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middleofsomewhere2019-07-13 08:02 am
voidtreckermods) wrote in middleofsomewhere2019-07-13 08:02 am
To Climb
Preparation
Just after light on the seventh day since boarding the train everyone’s SCA glows with the colours of the void before showing a message. A briefing for the mission to come. No one gets much time to process this before there is a shaking, like turbulance before there’s a jolt and flash of colour.
”Welcome to Hub World#5739. Our next stop will be Ciyesia in a few hours.”
Outside the windows the void is gone. The train is winding through a mountain range. The mountains tower up around them. The sky is a beautiful blue though every now and again there is a swirl of colour, like the void is trying to break through.
The countryside wizzes by, sometimes you go past settlements, small villages of wooden houses. Sometimes you pass farmers in fields. Sometimes herds of animals, horses, camels, strange animals with six legs and curled horns.
Eventually the train slows. ”Now arriving at Ciyesia. Passengers must wear their Safety Control Apparatus. Please ensure you take all equipment needed for your mission with you when you leave the train and take extra care when you step from the train to the platform. Next stop Ciyesia.”
Arrival
And in a billow of steam the train comes to a stop. The doors hiss open and there is indeed a rickety wooden platform, fallen into disuse. Sat upon it were two children, a boy and a girl who were staring at the train with open mouths.
Before the doors were even fully opened they were off running, “Ma! Ma!”
The platform is in a clearing, surrounded mostly by trees but down the path the children took a building can be seen. If you follow the children you will find it a large homestead, with a sign outside. The Weary Wanderer. The children are on the doorstep talking to a woman and gesturing towards you.
As you approach she smiles, a little nervously. “Well. This is not something I thought I would see in my lifetime. Welcome Treckers, I offer you the hospitality of my inn.”
She gestures them in. Inside is a large common room with wooden tables. There is a fire place but the day is warm enough that it is not lit. At first glance it looks old fashioned to anyone from a modern world, even fantasy-esque for those who would recognise it as such. Indeed her and the children are dressed in simple layered, loose tunics. But then you may notice some of the candles are battery powered and! there’s a coffee machine on the bar.
“Maia can you ask our guests what they would like to drink?” The woman hands the little girl a slate and chalk before she begins rummaging around on the bar for mugs and glasses. “I’m sorry, it’s the quiet season so we aren’t quite guest-ready.”
They become guest ready in an impressive amount of time. The little boy runs off and returns a short while later with a plate of oat biscuits that he begins handing out.
Sheltered and soon to be fed it is time to learn more about this land and plan for your journeys ahead.
(OOC: Information for this event is here and the initial briefing is here
Just after light on the seventh day since boarding the train everyone’s SCA glows with the colours of the void before showing a message. A briefing for the mission to come. No one gets much time to process this before there is a shaking, like turbulance before there’s a jolt and flash of colour.
”Welcome to Hub World#5739. Our next stop will be Ciyesia in a few hours.”
Outside the windows the void is gone. The train is winding through a mountain range. The mountains tower up around them. The sky is a beautiful blue though every now and again there is a swirl of colour, like the void is trying to break through.
The countryside wizzes by, sometimes you go past settlements, small villages of wooden houses. Sometimes you pass farmers in fields. Sometimes herds of animals, horses, camels, strange animals with six legs and curled horns.
Eventually the train slows. ”Now arriving at Ciyesia. Passengers must wear their Safety Control Apparatus. Please ensure you take all equipment needed for your mission with you when you leave the train and take extra care when you step from the train to the platform. Next stop Ciyesia.”
Arrival
And in a billow of steam the train comes to a stop. The doors hiss open and there is indeed a rickety wooden platform, fallen into disuse. Sat upon it were two children, a boy and a girl who were staring at the train with open mouths.
Before the doors were even fully opened they were off running, “Ma! Ma!”
The platform is in a clearing, surrounded mostly by trees but down the path the children took a building can be seen. If you follow the children you will find it a large homestead, with a sign outside. The Weary Wanderer. The children are on the doorstep talking to a woman and gesturing towards you.
As you approach she smiles, a little nervously. “Well. This is not something I thought I would see in my lifetime. Welcome Treckers, I offer you the hospitality of my inn.”
She gestures them in. Inside is a large common room with wooden tables. There is a fire place but the day is warm enough that it is not lit. At first glance it looks old fashioned to anyone from a modern world, even fantasy-esque for those who would recognise it as such. Indeed her and the children are dressed in simple layered, loose tunics. But then you may notice some of the candles are battery powered and! there’s a coffee machine on the bar.
“Maia can you ask our guests what they would like to drink?” The woman hands the little girl a slate and chalk before she begins rummaging around on the bar for mugs and glasses. “I’m sorry, it’s the quiet season so we aren’t quite guest-ready.”
They become guest ready in an impressive amount of time. The little boy runs off and returns a short while later with a plate of oat biscuits that he begins handing out.
Sheltered and soon to be fed it is time to learn more about this land and plan for your journeys ahead.
(OOC: Information for this event is here and the initial briefing is here
ota ♔ all wildcard prompts; we forge our own path through the thorns of adversity like PRINCES
After their first night in the inn, the travelers will awaken to find a confused farmer showing Albany a slip of parchment, cut into a card shape, that had been left in one of their stables - a stable that had previously been occupied by the horse with the finest pedigree available on the nearby farmsteads. They'll show the card to anyone who wants to see it, though.
It reads:
"I have plundered your finest steed for the first act of Masquerade Time. Your heart is next."
What's even weirder, there were bright red flower petals in the stall. Go figure that one!
....Enterprising folk, however, may discover that there is a trail of those red flower petals scattered down the road (if you look closely - the source was traveling at a good clip, so they're spread out). And it leads past the farmsteads towards the village leader's estate!
Do you storm the premises to retrieve the noble beast?
[ When In Prome ]
Hibiki received word of the missions the teams have been allotted. Of course she did. It was hard to avoid (and even harder to hack - she tried). Caring, however, is another matter altogether. Her rightful composure has returned after a night in a quiet, lone, soft bed; while she has yet to locate any truly first-class establishments, the surroundings at least have grown marginally less offensive. Not a single thing could entice her to climb that mountain!
No, indeed. Not a single, solitary.....
......why is there a noise above you? And a cloud of dust on the horizon?
"STAY AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!"
That certainly is Hibiki (whose hoodie has somehow acquired ruffled epaulettes), swinging up the mountain on a purple rope that seems to extend from her shirt sleeve at will! She's attaching the rope to tree branches and soaring overhead like some cross between Tarzan and, well, her spider-roomies. Except her "web" is purple. And sparkles. As one does.
She swings past, and not long after, the source of her dismay comes into view: a horn-crowned goat, having apparently ventured down the mountain specifically to chase Hibiki back up it. It's, ah, charging. Towards you.
Gangway.
[ So Close, And Yet So Far ]
"Where is this?"
Hibiki pulls up her map on the SCA, frowning. "Honestly....What a useless device."
She taps it again, as if that'll make the display show her information she'd consider more relevant. But no, it blinks stubbornly with the same information as always: one inexplicable dot, right where she is. Hibiki considers this....and then smirks. Rolls down her sleeve to cover up the offending device. Relaxes.
"Well, so be it. All is still well."
Thus satisfied that she'll find her way down from the mountain in time, and that therefore her mood need not sink again, she leans against the nearest tree and takes a deep breath. Ah...the pristine air of a world without sentence enders. Without swirling void nonsense, or bottom bunks, or irritable teenagers gluing her to the wall. Such a world...is beautiful! "There's no need to rush."
Above her - high, high above her - star-shaped purple flowers wave in the breeze.
When in Prome
Well, what she does next is pretty Amazing.
The goat gets backflipped over, a graceful move that's more dance than gymnastics and while Gwen is in the air, she fires off her webshooters.
Landing on her feet on a nearby rock, she uses her sticking to stay in place, effectively slowing the still angry goat down and hitting it with a bit more webbing. Just to keep it in place.
"You're gonna sit there for a couple hours, you hear me? Give yourself a chance to really reevaluate your life and your choices. Maybe even figure out what you did wrong that got you to this moment."
Yes, that is to the goat, who bleats angrily at Gwen and tries to go after her, to no avail. It's pretty much stuck where it is. Turning to look at Hibiki, she's a tad concerned.
"You okay?"
no subject
......was actually graceful. Well. A tiny relief.
In response to Gwen’s query, however, she snorts: hmph! “Of course. Fretting is unwarranted.”
Said with the cool and superior composure of someone who hadn’t just been screaming in panic at the top of her lungs, but well, that is a prior event. Rather than dwell upon such unchangeable occurrences, gazing upon her presence in awe is best!
no subject
That's half of it. The other half is she's a super hero back home, so her default setting is 'make sure everyone is okay'. Either way, she's the stoic caretaker.
"And hey, you cleared part of the herding trail, just getting that guy off of it so...good job!"
She means that much.
no subject
Hibiki gulps. Audibly. And twitches. Noticeably. She also turns a little blue.
no subject
Gwen's not teasing, nor is she disagreeing. She is deeply for a quiet afternoon. The goat, however, has her attention and Gwen frowns some.
"I really don't care for these guys." But, she's not going to leave it stranded. She has apples for the hike up the mountain, tucked away in her backpack. The goat's going to get one, soon as Gwen retrieves it from her back and rolls it near enough to the goat that he can sniff it with interest and then start eating it.
She looks up at Hibiki, notes her reaction, and speaks again.
"Hey, he's stuck there for like...a while. As long as you stay away from him, he'll forget about you."
She has, actually, no idea if this is true, but Hibiki looked like she needed the reassurance.
"You're fine."
So Close, And Yet So Far
"Finally..." That would Eva, who's been hiking from plant to plant for most of the day, Princess why her side, the pink pseudo-rabbit-like pokemon's vestigial wings half giving balance as he follows along beside Eva.
"Oh, good! This'll go much easier with two of us. Thanks for waiting."
no subject
“I only pursue objectives that suit my aesthetic,” she corrects Eva. “Foraging and such shall be left to you.”
To punctuate her point, she gives no indication of rising.
when in Prome!
Oh! Buttercup saw seconds later exactly what the problem was. A goat, a sharp horned goat running straight at her.
She began running too, to the side. She knew that much at least, get out of the path of angry animals.
Except she had forgotten to take the stupid bat on her back into account, as she began scrambling out of the way it screeched. Luckily that stopped the goat. Unluckily it also stopped the girl and she lost her footing, meaning the goat recovered faster than she did.
the true reason to put a goat on the train: i get to keep maaa-king bleatin’ awful wordplay
THIS IS MAAAA-BSOLUTELY UNMAAA-CCEPTABLE.
Snorting and pawing the ground with one hoof, it circles The Child Henceforth Known As Buttercup, assessing the threat level, horns down. Ready to charge. If maa-cessary.
its true, goat puns are life
The goat was ready to charge but this time she was ready. She took a breath and entered the emptiness, sending all the tiredness, the anger and annoyance outside of the bubble. Blank and ready. She drew her knife and faced down the goat.
no subject
“Hey guys, what’s with the-“ he stops mid-sentence as he sees where that goat is headed and pales. “Holy shit!” He curses loudly as he fires one of his webs toward a nearby tree and swings over to Buttercup- using his free arm to try and scoop the little girl up before the goat can reach her. “I gotcha Buttercup!”
no subject
Ah! Spotting Hibiki, who had been unaware of Buttercup’s plight but stopped a few trees over to look back when the sounds of pursuit altered, it resumes its original trajectory and tears off after her instead. Hibiki screams and pulls....a shield....out of nowhere. Up in a tree. Towards which a maa-dcap goat is charging.
This will end well.
no subject
She realised just in time, the emptiness helped her think clearly, quickly and prevented the dagger that had come up to the arms around her from finishing its stab. Instead she was still, anger and annoyance battering at the shields around her.
"What do you be thinking you do be doing?" Her voice held no anger, it was devoid of any emotion at all.
no subject
"Hang on! I'll be right there Sir-Or Ma'am which ever you identify as." He calls out as he changes the settings on his web shooter. "God I hope this works-Web Grenade!" He shouts as he fires it at the shield-if all goes well then the grenade should go off and web the goat to the ground. If not well...
uh..
he'll think of something else. Better move, just in case.
"Stay here, Buttercup-I'll be right back." He fires a web a ways off and swings away again.
no subject
She's still annoyed that he had grabbed her, she's not a baby and she can handle herself. But she has to admit he looks pretty cool swinging through the trees, a bit like those monkeys but a little bit less annoying.
no subject
"Okay Buttercup, let's uh... let's not try to stab the rabid goats, okay? Way to go for being brave but maybe try uh... stabbing it really isn't the best way to go. Anyway-you okay? Need a minute?"
no subject
"I do no be having any other way to be killing them." And the mission had said to clear them, to make it better for the farmers. Sure that was purple teams goal but he was purple, he was meant to kill the goats.
no subject
"Mostly because, unless you can stab it and get like the heart in one stab, it's gonna try to defend itself and you might end up more messed up than the goat-but also because it's a goat. Sure it might be mad and extra bitey but it doesn't deserve death. The goats are just out here, trying live their best life you're out here tryin' ta stab'em." He shakes his head in mock disappointment. Too bad Buttercup doesn't live the meme life. Oh well. "I'll just round them all up and uh... put them on a different part of the mountain?-away from the dralite, obvious. "
He looks at the webbed goats and frowns because he's gonna have to figure out away to unstick the webbing from the ground but keep the goat captured.
"An-anyways, you good? I got goats to round up so uh see ya back at the hotel?"
no subject
She doesn't understand his disappointment but unlike on the rooftop she doesn't let it phase her. He's a light addled idiot and she's a knife of the chaos god, their opinions on killing stupid goats were going to differ.
"I do no be going back, I do be going up!" She pointed upwards, "The mission brief did be saying to be getting to the top."
no subject
"Yeah, okay uh... here." He removes his left webshooter again and holds it out to her. "Take this, it's still like eighty percent full, so take this and stay safe." He tells her. He's offer to go up with her but she's independent and the conversation they had on the Inn's roof told him enough to know that she wouldn't appreciate a babysitter. He could, however, give her a means to protect herself.
"Remember how I taught you? double press for webs, press once to release. Try to use them sparingly though, 'cause I don't have any refills. I'll meet you at the top and you can return it then, okay?"
no subject
He blinks, glancing over his shoulder.
It's that...white-haired noisy girl...the one he's seen around Peter's cabin...what is she--
"Wuh- HUH?!"
HELL GOAT?!
Manabu gawks like a deer in headlights as this nonsense comes barreling his way uphill, eyelid twitching. As she draws close, he has to think fast, and decides the best thing to do is to grab one of her wildly swinging arms, turn...and wildly swing her off-trajectory as the goat bullets by.