outer_divide | first scroll [video ; open]

Entry tags:

first scroll [video ; open]

[Upon awaking Mulan took her time warily exploring the ship, after having retrieved her armor and weapons of course. Finding no one to speak to, eventually she turned to the unfamiliar device she located among her belongings.

The video focuses mostly on her face, revealing a young determined looking women wearing red and black armor with a coin pattern. Her dark hair is unbound and hangs carelessly around her face, straight and loose.]

It's my understanding that wherever they are on the other end of this...object, someone can hear me. Whoever you are, I want you to show yourselves. [Tersely, teeth briefly bared.] This is not a request.

I do not know if I came to this strange place by chance encounter or deliberate action. But this is not my land, nor is it any land I am familiar with from my distant travels. And I have no memory of my arrival here, either. The only explanation I'm left with is abduction.

Whoever you are, whatever it is you may want me for, speak. The longer you make me wait, the less the likelihood you'll have of anything like my willing cooperation.

[Posturing? She is, a bit. Normally her course of action upon arriving in unfamiliar territory would be to keep her head down. But given the circumstances, she thinks it's important that she put on a strong front, let anyone out there who might be looking know she means business. That she's no easy pickings.

And that the abrupt manner of her being brought here has made her more than a little angry.]

Or if my unknown captors are too cowardly to explain themselves, then it is my hope that these words will reach someone who can enlighten me.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Here, have a slightly amused but also slightly sympathetic face, Mulan. It's hard to tell whether said face is male or female; the dusty blonde hair is short, the face shape neutral, and the voice low.]

Calm down, jo-chan. Whoever did the kidnapping is long dust. Most of us would like answers, too, but they are not likely to come any time soon.

[The large, feathered creature that appears on the device appears to be in some sort of workroom - there are metal parts scattered across the parts of the bench that are visible, and some sort of plans hanging up on the wall behind it. Its muzzle has a conspicuous grease smear.]

If only it were that easy, my friend. We've all been searching for answers and have precious little to show for it. I can promise you that none of your fellow abductees - myself included - mean you any harm. At least, none that I've met have been so inclined.

[Its voice is gravelly and dry, somewhere between a human's and a parrot's. At least it's polite?]

[A young woman with a smudge of grease on her cheek looks distractedly at her screen.]

Such a long story, sister. ...Well, no, I guess it's mostly a weird story. Still, easier to do that part in person, but any of us can give you the skinny. You wanna head down to the city. I can come up if you need an escort. There are monsters and junk. Best to be armed.

[The man who appears onscreen is wearing some sort of armour, red and gold, though the visor's pushed up to show his face.]

Dead, actually. For about a hundred years, give or take a decade. And probably not all that interested in willing cooperation.

Welcome to Verdana. You've been out cold for a long time.

We're all abductees here. There are plenty of people to punish for this, though. And they will come after you unless you go after them first. Ignore the appeasers.

We face a very real threat here. Keep that warrior's spirit handy.

[She doesn't know that reference, and her confusion briefly registers on her face.] My name is Mulan.

And what do you mean, whoever brought us here is gone? I do not understand.

I have plenty of that. [She unsheathes her sword enough for the hilt in her hand to be visible, and turns so that her quiver is visible over her shoulder.] If you can truly provide me with answers, I will find my way to you. How long a journey do you think it will be, in this weather?

All? You mean to say there are no captors to guard us, no jailers or overlords?

If so, then what threats do we face?

[Good, she'll be set for the kind of predators that get this close to the city, anyway.]

I'm really not a better shot than anyone else, but if you wanna come by I'll give you a rundown. It's not a long hike down. You can head for the Flop to find everyone else who woke up where you did. Ask anyone. They'll point you there.

[Weather other than crippling, dry heat is so exciting to Indrani that she never considers it an impediment.]

[Mulan straightens up a bit, assuming from his armor he must be some sort of military commander, someone she is trained to respect. Her mind boggles at that whole 'dead for hundreds of years' thing, so at first she focuses on what else he says.]

Verdana? I've never heard of such a realm.

If you can truly give me answers, then I may as well come to you. [And if it's a trap or something, well, she'll deal with that as it comes.] A few others have spoken to me through this magic crystal and filled me in on some things already, but I suspect it is as you say: the whole story is much better given in person.

Magic cry... Hoboy, we've got talking to do. Sure, drop by. As long as you don't mind dogs and spare parts. I've got a whole bunch of both.

[What the- She leans back, eyes widening perceptibly.

She has no idea what sort of creature this is. But it speaks intelligently and, well, it is polite.]

...How long have you been searching? What kind of a place is this?

[Jack is just gonna stare at you. At first. Never really expected someone like this to suddenly appear over the network. Not quite chancing the hope of being seen, he starts texting. Though he'll leave the video on. Just in case.]

Easy there, tiger. You'll get an explanation, no need to demand for it. You're on a planet called Verdana. A home away from home for now.

I like dogs.

[It's said a note softer than anything else so far. They bring back memories of a time when she was a very different person.]

The 'Flop', you said? I'll try and arrive as fast as I can. What is your name?

Aw, y'hear that, mutt? You can stay.

[There's a bark from somewhere off her camera.]

Indrani. The Lone Wanderer, the scrappy kid from Vault 101, salvation of the Wastelands. ...Sorry, I don't get to do that a lot anymore. Indrani's fine.

[Mulan blinks at the text. Though she could probably figure out how to respond in kind if she cared to, right now she doesn't have the patience.

Oh, and Jack? She can totally see you. Believing in magic and the like isn't even a thing you think about, where she comes from. It's like believing in the sun. Of course it's real: it's there, and you see it all the time.]

Forgive me if I sounded like I was trying to provoke a fight. But considering I was the one trespassed upon in bringing me here, I feel it's only right I be given answers.

...Your hair is white. Yet you have the face of a youth. What are you? Sorcerer, or something else?

[sdkjhdfkg-! Why can't people warn him that he can be seen? Not that Mulan knew he normally couldn't but he just about had a heart attack. And wanted to jump up in glee. And dance. Or something.

Yup. Never getting used to it. He manages to restrain himself after taking several deep breaths and blinking rapidly as his brain caught up. Yea, we're cool. Totally.]

I'm Jack Frost, Winter's Shepherd, the Spirit of Winter, I go by many names but just call me Jack. [See? Totally calm now.] White hair kind of comes with the job.

It's okay, being confused upon waking up here is a pretty legitimate reason. Too bad I can't tell you exactly how and when you got on the ship. I don't even know how I got on there, just woke up here a couple weeks ago myself.

[A slight nod in acknowledgement, and thanks, and she offers her name in kind:] Mulan. I've been called more than a few things in my time, too. Not all of them pleasant.

But we can continue this when I find you.

[She pockets the device carefully, still somewhat unsure of it, and re-checking her gear goes to begin her way down the worn path before her.]

Kay!

[Indrani's in her room in her ratty, stained jumpsuit, shotgun disassembled for cleaning on the shelf beside her, though she's currently involved in putting the finishing touches on her modified environment suit. An immense, scarred, and rather profoundly ugly dog of a sort of German shepherd, boxer, hyena mix dozes on the floor. The door's open, though, and the Flop isn't a private place. Any inquiry makes the chick with all the guns and the big dog pretty easy to find.]

[That reaction gets a funny look, but. Not going to comment. Well, comment any more than her askance look implies, anyway.]

A spirit. I...see. [If she had her hands free, she would bow. Never hurts to cover your bases.] It's nice to meet you, Jack. My name is Fa Mulan.

Is this common? People waking up here with no idea where they are or how they came?

[Fa Mulan... why did that name sound familiar? He's lived long enough to heard about a lot of stories, but his brain could only remember so much out of 300 years. Things begin to fade, after all. He ignores it for now, though and nods.]

Yeah, it kind of is. Well, that's what it seemed like. Other people arrived and more or less get the same answers. If no one's told you yet, don't go near the dome. The people there don't like us. The wilderness has wild animals that like to eat people and there's this place called the Flop that you could stay at until you get your bearings.

[Mulan travels as fast down the hillside as common sense would allow. It's not good to be out in this weather, never mind the warning that Indrani and a few of the others have given her. Not to mention she's in a haste for something like a thorough explanation.

The city itself takes her aback a bit when at last she reaches it's limits. Anything past a medieval level of technology would be like nothing she's ever seen. But she can gawk later, she reminds herself.

Her presence draws little reaction from the others she passes in town. Strangers wandering around, looking out of place and lost must not warrant much comment. She's directed to the Flop almost immediately, and once there it doesn't take much to point her toward the woman she's looking for. She stands in the doorway to the room, rapping her knuckles against the frame; tries not to let her gaze be hypnotized by all the puzzling contraptions of metal she sees within.]

Indrani? I'm here, as promised.

Hiya.

[She sets aside her work and shoves enough off the bed to provide a seat. There's not really anywhere else to be. Dogmeat shifts and rolls onto his back, hoping for petting. He tends to not be as hostile to strange women, which is silly. Indrani gets shot at by ladies just as much as men at home. But... dogs. What can you do?]

So, ready for your basic rundown?

So there are many captives, and very little in the way of answers. How aggravating.

I can barely make out this...dome, you describe, from here. [She looks off to the side, squinting.] These are our enemies? Does anyone know why?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 5

first scroll [video ; open]

[Video]

[Video: here, Mulan, have a dragon]

[video]

[Video]

[Video from a boat]

[Video]

[video]

[Video]

no subject

[Video]

no subject

no subject

[Video: oh hey, a dragon]

[Video/Text]

no subject

no subject

[Video]

[Video]

[action?]

[Action!]

[Video]

[Video]

[Action!]

no subject

[Video]