Balance: A Homestuck Roleplay

[Blobblarg242]

"yEah, ok. just don't flip out. i know i wasn't thE bEst ExamplE of it, but wE should try to kEEp calm throughout this procEss." Hyperion turned his attention to the... sprite? Was is supposed to be called that? The Cherub couldn't think of any better name, so he would just call it a sprite for the moment. "What are you...?" He asked it, neither expecting or receiving a valid answer. Perhaps it was a living thing and in need of food? "First things first, pehaps you should be clothed. ...this is getting incredibly sill, but why not? It's not as though I can think of anything better to do with the time suddenly find myself with." Wiht little more than a shrug, the Lime-blood went to his closet and acquired one of his 'dapper suits' taking extra care not to captchalogue it, simply picking it up. Carefully placing it onto the sprite, nothing happened for a few moments. "...this really is getting stupid." Was all Hyperion said, before the suit seemed to... merge with the sprite. "Why do I have to be dumb enough to do things?"

[Icepelt]

Aeolus was silent when Hyperion went off to deal with the sprite. He finished deploying everything that didn't need any grist to pay for it and zoomed out of the house. He had heard about gates or something like that. That was what he was supposed to be looking for he was sure. The cherub tipped his head, not really sure if that was right. He had slept too much in class to remember what had gone on. A very sudden and high pitched sound hit his ear. Hissing, Aeolus tore the headphones away from his ears and slammed them down. Shaking slightly from the loud noise, he attempted to taste what was going on. Something was interrupting the sound feed on his headphones. Gritting his teeth, he went as far from the house as possible. There was a strange smell in the air. It was like burning wood. Strange...Aeolus put the headphones back onto his head. "Hey, you still there?" He typed, "[color#bf4040]I need to start doing this too. Help me. Mabeb if the countdown is in my house, I'll understand whar it's fore.[/color]"

Edited October 8, 2012 by Icepelt

[Blobblarg242]

Hyperion looked back at his terminal to see if Aeolus had responded and, sure enough, he had. The Lime-blood was quite uneasy about the sprite, but he allowed himself to turn his back on it if only to send a message. "surE, i guEss i can. hold on whilE i sort through thE intErfacE... it's a bit confusing to mE." Hyperion glanced at the now-dapper sprite, saw it wasn't doing anything he'd consider harmful, shrugged, and went about his task of helping his team-mate enter the game. There were so many objects... he spotted the same one which had produced the strange, green cylinder and decided to deploy it. As he found an area relatively spaced out, a task somewhat difficult in regards to any Cherub dwelling, Hyperion deployed the object. "ok... one cruxtrudEr in your homE. as you askEd. sEE if you can figurE somEthing out, i'll takE a look through the options hErE." There were a few other devices he could deploy without cost, one of which sported a wicked-looking needle and was apparently called a 'totem lathe' in the menu. "i wondEr what this stuff doEs..."

[Icepelt]

Aeolus scurried out of the way in case the cruxtruder was placed near him. A sudden loud bang made him hiss, his clawed hands slapping over his ears. Well, Cherubs had something along the lines of hearing holes rather than ears, but thy still hurt. Since he had lost his sight, loud noises were much harder for him to endure. His hearing was sensitive, and now his ears were tingling from the noise. Still, he carefully approached the machine, taking his cane and prodding it. A pop sounded and he immediately felt another presence in the room. "Hello?" he called, turning his head to try to hear. What answered him was an otherworldly voice speaking in tongues. Scared slightly, the cherub shrank away to his computer. He was going to do what Hyperion did, but he just didn't know what he wanted to do, "What do I put in it? I have some of those 'lions' from the humans' planet, but they're stuffed. So you think I can use those? I Do you think I can use something esle? I need help here."

[Blobblarg242]

Hyperion fancied himself an expert on aliens, and while his opinion on his knowledge into the matter was blatantly inflated, he still had a good deal of knowledge as to what Earth life was like when compared to that of the average Cherub. He still didn't know a lot, however. "the 'panthEra lEo' is a rathEr dangErous animal and i wouldn't suggEst using onE in conjunction with anything in this bizarrE gamE wE find oursElvEs in." Hyperion found the creatures that lived on Terra to be absolutely splendid and majestic, even the savage killers as there was an art to their craft of hunting and evisceration. He sighed. That was one of the disadvantages to being a Cherub: growing up, you have no real homeworld as far as you know, and therefore no creatures to fear or admire. In a way, Cherubs themselves could be considered creatures... "howEvEr... you said you had a stuffEd vErsion? that is much lEss likEly to causE problEms. if fEEding thEsE things can causE problEms at all, which i am still suspicious of." The Lime-Blood stole a look at the sprite. Unchanged, although it was beginning to speak in that bizarre language again, and it sounded fairly urgent... "anyway, i guEss it won't causE a problEm? hEy, just a hEads up, i'm going to dEploy thE totEm lathE. plug your Ears or somEthing."

[Icepelt]

Aeolus pouted at Hyperion's reply. He rather liked lions, a lot in fact. There was something beautiful about them. If they came in different colors, Aeolus decided, they would be much better. Red was his favorite color, even if he couldn't see it anymore. A red lion would've made his day. The head of his cane was a red lion roaring. He thought it was really cool, but Hyperion seemed to think differently. It didn't matter though, as Aeolus still reached for the tiny plush animal and casually tossed it into the sprite. Afterwards, he pressed his hands over his ears and went back to watching Hyperion. Something caught his attention though. Just a slight rumbling outside Hyperion's house. There was also a strange urgency to the language the sprite was speaking. Aeolus's whited over eyes darted around as he tried to figure out what was going on, and he zoomed out slowly. "The countdown!" he said, trying to type as quickly as possible, "The countdown, you have to stop it! There's...meteors? They're going to hit you! Put something else in the sprite rrot sometihng! Hyperion, listen got me! You willl die! I think the sprites are here to hslpe hsu! Dos oemthing ! Do something!"

[Blobblarg242]

((Warning: Long, quite possibly badly-written wall of words ahead. Ye hath been warned.))

 

"arE you cErtain? i mEan, i don't think thErE is much basis in your thEory. what EvidEncE do you havE? i guEss I can play along if you likE, though." Hyperion remained skeptical, as he always did. Aeolus hadn't supplied much evidence, anyway. However... the Lime-blood supposed that he should trust his blind compatriot to some degree. In truth, he hated having to rely on anyone, but they were suddenly stuck in this crazy reality-altering game together, so why not give a little trust? 'What was that about meteors?' He thought briefly, looking out a window before panicking to the thoughts of 'Holy there are meteors coming at me.' and deciding Aeolus had the right of things. He'd apologize later, right now, he was panicking. The area Hyperion lived in was little more than a desolate rock, as most Cherubs tended to make their homes in areas that were isolated. As such, there wasn't much to measure the meteors apparent destuctive capabilities against. However, judging from how badly the small thing scarred the ground only a short distance away, he felt rather justified in being scared out of his mind. Quickly searching about his room, he looked for something to toss into his sprite, which was making more and more frantic noise at him. What to pick, what to pick? Hyperion quickly grabbed anything, everything and tried to toss it at the sprite, yet it seemed to evade it all. Not his novels, not his ties, not even the vase which promptly shattered upon finding the ground. Hyperion was about to give up hope when he found one more thing to pick up. Something the sprite seemed strangely drawn towards... It was the stuffed corpse of his most loyal companion. Hyperion didn't remember exactly how the hound had come into posession (he suspected time shenanigans, although Hyperion often blamed things he couldn't explain on time shenanigans) but he did remember having the creature for quite a long time. It's name had been... well, somewhat hard to pronounce. Hyperion had always just called him Vigilance. He liked the name better than the forigen, bizarre word that had been on the label around the creature's neck. From the creatures build and level of energy, it had been apparently meant as some kind of hunter or seeker. The beast had almost been as big as it's master at full height, reaching Hyperion's shoulder when sitting on its haunches and sporting skyward-pointing ears and green eyes that seemed to take up half its face. The creatures canine teeth had been long enough to stick out and even cause difficulty with feeding, but Hyperion had been happy with him all the same. Vigilance had never gotten the kind of life he had been bred for, as there was basically nothing to hunt or track on Hyperion's rock. There was a lot of clear space though, so the hound could always run about outside to burn off its excess energy. As he got older, Hyperion had been forced to come to grips with the fact that his companion would eventually die and sadly, put the faithful creature down. There weren't any chemicals or drugs to kill the creature with peacefully, so Hyperion had been forced to use his rifle. The experience had left a scar on Vigilance's chest cavity as well as his master's emotional well-being. Hyperion refused to let go entirely of course, hence why he kept him stuffed in a corner of his room. For what seemed like an eternity he stared at the sprite and it's frantic motions towards the great beast, wondering if it was really the right option. He didn't remember ever 'prototyping' Vigilance, as he soon found out the act was called. He did remember seeing a being that looked suspiciously like his hound wearing a suit sniff him, speak to him of something called Imps, and then disappear. The Cherub felt ill. "wEll..." He managed to type as he made his way back to his computer "i am officially a bEliEvEr in miraclEs now. or thE univErsE likEs to confusE mE at EvEry opportunity. takE your pick. i don't think what i just saw will EvEr lEavE my mind."

 

((I'd just like to say that the idea of dapper Imps with Lion manes is hilarious to me.

 

Hyperion's hound's name is derived from the deity Hyperion being described as having reign over Watchfulness as well as Wisdom and Light. So rather than trying to find a way to spell the Greek word for it with English Phonetics, I just put it in English. For those of you curious, the (rather bad) translation I came up with sounded like 'epa-group-ni-say'))

Edited October 14, 2012 by Blobblarg242

[Icepelt]

Aeolus was shaking terribly, just staring blindly at the screen in front of him. Hyperion didn't believe him and he was going to die. Just the thought scared the wits out of Aeolus. There was no other message from Hyperion, causing the lime blooded cherub to find himself nearly crying from how upset he was. He was scared of what was happening to his fellow cherub. He was absolutely terrified and he found himself sinking to the ground, unable to move. Wheezing now, Aeolus pulled his legs close to his body. If that happened to Hyperion, the same thing would happen to him. He heard two pings from his computer, but was unable to process what they meant, as his head had become fuzzy. As the messages were read out to him, he found himself relaxing, but he was still unable to move. Reaching up, he yanked the keyboard down and allowed it to sit near him. "I-I can't move," he typed, his fingers still shaking badly, "Help me.Please, God, help me. I can't mocee. I can't. I can't. I can't! Try to figure otut what you're supposed to do with those machines. I''ll try to get up. Just get yousrself sFAFE. use those arecs or whatever. They make things, irght? use them. use them now! I'll...I'll try to gert up."

[Blobblarg242]

"hEy, arE you ok? i mEan, if you nEEd hElp, i can usE thE cursor, or..." Hyperion typed, before conceding the point. Aeolus could probably take care of himself anyway, he didn't need Hyperion to watch him constantly. "i'll gEt to figuring thEsE things out. whatEvEr thEy arE..." Hyperion was tempted to just stay and help the other Cherub but ultimately, he forced himself to run off towards the machines. The 'cruxite' was still with him, as the Lime-Blood was somewhat sure that it played some kind of integral part in regards to the machines. After some stairs which thankfully didn't trip him up, the Cherub made his way towards the Totem Lathe. "Now, now... what is it you do, exactly?" He wondered aloud. He likely would have stood there all day, puzzling over it if not for the fact that there was a sense of urgency to his actions, what with the meteors and all. "Maybe... no... this?" Hyperion sat the Cruxite next to the needle. Nothing happened. "This is just great."

[Icepelt]

Aeolus clawed at his computer chair in an attempt to stand up. His head was spinning as he took in the air around him. Unfortunately, he was subjected to having things similar to panic attacks at random moments. He hadn't ever actually had one for a few months, but he did have his moments where he wouldn't be able to stand. His breath shaky now, he stumbled forward, only to crash into the computer desk. Hissing, he shoved off of it and grabbed his cane as he flailed around for it. He used it for support as he made his way to the sprite. The thing still wasn't speaking clearly. Blinking, Aeolus sniffed at the air for something to throw in. He felt like it had to be important like, a keepsake or the ashes of a family member. Of course, cherubs usually didn't cremate their dead family members. Usually, they didn't even have real families. Because of how they were born though, it was easy for them to find siblings. His hand landed on something cold and smelling slightly of blood. A small grin wormed its way onto his face. Oh, it was that. Taking the object in hand, he tossed it at the sprite, which gratefully took it. "Get the cruxite and your Punch Designix! Do it before you die! Hurry up!"

[Blobblarg242]

Hyperion was well aware that he being pressed for time, and his 'partner' trying to remind him of this was in no way helpful. Perhaps it was meant to be, but it only served to distract Hyperion from his task. Finally, after much pain-staking work, he had figured out how the device would work. Tightening the clamps around the cruxite dowel, the Cherub had actually been rather perplexed by what he had to do next. However, after a bit of thinking, he'd figured it out. Aeolus had given him a pre-punched card of some kind, and the Totem Lathe seemed to require a card of some kind for operation. Pressing the card into the machine forced the needle on the device to carve the dowel into a rather odd shape, one which seemed to dip on both ends and bulge in the middle. Tentatively taking the device and storing it in his sylladex, Hyperion returned to his computer to check if Aeolus had said anything. " hEy, sErvEr playEr? thErE is this 'alchEmitEr' thing that i could usE. i think it might havE somEthing to do with this thing the lathE carvEd out for mE."

 

((edited. is this OK?))

Edited October 19, 2012 by Blobblarg242

[Icepelt]

Aeolus's nervous expression turned into a scowl. While the sprite could speak now, it had a very nasty tone and it was tugging at his sleeve. He hissed at it, ready to attack if need be, but a small ping came from his computer. Yanking his sleeve away and huffing, Aeolus stomped to his computer and put his headphones back on. "I don't know what tot si," Typed Aeolus angrily. Lionsprite, as he decided to call it, was now talking very loudly about some sort of cards and totem lathe. Ignoring him, he sighed, "Just keep youself fromt dying. I'lm trying to handle my annoyingsprite right now. Jeez, he won't shut the hell up. God i'm getting really pissed rtight now...whatever, whne you're done, help me!"

Edited October 21, 2012 by Icepelt

[Blobblarg242]

Hyperion began to drum his fingers on the table in boredom as he waited. It was a bit funny how he could even be bored given circumstances. However, the Cherub had more or less resigned himself to his fate at this point. It wasn't as though there was much he could do without Aeolus helping him along the way. Sure, he could worry and scream and cry about the meteors, but he couldn't see much point in it. So he waited. And waited. And finally, after a bit of boredom he got a response. It wasn't the one he'd be waiting for. Frowning, he typed up a response. "so, what do you want mE to do? it's not as though i can sEnsE what you nEEd. tEll mE, what do you think my nExt coursE of action should bE in hElping you?"

[Icepelt]

"Oh, I don't know," typed Aeolus. He wished that sarcasm could be conveyed through their chat client, but, sadly, it could not. The cherub hissed as the sprite began hissing and cursing at him, telling him to get a move on with the game. Inhaling sharply, Aeolus closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself, "Maybe you could actually tell me what I'm doing. This sprite isn't helping me at all. It's just yelling at me and getting mad. Maybe you could actually deploy the things I need to win. I don't plan to die. I especially don't plan to die because of another person. Just get your head in the camel and help me! I'm not about to die! Not this early in the game at least..."

Edited October 24, 2012 by Icepelt

[Blobblarg242]

"no nEEd to bE hostilE." Hyperion responded, rolling his eyes at the whole conversation. Of course he wasn't daft enough to not know why Aeolus was upset, but all the same, he'd prefer it if the other Cherub would keep his temper in check. "at lEast you havE a spritE. minE just sort of... ran away. why? hEll if i know. anyway, lEt mE just chEck the machinEs..." Strangely enough, Hyperion was growing more used to this whole process that he would have thought he would. "wEll, prEparE yoursElf for a fEw morE loud noisEs." With that, the Lime-blooded alien deployed the last of the machines necessary for whatever purpose this game had. "ok thEn. that should bE it."

[Icepelt]

Aeolus growled, but didn't say anything more. He simply, covered his ears and waited to feel the slight movement placing the machines would cause. Once he was sure it was done, he got another message from Hyperion to which he responded with a short 'Pkauy.' He got up and made his way to where he sprite had originally come from. He thought that, perhaps, there was something else to do with it. After smacking the thing with his cane for a bit, he found that there was something weird sticking out of the top. Taking it in one claw, he found that it was made out of some sort of strange, smooth rock. Blinking, he tipped his head and carried it back to the computer. He knew it was called something with a "C", but he had no idea what to do with it. "I have this...stufff now," He told Hyperion, "[/color=#bf4040]What am I supposed to do with tie> It feels like it's a raally smooth stone oif romsething."

Edited October 26, 2012 by Icepelt

[Blobblarg242]

Hyperion read over his message, not needing to spend too long to decipher the message. "do you know of thE largE nEEdlE dEvicE? thE lathE? you nEEd to put it in that. you'll also nEEd a punch card..." Hyperion tried to think of what else to say or do. "i can't think of what ElsE to do... and the timEr is ticking. this isn't good." After stating the blatantly obvious, the Cherub decided to track down whatever had happened to his... dog... sprite... thing. Hyperion decided to just refer to it as 'VigilanceSprite' from that point on, at least in his head. He ran back to the terminal to type out one more message before he went out hunting. "wEll, i guEss i'm off to track down my bEast. wish mE luck."

[Icepelt]

((Do you we think we should time skip to them both entering the void? This is getting tedious.))

[Blobblarg242]

Hyperion took a deep breath to steady himself. He was OK. Nothing bad was happening and he could relax. It was a welcomed situation, as for a good deal of time the Cherub had been under threat of sudden death by meteor. The Lime Blood looked over his rifle. It was well maintained, slender, and doubled as a cane when necessary. It was also becoming less and less useful. From what little he understood of this 'game' that had suddenly and completely ruined whatever sense of normality he had known, things would only get tougher. He also understood that he would somehow need to upgrade his weapon through alchemy. But that wasn't his first objective at this point. Hyperion peered out the window. The outside world was barren and desolate, nothing to be seen for miles all around except the library. The library was massive, and if he had to give a rough estimate, Hyperion guessed that it probably made up at least a third of the planet's surface and that didn't take into account how expansive it might be under the surface. His first priority would be to get inside and do whatever it was that the game wanted him to do. "Sadly, I can't jump to it right away..." He reminded himself. His Sprite had explained some of the finer details of this bizarre game, one of which being the necessity to keep his team-mate alive, at least early on. Moving over to the terminal, he typed a quick message. "hEy. try not to diE. it would be inconvEniEnt to mE and the gamE. as irritating as having to work togEthEr is, it would sEEm wE don't havE any othEr options. i may find somE way to alchEmizE a portablE tErminal, but it isn't top priority. so don't gEt your pants in a knot if i don't rEspond for a whilE." OK, so it wasn't that quick. But it covered all of the main points and that was what mattered.

Edited November 4, 2012 by Blobblarg242

[Icepelt]

((Would you mind just editing that one? It would be so much easier.))

[Blobblarg242]

((Pssst... Ice... I edited...))

[Icepelt]

Aeolus sniffed at the cool air around him. Everything was frozen and cold. Also, based on the lack of warmth, there wasn't much sunlight. His sprite was still floating beside him, quietly. After awhile of being berated for almost everything, Aeolus had snapped and he had nearly attacked the thing with his cane. It had been especially terrible while he was scrambling around to try to figure out what was going on. All the noise had been upsetting. Now, it was eerily quiet, besides the sound of wind blowing around him. He sigh, smiling slightly. It was quite peaceful actually, having no sound or hot weather around him. He let out a small sigh, just happy to have no sound around him, but then a ping sounded from his computer. Frowning, he slugged back over to it, but before he could type a message, there was a creak in the floor. He ignored it, thinking it was nothing more than the house settling. As the message was read to him by his sprite, he felt his shoulders tense, but he still ignored it. "It's okay," he told Hyperion, "You know, man, I have a queatstion for you. Is there...someong here with mwe? I tihnk I have someone else in my house with me," He held his cane higher in his hand, "I think I have some company."

[Blobblarg242]

Hyperion was actually about to leave, having actually reached the door, before he heard the sound his chat client made whenever it had a pending message. The Cherub rolled his eyes and cursed under his breath before angrily and deliberately stomping over to the terminal to read the message that had been sent to him. At the mention of 'someong' being inside his team-mates home, the Lime-blood briefly feared for his own safety. But only briefly. As the fear passed, quickly being replaced by annoyance, Hyperion began to scan the area on his screen impatiently. "not that i can sEE. stop worrying. what could possibly bE a thrEat? morEovEr, what could possibly EvEn bE in thErE?" In truth, Hyperion had just hastily looked over the one room that Aeolus was in rather than actually looking over the entire area that was the other cherub's home. If he had, perhaps he might have seen the creatures on the ground floor, but since he hadn't... "now, do i nEEd to kEEp babysitting you? i should think your spritE will sufficE as a babysittEr in my stEad, so may i continuE with what i was doing?"

[Icepelt]

Another creak in the floor was what caught Aeolus' attention. There was just a growl before the cherub whipped around and smashed something over the head with his cane. There was a sickening crack and a thump. Another creak sounded next to him, getting him to stick the end of his cane through something. A foul-smelling liquid covered his body, but he simply ignored it and went to crack his knee against another things ribs. Fighting was in cherub nature after all, so it was all very simple for him. even without sight, he used the vibrations of the area around him. Using the back of his hand, he wiped the candy red blood from a scratch on his cheek and returned to his computer, "No, man, i think i've gote it handeled. There's some...mosnters or something in the ouse with me. I killed all the ones that i could feel with me, but i just have a feeling that there's more. While i'm doing that, you need to try to find out how to keep talking to me."

[Blobblarg242]

Hyperion wasn't one to admit fault readily, but he had to admit, he had royally screwed up by not doing a proper check for creatures. "i apologizE for how inEffEctivE i was in chEcking your surroundings... i should havE put forth morE Effort." Apologizing was not an activity he actively enjoyed, so he quickly turned to the task at hand of creating some kind of portable communications device. "hold on a sEc... lEmmE sEE if i can crEatE somEthing that'll work." He typed quickly, before scrounging about one of his storage devices. There had to be something somewhere... "Here it is." The Cherub muttered to himself with a pleased grin. His headphones hadn't seen use in quite some time, and Hyperion found them a bit babyish (hence why he had buried them under pretty much everything else he owned) but they would suffice. "ok. if wE can work out this alchEmy thing, wE should bE ablE to mErgE my old hEadsEt with my tErminal. i think. nonE of this stuff is as clEar as it should bE. it's a rEal pain in thE rEar End."