Claws dug into Song's skin as both she and the shadow fell through the blackness. The station fell out of view momentarily, and if Song tried to use it as a guide as she fell she would find herself unable. The shadow clinging to her was not content to just fall; it was still very much active, crawling over her as it struggled to maintain its grip. Fortunately, the fall was disorienting enough to keep it from attacking.
A soft glow is visible just below. It was another station, coming up fast. It had an odd water-like quality to it, and from this distance it may even look like water. Those were certainly ripples. There was even sand beneath... something glowing on the sides...
There wasn't time to tell much more. You hit the station solidly, and the shadow is thrown off upon impact. The landing is not soft. _____________________________________________________
Damage from fall: 55
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:52 pm
[ Ahria | Station of Reflection | Number 19 ]
The number 19 glows brightly before disappearing. As it does so, Ahria would feel a heavy tug at his heart, like something was taken from her, a necessary exchange to unlock this path. An inspection of herself would find nothing out of place physically, no loss of health, no less strength, but something was taken. Without Ahria, the path would have remained sealed.
A path did appear. It was a path that glowed with its own light, and it continued on for a ways, curving slightly to the right, before ending abruptly. Ahead another station is visible. The station blinks in and out of existence. There are numbers on it as well, the same as where you left, and you can make out a person. The station changes each time it blinks, as does the person on it. It's far enough away to be hard to make out the details of who is on the platform, but it's clear that the person changes each time that it blinks. _____________________________________________________________
- The blinking platform is shifting between everyone who is already on the Station of Reflection. - It blinks about every 20 seconds - You can see and hear each other, but you're far away. Also, blinks every 20 seconds, so the person on the platform switches every 20 seconds - Whoever is staring directly at number 19 for more than a minute will be able to see/hear Ahria (you don't have to be right up next to the number)
[ Kyle | Station of Reflection | Number 3 ]
The same voice repeats the question for this number as well.
The path you seek Is incomplete Open this path?
[ Joe - Joseph | Station of Reflection | Path 13 ]
The number 13 glows brightly before disappearing. As it does so, Joe would feel a heavy tug at his heart, like something was taken from him, a necessary exchange to unlock this path. An inspection of himself would find nothing out of place physically, no loss of health, no less strength, but something was taken. Without Joe, the path would have remained sealed.
A path appears, glowing with its own light. It connects with the path in the distance, linking Joe's path to Joseph's path.
The male blinked as the path appeared, allowing him access to the other male's platform. Well, did the guy open the path up on his end, then? Was that how this dream worked? Why did he need someone else in his dream to open up the rest of the path for him?
He pushed the thoughts away, storing them for a possible later time to reflect on them. Instead of thinking, he continued walking forward, reaching the other male, and looking around him at the platform that was his.
"Oh, this one has a different desert. And you opened up another path? I didn't know you could open up multiple...but then again I guess that makes sense. Nothing really stopped you, or even me, from trying multiple I just opened 13 and walked to see where it led me oh I'm rambling." He grinned, extending a hand. "I'm Joseph, usually go by Joe. You are...?" He cocked his head to the side, grin fading into a look of confusion. "Familiar?"
He was pretty sure the guy was someone he'd seen before. Something in his brain was clicking but not fully connecting.
------------------ HP: 82/100 Current Stock:
ᛊ (Sōwilō) [bomb type] x2ᚷ (Geƀō) [bomb type] x1
Current Runes:
ᚷ (Geƀō) [body type] x1
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 7:10 pm
{James : Station of Awakening -> Station of Reflection}
James' feelings were confirmed correct. If his first attack was nigh perfect, his second was for all intents and purposes the exact opposite. Not only was the attack a miss, the Heartless managing to dodge it without difficulty. His edge alignment was completely off so the cut wouldn't have been very effective anyway. However, ultimately it didn't seem to matter. The power of his Igni spell seemed more than sufficient to reduce the Shadow to ashes and even chased away the black ash that typically remained.
"Well that went well," He stated with a slight chuckle as he allowed his sword to disappear in it's traditional flash of light.
He felt really good about the battle, though he knew if he ran into anymore he would need to work on pretty much every aspect of his techniques. He had always wanted to get into HEMA or fencing, but had never found the time or the group with which to try it. However, he had seen quite a few videos of proper sparring and talk and demonstration of technique so at least he wasn't completely clueless. His eyes scanned the platform, expecting more Heartless or another bridge or something to appear to lead him on to the next part of this surreal dream.
'So what's next?' He thought to himself.
His answer came immediately after as the mosaic of himself that was the platform upon which he stood shattered and for a brief moment he was in a free fall. He shouted in surprise and fear as he looked up and saw the remains of the shattered floor he had been on. He looked down and noticed a platform not far below. In his fall it only took him a matter of seconds to land upon it. For fear of injury he landed on his feet quickly going into a roll as to not cause an immediate loss of momentum. However, it seemed it was unneeded, aside from the sensation of landing there was no wear or tear on him.
Now that he wasn't in free fall he got a better look at the platform he had landed on. It was a desert, a very familiar looking one at that. The sand was yellow, snake like patterns very evident in the sand as if it had been shifted by winds recently. Dark green bulbous cacti sprung out the ground along with the occasional tall segmented cactus that ended with a massive bulb that seemed able to defy gravity, despite being much bigger than it's other segments. Sharp, spiky stones littered the sand and there were a number of skeletal remains of large, horned creatures half buried in the deep sand. To the young man the image was immediately recognizable as the general theme and appearance of the land in Legend of Mana known as the Duma Desert. With each step James noticed that the sand in the picture shifted beneath his feet, as if it were real sand. However, the platform was solid. The shifting sand gave an illusion similar to that of the Sandsea from Final Fantasy XII and was pretty interesting.
'It changes again... very interesting... well as they say dreams are nothing more than reality viewed through a filter. Though I guess that doesn't really make sense in this situation. What is the significance of the Duma Desert?'
More interesting than the scenery of the platform itself though was what was on the edge of it. Numbers, 8 of them. From the center of the platform James turned to look at each number in turn.
"Two, three, five, eight, eleven, thirteen, seventeen, nineteen..." He muttered as he read off each one. 'What is the meaning of these?' He thought as he walked towards each number thinking on them as he went.
There was no pattern to them that he could clearly see, aside from the fact that they were in sequential order. Most of the numbers were also prime, aside from the Eight. However, he doubted that really meant anything. He walked along the edge of the platform, past each of the numbers as he continued thinking, trying to piece together anything that made sense. Why he was thinking so hard on this he wasn't sure. Surely he should just pick one. But which one? What would it matter? Did it matter? There was only one way to find out.
He stopped before the number eleven and looked at it. The lucky number eleven had always held significance to him. In Final Fantasy XI it was the number to strive for as a corsair to get the maximum benefit of a Phantom Roll. For the sake of moving forward he reached out and tried to touch the number expecting that that was the way to move forward and waited to see what would happen.
Song Yi Kim : The Dark Path : Station of ??? HP: 72/100 | ATK: 10 | DEF: 10
The idea of using the station as a guide was a solid idea. Too bad Song didn't have the wits about her to think of it. She didn't even notice the station besides her had disappeared. It happens when one is too busy trying to reach for a Heartless like they were trying to reach for a really hard itch to scratch. Except, this itch hurt. Twisting, turning, and tumbling, Song would have forgotten which way was down if it hadn't been for the glow that she was falling down to.
Before she knew it, the glow had strengthened and it was no longer vague. It had Song's full attention in fact. Around this time was when she finally realized that the walls of the station she had fallen from had stopped some time during her descent. She didn't pay much heed to its disappearance, though. More important things to think about, like her impending doom. Song wondered wide-eyed as the station rushed at her. She had stopped struggling with the Heartless. The image of the platform burned into her eyes, so that even when Song closed her eyes in fear, she could still see the stained glass arrangement. She involuntarily thought, The serene beauty of the rippling, water-like surface influenced Song, bringing forth from her memories all the "good" deaths she had read about. Her eyes opened again, ready to face death like the father had in The Book Thief. All the good men (and women) accepted death to the face, right? For this short moment in the end, Song could seek to emulate them.
she felt something like grim humor as she tore her eyes from the blurred sand right beneath the rippling water and the glowing ring that surrounded it all, . Maybe the calm waves hadn't succeeded in getting Song to accept death, but their unreal realness calmed her enough to act. She twisted her body, finding it a lot easier than she thought it would be for a first-timer like her. . She didn't have much time now. She had, in her haste, twisted out of the head-first position already, so elbows first was becoming less and less possible by the moment. Ukemi it was. Song felt her back hit the station first. And she followed up the initial impact with a slap of her arms and legs to distribute the force like she had been taught during that one month she practiced judo. Coughing, gasping, and a scream of pain all combined into one, grotesque noise Song never thought she was capable of producing. The impact hurt, of course. It felt like she was dying. Her bones were all broken, weren't they? She'd never broken a bone before, but this full-body sting and bone-deep hurt was probably what it felt when everything in her body was shattered, either that or Song just had a severely low tolerance for pain. Clearly, Song believed that she was either staring into the darkness of death or was going to be dead soon.
Pain, pain, and more pain. This dream was all about pain, right? The whole Kingdom Hearts theme was just a cheery mask for the horribleness that was this delusion. Except it wasn't a dream because no amount of pain would wake her up. She sought escape from the pain, and her body cast Esuna quickly to that effect, as quickly as it possibly could. Song felt two waves of healing coat her body, taking away some of the pain and the exhaustion that had been caused by the pain. She felt much better, and realized, Her body twitched to test her thoughts. No searing pain tearing through her body like she imagined, and she was able to move. She noticed she was gasping and heaving for air, had been since landing. That wasn't something that was possible with a broken rib cage, right?
Thoughts about the Shadow? Psh. What Shadow? Song had forgotten all about it with the pain. The next step was to try and sit up, but perhaps something would happen before Song could try that? After all, she had been gasping in pain and waiting for her not-so-impending doom for quite some time before realizing that she wasn't going to die that easily for reasons she could not explain.
The Power of the Guardian. Kindness to Aid Friends. A Shield to Repel All.
Actions - Ability:
Esuna (10+n/a+10=20) > Song
[ The user heals a single target, which could be herself, for a percentage of total HP equal to the level of this ability. There is also a percentage chance of curing minor status effects that is equal to the level of this ability. If Song wants, she can freely lower the effectiveness of Esuna, such as healing for only 5% when she could heal for 10%. Upon reaching certain points in its level growth, Esuna becomes even more potent and flexible. ]
Esuna (10+n/a=10) > Song
[ The user heals a single target, which could be herself, for a percentage of total HP equal to the level of this ability. There is also a percentage chance of curing minor status effects that is equal to the level of this ability. If Song wants, she can freely lower the effectiveness of Esuna, such as healing for only 5% when she could heal for 10%. Upon reaching certain points in its level growth, Esuna becomes even more potent and flexible. ]
Attack:
n/a (10+1=11) > Heartless
Charge:
Esuna (1 charge)
[ The user heals a single target, which could be herself, for a percentage of total HP equal to the level of this ability. There is also a percentage chance of curing minor status effects that is equal to the level of this ability. If Song wants, she can freely lower the effectiveness of Esuna, such as healing for only 5% when she could heal for 10%. Upon reaching certain points in its level growth, Esuna becomes even more potent and flexible. ]
Defend:
n/a (10+1=11) > Heartless Attack
Passives Plot Armor ~ Important NPC
[ Being knocked to 0 hit points or lower doesn't make Song keel over. She rises back on her next post with a vengeance, or would if she wasn't so cowardly and passive, at 1 hp and in perfectly normal condition (no status effects, buffs, debuffs, etc.). After being activated, plot armor goes on cooldown until Song manages to heal back up to at least a quarter of her health. ]
Posted: Thu Sep 24, 2015 7:45 pm
[ Luke : Dive Into the Heart : Station of Awakening ]
He let out a broken string of laughter as the Heartless was knocked back by his shield. Nerves. He was flipping the flock out. Just as his "spin attack" came to a halt, he felt a sharp pain from the Shadow's next attack, this one catching him unawares. He let out a loud shriek and brought his hand over to his shoulder where the wound was... Only there was no wound.
Cities come and cities go, just like the old empires. When all you do is change your clothes, and call that versatile. You got so many colors, make a blind man so confused. So why can't I keep up when you're the only thing I lose?
"Damn, you're quick," he said with a glare at the golden-eyed monster, as if it would understand and want to have a conversation with him. "This is getting real old, real fast." Grasping the shield by its grip with his left hand and by its top with his right, he thrust it downward toward the Shadow. Hopefully, he wouldn't miss. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (( 131 words )) ((Current HP: 87)) (( Defense: DEF (10) + D20 roll (5) = 15 (lose, 13 damage) Attack: STR (10) + D20 roll (13) = 23 ))
While normally a cheery person at heart, Ahria had been considering this entire experience like that of the game. This meant that she tended to be analytical in her approach to every choice and decision. From optimal equipment to recovery items... Places to farm crafting materials, rare item locations. Everything was carefully considered before entering battle or going to the next area.
Now... Having felt something be stripped from her, with no warning or hint to indicate this result, she came to a stop. She knew, without having to check that something was gone. That didn't stop her from checking to see what had been taken(not that she found out what it was). She spent several minutes standing there, going through her complete lack of pockets and going back through her abilities to see what had been taken.
She never found out...
Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 9:22 am
[ Kyle : Station of Reflection ]
The words repeated, and Kyle's chest tightened considerably. His heart rate spiked, his eyes were both simultaneously wide and tight, his breathing was restrained, all as he stared at the number three with a rapidly growing sense of oblivion.
Oh no.
“No, no no no,” Kyle replied, though it came out more as a quiet rambling than a proclaimed response. The same prompt—what were the odds? He looked around at the other numbers, his mind rushing through outcomes faster than he could feasibly process the images. ”No no no...”
With his mind swiftly becoming consumed with thoughts of doom and eternal isolation, he moved over a couple steps to stand in front of the iridescent five.
Well, this isn’t going well at all. The heartless seemed to not even wince at the damage, and launched itself hard at Feather. The collision sent the set off its rocker, flanking the right side into an unbalanced kilter. The impact really hurt a lot more than Feather would have liked to be perfectly honest. Systems going a vibrant blood red, distortion in the music and lots of flashing lights flickering in and out as the barrier got pretty much completely crumbled into pieces when it tried to block the next attack from the heartless. It really put a lot of oomph into this hit for some reason.
Feather held tight onto the dashboard as it spun out for a bit. She was standing on the platform attached to the weapon system, so she went on a bit of a teacup ride. Normally, she can’t handle sudden movements like this because she gets motion sickness from anything like cars, boats, and buses. Don’t get her started on amusement park rides where she was the coat hanger for everyone as she just gets dizzy from watching things move. So when she started spinning, she really wanted to hurl even though this is a supposed dream. No spinning right round right round for her, she doesn’t spin to win at all.
“Alright, I need to get rid of this pest before anymore spinning happens.” Feather muttered to herself as grumbled and shook her head to reorganize her thoughts. The shaking actually helped lower her murderous intent that was building up. Gathering up some energy and steadiness, Feather started strumming down another set of notes for another Power Chord as the system slid into a stop. A launch of notes shot out with their icy chill.
Cast: Drop the Beat - Tidecaller Heartless Attack- 26 Feather Defense - 10 + D20: 4 = 14 Feather Attack- Power Chord 12 + D20: 16 =28 Current HP: 80/100 [330/1000 words]
Posted: Sat Sep 26, 2015 4:14 pm
[ James | Station of Reflection | Number 11 ]
The path you seek Is incomplete Open this path?
Previously the voice was vague and generic, if heard at all. Now it was clearly audible: a mysterious female voice. The number 11 remains glowing before you as the voice awaits you answer.
[ Kyle | Station of Reflection | Number 5 ]
The same voice repeated the same message, as with the other numbers. So far, 8 had been the only one that was different, even though that path was no longer available.
As the voice awaits your answer, you hear a loud, solid 'thunk' behind you. A fraction of a second later, a shadow heartless catapults into the back of your legs. It isn't an attack, and the creature appears completely disoriented.
Behind you, in the center of your station, is another person.
The heartless was able to squirm away from Luke, avoiding the attack from his shield. It retaliated, clawing at his legs, just under the knees. __________________________________________________________
Attack STR: 21
[ Feather | Station of Awakening ]
The heartless shook upon impact from Feather's attack, and if it would have lasted a moment longer it would have been enough to destroy the creature. The attack ended, and the shadow made another dive toward Feather, this time aiming for one of her arms. __________________________________________________________
Joe felt something leave him as the number disappeared. He had no idea what he had given up, but he had a feeling he knew why it was taken. It was the toll.
He did a quick spot check as the path appeared. Nothing seemed out of place physically, but that was cold comfort considering the situation he was in. If he had just handed off part of his heart or spirit to open this path, the consequences could come back to bite him later.
While he would have loved to dwell on the implications more, there was the more pressing matter of "naked bloody man" approaching his platform, inspecting it and commenting on apparent differences.
As the man talked and gave his name, it clicked. This wasn't just some random person his mind had made up; Joe knew this guy. Which made the nudity even more awkward then it was. "Wait, Joe? From the chat? What in the hell are you doing in my dream? And why don't you have pants?"
The male cocked his head to the other side, kind of like a confused dog who was trying to hear something better. He knew he had seen the face, and the voice was pulling at the memory as well.
"...Oh. OH! Oh my god you're Joe. Other Joe. Thing." It finally clicked. He had seen the pictures on facebook for a project he had been trying to do, and from voice chats.
"Wait. What do you mean your dream? This is mine. Which is why I'd have a cover of some kind because that damn Shadow-oh."
A white...something seemed to flutter down and land on his head. And after some messing around with it, he learned it was some kind of...cloak of sorts. With buttons towards the neck to keep it closed around the shoulders. And he was finally covered. Well, kind of. The off-center opening still showed he had nothing on underneath if he moved too much. But it also had pockets on the inner lining. So he stuck his stones in the pockets(the two sun ones in one, and the gift one in another.
"This is handy...kind of wish it had come sooner." He admired the cloak a bit more, before realizing he was still in front of Joe. "Oh um...so you're in my dream...or I'm in your dream? Or...how does this work?" He wasn't quite sure, even as he looked around the platform more.
Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 10:47 pm
[ Kyle : Station of Reflection ]
"No!" he shouted, his worry bleeding over into frustration. Another incomplete path. Were they all, then? He would run to each one and check them all. He felt as if his rib cage had become a vice on his lungs and heart. What was he going to do? He wanted to scream and break something, or someone—
There was a heavy thud behind him, and instantly he tensed up, his entire body jolting with stress as he tried to twist on one ankle to see what had happened. Instinctively, he had already called the rod to his hand with a flash of glimmering light, ready to take on whatever the wretched watchers would throw at him now. But all the same, he was nearly knocked to the ground by the sudden knock at his leg, and he twisted sideways to try and put some distance between him and whatever it was.
When he saw the familiar black body where he'd stood, his prior frustrations and anxiety instantly boiled over into self-justified wrath. With one hand, he ripped away at its will power, and with the other he slammed down with the rod, all the while letting out his pent-up anger in an unbridled, screech-like roar.
[[ If Reaver of Will is successful, add stolen STR to attack. ]]
Song Yi Kim : The Dark Path : Station Awakening2 HP: 100/100 | ATK: 10 | DEF: 10
Forget trying to get up. Song's body jolted upright, fit as ever, upon hearing a bone-chilling scream. Actually, she moved faster than she thought she possible could. "What the hell?!". She was caught off guard and hadn't thought to summon her weapon at the first signs of danger. Instead, her first reaction was to turn to the source of the scream and stare at it with mouth open. Dumbfounded, she watched Kyle unleash his rage. Her mind went in circles, . Introductions were a good thing to do with stranger. However, Song was too accustomed to taking extra care around people who were enraged, to the point that she feared talking to them in case it incurred their wrath on her and whatever the mystery male was doing to the heartless was something Song really didn't want happening to her.
In the meantime, she just continued to heal up. Her unnaturally quickly moving time quickening the maximum rate she could heal at. She no longer felt exhaustion and the pain the Shadow had caused to her was nothing but a very fresh and scary memory, which was better than an immediate injury at least.
Then Song noticed that this mystery male was dressed much better than her. At least, he wasn't in some worn out pajamas. Giving a cursory glance to her own attire, Song noticed that her tank top was now even worse for wear after the struggle with the heartless but still sort of passable… but only as evening wear when no one was around, Of secondary importance was that he was using a weapon that looked strangely like hers, but what was the point of that if Song was too worried about the fact that she was in no condition to be meeting with some dude she'd never met before? she moaned mentally as her knees reflexively move up to hug her body.
The Power of the Guardian. Kindness to Aid Friends. A Shield to Repel All.
Actions - Ability:
Esuna (10+n/a+10=20) > Song
[ The user heals a single target, which could be herself, for a percentage of total HP equal to the level of this ability. There is also a percentage chance of curing minor status effects that is equal to the level of this ability. If Song wants, she can freely lower the effectiveness of Esuna, such as healing for only 5% when she could heal for 10%. Upon reaching certain points in its level growth, Esuna becomes even more potent and flexible. ]
Esuna (10+n/a=10) > Song
[ The user heals a single target, which could be herself, for a percentage of total HP equal to the level of this ability. There is also a percentage chance of curing minor status effects that is equal to the level of this ability. If Song wants, she can freely lower the effectiveness of Esuna, such as healing for only 5% when she could heal for 10%. Upon reaching certain points in its level growth, Esuna becomes even more potent and flexible. ]
Attack:
n/a (10+roll=) > Heartless
Charge:
Haste (1 charge)
[ The user gives extra actions to any number of targets for three rounds. The total number of extra actions that may be given is the number of points invested into Haste divided by 10. E.g. At 10 points, the user may only give one target on extra action but at 20 points, the user may give one target two extra actions or two targets one extra action each. Haste cannot be stacked and recasting Haste on a target that is already affected by a Haste buff replaces the old buff with the new buff. ]
Defend:
n/a (10+roll=) > Heartless Attack
Passives Plot Armor ~ Important NPC
[ Being knocked to 0 hit points or lower doesn't make Song keel over. She rises back on her next post with a vengeance, or would if she wasn't so cowardly and passive, at 1 hp and in perfectly normal condition (no status effects, buffs, debuffs, etc.). After being activated, plot armor goes on cooldown until Song manages to heal back up to at least a quarter of her health. ]
