Endless Sea (Alaki Nuva)

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) "...I hope that from now on, the truth of Ak'rei'an can be spread with words of reason, not coercion. Maybe then followers of Mata Nui won't respond with such excessive force." Joskander shook his head as he gingerly trotted his way down the frozen steps. Maybe, huh? he thought as he watched Dahkapa outpaced him. You hope, huh? You know, when you first started talking at me like that, I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. No clue whether you were trying to play me, or you were just insane. Couldn't take a word you said at face value. Now, I'm starting to think you genuinely believe every word of what you're saying... and that scares me. Because there's no way in all the world that you'll be able to convince your cultist friends that what they did to you was wrong... or convince people like me to forgive them. And I have no idea what you're going to do when you realiOHNOOHGODOHMAN- Slip. Both Joskander's feet gave beneath him, and suddenly he was skidding head over heels down the last few steps and crashing face first into the floor. By the time he had picked himself off the ground and reassured himself that he hadn't gone the way of that poor old Skakdi at Obsidian Outpost, Dahkapa was already easing his way through a broken wall and- oh no- a hidden passageway. Never a good sign, one of those in a place like this. "Dahkapa!" he called as he stumbled out of the ruined halls. "Brother! Wait up!" Squeeze through the passage, jump down the hole, don't trip, don't trip, down the stairs down the stairs, down the stairs- He saw the room before he saw Dahkapa. "Oh." For a few moments he just stood there on the stairs, squinting into the chamber, trying to catch a glimpse of its innards, instantly regretting it whenever he did. Then he slowly walked down to stand by Dahkapa's side. "I can search this room for you, if you want," he murmured. "But I don't think we're gonna find anything worthwhile down here." OOC: @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Cephala (Ga-Koro docks) "Oh? I hope that means you're planning on taking on more than just us on this rescue mission, then. Two old petkeepers and a drunk fisherwoman in the Wastes? Even with the cultists gone from Ko-Koro I'm not too drunk to realize that's not a disaster waiting to happen." OOC: @Mel @Geardirector

IC: Cephala (Ga-Koro docks) "Ah." A grimace. "This wouldn't happen to be that 'Soraph' lady you mentioned earlier, yes?" OOC: @Mel @Geardirector Decided to check on old posts from the Old People Corner, and apparently this isn't the first time Soraph's come up! Gonna edit my last post too to clear up a minor bit of continuity.

IC: Cephala (Ga-Koro docks) "Oh?" Cephala frowned in thought. "Nothing planned, no- I wouldn't have asked to stick around with you lot earlier if I had obligations to take care of, y'know? I was thinking about trying to mingle with some of your cohorts earlier, naturally, but that's less of a plan and more of a 'stand around and wait for things to happen' sort of thing anyways. Why do you ask?" OOC: @Mel @Geardirector EDIT: looked up some old posts, found a thing where Cephala asked to come along anyways, decided to put it in because continuity. I worry too much, methinks.

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) "As you wish, brother," Joskander said. He gave Dahkapa a nod and took a few long strides over to the stairwell- then stopped abruptly, head bowed in thought. "While we walk, though," he added, "I've got a question I'd like answered. Who do you think had it worse? This place? Or Ko?" OOC: @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) Joskander exhaled slowly, walked right up to Dahkapa, looked him right in his violet-tinged eyes... and shrugged. "How should I know? I wasn't here. I have no idea what this place was. I have no idea what its people did here. I have no idea who attacked it, or why, or how. All I know is that your Brotherhood owned it once... and then it got sacked." He stared up through the shattered roof, up between the canyon crags, up to the glimmers of the sun above. "And I know that when they made you a convert," he muttered, "they did it not with a word, but with a knife. So forgive me if I still find myself something of a skeptic of their goodness." OOC: @Daniel the Finlander so that last bit definitely isn't how joskander normally speaks but I'm too tired right now to make it less melodramatic so whatever xP

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) Joskander watched Dahkapa sift through the ruins through hooded eyes. He didn't move to help. He had no idea what he was even looking for, and he was hardly feeling confident enough to ask. It hardly seemed like Dahkapa needed the help anyways; he was moving with a purpose, and Joskander almost wondered if his being there might actually be slowing the Toa of Ice down. "This is a page from one of the Books of Makron and Orkov, I presume... not what I am looking for, but..." Joskander frowned. "Books of who?" he said, but Dahkapa was already turning, his scowl vanishing beneath his whirling cape. "We'll find nothing here. Let us head back down. Only something underground could've survived this kind of zealous hatred." "You sure?" Joskander took a step forward, looked carefully into Dahkapa's eyes. "You seem... significantly more troubled than usual right now. Something up with what was on that paper?" OOC: @Daniel the Finlander stupid question, what did dahkapa say to joskander about the details of this fortress again, if anything

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) "Offices first, methinks. We'll probably be sweeping the whole place no matter what, so we might as well save the deepest, dankest catacombs for last." Joskander gestured grandiosely in a vaguely forward direction. "This is your expedition, so... after you." OOC: @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Cephala (Ga-Koro docks) "Putting 'razor fish' and 'towing' together in the same sentence sounds like a recipe for disaster, quite frankly." OOC: @Mel @Geardirector

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) "Mmm..." Joskander nodded and chewed on his lip behind his mask. Secret societies with secret... secrets... ugh. The deeper he journeyed into this hole, the slimier it felt. He had to be there for his brother, he couldn't let him down again... but he didn't feel fit playing the thinker, the worrier. He didn't like coming face to face with problems he couldn't throw a tornado at. He couldn't remember his old team, but he could remember what it was like to be with them. He missed not having to worry, to think, because he had comrades who were so much better at making the hard decisions than he was. Then again, as far as he knew, perhaps that was the reason he didn't have a team anymore. Ancient gears turned in his clockwork mind. "Hm. Might as well start with wherever the higher-ups had their offices. Obvious place to hide stuff, but that's just because it makes sense to do it like that, y'know?" OOC: @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Cephala (Ga-Koro docks) "Word of wisdom- grab a Mask of Water Breathing first. Makes your life so much easier." OOC: @Mel @Geardirector

IC: Cephala (Ga-Koro docks) "Hah. No worries. Wouldn't dream of trying to hawk a pub crawl considering the... everything... you lot have going on right now." Cephala's face scrunched up behind her Kaukau. "In fact... I could probably stand to be a little more sober right now. Just a few moments, this usually works-" And with that, she set her bag down, planked, and toppled sideways off a lilypad bridge into the water. Five seconds later, a hand shot out and clamped onto the bridge's edge. The Turaga hoisted herself back to dry not-land, grumbling, "Well, okay, at least I'm sober enough to realize how stupid that looked now." OOC: @Mel @Geardirector I guess also @Toatapio Nuva if you're still involved here

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) "Oh?" Joskander raised an eyebrow. "You guys had stuff you wanted to keep secret from your own members?" OOC: @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) "Rule one of infiltrating unknown territory: never split up." Joskander grinned. "Especially when one of your number has no sense of direction." OOC: @Daniel the Finlander okay but seriously tho I have no clue what to even write this fortress as looking like, much less what's inside it, so I'm inclined to leave the exploration to you

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) Joskander followed without a word, pressing himself as close to the canyon wall as possible as he drew deeper into the shadows of the ravine. Despite his cheer, cliffsides and canyons never sat well with him- too many places to trip, too many places for avalanches, too many places for nasty things to hide. Even the fortress seemed more inviting to him- at least it, once upon a time, had definitely been built to *not* collapse on its occupants' heads. ...then again, Joskander was hardly one of its intended occupants. Neither, quite likely, was Dahkapa, as new a convert as he was. Best to be cautious. Always best to be cautious. When the two Toa reached the fortress entrance, Joskander slowed his steps, hanging back until he was a good few strides behind his companion. Sticking together had its advantages, but if there were any traps around, he might as well make sure at least one of them managed not to get hit. OOC: @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Joskander (Blackrock Canyon) The Toa of Air chuckled as he strode over to Dahkapa's side. "You're kidding, right? A cross-Wahi road trip? Raiding abandoned temples for secrets? Feels like old times to me, brother." He paused for a moment, then added sheepishly, "Well, not that I can actually remember old times all that well, of course. But I'm pretty sure some of them were like this." OOC: @Daniel the Finlander would have had this up monday night, but it's been a busy holiday break for me @_@

IC: Joskander (Sanctum) "Mm, we go to Po, yes." Joskander nodded twice- first to the guard, then to Dahkapa. "After you, brother." OOC: Joskander and Dahkapa to Po-Wahi! I'd rather let you decide the pace- I don't really know anything about Po right now xD @Daniel the Finlander

IC: Joskander (Sanctum) "Nah. This sounds like something I'd want to stick around for." Joskander shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. Inwardly, he grimaced. In Ko, Dahkapa certainly seemed to be among friends... but a Brotherhood fortress was another thing entirely. OOC: @Daniel the Finlander I was actually on the fence about what I chose here because I've got so much writing to do for class these days >_>

Huh. I was wondering about if any progress was being made there, but I didn't want to poke because I knew the answer was most likely "IRL is still getting in the way" and that's not really something anyone can do anything about. I'm pleasantly surprised to hear we're almost to things getting moving again! (also, here's hoping ya get well soon, kaithas!)

IC: Joskander (Sanctum) Joskander frowned, considered, shrugged. "Once or twice while I was running errands for Ihu. Can't say I liked it much. Too much sun, too much sand, not enough water." OOC: @Daniel the Finlander RL got in the way of this one! Got a lot of different writing projects going on at once.

IC: Joskander (Sanctum) Joskander chuckled quietly. "No one's free of bias, brother." I honestly can't tell if you're messing with me or not. "At any rate, hope you don't mind if I look over your shoulder." OOC: @Visaru@Daniel the Finlander

IC: Joskander (Sanctum) Joskander looked from Dahkapa to the scholar... and, after a moment, he smiled. "Of course." OOC: @Visaru@Daniel the Finlander

IC: Joskander (Sanctum) Joskander grunted. "It's not the waiting that's got me uneasy, brother." OOC: @Daniel the Finlander I wasn't actually originally planning to have Joskander respond here- it strikes me that I probably should have mentioned that to you a month ago, though. xP (In my defense, I still feel a little new to play-by-post forum RP stuff like this!)

IC: Joskander (Sanctum) Joskander felt a slight grimace inch its way across his lips as he leaned back against a wall. Better to keep his distance for now, he wagered; he didn't feel like getting lumped in with a cultist. ...well. That thought had come out much more vicious than expected. It occurred to him that he was acting much like Charek had, shortly before the team split- always hanging back silently, always watching, waiting, plotting, judging... A sobering thought. But then again, it wasn't like he could think of any better options. Some part of him mused that perhaps Bhuko could have had the proper authorization to get Dahkapa into the Sanctum. Assuming that she was still considered part of the Guard... and that she was willing to vouch for a cultist... and that Joskander was willing to ask her to do so. Big ifs, there. He sighed. OOC: @Visaru @Daniel the Finlander

Instantly recognizable. Very nice. =D