Character Mountain Resort

[HOT SPRINGS]

Rick chuckled as he crossed his arms.

"Sounds a little like someone we used to have." He said thoughtfully, "He was also the 'shoot first, ask questions later' type, but maybe more careful, instead of what you're used to with this Echo person. Not around anymore though."

After thinking hard for a second he concluded with, "It's been...maybe two months since he was gunned down."

[Ski Slope]

"Whew!" Said Hoshi, a big grin on her face. "Me? Oh, I'm fine. That was fun! What a ride!"

Just then, a Gwion-like blur zipped by.

"Hey, looks like he's fine too!" She said.

Then Gwion wiped out again.

She winced and laughed. "Well, he was, at least!" She said. "Bah, I'm sure he's fine. Hey! Gwion!" She called out. "Do you need urgent medical attention?" She chuckled, and very much doubted that the answer would be 'yes.'

"By the way, Nikki," She continued, still sitting in the snow where she'd wiped out. "How did you stop? Because I have to idea how to do that!"

Not entirely dead.

Upper Intermediate Mountain Slope

Nikki smiled at Hoshi who seemed to be fine and having the time of her life then looked to Gwion who looked alright as well. She giggled a bit as Hoshi asked if he needed first aid then blinked when she asked how she had stopped. "Why, I pointed my toes towards each other and kept my heels apart. I saw some other skiers do that as we walked here." she answered in a happy matter-of-fact style.

Hot Springs

Xia listened as one of the girls talked about how she was a detective in her world and grimaced mentally. They would be her natural enemy in the line of work she did, tricking men and stealing their things. They had mentioned a criminal she had never heard of and the topic became even more gruesome when Rick mentioned a man he had worked with who had been gunned down. Way to ruin the moment. The young pink haired woman found herself staring down into the water in thought. Nothing like that had happened to her, well sort of.

There was that time she got angry and had someone kill someone for her but that was a first and she still wasn't sure if it was the right choice or idea. She didn't aim to kill, she aimed to please and get some things back. She never attacked anyone unless she felt threatened then it was self-defense. Xia tried to think of a topic to lighten the mood up again and grinnned. "So...Rick. Do you have a special someone in your life?" she asked in a bit of a teasing tone, taking a drink.

edited 16th Jun '15 10:08:14 AM by Sphinxyness

"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"

[HOT SPRINGS]

His attention shifting to Xia, Rick chuckled heavily, amused by the question.

"Nope, not at the moment. I guess I'm just one of those people that haven't put a lot of thought into it."

Looking aside thoughtfully, he explained, "Not sure if I'd have much time to dote on her - aside from my classes, I'm also a bit on the search for someone's mom."

Hot Springs

Xia grinned. "Won't have time? Ooh, so you do have someone you like at least." she replied, still teasing. Even if this could interfere with her courting him, it was fun to fluster men regardless. But his next comment on finding a mother confused her. "You're looking for someone's mother? Someone you know I take it? What happened?" she asked with a raised brow, plucking one of the roses she summoned and putting it in her hair.

edited 16th Jun '15 10:17:41 AM by Sphinxyness

"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"

[HOT SPRINGS]

Rick just chuckled again. Already, he could tell this was one of those make-them-squirm types.

"Not exactly." He answered to her next round of questions, "Indirectly, you could say. I don't know if you've met her, but I brought my daughter here - brought her in my house because of some connections. See, before her life went to pot, it was just her and her mom. Then one day, the girl comes home from school to an empty house, with the only clue being a little mark torn into her mom's pillowcase."

Shifting his face to a more serious expression, he continued, "And that's mostly why I want to find her - for my daughter's sake." He paused a moment to sigh, "But...there's a small part of me that just wants her to stay gone. If she hadn't disappeared, the girl would've been stuck with a stepdad that... Well, personally, I also kinda hated him..."

edited 16th Jun '15 6:27:12 PM by TroPartner

Upper-Intermediate Ski Slope

Gwion came to his feet and grinned. The great thing about martial arts training is all that incessant drilling in falling safely to the point that it becomes automatic.

Then one day, years later, you trip over something or slip on an icy set of steps or fall off a pair of skis while trying to surpass the foolhardiness of your youth.

You fall, you land, then you realise in retrospect that you did so properly. Which is just as well, because you sure as hell don't get the opportunity mid-fall to think "I'm falling, I'd better execute a rolling forward break-fall."

He climbed back up the hill to where he had parted company from his skis.

"Third time's a charm, they say".

Putting his skis back on and realigning himself downhill was easier this time and he set off again, focusing on keeping his skis aligned and his weight balanced.

He streaked down the hill, gaining speed until the icy wind of his passage stung his face, then the ground levelled off and he coasted to a halt some distance from the bottom of the slope. YES!

He turned and looked back up at the hill, to where Hoshi and Nikki were, and waved.

edited 17th Jun '15 3:52:30 AM by Wolf1066

[Ski Slope]

"Huh? That's really all there is to it?" Said Hoshi, after Nikki explained how to stop. "Well, I guess I'd better try again then!"

She started putting her skis back on, but paused to watch Gwion's third attempt. When he made it to the end of the hill without crashing, she cheered for him and waved back. She put her own skis back on, and when she was ready, started up again, eager to gain speed. Going straight down a bit less than a half a hill wasn't much of a challenge, even if there were bumps and rough patches. Once she got to the end of the hill, however, a familiar challenge presented itself: stopping.

Attempting to follow Nikki's advice, she pointed her toes towards each other and kept her heels apart... Only for her to end up accidentally crossing her skis over each other. Thankfully for her, however, by that time she had already started to slow down. She wobbled her way down to a few meters short of where Gwion had stopped, then her ski caught on a patch of snow and promptly reintroduced her face to the powdery, white, fluffy ground.

Not entirely dead.

[Hot Springs —> Bar]

Izeri and Qal watched, idly considering Xia's initial attempts at seduction and/or flustering, and how quickly the story had gone dark. They also felt like they didn't have anything to add, and so Izeri said, "uh, anyways, it was nice meeting you guys." Then, over to Qal. "I say we go warm up in the bar, get a little something to drink properly. I could do with some tea, really, but I don't think those," she glance at the ice cups, "would do it."

Qal thought about, and said, "sure." With that, and a nod farewell, they headed into the bar, grabbed a seat at a table and, quite promptly, had a large pot of jasmine tea with a number of teacups.

[Equipment Rental (Ice Skating)]

"We're first year university students," Maroko said, stepping slightly uncertainly onto the ice. "And yes, I'm almost certainly continuing on to graduate school."

"Probably not me, though," Nanami said, "not much really for art beyond undergrad, right?"

Skating around slowly, Maroko said, "I haven't done this in a while - I'll definitely need some practice."

"Well, I've played plenty of ice skating in videogames, so this shouldn't be too hard," Nanami said, skating around much more effortlessly.

However, before they could get too far, a beeping sound could be heard from Nanami's purse. Skating back to look at it, she pulled out a small cylindrical device, about the size of a watch. It was beeping and had a flashing red led on top. "Uh, oh, that's not good," she said, "we have to go - like now."

"Indeed," Maroko said, skating to her as well. "Sorry Isaac, but we really can't stay."

They both took off their ice skates, and put them and the watch-device into Nanami's purse. "Sorry we have to leave so abruptly!" Nanami said, "maybe see you in another dimension!"

"Goodbye!" Maroko said, as the two of them walked quickly to the nearest warp door, then through the interdimensional door back home.

Sorry, need to leave the thread. :(

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

Ski Slopes - Upper Intermediate

Nikki watched as Gwion got up again and tried to go down the slope again and this time succeeded, stopping further down the way. "There you go!" Nikki cheered then watched Hoshi next as she went down the hill. She seemed to pick up on what the black haired girl told her but then accidentally crossed her skis and landed face first in the snow. Nikki couldn't help but giggle a little but in her mind she felt like Hoshi almost had it.

She decided to go next and did what she did before except this time one of her skis slipped and she tripped and rolled down the hill and landed near the two laying down and covered in snow. Before anyone could ask if she was alright she popped her head out of the powder and laughed. "Why, I guess I need more practice." she admitted with a smile.

Hot Springs

Xia's face fell even more at Rick's story. Was he trying to stop her flirting with sad stories? If so, it was working, Xia was losing interest in flirting though a small part of her felt...sorry? That was rather unusual for her, she hardly cared much for anyone. But she would have to be completely heartless not to care a little. "That's too bad." she replied.

She looked to the two girls as they announced their leave and said, "See yah!" as they went. Perhaps Xia should leave as well, she had been in the hot springs for quite some time and there was more to the Resort to explore. "I think I might go too. Not sure what I'll do though, I haven't really looked much into this place except at the hot springs."

"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"

[Ski Slope]

"That makes two of us!" Said Hoshi, picking herself up off the ground and standing. "Whew! Is snow always this cold? Brr!" She shook her head to get some rogue clumps of powdery, white snow out of her long, sunny hair. "Anyway... How do we get back up the hill? I want to go again! Who's with me?!" She said, her enthusiasm fully intact. She could easily just fly back to the top of the hill, but that would also be cheaty, and besides, she'd come here for the full experience! No shortcuts allowed!

Not entirely dead.

Ski Slope - Upper Intermediate

Nikki laughed with Hoshi then looked around for the answer to her question. She spotted it nearby. "I see it! I believe we take the ski lift over there." she said, pointing towards the transport. Turning back to the two she added, "Let's go! Should be fun!"

"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"

Ski Slope

Gwion had already spotted the ski lifts and was about to suggest them when Nikki beat him to it. He grinned at the others. "I'm game. I want to get from the top to the bottom in one go at least once. If you think this is fun, you oughta try Waterboarding at Guantanamo Bay."

He started shuffling in the direction of the ski lifts.

[Ski Slope]

Her eyes lit up at the sight of the ski lift. "Yeah! Looks cool!" And with that, she eagerly began shuffling towards the ski lift. She was behind Gwion, but fully intended on passing him and and Nikki both, making it there first just because she could. "Hey," She said, coming up next to him. "What's water-boarding, and what's Guantanamo Bay?"

Not entirely dead.

Ski Slope

Nikki followed Gwion and Hoshi, smiling all the way she listened to their conversation with curiosity. She too was wondering what Guantanamo Bay was though she knew some stuff about water boarding. She had seen people water boarding at the beach she loved to hang out at back home. As she walked alongside them she thought to herself, I wonder how Tickles is doing...

"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"

Ski Slope

Gwion grinned. "It's a reference to an old and rather unpleasant joke. 'Guantanamo Bay' was a Naval Base with a military prison and 'waterboarding' is a form of torture that was famously used there as part of 'Enhanced Interrogation Techniques', back when I was a kid. We always used to say that adventure- and thrill-seeking JAFAs would hear about 'waterboarding at Guantanamo Bay', think it was like 'surfing at Raglan Beach' and 'snowboarding at Mount Tongariro', and want to book the first available flight."

He paused briefly. "'JAFA' stands for 'Just Another Fucking Aucklander' - that, and the joke, should explain everything you need to know about what other New Zealanders thought of those who dwelt in our largest city."

He reached the lifts not a moment too soon. He was finding moving about in the rigid ski boots to be quite trying.

edited 25th Jun '15 7:34:04 PM by Wolf1066

[Ski Slope >>> Ski Lift]

"Oh, I get it!" Hoshi said, with a chuckle. "I'm sure jokes like that exist back home, though no-one's been brave enough to tell me one yet." She said, with a wolfish little grin.

Then they got to the ski lifts, and Hoshi hadn't seen anything like them before. "Cool!" She said. "So what now? Do we just hop on a moving chair?"

Not entirely dead.

Gwion briefly wondered what sort of things people would be making such jokes about and quickly decided he had no desire to know.

"Yeah, just jump onto one of the chairs as it goes past." It sounded easy but Gwion wondered how easy it would be with bloody-great planks strapped to his plastic-encased feet and one hand clutching ski poles.

Thankfully, the chairs were moving fairly slowly so he shuffled up beside their path, waited for one to go past and took a couple of small steps sideways into the path of the next. He let himself drop back into the seat as it caught him on the back of the legs and frantically shuffled his buttocks into a firm seating as he was swept up and carried up the mountainside. So far, so good. Now he just had to work out how to get off at his destination.

edited 27th Jun '15 8:47:30 PM by Wolf1066