+- Omni Archive (https://omni.zulenka.com)
+-- Forum: The Omniverse (https://omni.zulenka.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Camelot (https://omni.zulenka.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=14)
+--- Thread: Colosseum - Spectator Thread (/showthread.php?tid=2847)
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - King Axorn - 11-23-2015
Axorn had to scan the bustling crowd a few times over before finally spotting Alexyana. Axorn was juat about to swop down to her when he paused and considered his options. If he swooped down now, Alexyana would probably freak out at the fact that she had just seen his head explode and now he had no further injuries. If he went back to the spot they were sitting, she would probably make her way back there soon, but there was no telling whether or not she would do something rash or ignorant in order to try and find his presumed attacker, even though Axorn knew there was none. Axorn decided instead to simply remain where he was, allowing him to keep an eye on Alexyana while also not startling her if she noticed him.
Quote:Sorry it took so long, I was really busy.
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Undyne - 11-24-2015
Instead of just returning to her seat when she found nobody, Alexyana waited by the exit to the Colosseum in a semi-secluded part near the entrance, and observed the people that walked in and out - mostly leaving right now after their favorite candidates had been taken out, though a lot still were around. Why? Because she wanted to keep track of if anyone left that looked suspicious - that wore the same attire as the dragonhunters, or carried with them some big weapon that could be used for an attack like what had penetrated Axorn's skull. But when, a good half-hour after standing around, she hadn't seen anyone with even a remotely fitting-looking weapon come through.
"Probably got away long before I got to the exit..." She mumbled and let her eyes pass over the carnival for just a moment longer, as if some hooded figure were to show up out of nowhere, which of course they didn't. She turned away from the exit and moved towards the field hospital where she supposed that Axorn would be treated. If he hadn't died a second time, that is. Good thing was, she knew where to go as she had come from it earlier, after recieving medical treatment herself. And her face brightened up a bit when she recognized one of the men that had hurried to Axorn, running past her, whilst she had set out to hunt after whoever had attacked him. He was just going through some paperwork when the dragoness approached him and cleared her throat.
"Hey... aren't you that dragon that called for aid earlier?" He asked when he turned around and noticed her.
"I am. How is my friend? The other dragon... I think your colleagues and you treated his injury. Did you bring him back here?"
The doctor frowned a bit and shook his head. "Your friend was... weird. His skull was punctured, most people wouldn't survive such an injury. But he healed up within minutes of our arrival, without any of us doing anything. When we left him, his breathing was stable, he just seemed passed out and about to wake back up."
"What?!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide. "He just... healed up out of nowhere?"
"That's what I said. Look... I'm sorry to shoo you back out, but your friend is probably going to explain it better to you than I. And I have work to do and patients in critical conditions that need treatment."
"Oh, yes... of course. Thank you for the help." She murmured and, quite confused, left the tent to return towards the Colosseum. What was that story all about? She had no idea, but she was going to have to find out. Axorn couldn't have left the Colosseum while she was observing it, there was only one entrance and he wouldn't have slipped her gaze. So she headed back to where their seats were and looked around puzzled when Axorn was nowhere to be seen - until Dawnika pointed her to Axorn who was flying overhead.
"Axorn, could you explain to me what the hell just happened?! You had me worried you'd be dead!" She said, sounding more angry than she was. Another thing of the Omniverse she wasn't used to... three days and you return, even for normal mortals, not just demons.[/quote]
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Guu - 11-25-2015
Guu swiped up the blanket with a free arm. Carefully, she wrapped the towel around the green-skinned infant. Peering inside the child’s mind, she could feel a wave of content, reassuring her that the fabric was enough to satisfy. She held her loftily in her arms and rocked her back and forth. The baby cooed softly as the rocking motion calmed the infant.
“Wow Guu! You’re good at that!” Desco said impressed.
“It’s easy when you can read the baby’s mind to know what she needs.” She responded.
She continued to the rock the infant back and forth, the baby slowly drifted to sleep in her arms. The demon child watched in amazement.
“That’s amazing! Desco didn’t know Guu could read minds! Could Guu read Desco’s mind?” Her voice was frantic with excitement.
“Well, I know you had a flashback to your birth a minute ago.” She stated casually.
Desco recoiled in surprise and amazement. Yogsogoth instinctively recoiled as well, almost dropping some of their plushie horde.
“Woah! That’s so cool! Desco is impressed!”
Of course, the pink enigma left out the fact that she was intentionally invading her thoughts and hoped the young demon would assume it was accidental. She also didn’t mention that she only got bits and pieces of it. It’s really hard to focus when you have a crying baby in your arm.
“Guu and green baby reminds me a lot of Desco and daddy! Desco loves daddy so much!”
“Oh yeah, you went to see him the last time I saw you. How’d that visit go?”
“Desco had a lot of fun! And daddy got a lot of research done!”
That’s reassuring. The demon child sat next to pink princess who tilted over so she could get a better look at the baby’s face.
“What was Guu’s daddy like?”
The question took her off guard. While it would make sense for the question to come up considering the line of conversation, she somehow had not considered the possibility. However Desco was her best friend, she deserved to know.
“I was created as well.”
“Ooh in your daddy’s lab?”
Guu wished it was that simple.
“No. No. I was created by gods.”
“Ooh!” Desco cooed excitedly.
“You see, in my universe, there are three mindless gods that control of all of creation, my dad tricked them into creating me. He really just wanted a puppet to carry out his plans with, but I kind of ran off and did my own thing.”
“Wow!” Said Demon child. The pink one wasn’t sure if she even understood what she was saying.
“Anyways, yeah, I haven’t talked much with him since then. I was going to go see him at one point, but Omni took me before I could do that. Probably for the best, nothing good could have come from that!”
Before the child could respond, the princess stood up, holding the baby carefully in her arms.
“Anywho, there’s one or two more people I want to check in with at the tournament. You can tag along for that if you like. Though, after that, I say we head for Ambrosia. I want to get this baby safe and at home.”
Desco almost had whiplash from how quickly Guu changed subjects, she sat there confused for a moment before the princess offered a hand and helped her on her feet. The sentiment was kind of pointless considering the demon child could float, but she played along anyways.
“Anyways, let’s go.”
But before she could get two steps out from behind the stall, her eyes caught the sight of a magical news prompter. The latest headlines would glide along a colorful box. The latests story read in big blaring letters: “Local camelot village destroyed, authorities believe wizard involvement.” The implications suddenly hit her as she remembered the state one of her friends was in an hour or so before.
‘Gildarts, please tell me that wasn’t you.’ She thought, concerned.
Desco quickly approached from behind, curious at her friend’s sudden pause.
“Is something wrong with Guu?” She asked.
The princess quickly snapped out of it and turned to look at her.
“It’s all good. Let’s go.”
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Jade Harley - 11-25-2015
"Oh!" Jade exclaims excitedly, clapping her hands against her red-tinged cheeks with a light pap. Her face is downturned slightly, lips forming a perfect 'o' of surprise as she reads something that scrolls across the reddish-tinted screen of her Spectagoggles. The dark hair that is only partially tucked inside of her god-tier hood flounces out with the sudden movement.
Huffing loudly, Bec sits up and presses his cold doggy nose insistently against her shoulder, as if to ask, What silly thing are you about to do now?
The dog-eared girl gently swats him away, looking at all of the nice people (and rude trolls!! :p) who have gathered around to talk with her in the stands. With a toothy smile, Jade leaps to her feet and then scrambles backwards over her seat so she doesn't tip over into the precariously close horns of the trolls before her.
"I'll be right back you guys!" She says, the star-spangled cosmic scene that decorates her coat shifting in the light from a dark autumn sky to a greenish-tinged polar night. "I've got a serious appointment with some balloon animals! You're welcome to come along if you'd like to!"
After saying the appropriate goodbyes, Jade skiddly-doo-dahs right out of there, bouncing down a few hard concrete steps and then out into one of the many passageways of the tournament's grounds. Her shoes skid and scratch lightly across the ground, the sounds echoing against the curved and shadowy walls as well as through the other bodies shifting around her.
With Becquerel at her side, the air shifts from the cool, damp and slightly muggy indoors to the bright and sunny light of the fairgrounds as Jade steps outside. She blinks for a moment in the sudden light, bringing a hand up to shield her eyes so that she can better see the people milling about the stalls and aromatic shops below. An off-putting mixture of sweet-smelling and sugary fruits combined with sun-baked manure seeps through the air. Jade starts down towards where the greatest congregation of warm-bodied people seems to be.
For a while she simply mills about in the crowd, peering curiously towards flagrantly-colored objects or clothing that catch her eye and bits of metal that glint sharply in the sun. Sometimes she makes eye contact with random passerby and attempts to break through the crowd to speak with them, only to lose their gaze and attention after being buffeted about by an unexpected shoulder or elbow.
Finally, Jade locates a relatively peaceful spot by a weapon-seller's stall to survey the crowd from. With a few muffled snuffles Becquerel inspects the ends of her dirt-speckled slippers, and more than a few gazes are drawn to the sight of the large and bafflingly eyeless wolfdog. A light frown twisting her lips to the side while she concentrates, Jade carefully looks over each person to pass her by.
After a while of standing around, Jade's eyes alight on a particular person in the mass of people wandering past; And, boy, what a person! They are clad in a sprightly green as buoyant and graceful as springtime, and Jade immediately knows that this must be who she has been searching so diligently for. She clasps her hands together in delight, bouncing up onto the very tippy-tops of her sparkly red slippers. How exciting!
In a few half-skips that seem as if they might lift her clear off the ground if she would like for them to, the young Witch picks her way through the fairgoers towards who she is fairly certain is Valerie. All of these people, smells, and wonderful sights— it's like a fiery conflagration prancing across her brain, leaving deep, flame-singed impressions in its wake! Almost as if it were clearing away all the dead ground and infertile sorrow for something splendidly grand to bloom out of.
"Hi!" Jade greets, her voice a cheerful, bubbly chirrup. "I'm Jade Harley, are you Valerie? We spoke over PesterOmni about meeting up, remember?"
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Strazio Rockwell - 11-25-2015
The viridescent mage was startled by the sudden chipper greeting from the dog-girl. His mind had been daydreaming of the distant lands and magical creatures that the Omniverse had offered him. Snapping from his stupor the offensively verdant mage preformed a simple pirouette to face Jade. His robe seemed to move on its own accord, splashed of warm springly colours danced along his body. Valerie grinned and extended his pale-green tinged hand. Even his nails were painted spruce green.
“Oh it is a great pleasure to meet you Jade Harley, you are correct I am indeed Valerie LaMolla, you may call me Val.”
The snow white dog sniffed the air and cocked his head as Valerie gasped in amazement. The mage crouched down in front of the dog and put his hand out for the dog to sniff.
“What a beautiful creature! What is its name?” He glanced up at the witch of space before returning to the white beast.
“Oh! That’s Becquerel, he’s a good dog aren’t you boy?”
Bec yipped in agreement and began to pant excitedly as Valerie scratched behind his ears. The plant mage giggled as he pet the happy dog. Around him the carnival sprang to life as a deluge of Colosseum audience members left the stands. An intermission between the fights sent the carnival goers in search of new entertainment. Without warning the mage sprang to his feet and stood stock still, startling Bec and Jade.
“Ah!” he exclaimed, “I almost forgot!”
“What?” Jade asked, almost as excited as he was.
“A token of our bond of friendship!” Valerie extended his hand, palm outward. He curled his fingers until only his index finger was extended. From beneath his flesh a simple sprout sprang to life, worming its way from the tip of his finger. The green shoot twisted and sprouted into a spiral flower. The petals of the plant twisted around the stem, forming a concentric pattern of sea-green and blue. Jade watched in awe as the mage plucked the fully-bloomed flower from the tip of his finger and handed it to her.
“That’s a flower from my home universe, it only sprouts along the eastern coastlines, therefore it is known as a sea-snap.”
Jade’s eyes were wide with wonder and she asked excitedly, “wow! How did you do that?”
The verdant mage smirked and brought his thumb to his mouth. Using his teeth he snipped into his light green flesh. His blood was a rich dark green and it flowed freely from the small wound. Blood splattered onto the earthen ground and from it erupted a small bouquet of exotic plants and flowers.
“In my world magick must utilize a conduit to be made manifest, my flesh and blood is that conduit, from which the magnificent miracle of life springs forth! It is truly a wonderful thing is it not?”
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - King Axorn - 11-26-2015
Well, that worked out better than I expected, Axorn thought. He swooped down towards the stands and landed neatly beside Alexyana. I figured you'd want an explanation," he said, taking a seat on the bench. "It all has to do with this." Axorn pulled the plain, white, Axorn-shaped mask out from inside his clothing and held it in his hands. "I have a friend back home named Max, a genius ten-year-old boy with amazing prowess in dark magic. In his past, he used his powers destructively in order to completely destroy whole civilizations with the wave of his hand. He would stratigically pick his targets so that his next target wouldn't even see him coming. But one day, he was challenged by a powerful paladin that was able to protect himself while his kingdom was being destroyed all around him. He challenged Max to a fight in an attempt to stop his rampage. Max accepted and the two opposing forces clashed for days, creating a huge crater where the battlefield once was. The paladin, senseing his defeat, consumed what was left of his life in order to place a curse upon Max. He was able to imbue Max with part of his power, which served as a barrier that blocked his dark magic from being used for destructive purposes. He also reduced Max to a ten-year-old form permanently and muted him in an attempt to punish him by making the boy a restless wanderer until he was killed. Max, desperate to find something positive in life and reform from his ways, studied the creative side of his craft until he discovered a way around his muteness. He was able to communicate with people telepathically through a direct connection of dark magic. The only problem is that each person he wanted to communicate with would need a way to recieve the signals. That's where the mask comes in. It is able to recieve the signals through the current of dark magic and convert them into thoughts. Over time, he has made a few modifications that make it a lot easier for people to actively communicate with him. One feature allows the wearer to communicate in the other direction, establishing a two-way telepathic connection. He also creates the masks custom for each person in order to make them comfortable to wear. Now, what happened was that the mask was merged with my skin, making it completely invisible, and allowing me to move my facial muscles and eat with it on, and Max, searching through millions of universes at once, found me, but was blocked by the barrier surrounding the Omniverse. He had to focus his power in order to break through, and ended up almost killing me, if not for the failsafe mechanism built into the mask. When the mask sustains a dangerously powerful current, it shatters, breaking the communication temporarily. Because it was merged with my face, the mask shards took on the form of scales and bone, making it seems like someone shot me straight through the head. But once the mask seperated from my face, the shards regained their normal form and revealed that I was unharmed. So, this was all just a big misunderstanding. But, on a positive note, I've re-established connection with Max." Axorn took the mask, lifted the black strap, and placed it over his face. The mask seemed to liquify and seep under his scales until it was no longer visible to the outside world. "So, any questions?"
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Simon - 11-27-2015
Quote:After the Magus vs. Dante match."You should think hard about joining my army... I could not imagine a better soldier."
Those words bit harder than any blade the dark sorcerer had wielded against Dante. The half-devil had fought with all the might he proved able to muster, throwing his hesitation to the wind by summoning his demonic heritage, yet he was witnessed as nothing more than a soldier. Magus would truly settle for no less than a perfect, unflinching, deathless warrior- Dante could not imagine a worse fate.
"Sir Redgrave..." A voice spoke from aside the devil hunter's limp, blank-faced form on the table. The attempt to elicit some response whatsoever failed. At any rate, however, the clerics were fortunate to have been able to save this combatant yet again.
Dante still found himself consumed by what the Fiendlord did to him. Broke through his devil half, refused to kill him, and offered the chance to join beneath his banner- that man could only be of demonic caliber to achieve such feats like that. With such a goal - to make the gods themselves quake in their shoes - Magus had to have been so absorbed by darkness, so far beyond humanity that he would dare see himself as greater than any deity. Having witnessed such evil again, Dante found himself questioning why he had ever been so concerned with his own being in the first place.
Yes, of course, there was always someone better, but likewise, so existed someone worse. That magician had proved his power ever so greater than the Son of Sparda's, and too revealed a plot for this world more sinister than even his unbridled instinct may dare to conjure. Dante felt no more eased at heart, so long as that remnant of the Hollow remained within him, but if there was nothing else to gain from his bout in the Colosseum, then he at least found some sense of direction.
But there was, in fact, stuff to gain from the arena: Dante had grown more powerful, he could feel it in his aching bones. Even then, too, having 'found' that direction was just a relative concept, really; it would be more accurate to say he reclaimed it from his part life. That same plan as always: to kill the demons threatening humankind, and look kind of cool while doing it.
Though that black voice in his head had quieted down for now, he would eventually have face that own inner demon later on- but those were battles for a later date, Dante figured, when he built himself more power. That already gave him a whole bucket list of things to do: destroy the Hollow, stop the likes of Magus... maybe start a new chain of Devil May Cry here? Who knows?
"Next time," Dante muttered inadvertently, quietly expressing his eagerness to put a fist in the Fiendlord's face in the future. The assistant 'tending' to the eliminated competitor (just standing by him with concerned expressions) snapped back into focus.
"Ah, Sir Redgrave- I hope you have recovered well from your loss-..." The boyish assistant said without thinking, earning an absent look of disapproval from one of the clerics observing from a short distance away. Dante grunted in protest against his stiffened joints as he got back up.
"One," the devil hunter interjected the young aide's lost second sentence with a raised index finger, "Don't call me 'sir'. Two," his middle finger joined the first, "I haven't lost if I'm still alive."
A bit distraught and emotionally staggered from the sudden retorts, the intern tried to reply, "I'm sorry, but you were eliminated from the brackets this round-"
"Three," Dante adamantly ignored the young man, raising a third finger for visual aid, "I need to know the nearest demon that needs killing." That point seemed to catch the attention of everyone else that had been recently before working on Dante, and even a few that were still in the process of working on something otherwise.
The assistant, realizing he was now well outside his learning expertise, fell back to be hesitantly replaced by one of the present doctors. "Excuse me, Redgrave, but do you really think you're in any condition to go out fighting demons so soon?"
Black boots hit the ground, and Dante pushed with his hands a bit to set his body back on his feet, the little accumulated pains still working themselves out. "What do you care? A man's gotta make a living, doesn't he?" He said, rolling his shoulders and securing the weapons on his person.
"I mean," the doctor continued, a bit more forcefully than he meant to, "All things considered, if what we witnessed in that match was any indication, you are-" And then he froze, the half-devil's piercing eyes glinting a rebellious red and boring great holes into his composure. "E-er, you were..."
"Go on. You can dig yourself deeper than that." The tension fell heavy in the air, and while Dante himself had no intent on doing anything 'funny', no one who knew that regardless dared to challenge him. If looks could kill, that poor doctor surely would've died of somewhere between fear and guilt right there and then.
"T-the Pale Moors. There's a gate, just south of Minas Tirith, that will take you there." Reclaiming some shred of confidence in his quick paradigm shift, the medic continued, "There's all sorts of wicked creatures lurking there- I've no doubt you'll find what you're looking for, sir-"
"Hey," Dante butted in again, body turning to leave but head still poised to have the final word, "Don't call me 'sir'. The name is Redgrave." And with that, a swish of white hairs and red coattails sent the devil hunter out on his way.
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Jade Harley - 11-28-2015
The Witch of Space gasps at the pretty flower Valerie holds out to her, gently taking it from his grasp. This flowers petals are so very soft, and as the pad of Jade's thumb brushes under it a soft grin plucks up at the corners of her mouth.
She moons over the plant for a while with barely restrained excitement jittering through her along with a burning edge of curiosity. When she asks him how he was able to do that, she is startled by the way the spilling of his blood results in an explosion of wonderful blooms and vegetation at their feet.
"That is sooo cool!" Jade exclaims in delight, clapping her hands a few times and bobbing around excitedly. The large white canine beside her seems pleased with Jade's reaction, his tail wagging around in the air while he snuffles interestedly at the plants.
But, wait! A thin string of anxiety twangs through Jade, for she hadn't been aware that there was going to be any super neat gift giving involved, here! She really must think of something quick.
Feet splayed flat upon the ground once again, Jade's face becomes contemplative as she racks her brain for a gift of equal measure. The flower she is cupping gently in one hand is super cool, after all, and it would be rude of her to not cough something up soon! She shifts from foot to foot sheepishly, looking all around her at the carnival for a lucky spark of creativity.
Her glasses slide a small ways down her nose as she thinks, and Jade hurriedly presses them back up so that they balance precariously on the bridge of her nose. In that split instant, however, she catches a glimpse of a lonely little fleck of starlight cycling through a stray curl of hair, and all at once brilliant inspiration hits. That's it!
Still delicately holding onto the lovely sea-snap in one hand, Jade hides the other behind her back, a steady rainbow glow appearing just barely around the edges of her coat as she comes up with something. After a moment or two, her fingers wrap around a chilly object that will probably not thaw for a very long time, making the moment that it does so to be all the more cherished in her eyes.
The frog she produces from behind her back is covered in a faint sheen of ice that twinkles splendidly in the sunlight, dewy perspiration tinging her palms red from the cold that seeps out from the frozen amphibian. It isn't especially fiery in color, like that ferrous liquid that has been known to drive stars into their last death throes, but it is endowed with a large and rounded belly filled with sparkling greenish-white nebulae.
Jade blinks at the sparkling, icy frog, the patterns of its back swirling like crisp white marble speckled with mint leaves. In her hands, she holds a distant relative of the one whom the white-shelled carapacians of her dreams had called Genesis. A perfect gift!
Front teeth sticking out in a delighted grin, Jade passes the frog over to Valerie. She knows that the frog will have a good home with the plant mage. "Here! I don't think this little guy will melt for a long time yet, but frogs are always a good thing to have around. They make for great beginnings, after all!"
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Undyne - 11-30-2015
Alexyana huffed instead of replying by words when Axorn remarked that she might want an explanation, and crossed her arms before her chest which was heaving up and down due to her accelerated breathing. After having run around, dodged all those spectators on her way back, and now due to her anger, she was rather shook up after all. Even so, she could not really stay angry at Axorn - she had been more worried about losing a recently-made friend than angry at that it had been some sort of practical joke, or whatever it had been.
She leant in and eyed the mask that Axorn produced, raising an eyebrow and peeking between his face and the mask several times. "Looks like you shed your skin and made it into a mask. I've never seen so much detail on a normal craft." She noted. Then she leant back to listen. Though she didn't interrupt Axorn's tale while he was telling it, her face was an open book - starting with curiosity, yet some amount of anger as Axorn started to talk about his friends back home and some Paladin. Was he joking with her, making up some big story to lull her in before revealing that it had all been a big joke? When Axorn began talking about the dark magic and the masks allowing for communication however, her frustration gradually ebbed away and she listened with greater interest - although until he came to explain WHY the mask had shattered, she did glare at him near constantly. When it cleared up she relaxed a bit further - but, she never uncrossed her arms.
Finally, Axorn put the mask back on, causing Alexyana to cringe when she watched it liquefy and attach back to his face. "Outside of that it'll never be the same again to look at your face and feel like I'm talking to a masked individual... why did you fall off your chair and pass out? Did the mask's pieces stun you? And what do you mean when you say you re-established contact with that Max friend of yours? Did he arrive at the Omniverse like you and I? Or is he just staying out there somewhere and using this... this mask, and his dark magic, to communicate with you from the outside?" A large frown was painted across her face and she had to sit down before asking another question without giving Axorn the time to begin answering the others. "And did you forget to look for me? You got me running over to the hospital tent to check if the medical staff brought you there. I was worried, Axorn!" She was saying that with much less anger than before but her glare added some importance to it. "Listen if I didn't already tell you. There's someone on the loose around here, dragon hunters. They seem to be some self-proclaimed idiots, but I'm worried that the ones I encountered were just some grunts who'll rat us out to the big guys. Now before you tell me you're not a dragon, let me tell you: I've thought you might be one when we first met, and I'm a dragon myself. These people won't be able to tell the difference and even if they were, they probably wouldn't care. That's why I jumped up when your mask-thing exploded, I thought you'd gotten shot at and wanted to cut them off." She had calmed enough to ease her breathing somewhat and stop glaring, but she was still looking up at him with a serious frown, awaiting his replies.
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - King Axorn - 11-30-2015
Axorn shook his head for a moment and took a deep breath before replying. This wasn't quite what he expected, but it was good of her to ask questions.
"First of all," he began, "I passed out becuase of the extreme mental trauma I was experiencing. The shards had nothing to do with it. Next, I'm not sure whether or not Max has entered the Omniverse, I'll have to ask him when he's awake, it seems like he passed out himself after exerting so much power. About looking for you... what would you think if someone who just looked like they got shot in the head was suddenly showed up in front of you and they were completely fine? I'd rather wait then potentially freaking out a newly found friend. I'm also very grateful that you went out of your way to save me. I'm sorry for worrying you but there was nothing I could really do about the situation. It's just one of those moments in life where you're powerless to do anything even if you really want to."
Axorn sighed and looked out at the Colosseum floor where the sounds of battle still resonated. "People get a little awkward around me after finding out about the mask, which is just natural instinct. I don't blame them. I would have told you earlier but I completely forgot about it until just now. I've been preoccupied with the new and strange things going on around me. But really, the mask is just like your bracelet. It's a communication device as well as a memento of our lives before all of this." Axorn gestured to the scenery around them of snacking fans, battling competitors and bustling crowds in the arena around them.
Axorn turned back to face Alexyana. "I'm truly sorry about all of this. I should have told you earlier. Could you please forgive me?"
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Strazio Rockwell - 12-02-2015
“Oh my,” the verdant wizard crooned, “that is absolutely splendid, what a wonderfully miraculous froggy friend!”
Valerie giggled slightly as he gingerly grabbed the frozen amphibian. His fingertips grew flush with a darker shade of green as the cold nipped at them. He carefully inspected the frozen frog, marveling at the small galaxy-like patterns dancing along its smooth back. A stupid mouth-open smile was plastered across his maw, his eyes could not believe the intricate beauty of the small scuplture. After one last longing look Valerie reached into his robe and found a small yellow linen bag. Gently the gift frog was placed inside its bright yellow home, and tucked away within the folds of Valerie's robe.
“Thank you Miss Harley, I shall treasure this beautiful creature forever. Oh what a fortuitous meeting! I am glad that we have made acquaintances.”
“Likewise!” Jade responded cheerfully.
Valerie glanced over at the patrons filing out of the Colosseum, the quarterfinals were over. His cheerful disposition faltered for a moment as he thought of his student slaughtering others in a silly tournament to the death. There was no doubt in Valerie's mind that Strazio had pushed himself too far and was now being nursed back to health in the medical tent. For a moment he thought of dragging Jade along to see the perpetually perturbed mage, but he decided not to sour their friendship by introducing her to Strazio. Valerie sighed, Strazio's temper would be at an all time high and Valerie didn't want him to unnecessarily lash out at Jade. Becquerel barked, snapping the daydreamer from his stupor.
“Uhm,” Jade began to speak, cocking her head to the side slightly, “are you okay?”
“Oh yes! I'm absolutely peachy,” Val's smile returned and he looked off towards a row of carnival games. His eyes sparkled and he snapped his finger as if he was remembering something important. “Jade, do you think you could be so magnanimous as to assist me in securing a prize for my beloved pupil?” The plant mage pressed his hands together and spoke energetically, “he's always such a sour individual and I found the perfect prize to cheer him up! Unfortunately I cannot get past the infernal tribulation keeping me from said prize.”Valerie's parade of words finally came to a halt as he pleaded towards the Witch of Space.
“Of course I'll help you!” Jade responded, unsure of what challenge was keeping Valerie from his prize. She followed the excited man across the carnival grounds. The smell of freshly fried treats and sickly sweet confections hung heavy in the air. With the fresh deluge of hungry carnival goers the food vendors were working doubletime. Clowns, jugglers, and other performers wandered the grounds, impressing anyone that cared to be entertained. Camelot had surely pulled all the stops with the event, everything was grand and magnificent.
Valerie stopped and pointed at a carnival booth, “there, there is that pernicious contest of accuracy that keeps me from my student's gift!”
The attendant at the booth was a large rotund man, who was equal parts salesman and showman. The large carnie controlled his booth and the area around it with an impressive booming voice. He drew attention to himself like a firecracker in the dead of night, loud and obnoxiously. Noticing Valerie’s approach a deep rumbling laugh tumbled out of the carnie’s thick throat.
“Back again my viridescent friend?” The attendant used his booming voice to invite both Jade and Valerie into his sphere of influence.
“Indeed I am! And this time I brought along a friend who agreed to help me best your damnable trial!” Valerie did not speak out of anger, but rather from frustration he had spent the better part of an hour trying to best the attendant’s game. Behind the booth stood rows of tin cans at the end of several long hallways. Above the counter hung all manner of stuffed animals and magical trinkets. The goal of the game was to knock down the stack of cans using a rudimentary pump-action pellet gun. The carnie motioned for the two to come closer to the counter and he brought his voice down low.
“My friend since you seem so very persistent I’ll give you and your friend a deal of a lifetime! Three tries for five omnilium, you can’t beat that anywhere!”
Valerie’s eye lit up and he reached into the inner pockets of his brightly colored robes. Inside was a small coin-purse, long since emptied of coins, and filled with the miraculous rainbow substance known as omnilium. He handed the man a small amount of omnilium and thank him profusely for the “special deal” offered.
Valerie turned back to Jade, “thank you for helping me in these most dire of times!”
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Gamzee Makara - 12-03-2015
Karkat had been daydreaming for the most part, despite the roar and bustling of the packed Coliseum. It just so happens that his most recent reverie, one involving a Faygo Jetpack and a confuddled Harley human, was broken by the booming voice of an announcer heralding that Adam Gaite would be moving on to the semi-finals. Fan-fucking-tastic. Rubbing the exhaustion out of his eyes, the cherry-blooded troll looked down. No wonder he was so uncomfortable; there was a fucking clown on his shoulder. He sighed. Gamzee had passed out.
Groaning in slight annoyance and worry, the Knight of Blood hoists his best friend up to a somewhat standing position. Sort of. Kind of. To be honest, he was struggling just not to drop the guy. Half dragging, half walking an unconscious High-Blood, Karkat makes his way through the shuffling and sitting spectators. At Jade’s unspoken behest, the shouty alien tried his best to not be too much of a grouch.
“Movin’ through, pal.” He announced.
“Sorry,” The beleaguered friend said.
“Excuse me,” He murmured.
“I said excuse me, asshole!” He hissed under his breath.
-----
And now here he is. Karkat is standing in the middle of a crowd, minding his own business. Hands in the pockets of his smokey colored jeans, he looked like an emotionally distressed grey-skinned teenager. To be fair though, he has a somewhat good reason to be. Before he exited the stone arena, the short troll had ushered his friend into the medic bay. The healers were more than a little confused. Exclamations that his fight was hours ago was the most common reaction that the duo received. the conscious troll’s supposed that the medical staff assumed he would have bled out by now. Nah. Takes a little more than blood loss to keep down the clown.
A man clad in shiny knight’s attire clangs on by. His armoured shoulder jostles into the short teen. Karkat grits his teeth and keeps moving, holding back the insult already forming in his short tempered mouth. With a slew of swears and curses, the boy keeps moving counter-clockwise to the coliseum. He was supposed to hang out with Jade at the carnival, but she disappeared when he spaced out. He vaguely recalls her having to conduct some sort of ‘business meeting’. That’s probably not what it was, but yeah. That’s all Karkat can remember, even if it didn’t happen.
-----
Karkat lost track of how long he was walking; could’ve been for half an hour, could’ve been for a couple of hours. He doesn’t even know if he’s completely circled the arena yet. During his walkabout, however, the whispers of the masses reached his normally deaf ears. A dog-morph and his elven companion were gossiping about the results of one of the fights.
“Didja see that Quarterfinals match?”
“Nah, but I heard that there was a Defender of Darkshire who had made it pretty far in the tournament. Was that him?”
“Yeah, it was Strazio. Strazio Rockwell.”
The lone Low-Blood stumbles over a rock. His breath catches in his throat. That’s the bastard that beat the shit out of Gamzee.
“No shit? How’d it turn out?”
Karkat speedwalks nonchalantly, trying to get a little closer so he can hear above the dull din of the carnival.
“Not good for him. You’ll never guess who stopped his win streak.”
“Who?”
“Shang fuckin’ Tsung.”
“Really? Well damn. Talk about a grudge match for the century. Two Defenders? Jeez. That sucks. Did he like, you know, survive?”
“Hell to the no! That Shang was brutal! He executed Rockwell without a second thought. I think he’s the coldest entry in his block.”
The Cherry-Blood stops in his tracks.
Good riddance.
-----
Something is barking. This is not a natural type of animal call, no. It sounds… Omnipotent. The troll recognized that horrifying bark anywhere
Becquerel.
God-Mutt. Mutt-God.
That white silhouette was one of many banes of Karkat’s existence. He swears up and down that Bec’s calls sound like an atomic bomb going off, but no one else can hear it. Choking down any internal protests, the Cherry-Blood easily locks on to the source of that monstrous sound, despite the raging sounds of entertainment around him. Against his better judgement, he heads towards Becquerel and, hopefully, Jade.
Snowy, fluffy ears sprouting from a hood. That’s her alright, no doubt. No mix-ups this time.
“Jade!” he shouts, making his presence known. “Hey! Sorry about that, I-”
He steps forth, able to see Jade and her hellhound and-
The crowd parts for a moment.
Oh.
Who’s this flowery fuck?
“Who’s this flowery-”
He catches himself. Filter Karkat, filter.
There is a very...offensively green young man standing besides his friend. His very much younger friend. This guy was like, in his twenties. Mid-twenties maybe? Karkat can’t tell, the human time system is weird as fuck. At one point he had the calculations down and memorized, but that time has long passed.
They were standing awfully close.
But that shouldn’t bother him at all, no. Jade is a very responsible human girl, and he supposes that she is of age for the human social parameters to make her own responsible decisions in situations like this. In fact, he supposes that it doesn’t bother him at all that his good human friend was standing close to a strangely green yet handsome and no doubt mysteriously alluring young human man.
No. Doesn’t bother him at all.
Karkat clears his throat.
“Er...Hey Jade,” The teen troll begins through somewhat gritted teeth. “What’s up? Where have you been off to? Sorry about leaving you back at the coliseum and what not, er, well I suppose that it was you that left Gamzee and I but yeah you get the idea. You ah, you going to introduce me to the flowery f-fffriend of yours?”
Great. Now he was rambling. Great. Perfect. Fan-fucking-tastic.
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Jade Harley - 12-06-2015
The fairgrounds around them were alive with movement and color, the various entertainers and traders bobbing about like gulls upon the waves of a buoyant, lively ocean. Voices from both near and far bled together into a stream of babbling nonsense that was only intelligible if one stopped a moment to listen closely. Life bloomed everywhere, in the subtle touching of shoulders and in quick flashes of teeth behind a faint smile.
Wide green expanses of grass, patchy around the edges and interspersed between dusty pathways and carnival booths, were littered with red and white checkerboard cloths laid out for midday picnicking and bits and bobs of crinkled trash. In rare areas, however, hopeful and buttery yellow dandelions poked up from the earth, only to be swiftly trampled upon by roving feet. Small children, barely reaching up to Jade’s kneecaps, darted under vegetable carts and dodged around the legs of strolling people, playing with glassy marbles and lost coat buttons in the dirt.
Smoking meat and sliced fruits dribbled savory juices over their wooden cutting boards, the honey warm scent pouring over the crowds and thatched rooftops. When the sunlight cast over a roof tile just right, a syrupy amber-yellow glow would sift languidly out, much like the pungent rind of a citrusy fruit glimpsed through bottle glass.
When the young Witch of Space turned her eyes skyward, if only to give her racing thoughts some respite from all the hustle and bustle of the fairgoers spilling around her, she was greeted by a delightfully pleasant blue sky, cotton white clouds widened over it with the same silky smooth consistency as fine bed linens. An apparent cloud of rusty dust mingled with humid air rose around the edges of buildings and wavering flagstaffs, the noble colors of the Kingdom flapping regally on the breeze.
Jade sways towards several different booths while walking alongside Valerie, for once not distracted by the Dataverse and all its silly lines of text, images, and equally worrying and enigmatic acquaintances. Excruciating temptation strikes up a twitch in her fingers and a curious gleam in her eyes as she peers excitedly inside of glass cases and beneath dewy barrel lids.
She stays her hands and feet and remains mostly on course, luckily, although they seem to have developed a mind of their own all of a sudden, itching to pick up random objects and to shake every available hand. Her face is lit up with a delighted grin, the fuzzy white dog ears atop her dark hood swiveling this way and that so as not to miss anything, and she honestly feels better than she has in years. The only thing that could brighten her spirits beyond their current solar excellence would be if she had a certain grumpy troll kid admiring the festivities alongside her.
This thought prompts Jade to cast a final look back at the Colosseum before they arrive at their destination, her hair pluming out in a dizzying whoosh of curls and sequined stars. The structure where the tournaments are being held, where her friends are, cuts an imposing shape against the swirling mass of tossed juggling pins, smiling faces, and celebratory laughter. It has a beautiful, sure precision about it, soaring arches and curving steps coiled securely around the combatants and jeering onlookers within.
Her heart does a funny little floomp thing, and Jade swallows thickly. She really hopes that Gamzee and Bandit and even Adam are still alive and well.
When she looks again at Valerie, she sees that he too is gazing somewhat mournfully back at the so-called theatre of violence. There’s something fundamentally wrong about this expression on his normally carefree and peaceful features, lips downturned and eyes sad, and so she does her best to bring his attention back to the wonderful things taking place around them by skirting the edges of his vision with simple, nonsensical hand gestures. Bec lopes silently at her side, movements as mechanical and slightly odd in their efficient dexterity as always.
As it turns out, the game Valerie needs her to help him with is right up her alley! They approach a splendidly eye-catching booth, and Jade stands dazedly by as the green and fresh-as-springtime mage converses with a red-faced man with fleshy lips and a booming, loud voice.
That is, until she lays eyes on the tiny little guns sitting upon the table! They aren’t exactly perfect by way of design, but there is some crinkling gold leaf etching around the edges that really catch her eye and which aren’t half bad. She’s fairly confused by just why someone would keep a fake-y fake gun lying around like that, because real guns offer far better accuracy when shooting at something, but she supposes that some people just aren’t ready for that kind of responsibility. You have to be prepared to evaluate whether or not some other living creature’s life is worth more than your own just by having one holstered at your hip, after all. Still, she is pretty befuddled by the scrappy little things.
The large rounded lenses of her glasses slipping precipitously down her nose before she flicks them back up with a little snuffle— all this itchy hay for horse hooves to find must really be getting to her, she reasons,— Jade leans forwards on the rail of the booth and scoops one up into her hands. A small, jerky catch stops her from pulling it any closer, as a small and terribly frayed strand of rope is tied fast around it. Smart.
She bats the barrel around between her thumbs, lips puckered and a single eyebrow quirked. “What are these baby guns for?”
Baby guns as in really weak and rudimentary, of course. Jade had much larger guns than this when she was small.
The gamekeeper tosses his head back in a laugh, a loud rumbling sound like the trumpeting of an elephant, and leans a beefy arm over the booth’s edge. “Why, they’re for shooting those cans down with, little lady!” he says, jovially, a wide grin on his lips.
Jade frowns, puzzled, glancing between the gun and the tin cans in the near distance. “What happens when I shoot the cans?”
“You get to take your pick of any one of these marvelous prizes,” he spreads his arms wide, noting how the dog-eared girl’s eyes widen in twinkling wonder. “And I’ll tell you what: Since I’m feeling especially generous today, if you can hit all seven of the cans I have set up at the end of that lane, I’ll give you two of whichever prizes you pick!”
“Ooh!” Jade exclaims, bouncing up and down in excitement. She whirls to face Valerie, hands clasped together in her eagerness, having released the gun in order to do so. “Can I go first? I promise I’ll try and do my best!”
The green mage dips into a funny little bow, stepping aside with a pleasant smile on his lips. “By all means, Miss Jade!”
Giving a little whoop of excitement, Jade turns to face her targets, reaching down to pick up the gun once again. Her hands conform easily to its shape, and Jade wracks her brain for the last time she even fired a gun. She just can’t seem to recall much of anything right now, she’s so elated! Still, she stoops down and places her elbows on the edge of the booth, eyes roving over the phony weapon to make sure everything is shipshape.
There’s a weird weight that shifts against her wrist bones as she turns the makeshift firearm over, almost as if someone has purposefully stuck some heavy substance like lead inside to throw her game off, but Jade is an experienced gun handler! A little offset weight can’t trouble her too much.
She could always ask Bec to help her with her aim a little, but she suspects that he might not be much help while even most of her powers seem to be out of commission. Either the Green Sun doesn’t hold much sway here, or it is just as everyone has been telling her— that her whole existence beforehand was something of a fairytale, a hallucination, or a dream. Whatever the case, she reaches down to apply a few quick scritches behind his ears before continuing, earning herself an encouraging lick across her knuckles in return.
Jade turns the gun slowly until she estimates that it is suitably aligned with her target. There is no adrenaline of strife here, no screaming fire burning through her veins, and certainly no need for hasty movements or half-cocked shots. Valerie’s counting on her. She can afford to take her time.
After taking a deep, steadying breath, Jade’s lips pull into an easy grin, her feet squared off and posture relaxed. Her tongue pokes out a little between her teeth as she concentrates, shifting the funny little firearm this way and that in her hands until the odd weight inside balances just right.
Her right eye slips halfway shut, eyelashes flush against her freckled cheek, and she brings her right cheek nearer to her right shoulder, canting the small gun with the movement. A splash of sunlight glitters along the edge of one of the cans, which is lightly dusted with orange-tinted rust and has a serrated edge to it. A stint of silvery light shafts out, the whole of the sky above like an upside-down mixing bowl of clear air and poufy gases, curving downwards and tapering off along the edges of ridged gables and spires.
Jade fires, a soft click darting through the air like a swallow in flight. Half an instant later, one of the cans on the top row topples over with a severely hollow clang!
“One!” Jade cheers, rolling her wrist to the side until the weight distribution along her palm resettles. Another metallic clatter rings out as she fires once more.
“Two!” She chirrups, eyes glittering.
Clang! “Three!” She shifts her gaze to the bottom row, adjusting her stance and grip accordingly, all the while sizing up her new set of targets. Four dented cans with shiny metal rims sit like ducks upon the shelf, sad and lonely without their three pals sitting overhead.
Jade resolves to put them out of their misery.
Zip! “Four!”
Pip! “Five!”
Clink! “Six!”
The Witch grins toothily, because this is so much fun! She looks over her shoulder to say as much to Val, the greenish sequins of her coat sparkling as her hair brushes over them, but someone else is quick to interject.
“Jade!”
The girl flinches with such haste that the toy gun goes off in her hand as her hands clench instinctively, thankfully still sticking the can right in its middle rather than missing. With a sharp clatter, it joins its brethren upon the ground while the carny blinks, clearly taken aback, at all of his unhappily toppled tin cans.
Jade breathes a shaky sigh of relief, turning to face Karkat with a funny tittering laugh trickling out from her mouth. “Oh, hi Karkat!”
She listens as the troll grits a few steady streams of words out at her, seeming agitated. His jimmies are obviously rustled, but she can’t for the life of her figure out why. When he finally stops rambling so much and asks about Valerie, Jade is quick on the draw.
“This is Valerie! We’ve just been chatting for a while and he asked me for help in winning a prize for his student, so that’s what I’ve been doing,” she gestures to the booth and then beams at the fellow running it, her face lighting up. “I do get to pick out a prize now, right?”
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Undyne - 12-08-2015
Alexyana passed her claws through her hair as if combing it and took several deep breaths to calm herself down. Then she shook her head. "There's nothing I should forgive you for, Axorn. You got me scared and worried but not angered, and this whole thing wasn't your fault in the first place. I first thought like you'd tried some sort of practical joke but seeing as how that wasn't the case there's nothing that needs forgiving." She offered a little grin, stood back up and held out her hand to shake Axorn's in a gesture of reconciliation. "Although, you wouldn't need to worry about me freaking out if you showed up, so long as you do it in a somewhat sensitive manner. I've had my share of freaky experiences, seeing a person I thought dead back on their feet isn't too bad in contrast. I appreciate the gesture, though." She looked at Axorn's forehead for a moment. "You sure you are okay, then? This mental trauma you mentioned - I don't know how much it's effected you but perhaps we could have someone take a look at it, just to make sure. As a part-demon I know how volatile dark magic can be... it might have unpredictable after-effects."
She took her seat back up and waited for Axorn to do the same, unless he insisted on staying on his feet of course. In an effort to lighten up the conversation a bit she gave him a little grin. "Although I'll admit that the mask is a little off-putting at first, now that I know that you wear it. Then again, this is coming from someone with black eyeballs, and you don't look any different with the thing on your face - just another reason for you to forget about it, and I wouldn't expect you to tell me every last detail of such things. I'll get used to it, I promise."
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Ruby Rose - 12-10-2015
Quote:CHAPTER 7
PAGE 1
Dear Diary,
I'm going to get through this recap swiftly; let briefly me just say it included a payload of whining from Weiss as I frequently lost her throughout the encroaching, boisterous crowd. One may have looked at the crowd and shouted, "Wow, it's so beautiful!"... but to someone of my height it just felt like a tsunami, encasing all the colours in the spectrum. I looked for centuries for Rin, but my efforts ended in a big fat zilch, as if he had just become erased from the Omniverse by the big boy's thumb. However... over the time that I spent scouring the flocks of spectators for the fire boy, I discovered a peculiar application on the Dataverse, labeled 'PesterOmni'. Through it, I actually chatted with various other Colosseum spectators, some extremely nice (like gardenGnostic and primordialPersistence) while others... lemme just say I didn't take an immediate liking to their horrendous behaviour.
Through this application, I organized a meet up with gardenGnostic (creator of the app) in the stands. My clue; a girl with dog ears. But I couldn't find her in the stands! I was beginning to give up on everyone (not you Weiss, you know I love ya), until I discovered the Carnival games and food and stuff nearby! My day was finally beginning to liven up!
"Ruby, can you please not act like a child in a candy store?!" Weiss grunted behind me, and I swept around, skirt flourishing in a wild dance. "Ohh, come on, Weiss!" I complained, wiping my eyes in jest. "Just a little bit of fun... pleeeeeease?" I pleaded with her, stopping stock still.
"No."
"Come ooooon..."
"Ruby, I said n-"
"Pretty please with a cherry on top? And cream? And cho-"
"Ugh, FINE!" The ivory-haired Huntress conceded, and I stuck my tongue out. "Thank you, Snow Angel!" I teased, before spinning back around to check out the amusement stalls at my disposal. There were ball-throwing games, food stalls, it was bliss just looking at everything! But I wondered... what were we supposed to pay with?!
To experiment, I motioned Weiss to a nearby stall selling some kind of... hot-dog... thing. Whatever they were, they looked yummy! With a sigh signalling I was terribly irking her, Weiss reluctantly clicked her way over to me, hands defiantly on her hips. "Hey! Could I please get two of those?" I called over the counter to the stall keeper, who's rear was turned in my direction. No response. "U-uhm, excuse me...?"
"Hey!" Weiss shouted, and a pandemonium of clatters and thumps responded in a choir of destruction. The round-faced woman peered over the counter, and Weiss pointed down at me, frowning. The pudgy female smacked herself in the forehead and grinned sheepishly. "O-oh, I apologize! W-what would you like, miss?" She asked, crimson creeping into her plump cheeks like a pair of giant red spiders. "Two of those, please!" I ordered again, my grin notwithstanding, as I pointed at the hotdog-thingies in the back of the stall. Obeying her customer's orders, she simply spun around, retrieved the food from their heated homes and passed them to us.
I blinked my argent eyes in confusion. "D-don't I have to pay?" I asked, mystified. The woman laughed a hearty laugh. "Why, of course not, dear! This is all crafted from Omnillium, we have plenty!" She informed me, and my lips read a large 'O'.
"And this is why I don't let you shop alone, you dunce." Weiss scolded me and gave me a light smack on the head, before munching into her bun.
That kept her silent for quite some time, out of fear of possibly igniting everything in her immediate vicinity.
We continued to stroll - and yes, I did grab Weiss a bottle of water - until we found a peculiar looking girl, taking out cans with a toy rifle like a professional. My eyes widened in joy, first at her skill with a rifle... and then at the fact that she had a pair of cute little dog ears! I began to skip up to her, Weiss chugging her beverage in the background... and recoiled as some grey-skinned, candy-horned guy passed in front of me. I ducked around the other side of gardenGnostic and poked her playfully in the ribs.
"Heya!" I greeted her, extending a hand. "I'm Ruby Rose... but you might know me as dairyDiarist!" I introduced myself, beaming brightly.
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - King Axorn - 12-10-2015
Axorn stayed standing despite Alexyana's invitation to sit down. "I think I'm going to leave soon. I've barely explored any of the verses. But thanks for being so accepting."
"No problem. I guess I'll see you around then."
"See you later."
Axorn spread his wings and took off, soaring over the Colosseum. He eyed the crowds bustling below him and people cheering in their stands as the semi-finals took place down below. As he eyed the crowds, he noticed something interesting. There was a young girl in the crowd with perfectly white dog ears sticking out of her hair and a black cloak with green tinted stars over her body, talking to a strange, gray colored, seemingly human being with two stubby yellow and orange colored horns sticking out of his black hair and wearing a black shirt with a gray cancer symbol in the middle. Standing next to them was a mage-looking character with bright green clothing.
Another person ran up while Axorn was watching, it was a young human female with red hair, her and black clothing -- which was composed of a tight-fitting dress and a small skirt -- , a red cloak, black boots and some sort of red, mechanical contraption under her cloak.
There was also another female who seemed to have a color scheming quirk like the one in red, however she was wearing white, and only white. Her hair was much longer than the other female and her skirt was a bit longer as well. She also had a rapier-like sword hanging from a belt of her hip with some sort of vials with a strange substance inserted into it. She was not wearing a cloak and was trying to push her was through the crowd towards the others.
All of a sudden Axorn felt a vibration from his right wrist. His PesterOmni account was alerting him to a new message. At the same moment, something vibrated inside the dog-girl's cloak and something on the red girl's waist vibrated as well. Looks like they also have PesterOmni, he thought. Cool.
Axorn pulled up a holo-screen from his watch and sent a quick message through PesterOmni and then waited. They should see it soon enough.
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Strazio Rockwell - 12-13-2015
The large man stood in awe at the young girl’s marksmanship. He rubbed his bulging belly and stroked his rough beard. With exaggerated movements he leaned over slightly and looked down the firing range. After a pause he turns back to Jade and a thin smile slipped across his lips before clapping for the girl.
“Yes, well done, well done! Please choose your prize miss!”
Jade smiled from ear to ear and turned to Valerie, “go ahead pick the one you want!”
Valerie laced his fingers together and brought his hands up to his face before cooing, “Thank you Miss Harley, I am forever in your debt!”
Val’s eyes danced across the rows of plush toys and interesting trinkets. He knew what he was looking for, but Strazio’s soon-to-be present was strangely absent. Panic began to set in as he frantically scanned the prizes. His friends disappeared from his world as disappointment swelled within his body. Woe and grief gripped the emotional mage’s heart, oh how disappointed Strazio would be, he thought. But, hidden beneath a pile of plush elephants he saw his goal. Peeking from beneath the blue bodies sat a simple plush turtle. Its beady eyes looked up at the excited verdant mage and he scooped up the green creature. With a spin he laughed an put the small stuffed animal on his head.
“Follow me my little companion, I know the perfect home for you.”
His whimsical world came back into focus as the crisis was averted. A new friend had come to join their carnival adventure, and how rude it would be not to introduce himself properly. The brightly colored mage stepped forward holding his hands in the air. His fingers danced and his hands made strange symbols.At first glance one would think it was a magical incantation, but in truth it was simply a symptom of Valerie’s burning desire to constantly be in motion. Lacing between his fluttering fingers a rope-like stem twisted around his hands. The flower bloomed into a multi-layered spiral of bright red and ochre. With a flourish he plucked the fledgling blossom and pushed it in front of Karkat’s face.
“For you! My new friend!” He gleefully exclaimed.
“What?” Valerie’s horned friend raised his eyebrows and took a step back.
“This is a Cyranian Bloodsprite, it is a token of our new bond of friendship!”
Karkat interrupted him by restating the question at hand, “what?”
Valerie pause for a moment, unsure of how to deal with the disgruntled troll. A genuine smile can melt even the coldest of hearts, and so he grinned from ear to ear. Karkat glanced to Jade for help, but only found a giggle from the dog-girl. The flustered troll looked back to Valeria and asked.
“What, just what is this bullshittery you are presenting to my face?”
The poor mage deflated as Karkat’s disdain was made painfully apparent. He pulled back the flower and twirled it around in his hand. “Awh, come on Karkat don’t be rude,” Jade admonished him. Karkat pursed his lips and look at Jade, his eyes shot a “are-you-fucking-kidding-me” look at her. She furrowed her brow at him and Bec barked.
“Fine,” Karkat sighed and stuck his hand out towards Valerie, “I’ll take your stupid flower.”
The plant mage clapped his hands together excitedly and handed the flower off to Karkat. Around them the carnival began to die down as the next set of fights began to start. Valerie frowned as he thought of Strazio trudging off into another death-match.
“Oh I sure hope he’s okay,” Valerie spoke with a twinge of worry in his voice.
“Who?” Jade asked, “your student?”
“Indeed,” Valerie laughed for a moment before continuing, “he has, uh, temper issues, and he tends to do stupid things when he is perturbed. He’s competing in this silly tournament, and I wouldn’t be the least surprised if he proved victorious; that is of course if he doesn’t allow his anger to get the better of him.”
Karkat raised his eyebrow at Valerie’s description and asked hesitantly, “your student, what is his name?”
“Oh, his name?” Valerie paused, “why I think he calls himself the Guardian of Darkshire or some witless moniker like that, but his real name is Strazio Rockwell.”
There was a pregnant silence held between the three as Jade and Karkat realized who Strazio was. Valerie’s student had hurt Gamzee, hurt him pretty badly. Around them the fair seemed silent as the fog of tension enveloped the trio. The first to slice through the veil was the candy-corn horned.
“He’s dead you know,” Karkat spoke with a twinge of venom in his voice, “I heard people talking about it.
“Oh my, how could that happen?” Valerie choked on the weight of the news.
“Karkat,” Jade began, but was cut off by her friend.
“Jade, that’s the guy who almost fucking killed Gamzee and you’re hanging out with that psycho's teacher?”
Valerie held up his hands in defense, “despite being his tutor I do not share his furious disposition. I have no desire to harm anyone, and I certainly go not condone Strazio’s actions. However, it does greatly burden my heart to learn that he is indeed expired, oh poor misguided Strazio.” The green mage lamented and put the back of his hand to his forehead in an over-the-top display of grief. This was certainly not the first time he had to detach himself from Strazio’s actions. In fact it was quite often that the verdant mage had to smooth over social interactions for Strazio, the man’s temper was something of legend. Anxious fidgeting filled his hands as he prayed that his new found friends would not abandon him for that acts committed by his pupil.
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Jade Harley - 12-14-2015
The Witch grins pleasantly as Valerie claims his prize, swaying a little so that the twin-tailed hood of her god-tier outfit swings merrily about on the breeze. She is able to pick her own prize from the mesh of piled-up toys and fuzzy dolls soon after, and she does so after much consideration, picking through her options with a careful eye for frayed stitches and torn felt. Finally, she tugs what she considers to be the best of the bunch out from beneath a pile of bean-filled creatures: an octopus, with dark purplish rings spread across a peach fuzz spread of soft lavender.
Things go well after that for roughly seventeen seconds before Karkat asks The Wrong Question. Capitalization fully intended. It could even be called The Wrongest Question, if not for the fact that wrongest isn’t even a word at all.
But, oh, wow. Jade hadn’t expected everything to go to shit so quickly, but she supposes that this is what the universe serves her with when she has been happy for far, far too long. She crosses her arms over her chest, the colorful octopus squashed under them with a few soft felt tentacles nudging arbitrarily out, and pouts at Karkat.
“Now, that’s not a fair thing to say at all,” she says to the cherry-blooded troll, edging her way in between him and Valerie in a mostly unconscious gesture of defense. “Valerie couldn’t have controlled Strazio’s actions, and it was Gamzee’s choice to get involved in this thing anyways! You’re both more or less in the same boat, so why don’t you—“
A soft, unobtrusive series of dings alert Jade to several new notifications on her Spectagoggles. She pauses midsentence, stammers a bit, and then lightly clicks her tongue as she attempts to differentiate between the large amount of information and shifting images flooding in over the rounded lenses of her Dataverse device.
Lips curling downwards in a precipitous, hesitant way, much like how a person scaling down a steep cliff face descends, Jade takes a few seconds to fully tune out Karkat’s yammering and Valerie’s woe to scope out just what is being broadcast across the Dataverse, with the high hopes that maybe, just maybe, things will be going well for at least some of her friends.
She’s wrong. Oh god, is she ever so wrong. Sir David T. Monroe’s account of the great battle taking place in the Endless Dunes may be skewed whichever way, but Jade cannot dispute the telling forms of arms and legs dangling out from underneath the rubble, the way that the man hit with some ghastly hex convulses upon the ground with dry spittle foaming at his lips.
Blinking through tears that have unexpectedly sprung to her eyes, Jade does the only thing that she can do: offer her help, even if it takes her days to arrive on the wrecked soil of Nippur. Once that is done and all necessary messages sent, she scrubs a hand across her face and is unsurprised to find that it comes away a little damp.
She sniffles, and the First Guardian sitting at her side licks consolingly at her knees. This only serves to multiply her sniffling, but the godly wolfdog is undaunted by this and simply presses the side of its head firmly against her leg— a steady and warm weight, alive save for its utter lack of a heartbeat.
Her horror steadily increases as she watches the events unfold before her very eyes, and the young Witch eventually has to close the program as things begin to escalate further. The screams of the man Sir Monroe had struck with some horrible invocation continue to ring in her ears even as she turns her attention to more benign programs, such as her chat memo. What is the purpose of tears, when a tragedy such as this is so far removed from her?
Purpose, purpose, purpose! That is all she ever thinks about anymore. But what is purpose to a god? To one who used to value such petty things as self accomplishment and esteem, and still hears those calls as strongly as ever? She feels as an adventurer crossing over some great chasm upon a slender birch log, the ravine plunging down hundreds of leagues into the center of the earth, shuffling her feet and not daring to take the next step unless she is absolutely certain she will not plummet to her death after one fateful misstep.
But these are all things to ponder for another time. There are people watching her, expectant, and she does not have it in her to disappoint them. She is so hopelessly ensnared in expectations, that way; it was a lot easier when she was alone on her island, with only the sobbing silence to provide any comfort, but she wouldn’t trade this experience with her new friends for anything. Jade loves the world freely, so long as it continues to turn faithfully beneath her feet.
Just as Jade is about to continue admonishing Karkat, a girl dressed in black and red approaches from the crowd, happily introduces herself to Jade, and proceeds to tickle the utterly flummoxed Witch about her ribcage. Another girl, clad all in white, follows shortly behind.
“Hello!” Jade exclaims, giggling as Ruby impishly prods at her ribs. Hair the color of blackest midnight tumbles about her shoulders as she laughs, small constellations that pulse with the same fluttering rhythm of a hummingbird’s heart cycling through the curls in an impressive current of glittering stars. “It’s very nice to finally—“
She stops speaking abruptly, mouth falling slack for a few seconds as she inspects the new message scrolling languorously across the red-tinted screen of her Junior Compu-Sooth Spectagoggles. Roughly five separate dings go off from the Dataverse devices in her immediate vicinity, as if there were a swarm of musical bees nearby.
Quote: BE: Well, would you look at that!
BE: It seems I've found two other people who also use PesterOmni.
BE: Both female.
BE: One is wearing a black dress/cloak thing with green star-like sparkles all over it and white dog ears sticking out of her black hair.
BE: The other one is wearing mostly red and black.
BE: Has some red mechanical contraption hidden under her red cloak.
BE: If either of these people are you, look up!
And Jade looks up.
“Oh!” There is a bipedal dragon standing humbly a few strides away, his enormous wings widespread as if to encompass all the rising dust and murmurings of conversation and activity around them. They are tucked back to his sides in one fell swoop, with all the sureness and finality of a blade being sheathed. His scales are red, each like a perfect jewel of cut stone, and they gleam impressively in the sunlight. He also has a super neat watch!
At her hip, Becquerel yawns, as if nothing out of the ordinary has transpired. Jade takes this as a sign that she shouldn’t be especially troubled by this fellow’s fearsome build and glinting eyes. The Omnipoterrier has spoken, it seems.
The god-child grins when the dragon fellow tips his head forward in greeting, moving towards him with feather light steps. She dips into a gracious curtsey, like she has read about in children’s storybooks, and then bobs back up in a swirl of glittering stars and admiring green eyes, which are almost humorously wide behind the round lenses of her glasses.
“It’s very nice to meet you, blazingExorcist, and you too, dairyDiarist— I mean, Ruby Rose and company! Haha,” she’s grinning so much right now, it’s starting to hurt her cheeks a little! “Isn’t that funny? We both are named after gemstones! It must be fate, or something!”
She waggles her fingers about in saying this, snow-white ears flicking up and down and all around like the fluttering of a butterfly’s wings. Her freckled cheeks are simply glowing with excitement, and this enthusiasm is only amplified tenfold once she decides upon what she would like to do next.
“Here, hold on a second!” Jade brings her hands up in front of her face, squinting into the vividly intense and shifting glow of Omnilium that manifests there, the stuffed octopus tucked securely under one arm.
She thinks of what she would like to summon for Ruby— a frog, of course, but each frog is so drastically different from the next that it will be difficult to decide upon what kind to create. They’re kind of like people, in that way— and not just humans, either! Each one is different and to be cherished, and left to do froggy things with their froggy lives, behaving in a way that is fundamentally true to their nature.
As Jade’s hands gleam with the amorphously fluctuating light of the summoning process, something begins to take shape there, slowly at first in glacial brushstrokes of creation, but gradually forming into an interestingly organic shape that emerges nose-first from the cloud. And, boy, what a nose it has!
This frog is dark in color, almost pitch black, and its skin rises up in hexagonal ridges all along its body. Some of these ridges have delightfully gleaming ruby red gemstones at their center which twinkle with a smooth, brilliant gleam. Its feet and underbelly are mottled with light grey, giving off the impression of black marble embellished with fluid spirals of white and grey.
Its froggy eyes appear to be reenacting a lunar eclipse, cycling between a flinty metallic silver to a magnificent and rich gold with every blink. Its snout has a peculiarly delicate protrusion from it, kind of like a star-nosed mole but in the shape of flowers petals. Its tongue is long, slender, and sticky as sap. Its ribbit will be almost like a nightingales call, Jade knows, albeit condensed and quick. She thinks that this frog has a certain kind of noble air to it, although she couldn’t say exactly why.
She smiles serenely down at the little frog squatting in the palms of her hands, and gently passes the amphibian over to her new friend. Ruby accepts it carefully, eyes wide with wonder, and Jade’s small smile spreads into a toothy, absolutely delighted grin.
“It’ll take a while for it to thaw, but just think of all the wonderful adventures you will have together! Isn’t that just wonderful? I’ll have to explain later, I guess, but right now I’m fine with leaving this one with you. It is the Satin Frog of Rubies and Roses— take good care of it, now!”
Then, because she cannot watch over these frogs all at once, not anymore— and because she has a feeling they will be a lot safer with these obviously formidable and trustworthy people, anyhow, Jade begins to work on calling another frog into being. She thinks that she hears Karkat mumble something along the lines of “What the ever-loving shit are you doing handing out frogs, Harley?”, but she mostly ignores that in favor of focusing on her work. And, lo, the frog manifests in her hands after only a few minutes more!
As she looks upon it, Jade reasons that this frog would likely still appear to be frozen after it finishes thawing, what with its slow blinks and barely-discernible breathing. It is all white in color, with wintry branches of pale blue running along its back and occasionally blooming into faintly tactile snowflowers. It gleams like porcelain, with sparkling grains of crystal here and there. Its eyes are a brilliant crimson and are exceptionally alert, with diamond-shaped pupils at their centers. Its feet are not clawed and appear to be made of shiny ice.
Small red beads of color rise up in places along its back, which completes an intricate yet subtle detail of berries, flowers, and snow that spreads over its body. Its throat is also almost entirely composed of clear ice, and it glimmers like a crystalline ball of spectral reflections and light. Its skin is unsurprisingly cold to the touch. Its limbs are long and well-built, perfect for leaps and bounds. Its tongue is a slate grey that is easily distinguishable from the rest of its snowy white mouth. Its ribbit will be like a songbird’s musical chirrup. She thinks that this frog is a lot less fragile than it looks!
“Here you go,” Jade chirps brightly, giving Ruby’s solemn, white-haired friend the frog she has made. Her teeth flash in a dazzling grin as the wintry girl accepts the frog. “This is the Crystal Frog of Ice and Snow! Please look after it closely, it’s one of the prettiest ones I have.”
Cupping her hands together once again, Jade turns towards her draconic friend, blazingExorcist, and begins to shape a new frog. It springs to fiery life in her hands, a sheen of glittering ice covering its skin, stalled in a crouching position as if it were still setting comfortably upon a lily pad.
This new frog is scaly and red-tinged, with a white underbelly that glows with a burning inner light even through the sheen of frost covering it. Each scale is marbled with amber-yellow dust particles, as if someone has taken a handful of golden flakes and blown them across its back. Its eyes are a warm brown, like burnt coffee, and a hexagonal, criss-crossing pattern distinguished in white runs down its back.
Two horns stick out from the top of this frog's head, brownish in color and slightly worn. Most impressively, it has two leathery wings arching off from its back, which are folded so that the frog is crouched similar to a gargoyle on the side of a tall building. Its ribbit will sound like a crackling blaze. Jade feels that this frog could be a real spitfire, if given the chance to break out of the ice encasing its inner flame.
“Ah! There,” she tells the draconic paladin, carefully handing the frog over. “This is the Frog Born Of Flame. Which is awfully funny, seeing as it’s all covered up in a coat of ice right now! Don’t worry though, it’ll melt. Just give it some time, like all things need at some point or another.”
Jade grins, satisfied with her work. As she goes to speak once again, however, a new PesterOmni alert zaps across her screen. A line of inky black text winds its way over the chat program’s screen ever so politely, but Jade still balks at what it has to say. Or, rather, at what egregiousInquisitor has to say.
“Oh nooooooooo,” Jade laments, clutching at the sides of her head, her hair streaming down in front of her face and swathing it in shadow, expression the very picture of sorrow. She makes the mistake of flipping over to a live stream of the Colosseum tournament, gargling some choice words around the lump of terror in her throat as she watches a rather large warhammer rupture directly through Adam Gaite’s chest in sickening, intimate detail. “Ohhhhh nonononoooooo!”
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Tearen Wover - 12-16-2015
"MISTER OOAKKIEEEE!!" Rebecca shrieked as the mean lady with the skeleton face hit Okor's face so that it broke a lot. The young girl grasped the sandstone railing of the arena wall and jumped up and down in frustration, muttering incoherent words and denials of what had just happened. Okor had done incredibly well in the tournament; somewhere in her fractured, occluded mind, Rebecca knew that. But seeing her idol and current guardian figure get brutally slain was just a bit too much for Rebecca to handle. This sentiment of despair was expressed through gratuitous tears, so much so that her pained wailing pierced through even the ravenous roar of the bloodthirsty crowd. Several patrons of the tournament looked over from their nearby seats to see the Little Sister sinking to her knees and burying her face in her clammy hands.
Who had allowed such a young girl into the tournament in the first place? The onlookers were shooed away as Rebecca was gently picked up with a telekinetic hand and floated along through the air by Klee and Shen, who flanked her on either side. So far, Nealaphh's plan was going quite well indeed. It was a pity that the master was currently indisposed so as to be unable to be updated of the good news. After some time to cool down, Rebecca eventually was able to support her own weight, and walked taciturn through the halls of the Colosseum's lobby, guided by the Aspects. It was of paramount importance that they get her bonded to a new guardian figure right away, or the young girls' mind threatened to suffer a complete collapse. Powerful though they were, the geometric forms of the Aspects were simply not a suitable replacement for a warm, humanoid body.
Klee and Shen debated possibilities amongst themselves. Who was around who had a decent enough relationship with the Master that would also be wiling to look after a liability such as Rebecca? A quick scan of the Dataverse revealed their solution. Both Ruby Rose and Jade Harley were still in the area, and what was more, a third Prime was with them. If there was any place they could ensure Rebecca's safety, it would be somewhere among these grouped individuals. The bustling alleyways and promenades of the Colosseum's carnival district were as frenzied and confused as ever. Myriad secondaries of various races and even more varietal means of dress shuffled past in hurried fashion, their ecstatic faces drawing a stark comparison with Rebecca's own, downcast features. If the Aspect had been capable of feeling pity, they may have made an attempt to console her themselves. The psychic figments were well aware of their own capabilities, however, and soothing the mind of a depressed human child subjected to intense brain washing was not within their usual purview of duties.
After a short period of wandering, Klee's attention was drawn to the a repeated sharp snapping sound. Concerned that there might be a fight taking place, the Rational Aspect, left the care of Rebecca up to her other half and proceeded to hover up over the tops of the endless sea of tents. About fifty yards away there appeared to be a sideshow game of sorts, involving firing underpowered weaponry at easy targets. Resisting the urge to pass judgement on the pointless pastimes of humans and their ilk, Klee instead reported to Shen that the area was clear. Not only that, but based on context stated within PesterOmni, there was over an %80 chance the Prime with the weapon was Jade Harley.
...
It was probably rather poor timing that the Aspects and Rebecca showed up right as Jade was having a minor breakdown due to the recent demise of one of her chosen spectators, but the Aspects had neither the context nor emotional investment to consider such social niceties. As such, when Bec began to signal his signature growl as the two psychic constructs and mutant child approached, Jade's eyes flicked up with a look of, perhaps, slightly more panic than was called for. Her concerns were alleviated only slightly when she saw that the source of the alert was the approach of some of Nealaphh's Institute friends. She tried to gently shush the Guardian as the two black, rotating polygons spoke with chiming, resonant voices.
"You are the Prime known as Jade Harley?"
"Hi Jade!"
Bec released a few counterarguments to the presence of the Aspects in the form of a series of harsh, bellowing barks. The other denizens present simply stared on, unsure of what exactly was taking place. The Witch continued to try and sooth Bec, though the nature of his aggravation had her concerned.
"Uhmm. Hello! Um! Sorry about Bec, he's really very-"
Jade was cut off as Bec made a cursory lunge at the hovering pair of shapes, though he balked at the last moment. The little girl though, she looked awful sad. Bec's barking didn't seem to bother her at all.
"-normally really very sweet!"
The two hovering black shapes didn't seem to be particularly impressed or intimidated, and continued to speak in their overlapping tones.
"Indeed. We were wondering if we might ask a favor of you."
"S'alright! Hey uh, can we axe ya somethin?"
Meanwhile, Rebecca wriggled free of the Aspects' telekinetic grasp and wandered towards Bec. This was initially distressing for the Witch of Space and everyone present, given Bec's currently semi-aggressive behavior. As the young girl stumbled towards him, she kicked the dirt and offered a glance at Jade out from under her heavy bangs.
"Is he your dog?" she asked in her small voice, distorted in a slightly disconcerting way. Jade's eyes shot up to the hovering Aspects and back to Rebecca. Everyone watched as the Guardian dog slunk close to the Little Sister and offered her a few sniffs. Though his hackles were still noticeably raised, he didn't seem to mind the presence of this strange little girl. It appeared as though it was the talking boxes themselves that were the source of his concern. Rebecca suddenly skipped forwards and threw her arms fully around Bec's shaggy neck, burying her face in his iridescent mane.
"He's warmmm~" she hummed, snuggling her face into his coat. Bec dutifully sat back on his haunches, making no aggressive moves, though he still occasionally uttered low, rumbling growls when he glanced at Klee and Shen.
"Don't tell me you actually know these spooky fucks-" Karkat started, but Jade held up a resolute hand, demanding his silence. Such assertiveness was not commonly seen from the usually sunny Harley girl, so when Karkat saw this, he shut his mouth more out of shock rather than obedience.
"You're with Nealaphh, right? What's going on?" Jade asked in a concerned tone. Last she heard, Nealaphh had been going to help Demetri, who was in the Nippur, which was in the Endless Dunes, which was where David was, which was where so many very terrible things were happening. The fact that some of Nealaphh's followers would seek her out like this was more than slightly worrying. Klee and Shen began speaking again.
"The Guardian that Nealaphh had entrusted Rebecca to was recently slain in the tournament. She has no one to look after her, and we are not suitable replacements. Would you consider watching her for a while until we find another Institute member able to do so?"
"Hey, so, uh, baby gurl here is mad upset because her fatass plague daddy just got his head busted open over in the tournament. Couldja maybe hang with her till we get another babysitter?"
Re: Colosseum - Spectator Thread - Jade Harley - 12-16-2015
With a frown on her lips, Jade flapped a hand at her canine companion to remain silent.
In response, Becquerel huffed loudly, taking none too kindly to being ignored by its long-time charge. The First Guardian’s focus remained steadfastly locked upon the two floating geometric prisms with all the threatening solemnity of a ballistic missile. Troublingly, they remained unbothered by its readily expressed warnings, and all but ignored the irritated guardian.
They were glassy and smooth and appeared to be perfect for chewing on, although the Omni-Mutt suspected that they might give it a curious bout of indigestion of the laser beam variety. There was also a disconcerting quality of preeminence and more than a little telepathic shadiness lurking around their reflective, angular surfaces. This was, in the wolfdog's view, unacceptable.
It did not believe that the presence of those two beings boded well, but Becquerel set aside its disapproval for a moment in favor of investigating the petite, yellow-eyed, and humanoid creature that wasn’t infuriatingly out of its reach while Jade attended to whatever they needed. For the time being, it would refrain from trying to interfere in whatever kind of transaction was taking place, so long as Jade wasn’t placed in immediate danger.
The little girl that had seized it about the neck in a warm embrace had skin that was about the same shade as an Alternian troll’s, albeit slightly paler. Her yellow eyes gleamed like little twin gas lanterns out from under her dark bangs, and her grip was somewhat stronger than what the wolfdog had expected. Unlike with her companions, the First Guardian was not immediately concerned by her mere existence.
Curious, Bec snuffled against her shoulder, ears pricked smartly up as the smell of seawater and blood brine washed over its senses. Grubby hands patted stickily against its fur, and a delighted hum emanated from the child pressed against the wolfdog’s chest. The wolfdog allowed for itself to be hugged, lightly-curled tail thumping softly against the ground, laying the grass and speckled dirt there down flat.
Jade grimaced at Becquerel’s earlier rowdy behavior, but murmured a light, “Good dog, best friend.” She ruffled his ears, noticing as a few green electric sparks flaked out to dance along her fingertips before she returned to the more pressing task at hand.
With the flinty sunlight gliding over them as it was, the glassy forms of Nealaphh’s “associates” were suspended most intriguingly in the air. Jade searched the lines and angles of their shapes mostly subconsciously for some kind of power source, or even a rudimentary steering mechanism, only to come up with absolute zilch. The tetrahedral one that glowed with a red-tinged inner light spoke more sensibly than the other prism, which had a bluish light seeping out from its cubic obsidian frame and seemed to be infinitely more excitable— it was almost as if they were meant to be openly contradictory.
The dog-eared girl scrubbed at her eyes real quick, composing herself in record time. They had something serious to say to her, apparently, and she was bound and determined to devote her full attention to whatever that might have been, no matter what had happened with Adam and in the Endless Dunes. She hadn’t heard from Nealaphh in a long time, at least by whatever standards the stream of time she was currently occupying flowed by, and so she was very curious as of to what they might have had to say.
Still, she was sure that she seemed like a total emotional wreck. She dearly hoped that this lack of decorum didn’t interfere in any way with their conversation, and was somewhat pleasantly surprised when they did not acknowledge much about the obvious red tinge to her eyes and chapped, runny nose. Now these are the kinds of folks she would like to deal with more often! Serious business is much more important, anyways.
“Oh, wow, that doesn’t sound very good,” the Witch commented, listening patiently as the Aspects explained their reasoning for needing a new person to mind over the strange little girl that has latched onto Bec. She brought her hands together, trying to untangle her shaken nerves after witnessing yet another friend’s untimely death. “Well, I wouldn’t mind doing that for you at all! She seems to have taken a shine to Bec, anyways, so I don’t see any real harm in it.”
In saying this, she looked pointedly at Bec and Rebecca, internally finding it kind of funny that their names were slightly similar. The little girl was strange in appearance, but Jade wasn’t really one to judge by silly things like that. Besides, she seemed perfectly harmless, and as long as she didn’t tug too hard on Bec’s fur or stick her hands into his mouth, they should have been right as rain!
Smiling broadly as she arrived at this clear solution, Jade turned her attention upon the Aspects fully.
“So,” she said, and it was a little disconcerting how they just kind of… hung there, in the air. She was kind of surprised more people around her hadn't stopped to start balking at the whacky shapes floating in the sky, but that was most likely for the best. “Is there anything else I need to know?”
Heck, what else would she need to know? She had never had to babysit anyone before, living out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and all, but she distinctly felt that there had to be something else necessary to know when looking after a kid.
Jade rubbed at the back of her neck, the stuffed octopus still tucked securely under one arm, wracking her brain for anything else to ask. “Uhm… does she have any allergies? When is her bed time? Does she have any problems with eating her greens? Does she eat greens?”
There was a short, bizarrely electrical snort from Becquerel that cut off any response, almost as if he were saying something along the lines of, Silly human, quit asking questions of the puzzling prisms that I already know all of the answers to.
The Witch looked at him and snorted right back, albeit in a high-pitched mimicry of the sound. Becquerel’s head canted inquisitively to the side over the stringy black hair of Rebecca, causing the little girl’s hair to stick up in odd, unraveled patches. His front paws shifted a bit in the dirt, as if he were considering making an attempt to leap into the air again and latch onto one of the floating prisms or, hell, maybe a blooming bird in the blue sky above them, but he thankfully remained settled back upon his haunches.
“Lazy dog,” Jade quietly teased, sticking her tongue out at him in a thoroughly immature way. But after having to practically wrestle with him to keep the silly wolfdog from trying to gnaw the shiny surfaces of Nealaphh’s “associates” into chew toy oblivion, she figured that she had as good as a license for immaturity. She probably deserved a medal, or something. Bec was strong.
Her eyes feeling strangely scratchy, Jade turned back towards the two Aspects in a whirl of her starry skirts. "Oh, and could you tell Nealaphh that I have something I'd like to give it? If you meet up with it before I notice that it's online again. I mean, unless you could deliver the thing to it directly, which I would really, really appreciate!"