Attitude is prohibited
[Bed and Breakfast] (Main Hall)
Joseph's response was somewhat puzzling. Factories were a 'big deal?' Over a hundred years ago? How did US of A produce anything without factories? Regardless, she was somewhat relieved when Cynthia came back. Although she didn't mind talking about her home, she doubted that foreigners could really understand the Hakodan mindset.
"You couldn't find your friend?" Rin asked her. "Was there somewhere else you wanted to look?" Then, glancing over at the bathroom, she added "assuming you'd want to leave now, that is. Although I suspect those two will be a while, so..."
Not entirely dead.
[Town ~ Bed & Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Cynthia, Joseph, Rin)
The young knight smiled, "I'm Cynthia." She blinked at Joseph's extended hand, staring at his claws. Not wanting to be rude, she decided to follow through with the handshake. His hand was strange, but not unpleasant.
"I currently live in Cadia, though I'm sure neither of you have ever heard of it," she said. Cynthia rubbed the back of her head before continuing, "island kingdom, relatively nice weather all year round, lots of apple orchards."
Cynthia turned towards Rin. "So... I'm not sure where to begin looking for Minerva. I think I'll wait around for Davey to come out of the bathroom. He saw her earlier, so he might be able to get us in the right direction," she said.
Cynthia looked around the room and noticed that in her absentmindedness, she had left her stuff at another table. Getting up, she headed over to the other table and lugged the loaded pack and metal box back over to her seat. "Sorry about that." She started riffing through her pack, making sure everything was still in there.
Crazy Kiwi
Northern Desert —> Town
[Lupin, Yamiko, Mari, Kaitlyn, Kris, James + Vicky]The horses, although practically spent, responded to being led towards town - perhaps driven on by the knowledge that food and their home lay in that direction.
Kaitlyn was quite used to walking great distances - albeit usually on paved streets - so the distance was no problem. Her cramped and sore legs soon loosened up with the steady exercise and it wasn't long before she felt no ill effects from the previous riding. She directed a lot of her attention to the ground immediately in front of her, alert for hazards and choosing her footing carefully.
Kris, in the lead and leading both her and James' horses, seemed completely at home on the uneven terrain; her moccasin'd feet seemed to find their own way around obstructions while she looked far ahead, focussed on choosing the route to town.
James brought up the rear, falling back more and more to keep himself behind the rest of the group as Lupin tired and slowed.
The town grew larger until buildings could be made out and they neared the eastern end of Railway Street. Vicky came out to greet them, looking perfectly fine, and Kris wondered what she'd think of the state that Yamiko and Lupin were in.
Then the ground abruptly changed from rough and uneven loose sand to leveled and compacted dirt road as they stepped onto Railway Street.
For Kaitlyn, it made a world of difference. It didn't matter that this town was far more primitive than any she had ever seen, it was still civilisation. It had buildings, streets, inhabitants and commerce - all things that the desert had lacked. She could hear the comforting background noise of voices and the sounds of people going about their daily work. With considerable relief, she fished out her cigarettes and lit one.
[Northern Desert: Wagon (Teri, Wolfe, Gwion, Nemaforte, Iraal, Scents, Oswald)]
Scents was looking away from the Dead God when it jumped out - not really by coincidence - but the feeds from her armor alerted her. She turned to look back just as the rip in the sky closed and cocked her head.
"Huh," she said in a surprised tone. "We're not dead. Or worse."
Iraal turned back towards the others, removing the sensor hemispheres from her eyes (the oversized glasses remained, of course), and unconsciously pouted slightly. "That was extremely disappointing," she said. A line of blue text from her social software scrolled across her vision, and she clarified "I don't mean the fact that we are not dead. I mean the way the Dead God departed. I had been hoping for something more fundamentally different from our own FTL process."
She shrugged and sat down. "All the same, the amount of data this provided should prove extremely worthwhile, and I suppose the hazards were overall rather minor."
Another blue flash directed her attention to Zuri's corpse and Oswald pointing at it. Her voice lowered. "That was thoughtless of me. I apologize."
Scents swung herself up onto the wagon, which rocked slightly with her armor's weight, and stared at Nemaforte with all three eyes (though it required swinging her head back and forth). "Wait, wait, what? You're saying you saw her soul?" She tapped the spear icon on her armor. "I mean, yeah, both the doc and I believe that's not really Zuri anymore, but you actually saw something?"
Iraal turned to focus on the conversation.
[(Stairside Bathroom)] (Connie, Davey)
Davey heaved a small sigh, looking at Connie for a few seconds before raising his hand and beckoning forth whatever it was she had to say.
"Okay, so... I'm gonna try and put this as nicely as I can," she began. "I don't mean to offend you or insult you, I'm just... just... laying it out the way I see it. Or at least the way I think it might be."
"Well we're off to a promising start," Davey said, smiling wryly. "Connie, I'm not about to get angry at or upset with you. The worst you can expect out of me is, 'thanks, I don't think I agree.' So please," he beckoned again, "go ahead."
She closed her eyes for a moment, "All right. Sorry, I just... I really just want to help you figure this thing out here, and I don't mean to-"
"Connie..."
"Okay," she said, putting her hands up. Before she could think to stall again, she blurted out, "I think you've got a twisted perspective on how this whole relationship thing between people goes."
Davey pulled his head back—almost hitting hit against the wall behind him—and frowned his confusion. "Twisted?" he repeated. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Connie waved her hand around in a loose circle, "its the way you talk about how easy its supposed to be, or how easy it used to be for you way back when. 'Cause, the thing is, it's not always easy. For a lot of people its not easy. And I don't mean weirdos—not talking about you, of course. I'm not talking about the guy who keeps a collection of back hair in jars. I mean, he can count too, but mostly I'm just talking about boring people like me. Hell," she shrugged, "I've never had a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend, for that matter, though I think Amy was interested."
"Amy?" Davey said, sounding somewhat surprised, though not taken aback. "Huh! Well, you're still quite young."
"Didn't you say in your story that you were about my age when you were 'almost never without a girlfriend'?"
Davey opened his mouth, but, after a few moments, said nothing. Eventually, he closed his mouth again and conceded the point with a slight shrug.
"See, that's what I'm saying. I mean, look, I know I'm not some stunning beauty, and I need a shower more than you do, but... I've got some merits, don't I?"
"Absolutely," he nodded, "you're a very ni-"
"I don't need to hear them, Dave," Connie interrupted, "it's just for the point, and now that I'm there, the point is, I don't typically attract others. You make it sound like its moths to a flame, and— I dunno, maybe you were a real catch back in your Yonkers dreamland. But that's not often the case. A lot of the time it takes trying and trying and trying just to find someone who will put up with you enough just to form the start of a relationship. Getting that off the ground is another story altogether. So when you talk about how easy it's 'supposed to be', I don't think that's necessarily true. I think you were lucky, or maybe you had some kind of rare magnetism that just..." she shrugged, "didn't last."
Davey stared at Connie for a few long seconds; not a harsh stare, or a confused stare, just one of quiet observation. His somber brown eyes left her face eventually and trailed towards the cold bathroom floor. They lingered there for a few seconds longer before he spoke, his tone resigned and curious. "How is it that you know so much about this sort of thing without experience?" he asked.
She shrugged, "Well I- y'know, I read books sometimes, and I know someone who has a lot of experience: my older sister, Cassandra. Much older, but, we talk- or talked, I guess, a lot. She's been and done almost anything I could think to ask her about. Except this place, but I guess I'm talking general normal life stuff."
"Yeah, it's..." he lifted his head and glanced at Connie,"sound advice. I makes some sense, good sense. It's probably advice I needed to hear, but... there's more to it all than just expectation."
Connie bit her lip. "Oh... yeah, I was working around to that." She paused, scratching the back of her neck, clearly very hesitant about her next words. "It almost doesn't seem fair to bring up at all, but it's... I mean, if we're talking about attraction and why starting relationships hasn't been easy for you—especially compared to how it was before—then I can't just ignore it. But listen, I don't want to hurt you any more than a doctor with a bad diagnosis does."
"So it's come to this..." Davey murmured, following it with a long sigh. He raised his eyes up towards the ceiling. "What've I got doc?"
"David, you look like an otter."
David's eyes widened, and he clutched his hands against his chest at the level of his heart. "Ohhhh" he moaned as he collapsed in a particularly dramatic fashion.
"Oh stop it-" Connie said, unable to fully suppress a laugh, "I'm trying to be serious here, and... I mean, it's true. And it's... I hate to say it, but it's weird, and it can be off-putting to some people when you approach them, you know..."
"...romantically?" he suggested, still lying on the floor.
"...yeah. And, I mean, I've known you for half a year and it's still just a little bit weird to me. Even though I know that under all the, the um-"
"Fur? Whiskers? Tail?" he offered as he slowly, lazily pushed himself back up into a sitting position.
"your outward appearance," she decided on. "Even though I know that beyond all of that, you're this awesome guy and you're just like anyone else, it's hard to completely ignore."
"Ignore that I look like an otter." Davey repeated, flatly.
Connie shrugged reluctantly, followed by an even more reluctant nod.
"So you're saying that you agree with me? That whatever it is I've got on the inside isn't enough to make up for the outside?"
"N- no, no no no," she shook her head fervently. "That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm just suggesting that it might take... time. Like, a lot more time than you're used to. A lot. I mean, maybe there are some Ianus natives who won't bat an eye, like, 'oh yeah, my brother-in-law looks like Mickey Mouse, no biggie,' but the way you've talked about it, I'm guessing that hasn't often been the case."
Davey averted his eyes, but remained silent.
"So," Connie sighed, "you've got to be patient. Don't give up on what you've got just because it's not building as fast as you think it should be. And don't try to force it either; that's a pretty much always a bad move."
"Sounds like sitting around around and waiting for a miracle to happen."
"Nah, you can still be Romeo in a fur coat, just be patient with people. You're presenting them with an idea that—I mean, shit, is 'exotic' even the right word?" She shrugged and shook her head, "In any case, it's an idea that a lot of people are going to take a long time to come around on. And some never will. You'll just... have to accept that. I know it's unfair... I mean, I can't begin to imagine how hard it is for you, but if you want any of this to work, the way I see it, this is the path you've got to take."
Davey was silent again, nodding his head slowly—not necessarily in agreement, but in comprehension. His dark nose flared slightly as he heaved in and out the last large sigh of their conversation. He looked at Connie and smiled kindly. "I'm sorry I've been neglecting you so much today. I let myself get so caught up in my own little world, even with that disaster this afternoon. I don't appreciate you enough Connie."
He rose to his feet, tried for a futile moment to brush off a small spot of blood in his fur, then walked over to Connie. He reached out his arms and caught her in a warm hug. "Thank you."
Connie had to fight back any untoward cooing sounds that threatened to arise from within her at the sight of what was easily one of the most adorable things she had ever experienced. Fortunately, she managed to get away with just a stupid smile and a half giggle.
"I thought you weren't big on hugs."
"Mm, you've earned this one."
The two friends shared the embrace for a few seconds longer before before finally letting go.
"You'll have to tell me all about what you've been up to since this afternoon." Davey said, stepping back to give Connie some space.
"Oh it's been a wild ride," she replied shaking her head. "Actually, there's someone we met, he's just outside, I think you might be interested in meeting him yourself. And another guy we were hoping to have dinner with later on."
"Well, we've been keeping them waiting long enough. Oh, ah..." he smiled sheepishly, "I hate to ask more of you Connie, but would you mind nabbing me a shirt from upstairs? That one," he nodded to the reddish blob of wet cloth in the corner, "is completely defeated."
Connie smiled back, "Yeah, no problem. Back in a jiff." She walked to the bathroom door, pausing just before she reached for the handle. "Dave?" she asked.
"Hmm?"
"Will you ever tell me how it happened?"
David's smile shrank for a few seconds. He stared at the floor, appearing to consider her question carefully, as though it only had one right answer and he only one chance to answer it. "Yes," he said, finally, then paused again before adding, "but not today."
Connie nodded. She understood. "Okay," she said, then opened the bathroom door and stepped outside.
[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya, Cynthia, Rin)
Joseph breathed a mental sigh of relief—manifesting itself as a slight ease in his typically worry-filled eyes—as the woman with the eye patch, Cynthia, shook his hand. It took a second, but she didn't make a face or anything, and that was a win in his book.
"Sounds like paradise," he said, when Cynthia described where she was from. And it did. Joe had always figured that if he ever had the choice to live wherever he wanted to, he'd choose to live on an island. An island with warm air and lots of water; maybe a hidden cenote or two for a little night swimming. Where he knew everyone, and everyone knew him. Where he could be comfortable, and measure his days in small adventures.
The thought was so infatuating it all but pulled his mind completely away from the conversation at hand. By the time he came back to his senses, Cynthia was sitting back down and apologizing for something.
"Sorry about-" he began, but just as he was beginning to pronounce the w in 'what', the front door opened, pulling his attention away again.
It was Amy. And Maya. And Omar.
Joseph's heart started to race. His body felt like a fire in a snowstorm. He gripped his chair tightly with his hands and tail; so tightly that if he tried to stand up, he would end up taking the chair with him.
"What- wha- why...?" he stammered, his eyes darting feverishly between the two girls and his supposed kidnapper.
Omar stepped forward, glancing quickly between the two young women Joseph was with before settling on the dumbfounded lizard guy. He cleared his throat and said, as succinctly as possible, "Little time to explain. I'm not what you think I am. I can still get you home, but the clock is ticking."
Joseph didn't look wholly convinced, but before he could reply, the sound of yet another door opening disrupted the proceedings once again. This time it was the bathroom door next to the stairs, and Connie was the one walking through. She had a contented-looking smile on her face for a second or two before she looked up and noticed who was at the other side of the room.
"Oh what in the literal hell is this?"
edited 23rd Dec '16 8:52:00 PM by Ryuhza
every little word and every little step
[Bed and Breakfast (Lobby)]
Amy just knew that Maya was gonna sign something snappy, so she quickly stepped in front of her, took a deep breath, and looked at Connie and Joseph.
"Listen," she said, unusually calm and collected, "I know you guys must be confused and a little scared by now, but please hear us out. We were wrong about Omar. He's innocent. He's not a kidnapper; not in the slightest. He doesn't know who Aubrey is, or who his kidnappers were. They're probably long gone by now." She looked out the door, "We're on a time crunch here; Joseph needs to go back in that cave or else he's gonna vanish soon. This man is his hope."
Maya stepped besides Amy and looked directly at Connie. I knew none of this was true, so I decided to do what you weren't gonna do; actually investigate. Your little conspiracy theory jeopardized everything. You framed Omar for no reason.
"Maya, please-"
If you honestly thought he was a bad guy, why the hell didn't you make more of an effort to stop him? Why didn't you try to at least tell someone about a possible kidnapper? Were you really content of letting him go free? Maya shook her head, Man, I already knew you were paranoid, but some part of me didn't want to think you were willing to do something this low.
Maya looked at the others, Anyway, I made my point. I don't care if she's gonna think I'm being a bitch again; right now, we gotta get this kid home. She turned to Joseph, He's been on your side this whole time. You weren't tricked or betrayed. I know you're probably feeling confused about the conflicted information, but believe us. Amy and I wouldn't bring him here if we still thought he was a bad guy. Now you seriously need to hurry.
edited 23rd Dec '16 10:30:46 PM by Masterofchaos
[Town ~ Railroad Street East] (Mari, Lupin, Vicky, Yamiko, James, Kaitlyn, Kris)
Mari had tuned out the remainder of the trip to town as they walked in relative silence. Looking up, she saw Vicky approaching. Waving, she gave the girl a halfhearted grin. Mari removed her flask from her shirt and took a drink.
Stowing her booze back in her shirt, she sighed deeply. "So, where can we take these two t'get 'em patched up?" she asked everyone in earshot.
[Town ~ Bed & Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Cynthia, Connie, Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya, Rin)
Amy came back, and she brought with her a girl Cynthia vaguely remembered seeing earlier, as well as a stranger. This last person seemed to frighten Joseph, who was currently glued to his chair. The young knight placed herself between Joseph and the stranger, putting her right arm across her body under her ribcage while holding up her other hand, clenched into a fist.
"Oi, what do you mean, 'he's going to disappear'?" she said, frowning. "And what's all this about kidnappings?" She glared at them, "You're not abducting Joseph on my watch."
Cynthia turned her head towards Connie. "Was Davey in there?" She asked. First Minerva went off to who knows where, now Amy's talking about Joseph disappearing, for whatever reasons. It wouldn't do well to find out her only current means of finding Minerva had run away or something.
She sighed. Things were less complicated when she had a clear goal to reach...
edited 25th Dec '16 3:43:35 PM by WillDeRegio
Drummer Boy
[Alliance Lab]
The portal chamber wasn't far off. Arthur had to fiddle with another computer to get all the six metal, coffin-like pods online again. After some tinkering, the embedded screens began flashing with live video feeds of various locations. Most of them were from Totally Fucked Wasteland Earth, but he didn't recognize everything.
<this is how the war started.> He gestured at the pods. <portal technology and the crystals powering them are just one of dozens of things we stole from aliens. ok to be more accurate i guess the war really started when they realized that we were kidnapping them for AI experiments, but theft didn't really help our case. these will just vomit you at whatever coordinates you set on the computer here>
The screen on the pod closest to Arthur switched to a feed showing a large, bulky spacecraft the size of a small house. A figure wearing a bulky suit identical to Arthur's could be seen patrolling the area.
<that's the Camelot. it's about time I headed back with the data and started being a captain again. if you guys don't need me to set up any portals for you, I guess we're done. it was important to be away from my team for a while because things are so dysfunctional right now, but the only way to make it better is to go back and face them. it's time for change. I'm grateful to you guys for helping me figure that out and for coming all this way with me>
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Desert Trail - Wagon (Oswald, Nemaforte, Iraal, Scents, Teri, Wolfe, Gwion)
As Nemaforte sat against the wall of the wagon, she stopped to take a couple of slow breaths, during what she did not realize was a couple of seconds after she finished speaking. Her light-headedness started to get worse, and she felt a tingling sensation in her head and fingers... and after a while she knew why: she was hyperventilating. Realizing her mouth was open slightly, she closed it, staying still as she focused back on her surroundings.
By that time, Oswald had started to speak, but missed the beginning of what he was saying due to the brief disorientation. She caught him just as he was talking about a "human concept of preserving a person's memory or dignity", but still had a bit of a hard time focusing on his words, such that she tuned out for a while and picked it back up on "written words as nothing more than marks on paper". What? she thought, trying to grasp what he was saying. Then she heard "that is Zuri's body - leave it be" which was the end of his words. Her eyes still closed, she turned her head toward Oswald, and through her third eye she could see the agitation and displeasure in his aura. She knew the jist of what he was trying to say from that - trying to argue his views on what to do with dead bodies, it seemed.
Then her sensitive ears picked up on Iraal saying something, prompting her to instead turn towards the intellectual-minded xenoarchaeologist and sense the displeasure she felt. For a while she calmly listened to Iraal's words, though they were not interesting enough to warrant her full attention. That is, until a clearly shocked Scents jumped into the wagon - and though Nemaforte still had her eyes closed, she could tell that the vayen was staring at her. And her words were definitely interesting, asking if she saw Zuri's soul. Nemaforte's smile widened. And as she prepared to speak, she turned her focus inward, getting a feel for how her mouth preferred to move during the process so that hopefully she wouldn't be speaking too quickly.
"Yes I did see her soul." In her focusing on the words themselves, she had forgotten to put a pause after "yes" - but at least she was speaking at a more normal pace this time. "You saw me watch her as she died." At least she remembered to pause after a sentence. "On death, the soul leaves the body, and I saw Zuri's very clearly - it looked like a bright purple fog leaving her body, taking the whole of her aura with it." Remembering Oswald, she turned her head back towards him, still not opening her eyes. "I do not know the human concept of death, because I am not a human." She uttered a very low and faint chuckle. "Nor did I know any before coming here. The sunestre concept has the body as a mere remain to be returned to the earth, but because Zuri is a human, I shall leave her be."
As she focused back on Iraal and Scents, she noticed something else moving through the wagon - as she saw it, a purplish cloud brighter than the all the other auras around, and definitely not shaped like any body in the wagon.
"What is that?"
As she leaned forward towards the strange aural presence, she finally opened her eyes, whose pupils were so dilated that the flesh-pink irises were but a narrow ring around them. She was looking right at the pack horse trailing behind the wagon, and after a while of adjusting to seeing more than just auras, she began to see that same purplish glow right atop it. However, the lights outside were so bright (although it was still cloudy and in the late afternoon) that she couldn't discern any objects on top of the horse.
But she didn't need to, for just then something very strange happened, that this time everyone could see. What turned out to be Zuri's bag shook a bit all on its own, after which her ritual dagger slid right out of the bag and floated into the air, hovering right into the wagon and landing neatly in the center of its floor. Then it slid a half-inch or so out of its sheath, exposing the dull and slightly-rusted blade. Little white foggy wisps rose out of the exposed blade, where they collected in a tall shape. Soon enough, it manifested as a young woman, one who looked exactly like the corpse lying in the wagon, except transparent.
"Zuri - you came back!" Nemaforte looked up at her face after a brief glance downward at the blade of the dagger, which to her shone a very bright whitish purple.
Zuri nodded her ghostly head. "Originally I was going to go to Heaven with my parents, but then we agreed that I should linger here a while so that I may be here with my classmates. And you." She looked down at Nemaforte, upon which the smile that had been on her face vanished. "Are you high on something?"
"I am always high on something."
Zuri took a step backward, her boots making absolutely no noise and putting no weight on the wagon floor. "Yeah, well, this time you look very high." As she looked away, she saw her body lying in the wagon, which she gazed at with displeasure before looking back at the living group. "I thought I told you to leave my body at the mountains. Well, no matter - I honestly don't care what happens to it. Now my existence is tied to my mother's old athame, whose blade now contains my soul."
Nemaforte turned her head back at Oswald and winked. Meanwhile, Zuri noticed something at the front of the wagon, walking over there to where Matt was driving the horses. "Look - there's the town up there. It shouldn't be long before we reach it." Indeed, as the wagon turned a corner around a large rock formation, there stood a large group of buildings on the horizon.
It's getting late for me again, so the other psychic college students will have to wait.
edited 26th Dec '16 1:31:38 AM by ladytanuki
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya, Cynthia, Rin)
It was all too much to take in at once. What Amy was saying alone was too much to take in at once. Joe had been building up the idea that Omar had been intending to use him for some nefarious purpose for the past several hours. He'd been uncertain about the whole thing since leaving the hotel the night before, but finding a man locked up in the creepy old mine—the very same old mine that Omar had instructed them not to go into until his return—had been the tipping point. Now here he was again, personally escorted by Amy and Maya, both of whom seemed to be convinced that he wasn't a bad guy. Somehow, he doubted it would be enough to convince-
"Really?" asked Connie, sounding unconvinced. Her tone wasn't quite accusatory, but rife with unappeased skepticism. "What changed your mind? Did he happen to explain any part of what he was doing? Did he tell you anything?"
Omar took a step forward, frowning impatiently as he replied, "There is no time to try and explain this to you."
"You'd better make time. There's no way Joe goes anywhere with you without a really damn good explanation as to why he should."
Omar gritted his teeth and glared. Connie glared back, mouth set in a tight-lipped frown. Before the man could respond, Cynthia stepped in the way, armed with her own collection of questions.
"He probably hasn't told you yet," he said, eyes shifting briefly in Joseph's direction. Joe glanced away, feeling all sorts of mixed up emotions. "Weller has an unusual temporal and spatial displacement problem. Under the certain circumstances—circumstances that are far from uncommon—he will disappear from here in an instant and reappear somewhere else, somewhere potentially very far away. Another world. Another time."
Joseph glanced at Rin and worked up a sideways, sheepish smile.
"And I didn't kidnap him," Omar continued, "I'm not planning on abducting him either. But it just so happens that here in this desert is lies the means to send him home; to fix his problem and set him back on track. I offered to show him, to help him get home, and he chose—of his own volition—to come with me."
When Cynthia asked after Davey, Connie nodded, "Yeah he's in there. He's okay, he just needed some time to think. And by the way Maya," she looked past Cynthia at the other teenager, a note of anger slipping into her voice, "I was going to report him. I said as much earlier, but I wanted to make sure my friend wasn't dead first, and let him know that I wasn't either, so sue me! We were safe and secure here until you led the Pied Piper right to our doorstep."
every little word and every little step
[alliance lab > outside temple > Tsadro out]
Tsadro nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to the other four. "I will get you four out of here before I leave." He shivered a bit as he removed his gloves and slipped them into the pouch on his belt, glanced back at Finn, the largest person he had to fit through, then turned away and extended his hands. As he reached out, ripples radiated out from his hands, like he had reached into two pools of clear water- one large enough to fit Finn, the other large enough to fit Tsadro. Through the portals, one could see the hovercar they took to the temple in the left portal, and a futuristic-looking, cleanly decorated red and white living room in the right. A ragged-looking wyvern the size of a large cat lounged across the back of a couch, then perked up when it saw Tsadro through the portal. The comparative warmth of those two places radiated through the portals.
"I suppose this is farewell." He laid his hand across his chest and nodded, then motioned for Finn, Peggy, Sophia, and Karl to go on through the left portal ahead of him.
Tsadro turned back to Arthur. "And may the waves ebb in your favor, Arthur." He laid his hand across his chest and inclined his head, closed the portal that led to the outside of the temple after the last person walked through, then stepped on home. The portal faded faded away behind him.
edited 27th Dec '16 6:34:18 AM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
There was a post...but I Eated it.
edited 27th Dec '16 2:35:29 PM by Masterofchaos
Attitude is prohibited
[Bed and Breakfast] (Main Hall)
Rin scratched her head. The situation had gotten very complicated very quickly, and she seemed to be missing the context that would explain some of the most important parts. Nevertheless, there were a few things she could clearly grasp. The revelation the Joseph was, in fact, the 'friend' he'd mentioned earlier, afflicted with strange and random 'teleporting' to different places and times, was not altogether surprising. She'd suspected as much when he'd first mentioned the subject, though why he'd bother keeping it a secret remained a bit of a mystery.
Then there was the stranger, the one who'd come in with the two teenage girls and who seemed to be the crux of the tension. He seemed awfully concerned for Joseph's well-being, which struck her as a bit strange considering he didn't seem to have much - if any - kind of personal relationship with him. Apparently, the two teenagers who'd come in with him had once been united with... David's friend, the other girl... In their accusations against the stranger, and that appeared to have changed, perhaps rather suddenly. One of the girls communicated through some kind of gesture-based language, one Rin didn't recognize. But given the look on her face, the essence of what she was probably saying wasn't too hard to discern.
And then there was Cynthia, who appeared to be acting under the assumption that the stranger might, at any moment, try to snatch Joseph up and run away with him. The man certainly didn't look like he was poised to pounce. He was tense, but then again, the whole room was pretty tense, and that rarely led to clarity.
Rin stood and walked up next to Joseph, which put her slightly behind Cynthia, whom she addressed first. "Unless you know something I don't," she began. "I don't think we should be jumping to conclusions. Let's hear what he was to say. Specifically..." She turned her attention to the stranger next, the one who seemed intent on bringing Joseph somewhere. "I would be interested to know how you know so much about his condition," she said, motioning to lizardy youth at the centre of everyone's attention. "And why you're in such a rush. Presumably, this has something to do with his 'displacement' problem, but this begs the question: how do you know that he has to rush?"Then she held up a finger. "But you can answer those in a minute. First..."
She leaned in close to Joseph and spoke to him very softly, almost whispering. "Your friends can't make your decisions for you," she said. "They all want to help, but ultimately, the choice is yours. Maybe there's some truth to what that man is saying, I don't know. You'd know better than I. But regardless, just ask yourself this:" she motioned to the stranger. "Do you trust him?"
Not entirely dead.
[Bed and Breakfast]
Maya rolled her eyes.
...Oh my GOD, you are unbearable! she signed, YES, he told us what was going on! Otherwise we wouldn't be here, you idiot!
She shook her head, no longer wishing to filter herself, What the fuck else is it gonna take for us to tell you that this is the wrong man? What other goddamn proof do you need? Oh, and BULLSHIT that you were gonna report him. What was that you said? You didn't think it was a good idea to deal with him? Try to explain this; if Omar really had the intention of kidnapping Joseph...why in the hell is he explaining his goals to us? A bunch of strangers he found in the desert? Do you even know how kidnappers work?
She stormed over to Connie, getting dangerously close to her face, Admit it. You just wanted to find something wrong with this man. You can't stand the idea of anything just being mundane so you're willing to frame someone just to justify your paranoia. You wanted us to just accept your theory without any of us actually wanting to find proof. Enough of this. Stop digging yourself even further. For the love of God, just admit you were wrong. Please. We've wasted enough time.
Amy looked at Cynthia, "Please, Ms; no one is kidnapping anybody! This is just a huge misunderstanding! That's what we're trying to tell you! And the longer he stays here, the more time we're wasting! This man is his only way of getting home! Please, believe us!"
She looked worriedly at her friends, knowing that this probably wasn't going to end well. Just like back in the desert, they were once again at each's other throat; this time, she didn't know how to calm either of them down. Hugs weren't going to help in this situation.
Crazy Kiwi
Wagon en route to town
[Iraal, Scents, Oswald, Nemaforte, formerly-Zuri, Teri, Wolfe and Gwion]Wolfe took Nemaforte's claims about seeing Zuri's departing "soul" with a very large spoonful of salt - the way the young witch ingested substances, she was no doubt prone to "seeing" all sorts of shit.
Then the witch started staring at Zuri's bag, out of which a knife came, strangely floating in the air. Telekinesis? By whom? The knife landed then started sliding out of its sheath, accompanied by whispy tendrils of fog that coalesced into a likeness of Zuri - much like her earlier astral projection.
Wolfe glanced at Teri who was staring in disbelief at the apparition. There's some rational explanation for this, Wolfe thought. The fact that he didn't have one didn't bother him at all - the world was full of things that had yet to be fully scientifically explained and things that had been explained, such as interdimensional travel, of which he was not personally knowledgeable.
"Did I inhale more of that weird vapour than I intended?" Teri asked.
To Gwion, a Celtic Reconstructionist, there was only one explanation... Zuri's spirit had returned.
Nemaforte spoke to the apparition, which replied and called attention to Nemaforte's state of mind before admonishing the group at large for not leaving her body behind.
"My sincerest apologies," said Gwion, "it just did not seem right to just leave your body to be eaten by coyotes and buzzards - your friends might have thought it disrespectul."
Wolfe nodded agreement. The living generally needed to bury the dead in order to have proper closure.
Just then Zuri's projection/spirit/ghost pointed out that they were nearing the town. Teri, Wolfe and Gwion looked. Sure enough, the town was visible and close enough that they could see a group at the end of Railway Street - three horses and at least five people - but too far for identification or an accurate count.
Alliance Lab —> (eventually) The Tipsy Toad
[Sophia, Peggy, Karl and Finn]After saying their farewells to Tsadro and Arthur and stepping through the portal, Sophia. Peggy, Karl and Finn found themselves right beside where they had parked the hovercar and Sophia's motorbike. Sophia turned in time to get a last view of Tsadro and Arthur before the portal closed.
All four lit cigarettes.
"Well, that was all very interesting," said Finn.
"What Arthur said about the cause of his war was frankly disturbing," said Peggy, frowning, "and what he said about his team was also pretty strange."
Sophia nodded. "I hope his world isn't the future of ours, especially if those scenes have anything to do with it."
Karl looked back at the entrance to the temple. "Should we continue our search here?"
Peggy dug out her radio. "I'll check with Wolfe first, see what's happening."
Above ground and away from any electronic interference the lab may have caused, the Peggy had no difficulty establishing communication with Wolfe who informed her that the so-called "Dead God" had activated and that they having to make a hasty evacuation of the area. Peggy looked in the direction of the distant mountains but it was impossible to see the "Dead God" at that distance. She turned to the others. "We might as well head back, I guess."
Finn looked at her. "You realise we'd be heading closer to that "Not-so-Dead God" thing?" Both sides of the radio exchange had been audible to everyone.
"True, but there's no guarantee that anywhere's safe - not even inside that temple. Might as well be with our friends as anywhere else."
Finn nodded and slipped into the driver's seat of the hovercar. "All aboard, then."
They headed back; Sophia on her bike and Peggy and Karl in the hovercar with Finn. As they neared the town, the mountains became clearer and, above them, the strange nautilus shape of the "Dead God." They eyed it with suspicion and not a little dread and therefore were surprised to see it vanish rather unspectacularly into the air as if passing through a portal.
"Well, that was a bit fucking anti-climactic," said Finn as he swung the hovercar onto the southern end of Main Street.
Peggy laughed. "Was that a complaint?"
"Well, a couple-a sparkles and a distant booming noise would'a' been nice."
Finn parked the hovercar outside of the Tipsy Toad, next to the other one that was still tied to the hitching rail.
Sophia swung her bike in beside the hovercar and dismounted. "Dunno 'bout you lot, but I could do with a cold beer."
There were nods of agreement all 'round and they headed in through the swinging doors.
As Peggy's eyes adjusted to the dim interior, she came to an abrupt halt. "Jesus fucking Christ!"
Karl stared at her, surprised by her uncharacteristically obscene outburst, then looked where she was looking. "Bloody fucking hell! It's not possible."
Sophia and Finn both looked, wondering what all the fuss was about.
edited 27th Dec '16 6:58:41 PM by Wolf1066
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Railway Street East (Vicky, Yamiko, Lupin, James, Kris, Kaitlyn, Mari)
Vicky approached the group just in time to hear Mari ask about a place to get someone "patched up". Visibly confused, she looked over the group. Almost everyone had already dismounted the horses, which looked exhausted - understandable, Vicky thought, given each had been carrying two people across several miles of uneven terrain. James, Kris, Kaitlyn, and Mari seemed fine, as did Lupin at first... but then she noticed him walking slowly and wearily, cradling his arms together, looking to be in quite a bit of pain. Yamiko, the only one still atop a horse, seemed more tired than anyone else, still slumping forward with her hands pressed into the saddle. Although she couldn't read auras like Lupin and that extraterrestrial elf-witch could, she could tell something was off.
"W-what happened?" she asked as she approached.
Lupin straightened himself up as best as he could and spoke - by now, his ever-increasing weariness trumped the pain in hs arm somewhat. "Quite a bit actually..." He told her about how everyone saw the Dead God appear over the mountains, about Yamiko's adverse telepathic reaction to the Dead God and how it scared the horses, and about how he himself fell off James's horse and broke his arm.
Listening to all this, Vicky frowned nervously, scratching the side of her head. "Dang... if only I had been there with you, perhaps I could've prevented some of that..." She looked to Yamiko, who seemed to not be reacting at all - she didn't even look at her as she approached the side of the horse.
"Hello?" she asked her, placing a hand on the gothic lolita girl's knee and shaking her a bit. "Yamiko, come on, we're here! ...Yamiko?" Still no response - Yamiko seemed to be staring down at the saddle, barely even blinking. "Are you even in there?" Indeed, looking at her, she seemed more like an empty shell than an actual person. The whole thing seemed completely alien to Vicky - but then again, the Dead God was completely alien.
Maybe the Dead God isn't connected to Nightfright after all, she thought, as she turned to Lupin... just in time to see him collapse into a sitting position at the edge of the road, carefully laying his arm along his leg to keep it steady. Then he slumped forward in his seat much like Yamiko did.
Vicky sighed and threw her arms up for a second. "Oh come on, not you too! If this is the Dead..." She stopped herself, suddenly realizing that Lupin's state couldn't have been due to the Dead God - firstly, she had seen him look at it without reacting, and secondly, if this was the case, she herself would have some sort of reaction as well. "...Actually maybe it's not the Dead God. How far did you walk anyway?"
"Not very... far..." Lupin's voice didn't sound as pained now, but was considerably softer and weaker. "Feels like... a lot further though."
Vicky looked up at the others. "Anyone have anything to splint his arm with while we get him and Yamiko to a hospital or... whatever they have like it in this town?" Suddenly she wished that the history classes she took throughout high school covered the Wild West more.
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
Crazy Kiwi
Railway Street
[Mari, Yamiko, Vicky, Lupin, Kaitlyn, Kris and James]James pointed along the street. "Main Street is just opposite the railway station -" this mainly for Mari's benefit as she hadn't been in town before, "I remember seeing a doctor's surgery about halfway down Main Street. I think we should get Yamiko and Lupin there as fast as possible."
At this point, Kaitlyn's sensitive hearing picked up a distant sound and she looked out towards the trail to the mountains. There was a horse-drawn wagon approaching from that direction so she increased the magnification in her eyes to the maximum - enough to recognise the cart's driver from the Livery Stable and identify Iraal, Scents and Gwion.
She pointed. "Here come the others."
Kris looked where Kaitlyn was pointing. It was definitely a wagon - only a couple.of minutes away, from the look of it. She turned back to James. "OK, let's get these two to the doctor." Then she turned to Vicky. "Nothing to splint with, but he should be fine if he keeps his arm immobilised with his other arm until we get to the doctor - it's not far now."
Just then, James' radio signalled for his attention. He responded and Peggy's voice came through the speaker. "We've found him. I repeat: We've found him. We're at the Tipsy Toad in town."
Kris looked elated. "Yes!" It no longer mattered that their search had been cut short; Peggy and Karl had been successful - though why they had waited until they got back to town to notify anyone was a mystery.
The Tipsy Toad
Aubrey had been utterly dumbfounded to see that two of the new arrivals at the saloon were none other than Karl Schmidt and Margaret Baker - dressed rough and showing signs that they had been out in the desert, if the dust on their trousers and moccasins were anything to go by. He had had no idea of who the garishly dressed and heavily tattooed couple were.The four had joined him at the table and ordered beers then surprising tales were exchanged over beverages and cigarettes.
Sophia and Finn watched and listened in surprised silence as Aubrey described his period of captivity and his eventual rescue by a group of young "girls" and a lizard-man - if they hadn't seen some of the inhabitants of, and visitors to, Capital City, they would have found that last unbelievable. What was interesting was that neither Peggy nor Karl so much as batted an eyelid at that revelation.
For his own part, Aubrey was astounded to learn that Karl and Margaret, along with James, Wolfe, Kristina and Teresa and at the behest of Sir Archibald fforbes-Pennington-Smythe, had arrived in town the previous day and had spent the two days looking for him. He wasn't terribly surprised to learn that this world was not Terra Nova - but the fact that the others had had no difficulty getting here to search for him was surprising indeed.
Peggy was so wrapped up in finding out what had happened and answering Aubrey's multitude of questions that it was quite some time before it occurred to her to take out the radio, hit the master switch and broadcast to both James and Wolfe that Aubrey had been found.
Aubrey ordered himself a whiskey and lit another cigarette. He was absolutely overjoyed that his former companions from The Long Walk had rallied together in response to his abduction and five of them - along with Margaret - had come to find him.
edited 28th Dec '16 4:22:29 AM by Wolf1066
[Northern Desert ~ Nearing Town (Wagon)] (Oswald, Iraal, Scents, Nemaforte, Zuri's Ghost, Gwion, Teri, Wolfe)
For all the strange and sudden things that had occurred on that wagon trip—at least during Oswald's time aboard—Zuri's return as some kind of spirit was quite possibly the strangest and most sudden of all. Even more peculiar than the event itself was her behavior. For having just recently died, Zuri's ghost seemed unusually nonchalant, as though she was just stopping back in because she had forgotten her wallet, rather than revisiting the land of the living.
How was one meant to respond to such an event? How should one feel? Relieved? Comforted? Confused? Shaken to the very core? It was difficult to say where exactly Oswald stood in all those mixed up energies. His wide eyes and flared nostrils said "surprised", but just about anyone would be surprised as a first response. He cast a quick glance across the others, as though to make sure that they were seeing the same thing he was. Their words confirmed it moments later, and his gaze returned to Zuri's ghost, quietly mesmerized by the sight.
In the end, Oswald said nothing for himself— or at least not anything that was clearly audible. He let his ragged cloak drape over his arms and bowed his hooded head, murmuring something quietly to himself.
every little word and every little step
[Town ~ Bed & Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Cynthia, Connie, Joseph, Omar, Rin, Amy, Maya)
Cynthia frowned, looking back and forth between Omar and Joseph. After doing this about five times, she crossed her arms, drumming her fingers on her arm. "I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions... I guess I should believe you," she said to Amy.
Cynthia took a few steps back, placing her gauntleted hand on Joseph's shoulder. She felt that with her powers, at the very least the salamander man would be less likely to go 'poof'. This whole disappearance business sounded dreadful, she herself would be absolutely confused, and probably terrified if she just appeared in a completely different place with no warning.
"I might not know much about temporal space stuff—" She paused. She had heard of things that might be able to help the man, maybe whatever was in the desert was related. Mulling over this, she looked around at the others, "but I'd be willing to help in anyway I can."
[Town ~ Railroad Street East] (Mari, Lupin, Vicky, Yamiko, James, Kaitlyn, Kris)
"Mmm, I see," Mari said, looking down the street to where James had indicated. She looked around further, the town looked very much like the set of a Sergio Leone movie... or an actual Old West frontier town. This town would at least have a very resourceful doctor on hand.
Mari headed over to Lupin, extending a hand to help him up, "Think you can walk t'the doc's office? Or you need someone t'carry you?" She laughed slightly with a notable lack of enthusiasm.
She glanced over at Yamiko, still on the horse, and very much unresponsive. Considering what had happened, that made her rather uncomfortable. Mari considered offering her assistance, though of the two methods she could think of, one would have to wait until Yamiko wasn't on a horse, and the other might have an adverse reaction to the potion the psychic took earlier. Mari growled slightly in frustration.
edited 29th Dec '16 9:05:54 AM by WillDeRegio
[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Main Hall)] (Connie, Joseph, Omar, Amy, Maya, Cynthia, Rin)
Connie seemed poised to bite back at the first few of Maya's words, but as the other girl wet on, Connie's tight frown began to soften slightly. Her dark eyes narrowed a bit, rife not with a pointed suspicion, but a plain confusion slowly unfolding into something more pained.
When she finally did speak, her voice was several measures calmer than before. The transition was so sudden and jarring, it almost seemed like her anger moments earlier was all an act. "Well jeez, If you can explain what he's doing, then that's what you should have lead with, instead of just saying 'you're wrong' and pointing fingers. And for the record, what I said was that it wouldn't be a good idea for us to deal with him head on. I'm 16, I don't have a gun, I don't fight people, I don't know karate. Is that really so unreasonable?"
Joseph, for his part, felt like he was being pulled in all different directions and couldn't shake a tight feeling in his gut that he had done, was doing, or was about to do something terribly, obviously wrong. Three months and a lifetime ago, he had often lamented his lack of an "interesting", "exciting" life, or what felt like a "real" place in the world. But here, sitting at the center of so much attention just put more pressure on him in a situation that was already several layers of uncomfortable. Still, he certainly could appreciate that most—if not all—of these people wanted to help him. When Cynthia said as much, he managed a weak smile and a quiet, "Thanks."
Omar maintained his distance, mostly eyeing Connie and Cynthia until Rin stepped forward, inquiring as to how he knew so much about Joseph's condition. He glanced at the ceiling for a moment—though it was quite a bit higher up than he expected—and thought of how best to answer; something succinct and as satisfactory as he could afford to provide. "Well-"
Before he could say anything, Rin put him on hold and turned her attention to Joseph, who was looking a bit ill. As she leaned in, Joe's already-large eyes widened slightly in curiosity. As she spoke, and as her words sunk in, that curiosity was replaced by deep, troubled thoughts and the accompanying spaced-out stare.
Even just at first blush it seemed like a complicated question, given what he knew, what he could assume—or at least what he thought he could assume—and what he had been told. There was so little that he felt he truly knew beyond a reasonable doubt, thanks to all the contradictions between what he had been told and what he could assume. He had hoped to wait it out until the truth became resolutely clear, or until he was so far past the whole series of events that it no longer bothered him, but now that hope was dashed. Now he had to make an apparently time-sensitive decision that risked his personal safety on one hand and his chance at going home on the other.
"She's right, you know," added Omar, glancing up from his watch. "Ultimately, this only concerns you. You're old enough and smart enough to make this decision for yourself."
Joseph dragged his dully-clawed hands down the sides of his head and groaned as if he was suffering a migraine. "It's not about being smart. I mean, short of praying to the spirit of Sherlock Holmes, I just don't have enough to go off of. I don't... I don't know if I can trust you." His long mouth wavered slightly as he searched for his next words. "...So I guess, at this point, I don't."
Omar let slip a sideways frown. "You seemed to trust me fine this morning. And what about your friends?" he gestured to Amy and Maya."You don't trust them?"
"There was a lot I didn't really consider this morning," Joseph said, his brow furrowed slightly, "and I do... want to trust them, but I don't know what you told them, and Connie made some good points too."
"Finally..." Connie muttered under her breath.
"I mean, there's still so many details to this thing you haven't told me, and I don't get why."
Connie nodded, glancing between Omar and Maya, "Yeah, yeah. And if he told you two how he plans to make this thing work, then there's no reason to keep being cagey about it. I mean," she turned her gaze between Amy and Maya, "he did give you the details, right? Isn't that why you trust him?"
every little word and every little step
[Bed and Breakfast]
Before Maya could sign something else, Amy stepped in front of her.
"She does have a good point too, you know?" Amy said, "Yeah, he told us that the cave was Joseph's only hope and all, but he didn't really give us all the details about how it works, actually. I don't think he's a kidnapper, but-" she looked up at Omar, "With all due respect sir...you've been super vague about this!"
She then looked back at her best friend. "Please, stop attacking Connie! Yeah...she might not be right about Omar, but if it wasn't for her and us going deep in the cave, we wouldn't have rescued Aubrey! Can you really blame her for thinking Omar might be the bad guy? She didn't do this to frame a guy for 'no reason'; she was looking out for Joseph and the others! She doesn't have any malice in her heart, Maya, so can you please stop bullying her?"
Maya blinked, unsure what to sign. She looked at Connie, then at Amy, then back at Connie. Her glare now gone, she instead gave a rather apologetic bow.
"That being said," Amy said, looking at Omar, "If you want to truly convince everyone you're the good guy...can you be more specific and open about your plans? This vagueness thing that you're doing isn't helping your case either! In fact, it's making you look more suspicious!"
Happy new year! Rest in fucking pieces 2016.
Crazy Kiwi
Wagon - approaching town
Wolfe put away his radio, brimming with elation. He had no idea how or where Peggy and Karl had found Aubrey, but the important thing was that they had.Better yet, they were all already safely back in town at The Tipsy Toad.
Teri grinned. She had been quite concerned at having to abandon their search of the mountains and had been wondering what would happen if Aubrey were stuck out there in the mountains with the "Dead God" activated but now it was "academic"; the "Dead God" was gone - harmlessly, it seemed - and Aubrey had been found elsewhere.
She looked at the town in the distance. Soon they would be reunited with their friends and with the subject of their search. Mission Accomplished.
Gwion had heard the radio exchange - or rather broadcast - and could see an instant change in both Wolfe and Teri. The subtle undercurrent of tension was gone and they looked a lot more relaxed than they had over the last few hours - they even seemed less concerned by the presence of Zuri's ghostly form.
edited 1st Jan '17 1:31:40 AM by Wolf1066
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Railway St. East (Vicky, Yamiko, Lupin, James, Kris, Kaitlyn, Mari)
Vicky scratched her head when James mentioned a "doctor's surgery" down the road. "Surgery? For a broken arm? Unless it's bleeding, I would think a cast or something... maaaaaybe we should just go back to the hotel and find something to splint it with until we get back to Boston."
"Pretty sure 'surgery' is just a term for a small medical center in this case," Lupin remarked as Mari helped him up. Then to her he said, "I think I'll be fine... I'm quite used to this sort of weakness after all." To this, Vicky raised an eyebrow.
Just then, Kaitlyn announced something about "the others" arriving. At first, Vicky and Lupin didn't know what she was talking about - but then they saw the wagon in the distance. Lupin was too weary to respond to it, but Vicky was definitely excited.
"Yay, they're back!" And with that, she took off at a run - but stopped when she heard Lupin tell her to wait.
"When you get there," he said, "tell Nemaforte where to find us. Yamiko's condition is most likely due to a telepathic reaction to the Dead God, and even I detect a very weak aura about her - in which case she'll need someone with magical expertise." I wonder if she'll even have an herb that could help with her condition - though she did have a lot of that potion already.
"Nemaforte - that's what that witchling's name was. I keep forgetting. Got it!" And she took off at a run, this time for real. Lupin headed in the opposite direction, following Kris and the horse bearing Yamiko. This time he found it rather easy to keep up with them, as he realized that mustering the strength to walk distracted him from the pain in his arm. He knew what was causing his weakness, but as always, didn't want to voice or act on it, as if deeming it unimportant.
edited 2nd Jan '17 8:28:08 PM by ladytanuki
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
Attitude is prohibited
[Bed and Breakfast] (Main Hall)
Rin nodded. "That's fair," she said to Joseph. Not trusting the man did seem like the more cautious, sensible option. She could respect that.
"But speaking of details," she continued, turning the man at the doorway... Was his name Omar? "I'd like you to answer my earlier questions now, if you could. I asked you how you know so much about his condition, why you're in such a rush and how you know that he has to rush," she said.
She glanced Amy, Connie, then back to Omar. "We all seem to have similar concerns, so, if you please, I think some answers are in order."
Not entirely dead.
Northern Desert - Near Town (Yamiko, Kris, Kaitlyn, Mari, Lupin, James)
Yamiko didn't look up, not even when the horses slow to a stop or when Kris dismounted in front of her. She did, however, notice the woman's hand on her, and her voice telling her to stay put. All Yamiko did was lightly nod her head in acknowledgement, slumping forward more and grasping onto the front of the saddle, disregarding the reins completely. She didn't even know Mari was there next to her.
Meanwhile, Lupin lay his left arm on his lap as gently as he could, while his still-trembling right hand retrieved his glasses, which James had so graciously found. "Pretty sure my arm is broken," he spoke as she slipped his glasses back on, surprised that they weren't broken. "Thanks for..." and here he winced from the pain in his arm, "...helping me out - quite sure I'm fine otherwise..." Cradling his left arm in his right, he rose carefully into standing. He also felt quite a bit of pain in his left hip, which was not surprising as he had fallen almost directly on that as well, but other than that he had no problem walking, without so much as a limp.
However, he felt a definite lack of energy as he walked, and came close to tripping on a stray pebble a couple of times in his weariness. This was nothing new to him though - he even managed to catch up to the horses, walking alongside the one Yamiko was now sitting on, on the opposite side of Mari. A few times he glanced towards Yamiko, but each time he got distracted by the pain in his arm. After a while he began to fall behind from the horses again, though by that point they were rapidly closing in on the town anyway.
Railway St. East - in front of the Washington (Vicky)
For a while Vicky sat there, toying with her phone, but after a while she began to feel a little tired. It was late in the afternoon, and as much as she enjoyed flying here, she knew the process took at least a little out of her. However, she perked her head up when again she saw that gigantic space nautilus hovering near the mountains. In fact, she caught it just in time to see it vanish into thin air.
"What in the... that's not another side effect of that potion, is it?"
And then she saw something else off near the horizon - a small group of people and horses approaching town - upon which she stood up once more and crossed the street. Once there, she jogged across the desert, approaching the group.
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true."I think that's them! What took them so long though?"