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 Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:09 pm
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Max did slow down a little bit, at least enough to gather himself together and to let his bones have a moment to patch themselves together. He was rather impressed with the power behind the bullets, that would have surely had the power to rend through flesh.
Good thing he weighed as little as he did! He wasn't big, so if he fell, he never fell hard.
There was a nice boy scout that raised his hand. Focusing on him, Max marched on and got closer. "Why? I've never gotten to hold one of these before. Can you imagine what you can signal with these things?"
Max turned the gun around in his grip. Perhaps he just needed to supply something to it? With that thought, he began to toy with energy in his left palm. The bare bones shifted and held a gentle sparking light that shifted between blues, yellows, and reds as they gathered into a vague rectangular shape. This was then slid into the empty handle of the gun. The mechanical object began to glow in response and then the metal cooled as this impromptu spell began to take effect.
Max pointed the gun to the sky and pulled the trigger again. There was no bang, but he did notice that the nozzle of the gun began to leak a clear... strangely viscous goo. Quite confused and puzzled, the skull turned aside.
"Strange. This didn't happen when it worked earlier..."
There's such a fooled heart
In search of new dreams, a love that will last.
I'll place the moon within your heart.
Tsuki continued to walk around the lake, her feet along the grass and altered only a moment or two so she could walk on the pavement. But even as she looked, and as she continued to look, she couldn't find Blue. She had to find her....
Briefly, she thought that it didn't make sense. She was looking for a blue-skinned alien who loved water. This strange appeared in a school in the dead of night. Was this what really happened? Was it an illusion? But... that didn't make sense, either. Where else would the algae have come from in her bathroom?
Distracted by these thoughts for only a moment, she didn't hear the approach of the officer. When it did register, she looked over her shoulder. Why did he follow her? Wasn't the murderer more important? Wasn't the person who was killed? They said murderer, but there should have been someone who was killed too.
... Where was the yellow crime tape? Where had it happened? She slowed to a stop. She wasn't finding Blue on her own... maybe the flashlight would help. She would wait patiently.
I'll paint you mountains of gold
I'll spin you Valentine EveningsI'll paint my love between the stars...
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 5:50 pm
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 6:21 pm
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Max seemed to frown. His shoulders slumped a little bit. He wasn't getting anything more out of the gun, unfortunately. He was already watching the goo harden and dry out. He shook his head and handed the gun over to the calmest man, the one who seemed to be the boss of the troop.
That done, he adjusted his coat and looked around. "What has them spooked?"
Well, regardless of whether or not they answered, he was rather content with today. He had a good swim, went on a little adventure, was captured, escaped, and discovered guns. Today was a good day.
"Anyway, govn'r, what brings your troop out here today? Looking for someone?"
There's such a fooled heart
In search of new dreams, a love that will last.
I'll place the moon within your heart.
The man was winded. He had been running, exhausted, but it wasn't because he was after her. This detail surprised her. He was telling her to go? Run? Why?
Tsuki shifted on her feet, angling her feet so that she could still watch the man, but also allowed her to move easily if she needed to. This was strange and confusing. Why was this so? She swallowed.
"Run?" She asked to clarify. "But, what about my sister? I can't leave without her...."
I'll paint you mountains of gold
I'll spin you Valentine EveningsI'll paint my love between the stars...
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:28 pm
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______________________________________________________________________________
Finally, the signal was given for the men to lower their pieces. The captain took a second evaluation of the skeleton-man before him. His whole demeanor was something totally unaccounted for in anything he experienced. How was it that something so ridiculous could be taunting him, poking at him--he was no science experiment! He was a man... Normal. This was not. The mere thought of it pulled a frown up to his stubbly face.
"Come on." His voice went flat. "I can understand the whole dumb act about guns--sorta--but this is just insulting. You know what I'm doing here," he said, flicking his wrist toward the water. "Lake. Murder. You. Suspect. Don't tell me you got dementia... GUV." He exaggerated it just to show his consternation at the whole situation. The gall! He rejoined with folded arms: "I'm just gonna ask nicely. Did you see anything at about one this afternoon? Did you hear gunshots?" Somewhere the cherubs of irony struck up their ephemeral chorus at this, that the man would be so fascinated at something he'd already grown familiar enough to recall or use. "And... Just who are you? You can understand this type of thing--" he made use of Max's frame as the primary exhibit in his case by sliding his cursory index finger up at down his image of the skeleton--"isn't exactly something that would make the kiddies feel comfortable."
"SHUT UP!" Finally, he'd had enough. The men dealing with Max seemed to hear Johnson shout. Like it or not, she had the attention of the whole force now. "I'll find the body and make sure everything's in order. You just... Go on living your life and don't kick anyone's head off, okay?" Reluctantly, he drew his taser. "Okay??"
"Johnson, what's going on, do you need assistance?" There was a pause; Johnson's finger hovered over the 'talk' button.
"... Suspect believed to be dangers, use of deadly force, in my sights."
"We'll be right there." And with little hesitation, the men divided from Max and one car rolled off toward Tsuki. Johnson started to close the gap between them.
______________________________________________________________________________
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:44 pm
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Ah, so it was his magnificent visage that scared the children. Max accepted this and chuckled at the idea. But it did take him a while to focus on what the man was irritably talking about. As he spoke, Max tried to listen, pushed back his hood, and then scratched the bare skull.
"Let's see.... one this afternoon..... That would be when the sun is about an hour after its zenith, as today's reckoning goes." The empty eye sockets turned and looked skyward. It was now the afternoon... so a few hours ago. Ish? He wasn't good at counting minutes anymore. There were better habits for so grand a mind as his own.
"I was down here by the lake. I remember trying out this strange plant. Certainly wasn't mint and it didn't burn very well..." Max began to recount his day. There was a small booth he was able to try a sample from, he traded a good luck charm for a real one, he enjoyed lunch by the lake, found an exact copy of his food where he was eating...
"Oh, and there was a babe swimming." The man paused, the length of which suggested a smile, and the chuckle that followed suggested that he remembered that rather well. He cleared his throat and leaned toward the main cop. One could almost imagine that he might have raised his eyebrows encouragingly. "She had a magnificent body."
And he should know.
There's such a fooled heart
In search of new dreams, a love that will last.
I'll place the moon within your heart.
Then it was confirmed that he would not be any help at all. Tsuki's eyes narrowed and she studied the man. He was winded, still tired, exhausted mentally, and saw what she did. He was still rattled by what he had seen before. Had others arrived on the scene to take care of the stranger?
She turned and began to run down the path. She had greater confidence in her cardiovascular health and would use that to keep herself moving. With any luck, she would find Blue and they would quickly leave to a much more secure location, like home. Why had Blue left in the first place? Wouldn't have made more sense to explore with her nearby?
She was sure she cleared the taser's distance easily. If she completed the lap and Blue was not found, she decided that she would have to retreat for now. She would evade the cops and return home. She would have to start monitoring her surroundings more, to get a better read on where Blue was.
I'll paint you mountains of gold
I'll spin you Valentine EveningsI'll paint my love between the stars...
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:02 pm
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:28 pm
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What happened? Oh, that was simple.
"Well, I called out to her, wanting to say hi. But she probably didn't hear me." He shrugged and just as casually continued to answer. Though the others tensed, he didn't seem to register or react. It was quite possible that he didn't even notice. "There was probably water in her ears. Anyway, her skin was blue and she had these fins on her arms. You don't have mermaids in the water, do you?"
He stopped to think about this, doing so first by looking around to inspect the nearby trees. "Nah, that doesn't make sense. Too many flower trees here..."
There's such a fooled heart
In search of new dreams, a love that will last.
I'll place the moon within your heart.
Tsuki continued her casual jog. She glanced behind her, seeing the cop car that was coming....
Well, the police officer answered the radio and basically set others on her tail. That didn't help. Acting as though she assumed he wanted her to be out of the way, she turned and moved off of the road so he could pass her. If, and only if, he got out and pulled a weapon on her, she was going for a swim. There were other ways out of the park besides the main front pathway.
I'll paint you mountains of gold
I'll spin you Valentine EveningsI'll paint my love between the stars...
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:08 pm
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"Fins!" The captain, tossing up his hands in defeat, took a step to the side. "Ya hear that, guys? Skeletor here says he saw a mermaid! I don't get paid enough for this..." He brushed his hard fingers across his mouth, inhaling as though there was a cigarette there. He took a moment to address his subordinate on the other side of the lake.
"Apprehend the suspect and get over here. Now." He turned an incredulous eye back to Max. "Don't leave town, pal." Knowing full well that he couldn't hold him without a body, it was here that our little lake-side magic show had to end. The captain and his men filed into their cars, defeated, confused, sore. Opposite them, Steve Johnson's backup pulled up alongside Tsuki, stopped, got out of their cruiser, and pulled out their guns.
"PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!"
"GET DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!" Deadly force was heard, and so these boys would answer with cold steel. If she didn't stop, they would open fire. A couple hundred meters away, Officer Johnson began recounting the day's events as thought they were part of a movie. This, of course, had to be the end. He shuddered at the climax of just a few moments ago.
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:20 pm
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Skeletor? Sounded like the name of some nasally hood who lived in obscurity somewhere. He knew what he said, but he was just as glad that they seemed to believe him. That's what she was. A mermaid. He was glad that these fine boy scouts knew what those were. He was afraid most had forgotten what those were!
Don't leave town? What town?
But, knowing better than to ask for clarity and then have all options limited, he shrugged and waved goodbye to the gentlemen. Ah, but now he was curious.... He heard something that sounded like shouting elsewhere. Perhaps he should follow the path and investigate....
Newly distracted, Max began to walk down the lake path, in the direction the other car had taken.
There's such a fooled heart
In search of new dreams, a love that will last.
I'll place the moon within your heart.
Now authoritative shouting. Feining puzzlement, she stopped and looked at the officers. Then, she borrowed the expression of fear as they aimed at her. She lifted her arms over her head. "Don't shoot! What's wrong with you?!"
The flashing lights did make it easier for her to tear up. Why did the police upgrade their top-lights to LEDs? Those things were pure evil and made it hard to see! Well, it didn't particularly matter. Once her eyes began to tear, she focused more intently on the cops and could ignore the green spot now dead center of her vision.
"I'm looking for my sister. The officer said I could go and look for her." She sniffed and slowly waved the towel that was in her hand. "She didn't come home, so I thought she might still be here... Can I keep looking for her?"
Worst case scenario... they would question her and detain her. But, odds were that if she cooperated, they wouldn't have any reason to detain her and would instead escort her home. That was acceptable...
I'll paint you mountains of gold
I'll spin you Valentine EveningsI'll paint my love between the stars...
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Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 2:21 pm
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The thing about real cops to remember is that they aren't always nice. Even the yandere would have to yield to cold steel on this day. Max, Tsuki, and anyone else who tried to get a peek into the lake that had become a giant crime scene were escorted with whatever desperate fortitude the captain and men like Officer Johnson could muster; though, it should be noted, that because of this the real detective work was delayed very much--oh, and if they were not escorted in an orderly fashion the cops would simply chase them off. One way or another, this scene was locked down--finally. The night blew over the town like a drunken romp, leaving as its evidence of visiting that things were not in the same place, or changed slightly from memory. Tomorrow's lake, for example was fitted with a chic little yellow belt.
______________________________________________________________________________
Today was the day. Melzig rolled out of bed as one tosses their hardened torso over the reach of an opponent on a wrestling mat and seemed to teleport clothes to him. Ever since he joined the guild his mind was invaded by the demon known as restlessness; its only cure was a heaping payment of adventure!
He burst out of his room and found that his excitement rippled the calm of the hallway, through which, in a couple hours, mages of varying philosophies and backgrounds would drift by afloat their rafts of lofty conversation about this and that and that which did but did not concern the average citizen of the Hylian State. He would wait for the gyre of conversation to spin into the dining hall; there alone he sat with spoon of porridge in hand and eyes transfixed on the translation that occurred when one wished to traverse a landscape mentally. There was no light; just a small stone at his elbow which gave off a phosphorescent glow to the whole spread and nothing more.
______________________________________________________________________________
Hideaki and Kazuma picked through the halls, talking about the differences in many a cryptozoology/bigfoot-hunting show. You see, what the others lacked was time; these two, a prince and his high duke, could come to whatever right, pure conclusions their mind could conceive. Yes, they could hear the muses now--in the back rows of classes, under stairs, in lounges where they might or mightn't have been cleared to enter--whispering the purest of nectars--that is, inspiration--into the crisp air. Each step was a new revelation, and Hideaki Katsuro was Socrates in this first period of stupendous/banal day at Montoya Academy.
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 3:03 pm
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When it was sensible to be up, the consulate waited for a half hour beyond this to remove herself from her room and study. The tower that housed her bed, draped in various silks and framed on all sides by towers of books, seemed a sanctuary for the studious recluse.
But she would have to leave it behind, and for a while yet, so that meant she had to have a bag packed, the fine robes needed to be set aside, and traveling leathers were to be donned. She tested her boots with a few steps. She hadn't worn these in years. She was glad they still fit. The last touch was a thick red shawl that she wore as a scarf, to shield her against the weather as needed.
She left her tower and went down the way. She wasn't sure how to initiate the journey, so... perhaps the next best thing was to go to his higher commander. She made her way to the mage's keep, where the scholars had gathered. Once there, she was alerted to where the apprentice was. As she had her permission to go where she wished, she would go on this errand of the crown. And she'd have an excited subordinate.
She found him at his meal, where she found him distracted. Curious, she approached. Outside of the ornate robes, she didn't expect to be recognized by title. Her eyes drifted to the stone, then to where his eyes were. She cleared her throat to betray her presence.
"Melzig, was it?" |
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Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 3:58 pm
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His head snapped up, his elbows flared out like the frills on a lizard's beard over the table. Why? Was he naked? Was this paper some mistress he had? No, not so much. "It's just you..." He sighed and relaxed back into his seat. "Yes, that's right." He pulled out a seat for the lady, but just as he did another approached.
"Are you both all set then?" Irigun, looking severe as ever, was standing off at an angle to the table. Melzig gave an apologetic smile. It was clear now, with a break in the clouds pouring a generous serving of light in on the breakfast, that Melzig was simply studying some maps. Adjacent his bowl, however, was an unmarked book with certain pages flagged.
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 4:11 pm
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How he snapped to the farthest thing from attention she had ever seen was something mildly amusing, but it only betrayed that he was not at all ready for conversation, company, or a distraction. But, he recognized her soon enough, if more casually than she was used to. Her ear twitched slightly, but she didn't seem to be too terribly bothered. It gave her a very clear and honest idea of what kind of person she'd be working with in the days to come.
"I am," she said as she turned her eyes from Melzig to Irigun. At present, she wasn't sure she was ready to sit down. If they were leaving soon, she didn't want to get comfortable. Not that she wished to travel if she could reasonably avoid it.
But, anything for the crown. Perhaps the situation could still be contained. "Is there aught else you would ask me before we depart?" |
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Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 4:44 pm
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"N-No, ma'am..." There was a hanging in the words from his mouth, a hook on the end of the line that perhaps came out backwards--backwards indeed in tone from what he had said earlier...
"--Then you should really be off," Irigun injected, stinging with a bow and moving on to his table. A small conversation took after its parents and whipped up invocations of suggestions of dreams of a golden era. ... No. A Rebirth of the golden era!
"--Right!" A dip and bite of his toast from that nameless porridge and Melzig shot up, completely scrambling and ready as he never knew how. Arms as a mole's, he stuffed away the papers and books and what charms he'd brought with him--oil, roots, a feather at a glance--under his arms and made one last check while he put his supervisor at ease: "I've got it... Yes... All set!"
Soon they were out, escorted out of the city walls by the Royal Guard--all Shiekah, just as the prophesy demands--or whatever--and handed off to a second carriage. This one was fitted with a crew who were tailored to fighting off Stal, suggesting, as they mentioned it to the adviser, that they would travel straight through the night to get them to their destination.
The forest that greeted them the next morning was a giant wig of shadows in the southern sun of Ordona. This was the land of humans, not Hylians. Out here, far past the capital, there was not the slightest sign of reverence for the goddesses.
"Magnificent! Said the young magus. He turned and gave a confident, invigorated smile to his supervisor. "Are you ready?"
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Cotton Shorts Kid Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 5:00 pm
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The manner of the elder magus was irritating, but she would ignore it for the sake of time. When the young Hylian was ready, she gave a dismissive bow with her head and then turned away, to where the escort waited.
Not particularly concerned with timeliness, but respecting the nerves of the group and their decision to travel through the night, she took the opportunity to rest for the duration of the journey. When dawn came, she was awake, and though her eyes were closed, she was aware of when they stopped. Then she moved.
Stepping out of the carriage and entering the open air again, she paused only a moment to adjust her scarf. She looked over the trees, the forest that expanded out before. Yes... this was a journey indeed. She took a slow breath in and then released it. At least the young magus was excited.
This land looked much different now. How long had it been since she was last here in this barbaric land? She motioned for a map, and after a moment, one was brought. The guards and the carriage that rode through the night were weary, she couldn't doubt. She would let them rest once camp was found.
"Is there a camp or base of operations established for the area?" |
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