Member
Izurich
MULTI_MEDIA_MAN
Yankee
Rezod92
kapuchu
Elite Minor
Dark Cloud
Tim the Yeti
XandryaMs Fortune
Level 4 Nadia (11/40)
Location: Luma Pools
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Hat Kid's @Dawnrider, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking, Mr. L’s @ModeGone
Word Count:
As Nadia chilled, she tuned out the noise in the background bit by bit, until the argumentative chatter between Mr. L and Bowser rose no louder than the buzz of bees, and the report of naval armaments in the distance could be mistaken for, faraway thunder, the sort that heralded a soothing summer storm. A dragonfly hovered by her, close enough to make her ear twitch, but she did not stir from her reverie. Like soap, peace and company had dislodged the muck of war that clung to her, and now a thorough rinse let it seep away. Maybe it was just the juxtaposition to the nightmarish battlefield the heroes escaped, but this place truly seemed like a paradise.
Still, nothing gold could stay. All too soon the water grew too cool against her skin, and with a sigh Nadia pulled herself from the lake. She stretched herself out by where she laid her belt of pouches and soaked up the sun, watching Link dart around beneath the water’s surface. With those new changes he could really move, and even though she sported some extra mobility herself, she found herself impressed when he managed to leverage it to catch fish through virtue of speed alone. He managed to snare quite the selection of bizarre yet edible specimens. How he carried them all she couldn’t see--only blue flashes now and again after brief chases. At one point he went deeper than before, until Nadia couldn’t make out any details through the distortion except a roughly conical dark mass.
Link’s patience paid off; after a few moments of waiting the pressure inside the formation came once again to a boiling point, and a torrent of superheated gas burst from its top. He was close enough to feel the force in his chest and a momentary jump in temperature, but nowhere near enough to suffer any injury. When the resulting pillar of bubbles died out, he zoomed close to prize the crystals from the formation’s grasp, then ascended.
He emerged to find Nadia on her knees at the edge of the lake, peering at him. “Phew, there you are! I only saw the bubbles so I thought somethin’ mighta happened, but I guess I shoulda known better.” When he brought up his loot for a better look, Nadia’s locked on. She leaned as far out over the water as she dared, eyes sparkling almost as bright as the gemstone. The crystal sulphides were gorgeous, brilliant green things stained in places with a rich turquoise. “Whoa,” the cat burglar breathed. “What a beaut! I betcha could sell those for thousands!” After a moment, she composed herself with a slight laugh. With no jeweler around she knew she ought to curb her enthusiasm. She extended Link a hand to help him out of the lake“Ahem. That said, your fish are more important right now. Need a hand?” She stood and took off one forearm, which she reached down toward Link to help him out of the lake with.
A moment later the two made their way back toward the others. Nadia stretched as she walked over, noting that she felt rather more limber than before, and opened her eyes to see a giant walking right toward her with arms full of freshly-cut firewood. She almost jumped, having forgotten for a moment about Geralt’s new upgrade, but calmed herself the next moment. Gonna take me a minute to get used to that. He’d taken care of his hair just as she suggested, and didn’t seem to mind the new claws either, so everything seemed fine. In no time the Witcher had a fire going. “Ooh, nice. I’ve fried a fish or two in my time. Better let me try a bite of each one first, in case they’re poisonous or somethin’.” She was only half serious, but would certainly not object if others saw the wisdom in her joke.
“I’m doing fine,” Peach told Rika. “Inland...well, it’s hard to really summarize. The land is so varied. Some if it’s pretty rough, but it can be very nice, super pretty, basically everything. I guess what I mean is, compared to the ocean, where everything’s the same no matter where you go, you never know what you’ll get on land.”
While the others spoke and made their preparations, Peach, Sakura, and Rika had ventured off into the enchanting forest. Bella wanted to come too, but was still too weak on land to avoid being a burden, so she wished the others good luck in their search for extra food. The schoolgirl’s bag, however, turned out to be quite insufficient for what they found.
After pushing through some plantlife and hopping over narrow streams, Peach noticed a blue glow from the top of a pink grass knoll that overlooked what appeared to be a little shrine. A quick descent brought the trio to the edge of another pool. Peach narrowed her eyes. “Well, we could go around, or try swimming, or...wait.” Embarrassed, she stepped out onto the water, and of course floated on its surface. “...Right.” She led the way onto the pond, trying to reconsider the way she looked at the area. Now that she could move across water, rivers and ponds weren’t obstacles, but roads. With that in mind the three moved easily across the winding waterways, and in less than a minute rounded a river bend to a second lake, its elevation lower than the first, where they could clearly see the source of the glow.
A few hundred feet ahead lay a little floating island, and in it stood a twisted tree. Its leaves beamed a brilliant, pure white, and in the atmosphere of the Luma Pools the entire area shone a glorious azure. Peach had the thought that it seemed like a blessed place, and when her eyes wandered from the landmark she found only more evidence to back up her theory. Floating in the water on the other side of the lake, between a couple of sandbars, were a pair of unreasonably huge fruits.
The enormous pineapple and watermelon halves were a fantastical sight, but it was recognition rather than wonder that took hold of Peach. “Oh...oh! I remember these, I think. We played Mario Party here, a long time ago. Well, not here. Just on that fruit.” She glanced at the others with one half-lidded eye, anticipating that they thought she was weird. “Um. Well, I guess we’ve found what we need. Let’s carry back what we can.” Luckily for the three portions of the fruits already appeared to be carved into blocks, albeit a little bigger than Peach herself could carry. She worked to break a hunk of pineapple down to a more manageable size with her new fan.
Mirage, meanwhile, took a different route. He returned to where his simian companion from before still lounged, the ape’s bananas long since finished, to request Lanky’s aid. Although common sense would have laughed at the scene of a man talking to an orangutan as though the animal could understand him, Elliot’s impulse proved to be well-founded. Obligingly, Lanky stretched out one of his long arms toward the northwest, where the other river out of the lake flowed. He declined to move from his comfortable position himself, but should Elliot follow the graceless ape’s direction, he would stumble upon a banana tree grove about a half-mile upriver, situated on a branch from the main river that any travelers would have been unlikely to see from their ships. Predictably the grove featured its fair share of animals, the most bizarre of which appeared to be a cross between a banana split and a giant water bug that just would not stop saying ‘Scoopy Banoopy’. That particular specimen did not shy away from a fight, and possessed a chilling touch that made the other creatures stay away from it. Still, so long as he didn’t get into trouble the gunman could gather the bunches he desired.
By the time the searchers returned with their bounty, they found a cozy little fish fry in progress. Makeshift kebabs and the Cadet’s spit made the process quite practical. More than that, the gathering possessed a renewed atmosphere. Nadia herself was in high spirits, thanks to her time spent relaxing, the anticipation of a good meal, and the Cadet’s much-appreciated punniness. Anyone not just willing to indulge her but also respond in kind was more than okay in her book, and now he’d gone and shown off some serious survival skills, too! He even went out of his way to comfort Shippy too, which left Nadia feeling a little guilty she hadn’t tried. It seemed to work, with the living vessel content to trust in the possibility of her captain being rescued. As it turned out she didn’t need to eat either, so things seemed more or less sorted on that front.
The feral’s brows shot up when Peach arrived with a piece of pineapple as big as a barrel, but only for a moment. “You know, I’m not even surprised any more. Hang on a minute, I’ll grab something to put it on.” She ran over to a nearby tree to tear free another couple giant, vivid leaves. A quick dip in the lake cleaned up the leaves, and then she arranged them on the ground to provide somewhere to set the fruit. “Ooh, let’s roast the pineapple too! It’ll be super flavorful.”
As the food got cooking, a tantalizing smell filled the air. Whatever they’d been through, they were still alive, and if that wasn’t cause enough to enjoy a feast, Nadia didn’t know what was. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until that aroma hit her, which left her wondering exactly what time it was. She’d lost track of time in the fight and the canopy made it difficult to see the sun, but Nadia guessed it was about midday. A perfect time for lunch, especially with friends. “Well,” she began, happy to set the mood for everyone. “‘Water’ we waiting for? Let’s dig in!”
Morshu didn’t take his customer’s lack of affiliation with Harkinian too hard, figuring it had been a long shot anyway, but instead listened to what she did have to say with a passing interest. Different times, legendary heroes...all a bit high-minded for a simple shopkeeper, he felt. All the same the mention of a town called Lumbridge tickled his ears, since more settlements meant more prospective business, and until today the wintry village called Snowdin was all he’d known. Still, neither Morshu nor his client favored chit-chat, so the girl sorted through his wares while he stared off into space, bored.
Luckily for him someone else strolled in while Linkle rummaged around, a reptile in a yellow coat. Carrying a patchy maroon sack about as big as he was, the newcomer exchanged a wave with the shopkeeper as he waltzed right up to the counter. “Mornin’, Mr. Morshu. Got any room on those shelves for new weapons?”
“Afraid not, Sal,” the ponderous man sighed, with the air of one who said it often. “Demand is low, so mine is too. Nobody needs weapons, but if you want to sit down, feel free.”
Sal shrugged. “Ah well. Thanks as always.” The disappointed arms dealer made his way to a rug not far from the door and put down his sack, then laid himself down on it like a beanbag chair.
At about that time Linkle returned to Morshu with a question. “Lamp oil? Certainly!” he replied with gusto. “My featured product, the first I always mention. Nobody’s got it in store but me, but don’t think I price it too high! Every drop is of, mmmmm, delectably high purity, guaranteed to last. And my wrapping paper is a best-seller, very affordable, here!” He presented Linkle the rolls and accepted her rubees in return. When she inquired about paper money, he rubbed his chin. “Hmm, those greenish notes? I think I just might. It’s all a few town residents have, so we trade using it from time to time.” He turned and left for a moment. There came the sound of clanking and jingling from the back room, and after a short while he returned with three dollar bills in hand. “This what you wanted?” With a smile he completed the exchanges. “Pleasure doing business with you! Come again!”
Happy to leave Froggy Diver and its hideous depths behind, and hoping for no more unpleasant surprises, Sephiroth made for the next diversion. A look at her stamp card confirmed that she’d managed to fill up two out of the seven rows, indicating the presence of five more big-name attractions before the coveted platinum prize was hers. The listings on the card after ‘Froggy Diver’ and ‘Paddleboat Palooza’ provided her with clues for the rest: Floating Follies, Crazy Slides, Jump Club, Roll Out, and Making Waves. For a mind that prized efficiency, of course, there was nothing to do but head to the nearest untouched pool.
This next one was much larger than the last, and hexagonal in shape. From its corners rose tall, inflatable orange pylons, and they surrounded a rubbery donut-shaped platform elevated a good dozen feet above the water’s surface. From the center of the donut rose an axle with thick, padded arms attached, and when Sephiroth arrived the great clubs were already in motion. Everyone was hard at work jumping, ducking, diving, and dodging, all made a little more difficult by the bulbous, inflatable gloves and boots that seemed mandatory. The green spun far faster than the double-sided pink one, forcing the guests to both time their jumps and do it quickly to avoid being batted off. Anyone who timed or positioned themselves poorly might happen to find the green and pink arms aligned, presenting an unbeatable wall. Before the newcomer’s eyes that exact unlucky circumstance claimed another victim, sending a young woman with a great reddish-purple braid plummeted downward into the drink.
A few moments of frantic running and jumping later, the current round came to an abrupt end. One boy got flung by the green bar and smacked a friend along the way, sending both into the pool and leaving a sole survivor, who celebrated with an unusual dance move. “Oh yeah! Who’s the man?!” The platform started to lower, signalling the end of the game. Before jumping in himself, however, he waited for the bar to come around one last time. He leaped just before it hit and twisted midair to snatch a Sand Dollar that was stuck to the bar’s end, then hit the water with a splash.
“Alright, come over and get stamped!” the snail attendant called, beckoning the soaked participants over. With a practiced hand he took care of all the cards in just a few moments, then turned to the next bunch -including Sephiroth- to give them a quick rundown. “Okay, welcome to Jump Club! Here are your floats, put ‘em on. The rules are simple: don’t get knocked off, and while you can push and shove a little with your floats, don’t try anything funny. Sound like a plan?”
Once everyone swam or jumped to the platform, a cranked level elevated the platform back to its full height. Sephiroth got a good look at her eight opponents, which included the white-haired man from earlier, as well as a purple-haired woman with horns, a burly dwarf, an girl cheered on by little dragons, and four very blocky people. A horn sounded out, and the clubs began to spin.
