The Escapist Avatar Adventure: An Open RP (Now Re-Opened!)

[bluecrimson]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

Slindis walked near Teri with Lupito in tow, taking a look at the spell that her student had cast on Garm. It was unfamiliar to her, but she had the feeling that she could use the spell herself if she took a bit of time to see how it worked. [color=c20000]"Teri, did you even ensure that you have a water supply? I already guaranteed Devon one, but I'd like to make sure you're fine as well."[/color] With that, she pulled out a decent sized flask that looked like it could hold a quart of liquid and handed it to her student.

[color=c20000]"In a desert, water is more valuable than gold. It fills up every quarter hour, so you should be fine when it comes to hydrating yourself."[/color]

---

Devon, however, decided to pick Ton-Ton up and put him on his shoulder. Even if the Tonberry was fire resistant, Caim did want him to keep an eye on the both of them. "Holding up well, guys?" For her part, Ella was with them and holding up well having grown up in Hell, and the Bard was holding up well enough.

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

Melethia looked at David shrinking in his seat and laughed. "Relax, Library! It's just Mister Caim and Redscale. They're a bit scary, but nothin' to worry about." As she kept an eye on David, she juggled a dagger with a deep purple blade.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

Rugal pressed on as Teri cast her magic, though the sudden end to Garms panting was curious.
It was enough for him to ask "Before you spread anything, mind telling me at what "It" is?" as he marched onwards, leading despite his sense of direction being off what with being blind and all.
Still, he figured if he was going the wrong way, someone would point it out to him.
In the meantime, he wiped some sweat from his brow before pushing in his sunglasses.

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

West had his feet up, having taken a pair of seats to himself alone, sighing happily as he felt he could go to sleep again.
All the while, Jenny came back from the Livestock carriage, checking up on Cid before returning to her seat.
"Well, It's no Metro, but this is nice, not tot fast, not too slow." she mused as she looked at the passing countryside, the desert slowly giving way to greener pastures.

 

[Kalastryn]

snip

Pandora sits silently on the train headed to blackwater for a while, just staring out the window. The seemingly endless sand in her view reminded her so much of that day... she wondered, what would have happened to her if she hadn't switched bodies? It seemed some of the strongest on her team were team rocket's first targets... and through all the poison, confusion, burning... she hadn't failed once to bring an opponent down. Yet everyone else was stolen first... was this because team rocket was afraid? Afraid of what her presence in the wild would have meant? Or because like many the thieves believed catastrophe would befall them to find her?

Regardless, she snaps back to reality after seeming to stare for quite some time. "I take it everyone else is as new here as me, but does anybody have any idea when we're supposed to arrive?" she asks, pulling out a stopwatch to check the time. She wasn't exactly as eager to get there as she was to have some conversation to keep her mind off things... she hates to admit it to herself, but what happened before was probably going to stick with her for the rest of her life.

 

[bluerocker]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

[color=c20000]"In a desert, water is more valuable than gold. It fills up every quarter hour, so you should be fine when it comes to hydrating yourself."[/color]

Teri considered mentioning that she could easily Author or magic in water, but decided to hold her tongue and instead thanked Slindis for the flask and took a nice sip; enjoying the crispness of the water.

[color=0E59E4]"Thanks mum. Also, that spell you two asking about is called Endure Elements. It makes it easier to survive in hot or cold environments. It doesn't prevent damage, but it'll prevent heatstroke. Look at Garm; not breaking a sweat. That was the reason I thought about it, because he had such a tough time yesterday. And... I can do it like this,"[/color]

She waved her hands in the same gestures, chanted in the strange mixture of Celestial and Aquan, and tapped Rugal's side (as she noticed his Terminator Sunglasses were slipping off his nose). To Rugal's pleasant surprise, the heat didn't bother him at all. In fact, he felt as if he was walking on calm spring morning.

As he took note of this, Teri giggled, [color=0E59E4]"You still have those shades, huh? I thought you would have gotten rid of them by now..."[/color]

The Cleric smiled fondly at the memory, and the impersonations that ensued from that. Perhaps she could convince Rugal to do it again? Maybe when they weren't in the middle of a desert... As they continued wandering and the Cleric waited for a response, Teri allowed her mind to go blank, and turned inward...

[color=0E59E4]"Sadei...? You still there? I understand if you're a bit mad at me for not talking for awhile; and I've no one but me to blame for that. I guess I'm easily distracted. But, the matter remains that I broke my promise to talk often. And for that... I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to make up for it?"[/color]

---

"Holding up well, guys?"

Ton Ton sat comfortably on his perch of Devon's shoulder and gave a happy nod, [color=15650D]"Yup! My hood helps out from keeping the sun in my eyes; especially riding around on Cadolbolg. The thermals really help with lifting up!"[/color]

"It really does!"

Cadolbolg coasted down from the high distance he was at previously, and was floating right above Devon's head, casting a pleasant shadow over the bard, "I don't have to flap my wings very much here! And the sun feels so nice on my scales... Ah~! You seem to like the heat too, Friend Devon. Are you from a desert?"

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

"Relax, Library! It's just Mister Caim and Redscale. They're a bit scary, but nothin' to worry about."

Caim gave David a curious glance and shrugged,

"I don't believe I've met you, 'Library', but if you're a friend of Melethia's, then unless you have a reason for me to doubt otherwise, there is no reason to be jittery. I'll trust you, for now. We're on the same job anyway, correct?"

"Well, It's no Metro, but this is nice, not too fast, not too slow."

Angelus smiled as she saw Jenny return from the Cargo pen, no doubt to visit her newly acquired bird. It was charming, like a child getting their first pet. As Jenny returned to her seat, she asked, "You're creature doing well, I take it? I certainly hope it'd be hardy, considering what you did to save it's life..."

 

[Daft Sikes]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

"Relax, Library! It's just Mister Caim and Redscale. They're a bit scary, but nothin' to worry about."

David looked at the elf with wide, panicky eyes. [color=9BBED5]"I know VERY WELL who they are, Melethia! And "a bit scary" is the biggest understa- Wait, Redscale? Do you mean..."[/color] David looked at Caim again, and noted the woman in red sitting beside him. After having his brows furrowed in contemplation for a couple of seconds, all the color drained from his face, finally recognizing who she is. [color=9BBED5]"Uhhhhhh..."[/color]

Caim gave David a curious glance and shrugged,

"I don't believe I've met you, 'Library', but if you're a friend of Melethia's, then unless you have a reason for me to doubt otherwise, there is no reason to be jittery. I'll trust you, for now. We're on the same job anyway, correct?"

David didn't hear Caim's words, as he was too freaked out to even notice. Besides, last he remembered the man couldn't even speak because of his pact. He didn't get very many lines in the game either.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

Rugal was put off by the sudden feeling of coolness on his skin, but when he realised the benefits, he quickly relaxed.
"I see. Guess I won't be working on my tan lines during my stay here..." He smiled as wiped the last of his sweat from his forehead as the issue of Sunglasses arose.
"Well...Would you rather if I had? It was either this or a bandana across my eyes. I decided this would be less..."Noticeable"..." He explained before turning to Slindis.
"Before you ask, I'm fine for water for now. My only real concern was the heat and our Dear Cleric here took care of that." He said, a hint of warm pride in his voice as he walked.

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

"Well, I just want to get it to a proper home. I just couldn't bear to see it be butchered like that. I understand the food cycle and what-not, but just that happy little face of his..." Jenny answered as she glanced over the nearing the plains.
"I mean, I'm betting SOMEONE out there would care to buy him off me, just I don't think Hiryu would like it if I brought it on the Blue Dragon. Droppings everywhere!" She laughed, the mental image of Blade in a janitor's outfit coming to mind.

"I take it everyone else is as new here as me, but does anybody have any idea when we're supposed to arrive?"
"I wouldn't worry about that if I was you." West said as he enjoyed the ride.
"We have a habit of running into trouble so I'm all for something that kills time in which something can go wrong. Just a nice, relaxing, event free, Train ride..." He stated, tempting the powers of fate as he did.

 

[Kalastryn]

snip

at the words "we have a habit of running into trouble, she replies, "Glad I'm not the only one then!" she says with a snicker. "A ton of people back home saw me as a bad omen, especially because me and others like me are pretty much predetermined to show up right before disaster strikes... gets us blamed for a lot of things unfortunately." she says with a sigh "Still, glad I'm out of that running, or at least I hope I am. I can still tell when sh**'s about to hit the fan, though that's degraded a bit since..." she cuts herself off, accidental or no, she didn't want to see the probable reaction to having "borrowed" someone's body without the intention of giving it back. "Anyway right now I think we're good."

 

[bluecrimson]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

Slindis kept that spell in mind as her pupil proceeded to place the spell on the panting Lupito. [color=c20000]"Those glasses help prevent any injury to the afflicted areas on him, so it's no surprise that he keeps them on."[/color]

---

Teri could faintly hear Sadeo through what felt like a large amount of interference. [small]-i -er-, I-'s --en a -h-le since I -as- -ear- fro- --u[/small]

---

Devon nodded as he continued walking with Ton-Ton. "Pretty sure I did, otherwise this would feel a good bit worse." The coffee was fully kicking in, and he wasn't forcing Cadolbolg to slow down all that much.


Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

"Wow, ya get scared really easy. I mean, it's only them and miss Snow over there, and Miss Jenny's just coming back from seeing Cid." She laughed a little at how shaken David A. was, especially since he'd be heading into something a lot more dangerous.

"So, what'll we use for cover stories? I'll say I'm Miss Snow's daughter, and Library could me that nephew you had brought over to whip into shape, Mister Caim!" Due to the odd choice, it may take a second or two for Pandora to catch onto her nickname of miss Snow.

 

[StormShaun]

Storm-178 (And

Alpha

)
Location: Gunsmoke | Inn.
Time: Breakfast.

The Spartan took his helmet once more to eat the muffins. "Thank you ... [sub][sub]though I didn't really yell[/sub][/sub]" Storm said to the cleric but said the last bit quietly. Once more Storm smiled as he was enjoying his breakfast of mini-muffins, and he was glad that he got something that Rugal didn't have. Though Storm could feel a virtual touch you can say, and once more Alpha was next to him in holographic form.

"

[color=nvayblue]Umm ... uh[/color]

" She said nervously and was too embarrassed to say anything. Storm laughed inside his head as he noticed her gaze towards the blueberry muffins. "Go ahead, take one." He held up a muffin towards her. It would be obvious that she cannot eat the muffin though she pressed a few buttons, scanned the muffins and there we go, she held a muffin. "

Hmm, I see that this is no ordinary muffin, it is made from-

", "Just eat the muffin, k?" He said in a tired voice, the fall from the water tower did not bode well for him. The holographic AI shrugged and kept eating.

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge - Minutes later after breakfast.

Storm was walking beside the group which was heading to Rock Ridge. Thanks to Alpha the suit's cooling system was working once more and the Spartan looked happy as can be. He was well protected from the sun and head, and yet he filled up his water storage before he left. Though the only thing that worried him was the killing part of the plan, he does not intend to kill anyone and if anything he is more interested in the rebuilding part of the plan rather then the action.

"Though I guess I would get slack if I don't fight once in a while ... I'll guess I'll fight non-lethally. Might get some money afterwards." He said to himself and smirked underneath his helmet.

 

[bluerocker]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

Teri could faintly hear Sadeo through what felt like a large amount of interference. [small]-i -er-, I-'s --en a -h-le since I -as- -ear- fro- --u[/small]

[color=0E59E4]"Sadei?! I can't hear you very well. You sound so far away..."[/color]

Teri's mind strained to get a better listen on Sadei's voice, but with her parents talking in her ears, found her concentration was broken.

"Well...Would you rather if I had? It was either this or a bandana across my eyes. I decided this would be less..."Noticeable"..." He explained before turning to Slindis.
"Before you ask, I'm fine for water for now. My only real concern was the heat and our Dear Cleric here took care of that." He said, a hint of warm pride in his voice as he walked.

[color=c20000]"Those glasses help prevent any injury to the afflicted areas on him, so it's no surprise that he keeps them on."[/color]

After beaming from the compliment, Teri waved a hand back in forth dismissively, she fussing faintly, [color=0E59E4]"Nonononono! You misunderstand me. It's not the fact that he's wearing sunglasses, its that pair in particular! You see- you know what? Forget it. You weren't there when it happened Mum, and if Dad doesn't remember, I'm just making a mountain out of a molehill... Ah well, at least I remember."[/color]

With a little sigh, she readied the incantation for the next use of the spell for Slindis, not even realizing she hadn't used it on herself yet.
---

"Pretty sure I did, otherwise this would feel a good bit worse."

Cadolbolg took note of the speed increase with joy, not having to keep himself slow for Devon's sake. With another

[color=15650D][/color]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

[color=9BBED5]"I know VERY WELL who they are, Melethia! And "a bit scary" is the biggest understa- Wait, Redscale? Do you mean..."[/color]

"So, what'll we use for cover stories? I'll say I'm Miss Snow's daughter, and Library could me that nephew you had brought over to whip into shape, Mister Caim!"

Caim shook with a silent laugh,

"A shame Devon isn't here, aside from the titles that falsehood would become truth!"

However, his laughter ended when he heard David's comment, and frowned, his Death Glare[sup]TM[/sup] beginning to do it's work,

"... You know who we are? What do you mean by that, boy? Someone spreading rumors, or do you [u]know[/u] who we are. I don't intend to harm you, but tell me what you know now and how you got that information; and we can end this conversation on peaceful terms..."

Angelus flickered a glance to the boy as well, and gave a sniff of the air, just to see if there was anything off about him; but as far as she could tell, she smelled musty books. Furthermore, between her, Melethia and Jenny, the three already knew that Caim's newfound paranoia was most likely rooted in Furiae's recent release. The less known about that, the better.

However, Angelus had another pet theory regarding Caim's hostilities. Depending upon how the boy responded, it could prove or disprove him being an Author... Which was something Angelus did NOT want to deal with at that moment. Two of them was bad enough; but at least they had a large force to aid them as well as combat skills to protect themselves with. An untrained Author was like a live grenade in a mine field; ready to cause chaos with the lightest of motions.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

"Oh right,...Well, I figured seeing my luck with my vision, I might as well hang onto a pair, unfortunately, my hunch was right..." Rugal stated, reminding himself of his blinding.
"Still, I can say I do not regret bringing them now..." He added as they neared a incline.

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

West looked on as David A. managed to get himself in a spot of bother with Caim.
"Hey, Caim my man, mind not getting your murder on this train? If you wait until Blackwater, I'll even help you dump the body." He snarked from his seat before turning to Melethia and adding "And I call the Irish Brother!"

Jenny meanwhile was up and trying to calm Caim down before he got REALLY mad.
"Listen to me Caim, He could have just heard it from one of the others. Come on, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves..." She said, hoping to quell his wrath before it got underway.

 

[Daft Sikes]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

However, his laughter ended when he heard David's comment, and frowned, his Death Glare[sup]TM[/sup] beginning to do it's work,

"... You know who we are? What do you mean by that, boy? Someone spreading rumors, or do you [u]know[/u] who we are. I don't intend to harm you, but tell me what you know now and how you got that information; and we can end this conversation on peaceful terms..."

David stood up from his seat, his back leaning against the window, with Caim following suit, except he wasn't cowering back in fear. More like ready to pull out a weapon out of nowhere to cut him into many bloody pieces. The amulet's buzz grew from a soft buzz into something much more louder and painful. It felt like his brain was going to spill out of his ears and onto the floor. Before David could speak, Jenny spoke up and tried to calm him down.

"Listen to me Caim, He could have just heard it from one of the others. Come on, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves..."

[color=9BBED5]"AHAHAHAHA! Y-yeah that's it! I j-just heard talk about you and Angelus from the others! S-sounded like some pretty grisly stuff!"[/color] David didn't sound particularly convincing (read:not at all), but he hoped Caim would buy it, otherwise his time here will be very VERY short and messy.

 

[Daft Sikes]

REDACTED

 

[bluerocker]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

"Hey, Caim my man, mind not getting your murder on this train? If you wait until Blackwater, I'll even help you dump the body." He snarked from his seat before turning to Melethia and adding "And I call the Irish Brother!"

"Listen to me Caim, He could have just heard it from one of the others. Come on, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves..."

[color=9BBED5]"AHAHAHAHA! Y-yeah that's it! I j-just heard talk about you and Angelus from the others! S-sounded like some pretty grisly stuff!"[/color]

Angelus lightly tapped Caim on the shoulder, the warrior still on edge of the implications David brought, and spoke softly, "What they say is true, Caim. You and I have a long and bloody list of deeds that has granted us a less than stellar reputation... Look at he shivers. Obviously he's heard tales of how you've rendered armies into nothing... Did not the Empire quell in the same way?"

Caim's glare remained, but his posture loosened, and he found himself back in a comfortable position in his seat. Finally, he blinked and looked out the window for a distraction, waving a hand to dismiss David,

"Fine. They speak the truth. I'll trust their judgement."

Hiding a sigh of relief as a sigh, Angelus shot a thankful glance at Jenny and 'sent', "Thank you. We did not need our cover blown... I'll work a bit harder to keep him under check..."

 

[Daft Sikes]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

"Fine. They speak the truth. I'll trust their judgement."

David fell back in his seat, letting out a breath that he held onto for a good minute. The amulet's humming slowed, and the pain in his head slowly went away. Within a couple of seconds of it stopping, it came back, though this time it was much more intense as was the hum, causing him to grip his forehead and squeeze his eyes shut, as a faint and staticky voice echoed in the recesses of his mind. "[sub]"Than- ....We did-.... -own... -ork a bi-..... to ke-...-eck......"[/sub]

[color=9BBED5]"Ghh!"[/color] As soon as the voices faded, the pain did as well. Any of the lingering fear that was left after dealing with Caim was replaced with a strong sense of perplexity. [color=9BBED5]'What... What the hell was that?'[/color]

 

[Ninjamedic]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

After about ten minutes of walking on a desert road in the scorching heat, leaving the GM to wonder why the hell they didn't get some kind of transport, the group could hear the sound of steps, random "kweh!"s and the clacking of cart wheels on stones.

It was Fionn, having taken the path of common sense and gotten a Wagon and four Chocobos to pull it. His shotgun was placed on the front passenger seat in easy reach. As he approached the group he called out "Anyone boarding the express? Or are you all going to try to fight the sun in a war of endurance?" He said as he stooped the cart and jumped off, checking that the chocobos were alright. "You all know it's about 10 miles to Rock Ridge right? Do you honestly think you'll be able to put up fight against whatever is out there after walking this?"

 

[bluecrimson]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Blackwater

Melethia nodded to West. "I dunno what a Irish is, but I'll be more than happy to have ya as a brother, Keen Eye." She smiled before she drifted over to Pandora and looked up at her. "If what the time table said earlier was right, we're a bit over halfway there Miss Snow. Ya okay?"

She heard the bit about being a magnet for bad luck and shrugged. "So people wanna blame ya for when they mess up an' botch a plan, huh? Maybe they're just scared of that neat look ya have, but for lotsa people, disaster's just an excuse."

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

Slindis thought a moment about how to respond to Fionn's response without sounding offended, eventually going with a polite nod as she jumped onto Lupito's back. [color=c20000]"I do appreciate you watching out for the others here, even if ten miles isn't all that long of a walk. The others can ride with you, but I'm more than comfortable riding on Lupito. Teri already cast a spell on him to ensure that this isn't that bad for him, and ten miles is nothing compared to a three day journey in the desert in full plate."[/color] Some of the others entered the carriage, notably Devon, Ella and Ton-Ton.

---

Sadei responded to Teri again, this time coming in a bit stronger. [small]Sorry, it's just a bit hard to hear you... I didn't mean to cause you any trouble, Teri.[/small] She was clearly a bit down, and she hid her emotions worse than Melethia. Even an idiot could pick up on Sadei's dejected state.

---

Devon held Ton-Ton in his lap as he stayed near Ella, and Devon took some time from the small talk with Ella to check up on Ton-Ton. "Last time I practiced with your Dad, we were focusing on some special movements I could make in a fight. SO, when we go for training, just start up in close range"

 

[Moros]

Gunsmoke

After eating breakfast, Matt decided to look around the town. His first stop was the blacksmith. "Good morning sir, I have a question for you. How sharp can you make a throwing knife?" Matt asked him.

 

[Ninjamedic]

Gunsmoke

"Good morning sir, I have a question for you. How sharp can you make a throwing knife?" .

"How's this for you sir?" The Dragon reached for a knife on his table, one he had just finished work on, and flung it at at a plate of hardened steel. With minimal force behind it, the knife went through it as though it was tinfoil. "Now sir, let us talk business. Also, do you also want any work done on your prosthetic arms? I could do a few things with those." The dragon was now thinking on the possible improvements on Matt's arms, he hadn't served someone with a prosthetic in a long time.

 

[bluerocker]

Gunsmoke: Team heading to Rock Ridge

[color=c20000]"I do appreciate you watching out for the others here, even if ten miles isn't all that long of a walk. The others can ride with you, but I'm more than comfortable riding on Lupito. Teri already cast a spell on him to ensure that this isn't that bad for him, and ten miles is nothing compared to a three day journey in the desert in full plate."[/color]

Teri waved at her friends in the carriage, and finished casting Endure Elements on herself, climbing up on Garm after she did so.

[color=0E59E4]"Yup, I treated me and Garm the same way. Besides, I wouldn't want my buddy here to be too lonely! You coming along, Dad? Luke?"[/color]

She gave the wolf a friendly pat on the head saying this, and then concentrated on Sadei's voice again,
[small]Sorry, it's just a bit hard to hear you... I didn't mean to cause you any trouble, Teri.[/small]

Teri felt a pang of guilt hearing this, realizing that her negligence in attention had caused this shift in tone, [color=0E59E4]"You're not causing me any trouble at all, friend. I was just worried that you sounded so far away. I thought something had happened to you... Now, aside from me not keeping up my end of my promise, is there anything wrong? You sound so... quiet. Again, I'm really sorry I haven't been doing very well to speak with you..."[/color]

---

"Last time I practiced with your Dad, we were focusing on some special movements I could make in a fight. SO, when we go for training, just start up in close range"

Ton Ton tilted his head in interest, [color=15650D]"Mister Caim is Cadolbolg's Father, not mine. In fact I do not have a father nor a mother. I have a Mistress. Mind you, I mean him no offense in that regard; I am only stating a fact. Now, as you were saying with training, I will do what I can to teach you short range battle, as I cannot deal much damage until I am up close and personal, but I cannot guarantee anything."[/color]

Cadolbolg fluttered and landed on Devon's head in a similar manner to how he perched on Caim, and nodded, "I remember sparring with Friend Ton Ton. He kept me and Father on our toes. That knife really stings and he's very strong against my fire breath!"