middaeg | Intro Overflow: May

[cont from here]

Okay, hold up. You're saying you could fly before, but it's not the same as how you're doing it now?? [ She leans forward, keenly interested. It's a little offputting, probably. ] Tell me more!

[cont from here]

[ Entrapta laughs, nasally, equal parts delighted and awkward. ]

Yeah, this is great! Back home my, friends, [ Scorpia said they're friends, so they are, right? Yes, they must be; Catra said she belonged there and everything, ] are, mmm, well, they're interested, but I don't think they really get it. Which, I mean, that's fine, normally when people don't get it they get mad at me, but... I kind of never get to just talk about this stuff!

[ Something occurs to her, and she perks up, looking back at him; her eyes have been wandering a little as she's talked. ] Say, do you wanna help me research the magic here later, when I've figured this thing out? [ She means the watch, but the gesture she was going to make to it was with her hair, so nothing happens. ] We could – compare notes!

[ Cain had something cutting on his tongue, and held it back, thinking of Io and Corsair. The healer-cat.

People with magic. Fighters. Leaders, often. Made the back of his neck itch, if he thought too much about it, like he was being watched. What followed after, he liked even less. ]

You fucking kidding me? Faithful efforts? All those magic witches in the Coven are fighting that goddamn darkness, and suddenly a tiny army lands in their lap, and you think they're gonna work real hard and faithful to send us home?

You serious? What the fuck would you do, you get a surprise army with all the skills to fight and half willing to do it?

What do you mean by 'your kind'? [He's noticed, of course, that she looks different, but honestly? He's seen so much weird stuff in the last 24 hours that he's just trying to take things as they come. Eventually you get overloaded with weird and don't bother bringing things up unless the other person brings them up first.

Toothless, to his credit, doesn't immediately bare his teeth, although his green eyes have narrowed to reptilian slits, and his center of balance shifts, so that his front half is crouching. His gaze keeps flicking from Hiccup to Peridot.]

Oh, that's- that's not how you want to approach a dragon. You have to let him come to you. [He moves over to her side and motions for her to straighten up, then holds his hand out, palm flat.] Hold your hand out to him, like this. You have to earn his acceptance, he's the alpha.

[It's a harmless enough request. After fiddling with the back trying to get at the insides of it, Hiccup finally shrugs and hands it over, turning the backplate over in his other hand to study its shape and construction.] Sure. Maybe you can figure out how to open it.

Hm, the back plate came off easily, I bet I could replace it with a custom one...

[That is true. They both need to make good impressions on the townsfolk here, probably, considering their... companions. At least the evidence of the crime is being destroyed - or at least played with by a couple of creatures.

Toothless hops on all fours like a cat, tail swishing excitedly as he yanks at the other end of the banner, the sound he makes a playful rumble in the back of his throat.] At least someone's having fun around here. [Hiccup comments dryly.]

You had magic before? I never did. It, uh, it's not real where I come from. [Despite the dragon. Who isn't actually magic, just a very large species of lizard.] Does it feel different here?

[The People need him. When they cease to, he will face at last his long-awaited judgement. He walks to a sombre dirge, a funeral march.

He turns his eyes to meet hers, guarded and examining in turn.]

As you say, Nel.

[Hardly a request that inspires trust. It’s advantageous, true. He does not want to speak of the worlds he’s left behind – but that owes to the fact he has much to hide. If regards it with suspicion, it’s because he recognises there are aspects of her similar to him. And he is, in fact, abominable and dangerous.

If her secrets prove abominable, if her drive proves dangerous to any of the worlds in the future… he would need to act to stop it. It would be his responsibility. But, equally. If she is a danger, but one he yet needs to achieve his own ends – if he must sacrifice another world (her world, this world, the world he has come from) to restore his own – he is prepared to avert his eyes. That would be his responsibility, as well.

But maybe – he drops his gaze, swivels his staff around in his hand – maybe there needn’t be any sacrifices at all. He knew every alternative to be worse, but that was before he stepped through the mirror. Maybe -]

If all we know has been upended then - [he breathes in, with a pained look. He is so tired of committing himself to false hopes.] - then perhaps that will yet be for the better. The world has been reversed, and in that lies new potential. [new growth, new hope.] We should try to find it.

Oh. Right. He'd forgotten all about his ears and tail for the last few minutes apparently. Coming through a mirror, losing your powers, sitting through lectures, and learning how to use technology can take a lot out of you. Right? That has to be it.

"I've never met anyone that looks like me either." His ears flick as he glances up. It's not a lie—he can think of two people in similar situations to him, but they don't look like him. "So we're both out of luck if we want to guess what I am."

'Former monster' doesn't feel quite specific enough somehow, he thinks.

[Toothless pretty much goes where he's directed, at the pace he pleases, and people move out of the way naturally. He only bares his teeth in a growl once, when someone gets shoved toward their little party, but nothing comes of it. Out in the hallway, it's quieter, most of the activity confined to the room of mirrors, and Toothless sits back on his haunches, letting Hiccup curl an arm around him in a brief hug.

Here, at least, he can wrestle his helmet into the saddlebag, scrubbing a hand through his messy helmet-hair. When L asks that question, he pauses, thoughtful, glancing back toward the door they just left through. He seems to be having similar thoughts, because he answers with a pointed question.]

Which mirror was decorated?

[Continued from here.]

Ah- Have we...?

[The other had an appearance that he wouldn't easily forget. Their height in particular was something memorable, since there weren't many people who could hit impressive statures unless they had other blood in them.

So surely-]

Oh! Yes. I wouldn't have thought that dream to be real. [Not because he thinks the other isn't real, but it was a dream and you don't typically come face to face with people you met in a dream.]

Well, I'm certainly glad to see you're doing well.

[Continued from here.]

[The zouwu seems to not care about Petrana at the moment, but is purring in a pleased manner as the brooms sweep its tail and paws. Apparently, the large cat found the attention to be an enjoyable feel and he lets out a low rumble.

Once in awhile, its long, sweeping tail knocks the brooms over. This doesn't seem to deter the animated objects at all.

Newt, on the other hand, stiffens a bit when she speaks to him.] Thi- oh, him. Yes, sorry. He's a zouwu. They're large creatures that are native to the Far East. He seemingly arrived with me here, so I suppose it's unlikely you'll find more of his kind here. [He's already getting the feeling that the world they're in is far from the Earth he's accustomed to.]

[Continued from here.]

[Newt seems to be more worried about checking her well-being than worrying too much about being in such a new and foreign place, honestly. He does listen to her speak while he makes sure she might not have any other noticeable injuries.]

You wouldn't be the only one, which is probably far from a comforting statement.

[He holds his index fingers up and moves his hands from side to side.] Sorry- Can your eyes follow my fingers for a moment? [He's really just more concerned about her.] I think we'll have time to figure out where we are, so best to make sure you're well and get to that later.

Let us see what we can find by working in tandem.

[He smiles again, and follows.

He could hardly forget Francel is not one of his people, but he still can freely see the men of Ishgard as a kind of mirror. A distant one, but so too are the elves of his own world. That Francel towers over him by several feet is unimportant – a body is non-defining. What is important, and natural, is that sense of shared spirit. United by a common purpose, that feeling is redoubled – they are fellow elves, and fellow researchers.]

It is. There must be immense power involved in order to strip someone of their natural magic. I'm practically made of the stuff, so...

[Mikleo's eyes follow his gaze. He's quiet for a moment.]

I don't know, but I can tell you there's something going on beneath the surface here that no one's explained yet. The beast people were separated from the humans at the bonfires when I stopped by...

That doesn't happen just because of some fancy teeth and a new patch of fur.

[Honestly, the most shocked will probably be the niffler himself. He probably won't know what to do about the limitations and still try to stuff himself with whatever his grubby hands can get ahold of.

At least Newt doesn't have to worry too much about the little guy trying to nab everything.] Most creatures tend to be on the friendlier side towards me, so I can't say this isn't the norm for me either. [He just has a natural affinity to beasts. Newt pats Greg's cheek affectionately. The large cat is staring at the other carefully and hisses a bit when they extend their hand out.] He'll warm up with more socializing. He was a bit panicked when we arrived, so I think he's having trouble acclimating.

They weren't too bad. Just areas were raw from where the chains may had been cutting into him based on the observation I made of them.

A strong enough cage and magic makes for trapping even the strongest beast easy pickings sometimes. Of course, there's a few creatures that would be difficult to incapacitate without numbers, but zouwus aren't really known for being dangerous or resistant to magic.

[Haillenarte ends up being the thing that snags the edge of memory. He hasn't travelled to Coerthas much- perhaps an oversight, but there were duties elsewhere. Still- he believes he remembers the Warrior mentioning him, at least once, and it's enough his smile settles a little more.]

Francel, then. It seems strange that this should be our first proper meeting, but I still find myself glad of it. Would you care to sit with me?

If you've got support from friends, it doesn't feel so overwhelming. [He puts his hands behind his head, flat on his back on the mattress and staring up at the ceiling. This kind of talk always makes him think of Stoick the Vast, who seemed to be the greatest viking who ever lived, and still had his friend at his side to help him and offer advice. He knows how important Gobber was to his father, and Hiccup himself doesn't know what he would do without his riders, without his mom, without Gobber. Without Astrid.] Leadership is- you know, it's never easy. [Which is honestly putting it lightly, but he feels wholly unqualified to talk on this subject. He's still finding his footing as chief, after all.] But you always have your people behind you.

I'm sure he does better with you. I'm no born leader either, I'm still... figuring things out. But I'm better with Astrid. [He blows out a quiet breath.] You're probably better at it than you think.

"Yeah, I don't know how it works, but it seems like we can only distinguish our own mirrors." He and L had talked about this when they first arrived, how odd it was. His attention is swiftly caught by the smartphone in the kid's hand, though, because- yeah he's never seen anything like that. It reminds him a little of the watches, but still even more technological. "Woah. What is that? How did you get a picture on it? It's blurry but it's still- wow."

((original here))

((continued from here))

They don't think to care and don't care to think, [ Lex agrees with a thoughtful hum. It may not necessarily be true of all of them, in this world or any other, but there are enough like that. Even in the wastes, there was always someone who didn't care about sharing what they had with someone suffering.

This, though - this was public. Open. There were the segregated bathing areas, but that had been openly admitted as something to be improved upon, back at the Coven. It was... interesting. Strange, and wasteful, and Lex wanted to know more about it. ]

Neither have I. I've read things, heard stories that this is how it used to be back home, but never seen it.

[ Just the number of people who had come through the mirrors was easily the population of some of the biggest settlements, if not larger. It was overwhelming, all of it was - the sights, the sounds, the smells. But the baths, at least, were soothing - and so was Dogmeat. ]

Yeah, he did. Makes me feel a little bit better about all of this. [ She clicks her tongue and Dogmeat paddles over, Lex reaching up to rub his head before he paddles past. ]

Edited 2019-05-14 14:31 (UTC)

( ORIGINAL )

Edited 2019-05-14 14:44 (UTC)

((continued from here))

None of it's magic, back home, but I can definitely stay on the lookout for weird symptoms.

[ Lex is an odd mix of tan and pale, in comparison. There are parts of her that have never seen the sun, and then there's the tan of her hands and her face, the lines where clothing or armor had pulled and revealed skin. Luckily the magic brooms had done their job, or else there would have been plenty of dust and blood in the pool, too. ]

No one's done it regularly for two hundred years, back home. [ She shrugs. ] I figure whatever we find here... some of it will be familiar and some of it is going to be brand new to all of us.

Dogmeat is definitely fast enough to keep up, and Lex- well, Lex moves a bit awkwardly for now in the robes and with her backpack. She's used to having to be fast, at least, so she catches up shortly before Yako stops at the stall. The girl really was hungry.

"So... what're you thinking?" Because in just looking at what's offered, Lex has no idea.

Yeah, sure, of course that's what I wanted.

[Zack didn't drag both their asses halfway across a continent to give up that freedom he fought so much for. This isn't home but he supposes there's truth to the freedom they've somehow gained here.]

Don't you remember? We were gonna be mercenaries together. We were gonna pick up any odd job and live off those hard earned stacks of gil.

[He laughs casually as he runs a hand through his dark hair. Maybe Cloud was too sick to remember the conversation. He did always go in and out of the moment because of the mako-addiction.]

Thought it'd be nice to stick together because of that. You too grown up now, Cloud? [A small teasing grin.]

Edited 2019-05-14 15:31 (UTC)

Big, bipedal reptile about ten feet tall with foot-long claws. They're smart, agile, and aggressive. [ Lex has more than her share of scars from them, but she's one of the lucky ones. She killed them before they killed her.

Both Lex and Dogmeat look at Toothless a moment longer before looking back to Hiccup. ] Yeah, Dogmeat's the same. He's saved my life more than once back home. I'm not sure how he went through the mirror with me, but he did.

Intro Overflow: May

Astral

Solas

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Peridot

Clark

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fun fact 'no' was his username in the last game he was in

L

Francel

Petrana

Alex

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Steven

the lone wanderer "lex" | fallout 3 | ota

rey

eren jaeger (attack on titan) 💥 still ota!

lady maria

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