Yankee

You Can Become a Hero!

---

Location:
Ishin Academy: School Gates
@Asura

---

Ah, not just bold but playful too. Akemi's more relaxed nature, while not exactly contagious, made Riona feel like he could loosen up more too. Generally he'd be a bit more polite with girls, but he followed her lead as he made a show of looking her up and down before replying with a cheeky, "Yeah, we'll call it that."

He could imagine that some of the rest of Class 1-A would be the more stuck up types, so he was glad for a nice first impression as far as future classmates went.

He rolled her name around in his brain. Kemurikage, huh. "Written like smoke?" he guessed, the thought of it clearly amusing to him given the persistent grin on his face. She smelled of smoke so it would be a funny coincidence. The scent was heavy, though it didn't bother him. He was quite used to the smell from back home, his father's casual smoking and the small town kids trying to look cool or take after their parents.

He introduced himself quickly after she asked.

"Fuwari Riona." No one outside of Abashiri would have ever heard of the Fuwari family, but Riona still stated his name proudly as though it was on par with some famous hero's. Hopefully one day it would be. He finished the introduction with a quick dip of his head. "Nice to meet you."

Naturally the door they were looking for came into view, given that they were shuffling along following the tail end of the crowds. The distance between them and the academy's sensible entrance way was closed in no time at all. Whether by loitering, wandering, or simple ambling, it seemed that they were among some of the last students entering.

"So we made it," he joked, glancing at Akemi and gesturing ahead of him at the entryway where the school's doors were propped open to let hero hopefuls (and cold drafts) inside. "After you, Kemurikage-san."

World of Light

Yesterday was my birthday! My present? A pre-order of Octpath Traveler II, paid by my folks. Though I knew they had, it was nice they did. Anyhow, the spirit Benedict was looking at ain't claimed so someone can have it if they want.

@Dark Cloud

Happy (belated) Birthday!

World of Light

Word Count: 1448 (+3 exp)
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 171/90
Location: Edinburgh MagicaPolis
_{ft. @Majoras End@Lugubrious}

The Ace Cadet couldn't say he got much out of Wicke's answer other than trivia, but he nodded at the woman all the same. She gave them their checks (which turned out to be small paper rectangles, basically "IOU"s the Cadet figured) and swept out of the cafe after that, leaving the small group to themselves. Naturally, talk turned to their plans for the immediate future. The Cadet had no qualms about visiting the Aether Foundation, and he had no real suggestions about how to go about the skeletons either besides what Band already mentioned. Before they got much further, Frisk brought something vital to their attention.

The information that Frisk gave them about the Consul was important, but there was something else she said that only the Ace Cadet could pick up on. A name, one that must have belonged to the friend Frisk has mentioned that disappeared. The one that was struggling, that was connected to the Skullgirl. 

Linkle. 

The monster hunter was stunned into silence as the dinner conversation from days ago suddenly came back to his mind. Nadia and Bowser had told him the story of Linkle's disappearance in the Deadzone and her encounter with some kind of cursed skull heart, and Band had already deduced that the reason for the reanimated bones may be the Skullgirl. Though he'd never expected to find any clues to her whereabouts quite like this, why hadn't he put two and two together before? 

"Frisk!" The Cadet exclaimed, leaning over the table toward her with wide, hopeful eyes. "You said Linkle? That was your friend's name? Was she about this tall, with two sets of ears, and uses crossbows?" He quickly mimed with his hands as he spoke, his best estimate of the Linkle he remembered. "Was it her?"

Frisk's eyes widened in turn. "Rabbit ears, uses ice magic?" She asked back.

The Cadet nodded, electric with excitement. 

"Yes? Yes! That's gotta be her! That's..." he leaned back in his chair, pressing one hand to his face as he laughed with relief. "Radalos. Man, it's good to hear that she's alive."

After he sat straighter in his seat again, the Cadet figured he should explain how he knew Frisk and the Prisoner's friend, especially since Wonder Red and Big Band had joined the Seekers' campaign after Linkle had been gone. "Linkle was- she's one of us! She disappeared a while ago, taken by one of those black coats. We had no idea where she went or how to find her.

"But now we know she's around here, somewhere. Thank you." It was more information than the Seekers had previously. The Cadet flashed Frisk a grateful smile, though it was dimmer than his usual smiles. Linkle was alive, but she was in trouble, afflicted with some really terrible curse. 

"Earlier you said she left before she could hurt you. She's a real hero, not the kind of person that would do that. How... I mean how bad was that curse when you last saw her?"

"I don't exactly know the specifics, but she was idly raising the dead when we finally made it back on land. I was hoping to find some way to help her before whatever it was got any worse..." The woman solemnly sighed. "Perhaps it was becoming to much to bear?" She frowned.

That pretty much confirmed for the Cadet that Linkle was still in the area. 

"We'll find her, and we'll help her," he promised. The desire to help his friend was stronger than that unpleasant feeling that crawled through his skin when he thought about getting close to whatever evil magic was going on with her. "There's no way I'm gonna let her deal with it alone."

Band kept quiet throughout the exchange, although the expression on his face was one of such severity that the others might have been shocked to see it. His own interpretation of what was happening at night in Edinburgh had been one born of pessimism and conjecture, but this new testimony all but sealed the deal. That made things simple, in a way, but it also complicated matters. As a member of USG, Band had a new priority number-one: his mission was crystal clear. He considered asking his new acquaintances for more details on what could only be a Skullgirl, but therein lay the rub. These people, who hadn't lived through the horrors of untold death and destruction at the hands of the Skullgirls, might not help him if they knew what he needed to do. Worst case scenario, they might turn on them. If this city, and maybe the world itself, were to be spared, they would have to see for themselves--that the Skullgirl wasn't their friend anymore, but a ticking time bomb until the end of days. And if she was already ambiently raising the dead, they didn't have much time at all.

---

The group moved on from the bakery quickly after that, in varying emotional states. Hoping to escape the eyes of the corrupt law, they were headed for a library. A bank was the only stop they made along the way, and the Cadet handed his check over to one of the others to cash for him while he waited outside. There were two reasons for it, firstly because he did not want to see if there was any magic involved in getting the funds, and secondly to call for a Moogle.

He restrained his report to simple facts, though it was hard to when he so wanted to relay to the others that they may be close to getting Linkle back. Once finished he and the Moogle saluted each other and the little messenger disappeared to bring the new information to Alcamoth's database. If any of the other Seekers out there checked in, there would be two simplified pieces of news passed on: more Consul activity, 'Consul L,' and 'Found a lead to Linkle's whereabouts.'

With business at the bank finished, they hastily continued on. The Noumenon came into view from a while away, but it wasn't obvious that was where they were headed until they were right outside of the massive structure. It was hard to imagine that was a library! It was so grandiose. The inside was even more so with intricate marble tile, elegant chandeliers, and rows upon rows upon rows of books. "Oh wow," he said to himself as he admired the place. When Red mentioned making a note of the place, he agreed. "Yeah, definitely."

The Cadet craned his neck up, hardly able to see the ceiling through the upper floors it was so tall. What kind of knowledge was kept here? It seemed like way too much to just be the history of one place, even with fictional novels factored in. I'm gonna borrow some on the way out, he decided. There was plenty of space left in his pack.

The Noumenon's rules were what one would expect of a library, that was something universal it seemed. As for the bookworms, the Cadet had no clue how they were supposed to tell the good ones from the bad ones, so figured it best to just avoid them entirely - save for the one giving them the advice.

Once they had their destination, the Cadet fixed the group with a grin.

"Looks like we're in for a couple stories," he said. Though when he noticed the heavy set on some of their shoulders, his smile turned sheepish. "You don't all have to take the stairs on my account. I don't mind booking it and meeting you up there."

Wonder Red made a suggestion, his intention becoming clear when he raised his arm. That thing again! If Red was alright with using it for a situation like this, then the Ace Cadet wouldn't argue. It was a nice gesture. Now that he knew what was about to happen, being encased in light was both more and less weird than it had been the first time. Hard to explain, really. Wonder Red then took to the stairs, climbing them with hardly even a break until he was on the twenty sixth floor.

Once out of the morph, the Cadet chuckled and patted Red on the back as the shorter man hunched over. "Thanks buddy."

Given that Frisk and Prisoner were the ones who knew what Albedo looked like, it was up to them to take the lead in looking for him. It was a large area, even though it was just one floor of many. Of hundreds, even. As they walked the Cadet stuck close to the shelves so he could read some of the book spines, curiosity overtaking him.

See You Space Cowboy...

Whoa, that's cool to hear. Good luck to you Yam!

Hi, RPGuildians!

Glad you liked what you saw! Welcome, and if you have any questions feel free to ask! Everyone's pretty helpful!

World of Light

Word Count: 777 (+2 exp)
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 103/80
Location: The Under - Ruins
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●

As the group continued back toward the temple, Primrose filed away the information that Barnabee gave them about the mask in case it might be useful. To be honest she wasn't sure any of the short story the Hive Knight had shared would matter at all, given it seemed to be a piece of mythology rather. Even so she picked out the words Lurien, Home of Tears, and most importantly: two more fragments. When he finished she gave him a wordless nod. It turn out that the mask fit into one of the grooves in the door, so at least they were making progress. The rest of that particular mask's pieces would be back through that colorless forest no doubt, while the others remained to be found. The Koopa Troop had their theories about the them, and while Primrose didn't have any opinions on 'evil workmansship' when Kamek mentioned the person that attacked them earlier her eyes narrowed in distaste.

"That Consul... I wouldn't be surprised if they did do something like that just to sit back and watch us flounder and struggle." An irritating thought, but ultimately there was nothing that they could do about it until F showed his face again.

First, though, there was a reunion due.

They moved on, back the way they'd originally come and up to the edge of a vertical cavern that the other group had descended. Primrose looked over the edge, watching father and son make their way down. Before the rest of them moved, Kamek offered to conjure them mounts. The dancer watched with interest as the old koopa cast his magic, though when a spider hatched from the egg Primrose's lip twitched, unamused. Though Kamek assured them that he could conjure creatures other than spiders, and Primrose believed him, she declined his offer. Her hair and the fabric of the twin crown bounced as she shook her head.

"Thank you kindly Kamek, but I would rather rely on my own legs," she said, further put off by Rika's comments.

She jumped down into the shaft, her form more elegant now with the glowing scarf unfurled behind her than it had been in battle with the brood mother. She floated gently between platforms, generally steering clear of bothersome bugs until touching down at the bottom. From there, they found the remains of a battle and the mapmaker that the others had been looking for. Naturally, it seemed after purchasing a map the other group continued on. So the six of them continued on as well.

After a while of walking down darkened tunnels and listening to the echoes of scuttling bugs with no sign of their companions, Primrose held in a sigh. They must have traveled further than they intended to, just like we did, she thought. Either that, or they had taken a wrong turn and were treading a different path. Primrose considered herself to be pretty good at reading maps after traveling for months in her own world, so she tapped Kamek on the shoulder in order to peek at the one he'd purchased. He showed it to her and she found it to be... incredibly lacking. Still a work in progress, I see...

There was nothing more to do than press on, and even with a vague map it would be easier finding their way back again. At one point Rika split off to chase after another of her planes, and after some doubling back to look for her, she returned with Bowser Jr. safe and sound. Primrose didn't mind listening to the chastisement Bowser and Kamek were giving her as the group began moving forward again. The strange little family's dynamics were endearing.

When the path split, the Seekers came upon a huge cavern - one that they were all surprised to find, Barnabee included (she had taken the bee's claims about not getting lost with a large grain of salt anyway).

"They had Ganondorf and that little knight with them," Primrose mused, "so I suppose it's possible they could have been led through this area around the... worms." Her gaze was set on the ground where the Goams popped up and down, unsure what else to call them. Still, if the others came through here they least they could have done was left some sort of sign or trail to follow. To that end, while Bowser Jr. called out to some of the more intelligent looking bugs Primrose went back to the cavern's mouth, just inside the tunnel they'd emerged from. There, she used the devout beads whip to carve a quick and crude 'X' into the wall and then returned to the group.

Word Count: 975 (+2 exp)
Level: 5 - Total EXP: 63/50
Location: The Under
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
Stress Level: 35

In, slash, stab, out. Rinse, repeat. It was working, and gradually the number of enemies in the room was getting lower, even when more spawned in. The queen bee commented that if they didn't focus on the giant, the battle would only last longer. At that, Therion grit his teeth in irritation. Easier said than done, he thought as he fended off a Brawler.

"Instead of complaining about it, find a way to keep it still so we can attack it," he snapped at Sectonia. The whole group had been peppering the giant whenever they could, but it was quick and dangerous - and the monsters it summoned were even more troublesome. They'd be dead if they ignored them.

Case in point, while he'd been briefly distracted with admonishing Sectonia the Brawler lurched toward him with its pulsating red flesh curled around its arm, extending the limb into toothed cleaver. The exchange had only taken a second, but it was time enough for the Brawler to land a blow on Therion, who'd hastily thrown his arms up in defense. The Brawler's claw cracked against the fool's bangle and sliced his forearms, sending another shock of pain and stress through his body. The thief backed off quickly, throwing a cast of Wildfire at the monster to stave it off for a few moments. While it writhed in the flame, Therion caught his breath. Fuck, feels like it nearly took my arms off. Thankfully, they were still attached. The thought crossed his brain that he really needed to learn how to use that shield he picked up for situations just like this when the Brawler wiped it's arms out with a grunt, scattering the fire.

It was on it's last legs, scorched and battered from skirmishes with other Seekers. Therion was eager to put it out of its misery, and so he dove towards it after flicking the blood from his arms. He went low, ducking under the wide slash the Brawler aimed at him. He stabbed the fleshy limb with the stinging dagger, slicing a line down through it. Drawing it out and swapping the weapon to his opposite hand, Therion thrust the blade up through the underside of the Brawler's chin. Aggravated and dying, the Brawler brought its still-human hand around to capture Therion's wrist and try to wrench the weapon out, but its grip weakened as it began dissolving. Reduced to ash and spirit, Therion left it there and returned to the relative safety of the room's arches.

From there, he heard a scream of pure fear over the din of battle. His head snapped toward the noise to find Ms. Fortune escaping the maw of the abomination that had been the cultist priest. That one was a real pain, but it was hard to find a good opening to go after it. Just after that, another voice rose above the chaos, that of the FBC Director.

"Alive," he called back. Hurting and stressed out, but alive and looking to stay that way. He was no strategist or tactician, but he took a moment to get a picture of the battlefield and saw that everyone was in various states of wounded, some worse off than him and some nearly untouched. He didn't speculate on what that said about some of them, instead Therion shifted his attention back to Ms. Fortune as she prepared to take on the Priest. He moved, waiting in the wings for his cue.

When it came thanks to the combined efforts of Nadia and Jesse, Therion took over. Adverse to getting any closer than he really had to, the thief kicked off from a pile of rubble and jumped into the air over the Priest while summoning his striker beneath him. Curled into its iron ball the junicorn slammed down into the Priest, splattering the eldritch monster into juicy chunks. Weakly its tentacles squirmed from underneath the junicorn to no avail. Therion landed on top of the striker, one leg tucked in a kneeling position and his tail swishing back and forth. Finally, the Priest was defeated. Therion turned his head to Ms. Fortune, giving her a very unamused look after she made her double pun.

It was through even more puns that she claimed the battle was nearly over. Above them, the giant roared and summoned another fresh batch of enemies. Among them was another damned cultist priest, and another much more menacing looking monster. At that moment, a bright light on one side of the room caught Therion's attention only to see Ganondorf turn into a monster even larger and more dangerous looking than any that had been summoned so far. He was charging at the giant's leg, so while that happened Therion tapped the junicorn and pointed toward the Impaler. The junicorn stood up, its crimson horn appearing as it took aim. Just before it fired, Mom stopped down nearby. It wasn't close enough to disrupt the striker, but Ganon's wild swings as he came in to attack the giant certainly did.

Therion didn't know if the junicorn's shot hit its target, he'd been too busy getting out of the way when he realized that he'd end up collateral damage to Ganon's attacks if he stayed put. He leapt off of the junicorn and out of the way, but the striker wasn't as lucky. One of those massive swords struck it and sent it hurdling away. Though the junicorn's defense was high, the wild swing's damage transferred over to the thief - it felt like he'd just been punched in the gut.

"What the hell!" he shouted to Ganon after a wheeze and a cough, though if the king of evil could hear it he did not respond. Once more Therion headed to the fringes of the battle. His support from here would be in the form of flying daggers, but ultimately he was leaving the remaining Seekers to deal with the cultists, and with Mom.

What Are You Listening To?

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Octopath Traveler II cannot come sooner, and I already know who I'll choose to start as first. But waiting til February for my pre-order is the wait I must endure like everyone else. Anyways I wanted to as what consoles do people plan to play it on?

I pre-ordered it for the PlayStation 4, myself.

@Yankee I know you're a fan of the series, are you going to play it on Switch or PlayStation?

@Dark Cloud

Switch!

World of Light

Midgar: Suoh - Anistar Gym, Part 1

Peach, Goldlewis' @Lugubrious, Raz’s @Truthhurts22, Roxas’ @Double,
Sakura and Karin’s @Zoey Boey, Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Pit's @Yankee
Word Count: 1574 (+3)

”Hello, Peach-san!” Sakura said. ”Yeah, they were pretty tricky, but we worked together. Us and the guards. Teamwork and all that good stuff.” She said with a satisfied nod.

Karin also couldn’t help but pay attention to Goldlewis’ vital information about name pronunciation. ”I see. We’ll keep that in mind, I suppose?”

Midna took a peek at the spirits, but, frankly, she had perhaps been too comfortable with fusion, and so she thought it wiser to hang back and let someone who wasn’t well into chimera town use this one. She would, if there were no offers, but she expected there might be ”Going to be a touch awkward if you’ve been talking to Psych-OSF personnel already” she noted ”… but seeing as you and these are human, maybe you can get away with a change of clothes and a haircut to make it less obvious?”

Peach gave a nod but remained quiet. There were a number of ways the team could spin this to make the operation work, but they needed to be smart about it.

When the topic of adopting one of the spirits came up, Sakura addressed the situation seriously, looking down at the little representation of the psychic people. ”...Well.” She said with a contemplative sigh. ”I guess…I guess I volunteer. I’ve done it before with a ship girl named Araisho, and I don’t think any of the psychic people are familiar with me. The mission is worth it, right? It sounds like a smart plan to me.” She said.

Karin said nothing, just crossing her arms and looking at Sakura contemplatively. While Sakura talked about such a serious topic, she went ahead and did the brunette the favor of deftly plucking the silly little doll from the top of her head and pocketing it, the other girl none-the-wiser.

”I wonder if there’s a way we can get more.” Midna mused ”Ethically I mean” there was an obvious way, but she was not going to entertain it ”are there any … psychic monsters or something maybe? Or … ” Midna paused as she had an idea that she did not like.

”I have these psychic cultist strikers that you might have seen me use” she began to suggest, only to find out that Peach’s power did not work on them, which led her to an idea she liked even less.

”I got them from a place called the ‘Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage’ and I do have a portal that exits out there … but that place is horrid, and incredibly dangerous too, and those three where exceptions rather than the rule, so it would be like finding needles in a haystack that is trying to kill you so … I’m going to put that on the table, but I do not recommend it unless we are desperate for options.”

The notion prompted Goldlewis to stroke his whiskers with a furrowed brow. “I ain’t exactly what ya’d call an expert on spirits, but considerin’ what they do to your head it’d be better to find spirits that ain’t got a couple screws loose, right?” which Midna definitely had to agree with … despite also not at all following that soft rule at all.

"Plus it still feels pretty scummy, going after someone just to get their powers," Pit added, his expression halfway between a frown and a look of consideration. It was true that he'd seen a lot of villains do just that, and in the most recent case with Hades he'd been using souls for that purpose, feeding on them to gain power. It was similar enough to their current situation that it discomforted Pit, even if the spirits Midna proposed to take were those of bad guys.

"But, uh, it'll be for the greater good right? Besides, spirits aren't really the same as souls, they're just..." Pit's brows pinched together and he snapped his fingers a few times, trying to conjure the explanation he was looking for. "They're like... ugh, I dunno! They're definitely different from a person's soul, but I can't really explain it. Trust me though, it's angelic intuition or something! If..."

He bit down on his next words, but even if he didn't say them it was pretty easy to see he was pining for the Goddess of Light once more. He was sure she would be able to offer some insight into things, including the morality of their discussion. He'd find her eventually. For now, he had to think things through himself - however difficult it might be.

"And for monsters... I guess there's no psychic-type Pokémon here in the gym." At least judging from Bede's outburst as he'd left the establishment. "Heheh, I'd prefer flying-type anyway! Guess we'll have to look somewhere else. Since we can see the Others without being psychic, we don't have to rush to all become psychic right? We'll just keep an eye out for whatever we can find."

”Speaking of portals,” she added ”If we think of a good, I dunno, base of operations, or even just a good spot in the city we’d want to go back and forth from, I could set one up there, and then do a bunch of warping and train riding to get back to smash city, and set one up there. That way we can get access to home base’s resources, maybe even find some mercenaries who’d fit Psych-OSF’s requirement to fill out your group?”

Goldlewis took another furtive look around. Right now, the team stood clustered on the side of the gym’s door opposite the reception desk. He could see a couple security cameras, but none so close that they should be able to pick up on a conversation in low tones. “That’s a bright idea, miss. The less time it takes to mosey around, the more options we got. Course, I gotta wonder where we’re gonna find a good spot, away from pryin’ eyes.” He looked around the gym for a brief moment, knowing that he’d find no such hideaways in here. “Hmm. If y’all wanna stick ‘round here for a spell, I reckon I’ll take a walk and see if I can scare up any info on a place we can bunk up where the state ain’t stickin’ its big nose. I don’t take kindly to the idea of y’all fusin’ with Others, but there might be other psychic critters ‘round these parts we can use.” He shrugged. “I ain’t one much for gyms, anyhow.”

Raz looked from Goldlewis to Peach and the rest. ”Hmmmm. See, on one hand I think I should go with Mr. Goldlewis - this place isn’t very friendly to non-psychics so you might have trouble navigating on your own. And I’m sure actually having a psychic at your side would help somewhere else. But at the same time I should probably stay here and coordinate with everyone on the Psych-OSF business… dunno which is the right option.”

Sakura was trying not to tap her foot and trying not to get distracted by the gym. ”You can think about that, Raz-kun.” She said, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of her head. ”I’m going to do…uh…r-reconnaissance.” She turned on her heel and sped off into the gym.

"What's up with her?"

”Nothing. I imagine she is just excited by the pretty colors in the gym.” Karin responded to Pit flatly, having lingered near the conversation. Pit took her words at face value and snickered.

Karin turned her attention back to the serious discussion. ”This Psych-OSF plan,” She began, ”If we get caught, there will be repercussions, yes? Political and otherwise. I prefer to do negotiations and diplomacy, and if I’m doing any deception there must be some plausible deniability. Otherwise I’d volunteer myself.”

Peach considered Karin’s point of view. “That’s a good point. I’m not sure what they could charge us with considering we have every intent to stop the Ever Crisis if we can. But it’d be a good idea to have a fallback.” She crossed her arms. “Instead of charging straight to that Otherlobe place to get initiated before dinner, let’s see what else we can set up or find out beforehand.” The princess looked around the room for uniforms of red and black. “I bet there’s some soldiers around here who could give a few tips for aspiring cadets.”

”Well you come get me if you need my take on anything,” Raz said as he made for the gym himself. ”I’m a little interested in the ‘pretty colors’ too.”

"Well while you guys do that, I'm gonna go back and get those Other spirits just in case that data Midna talked about ends up coming in useful!" Pit chimed, "Besides, if this is a psychic gym I'm not gonna be able to see anything cool anyway! And if it's a normal gym I don't need it, I get plenty of cardio just running around!"

As Goldlewis made for the door, he was beat there by the angel. Pit held the door before flitting up and away with plans to meet the rest of the Seekers again later.

Then, once Goldlewis was out said door, a certain princess who had surreptitiously taken a ride on his coattails let her presence be known, whispering ”If you need someone to shadow you, I’m your woman. Just lead the way and I’ll be right behind you” from her hiding spot.

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