Shoshin hears a growl, looking back he spots the hellhound from earlier menacing an old lady. He sighs, before slowly stopping the horse and looking directly at the beast.
"You know, I was in a good mood up until you ruined it. But now you've gone and made me mad" he raises a hand towards it and says in a low whisper "Phantasmal Killer"
The old lady thanks Shoshin before heading off to the school and her work.
Halo and toby look to be winning whe, from above a life pod falls with a scream on top of them.
They go out of sight, after a wile toby can be seem digging his way out from under the pod. Once out you can hear Tobys PC saying things to someone. Rude words, then once more they set off for the finish line.
School race
Reed = 9
Halo toby = 8
Right now Reed looks to be the winner.
Reed charges ahead but from behind comes Shoshin, passing The pod and Toby. Then passing Reed just at the line. It's close run, but Shoshin wins.
Mean wile Halo and Toby dig themselves out from under the crashed pod, Helo stops Toby so she can clime out and see if who ever was in it was ok The wards had taken the new student to the medical wing so the pod was empty. She jockey shakes her head then walks with Toby over to the other to at the finish line.
"Well done you two, mad race, some wakky stuff going on there. Seems I need to learn some new stuff, like how to deal with magic."
Toby powers down and starts repairing itself. Toby looks very beat up from being hit by a broken life pod, Helo go's over and starts working on him.
Shoshin hops down from the phantom steed, petting it before it vanishes. "Yeah, it was a good race, is Toby alright though?"
"He's got five broken servos and the radar units been mashed, but other than that, he will be fine. Just need time to fix him. Lucky his nanies can fix all but the radar unit. That's going to take a lot longer."
Holding a servo she checks it.
He nods, moving to sit against a nearby tree with his hands tucked behind his head.
"I know a little about fixing things, so if you need help just ask"
"Thanks but Ill be ok, he can fix himself, just take time"
She closes up a panel and comes over.
"Well I'm going to leave toby here for a wile, he's on Atuo fix. I think its time we found our rooms. What do you think?"
"Yeah, I need to go get Iolth and drag him to our room. At least he's sleeping so I doubt he'll fight being dragged"
He yawns, getting up and dusting himself off before looking at her and smiling "Good race though, we should do that again sometime"
"Yep it was fun, I think next time we should try out them SIMROOMS. bet we could have a lot less obstacles. See you alter, im going to the dinning room to get a coffee. "
She nods then heads off, Toby is still, seeming to be fixing himself.
He walks through the grounds after passing by Toby, checking the damage himself before looking for his roommate as he pulled the hood of his cloak up.
Meanwhile many miles to the East. in the Sunrise mountains...
Lang leads Sara, (and anyone else that wanted to see the echo cave) down through a mostly natural cave tunnel (some parts appear to have been carved to widen the passage) but overall it is all natural.
the tunnel opens up to a ledge about 25 foot round overlooking a huge cavern extending beyond the visual limit of most people.
lang light s a couple of lanterns hanging around the ledge.
Once lit more of the room lights up. extending nearly 80 feet below is what looks like an underground lake, surrounded by stalagmites. and high above are stalactites of all sorts of shapes and sizes. the moist rock seems to glisten in the lantern light giving off all sorts of colored reflections.
Lang puts his finger to his lips indicating for everyone to be quiet.
he then turns and looks out into the huge cavern.
and in nearly a whisper. lang says Hello
then in few seconds the echo reverberates throughout the cavern. repeating Lang's Hello from all different angles.
Asha followed the arrows to a small classroom near the infirmary. This wasn't what she had expected, but it was where the arrows said to go. She smiled nervously at Pyry.
"Well, here we are I guess. I hope the teacher isn't too angry with us for being late," she said before she cautiously opened the door and peered in. There was only one person in the room, sitting in the front of the room facing the few desks that had been set out. Perhaps this was the teacher? He looked strange to her. He was....fuzzy. Well, presuming it was a he. She wasn't quite sure how to tell.
"Ummm.....excuse me? Is this the right place?" she asked, hesitantly.
Shiro gives a short, good natured chuckle at the rather unhelpful question.
"If you are looking for the remedial elementary class, then yes. You may have been expecting Headmistress Blackscales, but with the need of more than a few students, I volunteered to teach a full class. My name is Shirokouruma-Sensei, but you can just call me Mr.Shiro. And what are your names?"
The panda man seems to be mostly smiles. He does speak in a deeper male voice with an accent Asha doesn't recognize, but is still easy to understand.
He wears a simple brown outfit.
The class itself is warmly lit, and has about 12 'desks.' The desks are much shorter than normal and have cushions on the floor in place of a chair. Each one comes with an Avalon standard notebook and pen in the green and white motif of the school.
Stray posters are neatly hung on the wall and the alphabets and numbers of various languages line the walls near the ceiling around the room.
The vague and pleasant sent of a wooded forest is ever so slightly present if you focus on it.
Grim grins at the cavern and the echoes "echo" he shouts, distancing to the reverberation and then giggling he shouts again much louder than before. He then inhales deeply before screaming out with rings of green energy coming from his mouth
A tiny trickle of blood drips down from Nala's nose, but still she doesn't move, her fingertips lightly resting on Jessa's temples and a serene expression on her face.
::Enough, Jessa. They weren't your friends. Not really. They were just hungry insects, and when they were done killing every living thing they would have died and you would have been truly alone. Forever. You were always doomed to grieve for them. It's time to move forward. Change your fate, Jessa. You are stronger than you know. Not this part that you think is strong. She's so much weaker than you are. The real Jessa is strong though. All you have to do is reach out and take your mind back. It's always been yours to claim. Hurt and rage aren't the most powerful things about you.::
The girl's mind was so far gone. Healing this insanity might be beyond her skill. Perhaps she did need to ask Phaezeriel for help. She saw so much of herself in this girl, but she had never lost connection with reality as Jessa had.
There is a brief hesitation, and a mental voice, more whisper than actual voice, that sounds like a terrified child, ::How can I trust you? She is my --::
Having seen a little success rather than complete failure, the unreasonable rage that was Jessa's psychosis lashes out at Nala as it had before, and its incoherent scream drowns out what Jessa had been trying to say.
Tarka jumps back in response to grim's sudden outburst, before covering her ears at the noise.
Shiro gives a short, good natured chuckle at the rather unhelpful question.
"If you are looking for the remedial elementary class, then yes. You may have been expecting Headmistress Blackscales, but with the need of more than a few students, I volunteered to teach a full class. My name is Shirokouruma-Sensei, but you can just call me Mr.Shiro. And what are your names?"
The panda man seems to be mostly smiles. He does speak in a deeper male voice with an accent Asha doesn't recognize, but is still easy to understand.
He wears a simple brown outfit.
The class itself is warmly lit, and has about 12 'desks.' The desks are much shorter than normal and have cushions on the floor in place of a chair. Each one comes with an Avalon standard notebook and pen in the green and white motif of the school.
Stray posters are neatly hung on the wall and the alphabets and numbers of various languages line the walls near the ceiling around the room.
The vague and pleasant sent of a wooded forest is ever so slightly present if you focus on it.
"I'm Asha Soleil and this is my little brother Pyry. Are we the first ones here? But I thought we were late? Well...maybe Rena doesn't know that she's late. We wouldn't have known if someone hadn't explained it to us," she said, smiling. "Umm...what are we supposed to do now? "
There is a brief hesitation, and a mental voice, more whisper than actual voice, that sounds like a terrified child, ::How can I trust you? She is my --::
Having seen a little success rather than complete failure, the unreasonable rage that was Jessa's psychosis lashes out at Nala as it had before, and its incoherent scream drowns out what Jessa had been trying to say.
Nala still didn't move, but the stress of the encounter was starting to tell. The entire room was coated in frost and Jessa's breath created clouds of fog in the chilled air.
::You can't hurt me. I've been through worse than you can ever hope to do. I'm still here. As are you. You don't have to live like this anymore,:: she said, sending out every memory she had of unexpected compassion and friendship that she had experienced since coming to Avalon, hoping to counter some of the rage of psychotic Jessa.
Before taking his leave, Ace asks "Fei, Professor Sunwake, is there anything else I can do to help?"
"It's good to meet both of you."
He smiles warmly.
"Now, we were going to do a little test to see where we need to start, but it seems quite a few of my students aren't here. Perhaps we should go find them? Or would you rather wait a bit longer before we do that? Give them a chance to arrive on their own?"
He offers the choice to both Asha and Pyry, seeing if they were more forgiving or go getter types.
|
"I.. I don't know. I only got here and i-it doesn't seem right to go, even if it's to look for the others.." Pyry looked around nervously, touching Tybalt's amulet and glad it was keeping him cold. At least it smelled nice. Just add a cold, crisp scent and he probably close his eyes and be back on the mountain.
"Well, in that case, we'll stay and wait for a while longer for anyone who will show up."
He takes a seat at his desk.
"Please, do have a seat. Do either of you have something you'd like to do while we wait? Maybe you could tell me about yourselves?"
"Well, in that case, we'll stay and wait for a while longer for anyone who will show up."
He takes a seat at his desk.
"Please, do have a seat. Do either of you have something you'd like to do while we wait? Maybe you could tell me about yourselves?"
"I'm not sure if I should. People seem to get uncomfortable when I talk about myself. I don't know exactly what I'm doing wrong," she said with a perplexed frown as she tried to figure out how to sit at these desks.
Nala still didn't move, but the stress of the encounter was starting to tell. The entire room was coated in frost and Jessa's breath created clouds of fog in the chilled air.
::You can't hurt me. I've been through worse than you can ever hope to do. I'm still here. As are you. You don't have to live like this anymore,:: she said, sending out every memory she had of unexpected compassion and friendship that she had experienced since coming to Avalon, hoping to counter some of the rage of psychotic Jessa.
There is a moment of stillness in Jessa's mind as Nala shares her memories, a moment where it seems the psychotic personality will accept what she is seeing. The psychotic personality seems purely confused, as if what Nala shared is so utterly incomprehensible that it has momentarily stunned her. Jessa's non-psychotic personality seems to have some experience with kindness, as there is a hopeful skepticism in her thoughts, ::What kind of place is this? I cannot believe there is no meanness or cruelty here with so many people.::
"It.. I think it's when you talk about what h-happened to you, Asha." Pyry whispers, sitting cross legged at a desk. "similar stuff happened to me and I don't like hearing about it either..."
"Oh." She considered this. "But how am I supposed to explain why I don't understand things? You can just say that you were abandoned on a mountain and people get it. Grew up locked in a tower generally takes more explanation. Or do you mean I just shouldn't talk about Embre? I didn't do anything wrong. Why should what he did wrong make people uncomfortable?"
She sighed. "I spent so much time wishing I could interact with people and now that I can it turns out to be so complicated."
There is a moment of stillness in Jessa's mind as Nala shares her memories, a moment where it seems the psychotic personality will accept what she is seeing. The psychotic personality seems purely confused, as if what Nala shared is so utterly incomprehensible that it has momentarily stunned her. Jessa's non-psychotic personality seems to have some experience with kindness, as there is a hopeful skepticism in her thoughts, ::What kind of place is this? I cannot believe there is no meanness or cruelty here with so many people.::
::It's a school, Jessa. A special school meant for people like us. People who don't fit anywhere else, who need a refuge. And of course there is meanness and cruelty. Those exist everywhere that sentient life does. Many of the children who come here have been through so much, and that often comes out in bullying as they try to deal with their feelings of fear and powerlessness by pushing those emotions onto others. But it isn't allowed to run unchecked. And there is so much mercy and kindness here. This is where I learned what those things even were. And saw how they could be stronger that all the worst monsters I'd ever known. Hate isn't strength, Jessa. It's just lonely.::
::It's a school, Jessa. A special school meant for people like us. People who don't fit anywhere else, who need a refuge. And of course there is meanness and cruelty. Those exist everywhere that sentient life does. Many of the children who come here have been through so much, and that often comes out in bullying as they try to deal with their feelings of fear and powerlessness by pushing those emotions onto others. But it isn't allowed to run unchecked. And there is so much mercy and kindness here. This is where I learned what those things even were. And saw how they could be stronger that all the worst monsters I'd ever known. Hate isn't strength, Jessa. It's just lonely.::
Nala can tell that Jessa wants to believe but seems to be having difficulty with it; it seems that she is afraid to believe and to trust. In that moment of hesitation, her psychotic personality strikes at Nala again in blind fear and rejection of everything she has said. This time she is trying simply to eject Nala from Jessa's mind. Though untrained, the strength of that psychosis driven fear, rage, and pain is immensely strong in this form of attack and Nala can feel her hold slipping; in mere moments she will lose her connection to Jessa's mind.
Nala can tell that Jessa wants to believe but seems to be having difficulty with it; it seems that she is afraid to believe and to trust. In that moment of hesitation, her psychotic personality strikes at Nala again in blind fear and rejection of everything she has said. This time she is trying simply to eject Nala from Jessa's mind. Though untrained, the strength of that psychosis driven fear, rage, and pain is immensely strong in this form of attack and Nala can feel her hold slipping; in mere moments she will lose her connection to Jessa's mind.
Like digging in her claws on slippery ice, Nala held on for a few fleeting seconds more. ::It's up to you, Jessa. Is that what you want? To be alone? Forever? Or are you willing to take the risk and prove that you are as strong as I think you are? I can't make the choice for you...it's all up to you now,:: she said before she was forced out of Jessa's mind.
She sat back and wiped her bloody nose with the back of her hand, looking around as she realized that the entire room was coated in ice. Damn. She'd been pushing harder than she realized. This much cold couldn't be good for Jessa. She had to get a handle on her emotions. She tried to focus on calming breaths as she recovered and the ice slowly receded.
The clone who has been pretty hands-off during this so far, hands Nala a tissue.
"It.. I think it's when you talk about what h-happened to you, Asha." Pyry whispers, sitting cross legged at a desk. "similar stuff happened to me and I don't like hearing about it either...""Oh." She considered this. "But how am I supposed to explain why I don't understand things? You can just say that you were abandoned on a mountain and people get it. Grew up locked in a tower generally takes more explanation. Or do you mean I just shouldn't talk about Embre? I didn't do anything wrong. Why should what he did wrong make people uncomfortable?"
She sighed. "I spent so much time wishing I could interact with people and now that I can it turns out to be so complicated."
Those in the room can hear the pitter-patter of bare feet coming down the hallway towards the door. Rena doesn't typically wear any shoes, so that's probably her. A few moments later, there's a soft knock at the door.
Anahita considers the Halfling for a moment then leans over, when available to whisper closer, "I appreciate your concern, however, I have yet to be ill in any fashion. I doubt there is an issue with my mind either. I'm not quite certain, to be honest, what checked means along with some of your words. I do not have the one sickness, nor am I familiar with the latter in any manner. My well being is, I assure you, quite well in hand."
While leaning there, she looks back to Vare, then whispering to Illithia discretely, "I do, however, believe that investigating this demi-plane of mine further, needs to cease at this time. That was my last thought before some time was lost.. delving into that again may be the cause of my just recent loss of time. I remain more curious though, and thank you for that."
She smiles after that, then leans back and looks on at Vare's teaching.
Illithia sighs slightly, sitting back in her chair, seemingly defeated by Anahita's stubbornness. Her tattoos remain the same sickly green colour as they were previously. "Stubbornness isn't a virtue, y'know." she mutters, her gaze returning to Vare and his lesson.
Ardiente simply closes his eyes and enfolds both Morrivan and Raelle in a hug, the stoic Firebird fighting against his own desire to shed tears. What Krays had done had fished the memories of his own experience out from his mind. He remains for as long as the girls continue sobbing.
The only tracks that he can find around the body belong to Repp and Reviarti.Repp's eyes had narrowed suspiciously upon the maftet's arrival, and he had silently moved into a defensive posture. When the creature begins to make his accusations, Repp's eyes further narrow. "Be wary, Reviarti." Repp says quietly, his voice deadly calm and his eyes trained on the maftet's every move. "This creature has arrived just as we have, and has immediately begun to make blame-shifting accusations."
He looks at Repp's feet.
"At the last murder scene the only foot prints that were found were small ones, my suspicions are justified... however, I'd like to look for tracks again, before the scene is too disturbed. Please stand back."
[dice=Survival]1d20+32
Vai's stirs again, slowly shifting on the bed. As the sedatives begin to wear off, her eyes fluttering open. Groggily, she opens her eyes.
"Muuum?" she says, sounding a little as if she were in slow-motion, the sedatives still wearing off.
The clone who has been pretty hands-off during this so far, hands Nala a tissue.
"Thank you," she said, wiping the blood off of her face as she tried to stay focused and calm so the ice would recede and the room would warm up.
"I'm not sure if it was enough...I tried, but...I don't know if I was able to reach her in the end."
Those in the room can hear the pitter-patter of bare feet coming down the hallway towards the door. Rena doesn't typically wear any shoes, so that's probably her. A few moments later, there's a soft knock at the door.
Asha jumped up, then hesitated, looking to the teacher. "Umm....should I answer the door?"
Vai's stirs again, slowly shifting on the bed. As the sedatives begin to wear off, her eyes fluttering open. Groggily, she opens her eyes.
"Muuum?" she says, sounding a little as if she were in slow-motion, the sedatives still wearing off.
"It's alright, baby, I'm here," she said, desperately trying to smile as she stroked Vai's hair. "You're going to be alright."
"It's alright, baby, I'm here," she said, desperately trying to smile as she stroked Vai's hair. "You're going to be alright."
Vai's thoughts were a fuzzy cloud, warm and comfy, if indistinct. She smiles a bit dazedly up at the face of her Mom. "Hiii Muum." She replies, her voice carrying the bleariness and warmth she felt. "Hiii Aaeys." she giggles weakly at the noise Ace's name made rolling off her tongue.
Ace flashes the girl who is quickly becoming one of his better friends a grin "Hey yourself. I know you and Fei are dating and all, but I think you guys need to find better, more fun ways to bond. Like demon hunting, or trying to out lie a devil. You know, safe things" He's clearly joking and trying to lighten the mood.
Shiro had been thinking over the possible responses to the two's troubles. Trying to work out his answer and then their responses, several steps in advance.
Getting lost in that, he is interrupted by a knock at the door.
He nods to Asha.
"By all means, do."
He smiles.