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

[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.]

[onethirdthesoul]

[Ryou just doesn't have the heart to stop them...]

"Nay," the villager answered. "I think something evil lurks under its shadow. Something the likes of which this village has never seen before. Is there no one powerful enough to stop it?"

[unetrustworthy]

[Aha! Suddenly, Midii looked extremely pleased with herself.]

"Rest assured, good sir, the evil will not win. I can promise you that. Is there anything else about it you can tell me?"

[onethirdthesoul]

[Ryou smiles at that, finding it hard not to when he sees someone else enjoying themselves.]

"Only that it lies in the North, and the path to it may be a treacherous one. You can take the clearer path of the desert ahead, or try your luck in the forest just to the East."

[A fork in the road already?! Of course, and Ryou's not one to make things as simple as they look, right?]

[unetrustworthy]

[Less a matter of enjoying herself--although she was--and more of a semblance of pride at her character choice. An evil spirit? That was the sort of thing one might summon a priest for. At least, in her world, it would have been...]

"And if you could choose which path to take, which one would it be?"

[It never hurt to get a second opinion.]

[onethirdthesoul]

"Aye, the one through the desert, obviously. You can see all around you and the castle's in a mere straight line from there. It's less risky than the forest."

[The smile Ryou wore earlier was gone now, replaced with a surprisingly impressive poker face.]

[unetrustworthy]

[Ironically, it was the fact that Ryou's face had set into a very blatantly neutral expression that gave Midii pause. If he had kept smiling, she wouldn't have thought twice about it. But if he was trying so hard to keep from giving anything away at all...]

[Suspicious]

"...deserts do come with their own dangers, though, don't they?"

[onethirdthesoul]

[Wow Une he's not suspicious at all!! He's supposed to be stoic during the whole narration, but he's been kind of slacking what with Yin and Riva being so funny.

Of course he realizes Une thinks he's up to something. It's okay, he can work with this!]

"Why of course. The danger of the beating sun and impending thirst are weary on many travelers, and then there's the threat of sandworms."

[unetrustworthy]

[The most suspicious.]

[She thought about it a moment longer. Okay, all of that made sense. Except for--]

"Sandworms?"

[onethirdthesoul]

[Ryou can't be suspicious, look at this face...look at this fluffy hair.]

"Yes, sandworms. They're giant monstrous worms that live in the sand and hunt at night."