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 Posted: Thu Jul 01, 2021 7:44 pm
Quote: In the Water (8 ) : The Destiny City Reservoir is open year round but without fail always gets the most attention in the summer. It's a nice escape from the big city; it’s a five minute drive outside of the Eastern side of town and features clear water and sandy beaches--although, the sand here is notorious for squeaking when you step on it. It’s a hot spot for all fun summer activities, but recently something strange has been happening under the water. Sometimes, people feel like something is grabbing their ankle, even if they are just wading in the shallow end. In the deeper parts of the water, it gets a little more intense: something has been said to grab onto ankles and pull. People have been warned about dangerous pranks, but so far no one has been caught. In the shallow end, anyone unfortunate enough to be targeted may feel themselves being knocked off their feet and tugged into the water; anyone in deep water may feel a firm grip on their ankle, tugging them lower and lower. Somehow, anyone it targets is freed--either by wriggling and fighting, or because someone intervenes and pulls the would-be victim up. No one has drowned in the lake. Yet. It's impossible to see who, or what, is doing this, but it usually gives up after one failed attempt. Usually. Going out during typical Negaverse night hours meant there weren't too many people at the reservoir, which was great, because Nambulite wanted to go looking for treasure. He didn't have a metal detector or anything like that, but the quirks of the place (see: the squeaky sand) made him wish he did. However, sea glass would be a nice consolation prize (lake glass? reservoir glass? the shiny glassy stuff). He did have something of a fondness for the stuff, because it was colorful and appealing while being surprisingly low-effort. However, there was another item of interest at the reservoir this fine night: there was a Captain in the area! And Nambulite was going to be as obnoxious as possible until the Captain gave him proper notice. "Heyyyy, Captain! Where're you at? Find anything cool? Huh? Huh?" Stealth was never his strong suit.
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Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2021 12:25 am
Lavendulan sensed the signature on the shore before she heard whatever it was he had been shouting. She had assumed that they would leave once they realized someone was already patrolling this area. However, when it became apparent that they were waiting for her to resurface, she decided to swim towards shore before they realized that she had been under water longer than an average person could hold their breath. "Lieutenant?" It would have probably been easier to just teleport beside him but after what happened with the Squire, Lavendulan wasn't really inclined to waste energy with little jumps again. Old habits die hard and her uncertainty with how he'd react to her appearance was inevitably had her stopping once the water was about knee height. Ally or not, there weren't many who took kindly to her appearance like Tinaksite or Lopezite did. "Can I help you with something?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 5:48 pm
Nambulite's eyes widened when he saw the half-youma captain, though it was more in surprise than any kind of disgust or horror. Of course, he couldn't keep his mouth shut about it. "What happened here? Some kind of reverse Frog Prince situation? Y'know, you kiss the Prince and you turn into the frog instead... not saying you look like a frog, but you get it, I'm sure." He chuckled, because he had a bad habit of thinking he was funny regardless of the context. "As for whether you can help me... well, at first I was just wondering what you were doing here, but since you're asking, wanna go treasure hunting? You can be the one who defines 'treasure' if you'd like." He left it open so that, if she wanted to hunt for starseeds or senshi or anything of the sort, she could declare that the name of the game.
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:33 pm
Lavendulan paused mid-step as a plethora of emotions flashed across her face. The pure audacity of his fist statement had caused her eyebrows to essentially disappear into her hairline. Never had she been given a reason to want to pull rank, but this Lieutenant comparing her to a frog was way out of line. During the first year of her conscription into the Negaverse, Laven had often heard side whispers of officers in the cafeteria calling her fish face because of her scales. It hurt, but she understood the confusion even though she certainly didn’t smell like one and definitely lacked gills. It’s the reason she ate most of the meals in her room. Fortunately, once she received her first promotion, most of the comments ceased. She had proven her worth which gained her at least a little bit of respect. Or so she thought. Bewilderment turned into annoyance then, before she could refuse his request, Lavendulan crossed her arms in front of her chest and smirked. “Sure. We can go on a treasure hunt.” The creature she was searching for hadn’t reappeared since she arrived and she suspected it was because it knew she was aware of it and didn’t want to get caught. The Lieutenant, however, likely had no idea that there was something in the reservoir and he would be the perfect bait for her to catch whatever it was in the act again. “The item I need you to find for me is a green star charm over there.” The half-youma pointed in the general direction she had just swum in from. “Hope you can hold your breath.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:45 pm
The tiny "oops" that fell out of Nambulite's mouth was barely audible as he watched the Captain's reaction. His face fell, but he picked it back up into a twisted grin when he received his challenge. "A green star charm? Like the ones they're handing out at the festival? You got it, Chief- er, Captain!" He looked out at the water, pursing his lips slightly. "Man, I already had to go swimming once for a piece of treasure. I guess another one shouldn't be too bad, right...?" Nambulite took a few steps into the water, visibly shuddering from the temperature difference before taking a few more. "Brrr, this is gonna be a cold one, but I can do it!" he proclaimed, fully ready to leap forward and swim out. However, before he could, his face fell once more as Something wrapped around his ankle and tugged, sending him flying forwards into the water with an awkward yelp. He was able to right himself and recover into treading water, spitting out what he'd nearly swallowed in time to complain at his superior. "What the heck?! Captain, do you have a youma here or something? Tell it not to grab me!"
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 11:49 pm
“It’s not a youma, Lieutenant.” Lavendulan had a satisfied smirk on her face when she turned to where he was splashing in the water. Her gaze, however, was set somewhere beyond where he was doggy paddling. “It’s what I’ve been looking for, for the last two hours.” The half-youma’s magic activated before she dove back into the reservoir. In this form, she was much quicker than the average swimmer. On land, she could keep pace with any General or Knight, but in the water, she moved quicker than any of them. Within only a few seconds the Captain was beside him and as she reached out to make a grab for whatever was holding onto his foot, it disappeared. Gone. As if it never existed and had been a figment of their exhausted imagination this entire time. Laven snarled and swam deeper until she reached the tunnels “I will ******** find you. I swear it,” Her youma nature writhed in agitation but it was all for naught. Once more it had slipped through her fingers and once more she was left with nothing. After a few minutes had finally passed, Lavendulan turned around and swam back to the lieutenant. Only stopping when she spotted the green star charm and went to pick it up before returning to the surface. “Come on,” She let out an exasperated sigh. With a clawed hand, she took hold of his wrist and teleported them back to the shore. “Are you ok?” she asked, mildly concerned.
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 6:27 pm
The transformation that overtook the half-youma Captain made Nambulite's eyes go wide with wonder. That swiftness in the water was the power of a half-youma in action, and silly though it was, he was kind of wondering where he could get some of that. "It's not a youma? What the heck is it then?" He continued to watch her as she swam with great finesse, retrieving the green charm and then retrieving him. Right, teleportation! That was a thing. Also super cool. When they'd reached the shore, he sucked in a deep breath, then exhaled it heavily. "Yeah, I'm okay, I guess. All it did was yank on me. I don't think it even grabbed me hard enough to bruise." A beat passed. "But seriously, what was that? I had a feeling I was gonna get soaked another time this week, but I wish it wasn't like that."
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Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2021 12:18 am
"Honestly, that's what I was trying to figure out," and yet again she failed. "Every time I get close enough to grab it, the thing disappears. I've tried swimming through the tunnels expecting it to be hiding somewhere down there but it has yielded no answers." Perhaps she should have apologized for using him as bait, but a part of her felt that she was just in her decision. Although she wasn't a General, she was still of a higher rank, and insulting her on their first meeting didn't establish a very good first impression. "What's your name, Lieutenant?"
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