talking in their own language, Cal and Cliff were speaking a mix of that and Attili, while Rinaa and Moya were speaking only Attili. Jay had been the first to get her rune deactivated, it left behind a slightly itchy, angry-looking patch on her leg, but the itch cause by the inflamed area was significantly less than that of the rune itself, so Jay didn't really mind. With John's ink the rune seemed to just crumble away into dust once the rune was deactivated, leaving no blemishes at all on his skin. Elliott's ink did leave a reddish mark on skin, but that went away with a day or two.

Cliff steered the ship expertly out of the harbour, avoiding all the other boats. Instead of heading towards the volcanic island they passed by on their arrival, Cliff piloted the boat away from it. The sea-launch pads were in the opposite direction to the volcano and about a forty minute sail away, maybe a little less as they were sailing with the tide and had more than enough fuel for her to gun the engines and speed up the boat. They exiting the island chain that Cliff's family lived in, and it wasn't too long before there was only sea visible around them. The whole planet was surrounded by a network of location satellites, a similar system to Earth GPS but far more up to date and comprehensive. It was this live satellite data and years of experience that Cliff would be using to navigate by.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia somehow managed to hold it together when Matteo gave his thanks and hugged her, which she gladly returned. She knew that he had no idea the difference that would happen by the next time she would see him, unlike her who knew next time she saw him at her current age there'd be a massive age gap and if she saw him before that time, she'd be a mere toddler at most. She could also see how much her words surprised Matteo but she meant every single word of what she said and took on board what he said also. She just wished she could have said 'don't freak out next time I see you' but knew she couldn't so kept her mouth firmly shut to stop herself from saying something she shouldn't.

With her rune being deactivated, she felt the difference and certainly heard the difference but the actual rune itself didn't look any different. It still remained on her forearm in black ink looking like any other tattoo, whereas Kay's faded away on her own arm, going a pale red at first before her arm looked like it was never there. She put it down her phoenix bloodline clearing it up so perfectly, just like it did with any injury or tattoo attempt. She did find it disconcerting however when she couldn't understand a single thing the others were saying and only understanding Chas, John, Fia, Jay and Elliott for the time being. Yet that moment of feeling baffled quickly went away and she got used to it again.

As they manouvered away from the island to the sea-launch pads, both Kay and Fia looked out the window watching them get further away from the island and noting all the location satellites around the place as Cliff navigated around effortlessly. Kay glanced over at Fia and gave her the look to ask if she was alright to which Fia just nodded with a reassuring smile, making Kay nod, smile back and look forward again.

 

[_gallifrog_]

The global location satellites were also connected to various sea buoys that measured things like ocean temperature, wind speed, sea flow and wave direction. Rinaa had been fascinated by the buoys when she first saw them- tall, metal monoliths painted in oranges and red for visibility, with lights and high band antennae on top. They didn't look like they should be able to stay above the water, yet somehow they did. When she was eight, Rinaa had spent the best part of a month reading up on everything she could possibly find about the navigation and weather monitoring networks of Cliff's home planet, and even though she knew and understood how it worked, it still amazed her to look at it to this day. Looking out at the sea and chatting to Moya proved to be enough of a distraction to keep her sadness and sense of loss at bay.

John and Chas sat back and took it easy for the ride to the sea-pads. As promised Elliott had obtained a copy of the heist movie that he and Rinaa had watched together, uploading it onto a USB drive so Chas and John could watch it on the shuttle ride back. He'd also uploaded a copy of another movie Cal had recommended to the drive. (Elliott himself hadn't seen the movie, it came out while he was living on Earth, but he trusted Cal's taste in movies, as kids they'd always been into similar movies, and so far their tastes as adults seemed to pretty similar -plenty of action and drama, well developed characters, a plot twist nobody saw coming). It would be a long flight, so he figured he might as well give it a shot.

At various points through out the trip one of the control panels, which, according to Rinaa and jay was the one monitoring the ship's radar equivalent, started bleeping. Usually it was slow and sporadic, a ship in the distance passing right over the edge of their radar field, usually anybody on board could see the ship in question by looking out of of the hull windows. It was about thirty minutes into the trip that the radar device started pinging frantically at Cliff. A glance at the readings revealed that not only was the object coming at them fast, it was huge. Looking out, Cliff and Cal saw nothing. They checked the readings again, Cliff's eyes flickering to the depth measurements. "Everybody, I'm killing the engines for a minute" Cliff called out in English, signing in her native language for the benefit of her siblings. "We've got a whale coming up near us, if we get lucky, we might be able to see it breach."

 

[MzHyde]

Both Fia and Kay also took it easy, Kay particularly knowing that the calmer she took life the better it was for her and baby Fia. There was also, for the time being, nothing that could stress her out so she made the most of the relaxed situation as she knew when they got back to Attil it wouldn't strictly be very relaxed. When the radar started beeping frantically, Kay's curiousity got piqued which only heightened when Cliff started talking. Hearing there was a whale coming up to them, Kay couldn't help but get hopeful that they would see it. Fia was the same, she found herself leaning forward in her chair whilst keeping her straps on.

Fia's love of animals didn't just start and stop at dogs. She loved nearly every single animal she knew about with the exception of spiders. She absolutely hated them with a passion and has been known to jump three feet into the air at the sight of one and it only got worse if one scurried over her. She had used some very colourful language before when that happened once to her, making everyone around her question where she learned such words as she was only 14 at the time. So she hoped that they would see the whale breech so she could say that she had seen one in person and relatively close up.

Kay saw how Fia was leaning forward as if it would make it so much easier to see and smiled to herself. Even after everything the very action showed Kay that Fia had that essence of childlike wonder in her which actually warmed her heart. She knew that Fia would have had to grow up quickly and being more mature than her age, but she also hoped she still had that typical teenage essence in her, and this showed that.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Every time the radar (or any of the other devices on board) made some kind of noise, John's eyes would snap towards it, trying to figure out what was going on. The rest of his body was calm and relaxed, showing no signs of anything being wrong, but inside he wasn't fully at ease, his mind very much alert and active. His alertness was only partially due to the fact he was expecting Fia to try and prank him, it was mostly to do with the fact that John never quite felt at ease in the open sea. He was fine on lakes, rivers and enclosed harbours, or any stretch of water where land was visible. But the deep sea was a different beast altogether, there was something about being on the open sea with no land at all in sight that put him very much on edge. It was a sort of irrational fear, one most people had no idea about. John knew he was perfectly fine at sea physically, he had strong sea legs, a good sense of balance, was a decent swimmer and had never suffered from any form of sea or motion sickness while on a boat. But mentally, he wasn't fine at all, his extensive knowledge of sea monsters big enough to destroy cruise liners didn't help matters, nor did the fact that every time he was on the open sea, John's mind couldn't help but conjure up the image of his waterlogged, battered corpse being thrown around by the sea, never to be found by anyone. He hadn't been like this on the journey over because they had been in sight of land almost all the time.

Despite all his going on, his interest was very much piqued at the mention of a whale, leaning forwards in his chair just like Fia was. He had never seen one before in real life and he wasn't going to miss the chance now. Looking over at Fia, he couldn't help but smile very slightly at the look of wonder and anticipation on her face. It was clear to him that her love of animals wasn't limited to dogs. The expression was very childlike and made her look significantly younger, and like Kay, he couldn't help but be glad that Fia had retained that sense of wonder. John had all but lost his as a kid, he had no choice but to grow up quickly, and as such, never had any of the normal childhood growth (hence why he was closed off emotionally and chose to hide his feelings rather than express them). Even when something did impress and awe him, he would instinctively respond with a snarky comment, a put down or just not react at all. Future him and Kay must have done something right for Fia to retain that part of her, even with the added pressure and danger of being a phoenix.

Cliff's siblings didn't wait for her permission, just unstrapped themselves after Cliff killed the engine, making their way to the front. Elliott took that as their cue that they were allowed up and unbuckled himself too. "You might as well all come up front." Cliff told them, before switching to her native tongue and scolding her siblings. Even with a language barrier, it was apparent she wasn't serious. Matteo couldn't help but look towards Fia during the scolding, making an extremely bored face and a 'blah blah blah' gesture with his hand.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay wasn't aware of John's fear of the open sea, and if she did know about it and how it originated, she would have completely understood it but their bond did tell her that mentally he wasn't 100% at ease and on edge. She knew he was partly on alert because of Fia's impending revenge prank but this just felt different to her, yet she said nothing. She noticed how John also leaned forward at the mention of a whale however and looking between Fia and Joh, she saw similarities in the two of them in that split moment, despite Fia's awe making her look younger than she was. With the others unbuckling without permission and thus seeing Elliott do the same, Kay and Fia followed suit seeing Cliff clearly scolding her siblings.

Fia looked at Matteo and chuckled, a notion that always spread to her eyes when it was genuine amusement. She went up front and stood next to Matteo so she could try and see the whale, with Kay standing behind the two of them to try and see if this whale would breech and show itself to them. Like John, she had never seen one in real life, not even at Seattle's sea life centre when she was a teenager, as she would go there every so often to sketch the sealife or see the professional mermaid show to also draw, so she was very much interested in being able to see one for herself. Which got her very briefly wondering if those shows were still a thing or not before her mind went back to the present and what's in front of her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John headed over to stand in the space near Elliott, Jay and Chas, the cabbie giving him a discreet look of 'you alright?' as John drew up beside him. The cabbie didn't say anything aloud, knowing that John was far from comfortable with people knowing about his fear of the open sea, a mindset Chas could very much empathise with. When it came to his own fear (fear of flying) Chas would rather not talk about it either (though he had been very much relieved to learn that his fear was limited only to flying in planes, gliders and helicopter. Spaceships and space shuttles he was utterly okay with). John nodded in reply, he wasn't the best, but he was far from freaking out or breaking down. "Peachy Chas, peachy." John replied in response, giving his mate a confident smirk before casting his eyes out the cockpit window, eyes scanning for anything that looked remotely whale-like.

With the engines shit off, the ship was now at the mercy of the waves, rocking gently from side to side, the lapping of the water audible to those inside the ship. For the second time that day everybody fell silent, the air crackling with anticipation. As luck would have it, the whale chose to breach right in front of the ship, no more than twenty-five metres away from them. It arced out of the water, exposing it's underside to the sky, before crashing down into the water again, flicking it's tail high into the air, then slamming it down, the kick that forced thw ehole body of the wahel downwards and gave it a start of momentum for it'd dive right back into the depths of the ocean. The entire body of the whale came out of the water, and their ship was by some lucky fluke at the perfect distance to take it all in.

It was humongous, far, far bigger than the craft they were in. John didn't know much about whales, but he was willing to be that the animal in front of him was far bigger than any Earth whale alive at that moment in time. It had a series of dorsal fins on it's back, which decreased in size the closer one got to the tail. It had three sets of pectoral fins too, which also decreased in size as they headed towards the tail. The pectoral fins were clefted along the edge, a remnant left over from when the finger bones fused together. The main tail had a series of distinct notches in it, the naturally occurring 'fingerprint' that scientists used to catalogue it. The main body was a dark blue purple in colour, while the dorsal fins were a brighter purple, changing to pink at the tips. There was a slight banding of turquoise along the pectoral fins and like any good whale, there was a selection of barnacles and limpets attached. The shape of the head and the ribbed sack under the jaw said that this beast was a filter feeder, not a man eater.

Spoiler: Whale Inspiration

The whale look something along these lines