13844 replies to this topic

[Mr. Peanuts]

IC: Hau's chain hissed. His grin flickered for a second. But it reappeared shortly.

"Well, at least he's out. You stopped a dude from messing some serious dung up, man!"

Naara's eyes slowly came open. They peered at Dorian's own languidly, causing his lids to retreat and ocular sensors to stare back. Her twin hazel irises conveyed a quiet rage her cool voice didn't.

"Is this linked to your Mark?"

Edited by Joshua L. Chamberlain, Aug 14 2012 - 09:56 PM.

[The Snark Knight]

IC: Krayzikk

"He tried to stop me from evacuating a hospital. That, plus the obvious reasons, struck a little too close to home." Krayzikk shrugged. "To be honest, I'm still surprised I survived hand-to-hand combat with a Bearer."

[Dallas Winston]

IC: Dorian (Ice Howl Inn, Ko-Koro)

I didn't respond. I couldn't. The Timestamp did it for me, rolling up as soon as it felt the quiet rush of anger inside Naara's voice and giving me another precious couple minutes with this girl, this singular, utterly incredible being who I couldn't picture living without if I had 100,000 years on this clock and just as many ways to pass it. I reached out with my hand - my right one, which hopefully showed her how much I was willing to endure for her - and squeezed hers tightly.

"I'm working on it."

-Teezy

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC: Skaaraa
The bat like creature exited his dive and turned back into his true form: a black and purple toa of gravity with a mahiki. "Is this a place for Makuta followers?" he asked.

[ZHX]

IC: [Iegasa]

"Yes," he replied. "Seems like it is a question asked nearly universally. Would you like some tea?"

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC: Skaaraa
"That would be nice," Skaaraa replied. He looked around the shrine. There were lots of beings here.

[ZHX]

IC: [Iegasa]

Iegasa handed him a cup.

[The Giant Space Butterfly]

IC: Cimond

Cimond saw a bat-like rahi swoop down from the sky and land nearby. Then it transformed into a Toa and started talking with Iegasa, before coming inside. Of course it did. He thought. I never knew this secret shrine was really a tourist attraction. Cimond sighed and sat against the wall of the shack.

Edited by DoctorCouch, Aug 14 2012 - 10:17 PM.

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC: Skaaraa

"So tell me," he asked Iegasa. "Are there currently any groups planning on making assaults against the rebels? I could be of use in scouting and intelligence gathering."

[Joseph Joestar]

IC: With an irritated growl, Cipher cleared the gap between buildings with almost practiced ease. This was ridiculous.

Absolutely ridiculous. he thought, gritting his teeth as he ignored the shouts from below.

Apparently, the thought to drop into the streets below did not cross his mind, for he kept to the high ground in his wanderings.

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC: The Predator
"He's gone," she said. "Nobody's bought any of our stuff."

OOC: Buy something. There are two toa in a tipi style tent with a lot of bone daggers, hide robes, and collectibles all made from a single muaka. So again, BUY SOMETHING

[ZHX]

IC: [Iegasa]

"No idea. Rebels you say? I do not believe we are an Empire with control over a giant ball hanging in the sky."

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC: Skaaraa
"What I meant by rebels were those who dare lift a finger against Makuta. Are there currently any groups moving out to secure control of the island?"

OOC: Skaaraa and Ira are asking the same questions, so you don't need two seperate posts just talk to both of them in one post. Basically, there questions are "Is this the place to meet if you're either headed for Kino
iho's Xa-Koro takeover or for The Anarchy's ILS elimination?

Edited by Constructman, Aug 15 2012 - 12:26 PM.

[Master of Masks]

IC: (Kino Iho)

I sighed, putting my fingers up to my mask and rubbing just under my eyes. This was the kind of behavior that would earn us less followers and "friends". I'm probably using the word "friend" a bit too liberally there. Regardless this influx of followers was a good sign. A sign from Makuta that our cause was just and he had shown his support.

"Well it is. Though I wouldn't say conquest I would say something more romantic like a coup d'etat. We have to prepare for it though and get things in order. As well as plan for the other villages. I have a question I must ask this group. Do you know any good thieves? I got a job opportunity for them. One that will help us greatly." I grinned. I prided myself on infiltration but I needed someone who was really good and some who could get the things I needed without anyone ever missing them. I would pay them a great deal but I wanted to meet with them, discuss the terms of their employment.

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC Valja
Valja was bored. back to Ga-Wahi!

OOC: Valja to Ga-Wahi

[Tabby: Toa of Cats]

IC:[Green Tornado (Cy), Vorok, Ko-Koro]
Cy followed the Toa of Plasma leaping from rooftop to rooftop. His Mask of Flight was now on, and he followed at higher altitude. "Why on the run?" shouted Cy.

Below, Vorok followed along the main streets, his Calix allowing him to keep up with Cy and the rooftop leaper.

Edited by Tabby: Toa of Cats, Aug 15 2012 - 12:33 PM.

[BenLuke]

IC:

"You need a help from a veteran thief?" said Feongulf, the ends of her mouth raising slightly and a new fire lighting her eyes. Time to put some of the skills she had been homing over the years to good (quite literally) use. "I might be able to give you some help with that. . ."

[Mr. Peanuts]

IC: Hau shook his head in amazement. He put forth his fist.

"Brofist, again. You earned it," He said with another grin.

Naara sighed. She sat up.

"Be back in a bit."

Letting go of Dorian and ignoring any of his pleas to stay, she opened the door and walked out. It closed after her.

There was a moment of silence. Then-

BANG

"'Scuse me. I hope you didn't care for that door."

"WHAT THE KAR-"

-Dorian's Timestamp went up a few seconds-

crunch

"Oh, dearie, I must apologize for that accident. It appears that my knee just happened upon your groin in passing."

-Then a couple minutes-

"...YOU XIAN! YOU'LL PAY FOR-!"

"Gotta go. Have a nice day."

-Finally coming to a stop with several hours gained.

A significantly more casual Naara opened the door and slithered back in. She fell back onto the bed.

"Suggestion for adding to timer's clock: Ruin vacationing, narcissistic Ussalmatoran commanders' days and lea-"

She stopped. Her hands, reaching to hold him again, had not found any other body nearby.

Frosty air washed over her kanohi. Turning her gaze up, she caught the source. A window hung open.

Naara flew out of the bed. Concentrating on her hydroperception, she searched for the Fe-Toa while approaching the exit.

OOC: All bunnying approved.

Edited by Joshua L. Chamberlain, Aug 15 2012 - 01:30 PM.

[Dallas Winston]

IC: Dorian (Ko-Wahi)

It wasn't supposed to end like this.

If you listen to popular culture, to plays, books, portraits, or old wives tales, men like me are supposed to receive the ultimate comeuppance, an eternity in a dimension meant for them and them alone. The torment, agony, and unrequited lust that I've inspired in so many hearts, minds, souls, is supposed to batter down on me forever in that dimension. That terrifies me. Yes, it leaves me afraid, shaking in my metaphorical boots - I say metaphorical because, despite the incredible cold, I trudged on wearily, my silk shirt torn slightly at the shoulder, my face dark and unreadable, my stride too quick to feel any sort of cold - and makes me wish, above all else, that I would never have to die. Psychologists call this stygiophobia. I call it natural.

Finally, I left the semblance of warmth that Ko-Koro offered behind me, and with it, the only semblance of warmth that I could not convince myself I deserved - Naara. I had left as my Timestamp rolled up, finally assured that this course of action was the right one, and climbed out the window into the cold snow. In about twelve hours, I would have hypothermia. In eighteen, I would be dead. But prolonged suffering was not what I had in mind. There would be an eternity of that to sate me; rather, I wanted something quick, painless, yet everlasting. So it was here that I found myself, in the saddest landscape Ko-Wahi had to offer, a cold, bleak, desolate land that was like a bathroom wall that I could scrawl my pain and sorrow on with the magic marker of my emotions.

My lust for deification, my quest to keep the Mark by any means necessary, had removed me from the people that had truly, honestly taken me in, like a child left at a doorstep; a flayed, beaten, twisted child like me did not deserve any of their honesty or beauty. I didn't deserve Naara, who had utterly given herself over to me like she had never done for anyone else before. Naara, with her soft, rare smiles that could tear into my heart and burrow there like a mole Rahi, with the way she held me as though I were a life preserver on a tossing sea, the way she kissed me like every time was her first time. I didn't deserve Nikarra - oh, God, poor Nikarra, who had probably spent every second around me looking over her shoulder, waiting for a bullet to the head or a dagger to the back. I hadn't inspired anything in her but fear and paranoia. Her recollections of her dreams came flooding over me at once and hit me like a Kane-Ra, or one of Anthyn's winged divebombs, and I screamed out in pain as I fell to my knees, pushing myself up barely with my hands and crying out until my musical, perfect voice died out in a sudden display of independence from my emotional storm.

I pulled the revolver out from its holster and studied that oh so cruel instrument of death; unlike Naara's guitar, or my voice, it was not a thing of beauty, but a thing of pure and unattainable hatred and ugliness, a testament to the Bearer that wielded it as a fashion statement and a taunt. It was me, flaunting my status as a musician of the most despicable breed to any deity that cast their eye towards me. On it, I played my song, baring myself for the audience of the empty snows, the cold winds, the souls floating in the breeze awaiting final damnation. Soon, I would join them, and whereas this thought once gave me chills, it was now the gnawing of winter, like a pit bull, that froze my bones, and it was the bitter concept of never seeing Naara again, never telling her those three simple words that were ever-present on my tongue since the first time I used it to kiss her - I love you, my God, Naara, I LOVE YOU - and never, ever telling her the truth about me. We could have had something. This, more than anything, broke my heart.

I leveled the revolver against my temple, pressing it into the notch where once Naara's kisses, Anthyn's fists, and the devil's whispers had all taken up residence, and I pulled the trigger. What I expected to feel, I wasn't sure. Perhaps a sudden pitch of black, a sudden choir of angels descending singing out "Ding Dong, The Wicked Witch is Dead," maybe even a vision of someone from my life. This last one, I was hoping for last; one last time to see Naara, one last time to tell her everything she deserved to hear and never had. Instead, what I received was a simple Click! and a brush of wind, which massaged the bruise on the side of my head softly and gave me a moment of comfort, which I promptly quelled. Nikarra must have unloaded the gun to avoid it going off in her lap. Attagirl; I'd always tried to teach her gun safety.

"Dorian?"

Oh, God, no. No, no, no, not her, anyone but her. I had to be dead because there was no way life would be cruel enough to send me a vision of this angel, this work of art, this pure, beautiful soul that I had always been honored to call my sister...and yet, there she was, shimmering and translucent in the paper-white canvas of Ko-Wahi. She crouched down slightly and pushed the gun away from me with a gentle smile, and I closed my eyes tightly to avoid staring at those deep blue eyes, that unassuming smile, those beautiful dimples that had rippled like tides as I pushed a pillow over her face and choked the life out of them forever, and as she forced them back open, I found that they were stinging and hot as the tears fell from my face.

"Please, don't speak," said my little sister, forever frozen in mid-adolescence and smiling like she had seen God herself as she stroked my cheek. "You don't have a lot worth saying right now, but...i came to get you back on track, big brother. You mean so much to the world. To me. You could do so much. And I'm here to help you start doing it."

Then stay. Please.

"I can't," she sighed quietly, tears coming to her own eyes now. "But someday, we'll see each other again. In the meantime, get out of the snow. You can be a lover now, not an enemy. You have it in you to do honest good. Please, I want you to try. If you never do anything else for me, despite however difficult it is, please, try. I know it won't be easy. Atonement is hard. But I have faith in you. You know why?"

Please, no, don't say it. Please, don't.

"Because you're my brother, Dorian. You're my hero. I love you more than anything in this world or in the next. And no matter what you've done, no matter what you do from here, I always will."

She smiled one last time, her lips brushed my cheek, and as soon as they did I started to scream and cry and beg, because she had disappeared into the snow as if she had never been, and I realized that despite what I'd always tried to hide from myself, despite my own denials, contrary to my own beliefs, I was still me. I had long convinced myself that I was anybody but myself, but as I lay there, roaring my agony to the empty orchestra to the heavens, the memories and the feelings that had made me who I was finally stirred. First awoken by Iris, they finally rose out of bed in full force and hit me, and even as my voice finally cracked and fell, my throat raw and freezer-burnt, still the tears fell, because I finally realized what this Timestamp had helped me find.

My soul.

-Teezy

[Joseph Joestar]

IC: "Do I look like I'm running to you?" snapped the lost Toa irritably, very decidedly trudging at a reasonable pace on the rooftops.

Friggin' nosy little... Ignore them, and they'll go away. Ignore them, and they'll go away. Ignore them, and they will go away.

He repeated this mantra multiple times as he walked, the grumpy martial artist continued on.

[The Lorax]

IC (Karemo and Kitano): "We have known a few thieves in the past" Karemo remarked slowly, "They might be of use, but what do you want them for? If you can tell us what this thief will need to do, I might be able to recommend someone".

[Tabby: Toa of Cats]

IC: "Do I look like I'm running to you?" snapped the lost Toa irritably, very decidedly trudging at a reasonable pace on the rooftops.

Friggin' nosy little... Ignore them, and they'll go away. Ignore them, and they'll go away. Ignore them, and they will go away.

He repeated this mantra multiple times as he walked, the grumpy martial artist continued on.

IC:[Green Tornado (Cy)]
"When I shout inquiring what you're up too and you turn away and start leaping from rooftop to rooftop, that meets my definition of running. And when Ko-koro has been hit as hard as it was in the recent attacks that the ILS came to help deal with, anyone standing on a rooftop is suspicious-running when inquired of is even more so. So if you tell me what you're up too, it'll likely save you a lot of trouble, because I'm not going away until I quick-find what you're up too. Speaking of the recent attacks..."

The rooftop beneath Cipher gave way thanks to stuctural damage recieved in recent attacks on the Koro.

"...that roof is probably unstable. Which is why I happen to love flying. Need a hand?"

OOC: Ko-Koro recently suffered extensive damage at the hands of an attack-who the attackers were is what I don't know.
The Island Liberation Squad came by to help repair the damage and got drawn into a hostage situation that has stagnated due to the absence of AuRon.

[ZHX]

IC: [Iegasa]

"I see. Well, Kino here is the woman for that."

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC: Skaaraa
"Ah, ok," Skaaraa replied and he walked over to Kino Iho. "Excuse miss," he said. "Is this the place to go if you're joining the expedition to Xa-Koro?"

IC: Ira
Seeing Skaaraa talk to Iegasa and seemingly get a good answer, he went over to Iegasa and asked "Then would you happen to know anything on a group called The Aarchy and if they are coming here?"

[The Giant Space Butterfly]

IC: Cimond

Cimond slumped against the wall of the hut and slowly drifted off into sleep.

[Emzee]

IC: (Haitol Kytorikk/Ko-Koro)

[...]

So, entering a shop, he casually asked the shopkeeper, "How could on join the Cultured Gentry?"

IC: The reserved store owner's eye shot up towards the visitor. He squinted and looked up and down at Kytorikk. After raising an eybrow, he lowered it again and gave a single nod of approval.

"Simple," said the shopkeeper, "By being asked to join"

The shopkeeper, named Kokkan, leaned towards Kytorikk.

"Do you mind telling me what you do, mister...?"

[Mr. House]

IC: (Haitol Kytorikk/Ko-Koro CG Shop)

"I am the millionaire owner of Kytorikk's General Goods Store, Po-Koro," Haitol said with pride to Kokkan. "I also am the main supplier of arms and food to both the Ussalry and Po-Koran Guard."

[ZHX]

IC: [Ril]

"Man we're going pretty slowly."

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC: The Marksman
The Predator and the Marksman continued to sit outside. They had managed to sell their jewelry and some of there robes but there was no one asking about the bone daggers, the stone axes, or any of the other weapons. "Going out," The Marksman said suddenly. "We need food." Taking the dogsled with him, he left Ko-Wahi andwent to the snowdrifts once more.

Once on the snowdrifts, The Marksman put on a white camouflage robe and waited. Then, he heard a buzz behind him. He turned around and saw 3 Nui-Kopen flying towards him. "WHAT THE KARZ?!" he thought. "They're native to Le-Wahi!" Then he noticed the infected masks on their faces. "Oh," he thought, and took aim. Two of them went down instantly thanks to his Sanok, but the third attacked from behind and knocked him down, its claws tearing his robe. Rolling onto his back, he threw a knife at its head but it knocked it away. "Faster reflexes?!" he thought. He scrambled away and took out his axe, and when it lunged at him again, he swung, this time hitting his mark. He looked at the bodies of the three rahi, perplexed. "Could this be the start of something bad?" he thought as he loaded the rahi up onto the dogsled and hauled it back to Ko-Koro.

Edited by Constructman, Aug 15 2012 - 10:02 PM.

[Joseph Joestar]

IC: SHUT UP. GO AWAY. LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY.

Not even listening to Cy's words, the Toa of Plasma hoisted himself up ontop of the wall, bluesteel eyes sweeping across the surroundings as a faint red glow enveloped him.

If there was one good thing that came out of his horrendous sense of direction, it was having that idea.

As long as he had elemental energy to spare, the cold of Ko-Wahi would not bother him.

[The Snark Knight]

IC: Krayzikk

Krayzikk bumped fists, and smiled slightly. "So what have you been up to, hanging out with Miss Stoic?"

[HahliNuva]

IC: Riversong (talking to Janas in the Ice Howl Inn)

So she recounted what had happened during the past three days, from her arrival in the Koro to the fight with what had been dubbed Brain Slugs, ending with their meeting in the inn, all the while speaking in an even quieter tone than usual. Telling him about the fight was the worst; the way that the infected Matoran had gone limp as her blade pierced his neck, and how the horrible slug-like creatures had become a part of their foes' bodies...all memories that she had done her best not to recall. Riversong stopped speaking abruptly, forcing the potential display of emotion down, despite the fact that the deaths had disturbed her greatly. A barely-perceptible shudder passed through her thin frame.

Now is not the time for that, especially not in front of Janas; it's probably the last thing the kid needs to see. she told herself sternly, meeting her cousin's gaze once more.

[Mr. Peanuts]

IC: "Training, mainly," Hau replied. He grinned. "She ain't bad, bro. I've learned a few tricks from her already."

He paused. "Oh, and shopping. I got a new suit of armor and a katara," Hau continued. "She ain't all that bad."

Naara flew out the window and hit the ground running. She had sensed Dorian at last. Stationary, alone, and heart rate distressed in the middle of Ko-Wahi, speed was of essence in getting to him.



He was screaming at the sky when she arrived, face streaked with tears and gun still in one hand. His voice cracked and fell away as his stare went a thousand yards up into the sky.

She didn't ask questions. She didn't try to guess his motives. She merely removed the pistol from his hands and held him, long-term concern displayed in short-term care.

"'Sokay," Naara murmured. "I love you."

[The Snark Knight]

IC: Krayzikk

"I can't comment. All I know is that she beat my sorry aft within minutes of joining the fight. Karzahni, fighting Dorian was easier than her."

[Dallas Winston]

IC: Dorian (Ko-Wahi)

My tears caught in my throat and my eyes moved to meet Naara's. She had just...she had come back and said...I couldn't be dead. The gun had been empty, hadn't it? She couldn't be an illusion, because the Timestamp was still ticking, and there was no way that anything in this life or the afterlife that could fake the way those hazel eyes shone when they looked at me. She loved me. She'd just said so.

Regaining some of my natural grace as she held my, my arms snaked around her abdomen and I pulled her down with me; my body was a mattress to her, my forehead a pillow for hers to rest on, and as I pulled her into a kiss, I could feel my tears already starting to dry and my throat starting to regain its composure as I whispered back a quiet "Thank you." It was all I could do: this simple effort had left my throat unusable and raw once again, so I just resigned myself to a small grin and kissed her again. We lay there, uncaring of the cold and the wind, for what could have well been hours. I didn't even have the energy to look at the Timestamp to check for sure. I didn't have the energy to do anything but look at her, because I knew that whatever happened from here, whatever I did with myself, she would be there.

And that made all the difference.

-Teezy

Edited by Tyler Durden, Sep 08 2012 - 09:46 AM.

[Mr. Peanuts]

IC: Hau grinned. "Yeah, she's tough. But anyways..."

He paused. "Wanna go see Subrogu? I haven't talked to him in a while."

A long while later, Naara and Dorian stood up. She silently drew the pistol and handed it back to him. Then they turned and started walking back towards Ko-Koro.

[Constructman: Black Knight]

IC: The Predator and The Marksman (Ko-Koro)
The Predator sat at the table by the tent, handling all of the sales. Then she saw The Marksman walking towards her with three NUI KOPEN? "What?" she thought. Waling up to him, she asked "Did you go hunting in Le-Wahi?" "No," the marksman replied. "They followed me here for some reason. I went out to the snowdrifts and they attacked me." The Predator stood there in disbelief. "Could it be..." "Yes," The Marksman replied. "It could be."

[The Snark Knight]

IC: Krayzikk

"I think he's out. He's been busy figuring out how the heck he's going to manage our ticking time bomb of a team."

[Katuko]

OOC: Because of plot stagnation and AuRon's absence, we are performing a time skip here. I have tried to describe the situation in a manner that both groups would find acceptable. ILS is back in Ko-Koro with the Matoran, Shadow Hapaka are wherever they feel like being with ransom money in hand.


IC: Madrihk (Returning to Ko-Koro with the ILS)

A rather large group - a majority of them Toa - finally appeared on the outer edges of the village of snow. The Island Liberation Squad had been gone for some time now, and their leader was certain that the remaining members of the Sanctum Guard would be anxiously waiting for their return. Being a Toa of Ice, his breath went freely in the harsh climate, but the same could not be said for all of his team members. At least a few of them were shivering with cold, and some had voiced their complaints. Madrihk had kept himself from scoffing at them; there wasn't even a blizzard at the moment. Of course, they did not have the naturally resistance to cold that Ko-Wahi's inhabitants had. For this reason, the group had traveled mostly in silence, since everyone was too busy keeping themselves warm to talk.

The Ko-Matoran they had brought with them from the place of Shadow, however, were more talkative, and chatted away about how grateful they were for being rescued, even though they - of course - could have saved themselves given enough time to plot in the Wastes. Madrihk didn't really buy it. The only way they could have gotten themselves out of the hostage situation that the Shadow Hapaka had created was for a freak Muaka attack to happen on their kidnappers. Alas, the criminals had not chosen a Muaka's den as their hiding place. The ILS had been forced to barter with them in order to lure them out of their cave.

In retrospect, the mission could have gone better. Sure, all eleven Matoran were free and unharmed, but despite the original plan being to use an illusionary ransom conjured up by a Kanohi Mahiki, the team had fallen back on using real money after it became clear that the ruse could not be sustained long enough. One of the team's members had graciously offered some of his personal savings to use, and with a bit of lent money from the Sanctum Guard's funds as well the ransom was paid. Not in full, however, since they had still been a bit short on the rather steep demands of the Shadow Hapaka. The resulting debate had almost turned catastrophic. The leaders had been shouting at each other, blades had been drawn on both sides, and a Matoran was threatened to be carved up as the only way to lower the ransom. In the end, however, reason and logic had prevailed, and the Shadow Hapaka accepted the slightly lower sum of twenty thousand widgets as opposed to the twenty-four they had demanded; on the grounds that they were better off with most of the money and a charge for kidnapping than no money, a big fight and a charge for murder. They had taken the money and vanished, leaving the Matoran behind as per the agreement.

Now that they were back in Ko-Koro, Madrihk made a private deal with Demetrius, promising him that his money would be repaid eventually, once the squad at large had funds to spare. The Toa of Ice also exchanged a few words with the local guardsmen, confirming the Matoran's safety and explaining in brief what had happened at the Place of Shadows. Once these matters were resolved, it became clear that Ko-Koro had managed to rebuild itself to a functional level, and that the Island Liberation Squad was not needed for any special tasks. Madrihk returned from the Sanctum Guard's office to find most of his allies still shuddering from the icy wind. He smiled knowingly at their predicament.

"We're done here," he said, quite plainly. "The Matoran are rescued, any attackers gone and the village itself is getting back on its feet. For the benefit of everyone who is not me, Kethrye or Reordin, we'll march back to Pala-Koro. I believe we have important things to do - namely, expanding our reach. Some options were being discussed before we left, so let's get back to base and try again. All in agreement?"


EDIT: OOC: Of course you are. Madrihk to Le-Wahi.

Edited by Katuko, Aug 16 2012 - 12:09 PM.

[Bane of No Isles]

IC - Veira - Ko-Wahi

"It's probably best that you rent out a room in an inn." she replied.