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 Posted: Sat Jun 22, 2019 1:45 pm
Prompt To any explorers visiting the new Reservoir, they may find that just a bit away from the sandy water are a set of caves. Some of these connect back to the lake, but others rapidly plunge into darkness. It wouldn't be hard to get lost in here, but thankfully there are some very odd lights to help guide you out. If you turn off your light down some of these dark paths, you may find yourself surrounded by glowing pastel lights. A closer inspection reveals that you seem to be looking at some sort of glowing caterpillars. No internet search seems to yield what they are, and if you take them out of the cave they seem to shrivel up almost immediately. What’s going on here?
There were very few reasons Nataniel could think of that would lead him to deviate from how he started his morning. He woke early, dressed for his workout, and jogged across campus and back before the sun had even had a chance to grace the sky with its presence. It was quiet, it was easy, it was routine. He appreciated nothing more, and there could not- for the foreseeable future- be a different way for him to start the day. That was simply all there was to be said.
There were, however, disturbances that had made themselves recently known. Nataniel didn't consider it dangerous, for as much as it had claimed to be, but it was a hindrance, something far worse.
Nataniel hated change, but he hated unexpected change more than he hated the type of change he could control. Rather than wait for the world to make another play at him while he was unprepared, he decided to set the change for himself, this time. It would be more manageable that way. He'd know what he was getting into. No unforeseen disturbances.
He took his motorcycle down to the reservoir.
It was early enough and out away from the throng of the city enough that Nataniel felt perhaps entirely too confident that no one would be here. It would make his jog scenic, even if it took a bit longer to actually begin the workout than he was accustomed to. Not so horrible, he told himself as he pulled up along the gravel path that served as designated parking for the new waterfront.
Not so horrible, not so horrible. Even so, he couldn't help but feel agitated. This wasn't how he did things. ...But it was fine.
He slung his backpack over his shoulders and headed off. Jogging on sand wasn't exactly what he'd come for, and noticing how people left their amber star trinkets on the beach to stab him as he ran was irritating. Nat stooped to pick it up, not enjoying that some unsuspecting creature might find it more cumbersome than he did, himself. He wanted the quiet, but not the extra strain, so Nataniel kept the the edge of the bank after that, inland enough that the terrain wouldn't further disrupt his routine. But it wasn't to last.
Nataniel had come for peace and solitude, the expectation that he would be, by all accounts, entirely alone. Perhaps that hadn't been the wisest of bets.
There was a treeline along the bank. Sensible, Nataniel thought. These weren't saltwaters, and so of course there would be some denser greenery that managed to live near them than at an actual beach. That was not what disturbed him. Among the trees lurked a swampy shadow, larger than any normal man should be and looming, moving. It... could be a moose? They were quite sizable... though did not typically stand on two legs, as far as Nataniel was aware.
It wasn't Nat's business, and he ought to have kept going, but he couldn't help but stand a moment too long and try and puzzle out what was happening here, until it spotted him.
Or rather- could it see?
He didn't know. It didn't have any familiar discernible features. But the thing certainly knew when it saw him, eyes or otherwise, and it did not hesitate to 'puzzle out' what Nataniel was. It ran at him, and given its size, Nataniel decided his only sound option was to get right the ******** out of there. He turned and bolted, off away from the trees and toward any other shelter that might serve as refuge.
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 8:19 am
Unlike his dear, sweet sister, Landry was quite the early bird. It wasn't hard to wake with the sun most mornings and either go work out or running. The silence of the outside world during those waking hours was beyond pleasant. No one was around to pester him, and the gentle sounds of morning helped wake him up far better than the shrill sounds of any alarms.
Today was only different due to him deciding to go check out the reservoir for his own morning workout. There was much evidence that there had been some sort of party going on, and garbage was strewn everywhere... So much so that it bugged the hell out of him.
Despite his abrasive nature, Landry hated litter more than he hated being bothered by people, and in his car he kept trash bags and a long reach grabber. Forget exercising this morning, there were more important things to do, such as getting in his good karma for the day.
Slowly he made his way around the shores, filling up his trash bag and trying to ignore the claims of 'oh he's such a good young man!' from the single old lady who tried to follow him and garner his attention.
Trash bag full, it was time to get going, until he saw across the corner of the reservoir a young man running... And behind that, a youma.
It wasn't any of his business. Why did he care if a youma was simply doing its job? He was no hero, and he was perfectly content to let it eat... And yet there was this nagging voice in his head and the potentially disappointed look of someone he had come to care about over the fact that he just let someone get hurt without doing anything at all to help.
"Fine Fine..." there was a soft mutter, and then in a soft flash of darkness, he was powered up, the trash and grabber left behind on the shore. The man was closer now, and instead of shouting anything, Zubeneschamali ran past him, towards the creature, and gave it a hard kick to the head, enough so that it stayed in place, stunned.
"Go on now, hide." His voice was calm, almost bored, but hey, atleast he was here.
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Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2019 8:17 am
Something became very obvious to Nataniel only a handful of seconds after he tore off across the sand: the thing was faster than him. It was true that he was no sprinter, focusing his workouts more on endurance than outright speed, but he hardly considered himself slow. He wasn't a man who thought of himself as physically incapable in almost any regard. It would hardly have occurred to him to even be concerned over this...
If the thing wasn't substantially larger, obviously aggressive, and too sure in it's movements to be anyone just ******** around.
And it was faster than him. Nat grit his teeth. The terrain didn't aid Nataniel's escape and only served to slow him down in the shifting sand. If the creature had the same problem, it didn't show it. A low, rolling rumble emitted from close at his back, and it was the only warning he had before lengthy, heavy talons collided in a swipe at his back.
Nataniel didn't look over his shoulder at the creature, and only had the fleeting sensation of stinging lashes as claws shredded through the thin fabric of his jogging shirt and ripped shallow cuts in his skin as he was pitched forward from some combination of his momentum and the force of the creature. A note of frustrated surprise slipped from his throat as he stumbled and skidded down to the ground in the sand, a short span of feet away from the relative shelter of a cave entrance.
How irritating.
The early morning air was cool against now warmed, bleeding, and exposed skin, as Nat tossed his own snarl over his shoulder back to the monster.
Only now, there was a boy there as well, having stopped the thing's advance by... interfering somehow. Nat had been a bit too distracted to be fully aware of the specifics. The same wind the smoothed over his skin tousled the end of the other's long braid, and Nat's snarl slid into something more deadpan. This was all ridiculously absurd. Who was this. Why was he here.
With heart still panting and breath shallow, Nat shoved himself back to his feet and spent several seconds just observing the newcomer and the creature that faced him. "No," he answered flippantly. "What would be the benefit." It could tear through this slender boy in a matter of seconds and still have the strength to come after Nat. There was no point in hiding. If he'd liked the security of the caves, it was only because the narrower entrance would make it more difficult for a huge monster to maneuver.
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:19 pm
"Clearly the benefit would be not being eaten by this monster." Ah.. So he was dealing with a brat. The temptation to leave him be and let his a** be torn out by the monster was growing..
And yet it was also amusing in it's own right.
Whatever, he'd deal with this, and go about his own way. As the beast came closer, 'Mali summoned his attack with a mutter and tossed it towards the beast. Just like all those others he had targeted with it before, it went through the motions before the explosion sent it flying back. Luckily for him, as big and scary as this beast was it was a weaker one and the explosion seemed to be enough to scare it away.
... It was probably for the best. All he needed was for some mangy beast to report to it's master that a Corrupted senshi was the one who dusted it... The paperwork and punishment was not something he desired.
"It could have been worst, but you're fine, I guess... Unless you want to go after it and give a punch or so like some of you civilians like to do... But I'm not going to bother to save you again."
Indigo_Plateau Sailor Scout Attack: Zube's Game
Mali Summons a Small Automaton named Zube and winds him up and places it on the ground. The Automaton is not activated until an opponent sees it, and can be picked up and placed elsewhere by Mali or another of his allies. Once someone looks at the doll, they are forced to approach it and follow Zube's Pre-installed Movements which goes as follows
"Three steps to the Left, Three steps to the right, Spin in Place, Raise right hand, left hand behind back, and Bow"
This action preoccupies the user for 5 seconds, and at the end of the 'performance', Zube explodes. The explosion is is minor, and is only strong enough send the opponent back a few feet, but no other damage is sustained
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2019 12:37 pm
"Unlikely," Nataniel answered at the boy's response. "Hiding would scarcely guarantee me anything." Certainly not a promise to not be eaten. "Besides perhaps removing potential escape routes by confining myself to a restrictive environment." From a creature that Nataniel expected could outrun and outmaneuver the both of them.
He watched the blond boy through hooded, deep red eyes.
This stranger acted as though he knew something Nataniel didn't. He neither seemed surprised nor frightened by the shadowy monstrosity before them, and Nat had to remember that something had stopped the creature from leaping on top of him when he'd fallen. A doll was summoned to blondie's hand, and in a bizarre string of events, the monster danced to the motions of the doll, before an explosion sent it fleeing.
Nataniel's attention flicked back to the retreating form of the beast, and his thoughts couldn't help but go to some other creature he'd seen with dog ears and 'gut rending' talons. It didn't seem unreasonable to think that all of this was in the same level of chaotic shenanigans.
"I am not a complete fool," he retorted blandly. "I have no desire to punch anything that could just as easily rip my arm off." He eyed the blond boy. "It is something you were familiar with, though." Not a question, so much as a curious fact.
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 12:31 pm
Now that the threat was gone, 'Mali rolled his shoulders, feeling a stiffness as well as a migraine beginning to grow. How he wished he was in bed now and not doing this nonsense...
"Good. More people need some common sense like you have." He waited until the monster was completely out of sight before turning to face the man who was straightening his own self up.
"... You could say that. The monsters are part of my... Association, if you would. Typically civilians are just eaten and that is that but..." Ugh, he couldn't exactly say that he had a soft spot for someone who looked... Somewhat similar.
"Let's just say I had a moment of kindness since it's daylight and those little monstrosities shouldn't be out this early to begin with."
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Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2019 3:56 pm
His association.
By this point Nataniel was aware that he didn't understand everything happening in this city right now. It was all he could do to piece random, scattered fragments of accidental information together from sources he only barely believed were even real. But there was physical evidence that it was more than a hallucination. His slashed shirt, scratches stinging at his back. The bite on his throat from weeks prior...
Was blondie's 'association' the same as dog boy's 'organization?' It must be, rationally speaking, shouldn't it? A child puppy monster 'sent to collect his energy' and ...and whatever this thing was that this man just chased off.
Then why had he bothered?
"'Little monstrosities..?'" Nataniel's voice was so soft that it was nearly drowned by the wind and waves from the beach they stood on. There was no denying that was what they were, but since the last one had spoken to him before attacking him, maybe he had assumed that was a common trait? Intelligent enough to speak? Yet this one had either not possessed such a trait or simply not cared to exhibit it... Nataniel had assumed it was perhaps a mutually beneficial arrangement, whatever dealings happened in this association... "They aren't your comrades? Or pets?" There certainly seemed to be enough variety among them to be both, if this moose-thing and dog-boy were any indication.
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Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2019 7:50 am
"My comrades? No. Regardless of whether or not we 'fight', for lack of a better word, for the same side, they'd just as readily tear me apart as they would you. Some deep seeded hatred for something or another that I don't understand. The monsters much rather follow the beck and call of someone who isn't a senshi. More specifically, those who have ties to other-wordly powers, blah blah, honestly, it's much more irrational than I care to explain."
Could he go home yet? He wanted to go and say '******** it' to this morning already. He had no responsibility in hanging out around here, no one he cared for to begin with was around after all.
"Are you good to go home now? I take it you aren't dying given you're here chatting away."
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Posted: Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:30 pm
Even if the monstrosities didn't follow this boy, they did follow someone. The same people who ordered dog boy around, maybe? Nataniel eyed the other man. He had no idea what a 'senshi' was or what designated someone as such, but he supposed that if it was too complicated to bother being explained, there wouldn't be any coercing anything else out of his savior. And did he even want to if it was as irrational as he claimed? It was already obvious that whatever was going on here was more convoluted than Nataniel might have ever expected... How disappointing.
He brushed sand from the back of his pants. "I see," Nat hummed softly, gaze wandering idly from where the monster had departed and toward the shadow of the caves he'd wanted to use for cover. "I appreciate your interference. No, I am not dying." But neither did he intend to just leave.
Nataniel wasn't stupid enough to chase the creature, but he'd come out here with intent to work out, and turning back now would be a waste of his time and the gas it'd taken to get here. The odds of being attacked again seemed somewhat low, since the thing had run off so quickly. Though, admittedly, he didn't know what its habitat range was or for what length of time it hunted... He rolled his shoulders. "I won't keep you if you have somewhere else to be, but if you happen to be bored, I am not prepared to go home just yet, and it would seem a waste if you left only for that monster to return once you've gone."
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Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2019 12:17 pm
Ugh. A very major ugh as the man near pleaded for 'Mali to remain.
Of course, 'Mali was exaggerating, but the man before him had a point. If a youma did suddenly return once it felt the presence of the Senshi disappear, then it would be a waste of time. Despite everything, he was still a man of purpose, and he wouldn't let his actions go to waste.
"... I suppose I can keep you company until the sun Properly rises. Then I have somewhere else to be. Shall you continue your run then?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 3:46 pm
"There is no need to be out until the sun rises," Nataniel promised, gazing out across the reservoir's water to inspect the horizon. The whole affair had take only a handful of minutes. The morning was still early, with no signs of encroaching light in the sky. "An hour at most. As it turns out, I also have an entire rest of my day to prepare for."
For the sake of not being rude to the man who had so graciously agreed to stay to ensure that Nat wasn't assaulted again, Nat slipped the earbuds he usually wore while jogging from his ears and instead pocketed them. He ought to be attentive if he hoped to gather a deeper understanding of the city's workings, and there was clearly much to uncover between the anomalies that were dog-boy, moose-shadow, and... this peculiarly dressed individual before him.
Nataniel moved away just a few feet to inspect the mouth of the cave he'd tried to run to for cover. "What is a 'senshi?'"
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Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 10:16 am
"Good, as do I. Then get to it." The man had been running, had he not? And yet here he was, peeking into the cave that he was going to go into before.
"Trapping yourself in a cave isn't a very bright idea you know. But I applaud you for your quick thinking regardless." 'Mali himself was never very fond of wet places. Or dark places. Or damp places. Or nature in general, so he didn't bother getting any closer.
"You'd want to know? Hm... Simply put, a person who has a magical power based on some celestial body, and focused around a theme that whatever that celestial body was famous for. And yes, that means aliens, though through some magical nonsense, the Senshi you see these days aren't aliens, but... Reborn aliens? It's entirely irrational, so I cannot fault you for not believing me."
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Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 7:18 am
"Unfortunately, the options available to me were more minimal than I may have liked," Nataniel admitted as he stepped into the shadow of the cavern. And that much was true. Whatever the creature had been was faster than him, clearly stronger, obviously interested in doing him harm. There'd been so sense in fleeing across the beach or trying to run past it back toward the treeline. He wouldn't have made it to the water to test in the thing could swim, as it was practically already upon him when- who was this guy?
Nat's tossed his head to peer over his shoulder at what he assumed was a senshi, if the tone he'd taken a moment ago was anything to go by. "Did I catch your name?"
Disbelief was... It was almost the less logical between believing or not at this point, wasn't it? Some creature not completely unlike that one had attacked him only weeks prior. Nat expected this one might have been after his life, whereas the first one didn't seem inclined to take it regardless of how much it had threatened to. His gaze narrowed on the other. And this one didn't either, even if it claimed it was on the beasts' 'side.' "It... is a bit of nonsense," he muttered noncommittally. "But unfortunately, the nonsense seems to have its hold on the city, doesn't it? It is very infrequent that anyone tells stories of aliens protecting mankind, don't you think?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 10:25 am
"Minimal or no, there's no real need to go into that cave. Why are you even poking your head into it? Don't you understand there might be more monsters in there?" 'Mali did not like being outside. And he most certainly did not enjoy being in some damp old cave.
"It's Zubeneschamali. Mali, for short, if you'd like. and I would like you to step away from the cave. Are you trying to find some more monsters?" As horrendously annoying as it was, he continued to follow the man, half tempted to just knock him over, drain him, then drag him back to the parkinglot and be done with it.
"I cannot confirm nor deny that 'some' of the aliens are trying to protect the Earth. You can't really choose where you're from and all that nonsense, but you can typically choose where you align yourself... Unless you are forced into the Negaverse and told 'worship this flying spaghetti monster or we'll kill you'. Then it's less of a choice, more of an... expectation."
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Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 6:39 am
It didn't seem entirely unreasonable, he supposed. They had seen one monster here out and about, and so there very well could be a pack of them in the caves, using it as refuge. Nataniel didn't know enough about them to argue. But he suspected if there were more, they had begun using it only recently, because surely Destiny City wouldn't have set up this reservoir without doing some investigation into the relative safety of its surroundings. And if they had found a danger here, this would not have been a place to encourage the public to go.
"There is a reason," he argued. "I almost ran into this cave as a means of escape. You prevented the need, but if I had, how could I not be curious how the alternative may have played out?" He stepped forward. "You seem capable enough of taking them on, besides, Zubeneschamali. ...A bit of a mouthful, isn't it? Mine is Nataniel. Come on, then," he encouraged with a beckoning flick of fingers over his shoulder.
'Aliens' was a bit of a convoluted thing to grasp, but those monsters certainly did look otherworldly... This man, didn't though. Perhaps a tiny bit creepy and dressed a little bit oddly, but really it wasn't even that. Nat could see an outfit like that at the bar and think nothing of it.
"What is the Negaverse- Oh. It must be the cult." The one dog boy was in. "You didn't choose to join? Wh-" His eyes narrowed, head canting to the side as he turned back to Mali at the curious and unfamiliar description. "Spaghetti...?"
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