Idle Notes in the Air [OTA, with some closed prompts]

[long_live_the_queen]

Who: Kaede and you!
When: All of June! Mostly before the 17th unless stated otherwise
Where: Mostly in the city, with a few field trips outside
What: Catch all for June!
Warnings: Language, Kaede in general, violence against fish?? Will update as necessary


I-A. Entertainment District

[Now that Kaede felt less like death, she could better explore this place. Her burns had been quick things to heal, her head hadn't experienced any repeats of that spontaneous horn growth, and she didn't need to stop and sit down after twenty steps. And! The people here didn't seem so prickly about another Monster in their midst. Unlike certain residents across the road from Haven.

The decorations for the next festival were already going up—how many of those did this world have? A half-finished tangle of wreaths and ribbon arched all the way down the street where buskers played and gaming houses had their doors propped open to take advantage of any cooling breezes. The latter Kaede had no interest in and walked past, but sometimes she stopped to look up at an unfinished display or listen to a musician. She wasn't very tall, but her antlers were becoming rather obvious now. Nevermind her usual tendency to stand in the middle of where people wanted to go, not unlike a cat.]

I-B. Breaking and Entering...?

[Of course, she'd found the run-down, closed up theaters soon enough. The "do not enter" signs made them immediately interesting. And she still got tired of bright colors and music and people eventually, even though a number of the latter seemed to be avoiding her and unintentionally giving Kaede all the space she liked.

There seemed to be markedly fewer people in these specific areas, but enough that the horned girl paced casually (suspiciously) in front of one of the gates and chained up doors instead of trying to force her way in. Getting into places with a modicum of discretion represented a bit of a problem now. So Kaede padded about and studied unsuspecting things, like how tall the walls were, how rickety the eaves were, how rusted the chains.]

II-A. Fetch

[Lilies? She liked lilies. The pompous snot who'd written that request, not so much. And there was nothing in that demand saying she couldn't bring any home with her. So Kaede had...acquired a basket on its last legs that was frayed and stained, something that wouldn't mind getting dirt and roots on it.

She was the first to stop when she heard buzzing, though. Kaede liked lilies, but beestings, not so much. Just charging on ahead seemed like a bad idea.]

Do we have to get rid of all the bees first?

[After all, the bees were just minding their own business. They'd be taking away some of the bees' food sources, that seemed rude.]

II-B. I don't have a clever title for the fishing minigame

[She'd heard someone approaching some time ago, but hadn't stopped frowning at the water like its existence was offensive. It was crystal clear, all the way down—showing off all the holes in the banks where the easily-accessed deposits of crystal sand had been scooped out already. There was much more of the stuff shining further down on the lakebed, but the water's clarity also showed just how many fish were down there too.

One, quite dead, lay near her shoes on the bank; clawmarks had torn into its belly, and there was a bite mark on Kaede's bare ankle, completing that bit of environmental storytelling.

Eventually, her horned head turned just a little—still keeping the water's mockingly calm surface in view.]

Can you swim?

Wildcard.

[For things that don't fit into the above, or things we've planned out beforehand! My plurk is blueraven and Kaede's plotting comment is here!]

Comments

[complementing]

[Minako grimaces and sets her pencil down. Not that she hates spiders normally-- if she finds one she tries her best to catch it and release it outside. But this is a giant spider, and so there's a very real instinct to run instead. She doesn't want to see its mandibles...or its hairy legs...ugh. Ugh. And what about all those alien movies she used to watch with Junpei? The ones where people got caught and cocooned in webs and hung from ceilings to be eaten later?! She doesn't want to end up like that...]

Oh my god, is it coming closer?

[Minako slowly inches closer to Kaede to meet her halfway.]

I don't think it'll attack us, but we shouldn't provoke it, Kaede.

[long_live_the_queen]

[That noise Kaede made wasn't quite a sound--more like a rumble, and more felt than heard. She didn't particularly like or dislike spiders. But it was distressing the human who'd bothered to drink that tincture with her, so it was something something she kept putting herself between herself and the human.

The rumbling stopped when the other girl touched her side, and Kaede glanced backwards with a blink. Instead of a growl, she just made an 'er' noise.]

I...guess.

[Movement caught her eye, and the chimera's head snapped back to the front. The oversized spider had hopped onto a nearby tree trunk, still peering curiously at them. Could it make that jump over there, perhaps...?]

[complementing]

[Now that the spider is more visible in the light, Minako's suspicions are confirmed. It's huge, it's hairy, and it looks like it's from a horror movie. But it's acting like a normal spider, and somehow that makes it easier for her to deal with this whole situation.

And she still needs to take notes, so she reaches for her paper and pencil again. Can't let this chance to see it up close go to waste, even if she doesn't want to look at it...ughhhh.]

Do you think you can keep it staying in place for a little bit? I need like...five minutes to finish this sketch.

[long_live_the_queen]

[The spider perked up a little when it saw Minako move, and Kaede made a sound like the hiss of water against hot metal.]

I can tr--

[The spider had made its decision. Raising its forelegs marginally off the tree bark was its only warning--

--before it jumped. The Monster moved before her brain caught up, putting herself squarely between the Witch and it.

Kaede normally wasn't bothered by spiders. That ambivalence ended when they were on her fucking face. With a shout that was bitten off halfway, Kaede recoiled and raised her clawed hands to swat as the spider did its very best not to get itself dislodged from its suddenly very mobile landing pad.]

[complementing]

[This is it, this is the worst timeline. Minako barely manages to suppress a scream as she scrambles away from the writhing tangle of Monster and spider, turning up lantern light on so she can see exactly what's going on.]

Oh crap, hang on, I'll-- I'll um--

[Barrier! Barrier magic! Minako reaches out and clenches her fingers into a fist, and her shimmering red barrier forms in front of it.]

Hang on, I'm gonna try and flick it off!

[She sets the barrier under one of the spider's legs and tries to lever it off of Kaede, hoping to unbalance the overgrown bug.]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The increase in light blinded her, which was a good and a bad thing. Good, because now Kaede didn't have to deal with the disconcerting image of seeing her own furious scowl reflected back in the spider's eyes inches from her face. Bad, because now Kaede was mostly just blindly flailing now.

She caught a glimmer of something red in the too-bright, eye-watering world. At first, she struck at it too.

But--Minako's voice, shaking and alarmed, stayed her hand. That was Minako's spell? Hopefully?

The spider decided it Did Not Like where it had landed, no sir. It moved far too much and had noisy opinions. But--oh, how convenient, there was something else to stand on! It started clambering onto the barrier instead, halfway onto it and still with some of its feet clinging to Kaede.]

[complementing]

[TOO CLOSE is what Minako's internal screaming is sounding like right now, but this is somewhat objectively good. It means the spider is closer to her, which means it's closer to her legs. And Minako uses these legs for kicking.

With a mighty tug, Minako brings her shield towards her, dragging the spider with it-- and then the shield dematerializes, leaving no barrier between them. With a quick turn to give her momentum, she shoves the spider away from them with her foot. Gently as possible, because she doesn't want to hurt it, but with plenty of force, because it is a huge spider and she wants it to go away, as soon as possible.]

Sorry, Mister Spider!

[long_live_the_queen]

[The tug pulled Kaede off balance too, and with nothing to catch her anymore she toppled backwards, back curving to soften her landing. A bit. A shock went through her back when she landed, and the rest of her roll turned into more of a graceless flop.

But--but! There were no longer any pointy disconcertingly fuzzy feet trying to grapple onto her face and shoulders. The shove hurled the spider away a considerable distance--it scurried away into the dark as soon as the first of its feet touched the ground. Mission...accomplished?

The owl had stopped calling, and it'd take some time for the forest animals to forget the sounds of the scuffle, though it hadn't been too loud. And Kaede was flat on her back on the moss, eyes pinched shut.]

...is it gone?

[complementing]

Yup.

[Minako sighs out in exhaustion, flopping eagle-spread out onto the grass.]

Definitely gonna have nightmares of that later. Geez. [And they aren't even done with the quest yet...she still needs to finish the drawing, and then they have all the other animals in the area to work on, creepy-crawly or no. But maybe they can take a break first. She turns to Lucy's direction and squints, slightly concerned.]

You okay? It didn't bite you, did it?

[long_live_the_queen]

No. At least I don't think so.

[Kaede would like to think she'd have noticed if a spider that big bit her. She felt fine and like she had zero puncture wounds, though she still kept her eyes tightly shut.]

Can you turn the light down?