Welcome to Orongo

[cityship]

Once those who decided to go along on the mission were gathered on the Obs Deck and had time to go over the mission briefing, the detachment procedures began.

As with the missions before, the doors to the Obs Deck closed before it detached itself from Stacy, tethered by a massive umbilical cord. Those who had been on missions before would find the experience familiar if still somewhat unpleasant, but for those of whom this was their first mission, the sudden lack of gravity and lurching feeling as they entered the atmosphere would come as a surprise.

Thankfully though, the ride was quickly over as they landed safely on the planet below, the gravitational dampeners of the Obs Deck gently dropping the crew members back on their feet. One of the walls opened up, forming a ramp to the ground below. There was a sudden, slight gust of air as the door opened as the thick air rushed in. Even so, the air felt quite warm and refreshing.

Looking outside, the crew would see the bright yellow sun looming overhead, quite close in comparison to the sun on most planets. A handful of small, silver clouds dotted the blueish purple sky.

Ahead of them stood a rather impressive looking plateau, surrounded by a tall, ornate stone wall which was covered in tribal markings. Directly ahead was a large gate through the wall, with several small stone buildings in front of it. Beyond the gates, a larger settlement could be seen. Surrounding the plateau and covering the surrounding region were numerous strange, blue and purplish trees and plants.

[ooc: hold up until subthreads are set up]

[ooc2: ready! feel free to tag!]

Comments

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

Oh, the Ritual of Judgment sounded rather pretty! But, at the Ritual of Joining...

"O-Oh... um, thank you." Smile and nod, Hoshi. Smile and nod.

I'm only sixteen! And my mama isn't here, nor is my father -- they'd want to prepare stuff for me, and don't we have to get official licenses or something-- I'm still sixteen!

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

Howard, who's standing nearby, freezes up on hearing the word 'marriage'. He's fifteen, that's a long way down the road even if he were interested. "Wait, if only holy men are exempt...I'm pretty sure what he's suggesting is illegal most places."

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

You weren't alone in that, Howard! She barely contemplated things like love or a relationship due to how they were unnecessary for things right now.

"Well, that's...reassuring, I guess." No, it wasn't. She was still mentally freaking out about the whole concept of marriage this young.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Not really. If this is legal, you have to wonder what else is." He's ever the pessimist.

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

Pessimist, meet an optimist! (Just ignore that she's trying to calm her mind down right now.)

"Who knows? We gotta live the moment to our fullest. I mean, how often is it that we can go to alien planets, huh?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"More often than the amount of times we get to sleep in a room that doesn't feel like a nostril. Seriously, on the list of things I want to happen more often, honeymooning on an alien planet is not that high up there."

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

"I've been sleeping at Sasami's place and I'm sure she wouldn't mind more people," she casually added on. "And who says we have to go on a honeymoon?"

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Well, that usually comes with marriage. Along with, you know, a spouse."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Zouichi's walking past, so he only hears something about "marriage" before spotting Howard looking rather concerned.

"Planning on tying the knot?" he asked.

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"If you're proposing, Zou, then no. You going on this little caper?"

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He shrugged. "I suppose. I'm not entirely clear on what this artifact is, but since we apparently need it for future missions, it can't hurt to take part."

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

"Well, other people will definitely be happy to have you around. I know I will." He's seen Zouichi's zombie-slaying skills; he'd rather have Zou as an ally than an enemy or not there at all. "I mean, if the worst that's going to happen to us is marriage, I'll probably go just to see if I can bring stuff back on board."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Wait, we're getting married? Us? The crew?" Now running low on synonyms, Zouichi just plain looked appalled. "Marriage was not in my functional specifications."

[memory-hax.livejournal.com]

Phillip touched his chin. "I see... so I was right all along."

He smiled just a little at Hoshi, patting her shoulder. "Want to try it out? I read up on this sort of thing on the way down after putting two and two together."

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

Due to the DoubleDriver Hoshi was still wearing, her momentary freak out was probably broadcasted to Phillip, right?

"You knew of this?" she asked, not at all annoyed in her tone. It was more curious, if anything. "Well, uh... sure. Yeah, let's go try it out."

[memory-hax.livejournal.com]

He had to grin a little at that. "Yes, you broadcasted that."

He shrugged. "It isn't hard to figure out with a cool head. Judgment and Joining is similar in phrasing to a few cultures terms of marriage."

He nodded. "We should abide by their laws first, in the ceremony. However dress is probably up to the pair of us."

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

"Oh, yay," she replied with a touch of sarcasm, it being completely playful in nature, however.

She listened to what else he had to say before nodding. "...Huh. Thanks, Phillip."

She glanced down at to what her dress for today was -- a black pair of pants, red vest, a red and yellow striped shirt, fingerless gloves, sneakers, socks, and then the DoubleDriver. As a final accessory, she had her pouch where she kept her beyblade as well as her beylauncher. Seraphiel was, of course, added in to this.

"This really isn't marriage clothing," she admitted sheepishly.

[memory-hax.livejournal.com]

"It probably wouldn't be," replied Phillip. "Although if they are serious about this, they will have a place to get changed and dressed up for the occasion."

He smiled just a little. "This shouldn't be too bad, right?"

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

"Probably. Just hope they have stuff tailored to our heights and stuff," she replied, then nodded.

"Yeah. It's...another layer to wearing the DoubleDriver, right?"

[morphitudinous]

Billy caught up with her after a moment, placing a hand on her arm.

"Are you okay, Hoshi? You don't look well."

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

Hoshi let out a small squeak, but recognized that it was Billy. She gave him a warm smile and nodded.

"Ah, I'm peachy!" Your facial expression betrayed your emotions, you know.

[morphitudinous]

Billy would let that go for now. They all seemed to be nervous...except Kaylee, blast her.

"So you're all ready for the judgment?"

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

Hoshi normally would be joining Kaylee in not being nervous, but it was the whole concept of marriage that rattled her nerves a bit.

"Yeah. Just hope it isn't Seraphiel's brand of judgment."

[morphitudinous]

Billy would understand. He's not feeling super-confident about marrying either.

"Why? What's Seraphiel's brand of judgment?"

[radiantcourage.livejournal.com]

"Remember what I showed you in the Sensoriums when we were training? That's pretty much his judgment attack," Hoshi replied.