Message 2

[wherethereislight]

Type: Text
Sender ID: wherethereislight (Shadow)
To: Public
Subject: Rifts
Warnings: Nothing? Just a grumpy hedgehog yelling at people to get off his lawn boat.

Stop going into the rifts. They don't take you wherever they show.

[Sincerely, a hedgehog that's getting tired of people landing on his damn boat.]

Comments

[multidisciplinary]

You're not much of a scientist if you aren't willing to entertain the possibility that your hypothesis might be wrong.

[wherethereislight]

When did I say I wasn't? Rather quick to making conclusions yourself when all I asked is that you provide evidence for your claim. You have not. This is pointless.

[multidisciplinary]

Very well then. I will go find a rift right now to walk through and collect some data. Would that be sufficient?

[ She's just mad because he's calling their conversation pointless. ]

[wherethereislight]

If it makes you feel better.

[multidisciplinary]

It does, thank you.

[ There's about a fifteen minute delay between that last text and the next one, long enough that he might think Zelda has finally stopped bothering him. But no, unfortunately for Shadow, she's going to make this whole endeavor his problem. (Or he can just stop answering her texts. But that's not going to stop her from sending them. She's on a mission now.)

The first thing Shadow receives is a picture of a rift that appears to lead to a quaint village. Zelda's text follows immediately after. ]

Here, this one clearly leads to Snaxburg Island. You can clearly see a baker's dozen of Sprinklepedes right there in the center.

I'm going to walk through it.

[wherethereislight]

[He had honestly moved on by the time he gets a message from Zelda. He needed a moment to register who and what they were talking about.

...

Well, all right. This is happening he suppose. No he doesn't respond, but she's marked as read, meaning he can see what's going on?]

-> action

[multidisciplinary]

[ She's actually waiting, watching her messages change from 'sent' to 'read,' and then.....

... Nothing. No response. She's left on 'read.'

Zelda actually scoffs at her phone in annoyance. That's so rude! He should at least have the decency to acknowledge her messages.

But fine. It doesn't matter. She's not even mad. Definitely not even more driven to prove a point only she cares about.

Shoving her shellphone into her pocket, Zelda marches through the rift. She expects her feet to connect with solid ground on the other side, but when she passes through, there's suddenly nothing beneath her feet but a two foot drop. Like when you misjudge how far down the next step on a staircase is, Zelda drops heavily through the rift and lands with a -WHUMP- on the other side. ]

Oww...

[ She looks around. This is... not Snaxburg Island. Or at least, not outside the village like the rift showed. She's inside of somewhere. One of the huts? But then everything pitches to one side and Zelda goes sliding several inches across the floor. Is she inside a ship?

Without bothering to stand up, she fishes her shellphone out of her pocket and snaps a couple pictures of her surroundings. She's definitely below decks on a boat or ship of some kind, in an area that has been modified with unusually large portholes to allow in enough light for an assortment of plants. Zelda's eyebrows go up as she looks over the space. This is a very nice indoor garden!

Much as she doesn't want to admit that she's wrong to someone who's been kind of a jerk to her, Zelda also has too much pride as a researcher to lie about her findings. So she sends her photos on to Shadow. ]

I must concede that you are correct this time in regards to the rifts. [ Note that very intentional inclusion of "this time." ] My rift did not lead to Snaxburg Island like I expected, but to the lower deck of a ship.

[wherethereislight]

... [His ears swerve at a sound. He can't have imagined it. He heard something hit his boat? From below? It could have just been a creature passing on through, but he decides to head below deck. That's when he receive another message from Zelda.

He's staring at the photos, groaning irritably as he puts together what that sound was. The door to the cabin room Zelda was in opens abruptly, and she'll be greeted by the small rude hedgehog she had been arguing with.]

Did you touch anything? [Not even a greeting or asking if they're all right. Honestly, he hardly has any sympathy after they were so insistent on proving a point and got themselves in this mess in the first place.]

[multidisciplinary]

[ While Shadow has enough context to figure out who just landed on his boat, Zelda does not. One moment, she's arguing with some jerk on the shellphone network; the next, she's on a strange boat being snapped at by an angry hedgehog (who is probably the owner).

Zelda hurriedly gets to her feet, shoving her shellphone into her pocket and holding up both hands in surrender. Her demeanor shifts into apologetic, something completely different from what Shadow has been getting from her up until now. ]

No no, nothing, I promise. Forgive me, I do not mean to intrude. I traveled through a rift and instead of reaching the island it showed me, I found myself here.

[wherethereislight]

I'm well aware. [He still doesn't look pleased despite her telling him she touched nothing. He steps aside, providing her space to leave the room at her leisure.]

We're out at sea. Stay above deck until we dock.