Scene #3846: New Mirage City

Owner	Pose
Golden	The Aqua Valley is a harsh place. As dry as an Anarctic desert, as hot as the infamous Death valley. This is a bad land for gods and mortals alike, and the place is strewn with the corpses of those who thought they were bad enough dudes to survive the lethal environment and tough as nails predators that prowl the sands. But there are shelters even in this place, though few of them are natural ones such as cavern systems (and even those are home to a host of native creatures that would likely want to eat you). No, the shelters here are transient visions of cities that may or may not be real. This particular city is nestled in the shelter of a cliff's overhang, a natural sort of hollow one would see the cities of the early Pueblo dwellers in the American Southwest nestled in. There are people here, and one can hear their voices talking about ordinary everyday business as if nothing was strange at all. They seem very real and very present.
Hitoshura	Hitoshura is nearing the mirage city, mounted on Cerberus. The demonic lion seems to be tolerating the extreme weather pretty well, although his tongue is lolling. Hito has taken off his jacket and set it underneath him. The sun's rays are piercing his skin like a bad tattoo artist. He's better find shelter soon, or get out of here. "I think this is it, Cerb," Hito says. "It looks like a city. You think it's real?" Cerb growls. "One way to find out," Hito says," I'm going to unsummon you unless I need you. No sense both of us suffering this intense heat," Hito dismounts Cerb, tosses his jacket over his shoulder, and says, "Partner mine Friend that's true Return you to the place you knew"
Golden	Golden finds himself in the middle of the mirage city, having been curious about the mirage-like vision he'd seen. Clearly this wasn't a mirage, so maybe it was something else. It was certainly nice to be out of the sun though. The cyborg-styled digimon's metal parts had gotten unbearably hot in the heat of the sun. The people seem like ordinary humans, with skin darkened a reddish-brown from the harsh sun and with a leathery look from the dry climate. They seem friendly enough, offering water to the odd visitors they've been graced with. Thank goodness for the Multiverse Translation effect, or there might have been some real barriers to communication. Loose woven vests and leather pants seem to be the style of dress they favor, along with wide-brimmed hats that they only don when they must venture into the sunlight.
Hitoshura	Hito enters the city, and upon being offered water, politely drinks it slowly, even though his body is telling him to gulp it down like it's his last meal. Cerberus is unsummoned, so Hito is alone. He doesn't sense anything divine or infernal (which is true of most of the multiverse), but looks around at all the people in their strange clothing. He opens his bag and reaches for a fragrant melon from Ai. He eats half of it and puts it back into its strangely purple foil. Guess he brought provisions. Does he see Golden anywhere? Most of the people here look to be human, and although Hito's getting some odd stares, they seem to be welcoming enough. He finds some shade and sits down at some kind of open air cafe. He looks over something on the menu to bring up his electrolytes. Maybe some sweetened cactus juice? He think he sees something gold out of the corner of his eye, and turns. Is that.. What is that?
Golden	Golden is indeed visible! He's hungry as well and plops his metal butt down at the same open air cafe as Hitoshura and gives the young man an appraising glance. "Huh! I'm gonna guess that neither of us are from around here. People call me Golden." He sees the melon thingy on the menu and orders that, offering a tiny gold nuggest as payment. "Yeah, I'll pay for his too I guess." the waiter or server says something about it being too generous.
Hitoshura	Hito smiles. "Nice to meet you, Golden. My name is Hitoshura, but you can call me Hito," He is surprised at having his food paid for, but he isn't one to argue about that. "You don't have to do that, but I appreciate it. Thanks," "Yeah, I'm originally from a post-apocalyptic Dyson sphere called the Vortex World. Now I live on Ai, a dual world that's a new home for the spirits from my world." Of course, they actually call themselves demons, although they are sentient, and most of them don't try to eat humans or Digimon. "Where are you from Golden?" Having met Alden, another Digimon, something in the back of Hito's mind is trying to get noticed. However, Hito's not that observant, nor does it ring as anything important to his current situation. Then again, Alden and Golden don't look anything alike, and he doesn't see a deck thingy like what Alden had. He eats politely with excellent table manners, making conversation with Golden. Hito is pleased. He seems to find the most interesting people in the most interesting places.
Golden	Golden ehs. "From a dead world. God threw a temper tantrum when the Demon Lords started a war and decided to wipe the slate clean. Some of us survived and hopped into a warp gate and ended up in the Multiverse." The short version. The less painful version. Golden cuts up the melon with the claw on the back of his one hand. "Seems like a lot of people come from places where an Apocalypse or two happened. Somebody smarter than me wondered if that was some kind of pre-requisite for a world merging with the Multiverse. Starting to think he might have been right." Golden glances around as he eats a slice of melon (rind and all). Maybe places like this were ghosts of other places that didn't quite merge well with the Multiverse, he thought.
Golden	Golden adds. "Where are my manner? Nice to meet you, Hito."
Hitoshura	Hito says,"Nice to meet you, too." He leans over to offer a hand, which is stronger than it looks, but probably on par with Golden's lower forms. Hito continues, "That sounds a bit like my world. It was a cultic ritual that changed my world, although God and the devil might have be involved. Somewhere there's supposed to be someone with a Reason to make it new, but I don't think that's me. So I led an exodus of my people, and we're happy now. I don't think every world is like ours. A lot of them, but in my travels I've seen enough nice worlds to know that while dead worlds may be common, they're not the only kind." Hito drinks some more of the water, condensation on the glass dripping lazily onto the table. "Well, you should visit Ai sometime. Tenkai if you like order, or if you're tough enough, you can visit in Makai. The spirits of Makai are a little unruly, but Jema keeps them under control pretty well. And the Goddess of Tenkai is a rare beauty. It's a nice place to call home, but just as nice to visit every once in a while, " Something occurs to Hito, "So, what did God look like, before the temper tantrum I mean? And these Demon Lords, are they pretty strong?"
Golden	Golden listens to Hito's story. "'God' was Yggdrasil, the super computer that managed the old Digital World, and it had powerful knights and angels at its disposal to fight the Demon Lords and their Nightmare Army. It was still losing. Probably because it can't comprehend that its creations had outgrown their original parameters. Adapting to change doesn't seem to be its strong suit. Anyway, Yggdrasil looked like a giant tree. And the Demon Lords were strong enough to take on Yggdrasil's best, the District Guardians, and the militias... and win. They were winning. So Yggdrasil decides to save some chosen few digimon and nuke everything else." Here he pauses to finish off his melon. "Some wise and benevolent god, huh?"
Hitoshura	Hito nods, "Yeah, it seems the gods of the multiverse are just as flawed as we are. Although I think there are rumors of similar events called Floods in other worlds. Catastrophes with divine origin that wipe out a large portion of sentient beings. If there are bad gods though, there must be some good ones, I guess," Hito notices the word Digimon, and looks curious for a moment. This digimon is a lot tougher and more jaded than Alden. Maybe they're from different parts of the same world? Or something? He thinks, too, about his old world. Maybe it's time he went back and tried to change it. He considers that as he looks off into the distance for a long second. "Sorry, got distracted for a bit. Just thinking. Sometimes, Golden, you just have to keep moving forward. If we think too much about the past, we get sad, angry. You'll find your place in the Multiverse, if you haven't already, and maybe even family somewhere. Granted they might be humans, or talking ponies, or spirits, but there is good out here in places." Hito sighs, "Sorry for the sermon. I guess it's just something I do to distance myself from my own past. Kind of reframe it and make it better,"
Golden	Golden humphs, smirking. The digimon's voice has changed, vastly different from the higer pitches before, more deep and noble sounding. "There's no place here for broken heroes like me, Hito. Just the ashes of victory, the bitter memories of those we failed to protect, and the cruel sting of the betrayal of our noblest protectors. And wounds that won't ever heal." The sunburst crest on the MetalMamemon's forehead glitters orange just so slightly in the shade of the cliff-face as the words are spoken.
Hitoshura	Hito blinks a few times. Has this digimon been fused like at the Cathedral of Shadows? No, he was one of the heroes of his world? Hmm. "I see. Well, I haven't put it behind me entirely yet either, if it's even possible. Although I can imagine some of the pain and loss you must feel.. I can't say I entirely understand it. I haven't been through quite what you have, although my own life has been traumatic. If it weren't for my partners, I'd never have made it this far. They helped me survive in the Vortex World, and then we became friends," Hito gives Golden a chip wit his personal radio ID and says, "Well, If you ever want to talk, or just wander someplace, let me know. I'm not ready to go back just yet, just offering. I still search the multiverse for? something, I don't know what." He decides to leave off talking about Ai. It doesn't seem to be helping.
Golden	Golden ahs and takes the chip, placing it in the satchel-like thing he has. Normal voice again. "Seeing all the new places in the Multiverse keeps me going. Plus there's hidden places where digimon gather, and some foreigner digimon too. Anyway, good to meet you Hito." He offers a handshake as a good-bye before departing.
Hitoshura	Hito smiles again,"It was a pleasure, Golden. I hope you find what you're looking for, and until then, we can wander together," He shakes Golden's hand,"You're right, I need to either check in with the Union or check up on Ai, probably both. Let's get together again, soon." He watches Golden leave, and then packs up his own stuff. He walks to the edge of the city, and then decides to wait until the sun is lower in the sky before eventually summoning Cerberus and heading back to Ai and the Union.