Welcome, One and All

[revenancemods]

Characters: Everyone!
Content: Welcome to Traverse Town.
Location (including world): Traverse Town, 1st District
Time of Day: Any - subthreads may take place at different times
Warnings: None so far
Notes: This is an open thread: anyone may tag with anyone else. Tag around and have fun!

Well. This certainly wasn’t what you were expecting.

This part of the town is lit with street lamps and shop signs, illuminating the wooden structures and cobblestone streets. If it weren’t for the neon signs, you’d swear you’d landed in a small European town several centuries back.

The Moogle floating near the staircase leading up to the town’s item shop doesn’t help that illusion either. You may have already spoken with it; it’ll tell you where you are and that you’re in the realm of dreams, give you your starter package, and help you make your first Dream Eater. It will not, however, tell you how to get home. Sorry, but that’s not information it has, kupo.

Now that you’ve taken care of that, what will you do next? That is up to you.

Comments

[defrostedpride]

"That's a gross oversimplification, but I suppose it will serve, if you must. It's not entirely inaccurate." He profoundly resents having to dream of explaining basic metaphysics to the unscientifically inclined. He's done enough and more of that while waking.

"I did say, in the real world. Currently there's insufficient data to determine whether this Traverse Town is merely a reflection of that one in the Realm of Dreams, or whether it has to some degree generated itself independently." This is going to require so much research, you don't even know. He looks forward to the prospect. The dreaming dead can choose their own avenues of research without being tied to another's guidelines. He hopes.

The Pricklemane snarls offense and moves faster. Gonnagetchagonnagetcha!

Nightmares in the next tag or two Y/N?

[unrecovered]

"Gee, thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Science, especially this crazy metaphysical shit, was hard; sarcasm was easy.

"So you don't know." It might not have been the nicest summary, but Wash wasn't exactly feeling nice. Plus, he'd stopped mincing words a long time ago. "Any idea who might?"

The bat takes a sharp turn around a corner, still going. This was fun!

Y!

[defrostedpride]

"I don't know yet." The distinction is fine but, he considers, important. "I don't know about you, but I only just arrived here. As such, I haven't had the time to investigate either the world's structure or any other sources of information. Feel free to try wringing more information out of the Moogles, if you dare." Getting chased through town once by a swarm of irate Moogles once removes all desire to repeat the experience.

The Pricklemane caroms off the opposite wall to pick up speed and closes the distance measurably.

Yesssssss

[unrecovered]

Yet doesn't mean a damn thing to Wash when he's looking for the information now. "The Moogles. Great. I'll go talk to them, and you go investigate the world or whatever it is you plan on doing." He was not about to stick around for a long-winded explanation of some sort of scientific process that probably wouldn't make any sense to him anyway.

No sense wasting time. He looked over his shoulder to make sure his bat was following him-

Except that his bat had disappeared off somewhere. Well, it wasn't like he'd asked for the thing, so it wasn't like he cared...

Except it was his bat, dammit, and he shouldn't go running off without it. He should find it. And he really didn't care that much about it at all - it was just something he should do. Right. Really. "Where the hell..."

Meanwhile, said missing bat had found something it wasn't expecting to see around the corner it had chosen; namely, it had found a pack of Nightmares, all bats and cats and lizards, none of which were too happy to see it. It screeched in alarm, executed a sharp U-turn, and flying low past the Pricklemane it'd been playing with - ohcrapohcrapgogogorunrunrun! - it headed back the way it had come, because two Spirits versus many NIghtmares were not good odds.

Of course, this meant that all Wash saw was his bat turning a corner at high speeds with a small herd of enemies in hot pursuit. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

Re: Yesssssss

[defrostedpride]

The Pricklemane zips back around the corner at frankly unsafe velocity, its entire body an ode to nopenopenopenopenope, and makes directly for the two of them. Helphelphelpprotectassist!

He doesn't understand the squeaking, but the Nightmares provide more than sufficient context. He sighs. Identity crisis later, survival now. If it can really be said to be survival when he is already dead... But here and now, something of him is alive, and that something would like to continue so. It's a reasonable working definition.

Whatever his vital status, his shield comes, as ever, when called, and he can feel the magic he knows at the tips of his fingers.

His Pricklemane squeals and hides behind him.

"Well, that's what happens when you wander off," he observes to it.

[unrecovered]

Wash spared a second glance for the shield, partially because there was no way something like that was actually going to be useful and partially because where the hell had that even come from, but if that was what this guy wanted to fight with, Wash wasn't going to complain. Well, okay, maybe a little complaining if he had to save this guy's ass.

"Stay out of my line of fire," he muttered to the bat, readying his battle rifle. "I don't need you getting shot on top of everything else." The bat squeaked and hovered a bit in front of him, facing the oncoming horde; evidently it felt a lot more confident with backup.

As well it should have; Wash's first half-dozen shots took down three of the crowd's frontrunners, two lizards and a bat. Evidently they took multiple shots to go down. Good to know. The bat joined the fray, its yellow fur easily discernible among the blacks and blues and greens and grays of the Nightmares, and engaged a Pricklemane off to the side, harrying it away from the group for an easier takedown.

[defrostedpride]

At least this stranger seemed remotely competent. The strange armor, or what looked like armor, had suggested as much, but it was good to have confirmation.

He had always had an affinity for ice magic, which had only grown more pronounced over the passing years. Ice spread beneath the feet of the nearest Nightmares, upsetting their footing in addition to the damage it caused.

He smirked and looked down at his Spirit. "Well? Are you good for something or not?"

It hissed an affirmative and darted toward a serpentine Nightmare that had wound up alone on the near side of the ice.

[unrecovered]

And now there was ice. Out of nowhere. When it was nowhere near freezing. What in the hell was going on today? Wash glanced at the man next to him - had that been his doing? Whatever - it was working to his advantage, and he would take it. If the ice was going to distract the Nightmares on the ground, then he'd handle the ones in the air. Several bats went down in quick succession - they moved quickly, but hostile moving targets were a staple of Freelancer training drills - and one that had avoided his gunfire and gotten up close found itself on the business end of Wash's knife. "Eat that," he smirked, yanking it back as the bat disappeared with a screech and a small shower of munny, then reversing his grip and hurling it at the last bat, sinking the blade between its eyes. That bat went down, disappearing before it hit the ground and leaving his knife to clatter to the cobblestones. Half a dozen down, about twice that many to go. No big deal, right?

Meanwhile, his bat had finished off its chosen target. It squeaked in triumph, wheeling around to dive right back into the fray.

[defrostedpride]

He didn't enjoy combat and never had, but there had sometimes been no avoiding it. He smacked an encroaching Nightmare - one of the bats - with his shield until it obligingly dissipated with a last despairing shriek. A Blizzara spell took care of several more, and more to the point, considering the disparity of numbers, the wide area of effect kept them from approaching. His temporary ally seemed likewise inclined to fight from a distance. He reinforced the ice coating the street before it could fade.

Naturally, his Pricklemane chose that moment to, its first fight over with, go looking for more. It slipped on the ice and went skidding toward a clump of Nightmares that resembled it closely.

"Stop that! You get back here!" He threw more spells at the other Pricklemanes, giving his own a chance to find its feet. It squeaked in enthusiasm as the clump was quickly reduced to a more manageable size.

"There's no call to be so pleased with yourself."