Inktober19 02 Tranquil

a/n: Two BLADEs go on a collectable collecting mission. Nothing happens. Sometimes life can be like that.

All the good things belong to Monolith Soft, and I am eternally grateful that they used "fiKAIeldJOU" by Hiroyuki Sawano for all the deep ocean surface areas. Case is my baby Cross, ready for the port doyouhearmeNintendoprettyplease to Switch.


Case sighed with contentment. "Ahhh. This is the life." She wriggled in the pilot's seat experimentally "Hey, Gwin. You think, if I pushed the seat all the way back, I could maybe steer with my feet?"

"Don't be stupid," crackled a voice over her radio. Her partner didn't sound nearly as relaxed as she was feeling.

"I'm liking this," she continued. She swerved her skell in a wide loop over the glassy ocean waters before returning to Gwin's ride. "It's good for my soul."

"Yippee. A whole afternoon of nothing," Gwin snapped.

"We're getting paid," she reminded him. She shimmied slightly off course again, to pick up another blue shiny. The display blipped a gentle negative. Not what they were after, oh well, there were dozens more chances. "Paid hourly," she added.

"Lowest rate going," fumed Gwin.

"Since when have you been credit hungry?" Case asked with a touch of concern. "Because if you need another insurance ticket…"

"It's not that and, no, I haven't wrecked my skell recently. Obviously." His stolid mech veered into her path, then moved back into its own lane. "Case, doesn't it bug you that they sent us out on a job for babies?"

Case shrugged and aimed for another marker on her display, a twinkle of electric blue. A handful of arpeggio indicated a positive strike, and she smiled brightly.

"Case?"

Right, she thought, she should probably turn on a video link. Shrugs and smiles didn't work over the radio that well. She fumbled to set up a side screen on her display board. Now she could see Gwin's face, pink with worry, from the corner of her eye.

"I get sent on anything and everything, Gwin. It's all good, and it's better when I get paid." She stretched awkwardly, one arm at a time, then pulled the skell into a gentle pirouette to pick up an awkwardly placed collectable. Positive again, nice. "Best is when I don't have to shoot things."

"But it's so boring!" snapped Gwin. "The rankest rookie could do this! We could at least be collecting them in Cauldros instead of out in nowheresville."

Case let her mech drift to a halt. The ocean water splashed playfully at its feet, scattered by the skell's propulsion. She looked at the trace of moons hanging in the sky, the comforting union of the horizon, the gentle waves of the neutral, nameless ocean. She thought of Cauldros, built from lava, smoke, and ruined technology.

"Yeah, nope, that's a hard no for me." She pushed the throttle to move forward and had an inspiration. "Hey, you want a little excitement? We could go take a peek at the Lifehold. If we sneak inside, we could even visit your better self." She twitched. "Both our better selves," she amended hastily.

When Gwin didn't answer immediately, she peeped at his face on the screen. She couldn't read his expression. Hopefully he hadn't noticed her slip. Then she realized what it was. Of course, how stupid of her, the place must hold some bad memories for him. "Never mind," she said. "Look, we're only two dinguses short. If we turn back now, we're sure to pick them up on the way home. Sound good?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever."

"Put your skell on auto and you can even take a nap. I'll ping you when we're close to shore." She saw her guidance beacon engage with satisfaction. From now on, she'd keep her flight pattern gentle, drifting only slightly to catch new finds. There was no rush to hit their target number. She'd save playing crack the whip until it was time to wake him up.


a/n: a) More tranquil music ideas: Vaughan Williams, Serenade to Music and The Lark Ascending, but mostly Hiroyuki Sawano's fiKAIeldJOU. b) Case never went to the Lifehold, nor is her body stored there. She's kinda like Yelv, if you know what I mean. Shhh, she needs to keep that a secret.

Next up: Roasted. There will be Tatsu jokes, I can feel it now.