Day 5 Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: August 28th - September ~~11th~~ 25th, 2019 ]

The strangest part about the morning of the fifth day is the silence. There's no earthquake like day four started with, there are no horrible hero-kidnapping shenanigans, and there are no glowing cracks in the ground. The cracks from before are, unfortunately, still there. But there's no glow now, no sign that anything out of the ordinary was going on.

At least until after sunrise.

The morning is shaken up by three significant events of varying intensities: The Wizard, Four, and the unknown child that had appeared on the mountain. The heroes could've easily guessed that things wouldn't go smoothly for anyone. With impressive teamwork the previous evening, they'd brought that unknown child to Harsen Island's only actual hospital in Far Haven.

Unfortunately for everyone, the doctors really can't tell much of anything. None of their machines can get a reading of... anything. There doesn't seem to be a pulse, the child doesn't even appear to be breathing. The only thing that anyone's been able to comment for certain is that the child's eye glow matches the glow that everyone had seen coming out of the cracks in the ground. That's not a good sign at all!

Fifth Morning Event: Far Haven: The Hospital.

The Weather
Eerily still.
72°F / 22°C
A little hotter today.

Prompts:

06:00am Train Station, Craydon: Anyone going for a walk in the Craydon area is going to be in for a surprise: There's a new crater. Laying sprawled at the center of the crater is the Wizard, unmoving and unresponsive. Standing on the defensive is Ten, and he's already urged several locals away from the scene. Despite wearing a pair of shorts and an "I love the beach" T-Shirt, he's looking surprisingly intimidating with all of his fingers turned sharp as needles. Looks like he's not letting anyone close to the body of the Wizard! For anyone who gets a look, there's a very clear scorch mark like she'd been blasted by something... and whatever that something is, it isn't here anymore. By the time social media has started buzzing about it, the hashtags of #heroeswin and #goodprevails are almost instantly coined to celebrate. Better go make sure the Wizard is dead, heroes!

07:00am Train Station Video Stand, Bamborough: Apparently unfazed by the events transpiring in Crayon, Four has arrived at the train station in Bamborough to capitalize on sales in the tourist region of the island. Fortunately for everyone, they're offering the full 9-hero-set of videos for every one of the heroes that had participated in their game shows the day before. There's a special discount for participants: It's free! For tourists it still costs money, but no one's buying it. They'll be visibly losing their optimism about sales opportunities by 8am. And to think, they even put out a tablecloth and designed their own poster to go above them to advertise! Their handwriting isn't the worst!! (They think that, but they're wrong.)

08:00am Harsen Island Regional Hospital, Far Haven: When the child wakes up, it happens abruptly and without warning. They sit upright, eyes snapping open to look at the room they're in. Unfortunately for everyone inside, they turn to the window in their room and detonate it. For anyone watching, a visible blue glowing circle appears on the wall a second before it explodes outward. The child hops to the ground a moment later, their feet clacking like glass strikes stone, and they move to leave. If anyone's in the room, now's the opportunity to stop them. If no one moves to stop them, they'll be jumping out of the window.

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Important: 'Child' toplevels will unlock additional information as the story progresses. Send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding this thread.

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Of all the things the child wanted in this moment, being stopped was not one of them. Unfortunately for Gyre's attempts to calm the child down, the fact that Zafika has grabbed them means they're not going to calm down even slightly.

They whirl around, even in Zafika's grasp, and raise their arms up to get their hands off their shoulders. What Zafika will see, and feel, is a soft blue glow over their arms and tail that pulls and forces them away from the child. Something magical has taken over here to get them away.

They take several steps back from Zafika, glancing over their shoulder to the shield that Gyre's placed over the window hole they'd made... and they whip their gaze back towards the two of them. They look like a cornered animal, glass-like teeth bared at the two heroes. They exhale a puff of blue mist a moment before they hiss out a warning:

"Raxal giqxal ivaj iv!"

Well that's bad. That's not good at all! He sees the look in the kid's eyes first, that cornered animal fear, and he immediately knows they've made a mistake. Then Zafika is pushed back, and he moves to their side, hissing, "Are you okay? Get down."

As he speaks, he kneels down to the kid's level, and takes Zafika's arm to take them down with him. He wants the two of them to seem way less threatening then the two stranger adults that they are, and his voice is once again as calm and steady as he can make it.

"Hey, hey, kit'a, it's okay. Can you understand us?" he asks, gesturing between himself and the kid as if to create some kind of understanding there even if none exists.

Well, guess this is happening now. Zafika is aware that they don't have that much physical strength, but the fact that the kid is actually managing to whirl around like that should not be normal-

Then they both see and feel the blue glow, and it's a very weird feeling to watch their arms and tail release the kid, almost as if they were floating, at least until the glow disappears. They do take a step away from the kid instinctually, their scales bristled the barest amount until Gyre steps up next to them.

"I'm fine I-"

They don't get to finish their words before Gyre takes their arm and pulls them down, so they go with the motion and kneel down too, their eyes flicking between Gyre and the child. They've never been good with kids, and this is a very weird and strange kid to boot, so they'll let Gyre handle the talking for now.

Gyre's decision is enough to make the child pause. They watch, unmoving but still wound up like a spring ready to release. Now that Zafika isn't advancing on them and now that the two of them have shrunken away and are clearly not about to attack them...

They narrow their eyes at Gyre's very clear attempt to communicate with them. They point a finger out towards his face as they speak. Their voice is calmer now, but there's a definite hostility in their tone.

"Quaj ecqus qu Qu firafiraqu, Qu iv Qu' Fenra."

And then they lift their other hand towards the window, closing their fingers except the one that's aimed at Gyre's shield. The tip of their finger glows blue and so does his shield. They are absolutely starting to lift the shield up and out of the way with their power.

Uh. What now, guys? Because they're definitely gonna sprint out that window the moment the shield's out of the way. Guess something's gotta be done.

Well Gyre still doesn't want to escalate things here. He can tell the kid is tense and his mouth twists up very slightly as he realizes that there's some kind of language barrier here. It only seems to go one way though? They spoke like they were trying to say something, a clarity in their tone that he's pretty sure wouldn't be there if they were asking him what the fuck he was saying.

For now, he's not going to advance on them, though he does turn his focus to the window, trying to hold the shield up against uh whatever that blue light is doing. He releases Zafika's arm after a moment, holding his hands up passively.

"I'd like it if you stayed here. Give us a second, kit'a, I can't understand you," he says softly, gesturing his palm downwards as if to indicate they should stay in one place please.

Zafika's tail is coiling even more behind their back as they spot Gyre's shield starting to be lifted, and now their eyes are flickering between Gyre, the kid, and the shield that's being lifted. This is not good, and if the kid can make the window explode like that, they don't want to know what else they can do.

Gyre's clearly trying to get them to calm down, so maybe they can at least distract the kid from messing with his shield. So now that they're not being held still, they move back a little, and sit down onto the ground, legs crossed and their tail pooled onto their lap, held still with their arms.

"Hey, kid, over here." They hope the kid will pay some attention, as they try to focus, and.... bit by bit, small spots of light start to pop up into the room. Eventually the room looks like there's a bunch of glowing fireflies just floating about in the room. Hopefully the kiddo likes random spots of light!

They are absolutely not swayed in any way by Gyre's request to have them stay here. They understood that Gyre doesn't understand them, but he and all the others have the tools to get past that barrier. They have way, way more important tasks to take care of in this exact moment, and getting out of this room is priority one.

Their eyes snap to Zafika as they sit and get their attention and--

Oh.

Zafika's intentions don't line up at all with what the child experiences. They go tight as a spring, like a frightened animal, when they see the glowing, floating spots of light in the room. Those are threats. Those are dangerous. Their eyes are locked on the floating motes of light, darting between the nearest ones several times. There's an unmistakable shifting of glowing streaks below the translucent cyan sheen of their skin a second before they snap their finger down from where they'd been pointing at Gyre's shield. Now their finger is aimed at the floor. The floor that is, unfortunately for everyone, far less durable than Gyre's knight shield. A beam fires out from the tip of their finger and into the floor and--

The ground shatters like ice. The splintering spiderweb cracks glow bright blue as they fracture every inch of the floor.

In the ensuing chaos, they point their hand at the wall of the room below and detonate it outward too. They leap off of the falling debris, escaping their newly created path of destruction in the building. They are leaving and they are running.

[ The child has exited the Hospital and is on the run! Who will give chase? ]

[Olivia had been on her way to the hospital to see this child everyone was talking about when she heard the explosion. As she started running towards the chaos-which she doubts she would've done if it weren't now her job or whatever-, her eyes spotted the culprit running away from the hospital.

She beelines towards the child, trying to intercept him but in the less threatening way possible. If he is who (or what) she thinks he is, she definitely wants to be on his good side. As she approaches, she does so with open palms, to show him she's unarmed. Her eyes linger on the collapsed section of the hospital for a moment before focusing on the kid again, as she gives him a shaky smile.] Hey, kid - are you okay? I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise.

[ Unfortunately for Olivia, the child just escaped what they feel was a near-death experience. They're absolutely running scared, determined to not get caught by whatever or whoever is trying to capture them. Like a scared animal, they're running on instinct. Which means that when she arrives and holds up her hands in a pacifying gesture they don't immediately acknowledge it. ]

[ They do, however, immediately redirect. They get really low, skidding their legs out along the ground to slow themselves before they plant their hands down and-- start running again, this time at a perfect perpendicular to their previous path. They've taken a hard left, away from the hospital, and straight towards a fence. It uh... It looks like they intend to run and jump the fence? ]

[ What now, Olivia? Call out? Call for backup? Give chase? ]

[ Can they even climb a fence, or are they about to go through it? So many questions. ]

[Many thoughts rush through Olivia's mind when she sees the child run away from her, the first of them being "shit". She thinks about calling on Iv who, although a giant cow person, is way more comforting and motherly than she is, or maybe running after the child and tackling them, or changing herself to look like them, or maybe throwing some sort of rope at them?

Regardless of her probably bad ideas, her instincts had already kicked in and she had immediately started chasing after them - except she'd quickly realized that that's obviously going to make them keep trying to escape her. Instead, she tries to keep up with them, running alongside them but keeping a few feet of distance so they know she's not trying to grab them.] I guess it is a nice day for a jog! [She comments lightheartedly, glancing at the kid. If they jump the fence, she'll be right by their side jumping it too. She has absolutely no idea about how to show a terrified small person that she's possibly on their side, but escaping with them is a start?]

[ Unfortunately for Olivia, the child is in full-on panic mode. Every idea is really a bad idea in this moment, and she's right that chasing them is going to make them try to escape her. But she's made a good decision to not be directly behind them. Their pace slows, though they don't take their absolutely suspicious stare off of her. They're not going to be stopped as they make their way towards the pier, but they've got all of the city between here and there to get through. ]

[ For now, they're determined to keep going. They leap the fence, surprised to find Olivia still tagging along. They aren't as panicked, but they still look ready to bolt if she tries to attack. ]

[ They open their mouth like they're going to say something, close their mouth, open it again-- and decide not to say anything. Instead they just keep moving, their pace is slow enough that it's more of a power walk now that they're over the fence. ]

[She slows when he does, giving him a curious look when it seems like he wants to speak. Olivia gives him a reassuring smile before glancing away from him; as someone who is anxious in most social situations, she knows staring at him will make him more uncomfortable with this whole situation than he already is. So she keeps power walking alongside him, eventually opening her mouth to nonchalantly ask,] So... just a stroll around town, then? Or are we going somewhere?

[ They keep stealing glances over at Olivia, clearly suspicious that she's going to try something. That she's going to try to attack. That she's going to do anything to them at all. They refrain from speaking until she brings up a topic. ]

[ When they speak, it's like the air around them both crackles with an impossible intensity. There's electricity in the air, crackling and sparking like magic, but it doesn't hurt. It does, however, make all of Olivia's hairs stand on end (maybe not the ones on her head though.) ]

"Qu' ajra aj ecq ajivqu, Qu sef' us qufiiv ci'us ajra." [ They answer, watching Olivia for a moment to see if she understands. ]

[ She definitely doesn't understand. No one understands. So they keep walking, unfazed by her not knowing. ]

[She lets out a surprised hum as she feels the electricity, rubbing slightly at her arms to get her hairs to stop whatever they're doing.

That definitely doesn't sound like a language she's heard before. She's kind of fascinated! She wonders if anyone here has the power of instantaneous translation, or something.] Sorry, I don't... hm. You don't understand me either, then, do you? [She rubs at her chin in thought, watching them as she asks first in English, then Spanish, then broken French. She doubts they'll understand any other language but their own, but it's worth a shot. She keeps pace with the kid, wondering how else she could communicate with them... maybe drawing? But for that they'd have to stop walking first, and they seem determined to keep moving.]

Ah, what about a name, at least? [She makes sure she has the child's attention before enthusiastically pointing at herself.] Olivia! [Then, she points her finger at them, without moving her hand close to them at all in case they get spooked, and gives them a nod. What's your name?]

[ Even if she rubs at her arms, the electricity is still very much in the air and doing its thing. They watch her as she assumes they don't understand. That's a bold assumption to make, Olivia. They watch her cycle through multiple languages, listening closely until she finally decides on another approach. They've got this, but they're going to comment about it first: ]

Qu ci Qu aj firafiraqu ci? [ And then they point at themselves and add: ]

Sxicq (Zzih-k)

S... Zzihk? [She does her best to repeat the pronunciation, trying it a few times if she needs to. She smiles and gives them a thumbs up when she gets it right! She hopes that's not seen as an offensive gesture.]

Fuck, I wish I could understand you. Bet you have a lot of interesting things to talk about. [She muses, mostly to herself. She stays quiet after that, continuing to think on the drawing-to-communicate idea as she walks with them.]

[ If they're offended by the thumbs up, they don't show it. Instead they just keep watching her for any sign or indication that she has other questions queued up for them. When it turns out that she's just commenting on a theory, they turn back towards their stroll. ]

[ They've slowed to a walking pace by now, making their way casually and steadily towards their intended destination. They need to see the ocean. They need to get there. ]

[ It seems like, for the most part, Olivia and the child make their way uneventfully to the pier... or at least, we wish that would happen! Instead, Olivia is going to be unfairly slurped into a fight with Five! ]

Edited 2019-10-12 03:08 (UTC)

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Day 5 Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

The Weather

Prompts:

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