October Catch-All

[backwordscompatible]

Characters: Aya, Midii, Zatanna, & OPEN
Date: Month of October
Location: Keelai
Situation: Various (specified in openers)

Warnings/Rating: none to start; will update if necessary



A. - Zatanna

[She felt overwhelmed.]

[So much had happened. The death of the Turtles. Rising theories about Asti and Malicant and...things that the last exploration group had come across. Tensions were rising, and the worst part of it all?]

[They were in the proverbial calm before the storm. Which meant waiting.]

[Zatanna hated waiting.]

[She was a busy person by nature. Sitting still? Not an option. She would fidgit. Her hands, usually. Flipping a coin or a pencil or some other manipulative. Often, it was subconscious. She didn't even realize she was doing it.]

[Like right then. It was a small card. Not a tarot card, like the kind she'd used at her work in the past--for a time, she had considered the option, but even her skills weren't good enough to actually use the art to predict what would happen. Not with enough certainty to be of use. No, this one was your average playing card. A four of hearts. Arbitrarily chosen from the pack because it was there. Keeping her left hand busy while her eyes scanned the shop store windows. It was October. Which, to her, signified a lot of memories. Of costumes and friends.

[Halloween.]

[More than once, she found herself wondering if they would celebrate this year. With everything going on...probably not.]

[Shame]


B. - Midii

[The soon-to-be teen girl was hardly ever without Riva at her side these days.]

[After what happened...both of them had only just barely stopped crying. For the mutual losses they shared. Out of fear of what was to come. Midii wasn't a fighter. She had always known this. Her strong suit was knowing, but when it came to the enemy...she was too vulnerable. Bad enough when it was her life at stake, but if something ever happened to Riva? She would never forgive herself.]

...I know, girl, I miss them too.

[Sitting on the grass, out in the open, near one of the lakes, she gave Riva a soft pat on the neck. The weather was a bit cooler than it had been during the summer months, but Riva was still in need of constant hydration. An attempt to distract from all the loss. Not just her brothers and sisters...but from the pair that had been her co-parents for so long. First Rapunzel, and now Septimus.]

[They hadn't been particularly close, but Midii had liked them both. She hadn't been lying about missing them. Riva would know.]


C. - Aya

[The message she had translated was...concerning.]

[The latest theories regarding Malicant were even more so.]

[With only just barely enough returns to her assigned quarters to check on her soul lantern, Aya had all but taken up permanent residence in the Laboratory.  She found a great comfort being surrounded by like-minded individuals, in proximity to tools in which she might be of use.  She was a fighter, yes, but she was also one of the most advanced pieces of technology known to exist.  An asset, against an enemy such as Malicant.]

If it is true that the enemy has infiltrated the Network itself...then perhaps there is some way we may use this knowledge to our advantage?

[Her leading--and only--theory.]


D. - (Misc.)

((If there's another scenario you'd like any of the girls to be in, feel free to set up and I will absolutely follow accordingly!))

Comments

[unetrustworthy]

[Together, Midii and Riva allowed the other parent-turtle pair to lead them back towards Ryou and Yin's place.]

[onethirdthesoul]

[Once everybody's downstairs, Ryou stops.] Okay, I'll go get everything! You guys stay here.

[He hurries out of the room and to his room upstairs, coming down a few minutes later with a large sheet of paper and a small container filled with pieces. He sets the paper out on the floor to show a gridded layout of a section of some imaginary world.] This is all I have so far... But it should work.

[unetrustworthy]

[It was the same basic layout. A map. Pieces. There were probably either dice or some other means of indicating direction and movement.]

What are the rules?

[onethirdthesoul]

Well...let me start by asking you something: have you ever played an RPG before?

[It'll be easier if he figures out what Midii does know before he starts.]

[unetrustworthy]

I...don't even know what that is.

[onethirdthesoul]

...E-eh? [He doesn't seem to believe it. It's just too surreal.] Really? It's a Role Playing Game, surely you've played something like it...

[unetrustworthy]

Role Playing?

[She shook her head.]

Unless you count playing pretend with the boys.

[onethirdthesoul]

Well, kind of. Basically you have to make a character, and then you play as them in the game world.

[Ryou takes some of the miniatures out; there's one that looks like it may represent himself. For now, he sets that one down.] So take this White Wizard for example. He's a good guy and he likes to help support his friends. So when we start the game, if I pick this character, I have to play that part! I can't make him go rob a store, because that would be out of character. In Monster World everyone plays a character. It's the Adventurers versus the Dark Master, and one has to beat the other through battle and puzzles, but also by playing through the story and staying in character!

[unetrustworthy]

[Her eyes flickered back and forth between Bakura and the...White Wizard, was it? Taking in every word and making her absolute best effort to follow along.]

So you're...telling a story, then. Only with one character.

[onethirdthesoul]

Nooot quite... The Dark Master is the one telling the story. The other players just play a character in it, and they have to try to change the direction the story is going in to make sure the win.

[He pauses a moment, and then adds:] It's kind of like a Choose Your Own Adventure novel!

[unetrustworthy]

What's a--

[No, at this rate, she was never going to learn the actual game. If she spent so much time getting sidetracked by all the references she didn't understand. Yet.]

Never mind.

Alright. How do we start?

[onethirdthesoul]

First, you create a character! [Ryou produces a list.]

You have to pick one race, and one class for your character to be. After that, I'll roll the stats.

[unetrustworthy]

[Creativity was...not Midii's strong suit. Logic, yes, but not building abstract concepts from very little frame of reference. Which is why she scanned the list for a very, very long moment before shrugging sheepishly.]

Human?

[And then, as if worried that her dull selection would somehow offend him, she tried to offer:]

...Priest Human?

[Yeah, she wasn't very good at this.]

[onethirdthesoul]

[It's okay Midii, you tried. But no, Ryou doesn't even bat an eyelash at her choice; he just encourages her with a smile. Most newcomers pick human-types.]

Sounds good! [He rolls a few dice and starts writing something down...because he doesn't have a laptop to input this information into.]

Okay, so we should get some characters for Riva-chan and Yin-chan too. [He takes the sheet and scoots it over to the two turtles. Yin immediately pipes up.] I wanna play as Riva

...Huh? [He blinks.]

[unetrustworthy]

Then I want to play as Yin!

[Midii glanced up at the two turtles for a moment, then over to Ryou]

Can they do that?

[onethirdthesoul]

Uh... [Well, no.]

Sure! [He wasn't about to stop them, so he just goes ahead and uses the stats from one of the other character types and writes everything down.]

Okay! So... I guess I'll recycle one of my old, short campaigns. It shouldn't take us more than an hour to come to an ending. Does that sound good?

[unetrustworthy]

[Campaign. She assumed that was the...plot, of some kind. Purpose? Mission?]

That's fine.

[She settled into her seat, checking to be sure that Riva was alright. The young turtle was radiating excitement, already coming up with all sorts of ideas in her head that were obvious over-exaggerated imitations of her sister.]

I'm ready.

[onethirdthesoul]

Me too! [Yin makes sure everybody knows that.]

Okay, then let's get started! [He goes ahead and hands out the pieces, sets up some more on the board, and then clears his throat.]

When our adventurers arrive in the city of Ominod, there's something ominous in the air! A dark cloud forming in the distance... The locals seem disturbed by its appearance.

[He looks nods off towards the other three. That's your cue. There were pieces to represent the town and the locals, although they were crude at best.]

[unetrustworthy]

[Midii did her best to mirror his movements. The pieces...okay, she could work with this. It was a symbol of her character. Placed right in front of her until it was time to move.]

I...we need to investigate the cloud? Figure out what was causing it?

[Was that right? Was she doing this properly?]

[onethirdthesoul]

Yeah, let's run up to the cloud! [Yin cheers, and then suddenly remembers she's supposed to RPing.] I'm Riva, and that's what I think we should do!

[Ryou's suddenly realizing he has his work cut out for him...] The cloud's really far away! But there is a villager nearby who seems to be muttering about it under his breath. Maybe you can go ask him?

[unetrustworthy]

[Riva gave her sister a look that could be described as side-eyed glaring]

I don't sound like that! [And then, at the risk of being accused of breaking character, she immediately turned back and added:] But I, as Yin, agree that Riva is absolutely right. Like always.

[Midii grinned at the two, before turning back to Ryou. Oh. It was her turn again, right?]

I think I should do it. We don't want to overwhelm him by approaching all at once.

[onethirdthesoul]

You do too! As Riva, of course I came up with the best idea, because I learned everything I know from Yin.

Good idea... [He replies to Une with a laugh, mostly at the two turtles, and continues narrating.]

The villager jumps nervously when Priest Une approaches, [Ryou changes his inflection and tone just enough to show that it's the character speaking now.] "What do you want?"

[unetrustworthy]

At least I tell Yin that so it'll make her happy.

[Midii opened her mouth to comment. Then closed it.]

[Instead, she wisely opened to turn back to Bakura and continue playing the game.]

"Forgive me for the intrusion, but I couldn't help notice you look...concerned. Is there some way I may be of assistance?"

[onethirdthesoul]

Nuh-uh! Besides, I'm Riva, remember? So I say I learned everything I know from Yin.

[Don't laugh... he wills as he watches the two turtle children. Don't laugh! He needs concentrate on narrating.] "Aye, it's that blasphemous cloud! Ever since it appeared, me sheep have been windin' up dead in the pasture, but all the knights who've gone out to see who's causin' it have met the same fate."

[unetrustworthy]

[For a time, Midii wondered if she was supposed to stop them. But Ryou wasn't saying anything. Maybe...this was all part of the game after all?]

"Do you think it's poisonous?"

[Even as a character, her default response was to think of the most logical explanation to a given scenario.]