dalvics:

He paused for a moment, watching the other for a bit with hesitation. He came here at a bad time, it seemed; though he had no say in the matter and that was already beginning to be an understatement.

Of a few things he was certain. First, this man was at the very least vaguely human-shaped, and not a ghost of any type he knew. He and Danny were the only half-ghosts he knew of and there was a particularly convoluted process that involved whatever Jack Fenton got his grimy paws on, so he probably wasn’t like him. Second, while not ethereal in nature he most certainly was using a scythe for some god-forsaken reason. The only people that used scythes were either all about the aesthetic or relying on something supernatural. Three; those were certainly monsters, though they didn’t look like ghosts, either.

He strode a tad closer to the other man, flipping hands nonchalantly in a shrug. “My apologies, I can’t simply tell a cab where to go when I don’t know where I’m going myself, can I?” He couldn’t get too close; though, the creatures about were being particularly protective about their target. He could feel eyes on him, but no moves to attack yet. Blast, he really was out here, without any use of his powers and caught in the middle of a standoff with a bunch of feral beasts. 

“Pray tell, just what are you dealing with here?” his volume raised, and a few of the beasts turned to come for him, and once they took the bait he….vanished.

Interesting, something still worked here. A couple of them ran into each other and the ensuing pile-up Vlad used to his advantage, sneaking past them and, a couple moments later, reappearing next to Ardyn, hands on his hips.

“I’m not quite familiar with any beasts of these sort,” his tone was faux-curious, his entire statement dripping with half truth. He genuinely was interested but he was trying to play naive here, damnit.

“My good man, if I knew what the hell these things were, do you truly believe I would be wasting my damn time with this riffraff?”

Gods above. This day ha begun bad, turned sour, and had now reached completely and utterly detestable. It wasn’t like these things were hard to fight off; they were actually of middling strength. But their strength came from their numbers, and even though his trusty old weapon was at his side, it was more meant for something a little more precise than a brawl like this.

“Well, are you just going to stand there doing noth--”

He narrowed his eyes when the other man vanished and reappeared. Had that been a warp? But no, a warp, even a weak one, would have left some sort of afterimage or magical residue. This hadn’t been anything like that, so the possibility that this was one distant relative he did not remember was already out of the picture. This place was certainly odd. But Ardyn only shook his head.

“I suppose you can grow roots here.” With that, he rushed forwards, a strike sending several of these creatures flying. “Because as fun as this might grow to be, I’m not quite trying to die here. So keep up, or get lost.”

He dashed down the street with that.

There were several things he could have done, all things considered. He could’ve just legged it, jogging away - these things did not look fast. On the other hand, he was carrying extra weight. The other option would have been warping, but second verse, same as the last - too much sudden weight, and he had no way of telling if he wouldn’t be going right back into danger’s loving embrace.

He could’ve tried diplomacy. Which would have failed, and he knew it would have. So, in the end, with his suddenly returned-to-him scythe, Ardyn instead took a battle stance. It felt kind of sluggish without the proper powers associated with being the Accursed and all, but at least it gave him more of a leverage than a wooden sword. Whatever these creatures were, he could mow them down and perhaps do what that annoying robot suggested.

Except that the first creature he sent flying hit a car. That vehicle had come absolutely out of nowhere, and Ardyn stared at it for a moment as it swerved, crashed, and whoever was inside likely met their unfortunate end. He had other things to worry about, after all! Such as that next phantasm that prepared to jump at him. Alas, both he and these things froze for a moment when a decidedly less than pleased voice rung across the street.

Before he could think of a reply, those four other shades of a sort crowded around him, forcing him backwards and into a wall. He managed to barely shove them off before he lost a limb or anything vital, and ran them through with his scythe. Unfortunately, another jumped from a roof nearby, and Ardyn had to readjust himself.

“My apologies, but I’m rather preoccupied, grabbed by the belt if you will! I would rather not lose my head over something like staring into the headlights of the oncoming traffic I had no idea was still happening!”

Being taken into unusual worlds that also seemed like hellscapes borne of someone’s nightmares wasn’t particularly new. Under those circumstances, however, he was actually, you know, not human.

He was certainly human here. He tried shifting; nothing. It seemed as though he was on the outskirts of a city; the absolute havoc sure was new. Not completely foreign–but new. A car pulled up in the midst of this, calm as ever, offering a ride. He accepted the ride; this was better than walking in these conditions. 

The driver was silent; Vlad minded not. The driver seemed rather barely there, quite literally. He would’ve been able to tell if there was a ghost here, wouldn’t he? He kept his eyes fixed on the dashboard mirror, staring at his driver. Realizing he didn’t want to be caught up in more conversation about how he was staring, he shifted his gaze to the road and–

The car swerved, crashing, god knows what happening to the driver, an unintelligible mass in the windshield and glass littered across the gap between the front seats. Vlad got out with a start, looking around to see what would be the cause of the commotion. Whatever rammed into the windshield wasn’t human, but there was certainly a human shaped-something in black a ways out. 

“That could’ve killed me! I wasn’t even wearing a seatbelt!” 

@stellaplaga

Some people had an aura of some sort. The aura in question being “annoying teenage and/or young adult protagonist”. This kid oozed it. Not that he cared about it that much while decidedly standing in the shadows and glaring at the sun. It took him a certain amount of willpower to hold back the urge to burst into loud laughter when he was asked if he felt hot in hs clothes - feeling things, how hilarious!

Still, he only shrugged. No weird laughter from him at this time.

“And why’s that concern you? For all you know, I could be from a desert where everyone dresses like this.”

He made a point in crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow as he looked at this... kid, for a lack of better words. After a few moments of silence, he rolled his eyes and grinned.

“Besides, shouldn’t I be asking if you feel warm? Black clothing in the sun is so delightfully unfitting.”

@stellaplaga

Why was today feeling like one of the hottest days? Back on the island, it would be a great time to take a jump in the ocean to cool off, but in this place, that didn’t seem to be the case. Maybe every world should have their own beach or pool. If there is something like that here, then Sora had yet to come across it. After all, this world is huge! Though the hole in the center of it all makes it a bit of a pain to travel across one place to the next. Well, beggars can’t be choosers as they say.

Though speaking of hot, there is no way that man across the street is feeling alright with all that clothe he has on. He hope he was just out to buy some appropriate clothe for this kind of weather. Of course, Sora would not hesitate to approach the other and ask him directly.

“I don’t mean to poke my nose in someone’s business, but aren’t you hot under all that. You must be boiling under all that.” Yet even as he manage to get a few words out… something didn’t seem to sit right with this guy. The thought was pushed to the back of his mind for now, and could only hope that it was just a misunderstanding.

im not dead, ive been having. uh. issues. said issues kinda look like this on average:

long story short, my fucking laptop started playing a game called “disconnect from the internet randomly, and completely lock everything up, forcing a hard reset” for the last. week or two.

did you know consistently having to restore a document with almost 200,000 words and almost 1.1 million characters is extremely unfun? so is losing replies which is why i havent even. attempted. it for the past few days.

There were patient and sun-loving people - and there was Ardyn Izunia. He was glaring at the beach, shielding his eyes from the sun, and instead of standing with the group he instead chose to stand in a shadow somewhere. He might not look like the creature of the night that scriptures paint him as, but that didn’t have to mean he enjoyed the sun. The fact that he still wasn’t used to it after nearly 10 years of eternal night completely notwithstanding.

“Well, you kids be good now. I’d rather not do such vulgar work.”

He gestured vaguely, hissed at the sun some more, and decidedly started sulking.

The Unlikely Bunch

sceress:

scress || @shockinglyplain || @stellaplaga || @forewarnedfate 

Serah agreed with the other with a nod, “Good idea. We should start off, over here.” She points at the map that is furthest in the area, the very same spot that Chat had mentioned,  but still within the zone. She didn’t know what would happen if one would venture too far into the fog, but she didn’t want to find out. “From there, maybe we can work our way toward the beach. I’m also sure there’d be some located in high places. Those places, I may be able to do.” She gives all three of them a glance, “Should we get a move on, then?”

With that, she begins to get a move on, already heading toward the door to get started on this challenge. 

After a while the quartet arrived at the beach, waves slowly creeping up from the sand as the tide came in. “Oh my gosh its so pretty!!” Aniya exclaimed as she saw the seaside bouncing on the soles of her feet as she spoke. It was clear she wanted to explore but reigned herself in as the beacons were the most important thing at the moment. ‘This seems like the perfect place to put a beacon! But I’m not so sure that I want to fire it…it seems kinda scary to do.” A frown appears on her face.

lordspeaker:

he is hardly interested in interrogating this strange man for answers… at least, not that he would admit. there is a small part of him, however, that had been hoping the other would finish his truncated thought, if only to glean some understanding of… anything about him.

yet it seemed it would not be so.

“there are many in our situation who would find the displacement a blessing,” he muses aloud. “yet it seems you do not.”

an observation that reveals little of his own feelings on the matter.

He raises an eyebrow. There were many things he could have said, to be honest. A hundred insults, a hundred distractions, a few billion things that were not related to this at all.

Instead he chooses to grin after a moment of consideration.

“Prophecies do need their protagonists villains; and unless the other party has wound up here as well, I’m afraid I’ll be missing out.”

It should be rather obvious which side he has in this prophecy. Or at least he hopes; if whatever world this fool is from has heroes like Ardyn, heaven forbid.

“I won’t be doing anything, but your curiosity will be the death of you. Or it will at least see you in serious trouble - if that hasn’t happened already.”

He was this close to scowling, but decided against it in the last moment. Best not to show his annoyance that clearly; he kind of HAD to do something in this situation. No matter how annoyed he was. Even if this kid was making it extraordinarily hard.

No comment on the factory things. He couldn’t exactly just bleat out that those were used for warfare and human experimentation and that he had had his hands in all of them, somehow, because the country he needed to be at the height of ‘modern’ technology was a bunch of... demons. Not Daemons, demons. He kind of tapped his foot on the floor.

A grunt of acknowledgement - that was all this new stranger got before he rolled his eyes.

“Get a move on, the position we ought to be able to place anything is irrelevant. Unless you wish to place one in... ah, this one’s room.”

He gestured at Emile. Vaguely. It could have also meant Serah. They were in their living space after all.

The Unlikely Bunch

0sceress:

scress || @shockinglyplain || @stellaplaga || @forewarnedfate 

“Of course,” She didn’t want to rush him, but they had to be quick. She steps back, makes way back to the other two. Oh man, she hadn’t even been away for too long or that far and the look on Ardyn’s face was that of someone who was already done.  She really hopes he cooperates. Once the last party is out and he looks ready to go, she smiles with a shake of her head, “It’s no worries. We didn’t wait long.” And they sure enough didn’t. He had been quite quick. She makes sure the others introduce themselves, “Okay, now that we’re all here, I guess…..” A teamname right? “Before we start, we’ll have to go by something…” Looking at the Chancellor who was mistaken as a homeless man, her roommate, and the young blond, she realizes they all have different personalities. You had the gentleman, the sarcastic sauce, the sweet sweet heart, and the meanie teacher. “Perhaps….the Unlikely Bunch?” And as if the android had heard them, a beacon gun appears in Serah’s hands. Well, that did it. 

“…Okay, I’m thinking we’re going to have to place things around.” 

A thoughtful expression entered her gaze at Ardyns words a moment before she spoke once more, “Factories might not be fancy but they might be fun! All that equipment building lots of cool stuff that you’d never get to see without going into one!” Still not sensing that he was a bit annoyed at her questioning she started to ask another before she noticed that the man they were waiting for had stepped out. He seemed more fashionable than Ardyn and almost…..gentlemanly? At Emile’s introduction she almost bounced with excitement at the fact yet another potential friend was in front of her.

“Its nice to meet you Emile!! I’m Aniya and this guy over here is Ardyn! He’s a important politician can you believe it? He has the coolest job ever!” Within just that small amount of time it seemed she considered him a friend whether he felt the same way or not. In her excited state she nearly missed Serah announcing their team name and the subsequent beacon gun that appeared in her hands.

“That’s a great name Serah! But where should we place the beacons? I haven’t really looked around much so if anyone has any ideas I’m sure they would be great!” Just being in this simple group with people who she had never known brought her a great amount of happiness. 

sunstarish:

“I….wouldn’t know actually. I’ve only seen three groups….” He said, scratching the back of his head. 

“That would be about, ah, three more than I am used to.”

As long as they didn’t suddenly decide on a street gig, he’d be fine.

“Very well. I suppose ‘subjects’ are randomly chosen.”

sociennus:

She feels it, a stare burning into her side. Gabriella’s tail thrashes, as if it would show the extent of her irritation. Perhaps it was only a portion, for if she really wished to show her annoyance, she would crushed something nearby. Yet, she’s small, barely the size of a six month old, &. in this, she finds her annoyance. 

It’s injustice, after all, to find herself - one of the great race of dragons - smaller than that of a yearling!

Her gaze finally falls onto him, sharing a long stare in return. She considered a shout, a flurry of words that no mother would teach their child. She could have chased after him or shot a ball of fire in all of her annoyance but…No, she was just too tired.

“ Ughhhhhh. ” The sound left her loudly instead, the toss of her head as if she wasn’t even sure she liked the decision she’d come to.. Gabriella stares back again before a loud snort leaves her nostrils. She’d never seen anyone like him before ( never seen a whole lot of any one outside of her realm ). It didn’t matter, not now, given they were probably stuck in the same situation as it were, “ Whatever old man, I don’t CARE if you stare. ” As she says this, Gabriella settles onto the ground, the once great dragon appearing mope in turn, “ Stare all you want, as long as you’re not looking to make a name outta my hide, I could care less! Puh…Hell kind of world did I end up in? ”

Now, actual dragons did not exist back home. Even just considering one existed was blasphemy of the highest offence to those few that worshipped Bahamut despite the unruly ‘mut never showing his face or even a scale just once in recent history. If dragons had existed at some point, they had likely been like the wyverns, those localised pests of Ravatogh. Strong, wild... and most importantly, mute. Which this one certainly wasn’t.

Still, having a creature he did not expect to speak at all call him ‘old’ was... both insulting and amusing. He settled for a crooked but confused grin.

“Old I may be, but that should not allow you to call me such, young lady. And worry not, I much prefer something softer than scales; unless protection is required. And even then, there are materials much easier to come by than a dragon’s scales that do the trick.”

He crossed his arms. Raised an eyebrow. Made certain there was enough space between him and her just in case she decided to lash out or something.

“Hells if I know. I have business to attend to, curtesy of, ah, a dragon. Not that I signed up for that, but you know! Humans, never getting a say in things. Unlike your kind, I suppose?”

sociennus replied to your post: @sociennus … Now that was not a sight he was used...

Bless you for this! I’m heading to bed myself, so I’ll try to answer this when I’m off work tomorrow!

Yeah, no problem at all! Take your time, and all that

and a good night!

@sociennus

... Now that was not a sight he was used to. The only thing vaguely similar to that creature were the wyverns that lived around Ravatogh. It wasn’t very often that his curiosity got the better of him and he started staring like that.

Fortunately he caught himself staring within a few moments and cleared his throat.

“Goodness. I do apologise for my rude staring.”

@sunstarish

“Goodness, another child with an instrument.”

He shook his head before waving and trying to catch the redhead’s attention.

“Hey, you there! How many of you band-types are there?”

@lunagony

He normally did not approach strangers. Especially not in a situation like this, not knowing who or what is dangerous and what isn’t. Especially not when he was that annoyed thanks to the noise the robot made in the entire city. But something about her loosened his tongue, for some absurd reason.

“A single flower in a city of decay. I have seen quite a few colourful characters, but none so far have emitted the kind of dangerous beauty that you radiate.”

it midnight, time for a starter call, capped at 3! all you gotta do is like this.

“.... You have got to be kidding me.”

tyrantofnoxus:

So different was this place, this… Radiale from Noxus. At least, Noxus in its prime. It better resembled the poorer regions of that city: the worn out buildings in disrepair, the haunted looks on the passers by, the foragers trying to find something to keep themselves sustained. However, there was no time for homesickness. The general had to focus on the here and now.

“Then why do you not leave this haunt and head out into the further world? This place is full of such technology and opportunity.” After all, Swain’s walks had brought him into contact with so many wonderfully interesting people. “ Although sometimes it is a bit exhausting, and I would rather a cold or even lukewarm drink and some fine discussion.”

“Oh, no, don’t misunderstand. I’ve had my fill of technology and opportunity during my rather, ah, illustruous life back whence I came from. Watching the shades of this world scuttle about is perfectly satisfying as far as I am concerned - but you likely will find this dreadfully boring.”

He gestured vaguely, half a dismissing and half a welcoming wave of the hand.

“All-consuming destruction is not something any city whatsoever easily recovered from back... home. Seeing the people of this place try regardless is amusing, whether they are under full control of themselves or not. If they are - should they not know inevitably destruction will return? If they are not - who is controlling them? A myriad of questions, and some answers I might glean from watching them rather than running around like a chicken without its head.”

Another shrug. Goodness, he was definitely not trying to hide the amusement at all. Granted, he had figured that trying to hide his nature from this person was likely a futile effort. He might have had his reservations about the rest of the islands, but something... something still felt off about this guy.

He hoped that would shut her up, but alas. Before he could acknowledge the fact he was going to be stuck with a bunch of kids, basically, she was back to bombarding him with questions. Goodness, has this lass not learned what politicians do in school? He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“He handles politics. If you consider production factories around the country fancy, yes; otherwise no. And not particularly, a simple apartment works just fine.”

He was very pointedly ignoring anything about his clothes. Let some idiot kid live for over a hundred years and they’ll start enjoying clothes that are practical but completely out of season too. Not that he even remotely believed anything like this was going to happen to any of these brats.

“Anyway, are we done here?”

The Unlikely Bunch

sceress:

scress || @shockinglyplain || @stellaplaga || @forewarnedfate 

It’s a good thing (or maybe not by what was said from the man’s side) that they were talking. That way they could get to know each other while this whole situation was happening. And she can tell she just woke the roommate up, and Serah has to admit. She does feel rather bad. lower lip is bit as she waits for the other to get settled before stepping out. I’ll have you know, is what caught her attention and she’s looking over her shoulder to catch the two. Oh, I hope he doesn’t hurt her. Serah hears the door knob click and the door opening and her attention is on the other, “Hey, I’m really sorry to have woken you,” And the apology is genuine. Can’t get anymore genuine than what face Serah wore. She gives him a moment, but then eventually asks, “something came up and we all have to participate. If we don’t we’ll die….There’s beacons we need to set up and I was wondering if you could help us. Please.”

 She gestures to the other two, “we’re about to head out now.”

At Ardyns words she cocks her head blinking before the realization dawns on her. Her face heats up, a splotch of red seeping up from her neck. “Oh! I’m really really sorry! I-I just assumed because of your cloth-” She starts, quickly cutting off the apology as she realizes that she might offend him more if she continues, making a mental note not to start a conversation with him regarding his choice of wear again. If he was as important as he stated she figured he could wear whatever he wanted.

A moment of silence stretched before she turned her attention to Serah and the man she had been speaking with giving them both a small smile before turning back to Ardyn. “What does an Imperial Chancellor do? I bet you get to go to lots of fancy places and live in a huuuuuuge house!” It seemed that she already forgotten his angry reply and was back to bombarding him with questions.