lifeaftr | open!

Entry tags:

open!

Who: Yang Xiao Long and you!
What: Arrival.
When: 10/27 onward
Where: Ensō
Warnings: n/a!

arrival.

Huh...That was a weird--

[ when yang wakes up, she realizes that it was, indeed, a weird dream, but it was one that was true. it was one that was foretelling of the future to come. she doesn't understand what's going on, nor does she understand why the rest of her team wasn't brought her, too. but after the initial shock and wandering around, yang decides she needs to investigate and find her footing here.

the first place yang can be found is near a mana pool, which, as far as yang recalls, is the method of teleportation around here. yet, she isn't sure she wants to try it out just yet, seeing as she doesn't really know any of the other locations except for where she's standing. she's also experimentally trying to scratch off the sigil on her cybernetic arm, but to no avail.]

Damn.... at least it's charging.

[ at least, she thinks so.]

dracling.

[ the second place yang can be found is near the temple. yang is intrigued by it and moves to step inside, but something rustles in the grass nearby. she gasps and turns to look towards the source of the noise -- it's noisy and chirping, minding its own business. yang carefully steps away from the temple, eyes trained on the creature so as not to disturb it, when suddenly she backs into someone standing behind her.]

Oof-!

[ she turns to whoever it was.] Sorry, my bad, just didn't wanna --

[ the dracling's chirping stops. it's now made aware of their presence. it turns towards yang and the newcomer with wide eyes.]

wildcard.

[ hmu with anything. alternatively feel free to add me at

amplitude and we can plot something there.]

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[ Shiro's a big guy, and sturdy, so he doesn't stumble or anything... but he is suddenly very aware of the little guy staring at them. Oh. Well. Surely, that's fine. ]

Don't worry about it. It's alright. [ His eyes are on the dracling. ] We should move carefully.

Yyyyep.

[ she starts pacing backwards again, hands held up in front of her. please don't hurt us, weird lizard friend. ]

Just sloooowly back away.

[ That's an extremely valid reaction. There's some weird shit here, and Shiro doesn't know if this little guy will suddenly rear up and spit acid or something? Listen, it might be completely harmless, but he's taking exactly zero risks.

Shiro lifts his hands, too, and follows suit. We come in peace, don't wreck us, please. ]

Slowly, no sudden movements...

[ slowly backing up... all the way until the dracling is out of sight. yang swallows and freezes in place. the chirping hasn't started up again -- is that a bad sign? probably. ]

Think we're good?

[ It's Probably Fine. ]

Not sure, but we won't know until it comes to find us. [ ... ] Hopefully we're fine.

Let's just keep walking, then. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

[ yang gestures forward with her head. ]

C'mon, let's get out of here.

Whilst Yang is getting her bearings, she may or may not notice the imminent approach of...this thing. Armed with naught but a mighty weapon of mythical proportions, it crawls through the grass on all fours with all the dignity and grace of a toddler, making absolutely no attempt at subtlety. It's not entirely clear if it is explicitly seeking Yang out, or if she has simply gotten between it and its destination - presumably the mana pool.

Regardless, once the strange creature is about five feet away from her, it will - after three wobbly attempts - manage to stand itself up properly, and angle their bag upwards to properly address the stranger standing before them. Which mostly involves just standing stock still and silently staring at the newcomer for about a minute, before inquisitively tilting their bag to the side like a confused puppy.

What the...

[ what is going on? yang stares at the....person? thing? crawling towards her. at first she assumes this is a toddler who can't walk, and she takes a step towards them, wondering if she should help...

but then they stand up properly, and yang takes a step back. ]

Can I help you?

All of a sudden, its entire body language shifts - their bag shoots back upright, their shoulders roll like a boat at sea, and the stick is lifted into a striking position! The creature then all but launches into a flurry of extremely cheesy martial arts poses that wouldn't look out of place in a terrible kung fu flick, culminating in the wannabe martial master barely balancing upon one foot and shakily using their free hand to deliver the universal hand signal for 'bring it'

It's alright. It has no idea what it's doing, either.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[ this is amusing and all but it's clear that this...person...wants some kind of challenge? some kind of fight? just judging based off of their body language, and yang narrows her eyes. ]

Look, pal, I'd normally be itching for a good fight, but I kinda just got here. [ she shrugs and grins sheepishly. ] All I need are a few days to get adjusted to this place and figure out what's going on, then we can spar.

Sounds good?

...the creature drops their fighting stance, shoulders sagging and bag lowered in a mixture of disappointment and sorrow - now look what you've done, you've upset the poor thing - and without any further fanfare, they turn on their tiny shoes to leave...and then immediately freeze upon seeing the oaken wood door built into the ground mere feet away from them. Which is then immediately swung open with alarming force, causing the tiny creature to jump at least a metre in the air in fright.
From within the open doorway to goodness-knows-where, a bigger version of the small thing's bag peers out, eyehole widening upon 'seeing' their smaller relative(?). The bigger bag then goes on to speak in a shrill, elderly, but otherwise distinctly human-sounding voice, seemingly pleased to have found their child(???).

"Ah, there you are! I was wondering where you'd - Oh! Good morning, miss!"

An also distinctly human-looking hand pokes out from the depths to give a hearty wave at Yang, the larger bag's tone swelling with sunny cheer. It'd probably be a far more sincere gesture if whoever or whatever this is wasn't a weirdly expressive paper bag and a hand waving from inside an open doorway sitting in the ground - of which definitely, absolutely was not there a couple of seconds ago.
This is a thing that is happening now, it appears.

[ okay, that makes her feel bad. the creature looks so dejected and yang feels a pit form in her stomach. it's not too bad, but there's still guilt there, and she frowns. she opens her mouth to apologize...

but then someone calls out from -- the ground??? what on remnant is going on here. yang's eyes widen in even more confusion as someone actually calls out to her. a voice... a human voice! nice. ]

Good...morning?

[ THIS SURE IS HAPPENING. ]

Uhhhhh.

Apparently satisfied by the greeting, a second hand materialises from within the doorway, and latches onto the grass alongside its partner to begin lifting whoever this person is out from the depths...starting with a neck, then a torso, and then...oh. That is a very, very tall person, adorned in perhaps the most bizarre take on doctor's apparel this side of the dreamscape. They finish their ascent from wherever that doorway leads by landing in front of the pair in a squatting position, knees fully bent and backside scant inches from the floor.
And yet somehow they still 'stand' a few inches over Yang.

"Forgive me if I startled you! I've been looking for Mini since this morning, and as soon as I caught a glimpse of them over here, I just had to take the opportunity! They've been afflicted with a peculiar wanderlust recently, and it's become increasingly difficult to keep an eye-"

The good doctor tilts his bag-adorned head downward to indicate 'Mini', only to accidentally demonstrate his point as he realises the creature in question is nowhere to be found. He simply stares at the empty patch of grass for a moment before huffing, casually reaching around behind him to grasp the open door and slam it shut. As soon as it closes, there is nothing in its place but grass, as if it never existed to begin with.
He turns back to Yang to continue speaking, only to visibly hesitate as the bag's eyehole squints in confusion...

"...it has occurred to me that we haven't actually met before, my apologies! I'm Doctor Faust - I'm the deputy managing director of the local clinic and infirmary. Who might you be?"

A large hand is lightly extended out like an olive branch, freely broadcasting both his sincerity and his embarrassment in both tone of voice and body language. Though again, such a gesture may very well be hampered by the whole 'unironically wears a disturbingly expressive paper bag' thing.

[ uM. that is one very tall person indeed. very, very tall. it barely even registers to her that he's a doctor, but she's mostly just glad he's talking...?

yang also notices that the creature, 'mini', is now missing. lord knows if she'll run into it again. if she does, that should be...interesting. kinda weird, but okay. she watches him as he closes the door and emerges. he is so tall and yang has to look up at him when she speaks. ]

Uh -- I'm Yang! Yang Xiao Long, just got here. Nice to meet you, Doctor Faust.

[ see? at least she's remembered her manners, despite the expressive paper bag. she shakes his hand. ]

You live underground or something?

"...ah...?"

The hand goes slack in Yang's grasp for a split second, Faust's eyehole widening in surprise before squinting in deep thought, or...recognition, perhaps? He's certainly pensive all of a sudden...
Whatever it is, it's over as suddenly as it started, and the good doctor finishes off the handshake with a little flourish before speaking further, already waddling backwards like a penguin to give the newcomer a bit more breathing room - contrary to popular belief, Faust is extremely aware of how unsettling he can appear to the uninitiated.
...speaking of the uninitiated:

"Oh, no - though it can certainly look like that at times! What you just witnessed was a form of astral projection - spiritual teleportation, if you will. I fade out of this plane of existence, a door connecting the realms material and spiritual poofs into existence at a location of my choosing, and I pop out of it! Quick and quiet - unless you slam the door on your way out, of course. It doesn't have to be in the floor, either! Any solid surface will do."

As he talks, the good doctor becomes...rather animated. He gesticulates with great enthusiasm, evidently enjoying this topic as he gestures and points and flourishes with every syllable, to the point that it almost feels like he's providing a sign language translation to his own words as he speaks to Yang.

[ ....this is so much. this is a lot to take in. it's only her first day and she's already losing her mind. she listens to faust speak and she needs a few moments to wrap her head around everything that's been said. ]

...I need a drink.

[ and yang isn't really a fan of alcohol to begin with. she puts her hand on her forehead and sighs before she lowers it, puts it on her hip, and looks at faust once more. he sure seems excited about this. ]

So...is that supposed to be magic or something?

Uwah?!

[ ... Well, shit. Jyushimatsu had returned to the temple to check if some other newbie dropped their stuff so he could claim them, as if he was some stray dog digging into trash... as expected, he didn't find anything at all and he was just about ready to make his trekking back to the camp, especially now that he hears the sadly familiar sound of draclings chirping nearby, but then someone bumps into him and he... gasps. Loud. Because Jyushimatsu almost never does things quietly.

When he turns around, there's a blonde girl and those damn eyes staring right through him. ]

... Okay, miss, listen! [ His voice miracolously lowers. ] Those things spit fire and poison if we piss them off, so let's step back very very slowly and make no sound at all, please.

[ He's begging her for a good reason, sweat gathering on his forehead. ]

That was kind of the plan!

[ her voice is equally as hushed as she starts stepping backwards. very, very slowly, as instructed. she holds her hands out as if to say 'we mean no harm' and keeps her eyes trained on the dracling.

she's tempted to ask how he knows that they're as deadly as he's making them out to be, but that's for after.

the dracling keeps its eyes on them. ]

[ He wouldn't be so wary if he didn't have a close encounter with a group of them earlier, but at least the girl is listening to him! People rarely ever listen to him, so that's a plus.

Taking few slow steps back, larger because of his shorter legs, Jyushimatsu mutters, ]

Keep going, like this, good...! As soon as it looks away, let's run for it!

[ she is definitely listening, that's for sure. he's got experience with these creatures. she can tell!

yang takes a few more steps back before the creature blinks once, twice...and then turns the other way. ]

Run!

[ she, too, turns the other way and makes a mad dash to safety. and she's fast. ]

[ Usually he would make very unnecessarily loud sounds like "WAAAAAH" or "WOOOOOH" when he starts running, but for the sake of his own life and that of his casual companion Jyushimatsu goes sprints without saying a word, wide-eyed and determined to never cross the temple for the next few weeks hopefully.

And he's fast, too! The fastest runner among his family and probably some actual athletes. He must be fast if he wants to catch all the bases, get it? ]

[ a good choice, jyushimatsu, because yang is silent as she runs too. and just like him, she is not going to go back to the temple anytime soon. not until the draclings leave. she'd feel a little more confident about fighting it if she wasn't so wary about her arm.

once they've gotten to a safe place -- somewhere behind a tree -- yang pauses and puts her hands on her knees to catch her breath. geez, that was a far run. a few moments later though, she turns to face him. ]

Are you okay?

[ He'll thank Akatsuka for not ending this nonsense with them getting caught by the lizard or worse. When they manage to get to a safe space, with nothing that implies the dracling followed them, Jyushimatsu allows himself to wheeze for air as he leans heavily against the tree. The back of his sleeve catches some sweat when he rubs it over his forehead. If he was any less fit, he would have surely collapsed right there. ]

Yeah, as okay as someone who just got a brush with death!

[ A laugh. How many times did he experience that, or actually died? Countless. ]

You?

Really wouldn't try that.

[The guy at the mana pool is in full-on space marine armor, helmet and all. Having to take the time to sit and recharge all his shit is still, in his opinion, nothing short of a fucking nightmare. At least regular armor maintenance gives you something to do in the meantime.]

[Someone's nearby - someone he doesn't recognize (not that this means much) and someone with some kind of cybernetic limb, no less, which would explain why she's scratching at the sigil on it.]

Doesn't come off.

Yeah, I kinda figured.

[ she turns to address the man talking to her, though her eyes widen slightly when she realizes he's in full armor. like. full on armor. she can't remember the last time she's seen someone dress like that (because what is using protective gear in rwby), but it's...kinda cool. ]

I'm just hoping they didn't mess with it too much, if you know what I mean.

You gotta keep it charged, but other than that, it usually works the way it's supposed to.

[He sounds resigned to this - not thrilled about the whole thing at all.]

At least, it should. If it's broken you might need to get it repaired.

[ oh, she notices. ]

You don't sound too happy about this. Did they break any of your gear?

It's a pain in the ass, mostly.

[He taps at one of his shoulderpads.] This stuff's heavy. Got a lot of pieces. If it bugs out in the middle of a combat situation, that's really going to hurt.

Is there a reason why you can't take off the armor?

[ she's just wondering. is this place really so dangerous that he needs to keep it on like this? ]

I dunno, it just looks like a lot to lug around.

I mean, I can. It's just kind of a hassle. Not exactly an easy procedure.

[And he'd rather be safe and cumbersome than traveling light and dead.]

Never know when something out here is going to try and kill you.

[ at that, yang lets out a little chuckle. ] Man, I don't even think I could last a day in one of those.

[ as for his next point, yang raises an eyebrow. huh. ]

Is this place really that dangerous?

It can be. Couple months ago, this place was crawling with dragons that were very happy to eat or torch you - or both.

[That's not even getting into the massive fuck-off dragon on the other island.]

You get used to it. [The armor, and the island living. In his opinion.]

Dragons?

[ she just. stares at him for a good moment, because the only "dragons" she knows are grimm. ]

...Okay, you know what? I shouldn't be surprised. Sounds pretty par for the course, huh.

[She gets points for not outright refusing to believe him. The willingness to roll with the weirdness is usually a promising characteristic.]

Around here? Yeah, it kind of is. You just have to get used to seeing a lot of weird shit all the time. Most of it wants to kill you.

Whoah! [Zidane was going to say something when he spotted Yang and the creature and then Yang bumped into him. It causes him to take a few steps back but he keeps his balance.

Oh, well. It's kind of understandable she wouldn't have known he was there.]

All right. Follow my lead. We can sneak by this way if we don't frighten it suddenly.

Yeah, sounds like a plan.

[ the way the dracling is staring at them isn't very promising, and yang is on edge. she follows his lead and veers off to the side. ]

Alright, slow and steady...

Wouldn’t scratch that off. It’s important to keep the sigils on for anything tech related. [The man who spoke had appeared suddenly like anyone using the portal would. Beside him a massive blue wolf with glowing pale blue markings peers at her with yellow eyes. The beast moves forward and sniffs while the speaker moves to step out of the way in case anyone else is coming by.]

I think there’s a metal ore that does the same thing but not offering that until it’s tested.

[The wolf decides she’s worth whining at and bends down, head forward for petting. The dark haired man shakes his head, something about him seeming to relax.] I’m Keith, this is Kosmo. If you’re new I can answer some questions for you.

[ she lets out a quiet gasp when she hears someone approach suddenly and takes a step back. yang's stance is defensive and a little more on-edge when the giant wolf sniffs her...until it bows its head and starts whining.

oh. it's kind of adorable. yang grins and kneels down to give the good boy some pets, immediately loosening up before she looks up and smiles at keith. ]

Nice to meet you, Keith. [ she looks back at the wolf and ruffles his head. ] You too, Kosmo.

[ she turns back to look up at keith. ] I'm Yang, and yeah, I'm brand new here and I've got a ton of questions. Nailed it in one. I guess I should start by asking what the sigils do?

Depends on the sigil but those seem to power things. I’ve seen them on a few pieces of tech and inside the liquid in my lantern.

[Keith unclips the lantern strapped to his belt and holds it at eye level. At first it looks like there’s only clear liquid inside. He slowly turns at the top until it glows strong enough to be visible to the eye. Within the fluid, glowing brighter than the rest, the same sigil is contained.]

Others are designed to keep things out and things like that. We’re slowing piercing it together.

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open!

dracling

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FORGOT TO ASK i hope brackets are okay! i can switch format if you'd like!

brackets work fine! but I can switch format instead if you'd prefer :p

the way we're doing this now works just fine with me <3

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