The Dark Mirror Court was certainly a thorn lately. There had been the massive wraith at the warehouse, and there had been the Dark Mirror who had interfered on some operation one of the Generals had wanted to run. She had not ever really met once face-to-face though. Perhaps they had not been to blame for the wraith, or for whatever was happening here, but... well, it hardly mattered, did it? Blaming Mirrorspace for doing its own thing was like blaming the Rift for belching out youma. It was just something the Rift seemed to do, so it would make sense if Mirrorspace was equally irritating.
Shahar had been out as Titanite, minding her own business, gtting ready to (figuratively) phone a friend and see about blowing the night away with some pleasant company and a distinct lack of conversation, when everything had distorted. Not like when she was high. That distortion was frequently slow, and she did not realize what was coming until it was too late. This was... jail. And as she got settled in, almost found company, there came the crack; the world fell to pieces around the Captain, sending her plummeting physically into a downwards spiral that had nothing to do with her own bad life choices. (Of which, incidentally and irrelevantly, there were many.)
The blackness was different than the mirror wraith she had encountered before; the smog was burning, painful, choking, but not moist, clinging to her skin and her face, shifting as though it sought to make its way past the barrier of her skin. The smoke now was simply smog; a blanket, veiling... a platform. Shahar hit it hard, rolling hard as her long body made contact with a solid white platform. The thud was loud, the crack was louder, and Shahar hardly dared to breathe at first. She could hear the thuds of other bodies, and did her best to make herself a small space for the new arrivals. There seemed to be a good many of them, and it was good that they seemed to be of a variety of factions- and more worried about the platform than the 'enemies' among them.
The crack and the shudder, the sight of the growing fracture, spurred the blue-haired Captain to a decision. She could not- would not- stay here on this platform and wait to see what was going on. There was one exit that was within sight, and she would not be one of those left behind on it as it fell, to face her possible doom. She shoved up from her ball into crouch, then standing position, and shoved her body towards the narrow path, long legs eating up as much distance as she could, as quickly as she could.
At first, there were no choices. Onwards, inwards. Follow the crowd, hope you were not crushed in the milling crowd of magical people. Luckily, however narrow the path, crushing did not seem to be the issue so much as the lack of handrails. She had to trust her feet, and did so, shifting her weight as the path trembled. This was not how she planned to die, thanks. She planned to die kissing someone pretty.
Moving upwards when the paths diverged was an easy choice; Shahar had long legs, and it was easy to make her way upwards, bright eyes peering out into the darkness. She could not see much more than enough to put one foot in front of the other. Fast and quick, Shar. Get out.
Rolling 1 d 10 for Prompt 1, + 1 d 10 for Prompt 2 Catching up, so -2 points from roll 1 Youma, Cats (in Humanoid Form), Second Stage Characters: +1
Quote:
4-7: You had a bit of a rough landing but you are wholly all right. You manage to make it to your feet and start your trek without any major issue.
Quote:
4-7: You choose the stairs leading upwards. Maybe higher ground will grant you a better vantage? You are met with only darkness, but it is easy to skip two steps at a time and hasten your trip.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," she said, grabbing his wrist with her hand as he approached her. Sudden relief washed over her and she gave him a small smile. "Yer stickin' with me."
She started down the path with him, resisting the crowd as it tried to force her away from him. Androncius gripped his hand tightly, not wanting to let go.
"Your pick, Lex, which path are we taking?"
Total: 12 (- 6 Hanging back to stay with Alexandria)
Her fingers tightened around Midgard's, and she threaded their hands together. She was not going to lose him, not now. Bifrost gave him a determined smile and charged down the path, cap snapping behind her. Shield mates now and forever.
The path split rapidly and she took a moment to assess the paths. "Down? I think down." she said, glancing at Midgard.
The Chibi senshi continued to run, shoes tapping on the platforms. Iduna followed the crush of people, hoping that they weren't leading her into a trap. She saw civilians and the Negaverse and knights and senshi but no one she really recognized nor knew. She may have seen Denebola but she wasn't sure.
The paths began to split and she took the first one she came to. The path was narrow but straight, and she slowed to keep from falling off. Though perhaps falling would be a preferable option...
Iduna eyed the fog below the pathway as she moved.
No one would care, not really.
Total: 2
Nuxaz
In case Dene wants to keep Iduna from pitching herself off the path
For a moment Skoll caught sight of Scylla and tried to get her attention. The crush of the crowd forced her away from the older senshi and towards the middle of the paths. The tall senshi cursed a little, but started taking the stairs two and three at a time, her long legs giving her ease of climbing.
Climbing into the blackness of the dark, but hey wouldn't be the first time Skoll had climbed into the dark for some reason or another. Kinda what she lived for, honestly.
That and punching people.
She really hoped she punched someone soon.
Hopefully whoever put her in here.
Total: 6
Infinities
hai one of your thornies tried to say hi and the crowd denied her
Nuxaz rolled 1 10-sided dice:
6Total: 6 (1-10)
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2017 9:15 pm
Midgard, Knight of Chronos (+2)
The shift between simple hand grasping and hand holding was easy, Midgard's fingers sliding between hers and squeezing. Following Bifrost was easy when she marched forward with determination and he knew that between them, potential was limitless.
"Yeah, down sounds good." He agreed, boot thumping against the steps as they hurried down them. He thought he saw a familiar flash of blond (twice) but he pushed it out of his thoughts, because if he didn't acknowledge it then maybe he could remain ignorant that perhaps his two best friends were also here.
The ground splintered quickly with cracks running underfoot. Faustite pushed himself harder. Yet the path narrowed, and the pack of people around him threatened to bottleneck the area and doom the lot of them.Breathing heavily himself, he knew he needed lest jostling conditions to let his back recover.
The branching opened out. Three paths unspooled into lurid colors, each supported by the same nonsensical construction on which this platform was built. Nonsense gave him his own clue - perhaps moving deeper was his only chance to surface. And with so many starting for stairs up or walkways straight across, the idea itself held merit. He descended the downward stairs and braced himself for what may come.
Total: 18
Scholomance, Knight
Already weakened from his prior fate, Scholomance fought his own body to stay on the path. Weariness sprung up in his weakest parts first - his hip, his arm, his side. Yet it waged an efficient war on all of his joints and muscles. It enveloped him succinctly, left him little room to push further. And as the cracks in the floor reached further and further beyond him, he questioned his own ability to make it to the end of the path. He heard his own ragged breathing over the frantic calls ahead - the hails to one another to keep up, to choose which path over the rest.
But such a choice taunted him. Such a choice stood above his abilities while his exhausted body shambled toward the finish. Soon, the ground beneath his feet heaved and shifted. It fell away in parts, leaving him to stumble at a slower pace toward safety. Finally, it broke away in great chunks from which he could not recover.
But the descent was slow, and soft, and shrouded in mist. He couldn't catch himself, and yet the world offered him that modicum of compassion.
"Maybe don't say that?" Ochre suggested, rushed. "Cuz now something's gonna try to push us off. Murphy's law, you know?" Or Ochre hoped he knew.
The path wound ahead, dodging and turning and constricting under the course of the coming catastrophe. And beyond the few people ahead of them, Ochre recognized a divergence of paths. They could go up, which seemed like a lot of work, or they could go down, which seemed like they'd plumb further into places they never wanted to go, or they could go straight, which was kinda narrow. Well maybe going upstairs meant they could get out of this place, but Ochre doubted it. 'Up' was where they came from - where apparently endless rooms simply left them locked up for hours on end.
So maybe straight was the best path available.
"I'm gonna go for that one," Ochre offered above the din, pointing unhelpfully. "The straight one. Unless you have a better idea?" Not that either of them could make a sound choice with so little information, and with so much riding on them to move forward.
Strengite quickly made her way along the path, not really caring if she was shoving people aside. They were in her way and as such needed to be moved. Her forward momentum slowed only slightly as the path narrowed into a typ of bottleneck before revealing three paths they could take. It was a bit of a conundrum. Which way to go? Up? Down? Straight?
Humming to herself the young woman didn’t really care she was in the way as the crowd flowed around her. Something drew her eyes to the stairs leading down and it didn’t take much for her to spot Beni, her general, leading another guy down the stairs by the hand. Tossing the stronger negaverser a wave to get his attention the pale haired lieutenant blew him a kiss and a wink before sauntering towards the other two paths. It was tempting to follow them but she wanted to give the two their privacy. It was fun to flirt with the general but since he was gay and had a partner, likely the fellow he was dragging around by the hand, it was just for funnsies. Nothing could really come of it. Silver eyes lit up though when she spotted a familiar figure pointing towards the center path. He seemed to be with a blond senshi now but that just made things even better.
Oh how fun it was to tease him while they were in that cell together, it would be even more amusing to tease him now, along with his little friend. She most definitely would have to follow Chaldene! No if’s, and's, or but’s about it… unless it was his butt.
First Roll: 7 Second Roll: 3 (4-1 Cuz following Chaldene to torment) Total: 10 ((1-3: You choose the straight, narrow path. It isn’t a hard trek, but you have to be careful so you don’t fall off.)) -Note: I will do a separate post for Strengite following Chaldene once Chaldene's post is filled out-
Sleet Tempest Snape
((tl;dr - She winks and blows a kiss at Beni thinking he is dating Cuprite. Follows Chaldene and Antares, Chaldene might spot her))
Natsuko-neko
((tl;dr - Cuprite might or might not see either wink or kiss))
---:---:---
Antares
She had been busy shepherding people onto the pathway, slowly moving up it to keep out of range of the ever rapidly spreading cracks and deterating platform. “Get your butts in gear!” Her voice was harsh as she gestured for the stragglers to hurry the ******** up only to be distracted by someone calling her name from further up on the path. It didn’t take long for her to spot the waving hand and the person it belonged too. “Chaldene!” So he was here in this hell hole. At least she had found him, which was a good thing. Waving the last few people onward Antares made her way to the Eternal senshi and nearly punched him for making her worry so much but instead all she did was shove him in the shoulder slightly and growled, “I need to put a damn leash on you. Come on. Don’t get lost again.”
Hurrying ahead of him she started down the path, keeping only a few steps ahead of him and making the way a little bit easier for him. For some reason, even though he was older than her and an Eternal to her Super, she felt oddly protective of him. He needed a keeper. A babysitter. And she had somehow become that person so she was going to do what it took to get them both back home safely. The further they got from the crumbling platform the narrower their path became and the slower her pace became until they reached a crossroads of sorts. Two stairways, one leading up, one leading down, and a narrow path leading straight ahead. Up seemed too easy and forward was just stupid, down. That's the way she wanted to go. “Let's go this way,” She said before looking back at him and glaring when she sees he is indicating the straight and narrow path. There was no way in hell she was going to split up with him now so with a muttered curse she indicated that he go, she would follow to keep anyone from crowding them and potentially knocking them off.
First Roll: 10 (9+1) Second Roll: 3 (8+1-6 Cuz Chaldene sucks at rolling ^.^) Total: 13 -Note: I will do a separate post for Antares following Chaldene once Chaldene's post is filled out- ((1-3: You choose the straight, narrow path. It isn’t a hard trek, but you have to be careful so you don’t fall off.))
Sleet Tempest Snape
((tl;dr - Lightly shoves him as sign of affection. Takes lead down path. Points towards stairs down as direction they should go. Scowls back at him when he points to go straight. Gestures for him to go first.))
---:---:---
Mlinzi
Mel was doing his best to avoid being stepped on. It was harder then it seemed even with being a large a** cat. He was a savannah Guardian so was on the huge side of the guardian spectrum but it still seemed like he nearly got crushed a few times in the scramble to get off the rapidly collapsing platform. The path wasn’t much better since it kept getting narrower and narrower as it funneled towards some type of branch. He couldn’t really see well between feet.
“Hey! Watch it!” The cat hissed at yet another rushing person who nearly mashed his tail. He was about to yell out more insulting phrases when he was suddenly scooped up. Yelping he started to squirm around to see who had him when a soft voice had him stilling. Lacerta? He knew that name. He knew he knew that name but he couldn’t place a face with it. Once he was secure in her arms Mel was finally able to look back at the girl who had picked him up and immediately perked up. He DID know her! She was the senshi he awoke. She had to be a serious bad a** now to be here in this mess.
He didn’t really get a chance to say anything before the young girl was asking his opinion on which way to go. Straight, up, or down? Up, duh! Why go down in this nutty place. Up means out. So he pointed towards the stairs heading up and muttered, “You know you can put me down. I’m not a kitten who would get lost.” Except he was extremely distractible and could actually get lost even on a stairway.
First Roll: 5 Second Roll: 5 Total: 10 ((4-7: You choose the stairs leading upwards. Maybe higher ground will grant you a better vantage? You are met with only darkness, but it is easy to skip two steps at a time and hasten your trip.))
tefla
((tl;dr - Nearly gets stepped on a few times. Gets picked up by Lacerta. Remembers her finally >.<’ Points to the stairs going up. Suggests she could put him down))
---:---:---
Arthur Quinton aka Quinn
Quinn hurried down the path, keeping his hold on Rae’s hand. He wouldn’t lose her this time. He could hear the platform crumbling behind them and it was only a matter of time before the path followed. Who ever set this s**t up was one twisted SoB. “You doing ok Rae?” He asked over his shoulder as he did his best to make way for both of them on the narrowing path. If it narrowed any further they all would be going one by one sideways, he observed as they approached what appeared to be some kind of splitting of the path.
An even narrower path straight, stairs down, and stairs up. None gave any hint as to the correct path but Quinn was drawn to the stairs leading up. Up was a logical choice right? They had fallen such a long way that up had to lead out. It had too. Quinn took a step towards the stairs but hesitated, “What do you think? Up?” Better to ask than assume when it came to Rae, she didn’t hesitate to smack some manners into him.
First Roll: 1 Second Roll: 5 (6-1) Total: 6 ((4-7: You choose the stairs leading upwards. Maybe higher ground will grant you a better vantage? You are met with only darkness, but it is easy to skip two steps at a time and hasten your trip.))
Sirene Naiads
((tl:dr - Tugs her behind him. Wants to go up, believes it's their best bet. Asks her opinion just incase she was tempted to smack him for not doing so.))
Torvil rolled 1 10-sided dice:
7Total: 7 (1-10)
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2017 9:29 pm
Mathias (-1)
Having not seen or heard Delilah over the din, Mathias had, had to press on - and hope for the best. If anything, it made him look back from time to time, and when he reached the diverging paths, he darted up the stairs, two at a time when he could, hoping the higher vantage point would allow him to see his cousin.
No luck - unfortunately - but he would press on and hope. If anything happened to her... Well they would be dealing with a VERY, VERY angry Negaverse general.
He saw too many of his own for this to be a Negaverse operation - and if it was... Oh, there would be hell to pay. Obsidian's little stunt had put him on edge. If this was another one of those... Oh there would be MORE than words.
Having kept as well ahead of the pack as he could muster - Phrygia had reached the fork in the road and had immediately taken the descending stairs. The sooner they could reach whatever amounted for the ground would be the best. He had no desire to try and run across the narrow path - or go HIGHER and increase the distance he'd have to fall if it came to that.
No, down was best. Down was safe.
And so he descended as quickly as he could, hoping against hope they didn't run into anything else crazy.
Total: 8 + 10 = 18 - Downstairs
Torvil rolled 1 10-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-10)
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2017 9:32 pm
Sharatan (0)
While she'd managed to charge well head of the pack - and saw that Itsuki had barreled his way through to her. She stopped long enough to get the cat on her shoulder and start charging down the straight and narrow.
"Hopefully we don't run into anything crazy," She told the cat, as they moved. "No, Benedict's not with me - he had been with me before but he's didn't end up in here with me I don't think."
At least, she hadn't seen him.
She kept her eye out for the other girl - Zeta, biting her lip, she didn't like losing her.
Irkalla had been making sure to watch where she placed her feet. As the group as a whole ran she had noted that the pathway had been getting narrower. To be honest with herself she had to admit the faint walls of smoke that were showing up in the foreground seemed kind of pretty; almost a little hypnotic. Shaking her head though she realized that up ahead the pathway split into stairs that led up and down and also continued on a straight line. Arriving at the stairs the page of Cosmos glanced around before shuffling around a bunch of people and descended down the stairway.
Going deeper probably wasn't the best idea but who knew where the other paths led, maybe they even ended abruptly. Shivering only once and drawing her shawl tighter Irkalla took the stairs one at a time; always stopping after a set of ten to gaze around. Although the atmospheric conditions left a chill running down her spine she had to admit the place was sort of beautiful.
-- (no bonus to rolls) Rolled an 8 - You were fortunate enough to land near the pathway and manage to get a good head start. Rolled a 9 - You choose the stairs leading downward; it takes the least energy and you are able to advance quickly.
(Total 17)
tefla rolled 1 10-sided dice:
7Total: 7 (1-10)
Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2017 10:17 pm
Sailor Lacerta
She'd been near the front of the group that had all run onto the pathway. The red-headed senshi knew that all these people on the same pathway would eventually lead to chaos if the pathway where to shatter just like the platform had begun to earlier. As she ran though Lacerta was certain she began to hear screams of alarm from behind. Covering her ears as she ran helped block out the sounds but it left her in a precarious situation where she had to slow down her pace. Others began to pass her by and still Lacerta continued to hold her hands over her ears. She didn't know why there was screaming but she didn't care. As one feline wove around her Lacerta's eyes widened and she stepped forward and took her hands from her ears. Reaching forward she scooped up the cat and began to move again. She spoke softly to the feline in her arms as she slowed her pace just a fraction more.
"Don't struggle Mel or you'll knock me off balance. It's me Sailor Lacerta."
As Lacerta rejoined the group the teen eyed the choices before speaking to the cat in her arms, "up or down? I don't like the look of the path going straight."
As Sailor Lacerta watched others separate she kept her gaze on Mel and noticed that one paw lifted to point towards the stairs that led upwards. Chuckling softly Lacerta nodded before ascending the stairs carefully.
--
8 - You were fortunate enough to land near the pathway and manage to get a good head start. 7 - You choose the stairs leading upwards. Maybe higher ground will grant you a better vantage? You are met with only darkness, but it is easy to skip two steps at a time and hasten your trip.
Total = 15
xFiction1119
Lacerta's scooped up Mel on the way to the pathway split and carried him before asking his opinion.
”Alli! Come on,” Chris let out a breath of relief when he caught sight of the girl, his hand already clutching at his chest, out of breath from the short distance. This was not good. He was in no shape to be running. He was already breaking out into a sweat along his brow and his breathing heavy. This was definitely not good. But they couldn’t just give up now.
“Here, try to stay close,” he requested, hoping that they wouldn’t get separated in the crowds. It looked like there was a path ahead that people were splitting off into and he reached down to grab hold of her hand, trying to make sure she stayed with him.
“Let’s try to head up the stairs, okay?” he tried to coax her, but he wasn’t sure if the flow of the group would allow them to head that way. Whatever it took, he wouldn’t leave her side.
Chris 9 - 1 = ( 8 ) + 2 = ( 10 ) total (pending SyNy's roll. Willing to lower roll to stay together)
