For the Horde!
Gill didn't seem to catch Diana's bizarre reaction to the writing being unintelligible, and instead paid attention to Mindy ranting about Ms. Hughes.
"Ms. Hughes is mean," Gill said bluntly. "I'm not looking forward to my next class with her... and I still need to find a book to read for my report, and I still need to know how to do a report in the first place." He sighed. "I want to find a book that teaches me as much as it can about humans and how they're like. I want nothing more than to be a regular human with lots of friends, and not a lonely merman under the sea... by himself..."
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Blake's Kitchen
"Lichtenburg is doing fine," said V, passive-aggressively emphasizing Lachlan's codename as if to say "use the codenames, please". "He's working on the Everlast project at the moment."
"As for things that could affect you...Little Haven's a port, right? There is something, but I don't know if we should talk about it over the phone. I'm worried about someone tapping the wire. I can arrange for a correspondent to be sent to you. When would be convenient?"
Pizza Place
The (formerly) bored girl working the counter was bewildered at Coralie's entrance. Despite her efforts to maintain a customer-service tone, it was very easy to hear the confusion in her voice when she said, "Uhh...I don't think we have any available tables for five people, we're a little busy right now. I can get you a pizza to go if you want?"
Almost everyone else in the pizza place who was close enough to the door to notice it happening reacted the same way as the counter girl, and were staring rather heavily at the sight—with the notable exception of Val, who turned their head away from Coralie and sort of at the floor. It was hard to tell if they were wincing, trying not to look, or if they just so happened to notice something very interesting underneath the table across from theirs.
After a second, Kelsea turned to Nastya and attempted to subtly do the circle-around-ear hand gesture for "crazy".
Library
Diana seemed a little flustered (although not as flustered as she had been earlier) at Mindy's question. "Oh...I am not currently in schooling."
Gill's comment made Diana a weird mixture of relieved at the subject change and sad at the actual content of the comment. "That sounds horrible. I know how it feels to not have anyone to call a friend. I would not wish that on anyone." She then seemed to realize that Gill had indirectly asked her something. "Did you want my help in selecting a book? I would suggest a book of history."
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
For the Horde!
Gill nodded solemnly, looking down at the gathered books that he had grabbed from the shelves.
"How about this one?" he asked, pushing forward the book labeled The Age of Exploration and opening it up to the first page, beginning to skim the text. "I just hope that Miss Hughes won't be mad at me if I do the report wrong..." he sighed. "I've never done a book report before..."
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
What, me worry?
"Not even home-schooling? Man, I envy you! People in my old school in Brooklyn want nothin' to do with me, and the teachers there at the new school don't have a clue what they're doin'. I'd be better off stayin' at home! But it's just me and my mom, and she works."
Mindy herself is now starting to get mad thinking about everything. After an irritated sigh, she excuses herself before stepping outside the library, just to lean against the wall and think about the mess she's in.
Fwomph
Blake's Kitchen
"Well, if they want to swing by when Blake's in school tommo—"
Blake's mom quickly checked the date.
"—When Blake's in school tomorrow. They can swing by and drop it off or we can discuss. I'm fairly open most of the day."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
That there is a seal.
Restaurant
Loki notices Val looking down. Concluding that they must be feeling bad for some reason, he tries to cheer them up the only way he knows how - pointless mischief.
He quickly constructs a sort of small catapult out of a spoon, some string, and some other objects from his backpack. Then he removes the metal cap from a salt shaker on the table, places the cap in the catapult, tries to get Val's attention, and fires the catapult. The cap bounces off a bunch of things, including the ceiling a couple times, and knocks over a bunch of things objects on various other customers' tables, before finally landing on the floor, right next to Loki, who picks it up and puts it back on the salt shaker.
Data is imaginary. This burrito is real.
Pizza Place
"Oh! Yes, that thing! The pizza to be going, 'cause baby, this family's a-going placeees~!"
The woman, presumably the mother, hurried over to grip the girl by the shoulder. She whispered in hurried tones, with a hint of an Arabic accent. "Coralie, dear, not so loud. People are staring!"
"Aw, pshaw, there's weirder things around this place than me. I mean, have you seen the tech around here? Whoof! C'mon guys, menu's at the counter, pick what you want and IIIIiiii..." The strange girl seemed to slow to a stop, staring transfixed at the table in the distance. A table where some boy, right out of nowhere, fashioned a freaking catapult out of absolute junk, and then to top it all off, made a salt shaker lid ricochet around the place, disturbing people all around, and land right back at his feet perfectly.
A second or two after Loki refitted the salt shaker lid, there was the sudden sound of things clattering as the girl in the labcoat vaulted over tables and chairs to pop up beside his table. "BRAVO!" she cried, "Bravu, brava, bravissimo! What a marvellous miracle of engineering you just pulled off! The craft, the elegance, the organised chaos, all in the span of seconds! Ahhh, not fifteen minutes here and I've met a boy after my own heart. If I wasn't so married to science, I'd be falling in love. What's your name there, fella?"
That there is a seal.
Hi... name's Loki, nice to meet you... Loki is naturally excited to meet a new person and also kind of awestruck/flabbergasted at the girl's general behavior, but is trying not to seem too excited or awestruck because he thinks maybe Val is upset about all the attention this person is getting or something and the whole point of the catapult thing was to cheer them up and he really wasn't expecting this girl to just walk over like that and aughhhh
I didn't really plan for it to land right there, that just kinda happened, haha... he says with awkwardness so palpable you could roll it into a ball and make a clay model of an elephant out of it. Wonderful first impression we're making here, Loki.
Edited by aPod-ofSeals on Dec 22nd 2021 at 10:15:50 AM
Data is imaginary. This burrito is real.
Library
"Well, as far as I am aware, there is not a single way to write a book report. You simply write about the book."
Then the librarian interjected from her seat at the desk. "Would you like to check something out?"
Blake's Kitchen
"Excellent. I'll send someone over then."
Click.
Pizza Place
It turned out that pointless mischief was the exact opposite of what Val wanted at that moment.
They graduated from wincing to facepalming and tried distancing themselves from Loki and Coralie. (While it wasn't at all obvious from the outside, it took a lot of effort for Val to not leave the restaurant entirely.)
As the chaos unfolded (and as the counter girl asked Coralie's family for their orders in the background), Kelsea apparently decided that she'd had enough, and she abruptly got up, dropped some cash by the counter girl, and walked out. The counter girl counted the cash (it was about ten cents short, but she didn't care at that point), but that's not as relevent to our story as the paper ball.
With everyone preoccupied as they were, no one saw where it had come from. Did Kelsea drop it? If she did, had she done so intentionally, expecting the others to notice? Or was it an accident, something she was holding onto that slipped from her grasp? Or did someone else in the restaurant throw it towards them? And if so, were they throwing it to them expecting them to read it? Were they attempting to hit one of them with it, to show their distaste for something they did? Or did they aim for a garbage can and miss?
All anyone knew was that a crumpled-up piece of paper hit the floor, about equidistant from the four people present. And if any of them decided to pick it up and uncrumple it, they would see its contents.
It was a flyer for Oddity High.
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
What, me worry?
After thinking about things for a moment, Mindy has decided she has gotten tired of everything. Her new life, it's now starting to get to her. She heads back into the library to Gill. She puts her backpack back on.
"Gill, I'm startin' to get tired. Think I'm gonna head home. I'll see ya tomorrow."
For the Horde!
Gill shook his head when the librarian asked him a question.
"No thanks, I'm gonna read it here, I can't really bring any books home with me," he explained to her. Then he looked back down at his book. He again looked up from his book to see Mindy come in and see him.
"Oh, are you sure? Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then. I'm gonna stay here and read a little more. Then I'm gonna go back home and get ready for tomorrow," he explained. "Good night! I'm looking forward to seeing you guys again tomorrow."
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
What, me worry?
Mindy waves good-bye to Gill before walking out of the library and walks a few blocks before arriving at her house in an urban area. It's a simple and small one-story house. She comes in and puts her backpack in her room and heads into the living room and turns on a gaming console to play a FPS. And Mindy seems into it, getting all these head-shots on the enemies in-game and getting quite aggressive with them. Something that's proving to be therapeutic for the girl.
About an hour later, a woman comes in, her mother. Someone who looks a lot like Mindy, except 20 years older, doesn't have freckles and has a more feminine look to her; something that contrasts her daughter's more tomboyish looks. "Hey, Mindy! How was school?" she says while she puts her purse down at a table.
"Terrible. Teachers there don't know what they're doin'. Either all clueless or they just wanna power-trip. And this guy there I tried to be nice to and help him out, but he has to act like a jerk just like everyone else! I wanna go back to Brooklyn. My old life. Where I had it all. I think I can make it. Ya gotta give me a chance."
"Now Mindy, we talked about this. It's not you, it's everyone else. After what happened back there, I'm afraid we'll all be treated like criminals. I know it was an accident, but people won't see it that way."
"But mom, I think we can-"
"No, Mindy! We're stayin' right here. And you're gonna learn to deal with it whether you like it or not, so stop it, all right?!"
Mindy got stunned into silence, and even has the look of heartbreak on her face. Her mother sighs.
"Look, Mindy. I know it's a big change. I know you didn't ask for this. But it's a challenge we have to live with. Believe me, if I could straighten everything out and get everyone to understand, I would. But we can make this work. I'm startin' to feel all right here. And you, surely it's not that bad. Maybe you met some people?"
"Well, there is this guy from Queens. He's cool if a little weird. And there's this other guy, and I don't know how to explain him, but he's really nice. Just hope they can all handle me."
"There you go! Sounds like you got some new friends. Just keep at it, you'll be fine. You've always been one tough little lady. And that's somethin' I love about you."
"Guess I'll try."
"Attagirl. Hey, I gotcha summin'", she says as she gives Mindy a chain. "A new chain for your bike. You can get that fixed and ride off on it. Even go to school on it tomorrow, especially since I gotta be at the spa early tomorrow."
Mindy smiles at her mother. "Thanks, Mom."
"All right. I'm gonna start workin' on dinner now. Let ya know when it's ready.
"Okay," Mindy says as she heads out to the garage and starts working on her bike, to put the new chain on.
Edited by MatthewLMayfield on Dec 28th 2021 at 7:45:38 AM
For the Horde!
Gill spent the next few hours looking over the book that he had chosen, taking in as much as he could about the age of exploration.
His first thoughts were how much violence and subjugation the early colonists inflicted upon the natives. It made him feel uncomfortable, but he continued to read regardless. It seemed to be just a bunch of old empires flexing their dominance upon each other, and the entire thing didn't sit entirely right with him.
By the time he looked up from his book, the sun had started to set, and Gill stood, handing the books back to the librarian.
"Thank you for letting me read this!" he told her. "I've gotta get home now... bye!" With that, he headed for the door, taking in the evening air. It was pleasant, quieting down after the bustle of the day.
His thoughts were mostly inwards as he made his way back towards the beach. He wondered if tomorrow would be better than today was. He hoped that Miss Hughes would make more sense and be less mean to him. And he hoped that he would make even more friends when he was in his classes.
He found the rock that he normally hid his things at, and looking around to see that no one was watching, he moved behind the large rock by the beach. There, he slipped off his shirt, socks and shoes, hid them in his special hiding spot below a flat rock, and moved towards the sea. With an athletic jump, he dove into the waves.
Soon, a fishy tail splashed into the depths, and Gill swam to the bottom.
There was something sad about returning to the ocean, now that he had met so many friendly humans. Making his way towards the sunken ship that he called home, he swam into a hole in the side of the hull and curled up into a dilapidated old bed, eaten away by water, seaweed and barnacles.
Curling up and closing his eyes, he sighed, drifting to sleep.
Edited by AllHailThrall on Dec 28th 2021 at 11:02:15 AM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
Pizza Place
"Ah, well, make note of it! See if you can work it into the next trick, then. Maybe there's an incline to the floor here..." Glancing about the floor, Coralie suddenly noticed the paper ball near her feet. With a curious noise, she picked it up, uncrumpled it, and grinned again. "AHA! What do you know? The winds of chance provide! The very destination I've been destined to, right by my very feet!" She tilted her head to look back at Loki. "Real talkie: I told my family I knew where this place was but I tooootally forgot the address." She said, continuing to tilt until she was bending over backwards and her pigtails draped on the table.
"CORALINA!"
Coralie jerked bolt upright again. Her father was calling from the counter, with an accent that wasn't quite Spanish and wasn't quite French, while pointing at the money the counter girl was counting out.
"CORALINA, ZER MONEY'S-A DIFFERENT! HOW YOU EXPECT US TO PAY A MEAL HERE?!"
"BE RIGHT THERE, PÉRDRE!" Coralie checked the address line once more and then tossed the pamphlet onto the table. "Well, I gotta get my family outta here before they make a scene. Nice meetin' you, Mister Loki!"
Edited by LizardOfAus on Dec 29th 2021 at 10:39:35 AM
CG for short
Pizza Place - Nastya
Nastya stood in confusion, wonder, and amusement as she watched Caroline do her thing. As she did, she poked Titania."That girl is pretty cool, NGL."
"Eh, I think she'll cause even more trouble than you."
"Hey, that means we'll get along better!"
Nastya's phone ringed and she pulls it out of her bag. Her father was calling her.
"Yeah, Dad?"
"Nastya, please come home this instant. There’s something important to talk about."
"Gotcha, I'll be on my way!"
Nastya's father hung up, leading to the teen packing up her things and putting the Robo-Sisters in her bag.
Once she got up, she waved at everyone else.
"Bye! I'll be going home!"
Nastya left the pizza place, got on her bike and dashed straight towards her house, located in a nearby suburb.
Nastya's house
Nastya enters her house, where her father is waiting for her at the dining room table. She sat down at the said table, across from her father.When she sat down, he passes an envelope to Nastya. Anya opens it and inside, she discovers she's been accepted to Oddity High.
"Huh, I'll be going to school soon. Nice I guess."
"Indeed. While I don't trust that nutjob of a principle, I figured going to a school where your peers are also supernatural in nature would be in your best interest."
"So, my classmates will be reincarnation of historical figures as well?"
"Potientally, but paranormal wise, the student body is going to be diverse."
"Sweet! So, now what? How long we're going to stay in this town?"
"For as long as we are safe."
"Like when the now government-controlled Midnight Watch comes for our asses?"
"Pretty much, although Nastya, I have one thing for you. Under any circumstance, you shall not tell anyone about the Midnight Watch or why you moved to this town. Understood?"
"Understood." Nastya still planned to tell regardless, as per her mischievous nature.
"Alright, I'll be doing my thing and you'll be doing your thing."
The two left the table, with Nastya heading towards her room where she'll chat with her Robo-Sisters about what her new school will be like.
Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Jan 2nd 2022 at 6:29:12 AM
Victor of HGS S320 | "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."
And with all of the students returning home (or to go apply to Oddity High, in Coralie's case), we can now move on to day 2.
But where's the fun in that?
Midnight Watch Abnormality Storage
A girl is sitting alone in a room, on an object that is the bare minimum for things that could be described as beds. The door to the room suddenly unlocks and is slammed forwards, and a man enters.
He glances at a clipboard he's holding before regarding the girl. "Alicia Garcia?" he said, with a light Russian accent.
"...Yes?" It was clear she was afraid.
The man glanced at the clipboard again. "It says here you have...'visions'. Care to demonstrate?"
"I can't...I haven't figured out how to do them on comma..." Alicia's voice trailed off as her eyes defocused.
"Hello? Alicia?" The man waved his hand in front of her face impatiently. Then he realized what was happening.
Eventually, Alicia's eyes refocused on the man, which he reacted to immediately. "What did you see?" he asked, sternly.
"I saw...you, talking to someone, in another one of these cells."
"And what did this person look like?"
"They had...brown eyes, very dark brown, the pupils were a little bigger than normal I think—"
The man, very clearly frustrated, interrupted her. "Would you mind describing a part of his appearance that takes up more than a tiny fraction of his face?"
Alicia, startled, responded "...You were talking to him about...something to do with darkness?"
"Ah." The man's anger gave way to icy disappointment, as the conversation described took place several minutes ago. "Visions of the past."
"Some of them are of the past...some from the future...some..." She was getting more nervous. "...m-most don't happen at all..."
"A pointless prophet, then. Unpredictable, uncontrollable. Follow me." The man turned and walked out the door.
Or, he tried to, but he didn't make it that far. "Wait! No, no, wait, I'm sure there's some way to control it, I mean I had one of you when you asked me about it, that has to mean something, right?"
He turned back to her. "You say there's a way to control it?"
"Probably?" I hope?
"We will find out what it is. Stay there." And with that, he left.
But Alicia didn't hear what he had said, as her eyes had defocused again.
Outside Oddity High
The day was much the same as yesterday, with one exception: Ms. Sims was standing outside, apparently waiting for the students to arrive.
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.
Fwomph
Outside Oddity High
Just like yesterday, it wouldn't take long for a familiar car to pull up to the school and for Blake to cautiously step out.
"Oh, heya miss Sims? Uh... Is there going to be an announcement or something?"
Overhearing that question, the window of the car rolled down so Blake's mom could hear any potential announcement better.
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
For the Horde!
The next day, Gill threw back his head and surfaced once again, feeling the refreshing wind on his back as he stepped out from the waves, his tail transforming into legs. Getting his outfit, he ran towards Oddity High, starting to go through what he was going to talk about in his head.
He mumbled under his breath about the foundation of the New World and the first Thanksgiving, the Continental Congress and the Revolution. He would ace this report, he thought. He just hoped he wouldn't forget it by the time he got to class.
Upon reaching Oddity High, he noticed Ms. Sims outside the door. He approached her, grinning.
"Good morning, Ms. Sims! I'm ready to start another day!" he cheerfully greeted. He waved over to the car as well, and to Blake when he stepped up.
Edited by AllHailThrall on Jan 6th 2022 at 8:06:51 AM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
CG for short
Heading to Class - Nastya
After arriving at Oddity High and parking her bike, Nastya pulls out Tatiana and places her on her shoulder.
"So, what's the first teacher we go to?"
"Let's see-"
Without looking, Nastya bumps into Ms. Sims, making Tatiana fall off but the former catches the Robo-Sister in time.
"Oh, hey, you're the principal, right?"
"Execuse her please."
Nastya then turns around and sees the other students. She waves at them.
"Wassup!"
Edited by Cutegirl920fire on Jan 8th 2022 at 5:32:20 AM
Victor of HGS S320 | "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember."
What, me worry?
The following day
Mindy had just woken up and is still in her sleep clothes: a New York Mets t-shirt and some athletic shorts. She heads into the kitchen as her mother leaves breakfast on the table.
"OK, I did all I could. You got breakfast, but now I really need to go. But try to have a better day, OK? I'll see ya later. Love ya!" her mother says as she leaves the house to work. Mindy sighs as she eats her breakfast.
Time has passed and Mindy is in her regular clothes as she's on her newly-fixed bike with a helmet and sunglasses on. She arrives to the school and puts the lock on her bike. She puts away the helmet and sunglasses in her backpack and heads up to Gill and Blake, waving at the two as she comes up to join them.
Outside School
As the established students gathered outside the school, there came a distant sound drawing ever closer- one that almost sounded like the whine of a jet plane engine. From up the street, zooming down the lane, there came a certain girl in a labcoat, lab goggles, a helmet (pigtails poking out either side) and a completely stuffed school bag. She was crouched atop a scooter that had metal tube things crudely strapped to either side, both of which were spewing blue fire and steam, propelling her along at terrific speed.
As soon as she came close to the school entrance, the girl sprang off her turbo-scooter, letting it speed away and crash into a distant wheelie bin or two. Carried by the momentum, the girl half-skipped, half-staggered-and-stumbled forward, flailing around and almost keeling over, before finally managing to catch herself on the school wall. Trying to play it off with a casual lean, Carolie gestured to the air and proclaimed "SCIENCE!" the same way someone might shout ta-da!
THE SLORG!
Before school, Little Haven, outside Oddity High - Alex Palencia the werewolf whose expectations were already low but damn
Alex was walking to school slowly, his posture a bit droopy, and a bleary kind of look in his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, but at least he'd finished that assignment. He already knew he was going to get in so much trouble with Ms. Hughes, but well, it was going to be worth it, was all he thought to himself as he smiled and made his way to the front of the school building. He'd also made sure to have a good breakfast today.
When he saw Ms. Sims hanging out in front of the building, Alex raised an eyebrow. For her to be out there waiting for them personally, either something important happened or she had something 'special' planned for them. Given the track record of the school yesterday in Alex's mind, he figured that at best this was going to be something pretty stupid, and at worst was going to be something pretty stupid that could turn into something pretty dangerous.
This feeling felt even more affirmed when some pig-tailed brunette girl came speeding down the street on a gosh darn jet-powered scooter. It was the kind of harebrained crazy thing that nearly every kid dreamed about trying one day but would never get around to, and here she was actually doing it, and in a way that could very easily have killed herself, someone else, or both, in multiple ways. Alex felt every hair on his arms and back of his neck standing, and the feeling got worse as the girl decided to dismount said scooter by just jumping off of it at full speed, which was possibly even more dangerous of a decision than getting on it in the first place. As she made her, 'I definitely meant to do that' style pose and declaration of the word science, Alex just stared at her in confusion and horror.
Since everything was, inexplicably and miraculously, fine, Alex slowly calmed, and sighed in exasperation. "Great, a new student I'm guessing. I like her already," Alex muttered to himself in complete sarcasm.
You are reading this.
That there is a seal.
Loki arrived at school at more-or-less the exact same time that Coralie burst onto the scene. In fact, he had to jump out of the way of the speeding scooter, landing on the ground in a rather undignified way. You'd think that nearly being killed by this stunt would make him less-than-appreciative of it, but you'd be wrong. He jumped up and actually clapped. Now that, he thought, is the kind of science he can get behind.
Then he turned his attention to what was, to him, the primary concern of the day; apologizing to Val. You see, somehow, against all odds, Loki had actually registered that he had fucked up, and wanted to rectify it.
And Val was nowhere to be found. This did not make Loki feel better at all.
What also did not make Loki feel better was the presence of the principal outside of the school. Loki could not actually remember having attended any other schools, but he was fairly certain that at a normal school, that would not be a good thing. But this isn't a normal school, so we'd just have to wait and see.
Data is imaginary. This burrito is real.
The Light That Blinds
Nicholas
"...hm?"
As to be expected from a rather lazy zombie, Nicholas was last to arrive. He blinked slowly, eyes panning over his classmates, before looking to Ms. Sims. "Am I late?" he asked.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
After school, Little Haven, Alex's home - Alex Palencia the werewolf cursed with knowledge
Alex was not having a good time.
Not because the book was bad; that was actually good as far as he was concerned. His goal was to tear this book a new one, and every stupid exposition dump and dull twist was just another nail he could put through the metaphorical bat before he took it and beat it over Ms. Hughes' head... Metaphorically, of course.
No, it was the fact that it was also a romance novel that was making Alex uncomfortable. As he read through it, he was getting an idea of what Ms. Hughes was personally into, romantically speaking. This was not something Alex wanted to know, or ever even think about knowing, or think about not knowing, or just think about period. At least it wasn't werewolves, or else he'd probably be throwing up in the toilet right now, and considering dropping out of Oddity High after all.
As he finished it and set it down, he heard his mother calling from the kitchen that dinner was about to be ready. So Alex took a break from working on the assignment to have a bite to eat with his mom.
Edited by FirockFinion on Jan 8th 2022 at 6:48:50 AM
You are reading this.