Not the Destination - a Roadtrip RP

It was a dark and stormy — no, wait, wrong on all three counts. It wasn’t raining, just drizzling; the sun was out, although it was still quite cold; and the hour was that hour when you’ve nearly finished packing your bag and suddenly remembered you forgot to put a toothbrush in it.
The dorms of Random Blessing College were seeing much more activity than usual. An RV and a large van were standing near the co-ed one’s entrance.
The van was bright, like the Mystery Machine. It had way too many colours and looked like its painter had bad acid trip when he worked on it. Inside were four rows of seats that transformed into beds, a small roost for a bird, and even more bright colours. A man dressed in (you guessed it) bright colors was laying in the back, a few clothes strewn about in a messy setup, hanging out of a few compartments.
The best description of the RV was ‘The ShoutOutmobile’. Everything — from its form to its paintjob — referenced something or the other; for a nose-job it had a yellow electric rodent; its roof looked like that of a certain animal-themed superhero's equally famous car; and it had wings like a certain chronological shadow. Its owner was no less exotic, being one of the somewhat rare Snake People; the fact that he had a Harpie for a sister made things even more confusing. He wasn’t in the RV, though. Its only occupant was the odd one out in the group of friends that decided to go on a road trip now that the summer holidays have arrived, because he was the only human. Of course, he didn’t know it yet. He was gangling but of middling height. A mane of sunburnt brown hair that looked a little too much like he was growing a potted plant on his head adorned it, as well as a ginger-ish goatee. A shabby brown longcoat was wrapped around him and his rectangular black eyeglasses were pushed up to his forehead and he was snoring gently; ergo, he was fast asleep. He scratched his goatee in his sleep, the movement causing the black homespun scarf he wore to fall to one side.
The people who were planning on going on that trip, however, were busy packing their things.
And so our story begins!

edited 24th Oct '14 1:05:20 PM by desdendelle

"Hey dawg, gimme to someone so I can talk to folks." A smooth Gibson bass crooned out from the Van's side, propped up against it. Probably one of the lower-key weirdnesses that was going to ride here. It was good to be out and about, yeah, but he still needed more. "It'd be nice to have someone to play me, you know. Anyone out there with human-ish fingers?"

edited 24th Oct '14 12:06:27 PM by Taco

"... Oh and bathing suits! 3 pairs of ultra strength SPF 350 sunblock... no, better pack 10 of those. Also pack 10 different gala outfits, 20 casual wear for summer, 20 winter outfits, boots... pack as many boots as you can. Will they bring a popcorn machine? Put that in as well, Sebastian. Actually, grab as many gadgets as you can and stuff them into the baggage. Oh hats! Hats on their boxes, please, I don't want them to be ruined" says a certain vampiric young lady in her fifties, which is totally vampire early early teens, as ran all around her big princess-like room.

Sebastian, the elderly, seemingly mass produced and cliched butler smiled kindly as he moved to pack an increasingly unstable luggage that his employer seemed keen on bringing to the trip... possibly employing pure, black magics to manage to cram an impossible amount of items within "Milady, you seem especially radiant to go on this trip. Are you happy to go with them?"

"Hmmg!" That stopped Rachel on her tracks, making her blush a little in embarrassment. The truth was that she was radiant and joyful like a gradeschooler on a field trip. After all, didn't it just sound marvelous? A roadtrip! Adventure wherever the road may take them, days and nights spent with friends, laughing, having fun, teasing...

And they had invited her... her bandmates and friends had invited her to go along with them. They wanted her there.

Rachel could hardly contain her smile and happiness at such a thing... And yet she had, for her vanity and pride if anything as she flushed and denied it all "H-Hmmp! N-Not really... it sounds like it may be a little bothersome, but I guess if I want more influence in the band I do need to go along... and you know, f-father's friend daughter will be going along... it may be a good way to get some good influences for the consortium. For that sake I'm willing to endure a hardship or two... Hmgmg anyway! Sebastian who are you to question your Mistress! Pack! O-Oh and don't forget Miss Snugglefangs"

The butler Sebastian merely gave Rachel a knowing smile and nodded "Noted, my Mistress"

In the college dormitory of one particular snakeman in which said snakeman and a harpy are currently in

The exotic snakeman spoken of before was packing his luggage, as was necessary for the process of packing and moving objects into vehicles. However, there was at least one other person in the dormitory spoken above in the heading. Of course, since she was mentioned in the heading, and in the opening statements, I'm sure you can guess who she was.

"Bro. Bro. Bro." Helena droned to the slithery Sylvester. "Bro. Do we have to go today? The rain's clumping my feathers and I don't want my laptop soaked."

Helena Samson was seat on the dormitory-approved couch, fiddling away on her laptop, hands sheathed in gloves to keep her talons from doing too much harm. Oh her lap sat her cellphone and portable gaming console, on which she would be playing the latest in mascot fighting face bashing software. Around her shoulders was a fluffy comforter - a comflufforter if you feel particularly in the mood for butchering the English language - acting as both a towel to dry her off and a blanket to keep her warm in this cold, slightly damp morning.

As for her other things, those were all packed and laying about by the door, ready for adventure, at least more so than their owner.

"And everyone's gonna trail mud in the RV. Remember how Mom had a fit about cleaning it the last time?"

edited 24th Oct '14 11:07:35 PM by Starbound2

Dorms

Sylvester discarded the book he had been leafing through into the bag as he sighed. The bag in question was filled with books, and also had a few of Helena's comics crammed into there along with his assigned readings. "We have matssssssssss for them to wipe their feet on." He hissed as he thumped his long snake tail against the ground in annoyance. "And you could eassssssssily put your laptop in a bag to keep it dry from the rain. It isssssss not that hard." He shook his head when she mentioned their mother. "I can take care of that, I will just have them clean up any messssssssssssssessssssss they make."

edited 24th Oct '14 3:48:16 PM by RomanianInquisitor

Iris's House 2nd Floor: Yuna's Room

Today's finally the day~! Roooooooooooad Trip! Yuna was absolutely ecstatic as she threw her stuff into her suitcase before shutting it, hefting it up off her bed and stumbling her way to the window. "Here's the next one Marvin!" She yelled out down to her boyfriend before tossing out the suitcase for him to catch. She smiled gleefully as a small snow cloud continued to drop fluffy flakes along the path of the young Yukki-Onna.

There was a thud as Marvin managed to catch the falling suitcase with his body, falling backwards onto the lawn from the force. Shoving the suitcase off of his body, he clambered back to his feet, grabbing the suitcase and hauling it off the small pile that was on the sidewalk.

"How many more is there going to be?" He called, walking back toward the window. "I don't have a mule's stamina here."

[A few minutes ago...]

Having finished all her daily-chores one last time before leaving home, despite the inventor's insistence of not doing so, Alice was mostly ready to leave on her journey... Though the most difficult part for her, the farewell, was the one thing left.

She was traveling light, with only a backpack containing some spare clothes, and a small toolbox with instruments she thought might be useful during the trip; because of her mechanical nature, she didn't need as many things as other people, after all. She was wearing a pair of long overalls, with a long-sleeved shirt yellow under it, as well as her ever present pair of glasses and her long hair already neatly intertwined in a single braid. Shining for its absence was any kind of footwear over her bare feet, but that was part for the course when it came to her.

Meanwhile, the elder dwarven inventor was sitting on his favorite rocking chair, as it smoked his elegant pipe, looking over the mechanical girl with great pride and tenderness in his eyes. Even though he had told her a lot about the world beyond this small town, he knew she still needed to see that world with her own eyes in order to grow as a person... Besides, there was something really important, somewhere out there, that she needed to find.

Unbeknown to him, however, was the fact that Alice felt incredibly nervous and melancholic right now. Even though she looked like an ordinary human girl, and despite having an active and sincere heart, there was an unfortunate disconnection between her real feelings and the way her body expressed them. Even when she was happy, or sad, or angry, her expression was always a nigh-clean slate, while her voice always being a strange monotone that didn't convey any clear emotion.

-“Sincere inquiry: Are you sure you'll be fine, grandpa?”, she said.

Putting his pipe aside for a moment, the inventor spoke with a smile on his face:

-“Naaaaah... Don't worry about me, Alice. I was working alone for a long time already before we met. I can take care of things by myself! There's still lots of energy on this old man.”

Looking at the elder's eyes with a blank stare, despite her true feelings being far from indifference, Alice continued...

-“I'm a little scared and sad right now...There's a possibility that if I find what I've been looking for, we might not see each other once again.”

Looking a little gloom after her comment, the inventor replied...

-“Yes... That's something I'm aware of...”, however, his face illuminated once again as he spoke the next words,“But, remember what I once told you: 'If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were.'”

To which Alice responded...

-“Yes, you said a wise man once said that. I remember all the good things you taught me.”

Smiling once again, the elder continued...

-“And I'll always remember the good things we shared during our time together.”, after taking a break to smoke from his pipe once again, the inventor proceeded,“...Do you remember how depressed I was when we first met?”

Nodding in order to acknowledge the elder's question, as diffuse memories of those days raced through her mind, Alice recalled everything that had happened up to this point in a mere instant. Anything before their encounter was an inscrutable void to her, but most of the memories she had since the inventor repaired her had been precious to her. Even the less savory ones were invaluable, for they gave meaning and importance to the good ones. As he recalled those memories along with her, the elder stood up in order to speak to her face to face.

-“Yes, those were dark days... And lots of times I felt like I didn't had the strength to keep moving forward anymore, now that the light of my life was gone... And, then you came along under such strange circumstances, and I felt compelled to help you no matter what; I just couldn't leave such an unique person to die alone, buried under those piles of rubbish and scrap metal.”

Then, as he was right next to her, the elder took her right hand and held it care and warmth...

-“So yeah, even if we don't see each other once again, I'll always treasure the time we spent together. I might have helped with your repairs, but you were the one that really saved me that day: You showed me there were still lots of reasons to keep on living on this world. You're really a beautiful person, my dear, not just a machine like some of those cruel fools might say! Go on, and find what you've been looking for!”

Clearly moved by the inventor's words and sincere affection, the girl knelt before the small man in order to give him a big hug, to which he responded with one of his own. Despite her destructive strength, she instinctively knew the exact amount of strength she needed in order to convey her feelings... Maybe the only display of affection that she could accurately convey despite her emotional disability, which is why it was so important to her.

-“I'll try to return, no matter what, grandpa.”

-“And I'll patiently wait for you as long as there's life in me, my dear. Please, take care, and enjoy your journey.”

Despite not wanting for this moment to ever end, Alice knew she had to be strong if she ever wanted to find what she was looking for... So, with the weight of the world over her heart, she let go her “grandpa” as she stood up in order to start her journey. Despite wanting to say a lot of things right now, she decided to just keep moving forward, for each word would only make it more difficult for her leave. However, before she went through the threshold, she was interrupted by the inventor's advice...

-“...Oh! And don't forget your umbrella! It seems like it might rain on the way there.”

Looking at the umbrella that laid against the wall next to the door, Alice took it before looking back at her grandpa one last time, as she recorded every detail of this scene on her electronic brain, before gathering the courage to say one last thing:

-“Yes, grandpa. So long, until me meet again.”

...Alice said before closing the door behind her. Hoping this wasn't the last time she'd see her home and family, she took the first step of what she expected to be a fulfilling and meaningful journey...

[Back in the present...]

It didn't took long for Alice to reach the place where she had been convoked by her friend Kenneth. Locating the rather garish, yet surprisingly charming van he drove wasn't difficult, for it seemed like most people around here knew about the (in)famous vehicle, so they gave her clear indications about its current location.

Thanks to the umbrella she took before leaving home, the light rain barely got her wet on her way there... Though, her unshod feet were covered on a slight layer of mud she gathered on the road. Even though it wasn't unpleasant nor harrowing to her, (cold, humidity and dirt have never bothered anyway...) she made a mental note of cleaning them before boarding the vehicle, recalling memories of her grandpa reprimanding her after getting his floor all muddy because she didn't clean her feet after exploring outside during a rainy day.

However, before she reached her friend's vehicle, she stumbled upon another peculiar automobile: A busily decorated RV covered in custom artwork and decorations. This reminded her that Kenneth said they might have to bring two vehicles instead of one in order to fit all the people that were going along with them. Suspecting this might be the other vehicle he talked about, the girl decided to inspect it before meeting with her friend.

As she took a look inside of it, she caught the glimpse of a young man clad in a longcoat and black-framed spectacles, who seemed to be taking at nap at the moment. Despite her first instinct telling her she should leave the man rest, her curiosity overwhelmed her common sense, making her tap the glass in order to try to gain his attention, as she spoke in her characteristically unusual way, while bearing her perpetually blank expression:

-“Hello there. Are you one of Kenneth friends? My name is Alice. Nice to meet you.”

edited 25th Oct '14 7:40:18 AM by VPhantom

"Just one more!" Yuna replied as she scrambled through her room, packing up the last thing, her guitar, in it's case before going to the window. "Here it comes!" She yelled as she leaped out the window with her guitar case on her back.

"Wha-" THUD

Marvin sighed as he glanced at the girl who was currently the upper piece of bread in the sandwich of his current position, with the ground as the lower one.

"Not that I mind being this close to you, but perhaps some warning next time?"

Yuna giggled a bit as she got up. "Sorry Maru-kun. I just couldn't resist." She said with a look of guilty pleasure on her face. "Sorry it took so long. Just had a bit of stuff that I kept on remembering..." She looked at the pile of luggage which made up of the amp, and several suit cases, some empty for the sole purpose of souvenirs.

Tsukika poked her head out of the window of her dorm room at Random Blessing, her hair snugly under her hood as she called out "Does anyone want to come help grab my bags? I'd get all of them but I don't really need my hair to get wet, and some of this stuff is a bit delicate..."

edited 24th Oct '14 11:44:40 PM by Gladonost

"Well, it's not like I had anywhere to go or anything better to do." Marvin smiled slightly as he got to his feet. "After all, we don't have any of the cars here yet."

A kid with light brown hair stood beside the RV, his right hand inside his pocket while his left hand carried a lantern. He looked up at Random Blessing as he fiddled with his suspenders. He would probably end up at Random Blessing one day, although he wasn't looking forward to it. He completes high school, then he goes to college, and then what? Slave away for a paycheck for the rest of his life? That's dumb.

As if to serve as a reminder not to have an existential crisis right before departing on a road trip, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and looked at it, only to groan when he saw who it was from. It was a reminder, all right, and it wasn't one he was all too eager to get.

"Make sure to stay with the group. And don't catch cold, it's rainy today. Also be sure to stay safe and don't do anything dangerous blah blah blah..."

Jake didn't need to read the rest. His mom had been sending him texts every 5 minutes for the last hour that he had been there, and it has always been the same message. It felt nice the first few times, but now Jake was just starting to get peeved.

"Mom, stop texting me. I'm going to be fine."

"You have never left us for so long before. I'm just really worried"

"Look mom, it's perfectly safe! I'll be riding with a bunch of adults! I'm sure they're all good, responsible people."

Haha.

He then suddenly whipped around as he heard a voice. There was nothing there except... an instrument propped up along the side of the van. He looked around before pointing a finger at the bass and, addressing nobody in particular, asked, "Did this thing just talk?"

edited 25th Oct '14 8:41:53 AM by TehStanman

Bro's Dorm Room - Helena

"Yeah, but what if rain gets in the bag? This thing cost a lot y'kn- HEY!"

Dropping the laptop on one side of the couch, Helena flapped twice to push herself upright and dove over to Sylvester... or more precisely, the book bag.

"Be gentle with those; you'll crush my manga!"

Bud twanged out a chill little bass riff. "Heck yeah, buddy. Name's Bud. Sentient bass, same stuff that makes swords talk." He began strumming out another steady rhythm. "Got dug out of this van's trunk, looking for someone to play me. You know, like you."

The Siblings

"Your booksssss will be fine if you ssssssstop fighting me about them." He hissed as he pushed her off of himself and the bag. "I will not crusssh your booksssss." He scowled as he placed a cover over the bag before handing one to her. "Ussssssssse thissssssssss to keep your thingsssss dry." He instructed before slithering over to their suitcases. "Did you pack enough clothessssss for yoursssself?"

With Bird and Brother

Helena grumbled as she was handed the cover bag.. thing. "Fiiine. Lemme just shut down..."

Copying an RP post into Word for later, the harpy sister shut down her laptop and slid it in the rainproof cover, along with her handheld.

"And don't worry about my clothes; I got enough clothes for a month. We could probably find a laundromat or something in that time, right?"

Near the van, there was a brief flash of red light, and a fiery circular portal of red and black demonic energy tore itself through the fabric of time and space. A large, very well-muscled demon with red skin shuffled out of the portal. He was shirtless, and his arms were held out in front of him, up high as if hunching. He was hunched over a much smaller, normal sized demon girl, with the same shade of scarlet skintone. She gazed around, her expression one of almost complete bore, as she groaned about the rain, huddling close to her demonic servant.

"...If I get one drop on me, it's 4000 lashes against your privates, Melchom." She chimmed out at him, in a low, expressionless drone.

The large, buff demon just gave a nod, making it his absolute mission to keep his mistress dry. As she strutted forward, he kept a brisk pace close to her. She stopped in front of the van, eying it viciously.

Iris' House

"Whoa, Yuna, didn't realize you were moving out..." Iris said as she walked out of her house carrying a single, albeit large, suitcase. "Did you get it all, or did you need me get the tools unfasten the kitchen sick?" She smirked before looking thoughtful. "Is it alright for your things to be sitting out here though? I don't want your stuff to get ruined if it actually starts raining." Seeing Marvin, Iris gave a small nod. "Marv. Looking forward to playing both the roadie and the groupie on this little tour?"

A little while later, Rachel would make her appearance... driven in a black, luxury car by Sebastian. While he moved to the back to fetch her luggage, the vampiric girl stepped out of the car in good cheers, protected from the rain by an umbrella. Usually she wasn't this perky during the day but the darkness given by the cloudy, rainy sky protected her from the all too hated sun.

She then moved to Sebastian's side, taking her luggage from his hand and using every ounce of her enhanced strength to carry the quivering, overloaded and black magic bound container of nearly everything she could imagine herself needing on the trip. Biding a polite farewell toe Sebastian, with a kiss to his cheek when she thought nobody could notice she turned back to her friends and called out "Heeeey! Rachel is here!"

"Woah, that's awesome...!"

Jake walked over to Bud and squatted down. He set his lantern down on the ground and put his hands on his knees as he took a really close look at the bass.

"I don't know how to play though."

"I've heard there's a whole band coming with us, actually." Bud remarked. "Pick me up, hold me like you see folks on the TV doing it, and I'll do the rest. It's called a Bass Bond. Maybe if you start playing you can attract the rest of the band and we can crank something out before the trip starts."

Lilith turned when she saw Rachel's black car show up and she stepped out, of course holding some girly, cute little umbrella. Like Lilith would ever hold her own umbrella. Why else would she keep Melchom around? Well, the massages too of course. She strutted over to Rachel, getting close to the point where Melchom was shielding them both from the drizzle.

She gazed at Rachel, no notable expression on her face, staring the other girl up and down. "Oh, hey bitch. I see you're wearing that dress that rocked first at the Purgatorio Ball last winter....Looks good on you, considering." Lilith didn't smile, but Rachel would know this is the closest thing to a friendly comment she would get from the demonic princess. Rachel was literally Lilith's closest friend, and this was the way she showed her affection, in public a least. Lilith was a complete sweetheart to Rachel in public.

Lilith was about to say something else when she stopped dead in her tracks, looking at her shoulder to notice a small drop of water that sneaked past Melchom's hulking frame and was lucky enough to touch against Lilith's smooth, red skin. She stared at it as it ran down her arm, before swiftly arching her leg backwards behind her, forcefully kicking Melchom right in the groin with a crushing blow. Rachel might have sworn she almost heard the squish. Melchom visibly grimaced for a moment, but did not move, and returned to composure almost effortlessly. All a testament to how different Lilith and Rachel treated their familiars.

Siblings

Sylvester sighed as he nodded. "Mosssssssssst likely." He replied before he finished packing up their bags. "Come along now, we sssssssshould go and make sssssssure the otherssss are ready." he hissed as he grabbed their suitcases and heavy bags, leaving the lighter ones to Helena as he made his way to the RV and Van. Pausing at the unusual sight...well, it was really usual at this point. "Ah...I sssssee that most of ussss are here."

edited 25th Oct '14 2:27:35 PM by RomanianInquisitor