"Don't hear anything... don't say anything..." Working hard on stoking the fire by feeding it trace amounts of my magical energy while simultaneously piling up a concentric ring of roughly packed stones carved with a vibrating bayonet from the grey expanse of the stone flooring to ensure the blaze doesn't leap out of control, I did my utmost best to avert my eyes from the violence being performed between the male prostitute and young delinquent in the distance. The situation had been contained and inserting myself in needless drama would do naught but aggravate the obviously violent individuals in some way, shape, or form. Peace was the way to go when one had a choice between pacifism and warfare, yep yep.
"I assume we're going to be cleaning and gutting the fish before any sort of further handling, ne?" Grabbing at the pile of freshwater vertebrates, Squatting down to sit on my bulging backpack, I deftly begin to do as I said and got rid of the putrid bowels and guts with the ever helpful regularly honed and military sanctioned bayonet knife, a boon companion either on the battlefields or in the wilderness. Long ease of practice and picky tastebuds meant that in the event I could eat something worth swallowing rather than prepackaged MRE garbage, one would always perform their best to enjoy the frugal comforts of delicious food.
The pile balance between untouched and prepared fish was now teetering towards the latter as the former disappeared at a visible rate. Economy motion and the sure keenness of a practiced blade ensured that the cut flesh remained in pristine condition even after the undesirable elements were disposed of, quality and freshness all but guaranteed. Yes, this was it... quality raw materials plus a capable handler equals a wonderful product, this formula will never change as long as competence was guaranteed.
A glance towards the man indulging in the so-called youth culture known as ganguro to appraise his self-proclaimed skill, his honeyed words appearing to be at least capable of theoretical knowledge even as he fiddled around with various cooking utensils in a manner that implied familliarity. "What about pepper? Could it not take away the more unpleasant fishy odors?" A probing jab towards the so-called chef to see if he indeed knew his craft, my gourmet selfishness resurfacing along with the smallest spark of hope that I would be able to sup on something wonderful. Often times one could only dine on swill that was more disgusting than the mildewed leather boots taken off a corpse on the battlefield due to the cheapness of high command and the virility of the starchy tubers known as the potatoes grown not for taste but for bulk.
edited 15th Jan '17 9:39:43 PM by Makaioh
huzzaaaaaaaah
Kubo
"Loud and always rushes into danger- doesn't sound like much of a compliment." Kubo pointed out, his face stuck in such a blasé state that those trying to discern the context of his phrase might find themselves torn between 'hating it' or 'jokingly accepting it'. "But, eh, I'll let it slide for now." Okay, that might have helped.
"What's the deal with those guys?" Kubo asked, rubbing his chin as he made sure to watch the battle from far away as possible. But as he watched Josuke's incredibly unique hair-do, he couldn't help but feel a little something building at the edge of his fingertips... within seconds, he had strummed on his shamisen, and the Little Samurai had transformed into a Little Josuke.
And it did absolutely nothing different.
"Aw." Kubo frowned. "I thought it would have some magical ability. I swear... sometimes I don't really know what I'm doing. Animating paper is fine, Hinata, and sometimes I can get it to form something my size, but... I swear I felt a song coming up, a song I have never heard before, but... nothing, I guess."
Cassius
Cassius remained completely motionless, even as KOS-MOS loaded him up into a bedroll. He didn't move a single muscle, foam dripping from his mouth much like a very expensive foam dispenser. However, the instant Dandy touched him with his foot, the boy suddenly sprung to life in the most unusual of ways.
Gurgling loudly, he twisted forward, grabbing Dandy's foot and trying to chew at it like a rabid dog. But this didn't last long, for Cassius- much like a rabid dog with the conscience of a human being and the moral stability to somehow not weep for all that he has done during his pitiful life as a dog- soon snapped out of it, falling on his butt as if he had just been pushed back with a simple gust of wind.
"Sorry!" He giggled, rubbing the back of his head. "The giant bald head told me that I had to do that or he would eat my soul. By the way, there is no heaven, okay?" Cassius gave Dandy a cheery thumbs-up, getting back on his feet just as the fight was being interrupted right behind him. "So, what did I miss?"
Lucha Libre goddess
Weiss Schnee—Apologies are for poor people.
"I am so sorry for hurting your feelings" are words you would never hear the heiress say. Still the Black Baron would notice she was blushing out of embarrassment for jumping at conclusions and implying he was a criminal.
"I think I ight have misjudged you," she replied to the (not) pimp, while looking down.
"You're free to join us for dinner. She pointed at Tanya who was already on her way preparing the food.
"Name's Weiss, Weiss Schnee" she introduced herself to the Black Baron. " If we're going to work together we might was we'll get to know each other better."
She would then walk towards her group at the fireplace again.
On her way back to the fireplace, the ongoing fight didn't go unnoticed. Luckily others seemed to have already intervened to stop the fight.
"I agree this fights is pointless," she said after Cole. "But If you are all so eager to fight, wouldn't mind a practice match , " she said to no one in particular. " I don't want to get rusty." Perfection requires practice after all. And, in her mind, she would be.
edited 15th Jan '17 11:16:07 PM by FallenLegend
Make your hearth shine through the darkest night; let it transform hate into kindness, evil into justice, and loneliness into love.
Emi and Remi; Or, Saving Polly Parasol
Emiya made a non-committal noise and began to work the spit. The pike, firmly splinted in a mesh of Projected hazel wands, turned forlornly over the fire, its limp eyes gleaming wet orange and its mouth gorged with steel.
Unlike the pike's, Remilia's eyes were hardly dead. The firelight rustled her pink cap and blue hair, splashed through her shadowed sclerae, and then drowned in her crimson orbs. They were bright things, her irises, intensely alive, like lakes of blood suspended in the aether. Like rubies, almost, only against the whites of her eyes they seemed more like wounds.
"Alright," said Remilia. "Please."
She smiled, and bright jagged points glinted at the sides of her mouth, like broken needles. It was the last KOS-MOS would see of her, because at that very moment she vanished.
A comet of crimson light, spinning a spiral tail of bloody red, streaked at the parasol from behind, and, without resolving itself into Remilia, made a grab for the pink handle. It was like a tornado snatching at a blade of grass.
Emiya tapped the pike, snatched his finger to his lips, and, unwillingly, sucked it.
edited 17th Jan '17 7:33:51 PM by troydenite
Stop Killing My Titles
Claw The Cook's Helper
Together with Emiya and Tanya was the cat pirate, though his part in preparing fish was smaller than the other two. Nevertheless, his claws just so happened to be a perfect fit for the job, peeling the skin off a fish with little trouble, and then opening them up for further gutting and preparing.
"So, is this the time where we pass around stories of ourselves?" He hummed idly, handing a ready catfish over to the child soldier.
Baron Is Cool With You, Ice Queen
"Dayum. Here I thought ya'll just huff an' puff and walk right out. Respect, Lil' Miss Schnee." Baron's expletive grill flashed again as he grinned at the heiress before standing back up. "Call me Blacker Baron, babydoll." He decided to skip a comment on the dinner invitation. A single glance at the sheer amount of fish - and actual river fish and not some canned shit or mutated shrimp with seven eyes - seemed to indicate everybody would have a bite.
"But yeah, y'all muddafuckas need to chill. You" He pointed at Dio. "stop being a fuckin' asshole, asshole. You, eggplant kid" Now he pointed at Josuke, currently being treated by Momiji. "try not to bleed out, aight? Ya gonna listen to dat here elf lady and ya're gonna like it or we're gonna have problems, dig?"
grah
I shook my head as the man asked of the origins of my curse. "It was a curse brought about of my own seeking, the folly of youth. As a young man in my first life, I sought about a method to make myself immortal, to live for eternity. At the time, I thought, like many do, that it would be the ideal state for myself. However, unlike most who yearn for it, I succeeded in obtaining it. Through a series of highly complex rituals, I altered my very soul at a basic level. While I could not make my own flesh endure until the end of time, I ensured that my soul would be reborn in a new body every time I died, with my own experiences and memories intact. However, the rituals had some side effects, namly the fact that each time I die, the experience of being reborn becomes more and more painful. Not an issue at first, but after eons of being reborn, the pain has built to extreme levels."
"On top of that, after some time I found I had lost any particular reason to live, Without a purpose, my life became an empty shell, pointless and meaningless. While I am sure many in this group seek material goods, or immortality of their own, or other such things, all I seek is a final, permanent end. But then, I would not expect mortals to understand my quest, just as those currently trying to end the conflict in the group will be unable to see the futility of their actions. Always it is the same, humanity repeating the mistakes of their forbears for eternity."
"Same" Gaige replied to D.Va as she turned to evaluate the goods of the newest person to come to the tower.
"Oh, so you're like the starting vender, you'lll have some basic goods but nothing too OP for the start of the game, cool." Gaige saw some healing potions and reached for her SDU, and a wad of cash appeared in her hand in a flash, random blue boxes surrounding the cash for a split second as she yanked it out of what would appear to be thin air to anyone who was looking.
"So how do they work anyway?" Gaige asked as she put a few of the potions in her SDU, the potions vanishing in the same manner, just in reverse. "Do you have to drink them, or just pour them over the wound? Does it work on robots or just fleshy humans? What about cyborgs?"
Then she looked at D.Va. "Oh, and you already started earning rep points with the vender? Cool, that means we get like a discount or access to her exclusive sales list right? Or do we have to grind more for that?"
edited 16th Jan '17 11:53:36 AM by Meanken
Did you know this section has a character limit?
Qrow - Tower
Qrow stood up from his position by the fire, and walked back over to Weiss, standing behind her shoulder.
"Kid, I know you might be a bit rusty, but sparring is gonna drain your aura, and we don't know how long we got until the next time we get sent out. You don't wanna walk into a serious situation without being your best."
He put a hand on her shoulder, and brought his voice down a notch.
"So, what he say?"
D.Va - God Forgive Me
"Yeah Risinn, how much grinding do Gaige and I have to do before you show us your special goods?" D.Va asked the elf.
Dandy - Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Distracted by dealing with the young alien in his grasp, Dandy did not pay attention to the brewing fight in front of him until it was too late. It all happened so quickly, the was some big pink man that appeared out of no where throwing punched. The big-titted blondie fired out not-laser-like lasers from his eyes. The clash between the kid and the blond man had barely lasted more than a couple seconds, but the kid was already injured.
Wasting no time, some of the others stepped in to stop it. The woman with pointed ears, probably another alien, brought her stick with her and created some sort of shockwave. While not hit directly, Dandy was still close enough to get knocked flat on his back. Rubbing the back of his head, the alien hunter sat up. "Hey kid, you-" he was about to check on the alien in his grasp when he looked at his hand to find her not there anymore. When did he let go of her? How did that happen? After a quick scan on the area he spotted her next to the nicely quaffed kid again. Yep, definitely his alien.
Before he could finish regaining his bearings, Dandy felt something biting down on his leg. This caused him to kick out with a pained yelp "Yeow!" He looked over to see that the knocked out kid had woken up and tried explaining why he decided to bite him. It wasn't a good one. Dandy looked at him suspiciously as he stood back up. "Kid, I have no idea whats going on. Is this normal around here?"
The tanned man that looked like he belonged to a certain youth culture was recalcitrant and didn't answer my question, though the familiarity of the way he was expertly spitroasting the aquatic organism was already telling of the quality in question. The flesh was browned evenly even as the heat caused meat juices and fragrant oils to sweat out and drop into the fire in an appealing sizzle, the scent of a properly treated meal all but in progress. Excitement and hunger burbled within my navel as I sniffed appreciatively, though steady willpower gave me the patience to endure until everything was in its most optimal state.
The anthromorph cat being reminiscent of the animal people seen in the politicos propaganda was attempting to make small talk and after a moment of pondering, I decided that a bit of background knowledge being known would help bring the levels of trust and thus team unity up a few percentages. "Only if you want to. Tanya Degtyarov, local propaganda puppet. I leapfrogged up from the rank of First Lieutenant past Captain and towards the vaunted Major to make it easier for headquarters to give me more responsibilities and to help the homeland's jingoism as a source of 'national pride'."
It was a very rare opportunity to vent and thus I grabbed it, the ability to badmouth the rigid and mulish warmongers a boon sweet on both tongue and heart. Feeling much better, I grabbed the proffered catfish from the catman (heh), a flick of the wrist slit the belly and few more twists gouged out the disgusting waste materials before deboning and skinning the tough mucous membrane in order to prevent the taste from being muddied before proportioning the cleaned snow white flesh placed on a clean leaf in a neat and tidy pile.
edited 16th Jan '17 10:20:53 PM by Makaioh
Or, at least, doing your best at cleaning fish. Sure, she'd seen her grandmother do it once...when she was six...but having telekinetic powers made it easy. A couple of fish floated in front of her as sat crosslegged by the fire, slowly but surely being scaled and gutted without a single touch.
Such finely detailed work was good practice...not like she needed practice, but it helped.
The pointless infighting going on behind her didn't get much attention. Sumireko wanted to figure out why some invisible spirit constructs appeared behind them just to punch one another, but that could wait for a while. It's not best to ask for a life story while tempers were so high.
Besides, learning about other worlds was much more exciting. She could get life stories without the danger! The cat-faced man dressed as a pirate, which was not a sentence Sumireko ever thought she would've thought, decided to ask for some.
The one who offered first looked like she was telling the truth, in all honesty. If this was some nexus of the multiverse, there was bound to be a few places that conscripted children, and she was dressed to the nines like some character from a WWII drama. Or, maybe, she actually was from WWII. The possibilities were endless!
Sumireko finished with one prepared fish, and set it on the fire to cook...but not the mundane, ordinary fire! No, a tongue of flame appeared right under it, and as the flesh slowly charred she nodded to Tanya. "Usami Sumireko, amateur psychic and paranormal researcher. But, you gotta tell me. The war you're in must be pretty rough if they're bringing in kids, right?"
She already seemed to have a low opinion of her superiors, so bringing up this kid of thing seemed permissible.
edited 16th Jan '17 10:34:09 PM by wikkit
Stop Killing My Titles
Claw, Fish Station
"Some national pride, bringing in cubs and pups into wars." His sneered in response to Tanya's explanation, his claws continously preparing more fish for further preparation. "No doubt that's why you act like someone way older than you look like, this must be a sobering experience."
"Nathaniel Claw, pirate." He introduced himself in kind to Sumireko with a nod before looking back over to the child soldier. "How did you end up in that position in the first place, anyway?"
grah
Risinn
"Thank you, come again!"
Risinn saw Sabrina off with a big smile on her own, studying the Pokemon dollars closely. She looked up when D.Va approached, though.
"Ah, it's my angel of advertising! Yes, indeed, you made quite an impression! My mother heard about my stunt and your stunt, and had me thrown out of House Emeraldwave!"
The elven merchant laughed.
"She says we'll never be able to trade in the royal capital ever again, but from what I'm hearing, it won't be royal for much longer, yes? But that gave me the freedom to follow my dreams! I cashed in my share of the trading company to get me the wagon and commodities with money to spare, and rushed off to follow your tracks back to this mysterious place. So! I'm sorry to say, no discounts just yet, I haven't got the money to spare yet. But with time, yes? Elven promise!"
"But special wares...yes...yes! That's a great idea! Here's what I can do! I will follow you into mysterious lands, yes, and make connections with local merchants. Trust me, I can trade and barter with anyone. So, everywhere you go, I will find local specialties and rare goods! From my lands, I will offer the most exquisite potions and enchanted amulets. Look forwards to seeing my stock grow in the future!"
"Oh, and the potions! Yes! They have to be drunk for maximum effect. Mind, they have the greatest effect on small and medium wounds, don't expect them to replace your entrails, yes? These are standard adventurer's fare, but I can get stronger potions for higher prices. As for robots and cyborgs...I do not know what those are. Or humans."
Risinn smiled.
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!
D.Va
"Awesome, always happy to help!" D.Va said to Risinn. "Now you can check out all our cool adventures with us! Your world seemed kinda boring anyway, you didn't even have the internet. And you wouldn't wanna stick around anyway... cause of the race wars... and the population crisis... but hey this is cool!" She gave Risinn a big thumbs-up."As for what a human is, you're looking at her!" she added, pointing a finger at her own cheek. "Me! I'm a human! Your world has elves, my world has humans! We're kinda a big deal."
Lucha Libre goddess
Weiss Schnee—Tower—Awkward feelings.
"I suppose it's true," Weiss said while looking down. "But I might be able to practice my summons." Qrow would probably be familiar with them thanks to his past story with Winter.
"You might known the Schnee semblance is hereditary, and I can do everything my sister can," she said leaving out the fact that she wasn't as skilled as Winter. " But I assume yours must be quite different from Yang's or Ruby's."
Then when he asked about the new comer, she said, "It was hard to understand him due to his peculiar way of speaking. But he calls himself "the Blacker Baron", and apparently he just likes to dress that way." Weiss looked at her side avoiding eye contact. " I might have accused him of being a pimp. But I already clarified the misunderstanding."
Watching both Tanya and Claw preparing the food made her stomach growl; she gave a quick glance at the fish for a few seconds. But the heiress didn't dare to say a word about her hunger yet.
edited 17th Jan '17 7:44:15 PM by FallenLegend
Make your hearth shine through the darkest night; let it transform hate into kindness, evil into justice, and loneliness into love.
"What made me gain my position you say? Just luck on being able to survive up to this point and somehow attracting the attention of the higher ups." Mechanical movements continued to happen as my hands reached out for more supplies to process, maintaining an even rhythm while thought processes attempted to figure out the best possible way to spin the tale while still being truthful enough to not trip up those that can pick up on the cues of a liar, a most taut tightrope indeed. Ah, an idea has all but bloomed like a ripe fruit just waiting to be plucked at the most opportune of times. How very convenient.
Looking at the newcomer that ambled on over with the appearance of one of those so-called new age psychics, I raised my eyes as she was indeed performing in a manner that actually seemed to actually call respect to the calling rather than bring shame as so many other countless hoaxes has done. Her question and the good captain's intermingled, a curiosity that all but pondered what a child such as I was doing on the battlefield and how horrible the war must be, a question that I would oblige to answer. "The Empire is a militaristic and expansive country. Our armies are much too powerful and well-maintained, our technologies a level ahead of the rest of the surrounding countries. As is the case, our immediate neighbors formed a sort of loose alliance with the sole intent of keeping the Empire in check, using flimsy excuses to send 'scouting parties' and 'military exercises' across the borders to wreak havoc in the Fatherland."
A pause to clear the throat and to continue chipping away at that excess of marine lifeforms to prepare for the meal. "In any case, these bold attempts put the various generals ill at ease and thus we are now engaged in a two front war between the Entente Alliance and the Francois Republic, with other countries eyeing the fat sheep that is the ever steadily weakening Empire. Universal conscription is a policy that was put into effect to attempt to combat such successive swarms of invaders and mages are incredibly valuable to the war effort as... weapons. We can do things that the more mundane citizens cannot and thus deemed far too important to let rot in civilian roles. My potential prowess was leaked during a physical and the war was moving in too fast a direction to wait for future growth so I was picked up as well. I had no say in the matte due to my being an orphan, meaning that as a ward of the state, I could be plucked well before the usual age limit."
Another brief stop, this time to let the audience digest my words. It was pretty clear that the country I came from was not at all soft, but a behemoth that was manned by warmongers. "The thing is... the military wouldn't be so bad considering my other options. I am a lost child, or a bastard if you will. Born out of wedlock between a soldier that lost his life in the trenches and a mother that died from childbirth. Until my ninth birthday, there was never enough to eat for either myself or the other children. The nuns at the church orphanage did all they could but considering the rest of the country's plight, there were very few alms to be given out. Me being taken into the army might have been a boon in some ways since it gives me lodging and meals as well as a respectable pay so long as I can continue to survive and be of service to the great war machine."
Yet another pause, my shoulders slowly relaxing as I found a suitable outlet for all the powerless anger that was kept unvented until now. "If I had continued to grow up outside the military, chances are I would have either starved to death or be abused since preferences are skewed towards a conservative patriarchal society. What respectable job could little girls my age with no experience or supporters work that would be able to support themselves? Nay, the army could provide the essentials that a human needs much better than the streets and as long as I worked hard, I would be able to take life into my own hands once my tours of duty are over. Once retirement from active service happens, I would be old enough to engage in proper civilian work with many recommendations from the state, an assurance if you will that prevents the heartless world from taking advantage of a single young girl like me." A most practical and well thought out reasoning for continuing to serve with gun and sword if you asked me.
edited 17th Jan '17 7:59:28 PM by Makaioh
A dogged fellow, aren't we?
Josuke
The projectile might have been unorthodox, but Crazy Diamond still rematerialised in a blink to intercept the fingernail between two pinching fingers, turning its stoic frown back towards Dio as it hovered behind and beside the kneeling Josuke. Any plans for retaliation were suspendd, however, as the others intervened.
"If you knew what he's like you'd be helping me!" Josuke snarled, spending the fury and adrenaline the brief fight had granted him as he slammed his un-injured fist against the stone wall around him. "See? Listen to him! He's not even trying to hide it!"
Kicking at the stone in one last futile effort, he slumped back against the wall just as koishi and one of the new faces appeared at his side. He was about to start prodding and pulling gingerly at his sleeve to inspect the wound - a couple of messy slices and some bruising, it looked like. Damn, and the jacket's ruined... mom's gonna kill me... Then Momiji started to bandage him up, while his frilly friend watched on in concern.
"... Thanks, Koishi..." He said, more subdued now that his initial burst of fury has subsided. "And, uh... thanks, miss." He added, nodding towards Momiji as she worked. "It's fine, really, I've had worse... Just wish I coulda hit that bastard a bit harder..."
Calamity is a housewife
Guts - The Tower
It was when baldie spoke once more of his end goal, as well as dismissing those around him as 'mortals', that suppressed laughter came out from the back of Guts' throat. He wasn't exactly slapping himself on the knee, but was clearly amused.
"You bet your ass people wouldn't understand you. The thing most people want is to live, and they do whatever it takes to survive. It's the reality. Most folk I know would fight tooth and nail to be in your position."
Now the swordsman stared the bald man in the eye, and his smirk fell into a serious frown.
"Don't forget, you were mortal once too. And it was your foolishness that got you stuck in this cycle."
This man may not necessarily have been an Apostle, but he might as well have been now, the way he seemed to think himself above the rest of the mortal chaff. It really was true, across the board, that immortality burned your humanity away, and Guts knew that he wanted no part of it. That he'd want to be nothing more than a lowly human.
At least, that was what he told himself.
Honestly, if this man wanted it all to end so badly, Guts would've obliged him. But that wouldn't have worked, would it? And Guts didn't want to waste his effort anyway.
"Shake the dust." - Anis Mojgani
Stop Killing My Titles
Claw, Fish Stories
"I never had to worry about such dire matters. Most adversities only came of my own volition rather than being imposed upon me and only when I was old enough to understand their consequences." He hummed idly as he took in Tanya's story with a nod. "It's a rather depressing concept, that the safest place for an orphaned child is right in the army."
"Could some sort of truce be made, perhaps? One that would be respected by both sides of the conflict? I imagine that The Empire doesn't want to fight two enemies at once, and when it is not in its good shape either." He asked before catching sight of Weiss glancing over in their direction with what appeared to be some sort of jealousy? Rather than call her over the room he just made a simple gesture in her direction to come over to the fish-preparing station.
Baron, Smack Dio, Y/N?
" Don't worry ya pretty eggplant head 'bout it now, Iwo Jima homie." Baron called over to Josuke. "Ya just sit there and let the ladies get ya back up and runnin'." With that out of the way he turned back to the blonde asshole. Man, he just had the right kind of face, the one you wanted to turn into nondescript mush right away.
"So yeah. Playa, you on some thin muddafuckin' ice here with that kind o' shit." The Not-Pimp in pimp duds pointed his giant golden fist at Dio. "Ya gon' be a nice guy an' explain why we don't turn ya into a rug for dis here Tower?"
grah
I mean, crap, that was bleak! Sumireko wanted to tell her own story, but "Everyone was mean to me so I became a wizard" would just sound like whining compared to that. For whatever problems Sumireko thought she had in the past, they were temporarily forgotten now that she had someone far lower on the scale of luck than her. Hopefully before Tanya could notice, the psychic realized that she'd been staring at her with pitiful eyes for far too long, and hastily went back to cleaning and cooking.
On top of that, the girl's eyes...well, Sumireko didn't like to admit she generalized, but they certainly looked like the eyes of someone who'd seen some things.
Now, saying "I'm sorry it had to be like that" would just be insulting, so Sumireko floundered for a moment trying to come up with something. Eventually, she nodded and said "You're making the best of a bad situation, so that's good...and, it's nice to meet a fellow magician, for me at least. There aren't any others back home, not any real ones."
Even if she hadn't said it herself, Sumireko's astute eye picked up on her amulet's magical nature pretty quickly. Of course, she had some technical questions on what exact purpose it served, but she doubted the girl wanted to talk shop.
Sumireko leaned back and shrugged. "You looking forward to the trip up this tower? It sounds like it could be some well-deserved respite if things go well."
edited 18th Jan '17 11:08:33 AM by wikkit
The Tower (Lillie, Nebby, Lusamine)
For lack of a better option, Lillie simply decided to go along with her mother. Before she had a chance to leave, however, two older girls came up to the merchant and proceeded to start talking in gibberish. She gave them a rather confused expression for a moment, but otherwise opted to just leave them to their business and went off to look for Nebby.
Fortunately, she didn't have to far to find her companion this time.
"Pew...." Nebby plaintively cried as Sabrina's Pokemon moved to protect it from the fighting. Judging by how it was attempting to look around the other, considerably larger Pokemon, it seemed to be bothered by how they were blocking its view of the most interesting happening at that particular moment.
Then it caught sight of Lillie, Lusamine, and Bewear, and shortly afterwards it noticed the bags the latter two were carrying. Then it looked at Lillie and frowned.
"Pew...?"
Lillie gave her companion a small, hopefully comforting smile. "Don't worry Nebby, I'm not asking you to get back in the bag just yet." Then she motioned to Mother and Bewear. "I just thought that we'd get you a bigger bag, so you aren't quite so cramped when you do have to stay in there." Then she knelt down to Nebby's level. "We even gave you a choice. We'll let you decide which one you like best, okay?"
"Pew...." Nebby replied, still not sounding all that reassured.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
Mancunian Candidate
Dio Brando - Gentlemen of the Jury
Hollow-cheeks gave me a dastardly inquisitive look, daggers dropping to his side, before turning away and giving his attention to worthier matters - a deadly insult well-delivered, but offset beautifully and totally by the flop of his hat, which was determined to turn all possible motion into a flounce. The outstretched fingers of my soul touched briefly against heaven itself, before I realised that to survive the sun I might well be forced to wear something similar.
As I reeled internally, a jagged and steel-eyed woman across the stage - Cosmos, I'd later learn - unwound the situation with the practiced eye of the abductive reasoner; the feud, destroy the brain, et cetera et cetera. I had precious little to add, and even less to protest. Whoever she was, this one - dressed as a space shuttle and speaking with the frank and unassuming authority of a school teacher, eyes and attention away at the very moment she'd said all was needed - was clearly a person worth no small amount of interest
The Joestar threw a tantrum from within his cell, and the Second Ornate Blackamoor - who was worth no amount of interest whatsoever, though his tailor certainly was- demanded an explanation under no small duress, and seemed (despite the evidence of his own eyes, Cosmos' testimony, and the generous splattering blood trail that had followed my opponent to his makeshift and increasingly redundant prison) to earnestly believe he could act on it. Ten centimetres can make a man suicidal. I smiled, looking him firmly in the eye, and laid out my defence;
"Your blue-haired friend is right," I said, motioning, "almost. This is indeed a feud, but I am not the aggressor. That family of his, the men I killed - I did so because they coming for me and there was no other way of stopping them. Even he cannot deny that. You will note I wasn't the man to resort to fists."
I paused to regrow my ear, birthmark and all.
"Only a child fights for the sake of fighting, and I am not a child. This is your first time in this kind of situation, isn't it? It's not mine. I have played this game to completion, and I know that it has rules. Killing your fellow contestants, or even attempting to, this is frowned on, to say the least. Even if I had hidden myself away, he could have come for me regardless. It's in his blood. Violence is the only language his family understands, I tell you this from experience. This was the only way to teach him the futility of pursuing his vendetta, especially in a place like this. I enjoyed breaking him of his delusions, I will freely admit, but isn't it better for him to learn now, where he can do no proper harm, rather than in the field?"
Here I turned to the dark-skinned elfin waif and her companion in the hat of dignity denied, who seemed a self-appointed arbiter of Reason, Justice, and Good Taste.
"I trust you can imagine the consequences, were this to play out unsupervised on some foreign world. For now, I suggest you keep us away from apart. The Joestars have always been a stubborn breed. All I have safely ensured is that he will not seek me out of his own accord."
edited 18th Jan '17 3:30:12 PM by OG-Sama
The Mighty Pen
Kashira Lavellan - Champions of the Just
Kashira listened as Kosmos laid out her conclusions - although she could see how the other woman had arrived at some of them, others seemed more suspect - Dio defended himself with a smooth, confident assertion - there too, she found fault, or at least unanswered questions and his description of their task as a mere game - and Josuke's angry denunciation of his opponent. This last was the most truthful, for indeed, Dio had denied none of the other man's claims, seeking instead to justify his own actions and elaborate upon details in a way that suggested his ultimate status as the victim.
Just as I feared. Another 'he said, she said' case. She could talk to both men all day but if nothing they said could be verified by someone other than each other, she might as well have listened to a waterfall. Cole might offer insight, but while she trusted him, the others here wouldn't, not as absolutely as she did, and wouldn't accept a judgment based on that. That being said...The only immortals I've met have not - with one exception - been good people, or simple people. Or even people at all. What is this one? A smooth talker, very dangerous, and someone who enjoyed breaking people, even if in a non-lethal way, in this case.'' That much she knew and it wasn't enough to condemn him. Yet. She let her staff's flame die out once more.
"Josuke," she said firmly, "Unless you have evidence to back up your accusations, all we have is what we've seen the both of you do and it isn't enough to judge either of you. For now, as far as I'm concerned, you're both on notice. We'll be watching, so stay away from each other, act with honor in the worlds we visit, and maybe we'll all get through this."
She looked back to Dio.
"Although, neither of you have answered the biggest question I have about this mess. What did you do that made generations of a family hunt you?"
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. -Lao Tzu
Mancunian Candidate
Dio Brando - Memories of That Blood
This went down as well as can be expected; my head remained away from any immediate pikes, and Josuke (this was his name, informed by a tradition I have never understood) remained on notice right alongside me. Blame shared is blame halved - name your accomplices and divide all consequence into oblivion.
That was a very early discovery.
But then - and, in retrospect, inevitably - she asked about Jonathan. I stiffened, only for a fraction of a second before I caught myself, but still; that was a deeply private matter. My arms crossed themselves as I considered how best to proceed, steeling myself for Josuke's inevitable interjections and misunderstandings, but once I'd begun the words fell into place with deceptive ease. If anything, that was the trouble. The past is an intoxicating territory, rapturous and vast, but it will drown a man more certainly than any ocean on earth.
"That," I said, "is not your business. The boy's great-grandfather was named Jonathan Joestar. My brother by way of adoption, and the greatest man I have ever known. You have no right to know what passed between us, but it will suffice to say he killed me four times over. I only had to kill him the once. Our fates were one and the same; he died holding me in his arms."
This was slow torture, and I could only pray Josuke was too pained and too frustrated to make particular note of my words. That history did not concern him. Rather, his ears did not deserve to hear it.
"His final effort left me dormant for a hundred years. Five years after I awoke, his descendents decided that in survival I had committed the most grievous sin of all, and began a crusade of vengeance for for a man they neither knew nor properly understood. In my world, an eye for an eye left three generations dead. I don't mourn their passing, but I would have been content to leave them be. Beyond Jonathan, their bloodline is of no interest to me, I assure you. This is not my vendetta."
edited 18th Jan '17 6:47:59 PM by OG-Sama
Lusamine
"I think if Nebby won't come to the bag, the bag must come to Nebby, don't you think?" Lusamine said to Lillie with a smile. She set down the clothes she had been looking at and, after handing Risinn her credit card, picked up a couple of the bags Lillie had been looking at. Bewear followed suit, grabbing a couple of bags in its own arms."Let's take these to it and see how it likes them, why don't we?" she asked Lillie.
"Buuu-waaaaaaah!" Bewear agreed.
Meanwhile, Milotic slithered towards Nebby and the other Pokémon, coming to a stop and coiling her up on her tail to make her head tower over the crowd and get a good view of what was going on.
D.Va
"Bored now," D.Va said to Gaige and wandered over to Risinn's wagon."Hey boss lady," D.Va greeted the elf as she leaned against a particularly hefty crate. "You got an employee discount?" she said with a laugh. "JK. Although if you do I'll take it. How are things at home? I did my best to promote your company, even got to direct-market to the King himself. Just about every soldier that was involved in that last battle knows you guys have got the best goods and prices now, if I say so myself. Pretty awesome, huh?"