Departure.

[azumods]

INCIDENT. The weekend starts off...loudly. The commotion is coming from the direction of the Galactic Warehouse on the northern side of town, fairly late into the morning; given how quiet and peaceful (for better or worse) the city tends to be, it's unbelievably noticeable when something is going awry. Even more so when it sounds like something may have quite simply exploded. You might want to see what's going on there, in other words. Arriving to the scene to check it out will reveal a standoff occurring between the buildings and warehouses of the compound; on one side of the lot stands Cynthia, proud and tall, long blonde hair flowing down her back and a large, rather intimidating Pokémon at her side; it's worth noting that the Pokémon, too, doesn't seem to be suffering from the same sense of apathy as everyone and everything else that you've seen - its gaze is alert, and the sound it offers is loud and harsh, a bellowing roar from an aggressive, hunched-forward stance, aimed at anyone who might consider coming near its trainer. And there are a fair amount of people to consider potential threats, standing near the building. Most of them seem to be dressed the same way you were when you first arrived; there's a decent number of them, maybe ten or so, all just as blank-eyed as ever. However, there's someone else with them, a young man who can't be much older than his early twenties standing in front of them with his arm out to the side as though instructing them to stay back, one of those red-and-white capsules (Pokéball, those of you who have done your research should know what it's called by now, he's got a Pokéball with him) clutched firmly in his other hand. There are two things that are likely immediately obvious about this man - one being that he looks completely different from the other members of Team Galactic that you've seen, which probably means something important. The other is that judging from his actions and the intense look in his eyes, he's just as alert and emotionally intact as Cynthia is. She doesn't seem fazed by him, however; if anything, her voice sounds bright when she addresses him, reaching out to pat her Garchomp's neck affectionately as she does so. "Commander Saturn!" She sounds downright cheerful, really. "Have we reached an agreement or not?" The more astute among you will likely notice that the area around them is looking...rough, covered in scorch marks and still-unsettled dust. The man - Saturn, apparently - just glares at her for a long moment before he responds, though his gaze isn't steady; he pauses for a moment to make direct eye contact with the lot of you, obviously acknowledging your presence, before he glances back at the grunts as though to make sure they're staying back and away from the conflict. Eventually he'll speak, though, and his voice is surprisingly low in pitch and smooth in timbre; outwardly it seems calm enough, but it's difficult to ignore the way it's brimming with something somewhere between anger and contempt, especially given how blank the others are by contrast. "Just the one warehouse, isn't it?" "That's right," Cynthia replies, offering him a smile that's edged with something sharp. "Just the one." Saturn pauses. Glances back again. It's clear that the grunts behind him are his charges, in one way or another; he keeps checking on them. After a moment, though, he'll throw a key card across the way, sending it clattering to her feet; she bends down gracefully and picks it up, toying with it between her fingers. "Thanks, sweetheart," she says evenly; Saturn just clicks his tongue agitatedly and turns to leave, issuing orders to his grunts as he goes. Oddly enough, despite the tension, he seems to have no qualms about giving her his back, and she doesn't move to attack him. "Fall back, and defend the main building if necessary. If there's trouble, report directly to me. Immediately." Cynthia watches them go, still toying with the key card between her fingers; it's then that she notices the rest of you. "Oh, this is wonderful, I was just about to come get you." When she smiles at you, the expression is far more genuine, far less hard. "I've got something for you." The warehouse the key card opens up is comparatively sparsely-used; there are boxes and the like scattered everywhere, but perhaps more important is what's inside them - namely, an outfit you'll notice as belonging specifically to you, as well as a personal item you'll recognize. "You shouldn't stay here," Cynthia says. "I'll stay in town long enough to ensure that he doesn't decide to give you any trouble, but it's in your best interests to leave. Take the southern exit out onto the route, and make your way toward Lake Valor; if you run into him or anyone like him, don't engage. He folded easily enough today, but chances are he won't go lightly on you. As much as I hate to say it, as you are now, he will defeat you. "So stay out of his way, and try to stay out of trouble, all right? Take care of yourselves, and stay safe." [OOC: Welcome to the end of Week 1! In the boxes you've been granted access to, you'll find one canon outfit belonging to your character, as well as one of your submitted material regains, whichever you decide that one regain to be! The one stipulation is that it's probably something small this time. If your character is the sort to ignore the commotion going on, Cynthia will find them and tell them to get their stuff, and give the same general advice before leaving them be - get your stuff and get out of town, it isn't safe to stay here. No NPC response will be given to this post, though you can thread here amongst yourselves if you wish; we'll see you tomorrow at noon with a new log for your further adventures!]

Comments

[omissions]

[Ari is happy to find the outfit he remembers wearing last before he had woken up in this strange place, but the item that he finds with it causes him to go very quiet. Even quieter than normal, as some of you might think given his usual nature here.

It's an old music box. A small one, one that his Mother had given him... one that he had then given to someone else that had been important to him.

When he opens it, this suddenly begins to play, echoing throughout the warehouse. Ari says nothing, simply stands there holding the music box as he listens to it, appearing... almost a little sad, perhaps, to be suddenly reacquainted with this particular item.]

[heritrix]

[Rin's kneeling by her box, folding the outfit she found in it back up again when she hears music playing to her right. She hasn't registered Ari's expression quite yet, between the way her eyes are drawn to the box in his hands, and her own task.]

Hm? [She smiles.] That's a pretty song.

[omissions]

Yeah, it is.

[He allows the tiniest of smiles to slide up onto his face here for a moment.]

It was my mother's music box. She gave it to me before I set out on a journey back home.

[heritrix]

Ahh? [What a strange reason for a gift like that, but Rin can't help but smile.] It must be really special then. Were you traveling by plane? Or was it a journey like this one?

[omissions]

Like this one... sort of. We were supposed to find the "fake evil kings" and put a stop to them.

[heritrix]

Oh, wow. A real hero's journey. You don't see a lot of those, these days.

[omissions]

Isn't that kind of what we're on here? ... I mean, sort of?

[Depending on how you wanna look at the current situation here, that is.]

[heritrix]

With twenty-four of us? From a narrative standpoint, that's at least twenty too many.

[omissions]

A... narrative standpoint?

[That's a rather odd way to put it, Rin. Mildly concerning actually, given what those words would mean where we're from...]

[heritrix]

[She snickers a little, as if what she said might have been a joke.]

You know how it is. In books and legends, there's always a clear cut protagonist and maybe a few companions. There can be more people than that, but they're usually side characters. It's not like real life.

[omissions]

... Yeah, I guess that's one way to look at it.

[Ari has suddenly gone kind of quiet and awkward here upon hearing that.]

[heritrix]

...Are you okay? [...] I didn't mean anything bad.

[She thought the joke would be a good, silly ice-breaker, but it clearly wasn't. She's just not sure what she said wrong.]

[evilidol]

...oh.

[Linda hears the familiar sound from across the warehouse and a small, concerned look sneaks it's way onto her face. If you need a hug friend, Linda is here for you.]

That sound... there's no mistaking it...

[omissions]

[Ari is quiet, until the tune finally finishes and he slowly closes the lid of the box.]

Yeah... I wasn't expecting this to be here.

[ventulus]

A musicbox? Is that something of yours too?

[ Ventus is also here, but he's holding what appears to be some kind of necklace with this thing on it. ]

[omissions]

[Ari nods, before he looks to Ventus's hands.]

What is that?

[ventulus]

It's something my friend made for me. A wayfinder.

[ He smiles at it, glad that such a precious thing was returned to him. ]

She said that it's something that'd ensure that no matter where we were, we'd be kept together by an unbreakable bond. Sounds cool, huh?

[omissions]

It does, actually. It's really nice.

[It almost reminds him of the Friendship Bond, which... come to think of it, it's not here among his clothes and music box, is it? Hmm...]

[ventulus]

[ He nods -- that being said, he's also sure that his friends are doing okay, wherever they are. He knows it. ]

It looks like I just got my usual clothes back and this, but I'm glad that it was these things.

[ ... ]

Do you think we might be able to find more of our stuff somewhere else, though?

[omissions]

... I don't know. But I guess the only way to find out is to keep looking around while we're here in this place.

[ventulus]

That's true. Let's start now, then.

[ He takes a cursory glance around, before he peers around some of the boxes. ]

If we do find another something of ours, though, I think I have an idea of what I'd prefer it to be. What about you?

[omissions]

Hmm... I'm not sure. I guess I'd like to find my sword again, but I don't know how useful it'd be in a place like this.

[ventulus]

It could be useful, I think, depending on how things can go here.

[ Like if things get dire... ]

I'd like a weapon of mine back too, but also...something like a wooden keepsake a friend of mine gave to me once. I put it away in another world, though, so I don't know if I would find it here.

[ He also has no idea his Wooden Keyblade had been destroyed by Vanitas, but you know. ]

[omissions]

... You've been to other worlds before?

[How?]

[ventulus]

Yeah, I have.

[ He pauses...well, it's probably okay to tell now, so. ]

It was by using the Lanes Between, for the most part. I'm not sure if they did it that way to bring everyone here, but it's something only certain people can do.