Character Frontier

[Bed and Breakfast (Lobby)]

Amy frowned.

"Well...I try to be nice...maybe...a little too nice." She hugged herself, "But I just get so excited when someone actually takes time to talk to me! So I give them lots of hugs and...they don't want to be around me anymore. I'm too 'weird' for them."

She rubbed her arm.

"Maya became my only friend because I was one of the few people who liked being around her, even though she's a bit...blunt. I know It's weird that we're friends, but she's super nice to me! She's nice...on most days. I want to make more friends, but I'm scared that I'm gonna do the wrong thing again. That's why I don't want to leave you guys; you guys actually tolerated what I did, and you were patient with me!"

She shook her head. "Gahh...you don't want me to share all that, do you? You probably have more things on your mind then some girl you met for a few hours telling her life story. I'm so sorry, Davey..."

[Town ~ The Tipsy Toad] (Mari, Aubrey, Finn, James, Kaitlyn, Karl, Kris, Peggy, Sophia)

Three new arrivals, members of the group that Mari was sitting at, entered the tavern. They clearly looked like they had a long day, though, who hadn't in this town? Mari turned to face them as they approached the table and sat down.

She returned Teri's grin with a playful smile of her own, "Right back atcha. Name's Mari."

Raising an inquiring eyebrow, Mari leaned in on the conversation pertaining to Aubrey. "Pardon me buttin' in, but what's this about, now?" she asked.

edited 27th Mar '17 1:34:41 PM by WillDeRegio

The Tipsy Toad

Teri did a visible double take at Mari's unmistakeable accent. Hearing the "muvver tongue" here, of all places, was a welcome surprise. A visibly Japanese woman having a Cockney accent wasn't too much of a surprise - not as common as someone of African descent, but by no means unheard of - the shock was finding another "East Ender" in this remote place.

James turned to Mari. "Our man Aubrey, here, was abducted from our home world and my friends and I were sent to find him. Gwion and his friends kindly assisted us when we split up to cover more ground - that's what we were doing out in the desert when you appeared. It seems that a completely unrelated group of people found him locked in a room inside an old mine some way out of town."

There were assorted nods from the others by way of affirming the tale as told.

Aubrey looked at James. "Which reminds me; I want to catch up with Joseph, Constance, Amelia and Maya and thank them before we leave for Terra Nova. They're in a bed-and-breakfast place up near the Railway Station, apparently."

James nodded. "I would also like to meet them and convey our heartfelt thanks."

At this point, the young woman returned with a tray bearing beers and a whiskey and set it down on the table. Wolfe caught her attention and held up a banknote and three fingers to signify three more beers for himself, Teri and Gwion.

Kaitlyn passed Finn his whiskey and dispensed beers to Mari, Peggy, Sophia, Kris, Aubrey, James and Karl, keeping one for herself.

Aubrey normally would not have ordered a beer and was quite surprised to be given one. However, he did not wish to offend Kaitlyn by being less than grateful or by refusing so he gave her a smile and thanked her as the others did.

"It looks like we're stopping for a drink before we go," Aubrey remarked.

Wolfe, tired and parched from the long day's journeying, looked up and growled, "damn straight!"

[Subterranean Shelter]

Rin held the little orb of magical light with great uncertainty, largely unsure of what to do with it. She cupped it in her hands at about chest-height, and resolved to to keep it there until further notice, as though her arms had been paralyzed. She nodded to Cynthia in thanks, then turned to Joseph.

He said something peculiar and in a strange voice. Judging by his subsequent grin, it seemed to have been some kind of joke, but it wasn't one that she understood. She stared at him for a moment, mystified, then shook her head. "Well, anyway," she began. "If it's just dirt and rocks, then looking around shouldn't be an issue. It'll probably just be a minute or two, like you said..."

She looked over at the staircase, then back to Cynthia and Joseph. "Stay close, you two."

And with that, she made for the caves.

[Town ~ The Tipsy Toad] (Mari, Aubrey, Finn, James, Kaitlyn, Karl, Kris, Peggy, Sophia)

Judging by Teri's reaction, she didn't expect to see someone like Mari out in The Town With No Name. The redheaded oni woman cheerfully grinned at her.

Upon hearing of Aubrey's situation, Mari nodded slowly, "Well, it's a good thing they were there to get 'im out." She turned towards the man in question. "You've got good friends 'ere," she said to him.

Mari smiled and thanked Kaitlyn for the pint. She took a drink, savoring it for a bit, before giving a pleased smile. "Hmm, not bad," she stated, before leaning back in her chair.

[Southern Desert ~ Cave (Underground Bunker)] (Cynthia, Joseph, Rin)

The young knight laughed softly at Joseph's silly antics. She then clapped her hands together, eliciting a dull clank from her gauntlet. "Well, now that we're all in agreement..." she carefully attached the other end of the glowing rope to the wall of the room, by the entrance to the tunnel leading further into the complex.

"You might have missed something the last time you were here," Cynthia said. "Besides, I can check out the cave in and see what I might be able to do." She smiled before holding out her hand, "I'll lead th- oh."

Rin had already set off into the dark caves. Quickly going through the motions, Cynthia conjured up another ball of light and followed the other woman into the caves.

edited 29th Mar '17 12:33:03 PM by WillDeRegio

[Town ~ Doc Carson's] (Oswald, Merlin, Nemaforte, Zuri's ghost)

Oswald looked in the direction that the nurse had gestured, staring and blinking for a few seconds before finally appearing to recognize the sink. "Ah. Ah." He murmured, rubbing his eyes with the cleanest part of his hands. As he rubbed, and as the nurse related her story, his mouth fell into a sober frown. "That's vile," he said, shaking his head, "absolutely vile. Did you report them? Is there anyone you can report them to?"

Shortly thereafter, a strangely familiar someone entered the building, stealing Oswald's attention for a solid minute. He barely even seemed to register Merlin's peculiar and somewhat grandiose statement, appearing more perplexed by the young man's unimpeded ability to hug what appeared to be Zuri. The same Zuri that had died, for whatever that was worth, and returned in a strange spiritual form. Oswald's layman's understanding of spirits did not include the notion that they were able to be hugged, or touched much at all as a solid form.

He only managed to raise his hand halfway to a wave when the strange, dead-ish girl greeted him and Nemaforte, so lost was he in his struggle to comprehend. Nemaforte's situation one bed over wasn't helping, as the witch seemed uninterested in being treated through any conventional means.

So he sat there, quietly observing that which happened around him. Nemaforte leaving the bed almost as quickly as she'd been placed on it, Merlin struggling with her bag, and Zuri—whatever, however she was—speaking to he, Oswald, himself.

"Eh er... yes, I... I suppose I am," he answered hesitantly, though his reservations were perhaps entirely different from those he'd had minutes earlier.

He tensed up at her touch, though he tried to mask it by rubbing his arm, as if it had just been a small muscle spasm. Without further ado, he swung out his newly-bandaged feet and touched down on the floor, taking a moment to bask in the comfort of feeling his own weight, the cool ground, and allowing the rest of his tail to move uninhibited. "Thank you Zuri," he said, managing a smile and a polite bow of his horned head before he headed to the sink.

It was a bit of a hard-fought battle to remove the soot and grime that had built up over the course of several days, but once the first bits started rubbing off, the rest was quick to follow. In less than a minute, the bluish-gray skin of his hands was clearly visible. He cleaned a little further up his arms and splashed some water on his face, focusing on the area around his eyes, around his mouth, and the front of his snout.

Once he was about as clean as he could reasonably get without a proper shower or an acid bath, Oswald retrieved his cloak from the side of the bed, then turned to face Abigail. There was a pause, and he drew in a long, steady breath. Then he spoke in a quiet, sincere, and sturdy voice, "Thank you, Abigail, dearly, for taking care of me. I'm sorry this place has not been kind to you, but I want you to know that I'll be here for a while, working and finding my footing. Although I'm not in a fit state to be very physical right now, I will be soon, and I'll be nearby, so if anything happens, if you need anything, I am here." He blinked slowly, and a soft smile appeared at the far corners of his mouth. "I want to repay you before I leave, in any way that I can. Is that all right?"

[Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Davey, Amy)

"Oh, a good mind can hold many thoughts," Davey said with a friendly smile, "I'm sure I have space for you, Amy." He placed his hands behind his head and laid back against them. "It sounds to me like you've just got a tendency towards lousy first impressions. My advice to you then would be to first recognize that. I mean," he held out his hands,"you're recognizing it now, that's good, but the next step would be to recognize it in the moment, or preferably before the moment. Recognize that you tend to ah... explode on people, and, you know, that's 'explode' in the nicest way you could ask for, and you're a very affectionate but it can be overwhelming. It can frighten people off."

He paused for a moment, staring thoughtfully up at the ceiling and twisting one of his whiskers. "So," he said finally, "once you recognize that you're about to shower someone with sudden love, you'll want to seize the reins and pull yourself back— hold yourself back, and keep your emotions from running completely rampant. And from there you ah... drip-feed yourself. And get to know the other person as well, so you hopefully don't end up getting cozy with a complete scumbag. Pay attention, look for opportunities to connect to this person, and take them." He shrugged, "That's mostly all there is to it, reading people and practicing a little restraint. I suppose the trick is learning to do it with confidence. You can't let every setback get you down, or you'll start being less of a friend and more of a pity-project."

Davey's gaze drifted off to the side of Amy. His eyes seemed to lose their focus and his is mouth hung slightly open, as though he was to distracted to bother summoning the willpower to close it all the way. It was several seconds before he snapped out of it, though he looked a little more glum for his trouble.

"And Amy," he added, laying his hands back in his lap, "If you want to know more about me, you..." he hesitated for a moment, "you've just got to be a little more specific, okay? I don't have my autobiography on hand, you know."

[Bed and Breakfast (Lobby)]

Amy tilted her head. "...I see. No more sudden hugs! Hold in my excitement! Though that one might be a little hard...meeting new people make me so happy! But I'll try!"

Finally, Davey did allow her to ask questions about him, though she didn't know where to began. She had so many questions about Davey that it could take the entire night for her to get through them all.

For several minutes, she struggled to think about what she wanted to ask. She wondered what would be the right question, until something from way earlier struck her.

"Well," she said, "I kinda wanna know what your past is like, i-if you don't mind. I mean, I figured since I told you mine—well, the REAL version—I can know a little more about where you came from! It's always exciting to know about other people, at least to me! I get to learn something new about someone!"

She then realized what she was doing and bashfully lowered her head.

"Oops. I got too excited again. B-but if you can, what was life like before you came to the Frontier? Don't worry, if you don't wanna share, I won't pressure you!"

edited 30th Mar '17 11:24:40 AM by Masterofchaos

[Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Davey, Amy)

Davey found himself smiling again at Amy's receptiveness. "Good, good," he said, "trying is the best way to start."

His smile vanished when she got to asking her question, being replaced with a wide, perplexed frown. "Well... gee, that's not exactly what I had in mind when I said 'be more specific'. I mean, my past is everything behind me, divided up into innumerable little swaths. I suppose in big sweeps I can think of three distinct sections, but each one of those is a story in and of itself."

He sighed and shook his head, running his hand past his ears. "Uh... I suppose I can tell you about how things have been recently. It's quite a bit like this, actually," he said, gesturing around at the hall. "We're not always so relaxed, but we do travel a lot. We're fairly nomadic like that, going where our work takes us, though we do have a 'home base' so to speak. It's a little place in Bellwater Basin, which is just the kind of place you'd never want to tire of, so it's probably for the best that we're only there every-so-often."

[Southern Desert ~ Subterranean Shelter —> Old Mine] (Joseph, Cynthia, Rin)

"Oh, well, yeah, I guess that's fair enough," Joseph said to Cynthia, watching as she fiddled with her magical rope. "Last time we only had a couple of dingy little flashlights after all, and this time we have-" he paused for a moment, just in time to watch Cynthia summon up another luminescent ball, "yeah, uh... that."

As he followed the others towards the hole in the wall, thinking of how strange it felt to retread the exact same path, under the exact same lighting, with the exact same reservations as he'd trodden, been under, and had just a few hours earlier ^* Relevant post. He wished he could have felt at least a little less confused for his experience, but, alas, any answers he'd earned simply gave way to more questions.

At the very least, the inside of the hole in the wall did look a little different—as he'd expected—cast upon by the light of Cynthia's magic ball. All the rusty old mining tools stood out immediately, and there were far fewer dark corners to wonder or worry about. The 'T' intersection was visible too, alongside the small rock-pile and arrow carving that marked the two paths ahead.

"The right leads to a dead end," Joseph said, pointing, "just a little ways around the corner, there's a cave-in. But given what Omar said..." he felt his heart sink a little, "...well, it's probably still worth a look. Maybe you two will see something we didn't." He tapped a claw against his mouth, "Come to think of it, I didn't really get a look at it last time. I was in the back."

It was a little silly, but the fact that he hadn't seen it gave him a strange sense of hope. Hope that the three others who had seen it the first time were somehow blind enough to miss a clearing in the rocks, or a side path, or something that he, Rin, or Cynthia would surely discover. Something to just clear up these lingering misgivings, and let that be that.

The Tipsy Toad

Aubrey smiled and nodded at Mari. Yes, he did have good friends - which, considering how things had gone on The Long Walk, was a solid testimony as to how good they were. After everything, they had come looking for him in this strange and potentially hostile place. At the very least, they had risked an encounter with his unknown, and possibly dangerous, abductors - the fact that they had come armed indicated that they had prepared for such an eventuality.

Mari herself was a bit of a puzzle. Her attire was strange - fairly "modern" by Aubrey's Victorian standards - consisting of elements that didn't fit together in any style he had seen. Black denim trousers - or rather jeans - and a strange black and white sleeveless top that left little to the imagination. Then there was her obviously Japanese origin - the unnaturally-coloured hair was probably dyed - but she spoke English like she had, like Teri, been born and raised in the East End of London.

Then Aubrey recalled what James had said and gave Mari an intense look. "You appeared out in the desert? How did you come to be out there by yourself?"

The girl returned to the table with the three beers for Teri, Wolfe and Gwion, so Gwion gave her a generous tip then settled back with his beer. He fished out his cigarettes and lit up, and Finn, Sophia, Kaitlyn and the seven Terra Novans followed suit.

edited 31st Mar '17 10:33:22 PM by Wolf1066

[Bed and Breakfast (Lobby)]

Amy gasped, her eyes widened and practically sparkling.

"You travel? Does that mean you're an adventurer too?" she asked, "That's so cool! Where have you been? Ooh! Did you take pictures?"

She then tilted her head to the side.

"What's the home base like? Is it where you get your supplies? Oh! What's your friend Rip like? He travels with you, right? Can you tell me a little more about him? How did you two meet? I have so many questions!"

The sound of the showers turning off could be heard faintly. It seemed that Maya was just about wrapping up her shower.

[Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Davey, Amy)

Davey tipped his head from side to side, considering for a moment before nodding, "Ah... yes. Well, our work often lends itself to a sense of adventure, yes. Not always, mind you, but pretty frequently. Certainly more frequently than if we had a stable—or at least less irregular—line of work. And oh, we've been allll over."

He stuck his hand out as he spoke, moving it in a small arc, like he was running it across the horizon. "Fourteen and a half years of traveling, just Rip and I, and now half a year more with Connie. And Rip, he's been doing this even longer than I have. Traveling to and fro, mostly within wardlands, but there have been the occasional special jobs that paid especially well for especially hairy ventures out into the wild green. I figure one really bad incident out there would have scared us into sticking to the safe stuff, but nothing serious ever happened. At least, not on the risky jobs." He looked away slightly, laughing a quiet contemptuous laugh and raising his hands to form finger quotes, "'' 'Risky'. "Well..."

With a sigh, he turned his head even further away, then continued. "No pictures, actually. I neglected to bring a camera when I crossed over and Rip didn't have one. There might have been a handful of occasions where we were photographed by someone else, but I've never seen the prints." He crossed his arms and shrugged his slim shoulders, "They have a reputation anyways, cameras. Bad luck charms, some say. An open invitation for The Will Of The World to wreak havoc, some say. Stories like that usually don't persist without some basis in the truth, so I'm happy to forgo having a camera for a little peace of mind."

Davey blinked several times as Amy dove into a rapid-fire series of excitedly asked questions. His flat staring-at-an-oncoming-train frown returned, and he even put up his hand, fingers outstretched. Stop.

"Whoa there, what's the rush?" he asked, once she'd finally left a gap in her questioning. "Are you looking for answers, or tidbits?"

edited 3rd Apr '17 3:13:12 PM by Ryuhza

[Old Mine]

Rin looked around. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, exactly, but she was confident that anything interesting would jump out at her. Hopefully not in a literal sense, though. "The cave-in..." she said, thinking aloud. "I suppose that's worth investigating. Maybe we'll be able to clear it away, or at least some of it." She started heading to the right, glancing back at Cynthia as she walked. "Carefully, though. We don't want to bring the place down on our heads."

The thought turned her stomach, but she kept her compose intact. These tunnels were too far from the surface already. The last thing she wanted was more obstacles between her and the sky.

[Town ~ The Tipsy Toad] (Mari, Aubrey, Finn, James, Kaitlyn, Karl, Kris, Peggy, Sophia)

Mari nodded in Aubrey's direction, and as a result, sent her invisible bells jingling. "Yeah, not totally sure 'ow that 'appened. Pretty sure I got meself blind drunk last night, somethin' that usually don't 'appen t'me. High alcohol tolerance, y'see," she said, before taking a drink.

"All I know is that I woke up, with the sun shinin' down on me eyes," she said, before gesturing towards James, Kaitlyn, and Kris, "didn't take me long t'notice you guys and join up with ya." She then proceeded to shrug, "'Ey, at least this time, I didn't wake up in the middle o'Nevada. That was awkward."

Mari paused for a moment, "This isn't Nevada, right?"

[Southern Desert ~ Cave (Abandoned Mine ~ Caved-in Tunnel)] (Cynthia, Joseph, Rin)

Cynthia nodded in Rin's direction, "Don't worry. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that can clear it out no problem," she said, rolling her left shoulder as they took a right at the rock pile.

As they continued down the tunnel towards the cave in, nothing of note jumped to the young knight's attention. There was the occasional debris and insect activity, but nothing more. It didn't take them long to reach the dead end.

Cynthia stared intently at the boulders, hmming slightly. The rocks were larger than she had expected, so it might take her longer to clear it. As she drew closer to the boulders, a tingling sensation traveled down her arm and around her covered eye. Narrowing her other eye, she could barely make out the faint red glow seeping through the cracks in the rocks.

She turned to her companions, "Good news is, there's something on the other side of this blockade, and there doesn't seem to be too much in the way. On the other hand, I'm getting major vibes from whatever is over there," she said, before shivering slightly. "I should be able to clear the tunnel, but I'd rather not accidentally trigger whatever it is on the other side with my magic, so maybe we should wait for Omar now."

edited 6th Apr '17 9:26:28 AM by WillDeRegio

Doc Carson's -> Main & Railway (Zuri's Ghost, Nemaforte, Merlin, Oswald)

Abigail gazed over at Oswald the entire time as the foursome left the place. "Only thing I can think you can do to repay me is work here for a bit. But I wouldn't do that to ya. You have another world to go back to. I'm only here because I was born and raised in this strange place between worlds. You just go enjoy your normal reality while I stay here in Wackoland with the Doc. And really, you should be repaying the people who took care of you before you got here, shouldn't you?"

With a small smile on her face, Zuri led Oswald out of the building. "If you like, you can pay her a visit again before heading for the train station. Right now our classmates are waiting for us, and my body is waiting for me."

Merlin came very close to stumbling forward and dropping Nemaforte's bag (he only didn't because Nemaforte straightened him back up telekinetically). Only now did he see that she lacked a shadow; not only that, he had been so mesmerized by her appearance that he failed to pay attention to her foggy touch, thinking that to be an effect of her aura. "That was your astral projection all this time?! My my, I had never seen it so opaque and detailed before, and capable of touch no less. You must have had quite a bit of practice with it out here in this vast frontier - by this point it's practically an actual ghost!"

Zuri bowed her head. "In a way, it was my projection, and perhaps I had too much practice." It was now clear to her that Merlin had not yet heard the news of her death, and yet she didn't care to break it to him, knowing how much he had pined over her before. Desperate to change the subject, she turned to Oswald. "You see? Coming to town wasn't so bad an idea after all. I do not know what sort of mistake you were talking about earlier, and I have to wonder if it had to do with whoever put that curse on your sight. What sort of evil sorcerer would do that to someone who already had an appearance such as yours?"

"A sorcerer of evil would prey on the weak to love," said Nemaforte, as she took special interest in the long shadows the other three cast on the ground as they walked, and how the sun had descended so close to the horizon that its light did not bother her anymore. "Those who are different are weak to see. Seeming you need to find a strength that beyond lies an undying kindness."

Zuri looked back at her and raised an eyebrow, while Merlin gazed over at the intersection of the two roads. "Oh good, we're almost there - my arms are beginning to betray me." Indeed, there was only one unimpressive building standing between them and the Washington at this intersection.

Ryuhza, feel free to have the group enter the Washington and have Oswald react to the presence of the other students if you like.

[Town ~ Main Street —> Outside the Washington] (Oswald, Merlin, Nemaforte, Zuri's ghost)

"That's no reason to stay put," Oswald said. "I was born on the sea, raised by it's side, and now look where I am." His smile faltered and faded as the nurse seemed to dismiss his offer regardless, suggesting instead that he go back to his 'reality' or repay the others before her. "It's not quite that simple," he began, but he found himself being led away before he could fully express his thoughts.

Once they were outside, he looked at Zuri—or at least the essence that represented her in its own confounding way. "It really isn't that simple, or easy," he said, wrapping his cloak back around his shoulders, "I have no money for the fare, I have no supplies, and I've done considerable damage to whatever minute good reputation I once held. I may be free of that dooming curse, but I'm not prepared to return. Not yet." He shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment, small creases appearing near the center of his brow. "And I would repay you," he continued, slowly opening his eyes and turning his gaze to Zuri and Nemaforte, "I would love to. I simply don't know what I could offer to you before you all leave."

Oswald was quiet for a little while after that, taking a minute to fasten his cloak, and moment to pat at his pockets for something that wasn't there. Coming away empty, he looked at Zuri again as the ghostly young woman addressed him. He smiled slightly, exhaling a small whuff of amusement through his nose. "Yes, well, I was worried it would be a different town; one where I would be recognized."

He went silent again as Zuri wondered aloud about the mistake he made and his most recent curse. For a moment, it seemed as though he might not answer at all.

"Perhaps they were." He said, finally. "I don't know who cursed me. I wasn't even certain that I was cursed or simply delirious and very very unlucky before I ran across your wagon. Curses are not a normal thing where I'm from, you see. Even for someone like me, that came as a bit of a surprise." He paused for a moment, blinking quietly at the road stretching out of town. "More than a few people believe that I'm malicious by nature. That I am a demon, born to do evil unto people. My mistake was naivety. Trusting who I shouldn't have. Believing that their word was unfaltering truth. That I was doing the right thing, somehow. Helping people. Somehow." His mouth pulled into something that one might call a smile, if it weren't for the general joylessness of his face in that moment. "I was used, I was made a patsy, and I affirmed all of those beliefs about me. Maybe that was why I was cursed."

Oswald turned his gaze slightly to look at Nemaforte as she spoke, then lowered it once she was finished. With his head down and horns jutting forward, he bore a profile almost like that of a charging bull as he shuffled slowly onwards to their destination. Eventually, they ran across the wooden boards of the sidewalk, and he raised his head up to find the words, 'The Washington,' staring right back down at him.

"This must be it," he said, managing to put together a half-decent smile. He stepped aside and waved the others toward the entrance, saying, "After you. I'm certain your friends will be eager to see you again."

[Southern Desert ~ Old Mine] (Joseph, Cynthia, Rin)

Joseph turned to look at Rin, "What? You mean to tell me you've never wanted to experience what it's like to be buried alive?" His eyes widened momentarily, then he put his hands on his hips and shook his head in mock-disbelief. "Well color me surprised."

He shifted his gaze to Cynthia, narrowing his eyes slightly as they ran across her bright ball of light again. "Seriously though, I agree. Whatever you think you can do about the cave-in, just... eh... don't upset it. Getting home won't matter if we all end up squashed."

Once the three reached the actual cave-in itself. It wasn't all that different from what Joe had imagined, having seen it mostly in the dark and from a distance. He stepped a little closer to the pileup, giving Cynthia another curious glance as the young knight gave them the rundown on what she'd found.

"You mean you think this thing has some kind of magic booby-trap?" he asked, eyeing the pile of boulders with cautious interest, while his tail waved behind him, betraying a mild sense of excitement. "And, uh... can I ask what exactly— or roughly, even—you plan on doing to clear this? Like," he held his hands out towards the pile, spreading his claw tipped fingers and waving them in slow circles as he spoke, "do you have some super strong telekinesis powers or something like that?"

The Washington (Oswald, Nemaforte, and the psychic college students)

As Merlin, Zuri, and Nemaforte accompanied Oswald to the Washington, Zuri and Merlin both stopped momentarily when Oswald told them about how he was treated. Merlin even squatted and held Nemaforte's bag on his lap to give his arms a rest, not caring for the moment that the long tails on his coat were lying on the dusty ground. "I am so sorry to hear that," Zuri replied, placing a ghostly hand on Oswald's shoulder. "It is astonishing to see how xenophobic people can be, and especially how they judge based on appearances. Given how the common image of Satan is goat-like with horns, I can understand the malicious reputation. I identify with your situation myself - it is impossible to count how many times I've been called a ghost when I was in school. I even had people throw things at me to see if it would phase through my body. I've even had people call me a vampire because of my paleness and aversion to sunlight, and thus once got ambushed with wooden stakes and garlic cloves. I was born as an albino, so it wasn't like I could control it."

"Granted, though, that our situation is not as extreme as yours," Merlin added. "The fact that you were actually cursed for it is unfortunate indeed - it would seem that the person who took advantage of you was a sorcerer who had the pretense of helping you. But you are safe with us - one of our classmates makes playful threats about curses, but she doesn't follow up on them."

The two simultaneously thanked Oswald for opening the door. During their conversation, Nemaforte had just followed behind, her head still in a haze after the comedown from the Mushroom of Time. This she continued to do until they approached the large round table where the students sat. Two modernly dressed Japanese siblings, a red-headed lolita girl, a scrawny blond man in black, an equally-scrawny teen with a malicious look in her eyes, the familiar Vicky, and Zuri's body, which looked almost zombie-like in the way it was slumped forward in its seat.

Merlin immediately approached and gazed at the latter. "Is she okay?" He turned to Zuri. "How long have you been out of her body anyway?"

Amanda burst into maniacal laughter. "For a guy with a wizardly namesake, you are very naive. Her body is a corpse!"

Lupin glared at her. "For a girl on the verge of adulthood, you have very little tact." Then he looked solemnly at Merlin. "But yes, she is correct. Her astral projection was trapped by the Dead God we were investigating."

"What?!" Merlin exclaimed nonetheless, dropping Nemaforte's bag - fortunately Nemaforte was able to telekinetically slow its descent onto the ground. He gazed incredulously at Zuri, who gave a solemn nod of her ghostly head. For several seconds he gazed at her in shock. "No... No, this is not good at all..." But then he smiled. "But you are still here. My previous comment stands." There was an alluring glint in his eyes... but soon he looked away, as he remembered Oswald.

Clearing his throat, he gestured all around the group. "Everyone, these are Oswald and Nemaforte, two dear friends Zuri met out in the desert. Oswald is from a world very much like our own, while Nemaforte is from..."

"...the planet Orenya," Zuri's ghost finished. "You three know her," she added to Vicky, Yamiko, and Lupin, then turned to Oswald. "These are our classmates, all part of the psychic research project. Gon here is studying pyrokinesis," and here she gestured over to the young Japanese man, "his little sister Ari is studying technomancy," he added to the bespectacled girl who was just putting away her cell phone, "I don't know if you met Yamiko and Lupin but they are studying telepathy and cloaking, respectively; and that's Amanda," she gestured at last to the teen girl with the darkly shadowed eyes.

"And I'm studying psychic torture," Amanda added, fiddling with the red winged ball on the top of her wand. "So, you are a minotaur," she said to Oswald. "How intriguing. I imagine where you are from, there must be all manner of mythical creatures running about."

"Actually he's the only one, or one of the very few," Zuri quickly corrected, as she showed Oswald to a seat at the end of the table next to Gon. On Gon's other side was Ari, followed by Vicky, then where Zuri's ghost floated back inside her dead body at the back of the booth, then a very intrigued Amanda, then Yamiko and Lupin, and Merlin and Nemaforte on the far end.

On cue, the gruff-looking man returned with several small glasses of bourbon, two of brandy (for Zuri and Vicky), and two of red wine (for Amanda and Lupin). He noticed the two new arrivals and scratched his prickly mustache. "Well I'll be. A minotaur and an elf witch. What can I get you strange fellows?"

"A minotaur and an elf witch?!" Gon exclaimed, an excited expression on his face. "Wow, I didn't realize there would be people from other worlds here."

Merlin gave the man a playful look. "This is a saloon and yet you have wine. Peculiar it is indeed. You wouldn't happen to have absinthe as well, would you?"

The man's brow furrowed. "What sorta fairyland are you living in, young man? We don't carry nuthin' that'll make ye hallucinate!" Nemaforte let out a brief snicker at the last remark.

Merlin sighed. He could have gone into a whole speech about how absinthe does not cause hallucinations^note Indeed it doesn't - that myth only existed because of a poisonous green dye that hasn't been used in a century, but didn't because he had far more tact than Amanda did. "Well then, I believe we are fine for now unless you two would like something else." He noted that the extra glasses of bourbon made the total exceed the number of students.

"I have... no preference... not familiar with Earthen liquor," Nemaforte remarked.

"We could all use some water though," Vicky added.

Gon shot her a dirty look. "Only a fool orders water at a saloon!"

"They are only a fool if they do not order a drink," Lupin corrected.

"The man in black is correct," said the server.

"You look rather out of it, Nemaforte," said Ari. "You sure you are okay?"

"Always I am fine," she replied, bobbing her head from side to side even though she was mostly sober.

Yamiko gave her a quick glance. "She seems to the Ozzy Osbourne of Orenya drug-tolerance wise."

Once more Zuri tried to more her body's mouth, and managed to let out a wheezing, croaking "Indeed".

edited 10th Apr '17 8:07:09 PM by ladytanuki

[Bed and Breakfast (Lobby)]

Amy rubbed the back of her head.

"Oops..." she said, "Looks like I got too excited again. W-Well, tidbits might help! I'm mostly curious about how you and Rip met! You talk about him a lot, and I just wanna know how you two became friends!"

While this was going on, Maya emerged from the shower room, wearing shorts and a tank top. She saw that Davey and Amy were talking to each other, so she decided to just lean against the wall and watch, not wishing to disrupt them.

''The Tipsy Toad

Aubrey smiled. So Mari had suddenly and inexplicably found herself in a strange place and then met up with James - all but for a few details, it was like his own arrival on Terra Nova. It seemed to Aubrey that mysterious transportation was quite common - most of the population of Terra Nova, Joseph and Mari all seemed to have been afflicted with it.

Teri grinned at Mari's question. "Nah, despite what it looks like an' that big desert out there, this place ain't remotely near Nevada."

Gwion chuckled. "Met a bloke yesterday that thought it might be Texas." He looked at Mari. "You're from Earth, I gather. Raised in London?"

[Town ~ The Washington] (Oswald, Nemaforte, Psychic College Students)

"Oh, I'm well aware," Oswald said when Zuri mentioned how his appearance coincided with certain well-known symbols that generally held very negative connotations. "That's not even mentioning the pointed tail," he added with a quick flick of his own. "There's not much I can do about it. I cover it up as much as I can, but even with my face concealed, I am still a man with horns. Worse still, a stranger with horns." He paused for a moment before letting out his breath and shaking his head. "I suppose I should just thank my lucky stars that I don't have bright red skin or cloven hooves."

He smiled sadly as he followed the others inside. "Sometimes I wish I could just blame them all and leave it at that," he said, his voice coming slow and ponderous, "but alas, I know better. My third curse: a conscience that I can't fool. I live in a damaged, fearful world, but these people are just as capable of showing great compassion as they are of great loathing. My own brother showed me both when we were growing up. Well," he waved the thoughts away before he risked going off on a tangent, "regardless, I'm grateful that you two understand, though it... it does pain me to think and hear of others suffering the same way that I have. It's not right. I'm sorry."

Before long, they reached the table of Merlin and Zuri's friends. Oswald lingered a short distance behind the two, observing the reunion in his self-effacing way.

Apparently, Merlin had missed the news of his friend's peculiar death, much to the intense amusement of one of his other friends; the gloomy teen Oswald had seen earlier at the doctor's building. To its credit, the sight of Zuri's body next to Zuri's current manifestation—which looked quite a bit like her body—seemed to disquiet, or at least surprise, Oswald himself, who knew of the death, though understanding it was still miles down the road. Her friends seemed to have taken it in stride, which was probably the best way to take a death when the subject in memoriam could still sit next to you and tell you all about how their day was going.

Oswald finally stepped forward when Merlin and Zuri introduced him and their circle of friends in turn. He gave a small bow—leaving plenty enough space so that he wasn't draping over the table as he did so—and said, "It's a great pleasure to make your acquaintances, all of you. I don't know of many books on psychic research where I'm from, but what I've seen is fascinating, to say the very least."

With a contented smile, he followed Zuri to his seat. When the question of what he actually was arose again, he offered, "Actually, I don't believe that I am a minotaur, not in any mythological sense. But I don't mind if you want to call me that. I find it a little more preferable to 'hellspawn'."

Shortly thereafter, the waiter showed up and talk turned to drinks. "I'm in for something cheap and watered down," said Oswald, who then added more quietly, "the last thing I need right now is an expensive new habit."

He crossed one leg over the other, trying to settle into his seat and let himself relax a bit, though Nemaforte's persistent detachment and Zuri's zombie-speak weren't helping.

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Davey, Amy, Maya)

"There you go," Davey smiled, waving a finger, "now that I can answer with gusto." He leaned back in his seat, knitting his fingers and tapping his short thumbs together as he glanced thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"It was close to fifteen years ago, as I've said," he began, lowering his gaze briefly to Amy, "I was about your age, young and angry, and maybe a little too full of myself. Or at least I had been, before life knocked me upside the noggin and put me in my place. I..." he tipped his head from side to side for a moment, then let out a quiet, nervous laugh, "I was a runaway, you see, only I was even deeper in over my head than most runaways. I didn't just leave home, my house; I left home, Earth. And it's not as if I didn't know what I was getting into, at least to some extent.

"I did have a car to my name," he continued, "a big old wagon. I'm not sure if you saw it— Rip is borrowing it at the moment, but it was here this morning. He does most of the driving these days, but just an aside," he leaned forward, glancing around as though he was about to share some particularly sensitive intelligence, "I'm the one who taught him." Davey smiled, drew himself back against the soft support of his seat, then continued. "So I lived in that for a while. About a week or so I'd say, trying to navigate without a map, a destination, or even a road to follow. I had packed some supplies, but they weren't going to last, and I was a city boy; my outdoor survival skills didn't extend far beyond park walks and day-trips."

He shook his head. "After a week of being hopelessly lost, without any sign of civilization, I was just about regretting everything. I still had food and the truck still worked fine, but I still felt dead in the water. Then a certain floating city drifted overhead, and that's when I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I wasn't in Kansas anymore, proverbially speaking. I didn't know what else to do, so I drove after it, and that lasted for several days— I nearly lost it a few times, but eventually, it drifted across a nice ground-based township, Erdanker. It was there in Erdanker that I met Rip."

Davey rolled onto his back and kicked his feet up on top of the arm-rest again, sighing an easy sigh. "It was my truck again... it attracted a lot of attention. They aren't all that common, like cameras; there's not much in the way of consistent manufacturing on Ianus. A lot of people approached me, making offers to buy or trade, or trying to get information out of me— very little of it I understood.

"Rip was one of them, I suppose, but he must have been paying attention to how things were going for everyone else, because he had tact, and he was smart enough to realize that even if he got his hands on my car, he didn't know how to use it. I could have kept the keys, and he would have been none the wiser. But he also figured out that I was green fairly quickly, he knew I needed—I wanted—some kind of guidance, but I didn't want to get duped, so I wasn't saying as much myself. So instead of trying to buy away the only thing I understood in that strange place, he offered me an arrangement; a job of sorts. Rip was almost as nomadic back then as we are today, but he traveled mostly by foot, wagon, bicycle, or other, less reliable means. So I was to be his driver, and in return, he would pay me, and teach me about this new world I had plunged blindly into."

He turned his whiskery face towards Amy, "It could have been a trap, sure, but he allowed me every precaution. He gave me his gun, he let me search his bags, and he even slept away from the truck for as long as I wanted him to. He said I could shoot him in the night if I wanted, and no one would know. So I trusted him. I took his deal, and," Davey shrugged and smiled, "It's worked out so far. Rip was honest, or if he ever had any ulterior motive, he must have changed his mind. Bit by bit, I started getting involved with the jobs themselves, and before too long, I was his full-fledged partner."

He shook his head slowly and closed his eyes, sighing again. "Oh dear, now I'm getting nostalgic. We really have been through a lot together." Suddenly, Davey found his mouth was caught in a tight frown he couldn't seem to get rid of.

[Old Mine]

Rin sighed very quietly at Joseph's sarcasm. Lizard-man or otherwise, he was a bit odd.

At Cynthia's explanation, she rubbed her chin. "I could also clear the rubble, especially it's it's not all that thick," she said, partially just thinking aloud. "But I'm no demolitions expert, and I don't know anything about 'magic' or 'vibes'..." She stared at the obstacle intently for a few moments, weighing options in her head. "No," she said at last. "No, I'm not content to just wait and take Omar's word for everything. I'd like to see the other side myself, if possible." She looked back at her two companions and said "stand back, you two. Just in case."

She walked up to the rubble and hopped, floating gently to the top of the pile as though gravity was wholly optional for her. At the top, she grabbed a roughly Joseph's-head-sized rock, yanked it out of place with one hand and let it tumble down to the floor. If nothing untoward happened, she would continue carefully digging through the rubble until she could see the other side...

[Bed and Breakfast (Lobby)]

Amy listened intently to Davey's story, now realizing why he didn't want to go back to his family. They must've been truly terrible for him to run away at that age...and on top of that, it seemed they had no interest about seeing how he was doing. What kind of family is that?

Thankfully, it sounded like Rip was a much better parent. She smiled as he talked about how they met, how he taught him how to drive, and how the two of them became close. She wondered when Rip was returning from the desert; this man deserved a big hug for what he did.

Then Davey frowned, making her worry.

"Davey?" she said, "What's wrong?"

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Davey, Amy, Maya)

"I just wish I could do more for him." Davey said, his voice sounding tight—almost strangled—for a moment. "Rip isn't in a good place right now. He hasn't been in a good place for a while—since before we took Connie in—but now it's culminated into something even worse. I want to help him, but every time I try he pushes me away. He becomes cold and distant. He says now isn't the time, or it's not my business."

He pressed his hands against his head and shook it. "It just gets me with this feeling... this fear that I'm not doing enough. That I'm not pushing hard enough, and if I leave him to his devices, to his own desperation, he's going to make some very serious mistakes. He's going to invite something into his life that he can never get rid of." Davey dragged his hands down the sides of his short muzzle until his eyes were uncovered again, staring at Amy. "For all I know, he's traveling down that road this very minute. My best friend. God knows he's helped me countless times... and here I am, letting him slip out of reach."

Only in looking up then did Davey finally notice the other girl standing nearby. He let go of his head and sat up a little straighter, not smiling, but shedding some of the miserable air evoked by his previous words.

"Oh, hello Maya," he said. "Sorry for not noticing you there. Uh... did you- did you have a nice shower?"

[Bed and Breakfast (Lobby)]

"Davey-"

Amy stopped when she noticed Maya was standing there, blinking several times.

"Maya!" she said, "I didn't see you there! Why didn't you tap my shoulder or something? How long have you been standing there?"

Not long. Maya signed, I saw you two were having a conversation, so I just decided to let ya'll talk. Looks like it was something important. She walked over, I'm not bothering ya'll, am I?

"Well, no, we-"

I mean I don't really care if I am or not, but I was curious anyway. She pulled out her phone and sat at a nearby chair, playing games.

Amy gave her an annoyed look. "Ass." She then turned to Davey, "We were just getting to know each other." She then gave him a light hug, then said quietly, "If you ask me, I think you're doing all you can for your friend; please don't beat yourself up about."

[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Davey, Amy, Maya)

Davey glanced at Maya, running his hands back across his head, briefly flattening his ears against it in the process. It seemed that she hadn't actually been listening, or if she had, she was choosing not to engage any further. In fact, she'd quite abruptly chosen to distance herself, not even bothering to answer his question— not that he minded; it hadn't been anything more than a polite gesture.

He let Amy hug him without any fuss, though he couldn't bring himself to agree with her. Not truly. There was so much more he could do, even if it meant being hated by his best friend. Probing Rip with weak questions hadn't worked. It only made the man testy. Keeping his distance whenever he hit a live wire hadn't worked. It only made the man all the more reclusive. Rip had put up so many walls over the past half year, and David could no longer see a way to get through to him that didn't somehow involve tearing them down.

To Amy, however, all Davey said was, "Sure. I won't. Don't worry."

He had spilled out plenty enough of his worldly woes for one day. Amy had her own problems. Maya had her own problems. Connie...

Davey looked to Maya suddenly, his dark brown eyes lighting up a bit before he turned them back to Amy. "Hey, if Maya's finished showering, Connie probably isn't too far behind."

"Oh shit."

The hushed swear came from the second floor balcony, followed by a frantic scattering, before Connie, clutching a towel and a change of clothes, appeared at the top of the stairs and began descending them like a frenzied tap dancer.

Davey stared at her, blinking. "You were tuned in for a while, huh?" he mused, more matter-of-factly than in a threatening or accusatory tone.

Connie—having already reached the base of the stairs—became defensive all the same. "Yeah, well... sorry," she said, shrugging and pulling a half frown, "it's just- ...you always seem to talk so much more about yourself to other people, you know? I mean, this is stuff I've asked about-"

"When?"

"I've hinted at it," she retorted, "pretty- pretty clearly, I think. I mean, come on Dave: why is it always bits and pieces with you?" Davey sighed, rolling his head around as if answering Connie's question was the most wearisome task he could have been stuck with. "I don't talk about these things at length because it wears me out." He said, shooting her a tired frown. "I'm sure it wears the rest of you out too. You don't really know what you're asking for anyway. The stories I don't tell are the ones you don't want to hear."

"I sure as shit do want to hear them," Connie protested, "and they don't wear me out dude. They help me understand you. I mean, I've pieced together plenty just from spending all this time with you these past few months, but there's nothing like hearing it from the man himself."

David closed his eyes. "You don't know what you're asking for," he repeated.

The Washington (Oswald, Nemaforte, and the psychic college students)

Zuri tried to make her body giggle when Oswald mentioned not minding being called a minotaur, but it came out so wheezy that her ghost left her body entirely, a bit disgusted by the ordeal. She shook her ghostly head. "And this is why I did not work in a morgue. My fascination with the dead has always been more concerned with their spirits than their bodies." She shot Amanda a concerning look. "But yes, I believe Oswald would want nothing more than to be considered just like any other person - right?"

"An elf I do not mind to be called," said Nemaforte, as she held a hand out toward one of the bourboun glasses and moved it telekinetically over to her - an act which caused Vicky to gaze with wonder.

"Wow, can you use all our powers?" Vicky asked her.

"I know not technomancy, but yes," the elf witch replied with a grin, before downing half the contents of the glass in one clean gulp.

And when it came time for everyone else to order their drinks, Yamiko looked over to Oswald. "Something watered down - perhaps a gin and tonic? It will be easy on your stomach too." She read a glimpse of his recent dealing with near-starvation somewhere at the back of his mind.

Gon spat out his first sip of bourbon into his hand. "Who the fuck orders gin and tonic at a place like thi-owww!" Ari had just stomped right on his foot, causing him to shut up and rub the back of his head in embarrassment.

But the gruff-looking man simply nodded with a "got it", and walked away. Even as he left, though, Yamiko still had her eyes fixed on Oswald. There seemed to be a definite air of uncertainty about him, especially considering the prejudice inflicted on him back where he was from. She had to snicker a bit inside about the comparison to Satan, though. However, remembering how the people at the hotel dining area reacted to her telepathic readings, she decided to not say anything to him. Instead she turned to Nemaforte and said, "I would be amused if you also had psychic torture in your arsenal. The Cosmic Potion worked very well, by the way." Nearby, Amanda folded her arms.

"So what are our plans after this?" asked Lupin after a sip of his wine. "Are we all headed back to Boston to begin plans for Zuri's funeral?"

Vicky had just erupted into a coughing fit after taking too large a sip of brandy. Pouring a large amount of water into the glass to dilute it, she spoke. "You're getting ahead of yourself! What about Oswald and Nemaforte? We won't be seeing them after we leave here! We should enjoy their company while it lasts!"

Ari nodded, turning to Oswald. "So if you were born like that, are there other people with animal traits where you are from, that you know of?"

Merlin shook his head, tossing up his hands in a very animated fashion. "Alas, every question you ask defaults on his appearance. I would consider it funny for a so-called airhead like myself to ask the more mundane questions, like, what do you enjoy in your spare time? Anything in particular you like to study or read about?"

Nemaforte sat back in her seat, seemingly meditating.