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I'll never understand why some of you stay in jobs you don't enjoy. [break][break]

Oh, to be a little robot purpose-built for one thing and one thing only. Eddie chuckled a little to himself, until the probe's tone turned wistful. Sounded like the Traveler thought similarly, [break][break]

“That way?” Eddie confirmed as he eyed the particular patch of void the P0RG0N gestured to. [break][break]

Nothing but uncharted territory and devastating ion storms out in that neck of the woods, but what else was he to do if the Traveler had actually wandered into such dangerous territory? Eddie flicked a few switches on the inside of the cockpit, rerouting some extra power to the shields. He would need it if he was going to make it back in one piece, [break][break]

“Don't you worry yer shiny little head,” Eddie grinned as he began to chart his course, “I'll be in an' out in no time.” [break][break]

Thrusters powered on, and Eddie gave one last wave to the probe before he activated the acceleration protocol, [break][break]

“Thanks for the help! You take care'a yourself, bud.” [break][break]

And he grinned at the P0RG0N through the glass windows of the cockpit, bright and warm, as the Starrunner thrummed with surging energy, [break][break]

“An' just give me a call the next time you get banged up!” he called cheerfully over the comms, “I ain't lettin' you spend another five hundred-odd years with a broken thruster.” [break][break]

And with a final roar of the engines, Eddie was off once more, hurtling toward the unknown. Leaving his new friend behind was a little bittersweet, but Eddie had many parsecs to go before the day was done, and he still had a Traveler to bring back home.

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Flashing red lights enveloped the cockpit as Eddie closed in on that dangerous unknown, warning him of the storm that waited for him ahead. He frowned as he studied the console, unsure of his next course of action, [break][break]

“Don't know if we got the kinda shields that can handle a storm like this,” Eddie muttered to himself. [break][break]

Shrugging off a handful of attacks was one thing, but the ion storms of this realm could be downright cataclysmic. Maybe there was a way they could make it through still. [break][break]

Eddie looked from the display to all of the switches and dials of the console, [break][break]

“But I reckon the only way out is through; ain't that right, bud?” [break][break]

This maneuver would be risky, but if any craft in the galaxy could pull it off, it was the B-3AU Starrunner. Just a little more power to the thrusters, just a little more speed – [break][break]

The console's display lit up in bright blue, and Eddie grinned broadly. With a flick of the switch and a tight grip on the throttle, the craft suddenly surged forward into the storm, propelled by an AQUA JET that would hopefully get them in and out before the worst of the weather could catch up to them.

[attr="class","bottom"]eddie attempts to AQUA JET his way through the storm, hoping to get in and out of it before the ship gets too banged up [break]
Hideo Kino [break]

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It may have been a calculated risk, but man, was Eddie bad at math. [break][break]

On the bright side, it was all over pretty quickly. Blue gave way to red once more, and sirens blared and warning lights flashed in a dizzying kaleidoscope of impending danger all around the pilot. The Explorer flicked a few switches, tried to alter the trajectory of that Aqua Accelerator, but the Starrunner jolted like a boat caught in stormy seas. Another jolt sent the ship sharply twisting to the left, and Eddie, unprepared, was suddenly seeing stars when his helmet-clad head bounced off the wall of the narrow space he occupied. No matter how desperately he tried to fight it, Eddie's world began to fade to black, all the while the ship's warning lights and sounds desperately screamed in protest. Hands roughly gripped the console as the blackness of unconsciousness took hold, equal parts desperate and protective. At least if Eddie was going down, he would be going down with the craft he dearly loved. [break][break]

… Which made it all the more surprising when Eddie's eyes slowly opened some unknowable length of time later. He stretched his sun-warmed limbs and yawned luxuriously, like he was waking up from a gentle nap rather than from some terrible coma. It wasn't until he caught the acrid scent of smoke on the wind that he suddenly bolted upright, realizing that this was not, in fact, some comfortable dream, [break][break]

“Oh shit,” Eddie murmured harshly to no one in particular as he scrambled to his feet. [break][break]

His head swam and his temples throbbed with pain, but even so, he staggered over to the heap of smoldering metal nearby. Eddie frowned as he placed a hand on what he now realized was his Starrunner's hull. The poor thing was in a bad way; did he even have the supplies to patch his favorite craft up? [break][break]

Before he could consider his next course of action, there was a rustling of leaves nearby. Eddie's head snapped sharply toward the direction of the sound, [break][break]

“H-hey!” he called unsteadily, “Is there someone out there?”

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Blue-black feathers caught the sun's light and reflected it back, twinkling and gleaming. Sharp red eyes surveyed the scene with thoughtful appraisal. Eddie's own eyes grew wide, [break][break]

“It's – it's you!” [break][break]

The Traveler's face peeled into a wide grin as he took a few steps toward the the Explorer he had been hard at work trying to find, [break][break]

“Hell, bud, I could ask ya the same thing,” Eddie chuckled, shaking his head, “The Commander sent me out here ta track you down. I don't know nothin' about 'fate's hands', but geeze, what're you doin' out in this lonely little corner of the galaxy?” [break][break]

As he spoke, Eddie moved to unconsciously scratch at his chin, his usual nervous tick, but he suddenly stopped when he caught a flash of yellow in his periphery. There was a... petal? Or a leaf, or something, stuck to the back of his hand. He moved to shake it off, only to be surprised when the thing wouldn't budge. Huh, that was odd.

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Hideo Kino [break]

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The Traveler sounded so... tired. [break][break]

Eddie listened to the explanation with patience and a growing sense of sympathy. That was a hell of a thing, wasn't it? To constantly be on the move, to never put down roots, to never get to feel the sun on your skin or the wind in your hair. When the Explorer thought about it, really stopped a moment to think, he realized that he couldn't blame the Traveler for deciding that such a life no longer suited them. [break][break]

Before Eddie could speak up, another gust of wind surged past them, circled all around them. The air was warm and light, like a northern wind on a bright summer day; even the petals that brushed against (and, as Eddie had begun to realize, stuck to) his skin were soft and soothing. Eddie took a deep breath of that crisp, clean air, before he finally voiced his reply, [break][break]

“Yeah, I guess I have.” [break][break]

He realized that he should probably ask about repairs, or a way to get home, or something more important than the question that now came to the forefront of his mind, but Eddie found that he couldn't resist himself. There was a bit of curiosity that needed to be sated, and it suddenly felt like the most important and pressing thing in the world. He watched the Traveler, and attempted to meet their red gaze, [break][break]

“So, are ya finally happy out here?”

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The Traveler smiled, and the Explorer smiled, too. Really, that reply was all Eddie needed to hear, and even his answer to the next question came easily, [break][break]

“I'm glad,” he replied earnestly, his smile as warm as the sun hanging above them, “I'm glad that yer happy.” [break][break]

Eddie stopped to gesture back at his damaged ship, sweeping an arm out towards it, [break][break]

“But that also means that we're gonna hafta go our own ways.” [break][break]

The comforting, hazy warmth of the sunlight around him and the pleasant breezes were so damn tempting, but he knew he couldn't let himself be distracted by this intergalactic Ogygia. Not when there was so much waiting for him back home, [break][break]

“I'd love ta stay here. I really would.” [break][break]

Eddie paused a little, feeling his chest tighten, [break][break]

“But I can't. I got people waitin' for me back there. People I wouldn't trade a million years'a paradise for.” [break][break]

Even if those people would probably cope with his own disappearance better than Eddie would have coped with theirs. Even if no one really missed him at all, because he sure as shit would miss them. Maybe that all was more selfish than just disappearing somewhere in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, fading into obscurity, but Eddie couldn't be bothered to care about how selfish or selfless he seemed in this moment.

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Even as the winds ceased to billow around him and the petals dropped away, Eddie was unfazed by this world's disappointment at his rejection. The Traveler had accepted his answer with understanding and grace, and that was all that really mattered. [break][break]

Well, that, and getting back home. The Explorer nodded in acknowledgment of the other's offer, [break][break]

“Thanks,” he replied sincerely, turning to eye the long-since abandoned craft, “I think I'll take ya up on that.” [break][break]

It was a real win-win sort of situation, wasn't it? Eddie fetched some tools from his Starrunner and strode over to inspect the Traveler's own craft, but felt a pang of something bitter as he carefully eyed the components he would have to salvage. It felt a little sad to cannibalize the poor thing just to save his own sorry hide; the thought of having his own ship, his pride and joy, similarly dismantled made Eddie's stomach turn. [break][break]

He tried to put the thought out of his mind as he removed the first few parts and began the task of reinstalling them onto his own ship. It still nagged at him, though, even as his repairs grew close to completion, [break][break]

“You sure about this?” Eddie asked hesitantly, wiping some sweat from his brow just to replace it with a streak of slick oil as he closed a maintenance panel on the Starrunner's side, “There's no goin' back from this sorta thing, ya know?” [break][break]

In some ways, the finality of it all reminded Eddie of his own departure from his home in Paldea. It wasn't as though he physically couldn't go back there, but it was the principal of the thing – he had left his old life behind in the pursuit of something bigger, to chase some greater purpose. Was it the same for the Traveler, or did they still have any lingering regrets about the life they had left behind?

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