CatCAR's SAMPLES

[CatCAR]

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xxxxxxxxHITO SHIRUSHI ひと しるしxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


”Hrmmm” the girl said, deep in thought. She wrote them a few notes in her book. Staring at the vial slowly burning over a flame she scratched her chin. ”Still not quite there” she sighed to herself. Since yesterday, the girl, Shirushi, has been playing around with a new plant she found. It was a relative of poison ivy, a much stronger variant of it. She's been spending roughly thirteen hours trying to create a poisoness coating that causes a strong itching effect. However, so far she hasn't been able to produce the desired results. She was also running out of the plant, sighing once more she shut off the flame and disposed of the vial down the sink. She'd have to go try to find more before she could run further trials. Arulan plants were annoyingly complex she realized. In a place where plant life had to struggle against the rapid growth of Arulan, they developed quite interesting properties. Deciphering them so far has been a war where she was on the losing end. Though she was coming close to a breakthrough. Perhaps she needed to take a different focus on the plants. Studying their medicinal properties might just unlock the secret to their harmful effects.

Standing from her workbench she shuffled the clothes off her body with little effort and stepped into the shower. This was perhaps one of her favourite discoveries in Arulan. Water to wash your body at the simple turn of wheel. Unlike back home where if she wanted to clean herself it was an annoying process of taking water and heating it up. Letting the water wash over her body she took a moment to just rest her mind, letting silence consume her thoughts. Once a few minutes has passed she turned off the shower, grabbing the nearest towel to dry herself. Letting thoughts consume her once more she wondered which outfit she would wear today. Since today was a special occasion maybe she should just dress as herself. After all she was meeting the others today. Oh that’s right, she didn’t tell them where they were meeting. It was then a thought struck her.

Looking at the clock, it was just after 9 in the morning, surely everyone would be up by now? Preparing herself mentally she sent out her biweekly wake up call to the group.

”GOOD MORNING!”

Shirumi thought in the loudest thought she could muster. Somehow, she has always manages to top her previous record by 1 or 2 decibels. A triumphant smile entered her lips, nailed it.

It always amused her to see the reaction of everyone when she did this. There were those like Nari and Yorenn who were instantly displeased by her sudden greeting. And then ones like Luksa and Ji who greeted her back with beaming pleasantry. And then you had those like Kaede and Ikuto who remained completely silent, she’d have to reprimand the two when she sees them for continuously ignoring her, cause that’s not nice!

She proceeded to explain the rules and give out a clue of her own. ”You won't find me by sight alone, but I'll leave a lingering scent, just don't breathe it in for too long” she sent to them, in a normal volume. Once satisfied she returned to prepare to go out.

While combing her hair Shirushi reached in and pulled out a small little box lined with nine vials. She smiled at them. This was the product of several weeks of work. For once they weren't poisons, but concoctions she made purposely for each of them. She had better hope they appreciate her efforts, after all, she could have made so many poisons in the time it took her to make these. To list them out she made each of them, specially made with them in mind.


Yorenn: A perfume with just the right hint of peppermint.
Luksa: A powerful coating that prevents rust and metallic decay.
Midori: A regent that she believes could have a potential range of uses.
Ikuto: A vial of ink that never fades.
Kaede: A similar regent given to Midori but she altered it with a more medical purpose in mind.
Ji: A potent oil, just a little bit will start a roaring fire, perfect for cooking
Nari: A high nutrient liquid she calls liquid fertilizer
Nheira: A sweet sugary liquid that turns into tiny crystals when exposed to air.
Liesel: A vial she calls liquid stars, applied to jewellery will make them shimmer and shine like the night sky.


Taking the box and depositing it in her purse, she also grabbed a bundle of books. She had an idea with these and if it worked out she would easily catch herself at least one or two in this contest. One she was ready, she stepped out of her house situated just south of Galia. She wasn't far from the main hustle and bustle of the festival. As she began pondering all the riddles coming her way she carefully was setting books down. She put them in places that were in line of sight, but in a way that only those with a keen attention would pick up on. Therefore, no random on the street would do so, their eyes would be too focused on the festival only very few will be looking out for anything else. She smiled, each book was laced with a very light scent. It was from a particular flower she liked, the red rose native to Arulan. Once she laid her trap she moved herself to higher ground. It didn't take very long for her to detect one of the scents was moving, one of them had fallen for her trap.

Waiting for a bit, it appeared none of the other bites were nibbling, she supposed it wouldn't do any harm for her to do a bit of walking around. She had noticed a commotion not too far away, people running, clearing a path for a fuzzy blur that whirled past. She didn't quite get a good sight of what it was, but it looked fun. Maybe she would investigate later. Firstly, she hadn't had anything to eat all morning so food was the highest priority. As far as she knew, a majority of the food stores were further north, so that's the direction she began to head. She scanned the stores idly while she walked. They were selling all kinds of wares from clothes, to jewellery, to a store even selling hand crafted statues of the ruling King of Arulan. It baffled to no end the amount of vanity things Arulans tried to sell. However, she supposed when you lived as peacefully as they did, things like that was just a way to kill time.

Upon reaching a bit further her eyes caught attention to a figure in a tree. He was well hidden, but Shirushi had a habit of constantly scanning the area, even the smallest details would not be missed by her. ”Is that Ji?” she thought to herself, the image of the tree matched the one in his riddle. She was about to call out to him, but stopped herself. No one had been found yet and she didn't want Ji to be the first victim so she simply adverted her eyes and kept walking. As much as she wanted to confirm it was him so she could give him a big hug, she'd have to be a little patient for now. Besides, she was starting to get really hungry and her stomach was beginning to make embarrassingly loud noises.

Scanning, she just wanted to find a food store now, Clothing, nope, can't eat clothes. Pottery? Yeah no, I like having teeth, oh that looks like food. She spotted a small group in front of a store that looked like to be selling some kind of buns? It reminded her of the ones she used to love eating back home so she made a bee line to it. She reached in her purse for her wallet… her hand shuffled around, and around, and around… [********]. It became clear to Shirushi she must have left her wallet back, she turned around, the streets were far busier now… trying to swim against the crowd back to her home would be a good half an hour. Looking around, time to be creative. There were a few people gathered but a girl with fleece blond hair was standing timidly at the side. Good enough. She made her way to her and using the bump of the crowd made it look like she got pushed into her. ”Mi estas tiel mizera!” she said in perfect Aruli. Making sure the women was okay, keeping up with the act before she turned to the booth keeper trying to get his attention, but he seemed to be focused elsewhere.

Clearing her throat, she took a slight breath, “Pardonu min volas aĉeti ion.” she shouted, her voice was dominating even in the loudness around her. One could swear they could hear glass cracking. This definitely caught his attention as he grumbly turned to her. Shirushi had already dumped a few coins from her haul to him with a smile. He inspected the coins and furrowed his eye brows, “Jen estas ĉokolado moneroj sinjorino”. Shirushi tilted her head to the side slightly. “Tawagoto. Watashi wa machigatta mono o torimashita” she muttered to herself and then gave an awkward laugh.

Just my luck.


Translation:

Shirushi: I’m so sorry!
Shirushi: Excuse me I would like to purchase something
Booth Attender: These are chocolate coins madam
Shirushi: s**t. I took the wrong one




LOCATION: CENTER OF TOWN; FOOD STALL tab tab COMPANY: Yorenn & Co. tab tab MOOD: Whoopsie

[CatCAR]

Nour’s meticulous behaviour meant that he kept a journal of any significant event. Meaning he had one made for Vanguard’s day as well. Across the several page of activities all he could bring himself to write as the awkwardness of his behaviour throughout the day. Noting where he made individual mistakes and how he could improve for the future. Of course he had ones from all prior vanguard days he partook in-- all of which he was way too embarrassed to read over. Sort of defeating the purpose of noting down but it was his form of therapy.

For the rest of the days it was quiet work for the most part. Nour involved himself in a lot of the busy work. You couldn’t imagine how much administrative work could be produced in a single day. He enjoyed that kind of work because mostly it involved minimal contact with others. He could sit with some tea and biscuits and work throughout until the night hours.

Today was one such day where Nour was busying himself reading a few reports and cataloguing them appropriately. That was until his day to day flow would break upon a message being received. He frowned upon reading the message.

”Well this can’t be good.” Nour said to himself. The nature of the message and the location given didn’t sit well with Nour at all. Most people weren’t privy to such details on top secret work done by vanguards. Hell, he wasn’t supposed to know about it. But Nour’s love of paperwork often leads him to some interesting secrets. No matter what someone wants to do it leaves a trail of paper. Follow it long enough and you could find all sorts of things. Didn’t help that Nour was a bit of a busybody as well.

He set aside the paperwork he was doing and went right away to get his equipment. Just the knuckle dusters for now. With the nature of secrecy he had to uphold with this particular incident he decided to go in his civilian clothes. It wouldn’t be good if he drew any unnecessary attention. Especially being a vanguard who wasn’t known to do a lot of fieldwork.

Collecting a few other odd items he planned a route towards the area while minimising contact. Determining a route he set out right away and began heading his way there. He wondered if he should join any of the others on the way there but it was unnecessary. They would all get there in their own time. Probably faster than he might.

--------

Quietly entering the target location Nour looked around carefully. No one was there-- at least not that he could tell. But one thing he could tell for certain was a disturbance in the air. Call in the instinct of a hunter whose spent too long knowing what it feels like to be a prey. But something was not right. Well it probably helped with the plumes of smoke spewing from the bunker indicating fire. Now he felt silly trying to use some digression in coming here.

”Hehe it's kind of like a smoke signal. Maybe I should take the time to rig up a bat symbol somewhere-” Nour shook his head. Now was not the time for fun. He did some stretching exercises before fumbling for his Knuckle Dusters.

Nour equipped the knuckle dusters, carefully fidgeting with them to make sure they had a secure hold. Throwing out a few test punches to ensure they would hold. Satisfied he began approaching the lab and once he was at the entrance he cautiously let his voice out.

”Oracle on site!” He warned before entering into the bunker. Quietly muttering a prayer that their little secret was indeed still their little secret. Because of this little secret got loose-- well he couldn’t even begin to imagine the repercussions.

Cautiously looking around the entryway Nour noticed a figure. His eyes darted closely before realising it was just Amelia. Letting out the breath he held he moved towards her. ”Hey Ame-” Quick as a viper’s strike he felt a cold chill just softly slice his cheek. The chill of the ice permeated across his cheek. Nour didn’t have enough time to react before he saw Amelia moving sharply towards him with another icicle in her hand. Without much time to move Nour bit his lip.

”Stop!” Nour called in a commanding tone. What Amelia would have felt in that instant moment is an insatiable desire to comply. But her forward momentum was still strong and if she didn’t react instantly it was going to be a very bad day for Nour.



LoIi Mallow

[CatCAR]

Citlali mentally noted to give Melly some points and some ice-cream later. Though she panicked in the moment her response was well thought out and reasoned. She was going to make a damn fine hero.

As the machines whirred into the living, Citlali took a short breath. Lesson time was over and now it was time for the practical. Their enemy was certainly one not to be taken carelessly. Her eyes flicked towards the enemy in question. Making some grandiose bow. Only this time Citlali could only smile politely back. Their game plan was all too obvious, she thought.

”Not one for second dates? You’ve made such a good impression of yourself what a shame.”

Citlali mused casually. The taunts would no longer get to her. She was annoyed earlier but as someone who has played years of multiplayer games suppressing temporary annoyance was all too natural.

It appeared the enemy was ready to finally get serious. The daggers loomed at a distance in a foreboding manner. They certainly looked menacing and certainly, Citlali was not wearing any pierce protection. The addition of these clones seemed to all but indicate she was surrounded. A classic encircling maneuver. Whoever it was they certainly knew how to take full advantage of whatever ability they had. Perhaps this was the true downfall of this individual.

Overconfidence is a slow, but insidious killer.

”My my, looks like we’re surrounded. It’s too bad it’s just the two of us.” Citlali said out loud. No traces of panic were in her voice. She trusted Melly to handle what was directly in front of her. That much she believed she was trained for. As the clones and daggers began to make their forward advance Citlali paid them no attention.

In an almost calm manner, she turned to a general direction and looked upwards. She couldn’t see anything there. She had good sight but even in the blackness of night she could not see everything. But what Citlali was always good at was pulling off a good bluff. And a good bluff just required a level of deduction that any average gamer had.

”Do you know what gives away an assassin? It is not the sound of their breathing. Nor the subtle sounds one cannot mask. It is their ability to be quite prepared. Every single blind spot. Every single ledge or vantage point one can use. Any average hero like a certain meathead I know might just go about punching s**t till it works. Or another street-smart kid might overthink every possibility. But I myself am a gambler, both guts and smarts.” Citlali lectured as if she was still teaching Eumelia. A thin but polite smile was on her lips.

”I’ll handle it to you. I misspoke earlier. You certainly are not a mini boss. You are clever. You can be named character. That is if you will allow me to learn your name for a second date. But I will dock points. You made a mistake—did you really think I wouldn’t come prepared for a raid?”

At those words, a brief flicker could be if an outline of something was hovering over Citlali. Right to the place where the enemy perhaps might have jumped right into. This was a complicated game of poker they were playing. She called her bluff but now to see how she would react. Would she double down? Or would she fold? A game of poker can tell a lot about a person. All Citlali knew was this was not an amateur playing. There was risk to her gambit.

But there always is a risk when playing against someone as skilled. She hoped at the very least her opponent was as skilled as she thought.


Location: METROPOLIS DOCKS | WITH: SARIEL, NAMED CHARCTER (REIKO)