[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/5r7OTIh.png[/img] [b][color=Aquamarine]wordcount:[/color][/b] 2,049 (+3) [b][color=Aquamarine]Midna: level 3[/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aquamarine]//////////////////////////[/color]////////////// (26/40) Level 8 Poppi (52/80) [b][color=Aquamarine]Location:[/color][/b] Sandswept Sky - Sweet Canyon - Parnasse [/center] Dawn broke upon the land, and the princess was not pleased, attempting to bury her face in her furry pillow’s fur in-order to avoid the harsh rays to no avail. Light trickled in through the not particularly effective curtains made up of flattened strips of rainbow colored candy and demanded that Midna rise and seize the day whether she liked it or not. [color=Aquamarine]”Fine fine Galeem. Have it your way. It is going to be incredibly cathartic to destroy you,”[/color] she grumbled at their luminous oppressor, before floating up into the air, yawning, stretching, dismissing her wolfos from its pillowy duties and then setting about preparing for another day trekking towards the mountain. First came cleanliness which ended up consisting of a luxurious chocolate milk bath. Decadence of the highest order, in the princess’s opinion, but then that was entirely fitting for this land of milk and honey. The princess lingered in the tub for as long as she thought reasonable, floating and letting her mind actually rest in solitude and process everything that had happened over the past day. Only a day, or even just an afternoon really, and yet so much had happened. There was also so much left to do. Like breakfast, her stomach helpful informed her by rumbling. Unlike some of the others Midna had unintentionally insulated herself from the temptation of eating her resting place in her sleep, and so she was hungry while simultaneously being surrounded by food. Or desserts to be more accurate, which might be an issue. Showing some restraint she didn't simply start eating her host’s furniture, who knew who had been sitting on it, and instead inquired what they ate. Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be more sweets. She didn't know what she expected. She had to wonder what it was like, being made of and eating the same stuff you were made of. A brief and highly unpleasant unprompted vision of living in a kingdom made of flesh and bone put an end to that, but fortunately not to her appetite. The fare offered by her host was a delicious buffet of treats, chocolates, gumdrops and myriades of other little sweets, but it wasn't exactly substantial. The princess could feel her body abuzz with more sugar than she’d ever eaten in her entire life but she could also feel that she’d be crashing down from that rush of energy sooner rather than later, and so, after bidding her rabbity host farewell, went to see if she could scavenge something more substantial from the unoccupied and/or ruined parts of the village. It was while doing this that she happened to run into Poppi, pausing in the middle of floating down the street while de-candying a candy apple with a dragon claw to say hello to the metal woman. [color=Aquamarine]”Good morning, did you sleep-”[/color] she paused, remembered what Poppie was, and then corrected herself, [color=Aquamarine]”was the night-watch uneventful?”[/color] Poppi looked happy to see the Twilight Princess. In QT mode her dress and frills represented the middle ground between her now heavily armored Alpha form and decidedly unarmored QT Pi form, and she didn’t look too out of place against the backdrop of Parnasse. “Good morning, Midna! Nothing much happened last night. Kept optics on candybeasts but nothing came close. Once or twice Poppi thought saw dark figure in distance, but nothing come of it.” She gave Midna a polite curtsy. “Anything Poppi can do for you today? Poppi can’t help if friend wants breakfast, but Phantom Thieves have yesterday food in town center.” Sure enough, the breeze contained faint traces of a smoky meat smell, fairly noticeable against the prevalent confectionery aroma. The princess sniffed and then caught the scent [color=Aquamarine]”Oh that’s what that was. Who would have thought that you’d need to look for food when the whole palace was made of it? Not that that matters much to you I suppose?”[/color] she asked, before going back to Poppie’s nightshift. That they were being shadowed was concerning, though it could be anyone or anything really. Robot spies/scouts, that organization 13, a million and one things they hadn’t encountered yet or [color=Aquamarine]”Do you know if the shadowy person could have been one of the people who were trapped? Or are they accounted for?”[/color] Crossing her arms, Poppi thought about it. “Last night while on guard, Poppi learn little about trapped people. Catch rough shape. There raccoon that walk like human, young girl in top hat, and guy in purple helmet. Last one you know, of course. Shape I saw have long coat and cat ear like Gormotti, not match others. Raccoon turn up to talk to Fox, but others Poppi not see again.” [color=Aquamarine]”Take it their long gone?”[/color] Midna asked rhetorically, tossing her half peeled apple up and down as she taught about the implications of their stalker [color=Aquamarine]” Would have made things easier if it was just one of them. Haven't disappeared into the night either have they?”[/color] “Have not seen again,” Poppi confirmed. “Only saw once, so maybe they left after checking on us. It probably nothing.” As she spoke, her tone remained flat and a little distant. Already she’d issued this report twice, once to Joker and once to Fox. With the start of a new day she wouldn’t have minded a quick chat with someone interesting like Midna before setting off, but already it was all business. [color=Aquamarine]”Hmmm, well, here’s hoping I suppose. I’ll let people know about our caty stalker when I meet them”[/color] Midna replied, catching the disinterest and deciding to drop the subject. It wasn't like they could go on with that topic any further after all. [color=Aquamarine]”Thanks for keeping watch by the way, I hope it wasn’t too boring. “[/color] she said. She realized she didn't really know much about this miraculous and endlessly helpful machine woman. Even after Tora had talked a bit about her construction that didn’t really say much about the person he’d made [color=Aquamarine]”So, tell me, what did you do before...“[/color] she paused, and then decided that was to dry a topic of conversation and changed tune [color=Aquamarine]”Actually no. Better question. What do you do for fun Poppie?“[/color] The sudden change brought Poppi’s interest back around. She hadn’t expected such an odd question, but she didn’t dislike it, either. “Fun…?” Since arriving in the World of Light, and even before that, the new lifestyle of adventure that she and Tora found themselves with didn’t permit an abundance of free time. Still, in the occasional moments that came to them, she and her creator found lots to do. “Well, since Tora spend most life shut indoors and Poppi only built right before adventure, we always like seeing and trying new things. We both like dancing, especially together! Different modes better at certain dances, too. Like this” She smiled as she placed her fists on her hips. She brought her knees up one after another, intermittently performing kicks and twisting her lower legs sideways in a merry jig. She finished with a spin and a curtsy. Midna had floated back a little to give her space, having not expected a demonstration but enjoying the energetic dance nonetheless, and then giving her a little round of applause. Not something she’d expected from a machine, and yet given her personality perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised. [color=Aquamarine]”Dancing is fun, though I'm more used to a ballroom affair. I'm still getting more used to the more vigorous styles people seem to have and that the dragon in me wants. The slippyness this thing“[/color] she flicked the spaulder of the bat[color=Aquamarine]”is causing some issues with that at the moment.“[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”Or I should say four I suppose. Is Tora any good like you are? I’ll admit, with his dimensions I’m having difficulty picturing it, shall we say, seriously?“[/color] she had a hard time imagining the round Nopon dancing, but then again she was learning a lot of new styles of dance, for some reason, so maybe there was something that suited him better than the noble court appropriate affair she still thought of when she thought of dance. [color=Aquamarine]”then again, if he’s having fun he’s having fun.“[/color] For a moment Midna’s question confused Poppi. How could her Masterpon’s dancing not be good, or worse than hers for that matter? “Of course Tora good! Dancing good no matter who do it.” To an extent her declaration implied that she had no measure of objectivity in the art. Maybe, Poppi mused, Midna simply preferred whatever ‘ballroom’ was. With that big hand of hers, she would no doubt be very good at throwing and catching them. So rather than linger on a subject the princess disliked, Poppi moved on. “Poppi also like food. Cannot eat it, since systems not designed to handle, but olfactory sensors provide wonderful experience each time. Plus, since Poppi smell what Tora eat, everything he order doubly useful!” Truth to be told, Sweet Canyon’s olfactory assault still left her a bit frazzled, but she figured she was doing a good job hiding it. [color=Aquamarine]”Oh you can’t? Then how do you keep yourself energized?“[/color] Poppie’s whole existence was still a strange one to the princess, but if she didn't need to sleep then her not having to eat should not be that surprising, she supposed. Having her be able to smell but not eat seemed cruel, in a way. Or perhaps it wasn't, because she clearly enjoyed it. Again, she didn't have the framework to understand what being Poppie might be like someone from a more modern time who could have read fiction about such beings would have. What she did know was that Poppie’s mention of smell had brought her attention back to the scent of meat wafting in from the center of town, and her stomach cried out for something more substantial than sweets. [color=Aquamarine]”You don't mind if we head towards the Thieves’ cooking while talking do you? All the sweet things are lovely, but we can't survive off of them alone. I read of an old king who did that once. That did not end well.“[/color] it ended in scurvy specifically, but that wasn't fun to talk about. “Sure!” Poppi stepped aside to allow Midna to lead the way. As they made for the town center, she offered some explanation. “Well, Poppi not know exact details, but for fuel Poppi draw in ether from atmosphere. Ether keep Poppi running, power up weapons, orrun through elemental core to turn to fire, water, wind, and so on. Poppi’s ether furnace pride and joy of Tora family line. It what make me possible!” It was hard not to look proud of her creator and his forebears. After she replied, however, it occurred to her that she’d been practically hogging the spotlight so far. For the sake of politeness she turned the question on Midna. “But what about you? Poppi curious what fun stuff there is where Midna come from.” The princess eagerly followed her nose towards where a proper breakfast hopefully awaited. [color=Aquamarine]”It must be quite the engine to draw enough power to allow you to be, well you. The mages and scholars of my realm can only dream of making something like you,“[/color] Tora might come of as silly a lot of the time, but Poppie was a reminder that a great intelligence rested between his fuzzy ears. [color=Aquamarine]”For fun? Well, I do enjoy balls and galas and other such social events. I also enjoy studying magic, history and other subjects when I have time to myself. But to a certain extent those are work for a princess like me, even if they are enjoyable.“[/color] She had to think for a moment to find an activity that didn't have some kind of dual purpose, be it social or intellectual [color=Aquamarine]”Have you ever done any Picross? It’s a type of logic puzzle where you have a grid and each row or column has a number of squares that need to be filled in to make a picture. You know how many squares need to be filled in each row and column, but not which ones, so you need to use the intersection of the rows and columns to work out where they should go.“[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”It’s fun“[/color] she insisted, even if her explanation had been a bit dry and probably not very helpful without a visual aid. Though picturing the game wasn’t too difficult, Poppi decided to take Midna’s word for how enjoyable it was. “Not done it. But sounds fun,” she agreed. “Board games more liked by Dromarch and Roc. Blade friends. Tora make video game that he enjoy, but Poppi never get hang of it.” The two reached their destination. Rather than grand affair the Thieves had simply brought out the rations of hippo meat and greens gathered in the oasis yesterday. Panther had put her new sharp teeth to work digging in ravenously, having suppressed her hunger for sweets after seeing what happened to Tora. Poppi slowed down just a touch, not wanting to stop chatting with Midna just yet. Midna’s stomach demanded she go and partake, but seeing as poppie was slowing down it would be rude to rush ahead of her. Also she did have one more question to ask [color=Aquamarine]”I know what board games are, but what’s a video game?“[/color] A fair question--perhaps once Poppi should have anticipated. Honestly, she was more surprised that stuff like this hadn’t happened more often already. “Well...hm. Think of board game, but instead of wood, board made of light, and mostly move itself around, except for piece you playing. And control with sticks and buttons.” She couldn’t come up with a better explanation than that. “Maybe next city friends reach have technology and Tora can show Midna.” [color=Aquamarine]”That sounds strange, but could be fun to try. There’s a city on the far side of the desert right?“[/color] Midna tried to remember the map, [color=Aquamarine]”hopefully it isn't a wasteland like the deadzone’s one is supposed to be.“[/color] she said, forgetting that the city she was thinking of was called the ruined metropolis [color=Aquamarine]”Guess the only way to find out is to keep moving?“[/color] And part of that was to be property fueled for the journey. Midna’s belly had had enough of conversation and after an insistent growl the princess politely ended the conversation in-order to eat a proper breakfast of meat and veggies to pile on top of the sweets and fruit she’d had earlier. Something of a poor order, but the princess wasn't complaining as she sated herself, and then got herself ready to get moving once again. They all had a long hard day ahead of them, of that there was no doubt.