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 Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2024 2:55 pm
Quote: All Bark and Some Bite ( 8 ) : Though still early in the season, some trees have already begun to shed their leaves. Maybe it’s climate change, maybe it’s a parasite. The bark of the trees seem oddly dark, almost black, but on their own they don’t look so unnatural. Maybe it’s just a pesticide or something? There’s no reason to be nervous around trees, anyway. By day, they seem perfectly normal. By night, they’re oddly loud and creaky, but even that’s normal too, right? And it’s just the wind that makes it seem like they’re moving behind you as you walk. It doesn’t explain the low gurling you sometimes hear from the darkness, like a monstrous, grumbling stomach, and it definitely doesn’t explain how the trees seem to lean in close to you. Or how they grab at you. When you least expect it, the trees seem like they’re trying to take a swipe at you. It’s strong enough to knock you off your feet or scratch you. If you get close enough, you’ll see that it’s not any ordinary tree hollow you’re staring into–it's a mouth. Leaking sappy drool, with a mouth full of sharp, barky teeth. The trees are smart, they never move when you’re looking at them, but as soon as your back is to them, you’re free game. The only thing you can do is try to get out of there before you become plant food.
There was something about dusk, Tololo thought dreamily as she wandered through the edge of the woods that bordered the Park, that seemed magical. Particularly during this time of the year when the air got crisp and the trees began to shift into gorgeous reds and golds before losing their leaves altogether. She had paused to admire the red leaves of one tree specifically. In the hazy, golden light of dusk, the tree looked like the sort of being that you’d want to stop and have a cozy chat with. Maybe pick up a quest from.
Laughing a little at her own whimsy, the senshi of friendship admired the trees a moment more before continuing her walk.
She’d heard whispery rumors of some sort of trouble out here and had come to check it out. But, finding nothing but trees, she’d decided to turn her patrol into something of a nature walk.
Certainly, nothing seemed out of place to her at the moment.
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Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 5:10 pm
Pyrrhus was not, on the whole, a daydreamy person. Or at least--he wasn't anymore. The life he'd lived hadn't allowed for much distraction or dreaming, and even here on Earth where it was relatively safer, so long expecting an attack at any moment meant that he couldn't easily let that go.
So even though it was a gorgeous night and his patrol had been quiet so far, he was wary walking down the path, one eye on the trees to make sure nothing intended to spring out of the tree line. The sound of laughter attracted his attention, though, and he moved towards it--the only aura nearby was Order, so that was good, and when he spotted another Senshi, he took a breath, though tit over, and decided to go talk to her because whatever, ******** it, he needed to know more people.
"Everything alright?" He asked. Those cheery types....Pyrrhus had never really known how to handle that. Far too different from his own experience, from the people he kept close.
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Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2024 1:38 pm
Thinking nothing of the aura she could feel approaching, Tololo hadn't bothered to turn around to answer the greeting. This was someone on her side. She didn't have to watch her back so much.
"As far as I know, it is," she answered, voice friendly enough. "Just admiring nature."
Wide smile on her face, she turned to make a proper greeting and felt her eyes go wide as her smile faded slightly.
"Ahh," she began in an uncertain voice, "You're, um. You're not from 'round these parts, are you."
It was a statement more than a question. She just wanted confirmation that she wasn't seeing things and that she wasn't somehow being punked.
And the moment her attention was not on the trees behind her, she heard an odd rustling gurgle...
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Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2024 1:57 pm
Pyrrhus had to admit, he was waiting for that slightly shocked reaction. Earth humans clearly didn't have nearly enough exposure to other worlds, these days, and frankly, it was ******** funny.
"Oh, no, I'm not. Pyrrhus of Nihility, at your service, hailing from...well, Pyrrhus. Out in the asteroid belt, near Jupiter." He expected that the existence of people like him was probably news to her in general, and getting to be the first to break it to her that Earth was not alone int he universe was. Well, it was kind of funny. "One of a very select number of very lucky Senshi who got to survive for a thousand years on Chaos-ridden planets and now get to--"
He stopped.
There was movement, in the darkness. Subtle, but present. And then the tree behind her moved, and Pyrrhus leapt into action, grabbing her arm and pulling her forward and away from what looked to be grasping ********, the ******** trees were alive. Great.
"Get behind me," he said, with all the presence of a man who was used to giving commands and having them obeyed.
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Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2024 8:36 am
Entranced and becoming increasingly delighted to be talking to an actual extra-terrestrial, Tololo listened as Pyrrhus shared where his homeworld rested. But Nihility? Whoooof! That was about as far from Friendship as one could get and she wondered what on earth his magic could do.
She kind of hoped that she’d never have to find out.
She was brought back to the present by way of Pyrrhus grabbing her arm, pulling and then ordering her to stay behind him. Taking a moment to gather herself, Tololo put her hand on his shoulder and pulled back slightly. Staring at the moving branches, she clicked her tongue a little in annoyance.
“Yeah, that isn’t gonna work for me, sunshine,” she said. Even as she watched, the branches were going still fairly quickly. And the only sign that they’d been moving were a few scattered leaves and a raking mark in the dirt where she’d been standing. But now that she knew what they could do, she wasn’t about to turn her back on them again. “Chillax, my dude. I don’t think they’re going to try again and I want to make a little experiment.”
Stepping away, she moved closer to where she had been standing and stared at the trees. Was this just weirdness or a specialized youma? It didn’t feel like youma… There were so many stories about weird things happening here. Moving, hungry trees just seemed like they’d be parr for the course. But they’d only moved and come for her once she’d turned her back. So, as long as they kept an eye on the trees, they’d be fine.
“Really, I think it’ll be fine as long as we pay attention. So, what were you saying about a lucky few? What’s your homeworld like?”
Quickly offering her brightest smile, Tololo was all about making friends with an honest to goodness ET. They’d just stay out of the trees’ reach and keep an eye on them and it would be fine.
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Posted: Fri Oct 11, 2024 7:52 pm
Sunshine. Pyrrhus was pretty sure this Senshi had to mean that sarcastically, because he was pretty sure he did not give off sunshine....vibes? Vibes was the word. He was pretty sure. Probably.
"Careful what you experiment with," he said, but made no move to stop her, just crossing his arms and observing. She knew there was danger. She could decide for herself what she wanted to do about it.
"They only moved when we weren't focused on them. So you're probably right." Still, his eyes were on the dark tree line, because he was not risking a branch reaching for him out of it.
"There's more than a few Senshi like me. I've met several. All of us spent the past several centuries on planets ravaged by Chaos. Mine is...."
He exhaled.
"It used to be beautiful. Dangerous, but beautiful. Perpetual night, which was fine, because my people don't do well in the sun. And then Chaos came, and the sun rose, and now it's a scorched rock."
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Posted: Mon Oct 14, 2024 9:56 am
”Have some faith, my dude. I work with injured animals all day. Trees are easy. Comparatively,” Tololo said reassuringly. Still, for all her posture and voice may have screamed relaxation, her eyes were sharp and she was careful to not move too far past what she deemed to be the line of safety.
Just because she looked like a tiny ditz didn’t mean she was one in real life.
And though she watched the trees, she listened carefully as the other senshi spoke and flinched a little at the words he used to describe the situation off of Earth. All in all, it painted a grim picture and she had to wonder why none of these other places had been a focal point for awakening senshi. Surely this guy’s world would have needed the fighters more? It didn’t make sense to her at all. But these were mysteries she could puzzle over later. Right now she had a senshi who she was pretty sure must be hurting and she wanted to help.
However inexpertly.
“I know that words are easy and you probably won’t think I’m being anything other than polite,” she began slowly. “But, for what it’s worth, I really am so sorry. I can’t imagine how scary and sad and infuriating that must be for you. I think I’d go crazy in your shoes, honestly.”
Making a rapid decision, she backed away from the trees and turned to face the other senshi, hand held out to offer whatever comfort he might let her.
“I can’t replace your people,” she said bluntly. “I wouldn’t want to and if you asked, I’d probably kick the taste out of your mouth. But, I will be your friend, if you’ll let me. And as much as I’m able, I’ll have your back. Unless, of course,” and now Tololo’s mouth quirked in a tiny smile, “you try to go all Genocide From Space on Earth. Then, I might have to rethink my life choices where you’re concerned.”
A low, rasping gurlgel from the trees made her shoot a glare at them. Kicking a rock viciously into the treeline, the senshi of Friendship growled.
“Oh, shut up! You’re not eating us tonight, get over it! Now, stop interrupting The Moment here!”
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Posted: Wed Oct 16, 2024 7:35 pm
Pyrrhus shrugged, only so concerned about the entire situation. Clearly, betwen the two of them, they'd be able to handle the trees, and it wasn't like they were actually walking or anything. Just...grabbing.
Ugh. Grasping, grabbing hands brought back some bad memories that Pyrrhus pushed away, grinding his heel in the dirt as if that would make them vanish faster.
"I appreciate the sympathy," he said. "Fortunately, there are multiple people who would gladly attest that I was already crazy, so anything that happened over the last thousand years is probably an improvement." Or, there would have been, once. Heibing. Imnolu. Bernard. They all would have meant it fondly, probably.
"I...appreciate the kindness," he said, and it tasted strange on his tongue. He wasn't used to this kind of thing. Kindess from strangers. Helene and Kaifeng didn't count; Helene knew him, and he'd known Xingyi, once. "And I promise I've got no eyes on destroying your world. I've seen enough dead planets to last me however long the rest of my lifetime is."
And then the branchers grasped for Tololo again, and honestly, Pyrrhus shouldn't have? But he couldn't help himself. He burst into laughter at the absurdity, the incongruity of it all.
"Ohh, those ******** really are determined, aren't they. Points for dedication, I guess."
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2024 8:55 am
The moment he laughed, Tololo had to smile. She couldn’t help it. The sheer absurdity of the entire situation with the trees was pretty funny. Trying to not giggle and failing miserably, the senshi of friendship finally threw her hands into the air and gave in.
“Determined is a good word for it. Bunch of ridiculous splinters-for-brains.”
Wiping tears from her eyes, she grinned and shrugged. “I was trying to have such a nice moment and be appropriately serious, but they’ve ruined it. I meant every word I said, though. You ever need me, you call and I’ll come running as fast as I can manage.”
Glancing at the trees, Tololo saw how the branches seemed to be straining towards them. While she had no desire to be grabbed and eaten (probably), she also couldn’t bear to see living things hurting themselves in search of the unattainable.
“Might not be a bad idea to go our own ways for now,” she said. “Stupid things are going to rip themselves apart otherwise and I really don’t want to see that. As late as it is, I don’t think they’re going to be a danger for anyone tonight.”
Besides, she kind of wanted to go home and think about the other senshi’s words about chaos burned planets and being alive for longer than she could imagine.
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2024 1:12 pm
Pyrrhus shook his head a little, clearly still amused by the whole situation. There was nothing like some ridiculous magical creature to ruin your serious, sincere moment.
"The message got across," he said, "and I do appreciate it. I....will call you if I need help." It felt strange to say, but then, he'd always known that Senshi were stronger together,. There'd just been so few people he'd been willing to trust.
But Earth was different, now, he supposed. Softer, maybe. Better, probably, technically.
"Not much to be done about 'em anyway. Whatever's making them act up will probably pass with time." That was the way of these things, and while a thousand years ago, Pyrrhus probably would have lit the forest alight to be sure, that probably wasn't an option now.
Plus, he'd bet good money Tololo wouldn't see the necessity. So, the slower route.
"See you around," he said, giving her a brief wave. He ought to get back, anyway--no sense in staying out too late and risking hitting sunrise. Ugh.
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