[It was a nice day at the beach, her second date there with Ushiro, and now she's set up on the front step of their house in Sector 4 to watch the fireflies. She's not sure if he's going to come out and join her, but honestly, she's glad to have the time alone right now. Acumen said that they were for reflection, and she's got a fair deal to reflect on.

She's brought out her framed picture of the pilots on the beach at the nature school, and her gaze alternates between the spectacular display around her and the picture on her lap. It's better that they're not here, right? Their death was a release of sorts, right? Like Minako... hopefully she's at peace now. That's what Ushiro said, and it makes sense.

But still... she sighs and tips her head back, watching the fireflies dart about. It really is beautiful.]

[There's a rhythmic roaring and pounding in his head, the occasional whimpering sound, and a weird prickling in his back.]

[Cain groans and shifts, trying to push himself up from the... sand? His whole body feels like it weighs an extra hundred pounds, so he gives up and decides to just lay there for a minute longer. The time is better spent piecing together what brought him to this miserable place feeling as though a Leman Russ ran over him, then backed up and did it again for good measure. His mouth is dry and he feels wholly dehydrated, so he was probably drinking and was foolish and irresponsible about it. The roaring is the waves, which places him at the beach, so that means he was too drunk to even remember what he was up to. With a sense of dread and nausea, he realizes he should probably immediately apologize to everyone. After the world stops spinning and the sky stops being too bright. At least he didn't wake up in a puddle of his own vomit.]

[Eventually, once he feels like he's ready to face the music, he reaches up and smacks his communicator on.]

[Voice]
What the frak happened last night, and do I owe anyone an apology for it?

[While he waits for someone to respond, he decides to give moving around another go. It's only when he tries to push himself up again that he realizes the additional weight isn't a trick of his mind. Eridan is duct taped to his back.]

[That explains the whimpering and the prickly feeling, at least. Before he can summon up something approximating an appropriately loud reaction, however, Gaunt's voice chimes in close enough to be heard on the network, but out of Cain's field of vision.]

"Oh feth... has anyone seen my hat?"

--
((OOC: Gaunt might tag into unfiltered voice threads and can be directly addressed through the network! As stated in the plotting post, please feel free to troll them mercilessly, but check with us before assuming something actually happened.))

[So many things have happened between Naoya's invitation and this day, that it feels as if weeks had gone by as opposed to just four days. Not to mention she still feels a bit shaky after the frighteningly vivid dreams of the other night...

So in her black floral dress, Sasha nevertheless finds herself at Naoya's house, basket slung over an arm bearing a few food items and flowers, and knocks at his door.]

[There was a sigh. The voice itself was perfectly normal, but anyone in the area to actually see what just made that noise might be in for a somewhat nasty surprise. The source of the noise is a tall, spindly, humanoid looking thing. He’s mostly solid looking. Mostly.]

Acumen? That’s a very self-important name. But that’s beside the point. The point is, even though you arrested me, I’m not angry, oh no. I’m not at all irritated that after hundreds of years of waiting, I had finally disabled Takamagahara. It’s not like I can’t just wait another couple hundred years for that to come around again. It’s no problem, really.

[Judging by the tone of his voice, he’s actually pretty pissed. He had been so damn close.]

No no, my only complaint is that if you were going to arrest me, couldn’t you at least, you know, bring along my body? Is that too much to ask?


((OOC: If you want to see the creepy ghost, feel free to tag into the action! He's hanging out by the pet shop, being disgusted by the kittens.))

Tyen shiao duh... [The curse is harried and tense, as is Mal at the moment not only because he isn't where he thinks he should be, but also because he obviously doesn't have control over the situation at hand. The video feed shows him restrained in a cell. There isn't a fiber of his being that even kind of likes this.]

What kind of Alliance fei hua is this? [Because by his way of thinking this is obviously the Alliance's doing. That's what governments do, right? They interfere where they shouldn't be interfering? Yep, Alliance. And he knows he has to start forming an escape plan no matter what that Acumen voice said.] Anybody wanna tell me what planet the Eloquois Ocean's on?

[A moment of silence before he asks quite angrily and shakes at the chain binding him out of pure aggravation.] And where the hell's my gorram ship!?!?




( ooc )

Dream One | CR-only
[It's late. You're not sure what it is, but even though you can't see anyone around, you feel like you're being watched. The further you walk, the further the sensation gets. Eventually, you begin to see bodies. Men and women, young and old--everyone is dead. They all look to be related. In the middle of the corpses, Sasuke's standing there, tears streaming silently down his face even before he drops to his knees.]

Mother... Father...

[That's when you see red, red eyes pierce the darkness, and someone's standing before Sasuke now. You can't make out his features in the darkness, but he's covered in blood. You have a bad feeling about this.]

Dream Two | Open

[Welcome to the village of Konoha. The streets are bustling with people going about their daily business, and if you happen to glance up, you might see a blur of movement as shinobi leap from roof to roof. A small boy of about eight or so is expertly weaving his way through the crowd, something clenched tightly in his fist--before he accidentally smacks right into you and falls over. Whoops. Say hello to an eight-year-old Sasuke.]

[Ugh. Today has been a long day of grading papers and trying not to think of certain things from his world. The lanterns last night made him too thoughtful… he needs some rest.]

( Dream 1 - The Farm )

( Dream 2 - The War )

[[ooc; Yeah I cut out the dress dream because I can't brain fluff/crack that well lately. These dreams are semi-open, for those that Naoya has mid-to-decent CR with. Not sure if your character qualifies, or have a good idea for why your character could be in one of these? Drop me a line here, on Plurk, or on AIM.]]

[the circus]

[You're inside a circus tent. It's pretty standard, if somewhat oldtimey-- there's a scattered concession stand here and there, amongst performers with doing acrobatics and little improv shows, and little games where you can knock over pegs and win a prize or bob for apples, with the arena lit by sunlight pouring in from the open flaps of the tent. You can interact with any and all of it.

Allen is dressed as a clown, wearing full makeup, balancing on a ball and juggling. The crowd seems to walk around him without seeing him, but he doesn't notice. Just cheerfully going through his routine. He'll perform for you, too, if you come over to him, but he won't say a word.

There's nothing terribly out of the ordinary about it, until a clown in a big round suit walks by with his dog, and then Allen's focus is entirely on him. He steps down from the ball, breath catching.

"Mana?" he whispers.

The tent flaps slip closed. The music stops. The crowd slows to a halt. Some of them might even seem strange now, as if there's something lurking under their skin, and staring fixedly at you. But Allen doesn't notice; not them, not you. And he runs off into a shadowed corridor of the tent, vanishing into the darkness.

...If you follow him, you might come out...

[the empty house]

( Read more... )

((ooc: both "dreams" are open! tag in at the beginning of either scene and we'll play through as far as you like! so if you're going with the circus dream, put [the circus] in your subject and start with encountering Allenclown in the normal circus~))

Well, my fellow residents, it seems we may have something of a dangerous situation on our hands!

Assuming I'm not making an incorrect assumption, that is.

[There's a very brief pause.] So let's sort this out, hm? When we're... incarcerated, things such a weapons are generally confiscated, correct? Some of those who've earned a position on the Defense Force, however, are permitted to carry them.

Please, do correct me if I'm wrong. [Though he's nearly positive that he isn't; based on what he's seen and his own experience. Carrying only a small switchblade which is now gone... it made sense to him.]

Does storing a weapon in one's own body make them exempt from standard practice?

[A half-hearted, unamused chuckle.] That's a dangerous way of handling things. Interesting, I suppose, though it does seem to defeat the purpose.


Well, unless I've missed some pertinent information, of course. Really, that's all I was curious about, so I think I'll be on my way for the time being.

[It starts with one light at first, lifting itself from a roof nearest the beach--a solitary lantern glowing and drifting away on the light breeze. From one come many, several burning glows bursting to life and rising up above the trees and the buildings, lanterns of all shapes and sizes floating along like a river of lights. They bob and weave around each other, lightly bumping to change their directions, similar to stars high up near the apex of the dome, the waters below sparkling from the glow.

At the beach there are several tables where inmates may receive a lantern of their own to light and send on its way into the sky, joining the others as they burn through the night.]

[The lanterns are all around the dome, but they will eventually make their way to floating above the waters at the beach. Feel free to see them just about anywhere outdoors! If you want the full effect, check out the full scene from Tangled.]

[Morning, and Allen is sitting up in his bed in the hospital, legs folded cross-legged underneath him. His right arm is in a cast, and he is picking at it with his left hand. He's not enjoying himself, but he's let other people convince him to stay here for a little bit longer.]

[Timcanpy's back, though, on his shoulder with tail draped over his neck. He has to look after the boy, after all.]

[After a beat of hesitation, Allen turns on the communicator.]


[voice]

No classes for me today, I'm afraid. Yuuri-- ah, if you still want to study together, I'll have to suggest a change in location.


((ooc: castmates who would have been informed earlier can backdate threads to shortly after he gets to the hospital, just say so in the header!))

LETTER RECIPIENTS

• Sasha: a letter from Naoya.
  
  SOMETHINGS*
  
• From Sakura: various somethings for Fuuma, Sasuke, Itachi, Akito/Agito and Kaito.
  
  NEW PENPAL MATCHUPS
  
• Mileina & Ibram Gaunt

[PM is in a poor mood today. Last night was extremely difficult. Forget Ribbons; she has no idea where WV has been all day, and it worries her more than she'd care to admit. More than once, she's considered giving him a call on the communicator, but if he's not ready to talk, it might make things worse.]

[She may seem extremely distracted or even a little short-tempered today, but she'll still do her best to be helpful and polite to passersby.]

[Click here for pen pal signups. Mail submissions for Day 115 go here!]
((* With apologies to Yaywon.))

[A mop of green hair lurked in the shadows of the dome as he made his way from the hospital and back to PM & WV's house. The nurse bots were quick to heal the bruise on his face -- it was important to get that one out of the way; not out of vanity, if he can lessen the number of questions on his account, the better.

While the walk to the hospital seemed short as he had left while PM was gone, the road back to his temporary home felt like it had stretched out longer, suddenly wary of those who had nocturnal habits around the dome.

Would this be how a fugitive, or a wanted criminal feels like...?]


(( OOC: Ribbons is out though not for long and is open for being mocked and creeped upon~ ))

[The robots coming in after breakfast to clear away her overnight things from the guest room have made it perfectly clear that she isn't just back at Zelman's house. Allen frowns at them as they go, but he doesn't make a move to stop them.

...These last twenty-four hours. He wants a do-over.

He gathers up his books and heads into the living room, switching on his communicator.]

I was going to ask Miss Saki if she's any good with math, but it would seem she isn't here any longer. [mildly, but with just that small added touch of formality that had been worn away before]

So is there anyone who might be able to help me study? It turns out I'm not any good at it despite all that card counting and debt management... [sigh. apparently he's only good at practical math!] And don't start with me, Naoya, I'm just seeking out tutoring, it's perfectly legitimate.

[It seems he's accidentally turned the video on without realizing, and one can see the teenage boy is quickly taking in his surroundings with frightening intensity. He doesn't seem to be aware of the screen for now, and he thoroughly checks himself over once. No weapons. They were on him just a moment ago.]

I know this is an illusion. [Points out simply, but he seems irked that they're resorting to these sorts of games. When he tries to activate the Sharingan, however--well, his dark eyes widen when nothing happens, and only then does he seem to spot the chain around his leg. This isn't good.]

[His guard is up, and he's ready for an attack. He's currently located in Sector 4, and will be attempting to gain his bearings. Harass him?]

--I can't believe they're celebrating Holi. [He's kind of thrilled about it, and laughs.]

Holi is a festival of colors. I'm not sure if there's religious significance to it or not, other than that it's for spring, but in India people would throw colorful liquid or powder on passersby. And if you say to them, "Pardon me, but it's Holi," they're supposed to forgive you.

It's a lot of fun, if you can relax enough for it. If not... [sly] maybe you should stay indoors today?



((ooc: Respond to his voice post here! Otherwise this is an EVENT POST. Comment here if you want your character to get powdered, or if you want to lurk and throw brightly-colored water at other people, and other people will respond to your comment to oblige! Calling all pranksters, goofballs, and trolls!))

[ It's close to sundown now, and Subaru just has one question for the dome today: ] Does anyone here have any advice on practicing magic without damaging the prison?

[ Someone is restless. Training is one thing, but she's slowly getting used to her limits here, and practicing alone only goes so far... ]

Excuse me, but...what exactly is this?

[Arianna's holding up a small but odd-looking little bag. Those in the know might catch on that it's actually a gris-gris charm.]

If this is an attempt to mark a claim on a house, I'd advise writing a note instead. Or was I misinformed and only certain kinds of people are allowed to live in each of the sectors? [This is all said politely in case she's jumping to conclusions, but it's obvious she isn't pleased.]

[Oz is sitting in the grass in the park, his legs crossed and his hands resting lightly on his knees. His eyes are closed, heightening every other sense he has. He's been this way for awhile, losing track of time, so anyone may have noticed him in passing by over the last several hours.

When he opens his eyes, his only movement is to switch his communicator to voice in order to broadcast a question out to the masses.]

Say someone was looking to acquire a guitar... suggestions, comments, witty and/or snide remarks?

[Ammy is lying at the foot of the Guardian Sapling, so for a moment, the video shows a view of the flowers from below before a paw comes into view, and then the communicator is shoved right so she can see~]

Technology is so fidly. A question though...it came to mind a little while ago. How many of you come from worlds of magic? Or is yours one of technology? Or both, or neither? I'm curious~