Zeroth

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

Also, since characters are decided now, I should probably mention this. For some added excitement, characters are probably going to be assigned to individual quarters with bunkbeds, meaning y'all are getting roommates. I'm thinking that since Dorothy and Liese's biological sexes are kind of known information for the higher-ups at the very Liese-t (groan), they'd probably get stuck together to avoid accusations of indecency (them being an Absolute and a Light user also helps, since, y'know, Successor of Alexander obviously will be working with the Successor of Arbert Grayle, right?)

But for everybody else, how do you want to go about deciding? I could randomly roll to see who gets assigned to room with who, or I could pick pairs based on who wants to be stuck together. Ultimately, depends on what everybody wants to do.

@Feyblue

Whoever gets Kai just has to remember: he needs walkies at least 3 times a day, he won't eat dry food, and he gets anxious during thunderstorms. XD

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

The Boy From Under the Wall

_______________________________________________ // INFO P E R S O N A L D E T A I L S Full Name - Kaiser “Kai” Underwall Age - “Best Guess: 14 - 15” Gender - Male Heritage - Unknown - Presumably Abandoned, Non-native to Grandor Magical Affinity - Wind - // PERSONALITY P E R S O N A L I T Y Two Way Mirror Perhaps due to his lack of socialization at an early age, Kai’s interactions with other people are…a little odd. He’s clearly very observant, to the point that his stare often makes people uncomfortable, but exactly what he’s “looking for,” could be anyone’s guess. He won’t often make the first move with someone he doesn’t know, but if they’ve proven kind to him at any point then he’ll have no fear of initiating contact with them–even if, perhaps, they’d rather he chose a less awkward time for it. But, that first impression is key–because it will often determine how Kai himself interacts with that person. He will invariably, perhaps to the point of annoyance, match the energy that is given to him. If you greet him politely, he will return the manners. If you act aggressively, he will escalate to match your force. Only after several interactions will he act in a more “natural” way–maybe because it takes him that long to figure out what combinations of traits he should be using with a particular individual. Unfortunately, this also means he doesn’t exactly…do well in group settings, where multiple people are all talking or behaving differently at the same time. Lawful AND Good The knight who adopted Kai must have seen right away what kinds of troubles his lack of social skills would get him into. As a result the boy was constantly drilled on the Knight’s Code, on ideals of chivalry, ethics, morality, and various laws and regulations. Yet while he might seem incredibly straight laced and logical sometimes, at other times he’ll cast an opinion or rule aside as if it doesn’t matter at all–and if asked for an explanation, you’re likely to get something to the effect of “I don’t think that’s of much help right now.” Rather than plan some sort of elaborate ruleset or procedure to accomplish a given task, even if it would help more people, Kai would rather do the most immediate good in the moment. It’s not to say he won’t ever consider thinking a few more steps ahead. But most of the time, he seems to take the stance of, “What can I, at this moment, with what I have, do to help?” And when it comes to the question of evil? Most of the time, at that very moment, with what little he may have available, the answer is always a very stern, “I will make them stop. Now.” Voracious Reader You would think, given his background, that Kai wasn’t one for intellectual pursuits. You…would not be entirely wrong. But, if there’s one thing everyone needs to know regardless of their natural born curiosity, it’s how to read and write, yes? The knight who raised him made sure Kai could do these, as well as what little math he could force into the boy’s thick skull. His penmanship is still horrible, but he can write. And not only can he read, Kai is an obsessive reader. He can easily become distracted by the words on the page of a student’s book in front of him, or by a scrap of paper that blows past his ankle on the road. He’ll lose track of hours in a good book, never taking his eyes out of it (although his body will actually react to some things without him being aware of it, often preventing a distraction). His favorite books are stories of heroes, and adventures to far-away lands, or biographical tales. Perhaps it's because of his own lack of experiences that he craves them vicariously. // SKILLSET S K I L L S E T Wild Nature Kai seems to be physically talented in a way not many youths his age could be. He has no qualms scrambling up walls and trees, sometimes on all fours, or balancing himself from just about any position. Strong enough to hold himself in a handstand, or pull his whole body up over a branch, with just one arm. Fast enough in the water or on land to catch live prey with his bare hands. While his senses aren’t much “sharper,” than normal, he’s more aware of them–for instance, most people don’t pay much attention to their sense of smell unless it involves food, rot, or blood, but Kai can–after some time spent with them, of course–still differentiate between people entirely by scent. Combine this environmental awareness with his reflexes, and the boy proves to be quite adept at making the kind of on-the-fly decisions required by high-paced combat. Explosive Results While he might be a prime specimen physically, Kai proves an exceedingly poor student of magic. He performs his particular speciality, the one Spell that seems to come by instinct, well enough. But given an Incantation of any other type, even that of his own element, the boy will never fail to…well, fail–with rather dramatic results. He can learn the words properly, or even draw the runes, if he practices it with dedication and determination. It’s just that he can’t seem to actually do it. Only his own, personal Spell has ever worked out for him–so that’s what he sticks with. Wind Aura Sword Style - Void Slayer Unknown Sword An unknown bloodline, likely not even from Grandor. A strange blade of what seems to be Valefor craftsmanship–could that be where his heritage lies? Nonetheless, the rare and powerful ability of Aura awakened within Kai, and despite knowing nothing of Incantations or “proper” magic procedure at the time, he incorporated it flawlessly into his own particular fighting style. Sharpening the field of energy into a manifested blade from the “airspace” around him, Kai is able to project a slash from his sword over a distance, or enhance its cutting ability by overlapping the Aura with his sword. However, using his Aura to attack means that its usual “primary” nature as a defense against other magics is non-functional. Its current range limit is ten feet, and projected slashes (Slash Verdict) are not quite as strong as a “normal” slash without Aura. All Aura techniques are intensely draining. Currently only a single Verdict can be used before Kai has to get his breath back.

Physical Description At 5’8” and 128 pounds, Kai’s build is about average for his age. However, for a boy, his long hair and smooth, pale skin don’t exactly seem the most masculine. He’ll probably be one of those knock-out “pretty boys” when he gets older and his muscles fill out more, but for now he seems like a ripe target for bullying by the bigger boys–may the gods help their souls. For as much time as he spends outside, Kai doesn’t seem to tan very well. He tends to wear cloaks or thicker outer garments with hoods, and even in the summer he’ll often wear something long sleeved to keep from burning his arms. Other than that, though, his clothing is pretty plain and generally of whatever general fashion is popular among boys that age, just slightly above the commoners. His adoptive parent isn’t exactly rich or high ranking, but has been at his duties long enough to have accrued quite the substantial savings, so Kai never wants for much. At the same time, he’s not much of a fashionista–and he will literally give someone the shirt off his back if they ask him, perhaps not even so much out of kindness as just the fact that being seen without clothes doesn’t seem to bother him the way it does other people. Fitting, given his background. His voice is a pleasant tenor, though it’s starting to break here and there. He doesn’t seem as self conscious about it as most other boys his age, but it does mean that listening to any attempt to sing is usually not met with standing applause. His resting expression is a somewhat neutral, soft smile, just barely evident at the corners of the mouth. His eyes are bright and wide, frequently darting here and there whenever he sees something interesting–and then he stares for too long. He often walks with a confident stride, head up and chest out, and when standing still often defaults to a confident hands-on-hips stance. If he were taller and broader, it might actually be intimidating, but as he is now it comes off almost as playing pretend. Character Conceptualization Sir Kyner Sauvage had already raised two boys and married off a daughter, so what more was there for a Senior Royal Knight to do? Well, damn the hides of all those young bucks telling him to retire–dying alone and decrepit in his armchair would certainly not be his fate. Indeed, if they didn’t want to let him do what he wanted, out on the field where the real action was, then he would do what all those lazy sods didn’t want to do–take Wild duty at the End of the World. The Curse of Fendal hadn’t been seen in Grandor for a hundred years, but with the Wild right on its doorstep it would be foolish not to remain vigilant against all manner of monster and demon. Down below those magnificent falls, the Knights who walked secret paths and set foot into dark, twisted jungle knew that evil might not be so far away as the commonfolk liked to believe. But Kyner was still stout of heart, and of arm–he hadn’t been a House Champion for nothing, some three decades ago–and so with torch and blade he joined the patrol at the bottom of the misty cliffs. And one fateful day, not far beyond the treeline, he found not a monster, nor a runaway Dark Mage, nor even some lost knight finally making their way back to civilization. Sir Kyner stumbled upon a sleeping boy, sprawled in the grass without a care in the world–naked as the day he was born, save for the sword clutched in his hand. When the child awakened, Sir Kyner found he had no concept of language–or at least, not the tongue of Grandor–and seemed, for all intents and purposes, completely ignorant of the world. How long had he been surviving out here? Who had abandoned him here, and why? A knight is sworn to protect women and children, widows and orphans, and thus the obvious thing for Sir Kyner to do was take the boy in. He searched for some time to try and find any scrap of information. But no missing child posters turned up, no family claimed him among the impoverished, the immigrants, or the refugees of war on the borders, and ultimately, no origin could be found. Even once they had bonded, and the boy learned to speak, he wouldn’t–or couldn’t–tell Kyner much about his life before they found one another. So, time passed, and the boy–Kaiser, called “Kai” for short–grew into a youth. And Kyner decided to enroll him as a Knight-in-Training, to give the boy some education at the least, and perhaps a purpose in life. Kai was all too eager to swear that he would become a great Royal Knight, and save people wherever they needed his help–just like that day when “Gramps” had saved him, years ago. Other Information Theme Song: Ittou Ryouran It’s not magic or prehensile or anything, but his braided ponytail tends to…”show his mood,” one might say. Despite all his physical prowess, Kai has a penchant to get sick more easily than one would think. There were several times not long after Sir Kyner brought him back to Grandor that he caught flus, colds, et cetera and suffered with them longer than usual. Perhaps, wherever he’s from, the diseases and medicines are different…

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

Dime's handwriting is... nightmarish distinctive. The basic, biographical details have been written in a different hand from the rest of the document, which is thankfully being handled by a professional reader.

@Sniblet

Examiner: ...At least she CAN write... *looks up as Kai, the next in line, hands in his own paper* Even a commoner will surely be better than a dog...

*crinkling sounds, the paper opens--it's a black-and-white manga style comic biography with no text and yet a precise level of detail, dynamism, and perspective*

Kai: Gramps always told me pictures were worth thousands of words, so I figured it'd save time! :D

Examiner: What the f--

@Zombehs

Seems like he'll have plenty of great potential interactions with the rest of the cast! ^_^

@Feyblue

Interactions such as "Why does the blue haired gremlin boi keep STEALING MY TOOLS?!" *Kai scampers out of the smithy on all fours, a hammer clenched in his teeth, as something that should not have been touched explodes in the background*

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

@webboysurf
I think Nathaniel's an excellent addition! As far as any critiques go, the only thing I'd personally suggest is maybe adding a flaw or two, or pointing out the negative aspects of his established traits. You did that with his "honorable to a fault" trait, but aside from that and maybe the implication that he holds grudges (which is still pretty tame since there's no malice in it) most of his backstory is about all the positive skills and abilities that were taught to him, and there's not much mention of the things he can't do or isn't much good at. There's an element of bittersweet in the parts about him being "meant" for the battlefield as opposed to his brothers--has he ever stopped to consider what his life COULD be like if he CHOSE to do something else? Of course, that particular thing could feature more in the RP itself as he develops, rather than being openly stated.

@ERode
I mean, the opener did state that Aura was starting to appear more often, and that it seemed like a new generation of Heroes was on the cusp, right? And since we're all in the "childhood arc" right now, we could always just handwave it as "they're all super talented--for a bunch of teenagers, comparatively." Fey could always have a grown-ass knight come manhandle us all on the training yard and then reveal, "oh that guy? He's actually the weakest knight in his unit, he's just actually been fully trained and has battlefield experience whereas you are all literal kids," XD

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

Basically, that one friend who is talented not because he's super magical, but because he can just think his way through a fight. Read moves, anticipate, find a counter. So nerdy in a fight? Still working out the kinks.

@webboysurf

So like, whereas Kai might be the kind of "naturally talented" athlete who can do an unassisted no hands backflip without even warming up, your guy would be the one who can watch a technique be executed, and figure out like, the body mechanics, or how it ties into a combination of techniques, or how to counter it?

And if someone were to ask either of them, "How do I do this move?" your guy would be able to say "Lower your hips, and pivot on your lead foot," and work them through it, whereas Kai would just gesticulate wildly with his hands and tell them "First it's like, shaa! And then you do it like, BAM! And if you did it right, it'll be like Ka-tiiing!" and then smiles while they look at him in abject defeat.

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

But I'm also little worried about having a ton of princely types I guess? I'm trying to figure out something that plays well off the rest of the cast we have so far at least.

@VitaVitaAR

Isn't the whole otome genre just different flavors of princely types? All bishounen, all well dressed, all with terrifyingly long hands, and so forth? I don't think you'd bother anyone by being a similar archetype so long as the personalities and behaviors were noticeably different. A sad broody prince vs a brash loudmouth military kid, or a scholarly push-up-glasses type, etc etc, you know?

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

We've got like two characters here who aren't actual nobility, if you're interested in diversity then Dime could use some more company down in the pits than just Mister Raised-by-Wolves

@Sniblet

"Hey, my Gramps wasn't a wolf!" *goes back to scratching his ear with one leg*

I like how you already mistook Liese for Julian even before the RP starts.

@Izurich

I think it'd be funny if, after he spends enough time around both of them, Kai becomes one of the few who can regularly tell them apart because he does it solely by scent, and then is always confused when other people can't. XD

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

@Feyblue

Here's my character submission! Again, I welcome critique or feedback from the rest of you all, since I wasn't part of the discussions back in the original interest check. Hopefully he'll fit in well, although I don't know what traditional "Otome" route archetype he'd qualify for! XD

The Boy From Under the Wall

_______________________________________________ // INFO P E R S O N A L D E T A I L S Full Name - Kaiser “Kai” Underwall Age - “Best Guess: 14 - 15” Gender - Male Heritage - Unknown - Presumably Abandoned, Non-native to Grandor Magical Affinity - Wind - // PERSONALITY P E R S O N A L I T Y Two Way Mirror Perhaps due to his lack of socialization at an early age, Kai’s interactions with other people are…a little odd. He’s clearly very observant, to the point that his stare often makes people uncomfortable, but exactly what he’s “looking for,” could be anyone’s guess. He won’t often make the first move with someone he doesn’t know, but if they’ve proven kind to him at any point then he’ll have no fear of initiating contact with them–even if, perhaps, they’d rather he chose a less awkward time for it. But, that first impression is key–because it will often determine how Kai himself interacts with that person. He will invariably, perhaps to the point of annoyance, match the energy that is given to him. If you greet him politely, he will return the manners. If you act aggressively, he will escalate to match your force. Only after several interactions will he act in a more “natural” way–maybe because it takes him that long to figure out what combinations of traits he should be using with a particular individual. Unfortunately, this also means he doesn’t exactly…do well in group settings, where multiple people are all talking or behaving differently at the same time. Lawful AND Good The knight who adopted Kai must have seen right away what kinds of troubles his lack of social skills would get him into. As a result the boy was constantly drilled on the Knight’s Code, on ideals of chivalry, ethics, morality, and various laws and regulations. Yet while he might seem incredibly straight laced and logical sometimes, at other times he’ll cast an opinion or rule aside as if it doesn’t matter at all–and if asked for an explanation, you’re likely to get something to the effect of “I don’t think that’s of much help right now.” Rather than plan some sort of elaborate ruleset or procedure to accomplish a given task, even if it would help more people, Kai would rather do the most immediate good in the moment. It’s not to say he won’t ever consider thinking a few more steps ahead. But most of the time, he seems to take the stance of, “What can I, at this moment, with what I have, do to help?” And when it comes to the question of evil? Most of the time, at that very moment, with what little he may have available, the answer is always a very stern, “I will make them stop. Now.” Voracious Reader You would think, given his background, that Kai wasn’t one for intellectual pursuits. You…would not be entirely wrong. But, if there’s one thing everyone needs to know regardless of their natural born curiosity, it’s how to read and write, yes? The knight who raised him made sure Kai could do these, as well as what little math he could force into the boy’s thick skull. His penmanship is still horrible, but he can write. And not only can he read, Kai is an obsessive reader. He can easily become distracted by the words on the page of a student’s book in front of him, or by a scrap of paper that blows past his ankle on the road. He’ll lose track of hours in a good book, never taking his eyes out of it (although his body will actually react to some things without him being aware of it, often preventing a distraction). His favorite books are stories of heroes, and adventures to far-away lands, or biographical tales. Perhaps it's because of his own lack of experiences that he craves them vicariously. // SKILLSET S K I L L S E T Wild Nature Kai seems to be physically talented in a way not many youths his age could be. He has no qualms scrambling up walls and trees, sometimes on all fours, or balancing himself from just about any position. Strong enough to hold himself in a handstand, or pull his whole body up over a branch, with just one arm. Fast enough in the water or on land to catch live prey with his bare hands. While his senses aren’t much “sharper,” than normal, he’s more aware of them–for instance, most people don’t pay much attention to their sense of smell unless it involves food, rot, or blood, but Kai can–after some time spent with them, of course–still differentiate between people entirely by scent. Combine this environmental awareness with his reflexes, and the boy proves to be quite adept at making the kind of on-the-fly decisions required by high-paced combat. Explosive Results While he might be a prime specimen physically, Kai proves an exceedingly poor student of magic. He performs his particular speciality, the one Spell that seems to come by instinct, well enough. But given an Incantation of any other type, even that of his own element, the boy will never fail to…well, fail–with rather dramatic results. He can learn the words properly, or even draw the runes, if he practices it with dedication and determination. It’s just that he can’t seem to actually do it. Only his own, personal Spell has ever worked out for him–so that’s what he sticks with. Wind Aura Sword Style - Void Slayer Unknown Sword An unknown bloodline, likely not even from Grandor. A strange blade of what seems to be Valefor craftsmanship–could that be where his heritage lies? Nonetheless, the rare and powerful ability of Aura awakened within Kai, and despite knowing nothing of Incantations or “proper” magic procedure at the time, he incorporated it flawlessly into his own particular fighting style. Sharpening the field of energy into a manifested blade from the “airspace” around him, Kai is able to project a slash from his sword over a distance, or enhance its cutting ability by overlapping the Aura with his sword. However, using his Aura to attack means that its usual “primary” nature as a defense against other magics is non-functional. Its current range limit is ten feet, and projected slashes (Slash Verdict) are not quite as strong as a “normal” slash without Aura. All Aura techniques are intensely draining. Currently only a single Verdict can be used before Kai has to get his breath back.

Physical Description At 5’8” and 128 pounds, Kai’s build is about average for his age. However, for a boy, his long hair and smooth, pale skin don’t exactly seem the most masculine. He’ll probably be one of those knock-out “pretty boys” when he gets older and his muscles fill out more, but for now he seems like a ripe target for bullying by the bigger boys–may the gods help their souls. For as much time as he spends outside, Kai doesn’t seem to tan very well. He tends to wear cloaks or thicker outer garments with hoods, and even in the summer he’ll often wear something long sleeved to keep from burning his arms. Other than that, though, his clothing is pretty plain and generally of whatever general fashion is popular among boys that age, just slightly above the commoners. His adoptive parent isn’t exactly rich or high ranking, but has been at his duties long enough to have accrued quite the substantial savings, so Kai never wants for much. At the same time, he’s not much of a fashionista–and he will literally give someone the shirt off his back if they ask him, perhaps not even so much out of kindness as just the fact that being seen without clothes doesn’t seem to bother him the way it does other people. Fitting, given his background. His voice is a pleasant tenor, though it’s starting to break here and there. He doesn’t seem as self conscious about it as most other boys his age, but it does mean that listening to any attempt to sing is usually not met with standing applause. His resting expression is a somewhat neutral, soft smile, just barely evident at the corners of the mouth. His eyes are bright and wide, frequently darting here and there whenever he sees something interesting–and then he stares for too long. He often walks with a confident stride, head up and chest out, and when standing still often defaults to a confident hands-on-hips stance. If he were taller and broader, it might actually be intimidating, but as he is now it comes off almost as playing pretend. Character Conceptualization Sir Kyner Sauvage had already raised two boys and married off a daughter, so what more was there for a Senior Royal Knight to do? Well, damn the hides of all those young bucks telling him to retire–dying alone and decrepit in his armchair would certainly not be his fate. Indeed, if they didn’t want to let him do what he wanted, out on the field where the real action was, then he would do what all those lazy sods didn’t want to do–take Wild duty at the End of the World. The Curse of Fendal hadn’t been seen in Grandor for a hundred years, but with the Wild right on its doorstep it would be foolish not to remain vigilant against all manner of monster and demon. Down below those magnificent falls, the Knights who walked secret paths and set foot into dark, twisted jungle knew that evil might not be so far away as the commonfolk liked to believe. But Kyner was still stout of heart, and of arm–he hadn’t been a House Champion for nothing, some three decades ago–and so with torch and blade he joined the patrol at the bottom of the misty cliffs. And one fateful day, not far beyond the treeline, he found not a monster, nor a runaway Dark Mage, nor even some lost knight finally making their way back to civilization. Sir Kyner stumbled upon a sleeping boy, sprawled in the grass without a care in the world–naked as the day he was born, save for the sword clutched in his hand. When the child awakened, Sir Kyner found he had no concept of language–or at least, not the tongue of Grandor–and seemed, for all intents and purposes, completely ignorant of the world. How long had he been surviving out here? Who had abandoned him here, and why? A knight is sworn to protect women and children, widows and orphans, and thus the obvious thing for Sir Kyner to do was take the boy in. He searched for some time to try and find any scrap of information. But no missing child posters turned up, no family claimed him among the impoverished, the immigrants, or the refugees of war on the borders, and ultimately, no origin could be found. Even once they had bonded, and the boy learned to speak, he wouldn’t–or couldn’t–tell Kyner much about his life before they found one another. So, time passed, and the boy–Kaiser, called “Kai” for short–grew into a youth. And Kyner decided to enroll him as a Knight-in-Training, to give the boy some education at the least, and perhaps a purpose in life. Kai was all too eager to swear that he would become a great Royal Knight, and save people wherever they needed his help–just like that day when “Gramps” had saved him, years ago. Other Information Theme Song: Ittou Ryouran It’s not magic or prehensile or anything, but his braided ponytail tends to…”show his mood,” one might say. Despite all his physical prowess, Kai has a penchant to get sick more easily than one would think. There were several times not long after Sir Kyner brought him back to Grandor that he caught flus, colds, et cetera and suffered with them longer than usual. Perhaps, wherever he’s from, the diseases and medicines are different…

To Become a Knight! ~ A Chivalric (Mis)Adventure

Since a number cap has been mentioned, I wanted to poke my head in and say hi. I've been working with Feyblue over PM to iron out a few ideas, since I didn't originally chime in on the first interest check, and I hope it's okay to jump in like this since it seemed like you guys did a good bit of group-brainstorming in the check. I'll be posting my submission for a Character Sheet once it's been thoroughly finalized, and would welcome feedback from the other players!

Septima Strikers (Super Powers/Social Turmoil) [High Casual] [Gunvolt]

Travis d’Arcy

@EnterTheHero@tobiax

LOWER DECK 2

“Oi, watch the merch!”

---

She--wait, was this person a woman? The pink hair and the robes made him think that way at first, but he...wasn't sure about the voice. And the Japanese style clothes hid a lot of other features that would've been distinguishing. But, whoever they were, they stared at him for several long moments before answering. In his coat pocket, the palm of his hand tensed against his pistol.

”Hm. No, I don’t suppose I am. And I don’t suppose you are, either, judging by the cold sweat.”

Travis let out a shaky breath. They walked closer, flicking the blood from their sword. He wondered just what a pro like this was doing on a passenger cruise. A sword meant getting up close and personal with somebody...an assassin? The thief didn't think there were any bigwigs on the ship...or at least, none of the safes he'd hit so far hinted at that kind of status.

”I have business with these hijackers, as it turns out. I’d suggest you return to your cabin, but they’ve probably knocked the damn handle of, same as mine. I can’t very well leave you here to be harpooned by some Neanderthal, so… follow me. I’ll see us through this mess, but please, don’t end up underfoot. I can’t guarantee your safety if you between me and my enemy.”

"Oh, believe me," Travis said, putting his other hand in his pocket as well, "I keep me head well out of trouble..." But the bloodied figure kept going--and not in the direction Travis wanted. "Oi, uh...shouldn't we be headin' above deck--"

There were two noises, simultaneous, yet easily picked out by their direction and style. Both footsteps. Both groups of more than one person. The first sounded lighter, quieter, except for a distinct, metallic tink tink tink. The latter, heavier, more numerous--by quite a bit. Travis's head whipped back and forth--and the latter group proved to be the most urgent.

The sound of flippery boots tromped down the stairs towards the cabins. There was a slamming from below, and the echoing sounds of the engine were drowned out. A cluster of ten divers, harpoon launchers on point, flowed down the stairs, beginning to march into range behind Travis. As they approached, one of the more eager of the divers fired.

"Right then!" As soon as he saw the rifle come up he'd made a dive for the nearest broken-in cabin door. The harpoon tore right through one of his whipping coat tails as he tumbled to the floor in a roll, then scrambled onto all fours. He looked out at the swordsperson as he straightened his glasses. "There's your enemy, and here's me out the way!"

Now that he was in cover, he grabbed the pistol once more and made sure the safety was off. He popped the magazine out just to check--one in the barrel, thirteen more ready to go--then slammed it back in. The 9mm probably wouldn't do much if those suits had any armor, but it was better than nothing. He tried to calm himself down.

You or them, mate, no choice. They shot first--

He stopped, gulping down fear for just a moment.

I ain't the one holding the bloody sword. Why would they shoot at him first? Just to get rid of the easier target? But why get rid of anyone at all--he'd already seen that there were no bodies, and limited harm done in struggles with other passengers. Why did these new arrivals go for the kill right off the bat? And, again, why him?

"Who the hell even are you knobs!?" he yelled out the doorway, keeping his back to the wall between him and the hallway. No guarantee they'd answer--if tall, pink, and deadly there didn't have them too occupied already--but why not ask? Just to be polite, right? He scoffed at his own joke.