tushanshu_logs | EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Keeliai
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
Commencing the morning of the tenth, a mysterious thick, black fog covers all of Keeliai with no discernible cause, making it difficult to see. Although it doesn't seem to enter houses or suites, it's literally everywhere else and can't be swept or cleared away by superpowers. Attempts to scan it with technology lead to unexpected and inconsistent results, with the findings varying from speculation that it is smoke from a coal fire to the occasional reading stating that it is black cotton candy floating in the air.

Following the official announcement explaining origins of the mysterious black fog inundating Keeliai, the call is put out for the Foreigners to attend the Palace and prepare to be transported to Kithika. Once inside, it is explained, they will be responsible for finding the source of the corruption and expunging it. Once they have entered the bottle it will be impossible for them to leave until their task is completed, making this an all or nothing undertaking. This is upon direct imperative of the Alderwood Emperor and he expects any and all combat-capable Foreigners to heed his order, and they are to report to the Palace of the Landed Sky without delay.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You think I'm afraid of a fight?" Raph snaps with a lot more heat than he'd intended, glaring angrily over his shoulder. All right, so maybe all of this already has driven him crazy. Time to dial it back before his temper gets out of control.

Sighing through gritted teeth, he tries to force himself to relax a little, turning his glare at the floor as he talks. "I got no problem with fighting, and it ain't like we got much of a choice, anyways."

He defensively shows the palm of one of his hands in a 'I'm harmless' way, but he doesn't look like he takes personal offense at him snapping. He might be worst son of Mars but he's still one, and being cared of a fight would be a serious insult.

"Then what's making you antsy? Is it the way they search us like that?"

"I'm just sick of waiting around," he growls, and it's only halfway a lie. His eyes flick to where Leo and Mike are, more at ease in the gathering crowd. Or at least better at pretending to be. They're off gathering allies, talking to people he doesn't know. People they met in those six months he disappeared. But planning and battle tactics have never been his thing. He's the muscle of the team, and he doesn't like to overthink things. But he has to keep an eye on his famly. It helps put his mind at ease, if only a little. They do their thing, he watches their backs. It's just how they work.

Knowing they're okay for now, his attention draws back to that freaky bottle in the center of the room. "The sooner we get inside that thing, the sooner this'll all be over. One way or another."

One way or another. The thought isn't exactly reassuring, but it's true after all. It's- reassuring, in a way that Frank really doesn't want to think deeply about. Fighting monsters, dealing with a world-changing threat, having the weight of the world on his shoulders? Those are the things he's been doing since he got to Camp Jupiter, those are the things he expected to be doing and even though they terrify the snout out of him they are also what he was born to do.

His father might have thrown him into war, might have put him at risk and embarrassed him in front of the whole camp- and even though Frank will never say that out loud, he also blames him for taking his mother away. But he can't deny he's his father, and a son of the war has... many conflicting feelings in front of a battle but being scared is not one of them.

"I wish we had more information on what we will find inside. I like my bow- but I don't know if it's going to be the best weapon against whichever we're supposed to fight inside. We can't be prepared if we don't know."

This isn't Raph's first rodeo, either. Hostile alien planets, time-travel, dimension hopping... it's all part of one weirdly impressive resume. While it's hard not to be anxious about what's ahead, Raph's learned through experience that sometimes you can't be prepared. Sometimes, it's even better not to. That's a point he and Leo could argue about to no end, but sometimes you just gotta jump in, get your hands dirty, and deal with things as they come.

"Sometimes you just gotta roll with it, kid," he drawls, still so obviously on edge, but relaxing in increments. His eyes are still scanning the crowd as he talks. "You can't always be prepared for this kind of thing. Best you can do is be on your game, and be ready to kick some serious butt."

That isn't what Frank has been taught. He knows how to improvise and adapt, yes- he'd be a pretty useless legionnaire if he didn't. But all his classes were about planning, knowing beforehand, investigating the enemy and the region. Knowledge is power could have been kind of the motto.

"You sound like you have a lot of experience."

Master Splinter always said that a ninja is always prepared, so long as he has the proper training. You can do all the research and scouting you want, but you're not always gonna know what you're in for until you're face to face with it in battle. So you have to adapt. Flow like water around a mountain, he'd say.

It was Raph's favorite lesson. Kinda stuck it in the face of Leo, who's all about doing so much scouting and info-gathering sometimes nothing actually gets done, and Don, who never wants to jump into anything ever.

Though if it was up to Raph, he'd be flying by the seat of his shell all the time, and that's not exactly the point of the lesson, either. But if the scars etched across his skin are any telling sign, barreling blindly into fights isn't exactly good for your health. But yeah, he's got a lot of experience doing it.

"I guess you can say this ain't exactly out of the ordinary," he says with a tilt of the chin, a proud roll of the shoulders.

Up ahead, they start ushering people toward the bottle, and Raph throws a look over his shoulder at Leo. They share what looks like an entire conversation, completely wordless and lasting only seconds. It's time to get moving.

"Finally," he rumbles, feeling in his belt one last time for his supply of shuriken, and the small knife he picked up at one of the kedan markets. Just before he leaves, his eyes flick over to Frank, and he says, almost off-handedly: "You gonna be okay, kid?"

Frank doesn't understand the look, doesn't understand what they are telling each other... but he does see when two people are having a silent conversation. Percy and Annabeth shared a lot of those, when they finally got reunited- they were honestly like one most of the time. He guesses that happens when you fight with someone for so long. Frank had fought with Percy, yes, but he was still kind of a newbie when it came to quests. He knew how to work in a team, he knew how to lead because it was in his blood- but he honestly lacked the experience.

"It's Frank. And I will be alright when we go inside and know what we'll be facing." And then, with a grin as he pulls his bow closer to himself. "Good luck inside. Those are really cool weapons, by the way."

"Ha, thanks," he says, barely repressing the swell of pride he gets from the compliment. But he still can't help the grin that's sweeping across his face. If he didn't have to go, he could stand around talking about weapons all day.

As he moves to catch up with Leo, he throws over his shoulder: "Guess I'll see you on the other side."

And maybe he will, maybe he won't, but as he heads toward the bottle and the promise of a fight, he thinks maybe seeing the kid again wouldn't be so bad.

EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | KEELIAI

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