X-DREAMERS [IC - BASE]

[Mikasa361]

 

~Lara~

 

Lara stood in the entryway with her hands firmly and sternly placed on her hips. The look of annoyance on her face, especially at Duke, was one of pure venom. But at Yusei’s appearance, she stood her ground. Yusei passed her and went into the hall.

 

He addressed the crowd in the hall, introducing himself and offering to show everyone around. Lara supposed that it was only appropriate. Had it been her, a few rounds of blanks would have been fired to gather attention- that is, if they didn’t hear her the first time. Still, looking at the scene, she had to wonder what happened to cause such a… Mess.

 

“I’d still wish to know what the bloody hell happened here, Yusei.” Her pointed glance at the ceiling simply emphasized her rather dour mood. “Would you like me to go with you, or shall I stay here and look at the damage…?” Whatever happened, she hoped that these troublemakers would get some sort of consequence…

 

~Evonna~

 

What was even happening anymore? What was this robot that turned into a vehicle? Transformers??? Wasn’t that a franchise from a veeeeeeery long time ago? The girl who scared her seemed perfectly calm though, as if Evonna wasn’t a threat at all. Pascal casually explained how Evonna was no longer on her home planet.

 

She was nonetheless confused.

 

“So… How the heck did we get here?”

 

~Edward~

 

Edward glanced at the girl with the dark expression.

 

“I second that. Why are we here, and how the hell did we get here anyway? I don’t get it, why would I suddenly be on another planet…?”

Edited October 1, 2017 by Mikasa361
y'all are a pain about the font I use. :p

[TehUltimateMage]

Stan - Gateway

 

"Fresh meat?" Stan let out a breathy laugh in response to Cistina. "Make sure the castle hasn't been burned to the ground or nothin' yet..." He trusted Twilight and all given that she was a little pony princess with the magical power of friendship, but she... tended to get antsy when things don't go according to her predictions. "... or that no one has slammed their fist into Duke's face yet, or that angry blue man isn't in murder mode yet..."

 

Secretly, he was relieved that he didn't have to deal with the responsibilities of the welcome committee. Stan vividly remembered when Nata first arrived, the blue-haired guy immediately punched the person closest to him and expected answers to pour out from the violence. Blue man was a ball of yelling, knives, and lightning and the older man didn't particularly want to be on the receiving end of his combos again.

 

Good times.

 

He snapped the fingers of his good hand. "Right, right, the message. I couldn't discover the name of the world yet but she knows the coordinates. It's a world where ash falls like from the sky like snow--" --and to emphasize he tried to dust the soot off his blouse -- "-- and the people there have magic gained through eating metal. They haven't discovered electricity yet, so it's not exactly vacation spot material." He shrugged.  "And as for the artifact, we didn't manage to see it personally but, there was a shimmering gold sand, like glitter on the ground, and it stood out from the black streets and definitely didn't look like it belonged. It would be useful to check the database for something like that just in case."

 

"I can take your wounded to where they can be looked at,"  Said the robot who could turn into a car, which it did, and Stan watched, absolutely mesmerized and subconsciously biting his lower lip, as the machine's parts twisted and locked into a new position to accommodate its other form. If only he could capture the sequence he might be able to recreate it later in one of his own gadgets. Do it slower, dammit!

 

"Actually on second thought," he mentioned to Cistina, glancing sideways at the Transformer with only his eyes, "I think I can tell her myself. Get the new kids back to the castle so we can save our breath from explaining the universe shenanigans more than twice. "

 

"Hey you two!" Stan shouted to the teenagers who were both still wondering what the dickens was going on. He waved an arm to get their attention, then pointed into the distance. "If you want answers, there's someone explaining everything at the big castle over on the other side of the planet. If you keep walking that way, you can't miss it. It's big and white and looks like a castle. Cistina could probably guide you there too if you tend to get lost, but this whole place is continuous so you'll find it eventually!"

 

Duty done, he approached the car a little more excitedly than he wanted to and it was obvious in his walk that he was trying to restrain himself from bouncing forward like a kid. They didn't make cars like these anymore, oh no. Moving on the ground was way too passé after the space age began and there weren't many remains of the sleek and aerodynamic (for the time, anyway) shape of the 21st century car, and even less of this color. He'd only seen cars of this period in museums.

 

"Alright Circuit, do you mind me calling you that? Short for Circuitraider, of course,"

 

Having stepped in and taken the driver's seat, he adjusted the rearview mirror to take a look at his reflection, taking the moment to wipe away a streak of ash on his cheek with the back of his hand. Most of the controls looked familiar, especially the steering wheel, though he didn't know the specifics. Should be pretty easy to figure out, though.

 

Pascal - Gateway

 

At Cistina's suggestion, Pascal dug through the pockets on her suspenders, taking a good minute to reach in and shuffle through each one in turn for a set of small screwdrivers and a penlight.

 

She approached and knelt down by Xker, lifting up aer's chin to take a look at aer's damaged eye despite the heat of the still-hot laser poking near her face. "It's actually not as bad as it looks," Pascal mused, half to herself and half to the others, and moved on to look at Aer's limbs. "Just looks like some stuff got shifted around, is all."

 

The peppy young woman gave it a good smack with the palm of her wrist and amazingly something clicked back into place in Xker's leg. For the eye though, she had to unscrew the plating and was absolutely still while working on the re-wiring, shuffling only to search her pockets for spare parts.

 

"...Aaaaand done!" she shouted a couple minutes later after re-placing the last screw. "That wasn't so bad, compared to last time, wasn't it? I don't get why Stan doesn't come to me for repairs and upgrades anymore," she pouted.

[ValidEmotions]

Circuitraider | Gateway

 

"I do mind," she replied to Stan. Seeing that the dog was being tended to by Pascal, she waited until the pair were finished and it climbed in before Circuitraider swung the driver's door closed, the gearshift moving as her tires began to turn. "Don't touch the wheel," Circuitraider instructed. She had seen Stan's kind before, the car enthusiast who simply had to run their hands on every inch of upholstery and play with all of the buttons. Driving away from the Gateway, the Autobot fell silent, following Stan's instructions to the other humans about simply traveling forward and, eventually, they would arrive. 

 

Sora | XDRS Front Hall

 

Sitting up as Nata started to release his hold, Sora stared at his bound wrists so as to avoid meeting anyone else's eyes for the moment. Someone new, Yusei, had shown up and people were starting to move. Nodding slightly at Nata's words, he finally looked at the older teen again as he offered a hand. His own hands free, Sora took the offer and got to his feet with the small amount of aid. Glancing at Twilight, Sora rubbed the back of his head with a hand. "Got any one named Riku or Kairi? Or Donald and Goofy?" he asked the pony.

 

Turning towards the people in the doorway and hallway, Sora started walking. He thought he had caught a glimpse of something darting behind Yusei but he shook his head. Maybe he was seeing things.

 

Yusei | XDRS Front Hall

 

Without turning his head, Yusei flicked a glance towards his shoulder as Hush disappeared behind him, hissing. Words slid into his mind, warning about a 'hunter and betrayer'. He would need to look into that further. At the chained man's remark about expectations, the corner of his lip twitched faintly in a brief smirk. "I didn't," he responded. The silver robot approached him, wolf in its arms, and asked him about the promised tea. "That will be happening now, actually. As soon as we reach the dinning hall, everyone will be able to settle down," he answered the machine.

 

The new arrivals were moving and he needed to do the same. Continuing into the hallway, he paused beside Lara for a moment. "I don't have an answer for the ceiling but you can get that from Twilight. Stay here and look over things in the Front Hall. If everything went well, Stan and Xker should be on their way back soon. They'll need someone to help them find Twilight so they can make a report," he explained.

 

Moving down the hall, with whomever decided to follow him, he retraced his steps to the kitchen and dinning area. Twilight would finish prepping the tea for the new arrivals, allowing him to take over briefly in the explanations. "We'll start in the dinning area so you can regain your bearings. From there, we'll lead you to see the rest of the castle. Along the way, you are free to ask any questions and we'll answer them to the best of our abilities," he stated, looking over his shoulder at those gathered. 

Edited October 1, 2017 by ValidEmotions

[Kiran]

Jowan [ XDREs Base, Main Hall ] [ Dragon Age: Origins ] 

 

Lara's gaze was, to put in mildly, somewhat terrifying. Unconsciously, Jowan stepped closer to Duke, as if the blond could somehow protect him. When he realized what he had done he made to step away, embarrassed, but Duke had stepped closer as well- ah, so that was how it was. Given Duke's actions so far, he wasn't surprised that he thought that antagonizing angry women was a good idea. Whatever, he could play along, as long as it didn't get him killed as well. 

 

He hadn't planned on following Yusei and the others and would have preferred to avoid getting closer to Lara, but he didn't seem to have much of a choice. Besides, even as low as tea was on his priority list, he couldn't deny that fluids would be good for him. Fluids and medical attention. Neither of those things seemed to be in supply in the entrance hall, so he followed as best as he could.

 

"No, not you. You mentioned a man in your head, if you didn't just mean that you're hearing things." It wouldn't be surprising, but he didn't say that. 

 

Well, that was unexpected. He frowned. "The Fade. The place you go when you dream? If you dream, I mean, but you don't exactly look like a dwarf and there was the whole magic thing that you did." He reached out with his free hand and summoned a small flame, cupped within his palm. "See? It doesn't matter if you're from... a different universe or whatever, the Fade's still here. Wouldn't be able to do that without it." He closed his hand, extinguishing the flame. 

 

Those were the questions that he didn't want to answer. Biting his cheek, he turned his head away. The temptation to say 'no' and leave it at that was strong, but that wouldn't solve anything. He was confused and lost, and maybe if he volunteered information Duke would respond in kind. "I... I'm not sure what it's like where you're from, but in Ferelden attempted murder is still a crime." He forced himself to continue, but he couldn't make himself meet Duke's eyes. "That's not the only thing. I'm not exactly popular back h- there." It was still an evasion, he knew, but wasn't that fair? Duke hadn't exactly explained after he'd claimed to burn down a village, after all. Avoiding the subject of blood magic and treason was cowardly, but cowardice was something that he was good at. "The bleeding is from after I got here. Uh, speaking of which, you wouldn't happen to have any bandages, would you?" The gash had apparently been deeper than he had thought, and with the adrenaline fading the pain was becoming only more noticeable. "What about you? You haven't explained how you got here, and last I checked arson was a crime as well," he said, trying to change the subject away from himself. 

Edited October 1, 2017 by Zor

[TehUltimateMage]

Stan -- Gateway > Main Hall

 

"I do mind," said the female voice from somewhere within the car.

 

"...Oh." Stan bared his teeth a sheepish smile, unsure if the robot had any method of looking inwards at him. A lady was a lady after all, and deserved respect -- even if said lady was a hunk of sentient metal that could turn into a car. Full name it is.

 

Once Xker hopped in on the passenger's side, the door closed itself and the controls moved themselves as if manipulated by an invisible driver. The fingers of his good hand hovered above the steering wheel until Circuitraider suddenly instructed him to not touch it and he guiltily tucked his hands back to his sides. What was the point of having all these controls if the car could control itself? Could a rider override the AI's command manually?

 

Instead of getting into mischief for fear of getting forcefully ejected from a moving vehicle, Stan stayed still and silent and looked around with only his eyes, over her plush interior and finally resting his gaze on the piece of ancient technology that was the short-lived CD-ROM player. Maybe it could play some of his old disks, if they hadn't deteriorated beyond saving. The Compact Disk was born in the early days of digitization, after all, and the medium lacked the permanence of the analogue. Like how books still existed after hundred of years, so did vinyl records persist.

 

The pointed roofs of the castle quickly came into view considering how fast they were going. For a brief moment, he considered asking Circuitraider to crash through the doors like a badass, skidding a semi-circle and parking the car in the middle of the main hall. While that would have been a fantastic entrance, he didn't want to damage her chasis, nor permanently damage their relationship after having had literally just met five minutes ago. Not that it mattered; she slowed to a complete stop in front of the castle doors and flung her door open, expecting him to get out and walk the last five or so feet (which he did without complaint -- his legs still worked).

 

"Thanks for the ride, babe," he said with a wink, making sure that he was too far for her to slam her door on his fingers.

 

He pushed the door with his shoulder until it locked in open position so it wouldn't slam on Xker or Circuitraider. The main hall was empty with the exception of Miss Lara Croft -- who was standing in a sassy manner and who looked as if she was ready to strangle a man -- and a pile of rubble on the ground which he visually traced to a hole in the ceiling. 

 

Seemed like he missed the party.

 

Having sauntered forth, he snapped his good hand, making a finger gun gesture. (It just didn't feel the same not having two finger guns.) "Morning, hon, did you miss me?"

 

Twilight -- Main Hall > Dining Hall

 

Once she was past the door and out of view, Twilight suddenly sprinted forward in a gallop to the dining hall and nearly slipped on the carpet when she skidded to a halt. Decisively, her horn glowed with magic and the tables and chairs shuddered before getting lifted by a magical pink aura, quickly rearranging themselves into a central island surrounded by a circle of seats, and any dirty dishes getting tossed towards the kitchen sink. She hoped she could finish before everyone would get here.

 

While speed-cleaning, she also used her magic to shake a small purple dragon -- her assistant Spike -- until he woke from his nap near the heater, and ordered him to fetch something from another room. The baby dragon did a salute, and ran off with a pitter-patter to another part of the castle.

 

((!!!!!!! 100th, congratulations!))

Edited October 1, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[skwerl56767]

   XDRS - TO THE TEA!

 

   Typheus simply nodded in acknowledgment of Yusei's words, following him into a spacious hallway. He didn't see any purpose in asking more questions until they arrived for the full explanation. He couldn't help but be a little suspicious though by how orchestrated everything seemed; either X-Dreamers was very used to panicked strangers with unknown capabilities, and was simply compensating for the confusion by revealing their base's layout and operations, or the tour was deliberately misguiding them to protect them from the organization's true intent. Odd to suspect that a purple Earth horse with wings and a bunch of strange humans with powers - none of which were obviously alien, except the boy who turned into a... thing... would be up to no good, but he didn't know these people any more than they knew him. Unfortunately that just translated a lot of the hostility into confusion, which made him hesitant to do anything. Annoying. On the positive side, Duke was quite a friendly chatterer, and Jowan didn't seem to believe yet that he was on some kind of multiversal base, so Typheus could keep a microphone on them, listening intently to the conversation in interest in learning more about them; it will help him make good decisions later.

 

   The wolf wriggled in his grasp, and he allowed him to readjust himself, seemingly uninterested in being put down. Typheus didn't recall any Earth canines being this complacent; most of them went haywire around him and his comrades, which didn't help Fiddlestick's impulsion to attack and chase things, but he supposed he shouldn't expect anything less from a wolf who could say "Okay, okay. Who?"
   "'Who'?" he echoed. "Who what? You don't seem okay," he said honestly, glancing down at him. "You arbitrarily attacked someone and don't seem to care about it." Not that I'm not used to that... he added to himself. "I also didn't know humans could change bodies, though with the way your government behaved I shouldn't be surprised about that either. I swear it's more reticent than the regime I came from." He then paused and glanced down again, realizing he was about to rant to a wolf. "Could be weirder," he muttered, noting when Twilight thundered ahead of the group for some reason. Maybe the door ahead was locked, although it would be strange if that was the case.

 

   ---------------------------------------

 

   XDRS - Third Floor

 

   "Tour?" Fiddlesticks asked, her guise dropping for a second before she recovered, "Oh. Yes. I was separated," she agreed with the armored one. She didn't make any comments about the "inconveniences", since the hole in the ceiling was rather convenient for unwarranted exploration. The implication of being able to return home was interesting, but even if these people could do it, would it be worth it? Only the rebels on Zirhon really wanted her back, excepting some humans on Earth, but the rest of the galaxy was basically out to get her. On the other hand, she could simply stay and learn all sorts of things about this "X-Dreamers".
   Why the "X", by the way? Are the dreamers highly classified?
   Both humans exchanged uncertain looks, and she began to worry if her guise was failing. She didn't know them, so only probability was in her favor, but these humans might be less receptive to lies than she thought. She either had to step up her game or play it safe, otherwise they'll find out that she wanted to pounce and eat someone.
   Oh, speaking of which, there's her answer right there!

 

   "Um..." she hummed, deliberately delaying the response, "I think we were going to some guy named 'Duke'. He sounds like an interesting guy. I want to go up to him, and say hi." She nodded, feigning further certainty. "We will say hi, and then we will be friends. Everybody is friends! We can collect pellets together." She tried to look happy, but was only reminded of her misleading blast shield shape. "We don't get many friends, but I like friends." It wasn't exactly a lie; she was painfully aware of the lack of support she has had since the past two years. Typheus curbed her social needs, but he couldn't stop a full-scale war or fix her corrupted logarithms, and she hadn't seen any other mechs in what felt like forever...

[Kiran]

Jowan [ XDREs Base, en Route to the Dining Hall ] [ Dragon Age: Origins ]

 

Andraste, was Duke a pyromaniac? Maybe it was a good thing that his magic worked differently. Despite how the castle was made of stone, Jowan suspected that Duke would have found a way to burn it down anyway if he could shoot fireballs. Barriers could cause enough problems in Duke's hands, as he had seen. 

 

Talking to a human that wasn't Tranquil and couldn't dream was odd, but it wasn't the oddest thing that had happened that day. It did raise some questions, however- if the Fade didn't exist on the planet, how could he do magic? He had to be connected to it somehow; he could feel its pull, the way that he could draw on it to reshape the physical world. Either the Fade did exist there and everyone else was cut off from it, or he could somehow access it across worlds. Neither sounded plausible, but he didn't know much about such things. No one did. 

 

Of course, 'hallucination' was still an option. 

 

"I see," he said even though he didn't. In truth, he was tempted to interrogate Duke about his magic system, but it wasn't the time and he didn't have any parchment available. Alternative ways of using magic had always intrigued him (he wished that he could say that he'd been drawn to blood magic for that reason). Having dead people in one's head... still sounded a bit too much like demonic possession, but giving Duke the benefit of the doubt couldn't make things worse for him and it sounded interesting.

 

Laughter and further contact hadn't been what Jowan expected Duke's reaction to be at all. Did nothing faze him? He pulled away a bit, eyes wide with shock, before relaxing again when Duke claimed to be joking. Of course, Duke followed that by explaining that he had hardly been joking at all. Being an accomplice to murder wasn't much better than actual murder.

 

The thought of accomplices reminded him of Lily, of Neria; sure, they'd helped him escape, but they hadn't known. They hadn't deserved to get punished along with him- Maker, he hoped that Lily was somehow okay. He knew that it was unlikely, but he couldn't imagine her in that place. Not when she'd reacted exactly how she should have. 

 

Noticing that his teeth and uninjured hand were clenched, he took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. It would be hypocritical to make assumptions about Duke when he didn't know the entire story. He could ask for it later. "I don't really deserve to start anew," he muttered. "But to the kitchen, then! I'd like to avoid dying, if it's all the same to you."

[Mikasa361]

~Lara~

 

"Morning, hon, did you miss me?"

 

Stan’s words were not improving her mood whatsoever, at least externally. She sighed and took her gun out to match his one finger gun. A scowl spread across her face.

 

“Well, darling, I surely won’t miss you this time.” Sighing, she looked up at the ceiling. “Some newcomers made a bloody mess out of the main hall. I’m supposed to be assessing the damage. I’m not sure if you’d like to help, but it would be appreciated, I suppose.” That’s right, Lara, it’s not worth it. Focus on the task at hand. Unless Stan decides to be helpful, he’s simply a distraction. With a huff, Lara put her gun away and took another glance around. How the hell did this happen…?

[TehUltimateMage]

Stan - Main Hall

 

He let out a chuckle and held his hands up -- his left one lying limp -- in mock surrender when he was held at gunpoint, although his posture was still perfectly at ease. It was all in good fun -- Miss Lara always seemed to be a little too trigger happy whenever he was in the room and normally he knew when to stop when a joke ran too far (and would do so upon request) but her exaggerated reactions were just too amusing. Getting threatened bodily harm was just a normal Tuesday for the scruffy man -- especially since they had a magical healing dragon in the base --  and he knew Lara would never shoot to kill. Hopefully.

 

"Sorry," he said, not sorry at all, "I'm a little busy right now. I have a report to give to Miss Twilight Sparkle, provided she's not too busy preventing the building from collapsing. Any idea where our dear princess might be?"

 

[DuskOfTheStars]

Once the car came to a halt and opened its doors, Stan exited. The cyborg talked to the robot - Circuitraider, who seemed to be from yet another world where humanoids were dominant - and pushed open the door further. Once it clicked into place, Xker sprang out. Xker eyed the hall. Lara Croft was standing there. Aer nostrils flared, the smell of rubble hitting them - and now they saw it. Who did that. Stan made for Kara, and Xker followed.

 

Stan and Lara started talking, and Xker listened to the exchange while scanning for where the rubble came from. The false eye wandered up to... a hole in the ceiling. "What in the Grox?" was snarled as Lara explained whodunnit and Stan replied.

 

Xker chimed in with aer two (clicky and rumbly) cents. "Great. I bet either some rookie's a psycho or someone was ****ing around." What the Volt left unsaid was the intimation that it could've well been the resident prankster. "However, Stan speaks true - we have news for Twilight."

Edited October 6, 2017 by DuskOfTheStars

[Pyrowings]

Light ~ Following Yusei Jowen and Duke

 

As soon as she bent down, everything sounded it like went to hell behind her. Light spun around and watched with horror as Wolf Boy leapt at Nata and Sora--But just as suddenly a barrier erupted in front of Wolf Boy, preventing him from reaching Nata, and the giant silver robot picked him up. 

Eventually, things seem to settle down with the arrival of a strangely-haired guy called "Yusei," who asked they all go with him to the kitchen to get an idea of what was going on. Light turned back around before heading off with strange horn-haired Yusei and saw the panicked white haired boy was up, if still nervous. He didn't seem to want to talk with her, so she simply patted him on the back as he walked by.

 

While heading to the dining area, Twilight rushed ahead for some reason, and Duke seemed to get very buddy-buddy with Broody Jowen. Light spent some time looking at the surroundings, but.... Boy, this place is sparse for a castle. I guess there isn't any royalty living here. Though I guess most of the "members" would have private rooms or something to store their stuff?

... I wonder if there's a library? It would be fun to see if any displaced books or something is legible for me.

 

"...magic thing that you did." 

 

Light blinked out of her trance. Was that Broody Jowen?

 

"See? It doesn't matter if you're from... a different universe or whatever, the Fade's still here. Wouldn't be able to do that without it."

 

He was showing Duke a flame in his palm, which he presently extinguished. Fade? Is that like the Core? 

 

"I.. If this isn't a bad--

 

"Sorry, no dreams here. I think everyone's magic works a little differently depending on what world you're from, doesn't it? I've never heard of this 'Fade', and the magic I did a couple minutes ago is directly connected to that man in my head. I swear I'm not hearing things, and he's not bad, really. Kind of the norm in my world to contract a dead person to serve you, and everything." 

 

Contracting the dead? But.... Does that make him a necromancer? But necromancers dominate the dead they summon, and they can only call on those still with a strong connection to life....

The two then switched to past misdeeds, and how--Light started a bit as she noticed the wound broody Jowen mentioned. When did he get that?! It looked awful.

And so that was how Light found herself heading away from the group and following the two. Different universes with different rules of magic? But when we visited that Other Arad the principles of magic and other concepts worked the exact same...

 

 "I don't really deserve to start anew. But to the kitchen, then! I'd like to avoid dying, if it's all the same to you."

 

Light flinched and felt another stab of pity. What was his story...?

 

"Most people don't," Duke replies. "But no one's defined by their mistakes."

 

She stopped walking when Duke tugged Jowen into a room where Twilight was levitating objects, probably to bandage the wound. So Twilight not only could make barriers, but she can move things telekenetically? Was it like how Michelle's worked? Light was about to open her mouth and ask, but then--I just followed two people and listened in on them without their permission. That isn't something I should do....But I want to know how they.... This isn't the time.... This wouldn't be the time...

 

"So, I don't suppose you know what you need exactly?" Duke asked Jowen. Light raised an eyebrow. He didn't know basic medical treatment?

 

"You probably need to wash the wound with warm soap and water to prevent infection, then use some sort of hopefully-sterile cloth to bind it. But that's assuming nobody here has a healing spell? I mean, a small wound like that probably doesn't need a..." Light trailed off. She just showed herself, didn't she? "... I'm sorry... For... Listening in..."

~~~

Cistina ~ XDre Lobby Ruins"

 

"My apologies!" Cistina called to the robot car as she landed. "I had wanted to guide you, but it seems you guided me ins--What in the world happened here?"

 

She looked around the lobby. Or more specifically, at the hole ripped in the ceiling. Was that by one of the newcomers? Who would attack the base itself like that? That would just bring the structure crashing down, and the fact that she had just seen most, if not all, the newcomers so far made Cistina doubt there was anything around that can survive that. There was a reason nobody in all the battles she'd been in tried to bring anything crashing down on everyone's head. Still, her poorly-done duty was done, so she should go find a cleric now.

 

"If nobody has anything they must tell me, I shall be going off to search for Badu. I should be able to find someone able to look at your wounds by the time you finish reporting to Twilight." 

[skwerl56767]

   Typheus was confused by the wolf's response. It certainly looked like an attack to him, especially concerning the situation; or maybe the wolf meant to say something else, but didn't know how to say it. Judging by the speech pattern he was illiterate, which meant any conversations with him would be hard and largely insubstantial and threw any idea of profiling him out the window. If mapping Xinschi-uual body language to him was accurate at all though, he was telling the truth.
   "Who... who are you?" the wolf hesitated to ask. It was difficult to tell if he was remembering something related to the words, or just trying to recall the words themselves. Regardless, Typheus didn't answer right away; he wasn't too keen on the idea of giving out his alias so soon, and he had no idea of any one of these people understood the symbols printed on his shoulder. At the same time, if anyone here recognized the mechs they wouldn't be so nonchalant about escorting one to a party of tea and letting the other run loose.

   Oh, hopefully Fiddlesticks wasn't getting into too much trouble... part of him would be exasperated and part of him would be disappointed that he missed the chaos.

 

   Typheus allowed Duke and Jowan to go up ahead, with the red-haired girl following shyly. The machine had spent much of his early days at the rear of a group, so it didn't bother him; only assured him that less people would overhear the reveal.
   "Typheus," he told the wolf boy, still looking up ahead. "Tie, fuss. It has three extra letters in my language." He hoped that the deliberate repeat would cement the word in the wolf's mind, expanding his vocabulary, although starting with Xinschi-uual might not be the best idea. "It's more manageable in Earth's language - English, I mean - as you have two combinations that make the 'f' sound. I could have had a letter less but more complex names are a sign of superior rank." His wings shifted in recognition of his words. I'm the lowliest Superiority model though. It would make more sense if I was a barracks commander, but I'm not... where did my name come from, anyway? I remember it was mine, but how? He didn't want to neglect the wolf boy by digging through his memories and possibly walking past Yusei when they arrived, but he was curious as he genuinely had no recollection of even making it up. It wasn't even given to me by my pilot, like it was with Fiddlesticks...

Edited October 9, 2017 by skwerl56767

[Kiran]

Jowan [ Kitchen ] [ Dragon Age: Origins ]

 

Jowan followed Duke, barely missing a step upon seeing the pink-clad dishes flying through the air. If he thought about it, Twilight (who probably wasn't actually a demon) having a reliance on telekinesis made sense. Lacking hands had to make manipulating objects traditionally difficult; he wondered how other members of her species did anything, assuming she was actually part of a species and wasn't some one-off freak of nature. Unless they were somehow all mages? That was hard to imagine, but a society of talking lavender quadrupeds was hard to imagine in any case. He made a mental note to ask her about it, once he had the chance, was sure that she wouldn't vaporize him, and had access to vellum or paper to take notes on. 

 

He gave Duke an incredulous look, eyebrows furrowed. "You don't-" 

 

"You probably need to wash the wound with warm soap and water to prevent infection, then use some sort of hopefully-sterile cloth to bind it. But that's assuming nobody here has a healing spell? I mean, a small wound like that probably doesn't need a... I'm sorry... For... Listening in..."

 

Their conversation hadn't happened in a private setting, Jowan still ducked his head in embarrassment. It was only fair that people knew what he'd done, yet he still felt exposed, having been so easily overheard. "It's fine," he said, trying to pretend that he hadn't been bothered. "Some elfroot, too. And some clean clothes, if that's possible." He didn't want to ask for too much, but elfroot was as common enough to be a weed and his robes would have to be burned. "I don't have any healing spells, but are you a mage? Please tell me that you don't have any dead people in your head." He considered asking what 'sterile' meant but decided not to. It couldn't be too important, and asking would only make him look stupid or distract from the topic at hand. 

 

☙~~~❧

 

Natsuki [ Library Entrance > Main Hall ] [ Original Work ]

 

Something felt off about Fiddlesticks, but Natsuki brushed the feeling aside. Of course something felt off- it was a robot, not anything biological. Some amount of falling into the uncanny valley was to be expected, and basing judgments on feelings and hunches was following a road that didn't lead anywhere good. 

 

Still, anyone that thought that Duke was a fun person to meet had to be observed carefully. 

 

"Yes, I'm sure that Duke will be glad to have help with collecting the pellets," they said drily. "We'll take you to the main hall-" they glanced at Xander for confirmation, "-and if we're lucky the tour will still be there. If not, we'll find them." Once again, they cursed the sudden and inconvenient lack of Lumas. 

 

The walk to the main entrance was uneventful, but they could see that the beginning of the tour had been anything but. There was a large hole in the ceiling, and scorched rubble had collected on the ground. Dust had coated the floor, but there were sharp lines showing where something had blocked the dust from settling. "Duke," they said, almost resigned. 

 

Xker, Cistina, Lara, and Stan were standing in the hall, though from the looks on their faces they didn't know what had happened either. Natsuki spotted a smear of blood on the ground near the door; they couldn't tell anything else about it without getting closer, but it was likely that whoever left it wasn't too seriously injured. One of their guests being injured was a problem, but someone dying less than an hour after arriving would have been worse for morale. "You were with the tour when they entered the building, yes?" they asked Fiddlesticks. "What happened before you got separated?" The robot clearly hadn't told them everything, but it was likely that she had either been separated because of the events in the hall or had caused them. 

 

Edited October 10, 2017 by Zor

[TehUltimateMage]

Twilight -- Dining Hall > Kitchen

 

A dish zoomed past Duke but Twilight did not notice the interruption until he spoke. "No, I'm alright," she refused his offer to help. At the moment, Duke would be more trouble than he was worth. And it seemed that he had already occupied himself through making a new friend with the volatile scruffy gentleman which made her immensely happy, and perhaps this new relationship may end up benefiting both their troubled natures. She would have to follow up on their progress once everyone had settled in, and now that he seemed to have calmed down it would be a good chance to talk through his issues and to reinforce that telekinetically flinging people and calling them demons was indeed a bad thing to do.

 

The unicorn saw that the scruffy man's -- Jowan's -- hands were covered in blood. When did that happen? He had not bled when he was at the gateway. "Bandages are on the top right cabinet, lower shelf--" Twilight shouted to the kitchen as she lowered a couple more chairs into place around the long table and pulling the tablecloth to rid it of wrinkles. The fruit bowl centerpiece (which was mostly filled with apples and bananas thanks to Pascal) she lifted for a moment to shove to the side, but then reconsidered her decision and set it back down onto the table.

 

Letting out a sigh of relief now that the seating was arranged and the room was presentable, Twilight trotted over to the kitchen to fetch a variety of teacups and mugs. "Lower shelf of the top right cabinet," she restated, opening the mentioned cabinet door with her magic. While she was there, she gave Jowan's injury another look. The small girl with the bright hair who helped her was there too, and seemed like she wanted to help, unlike Duke who was pretending he knew what he was doing.

 

"This will help us take a better look," she said, cracking open his handcuffs again. This time was a little easier even though she was starting to feel the exhaustion of continuously using magic -- perhaps the shackles were enchanted the first time around? For good measure, she broke the ones around his feet as well and swept the debris into the trash. "I'm sorry I had to chain you back up at the Gateway. Sometimes we get some dangerous people who take a while to calm themselves."

Edited October 9, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[Mikasa361]

~Lara~

 

“Right, right… Twilight. I saw her going to the dining room, presumably to clean up. I’m assuming it’s for newcomers, but I cannot be for certain.” Lara sighed. "I might try and help her once I've finished over here, depending on her orders." She allows a smirk to cross her face. "Perhaps if you finish before I do, however, you can help me look at the damage. Just a thought." Lara adjusted her fingerless gloves and glanced around the place a little bit. "I must say though, Stan, there is quite a bit of mess here."

 

~Evonna~

 

If you want answers, go to the castle.

 

Evonna certainly wanted answers. Where was she? Why was she not at school? Would she be able to find someone with another type of Branch if she needed to save herself somehow? She did not know, but she was afraid to find out. In her confusion, Evonna had forgotten that she wasn't anywhere near a branch holder. But for her own sake, she hoped she was good enough at wielding hers to cause some havoc if need be. Hell, even Thel would've been good company though, considering she was so unfamiliar with this place that it made her nothing short of anxious. Still, if she wanted to survive, she was going to need some help, wasn't she? She looked at the boy next to her. He seemed to be lacking significantly in height, compared to someone of her stature, anyway, and Evonna was intrigued by the way his golden bangs seemed to defy gravity. Why didn't his braid do the same? She supposed something had to be logical here, such as the fact that hair doesn't just float. She made her way over to him and tapped his left shoulder.

 

"Oi. Are you coming with me? We should go and get some answers, eh?"

 

~Edward~

 

"Oi. Are you coming with me? We should go and get some answers, eh?"

 

The words that came from a seemingly random female voice startled Edward. He whipped around and noticed her. Of course she's tall... He grinned at her anyway, though. "Yeah, we should. Come on, then." The two teenagers started waling towards the castle, straight into the main hall. Edward noticed a lot of things at once- the first thing being that there was a GIANT hole in the ceiling. Uhh... Okay...? Next, he noticed a scruffy looking older man with a metal arm (Hey, what do you know-) discussing some things with a tall, athletic-looking woman with guns. Jeez, I thought Hawkeye was intimidating... These two would either be best friends or want to shoot each other in the head. Hmph. He assumed that they knew where he and his new companion were supposed to go, and just standing there was not going to do much good. So, like the typical teenager he was, he addressed the man.

 

"Hey, old man! Do you know where we need to go? We're new here and are looking for some answers."

 

The hearty laugh from the woman was definitely a reassurance. He was a little worried that she would draw her guns. 

Edited October 12, 2017 by Mikasa361
C O D I N G

[skwerl56767]

   XDRS - To the Main Hall

 

   Fiddlesticks simply nodded obediently, curious if the black-haired human sounded wary because of her, or because he was simply that way. She then followed the two through the base, going down two flights of stairs before arriving to a familiar room: the main hall! Just as she planned! Except for some reason it was vacated...? Neither her target nor the other arrivals were in sight, and Typheus was also missing; instead, two unfamiliar humans were near the opposite wall, another approaching them, and one staying back by the entrance with a yellow alien and a machine?

   Her ears perked up in alarm. He wouldn't let her wander too far away without telling her his incentive, so why didn't he send a message? What happened? Why did that machine look so familiar?

   The black-haired one had let out a sigh upon seeing the hole she had escaped through, walking straight over to it for a closer look. She considered mentioning the invisible walls, but decided to say nothing in interest of seeing the human walk straight into an unseen object. Fortunately for her, staying quite kept her from looking like an idiot, but unfortunately there were no walls for him to walk into. So the Duke human had taken them down? Since when?

 

   Fiddlesticks switched her curiosity back onto the other inhuman strangers. She didn't recognize the yellow quadruped, but that machine... she both did and didn't recognize it. She withdrew into her mind, thinking. Maybe if she modeled it and place it into a simulation... made these parts move like so... then threw it through a building... It's missing a chunk, but if she duplicated it to fill that blank spot...

   It suddenly clicked. She knew that machine, because she had seen two of them before! Not those colors or that size, but it was the same design! Her memories of encountering them always had the wrong time but the right timestamps, and she chalked it up to just the humans' devices messing with her calculations, but she wasn't on a planet dominated by humans now (or at least, ones that knew what was going on); so how could that machine be there?

   For not the first time in her existence, she wished she could send transmissions through the air like Typheus. He needed to know there was one here, and staying for longer than twenty-three seconds!

 

   The Pusher model was so taken aback by the reveal that she ignored half of her escort's question, only realizing he was speaking by the end of it. She blinked and tore her gaze from the towering machine.

   "Um. Separated? Yes, I was separated," she repeated. Then she realized what he was referring to and said, "Oh, that! I don't know. Looks like someone was playing with a gun." She pretended to be curious about the hole's origin, "It's not burned though. Maybe it was what roared?" She then tried to look sheepish, looking at the ball bearing she was still carrying around. "I mean, I heard a roar... it scared me. So I ran. I lost the others, but I found the pellets. Pellets are nice."

[DuskOfTheStars]

Xker's ears pricked at the sounds of footsteps. The Volt turned to see Natsuki and Xander walk in, followed by a ... robot? Best hope Gladekeeper doesn't run into her too fast. I don't recognise her. Xander stepped forth and repaired the hole, before addressing everyone in the hall.

 

"Well, Xander. The lot of us in here know about as much about that hole as ya' do. Was hoping ya'd know somethin'." Xker glanced around. "Stan and I just returned from a mission, so I don't know who was in charge of the newcomers." Who am I kidding, Pascal and Cistina were too conveniently placed to not be with the welcomers. But they didn't come in the hall till after us. "At least, the newcomers that went through here, I guess. Think Pascal and Cistina mighta been with the welcomers, but they came in after us." The Volt sniffed the air, nigh-idly noting the scents of that magic Xander called along with the other smells in the room. Aer ears were pricked for any sound of more incoming bodies.

 

---

 

The ground rumbled. The greenhouse plwnts shook slightly. A draconic snarl. "What happened this time?" The Gladekeeper trotted out of the plants. Her antlered head turned. A vine pushed at the door. When it fauled to budge, several more vines joined the first. The door creaked open, and the dragoness set off.

 

~

 

As the green dragoness headed for the kitchen, she noted Twilight in the finibg hall setting up... tea? She mentslly snorted at how odd the customs surrounding tea were in Twilight's land. Then she caught the smell of blood. Fairly fresh - not enough to still be bleeding, but recently so. She turned towards the smell as unfamilar faces brushed by her, and stepped in past a small Bea- no, human? With pointed ears? No time to dwell on it. Duke seemed to have just been looking through a cabinet, and there was a newcomer. She caught the tail end of the conversation.

 

"I do have healing spells. And for the record, Duke is the only one of us I know of whose magic works that way." Her eyes had been surveying him as she spoke, and now that she saw the gash on his arm.... The dragoness eyed him. "Were you wanting that healed?" She silently readied to summon magic to either heal or defend.

Edited October 14, 2017 by DuskOfTheStars

[TehUltimateMage]

Stan - Main Hall > Making a smooth exit

 

"Considering the last time that tree dragon saw my metal bits she tried to strangle me with thorns, maybe yes, Badu would be an option -- but if you want my honest opinion neither of these two healers on deck sound very practical nor very pleasant, especially given the latter's primitive form of medicine. I'm fine, really," Stan insisted. Cistina could fetch the plague doctor if she wished. He just preferred the safe options of getting healed by the magical horse, recovering through some health tonics, or self medicating with a bandage and a couple drinks.

 

"And I must say," he echoed Lara's words, sticking out the tip of his tongue when she suggested he help with sweeping the debris, "That this report is going to take a pret-ty long time."

 

By this time the two kids seemed to have managed to find the castle without much problem. Old man....? Stan placed his good hand to his chest, over his heart. Old man... He recovered quickly from his stupor, as if nothing, absolutely nothing, had just transpired, despite how Lara found something so excessively funny that she couldn't stop laughing. "How nice of you to have caught up, after all this time," he turned and said to the kid in the red jacket. "Seems like Twilight's giving the explanation to the new kids in the dining hall over some tea and crumpets, if Little Miss British hasn't drank it all already."

 

He could feel the heat of her gaze sear into the back of his neck with the heat of a hundred white stars. This was perhaps a good time to move along. "Turns out I'm on my way there as well, so feel free to follow me," Stan quickly added, and with an attempted double-finger gun, slid backwards towards the side door like a champ.

 

"Hello, Xander," he greeted the other man as he passed him by near the stairway during his reverse-shuffle. He eyed suspiciously for a moment at the mean old robot standing behind them. Did the prince unintentionally pick up another pet? "Even if I was involved with punching an occulus to the third floor, I wouldn't openly admit it. But I have to sadly say that I was not here to witness whatever happened down here, and that's the truth! Also, gonna fill in paperwork for the mission when I get the chance, Nat. I think we have to raise the threat level of that world to at least a code orange, given that there were metal-benders literally trying to end us."

 

"Anyway, see you in a bit!" Doing a two-finger salute, Stan pushed through and disappeared beyond the door to the dining hall.

 

 

Edited October 14, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[Mikasa361]

~Lara~

 

A scowl crossed Lara’s face when Stan left. The bloody moron- Lara, it is not worth it. She resumed her usual neutral gaze and glanced the damage over again. She addressed the two newcomers as she did so. "I can assure you that I did not drink all of the tea. Anyways, you two go on and follow him if you want some answers." She then turned and walked toward Xander's direction. "Pleasure to see you here, Xander. I have to second Stan on this one, I had just walked in to this mess a couple of minutes ago. Yusei had asked me to assess the damage. Thank you for cleaning that up, though." She took another glance at where the giant hole in the ceiling used to be. It was now what it was the last time she found herself in this hall, which was... Er... Last night? She sleot so well that night... "Princess Twilight probably will refuse to let whoever did it- probably Duke, the troublemaker- live it down. Honestly, I do not blame her. I'm going to give Duke a piece of my mind the next time I see him..." 

 

~Evonna~

 

Evonna looked at her newfound partner. "Well? Let's go." 

 

The two tailed the older man and headed into the dining hall, ready to get some damned answers. 

Edited October 14, 2017 by Mikasa361
I did a dumb

[skwerl56767]

   XDRS - Main Hall

 

   Fiddlesticks watched with fascination as the armored human stepped up to the hole (she was still following out of obedience) and raised his hand up, as if halfway through a salute she had seen in an old Earth war film. There was a strange grinding sound, and the edges of the hole began to move and suck inward! First the framing and the stone oozed back into place, then the tiles stretched over it and separated back out into perfect squares. The patch was utterly seamless!
   How?! Is the place a non-Newtonian solid? Fiddlesticks wondered, The human wasn't touching it. Is he related to Duke? They both seem to have power over unexplainable substances. She studied the human as he spoke to the others in the room, keeping his temper very level. Sounds like Typheus.

 

   She looked up when she was addressed by the armored one. Oh good, questions. She always had difficulty refraining impulsive answers, so she deliberately hesitated before coming up with a decent excuse:
   "N-No..."
   Good job, Fiddlesticks. You were really convincing right then, her thoughts berated. She huffed and flattened her ears. Shut up! It took me off guard, all right? I know I'm not the best at this... Luckily she was saved by the yellow alien, who spoke up, the unaltered eye going from the patched spot to the armored human. He was addressed as "Xander", so that must be his name; and this was solidifed when the man with the mechanical arm began heading to the stairs behind them in an unusual manner, greeting Xander. Fiddlesticks kept her distance, not trusting what other capabilities the humans had, and listened in. Occulus? Mission?... Wait, Code Orange? METAL-BENDERS?!
   Her threads jumped into a panicked whirlwind. Was the world Zirhon? Was he just on Zirhon?! Metal-benders could be Maintenance models and other mechs and Code Oranges were carefully-watched Xinschi-uual who could be rebels and the rebels were trying to free the mechs and they could have mistaken the man for an IR enemy because they didn't know what humans were and that they were trying to help-!!

 

   Fiddlesticks's processing power jumped, and she began gasping out hot air, trying not to overheat. She was worried that the hollow sounds would make her escorts suspicious of her, but she was more concerned about Zirhon! The rebels there were the only friends she had left!
   Her complete shock made her lose the opportunity to catch the human and ask him about the planet, if the Empire had overwhelmed the rebellion at all, and he disappeared into the hall. She shot looks between Xander and the place he went, turrets held up insecurely and ears flattened. Should she catch him? Did she have to stay here? The woman in the room had spoken to Xander, but she had missed everything that was said. Was it okay to leave?
   I NEED to find Typheus! she thought in dismay, twitching. They have one of the Vanishing Machines and know about Zirhon!

[Kiran]

Anders [ Gateway ] [ DA:II ] 

 

One moment he was standing and the next he was lying on his back. 

 

Without thinking, he pushed himself into a sitting position. Instead of the blood-slicked stone that he expected, his hands touched soft grass and flowers. Confusion washed over him, and he tried to remember anything that could hint at what had happened. 

 

He was not in the Fade. A lifetime ago that would have been his first guess, but there were benefits to having a spirit in one's head. Things were far too solid, and Justice wasn't dragged to the forefront. At the memories that that line of thought brought up his hands curled tightly around the grass. There had been a reason that he was avoiding the place, despite how he- despite how Justice missed it. 

 

It wasn't Kirkwall, either. There wasn't enough grass there to feed a small goat, and the scent on the breeze was a pleasant mix of flowers and petrichor instead of salt, fish, and sewage. It was a nice change, admittedly. 

 

Knowing where he wasn't still didn't tell him where he was. "Just once I'd like things to go smoothly," he muttered.They had been fighting Meredith-

 

Blue flashed over his vision. Not now, she's dead, she can't hurt anyone anymore. The spirit backed down. 

 

They had killed Meredith, and then... nothing. Hawke had been bleeding and exhausted, but there had been a soft smile of victory on her face. Fenris had been scowling as usual and had been letting an arm hang awkwardly. While normally he wouldn't have wanted to subject his friend or any of his allies to Hawke's... questionable healing abilities, they'd be fine. No one needed him anymore, he'd made sure of that. There wasn't a person in Kirkwall that didn't have a reason to want him dead, but he hadn't noticed any warning that he was about to be attacked. An ambush, then? Had the others been attacked as well?

 

Eyes widening, he jumped to his feet, reached for his staff, and frantically looked around. This time when the blue filled his eyes he didn't try to stop it. It didn't matter if he ended up Maker-knows-where, but the others didn't deserve that. He didn't see any of them, just a staff-wielding human with strange hair and even stranger clothes. "Where are they?" they asked, voices layering over each other. They adopted a ready stance, but didn't attack or step forward. 

 

☙~~~❧

 

Natsuki [ Main Hall ] [ Original Work ]

 

Their eyes narrowed in suspicion, though they forced their face to relax when they noticed. Letting suspects know that they were suspects prematurely was a poor habit to get into. "I see." Despite her childlike demeanor, they had a hard time imagining Fiddlesticks as frightened by something. It was something about the weapons, sharp edges, and size. 

 

They winced as Xander fixed the hole in the ceiling. It certainly needed to be done sooner rather than later, and they should have been grateful for the seamless repair, but they felt like evidence was being wiped away. They reminded themself that there had to have been plenty of witnesses to the destruction and that they wouldn't have been able to get anything out of the pile of rubble anyway. Even the bloodstains were practically useless- they didn't have access to the antigens that would let them determine blood type. Besides, at least Xander was taking things seriously. Stan, in particular, didn't seem to be very bothered by the blood or ex-hole. Then again, no one was running around screaming, nothing was on fire, and they hadn't been stabbed or needed to tase anyone yet, so it was at least going better than when Nata had shown up. 

 

Fiddlesticks started to make noises as if she was breathing heavily (or like she was an overloaded desktop, for a more accurate comparison) and she looked frightened. Natsuki resisted the urge to reach for their gun once again and held up their hands in a placating gesture. They still didn't know if that was the correct way to communicate with the robot, but they didn't have any other options. A scared creature was a dangerous creature. "Is there something wrong?" they asked, voice low as if they were speaking to a spooked horse. 

[Pyrowings]

Light ~ Kitchen

 

"It's fine," Broody Jowen said after she spoke. "Some elfroot, too. And some clean clothes, if that's possible. I don't have any healing spells, but are you a mage? Please tell me that you don't have any dead people in your head." 

 

 "Absolutely no issue! The more the merrier. And we always appreciate medical aid -- speaking of which, here's our lovely leader now." 

 

Huh? They don't find it weird or bad that I intruded？ "Ah! Uh, um, no," Light answered Jowen, slightly confusedly. Then all of what he had just asked went to her head. "Er, yes, actually, that is, I'm a mage, but I don't know how to cast any healing spells. I can brew a potion but I don't have any ingredients on me, and I don't have anyone dead in my head." she then cocked her head. "So what's elfroot? Well, what can it do, really? Where would you find it?"

 

Twilight trotted up from arranging the room. "Lower shelf of the top right cabinet," she explained more clearly. Light scanned the room until she found the aforementioned cabinet, then opened the door so she could get some bandages.

.... At least that was her intention. Instead, it was a little too high for her to reach, and she only managed to wave her hand feebly at it. Alright then... Light grabbed her staff and tried to maneuver one of Cris's wings so it can catch on the knob.

As she was trying to do that, there was a rustling sound that made her turn around. Light's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Is that a dragon made out of trees? It seemed to give her a passing glance, but didn't seem too interested in her.

 

Cistina ~ Back to the Gateway, I guess

 

"Ah, that is a good point..." Cistina trailed off. And now Pascal was stuck by herself at the Gateway, without a Luma in case (just where were they when you needed one?) and she flew over for nothing. "I suppose there is no worry as long as you recover, Stan, Xker." 

 

Just as she was about to take into the air, Xander and Natsuki showed up with... Wasn't that one of the rob... Robe... Robots that was with the group initially? And Duke was again blamed for another incident in the building. Cistina thought back to how she used to get blamed for everything and shook her head... Though it was true both of them did do a lot of pranks and other shenanigans, getting blamed for things that had nothing to do with either was not right. 

The newcomers seemed to have arrived too (somehow), and Stan offered to lead them to Twilight as he went to report. Cistina turned towards the purple robot-wagon before she left and suggested:

 

"Mayhap you should join them? I should be returning to my post; It was a pleasure to meet you." That said, she bowed before she flew off.

 

This is one of the more interesting arrivals. Plenty of creatures I've never really seen before, though I suppose I would see more unique things if I wasn't so determined to head off on missions all the time. At that thought, Cistina frowned and looked up at the starry expanse above her. She couldn't hear anything from the goddess she was attuned to for months now. She had not found any trace of Valeria--Not just Valeria, but the entire world where she resided--since joining. And she tried again to call out.

... Goddess Hahnela? Are my sisters safe? Is the world... Safe?

...  

...

.... No response. Cistina's face fell and she looked back down. She was almost back at the Gateway. 

Edited October 21, 2017 by Pyrowings

[TehUltimateMage]

Pascal -- Gateway

 

" Wh҉ere ̸a̛r̨e t̀h͜e͡y̴?"

 

Pascal turned her head in response to the multitude of voices addressing her. Were they addressing her? Or talking amongst themselves? She still had her hands on the warp pad's controls, parsing the data the computer told her with the bits of information Stan and Xker had given. Though disappointed that she had to wait to take a look at no less than three mechas back at base, Twilight did make the right call for her to stay at the gate. That dimensional ripple just kept on giving, didn't it? Maybe that was proof that everything was going to go kablooie at an accelerated rate. Balancing her weight forward, Pascal swung her arms and got back onto her feet.

 

The strange man looked like he had his powers activated (though it was hard to say -- some people just looked all glowy like that permanently). His eyes shone with a bright blue light that seemed to leak from cracks on his face and over his skin. Pascal waved and deployed the usual introduction, despite the fact that the man looked dangerously unstable in the magic department. "Welcome to the Gateway planet! I'm Pascal and I have no idea who or where the they you're talking about is. But you've been pulled here because the universes have gotten all loopy and stuff and separated you from your world. It's a lot to take in but you're in luck, since me and my friends can help you out!"

 

And seeing a growing speck in the curved horizon, she put a hand over her eyes like a visor and added, "Here comes one of my friends right now!"

Edited October 22, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[skwerl56767]

   XDRS - Main Hall

 

   "Wrong?" Fiddlesticks echoed; as expected, the escorts became nervous. "No, nothing wrong. I'm fine," she lied, "I'm perfectly fine!" She shut her air intake with some heavy clunks, although it made her feel stifled and she still fidgeted. It had been so long since they were closed. Still though, she entertained Xander's offer; it was opportunity to assess their mechanics and see just how advanced these people were, but she also needed to find Typheus now. She could excuse herself, but she was already playing the part of a scared, lost child; it would be rather sudden for her to run off on her own again.
   Why was she never good at planning things...?
   She watched Xander as he spoke to the human beside him, annoyed at her own self-created impasse. She had no idea where Typheus or the others went, and visiting the mechanics would be wasting time spent relaying information to him. If there was a kind of terminal or messaging system, she might be able to tap into that, though in the back of her head she also remembered that she was running low on resources. Still, a maintenance visit could wait.

 

   So wait... this place was called a base, right? So theoretically some kind of security system should be installed?
   She pivoted and searched the ceiling corner for any cameras, or anything resembling a lens or device, but found it to be largely decorative; if there were any cameras, they were well-hidden. If she tapped into such a system though she would not only learn much more about the base, but also find her partner! While she was at it she should search for a meat locker, or a drill, or an armory, or something of the sort that she could replenish her supplies at. Because of her position though she would have to ask for a panel to hack into, and for them to allow that she had to appeal to their good will...
   Fiddlesticks was starting to feel a bit overheated, but ignored it and kept her intake closed. "So, um," she started a bit awkwardly on purpose, "Do you have a nerve center? Cameras? Something I could use to find food?" She tried to word it so they would focus on the question of a system rather than consumables. "I haven't eaten in thirty... I mean, in a while."

[Kiran]

Jowan [ XDREs Base, Kitchen ] [ Dragon Age: Origins ]

 

"Right," he said, somewhat dubious. To be fair, he hadn't been particularly polite or calm at the Gateway. Still, maybe someone should inform Twilight that chaining someone up wasn't the best way to calm someone down, or that if she wanted to keep a mage from doing harm magebane or Smite would work better. "Thank you," he said belatedly. Whatever had happened before, the chains were gone now, and for that he was thankful. 

 

"No, that's quite alright," he said, watching the dragon warily. Normally, he would have been quite glad to have a cut healed, but the way that the creature was watching him gave him goosebumps. She seemed to almost be made of wood and leaves, like some form of sylvan twisted into an almost drake-like shape. No, there was no point in attempting to classify anyone he met like that. Sylvan or not, though, her glowing eyes seemed to pierce through him. It was quite eerie, and he was okay with a bit of extra pain and inconvenience if it meant that she'd stay away. That, and if Duke's reaction was any indication he didn't trust her either. 

 

It was too bad that Light didn't know any healing spells, but Jowan really wasn't one to talk when he didn't know any either. It was also a plus that she didn't have any dead people in her head; Duke was bad enough. "That's fine. I appreciate your help even so." He faltered a bit when she asked him to explain about elfroot. That, as much as everything else, proved that she wasn't from his world. Everyone had some idea about the healing powers of elfroot, even if they didn't know how to use it properly. "It's a healing herb. It treats all sorts of issues, though it's best used in potions. It's practically everywhere back- back where I come from, but I suppose there isn't any here." He rolled up his bloodied sleeve and poked at the wound, gritting his teeth. The bleeding had slowed, but they would need to clean the blood away to bandage the wound properly. Stitches would also be necessary to avoid a nasty scar; the edges were far too jagged to heal together naturally. It wasn't the first time that he'd had to stitch up one of his own cuts, and though the experience wasn't pleasant it would work out. 

 

Wiping some of the blood away from the edge of the cut, he froze. There weren't many, but a few scars decorated his wrist. Whatever their assumption was, he didn't particularly want to have a conversation with anyone about them. "It's not so bad," he said with a bit of false cheer. Hopefully no one noticed. "I'll just bandage it up now to stop the bleeding and stitch it up properly later. We don't want to be late for the tea party." He took the bandages from Light, gave a nod of thanks, and started wrapping up the wound before anyone could protest. 

 

☙~~~❧

 

Anders [ Gateway ]

 

They paused. It was unusual for mortals to react with cheer and reason when confronted with Justice. She spoke, and though her words made little sense they betrayed neither hostility nor obvious deception.

 

Stop. She is a mage. 

 

That was true. The staff that the mortal held was clearly just that, and she carried it with the sort of practiced ease that suggested it was her own. Were she telling the truth, there was no reason for conflict. Lying was something that Justice had little experience with, but Anders suggested that Pascal was likely telling the truth. He was nothing like Varric, who seemed able to detect falsehoods as easily as he spun them, but even so Justice was tempted to trust his judgment. Was not a mage that didn't shy away from spirits likely to be an ally? What reason would an ally have to deceive them? 

 

Glowing is not helping our diplomatic prospects, you know. 

 

Justice ignored him, though his anger was fading. They needed answers. He angled their head to look in the direction that Pascal had indicated, only lifting a hand to block the sun when Anders complained. The 'friend' was not, as they had expected, traveling along the ground. Another oddity. Pascal was still the priority; he turned their head to look at her and moved the hand to grip the staff again. "Explain. Why are we here?"

Edited October 26, 2017 by Zor