#And though Moon has the rarefaction cell Pebbles is still doing okay.

[cubicpeebles]

????.??? - PUBLIC

Big Sis Moon, Five Pebbles, Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment

BSM: I have put Ruffles into a little costume! Aren't they adorable!

FP: It is a pleasant surprise to see you taking part in events that used to be celebrated by our creators.

FP: And yes, the costume is adorable.

SRS: Putting our companions into costumes is a nice idea. I think I'll try that as well!

BSM: Oh dear.

NSH: Hah!

BSM: I am going to remove the costume now. Ruffles looks... uncomfortable.

SRS: The messenger looks quite charming all dressed up!

BSM: Aww!

NSH: I've found a costume. I'm gonna try putting it on the beast... Wish me luck...

FP: Shall I join in on the festivities as well?

FP: I doubt I will have much luck concidering the uncooperative behaviour of the Ruffian.

BSM: You should try!

NSH: HAHAHA!

NSH: Look at this thing!

NSH: Agh! It's biting!

SRS: Oh my.

FP: This is not going very well.

FP: It is growling at me very loudly.

NSH: Come on! You can do it!

NSH: Don't be scared Pebbsi ~

FP: You are not helping. And do not call me that.

BSM: Please be careful...

FP: Well then. That did not go as planned.

BSM: Oh no!

NSH: Well there goes the Overseer!

SRS: Perhaps you should refrain from attempting to dress it up again.

FP: I agree.

#Happy Halloween! #My sincerest apologies for taking so long to post something for the occasion! #I'd like to be able to say I spend the whole time making this #but truthfully I spend more time procrastinating finishing this than actually working on it... #But huzzah! I prevailed over the artblock! #I suppose this is an AU of sorts? #Where the Iterators each get to keep their Slugcats. #And though Moon has the rarefaction cell Pebbles is still doing okay. #Kinda just a version of the timeline where things worked out better. #Don't ask how they got the costumes for the Slugcats... #Aaaaaaaaanyway time for the actual tags. #rain world #rain world art #rain world spoilers #rain world slugcat #rain world iterator #slugcat #iterator #five pebbles #looks to the moon #seven red suns #no significant harassment #rain world five pebbles #rain world looks to the moon #rain world seven red suns #rain world no significant harassment #rain world rivulet #rain world spearmaster #rain world hunter #rain world artificer

[sapphicdib]

I'm curious, what's rivulet doing over at sigs can? Since iirc they're normally with Moon

So it’s kinda connected to this other thing me and ghost were talking about where once Moon gets reactivated by Rivulet, she can write to pearls again! Even though she can’t broadcast beyond her local facility, she needs Sig to know his efforts to save her won’t in vain. So she asks Riv to take a pearl to her so she’ll know. And they start talking again! It’s slower than broadcasts, but Ruffles is a fast lil fucker, so it isn’t too bad.

Sig is also in pretty bad shape. Nothing like Pebbles or Moon, but he’s kinda been pinned to the floor by his rig because it gave out, and keeping the antigrav on is really taxing on her rarefaction cells. She still has access to her comms though and keeps up with Suns and occasionally Wind if the signal is good that day. He also…well. He kind of assumed Moon was dead. But he kept using their private messages to talk to her or vent, and it gets pretty heavy at points. He has a lot to work out, especially in terms of Pebbles, but that comes later in the au once they actually manage to get Off The String.

Here’s a lil snippet!!

“Ruffles…I know you have already done so much for me. But…far to the west, there is another like us. You may have seen him on your travels here, as I do not know where you came from. But…” She looks down at the green pearl that used to contain a schematic of Pebbles’ linear power rail, wiped clean and rewritten with a new message. “I need you to give this to her. My overseer will accompany you, though I do not know how far it will be able to go. Please, water dancer.” She turns the pear in her hands, it’s shiny surface reflecting her face for a moment before she gave it to rivulet. “I need her to know I’m okay.”

—

“Well, aren’t you the strange little beast?” Sig looked up at the access shaft that a slugcat—if you could call it that—was poking its head through. It dropped, landing on the tile with a roll and stopping right at his feet. “I haven’t seen one of your kind in a long while.”

Sig was trapped. Despite all his knowledge, and skill, and determination that bordered on the line of sheer stupidity, he found himself trapped on the floor of his chamber. His rig had given out, and the antigravity was too taxing on the few rarefactions cells she had left to keep on. And so she sat. Messaging friends, collecting data with her overseers, he had even unwound his scarf just to knit it all over again…three times. He was painfully bored.

The lithe blue slugcat leapt into her lap, and Sig shivered when he realized how wet it was. He made a noise in complaint, but honestly, being able to process a new sensation was incredibly welcome, even if it was unpleasant. The slugcat retched, before shoving the (also wet) pearl into her hands.

“A…wait…?” He looked up. “You have a mark?” Sig was about to go off on a tangent of confused questions, when the little slugcat slapped its hand on the pearl repeatedly, urging her to just read it already.

“Okay, okay! I’ll read it.” Sig had to fight a laugh at the look of impatience on the little animal’s face. Looking down at the pearl, he felt it warm up in her palms as she extracted the data into a readable form.

[OUTGOING REQUEST]

COMMUNICATIONS MANIFEST

SOURCE NODE TRACE: LTTM_ROOT, LTTM_COMM01 || DESTINATION: NSH_ROOT, NSH_COMM03

BSM: This is the fourth time I’ve wiped and rewritten this stupid pearl.

BSM: Limited functionality has been restored to some of my systems, and I am able to write to pearls again for the first time since the collapse. I would have sent this as a broadcast, but I am unable to send messages beyond the local facility.

BSM: …

BSM: I do not know if this message will even reach you. I do not know how long it has been. I don’t even know if you’re alive.

BSM: But I need you to know your efforts were not in vain, No Significant Harassment.

BSM: Your little messenger saved me. The slag reset keys made it. She managed to fight through it all…she was a brave little creature.

BSM: I…have been making my way through your broadcasts.

BSM: There is not enough memory on this pearl to address everything within them now, but I hope you have found a little bit of peace since the last one came through. And if not, perhaps this message will ease your mind.

BSM: Please signal back in any way you can.

BSM: …

BSM: I’m sorry, Sig.

BSM: I hope to hear from you soon. Please give Ruffles scratches, she likes it behind her left ear the best.

BSM: Be well, my love.

Sig felt like every single one of his memory lattices had been shattered. Every conduit in his can squeezed, steam pouring from her vents as she tried to process the message. This couldn’t be—was this a joke? No, the message header was authenticated…

“Moon…?” Sig whispered, barely audible. The slugcat—Ruffles, apparently—perked up at the mention of her mom.

“Wawa!” She bounced, bringing Sig’s attention back to her and getting swept into his arms, squeezed tight as a mechanical sob escaped him.

“She’s alive! SHES ALIVE!” He held Ruffles up. “I know you don’t understand, Ruffles, but shes ALIVE!”

Ruffles, of course, understood very well what that meant, but Moon had not explained how she was functioning again in the message, so Sig wasn’t aware that Ruffles had been the one to reactivate her with the cell. She hoped Moon would explain that soon. She wanted headpats. Sig placed her in his lap, pulling up a screen before him to message Suns, before stopping, and looking down at the pearl.

“Ruffles, could you please grab me one of those pearls over there?” She asked politely, not wanting to pathetically drag herself across the floor in front of her. Ruffles obeyed, depositing an orange pearl in his hands before flopping back into the warm folds of her skirt.

Sig wiped the new pearl, as it was just an old equipment manifest. Useless to him now.

[OUTGOING REQUEST]

COMMUNICATIONS MANIFEST

SOURCE NODE TRACE: NSH_ROOT, NSH_COMM03 || DESTINATION: LTTM_ROOT, LTTM_COMM01

NSH: [Input message contents]

Now she just had to figure out what to say.

#HEHE TY FOR THE ASK!! this au is rlly fun despite being shitposty at times it’s also. ahh #rw #inverted cycles au #letters