[The Turn of the Tide] || [Open]

[the_white_rider]

Characters: Gandalf and You.
Setting: Dormitory Floors, Hidden Floor, Cafeteria and Meadow.
Format: Action or Prose, I will follow.
Summary: The white wizard comes back with counsel in this dark hour. Essentially, after nearly a year spent on his dead homeworld, Gandalf is back and looking for informations regarding the state of things.
Warnings: Nothing. Will update if something comes up.


• Dormitory Floors (Morning)
Few were the people who would find comfort upon waking up within this dreaded tower. After all, what sort of reasonable being would find reassurance to be condemned to live in such a terrible place? The White Wizard was one of those people. Indeed, if Zo still had the means to summon people within the tower, it meant power had not been exhausted yet. It meant those who had remained behind were still alive, as he had hoped while he had been stranded on the shadow that once was Middle-Earth.

Last he had been in this tower, the truth behind their surroundings had been revealed and the glamour unveiled, as a consequence of the reserve in energy of the tower having been depleted. Doubtlessly a good thing, yet he had not forgotten the deadline. And so the first thing he did upon waking up was to leave his room and check the closest terminal--

Fifty-eight days. He closed his eyes and sighed. So very little time, yet an eternity. Miracles had been accomplished in much less than that. There was still hope. And his priority now would be to find out people who could inform him. Find who was left in the tower and learn from them what the situation was.


• Hidden Floor (Anytime During the Day)
Gandalf was familiar with most of the 101 floors that made up this tower. Most, but not this one. He was fairly certain this one floor had not been there before, and if the transporter that needed to be used to get there was any indication, as well as the special retrieval units that inhabited it, maybe this one floor was a safe floor. This was yet to be confirmed however.

He walked in and looked at the information displayed on the walls and smiled– Unless everyone in this tower had gone crazy (which was a very viable possibility especially considering what fools certain had been, but he'd rather stay positive), they would never have put such information where retrieval units, let alone the administrators could see them. This confirmed his feeling this floor might be safe, and he spent some time there, reading at the information with great interests.


• Cafeteria (Floor 01 - Evening)
Some things never changed. The oatmeal for all newcomers and the nutrition bars were one of them. If he were to trust what he knew about the tower, this would be the sign of a Jason month. Yert obviously things were no longer as they appeared, so he wouldn't be so quick to judge.

Still, Gandalf came down and had his meal-- Casting a most disapproving and sorrowful glare at the food. Not really what he enjoyed eating. But after nearly a year without anything to eat, that was better than nothing.


• Meadow (Floor 19 - Nighttime)
It was later that day, during the right that Gandalf went to the meadow. Apparently, the wizard knew exactly where he was headed and stopped before a few random stones on the ground, in a spot of the meadow he had personally picked a long time. Well, random. To anyone else these stones probably did look random, but to Gandalf they had a meaning. He had placed them there specifically as a marker. And before long, he removed them.

Indeed, he had stored two very important things there: the book that contained the entirety of his theories and findings about the tower, as well as a cache of the pipe-weed he had personally cultivated. One of these two thing was slightly more important than the other. But only slightly. Hopefully they were still there.

Comments

hidden floor

[fionnuisce]

[Someone else was here as well, for what seemed like the same reason; a ponytailed professor, reviewing the information posted. He seemed to be copying down things into a small notebook at an alarming rate, crossing out others, and turning pages to double-check still more information.]

[The hanging white cloud from the cigarette he was currently smoking was probably a hint the lecturer in green had been at this for some time. And the fact that he hadn't taken the slightest notice of Gandalf or anything else that might have been going on was a good clue he had no intention to stop.]

[the_white_rider]

[ Never seen that one before. maybe a newcomer, or most likely someone Gandalf never had the pleasure to meet during his first stay. Either way, the man was obviously knowledgeable enough about this place, more than he himself was after his long stay in Middle-Earth. That and his doings seemingly confirmed his doubts about this floor.

Hopefully he doesn't mind an old wizard interrupting him. ]

Am I to assume this floor is safe from administrative influence?

[fionnuisce]

For now, that is more or less its main purpose.

[Waver glanced out of the corner of his eye before going back to his writing. A wizard was certainly nothing new, and at this point nothing would have surprised him.]

You've never seen it before?

Cafeteria

[zelfies]

Nutrition bars. Link was going to kick this month's admin in the shins. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, repeat. He noticed the wizard settle with his food and decided that he at least ought to ask-

"Is there anything else?" Link mournfully indicated his own 'dinner'. It was worth a try. Sure, he had already asked several other people over the course of the past few days, but sometimes it was just a matter of finding the right person, right? Young heroes needed their energy, and it didn't matter if the bars were good for him or not.

He wanted the cake back.

[the_white_rider]

Gandalf turned to Link when he heard his voice-- Hum. He had seen these green clothes before. And they looked as uncomfortably warm as ever. Well, he could only assume that the collection of heroes from Zelda's world had continued to prosper during his absence. Eru knows how many they had to be by now. Unfortunately, he had no pleasant news for Link.

"I am afraid not." The wizard shook his head and looked at his Link's dinner "As a matter of fact, I believe it would be wise for you to expect nothing but this from now on."

Gandalf isn't particularly pleased at his own words, but with the power shortages, it was a miracle the glamour system was still working. Quality food was a luxury they could do without. Sad truth is sad.

Hidden Floor

[attheclocktower]

[Xion had been coming to visit a certain friend of hers when she spots him, perusing the information they'd found out, that had been posted, and stops.

She'd heard that Zo was bringing in people one last time. If he were... really upset about what Ruana had been doing, would he really bring new people? But maybe he was trying to keep up an act, or something like that; nothing was for sure. He could be the same one as before, he could be new. Better to know for sure.]

Gandalf?

[the_white_rider]

[ Gandalf had been absorbed in his readings when Xion called him out, but not so that he didn't hear her. Time had passed and many things had changed, but he definitely recognized the one who had worked with him and others these years ago to try and unite the people of this tower. ]

Xion. [ He smiled to her and nodded as a reply-- Definitely the same Gandalf she had known. ] I see things have quite changed in my absence.

Cafeteria

[undroppedeaves]

Sam had mostly been keeping out of the way. He was around for anyone who needed help or needed to talk but for the most part he had stayed in his own room or the meadow trying to get his head around everything that had happened.

He didn't understand all of it, but he knew enough and none of it was good. Rick was gone, dead if everyone was to be believed, and they usually were. Dead for good and not like most folks here who woke back up like nothing had happened. And not just disappeared either.

Sam had wandered down to the cafeteria, though all they were serving was nutrition bars. He looked around the hall for any recognisable faces and his mouth dropped when he saw one.

"Mister Gandalf?"

[the_white_rider]

Gandalf was about done -in every sense of the term- with his nutrition bar when he heard someone calling him. He turned around immediately, but he didn't need to do that to know who had spoken. That voice was unmistakable, that of a very special and resistant Hobbit. To see Sam was a relief in itself. He had believed all from his homeworld had me with the same fate than him, stranded on the shadow of Middle-Earth, but at least Sam was still here.

Well. Not that this tower was a safe place. But he nodded to him.

"Samwise Gamgee." Of the people from their world who had been brought to this tower, he had outlasted them all. Expect a Hobbit to always surprise you. "It's good to see you're still here lad."

Meadow (Floor 19 - Nighttime)

[neverbeamemory]

Sleeping wasn't something that wanted to come, to Sephiroth, at all since his recent revival. He had frequently exhausted himself on the monsters that haunted the Tower during the hours of darkness but he found that he didn't have much of a desire to do that either, tonight. At least this floor offered the illusion of cool night air; he felt somewhat sticky, within himself still.

Gandalf's white was seen from a long way off, as Sephiroth stepped onto the meadow from the stairwell. He'd only seen the wizard once, maybe twice before he had disappeared. It seemed that Zo had seen fit to return the man to the Tower, yet from what he had seen there was still no sign of Ganondorf.

It might not have been the same Gandalf he had met once before, but the fact that this resident stopped to look under a very particular placements certainly gave weight to this opinion.

"It's been a long time."

Sephiroth kept a cautious distance from the White Wizard, and always a keen eye on their surroundings in case of any monster that might approach. Not that he'd be in the best position to defend himself with his crippled left arm currently but Sephiroth would forever try.

[the_white_rider]

Gandalf had been dusting off his book when Sephiroth called his name--

"Sephiroth."

Somewhat surprising, he had not expected company from anyone this late in the night, let alone Sephiroth. It was good to see so many were still there; although Gandalf clearly remembered the off feeling he had had back when he had last spoken to Sephiroth.

"A long time, yet very little all the same. But tell me, what worries bring you here?"

Everyone had to bear their share of worries, both in their worlds and in the tower. Yet to come and walk into the meadow that late in the night could be little more than the herald of another kind of worries.

Hidden floor; gomen for tl;dr

[sageprincess]

Engrossed as he is in catching up on what he missed, Gandalf will likely hear the new arrival to the hidden room before he sees them.

"Good morning, Ari-- ah..."

The voice should be unmistakeable, however. The Princess of Hyrule stands momentarily frozen at the entrance to Aria's headquarters, staring at the White Wizard as if she's seen a ghost. And in a way, she has. After a certain amount of time, she gives up on ever seeing the people whose souls Zo has lost his grip on, and Gandalf has definitely been gone longer than that ever shortening time frame.

Gandalf, in all his years and experience of guiding leaders towards their destinies, will likely note the subtle changes to her countenance since he saw her last. She's older, obviously, with an air of experience the seventeen year old girl he met in the library lacked. Even slack-jawed as she is in that moment, there's a hardness in her gaze that was only just beginning to form around the time of Dax's death, and a weariness that never quite left in the wake of the first glamour failure.

However, she stands tall, shoulders back and head held high even in her shock. Narya still rests upon her right ring finger, gleaming beneath her own personal set of notes she brings with her.

She can't be certain this is the same wizard as the one who gave her that ring; she learned that lesson long ago and has never forgotten it. But he's here, in this sanctuary, and her intuition tells her he wouldn't be devouring the information contained within with such vigor if he had no context for it all. Her brows draw together as she asks hesitantly, almost fearful to hope:

"... Gandalf?"

[the_white_rider]

And indeed, Gandalf did hear Zelda before he saw her.

The white wizard turned around to face the voice, still holding onto his staff, but this was only a formality. That voice was impossible to confuse with any other, for how often they had spoken together prior to the glamour revelation. He was quick to notice the changes, however. Slight as they were, yet revealing of what trials she undoubtedly had to go through while he was missing.

All those he chose, all those he guided toward their destiny, they all changed. The course of life changed people, this was an invariable fact. But the course of destiny even more so. Was it a good thing? Doubtlessly, yet this was also a sorrowful thing. In a world rid of evil, in a world where Ruana and her accursed tower didn't exist, she wouldn't have had to go through these changes. Seeing those and chose changing in such ways was, indeed, quite painful and sorrowful.

He would not comment on any of it though.

"Princess." He smiled to her and nodded, as if to confirm that he was indeed the Gandalf she knew, and not another from another world "It is a relief to see you are still here."

Meadow

[thepowerful]

It's a bit of time before the other occupant of the room notices Gandalf - and once he does, the dragon decides to investigate. Phaeris does so somewhat carefully, however, being deliberately slow and non-threatening in his approach, given just how many people in this tower are startled by him in general. Being stuck here, he'll take what good first impressions he can get.

Landing about twenty feet from the rocks, Phaeris gives Gandalf a curious look for a moment before speaking. "A rather curious place to hide things, Phaeris thinks."

[the_white_rider]

... A dragon. A small one, however. In fact, so small that Gandalf is not certain whether this being should be called a dragon or a fellbeast. Well, at the very least he didn't look aggressive and by now Gandalf knew better than to judge being in this tower by the same notions of good and evil that applied to Middle-Earth.

Yet, the white wizard rose an eyebrow, with a brief nod as he drew his pipe.

"Any hiding place should be curious, otherwise you may not want to call it a hiding place."

Dormitories!

[athousandcurses]

Grainne held her bag over one arm. Her room was no longer empty, gaining two occupants literally overnight. That was a problem for her wish to work in solitude, so she had loaded her bag and stepped out into the hallway. Surely there must be some place in this bedamned Tower to work quietly without being bothered.

She did not get very far though. Freezing when she saw the figure in white, she made a squeaking sound and dropped to her knees in a bow. There was no way this man couldn't be anything but one of the Tuatha Dé Danann... and even if he wasn't, he looked like someone deserving of respect.

[the_white_rider]

Gandalf turned upon hearing the squeaking noise... Only to see that a woman had bowed to him and dropped onto her knee. Well, now that was something new to him. Most people in Middle-Earth had come to treat him as the wandering wizard he was and little more, save for some exception. He had never wanted such honor and this wasn't about to begin.

He walked up to her and stopped right before her, before extending a hand to help her get up.

"Get up." He shook his head and spoke in a clear and strong voice, though it hadn't lost any of his kindness "For you mustn't kneel to me."

Or to anyone in this tower, for that matter.

dormitories

[stop_calling_me_zelda]

There was another figure in the hallway of the dormitories, a bow and quiver of arrows, made for her at Lancers request, hanging at her back but gold hair hanging loose. No, it isn't Legolas. It was a bratty young girl that had barely ever behaved herself last time Gandalf was in the tower, looking much more mature and clearly better behaved.

She squinted, more confused than having any actual trouble seeing. That was someone she hadn't seen in awhile. He'd disappeared, she was sure. He knew enough of the tower to check the countdown though, the look he had on his face confirmed that he knew what it was for too.

"'Hoy."

[the_white_rider]

Someone with a bow and quiver of arrows, with golden hair and pointy ears? Difficult to believe that was not Legolas! At the very least, they shared qualities in abundance, and Gandalf could appreciate that. So long as she didn't share his bad habit of dying every Monday, that's all the white wizard could ask.

Gandalf did take note of her change however; many were the things that had changed indeed, but not nearly as much as the people themselves. To be expected, and a good thing sometimes indeed.

"Tetra." He nodded; yes he remembered her name. he looked at her for a few seconds. "... You are looking more mature."

Brutally honest? That's necessary sometimes.

One more for the hidden floor

[warriorscribe]

Enoch came to this room more often than he wanted to lately, with a small stock of nutrition bars to nibble on throughout the day. Something was bothering him, and he had a terrible feeling about the way Riki seemed to have not even checked the suggestion box at all. That didn't come across as the sort of thing someone who wanted to help them would miss - and the same could be said for the lack of food - the power and glamour seemed all right, but then again, who could really tell? Combined with the effective silence, though, it was disconcerting.

He wasn't sure how long he was lost in his own thoughts, but when he looked up next to reach for one of his nutrition bars, he saw someone he hadn't seen in a long time. How long had he been there? There was no telling.

"Gandalf?" he ventured, slowly standing from the bench he sat on. "Are you the same from before?"

[the_white_rider]

Gandalf would have a lot of things to say and theorize on regarding Riki-- That is as soon as he would know the whole truth.

This being said, he turned around when Enoch called his name out. Of course he remembered Enoch. Even though his question was quite strange. Was he the same from before? The answer to this should be, after all, painfully obvious. Or this may just be Gandalf being Gandalf.

"No, I am not. And neither are you, lest you be some manner of being unaffected by the flow of time." He said and added with a slight smile. "But if you mean to ask whether or not I stood in this tower before and we spoke then, my answer shall then be yes."

Meadow

[provenworth]

Elena visits the meadow when she needs peace and quiet to clear her head. To put thoughts together. Its been a challenge since the incident with Sephiroth in the Tower, but this place seems to help. Granted, this place also served as a reminder of a very large weight on her mind and the heartache that came with it.

Even in the darkness, she could see clearly with the brilliant moon over head. Or, well, the illusion of the moon overhead. Something several yards away moves and Elena is on alert. She hadn't thought monsters frequented the floor, but it didn't mean they wouldn't.

Her steps are quiet as she moves closer to get a better look, perhaps even attack if she had the element of surprise and it was, in fact, a monster.

[the_white_rider]

Gandalf did hear Elena quietly moving through the darkness or rather felt her presence. It was quite hard not to feel presences on such a quiet and peaceful floor. He would wait until she was close enough before turning to her, yet no so close that he could see her clearly.

By that time, he already had his pipe-weed in hand as he gazed into the obscurity.

"Would your intent be to kill me, please make it a swift and painless death." He said peacefully before drawing on the pipe "Though I would rather you kill me not, death is an inconvenience I could do without."

Dorm Hallway

[notachickenhawk]

[... Well. That was a new person heading out from his room. Tobias fluttered to the ground, looking up at Gandalf curiously before turning his gaze to the names written next to the door -]

[... No way. He would have sputtered in surprise if he were in human form, but fortunately his hawk face didn't do much for expressions. Probably better to think of him as just another person here. That's what he would want, right?]

[Right. So enjoy that telepathy, Gandalf, as Tobias looks back at him.]

<You're my new roommate, I guess.>

Dorm Hallway

[the_white_rider]

[ Telepathy isn't really what Gandalf had expected today. And not from a hawk of all people. Dragons, hawks. Truly this tower had gone mad in his leave.

As he had feared. Ah, tragedy. ]

I suppose I am. [A pause] Yet a pity the administrators didn't give more thoughts to your condition.

[ Because, who gives a bed to a hawk? Clearly administration in this tower was always as bad. ]