[ Currently under construction ]
Made to help de-clutter my primary blog, so anyone following for Mabinogi-related roleplays doesn't have to deal with the other stuff. xD
Direct response to [x], mention of [x]
(( Hnng. Sorry for the simulator image instead of an actual drawing, I'm cleaning up their refs atm; work's been keeping me busy. ))
- oOo -
"There's gotta be a stuffed fox around here somewhere," Lyca muttered to herself, eyeing the pile of stuffed animals before her. Somehow, she doubted her partner would have remained buried somewhere in the miniature mountain, but it probably wouldn't hurt to look.
Hearing approaching footsteps, though, the mage turned her gaze to the newcomers, gray orbs widening a bit when she saw the Druid from earlier, before shining with relief when she spotted a toy fox cradled in the.. fox-girl's arms.
Huh.
"If you’re looking for a fox plushie, I think my partner is holding him..or her."
Blinking out of her amused stupor, the elf tilted her head towards the winged Milletian with a grateful smile. "If that little fox turns out to be my partner, you just saved me from digging through that," she commented cheerfully, gesturing with one hand towards the pile of plushies as her other drew out a slip of paper.
"Sorry for the delay," she murmured towards the fox, gently placing the paper on its head with an expectant, bated breath. She wasn't disappointed when the stuffed animal disappeared in a cloud of smoke, though she /was/ surprised to find the familiar image of her friend when it dispersed.
"Tori?"
- oOo -
The Soul Star raised a hand to her cheek, sighing in relief as the familiar feel of her mask met her fingers.
"...Caen," the younger female greeted softly, hand falling to brush against the control bars holstered on her hip. Once she was sure both items were in place, the girl sighed again before relaxing.
"Glad to see you again, partner," the woman returned, stifling a laugh as she turned her gaze towards the two behind her. "And thanks for finding her," Lyca said appreciatively. "I owe you guys one." After a moment, she elbowed the puppeteer discretely.
Oh, gods.
Stiffening slightly, her blush hidden beneath her mask, Tori turned to face the girls who had been kind enough to help her out, nervously fiddling with her bracer as she did so.
"Th-Thank.. you.." She swallowed heavily, nerves already frayed to the point where she just wanted to leave the entire event altogether. Interacting with other.. /people/ had never been a strong point of hers. Her friend's comforting presence and cheerful demeanor made it a bit easier, though, and the reassuring smile sent her way /did/ help.. slightly.
She summoned up her courage and straightened before continuing. "My name is Caeoltoiri," she said carefully, focused on not making a bigger fool of herself than she probably already had. "If you have need of assistance.." She hesitated for a second, before pushing onward. "..Call for me."
“Nice too meet you Lyca. I hope you’ll find your partner soon, good luck.”
Lyca chuckled as she pumped the girl's hand once in greeting. "Thanks, you guys have fun up there.~"
"See you later upstairs then!"
"Will do," the mage called back, giving the elf a two-fingered salute before splitting off from the others in search of a toy fox, hoping her friend had been rescued by one of the other guests. The next event had started already, she knew -- she could hear the commotion all the way down here -- and she didn't want to leave this partner of hers stranded in the basement while there was a party going on upstairs.
Cupping her hands around her mouth again, Lyca sucked in a deep breath before shouting out:
"Looking for a fox plushie!"
- oOo -
If she could, she'd be blinking in bewilderment as Sari transformed from puppet to person, stumbling back a couple steps to avoid being squished as she'd been right below the doll.
That's definitely not Ferghus, Tori thought, somewhat stunned. He'd been familiar, which was what had given her the push she needed to interact; now that he turned out to be someone /else/, she felt somewhat uncomfortable being in the stranger's presence -- the fact that there was another person nearby didn't help the fox with her anxiety, either.
Before she could really make a move to escape, though, she found herself being picked up. Her legs scrambled for purchase in the air for a moment, before stilling when the girl spoke.
"I wonder if you’re like me… or just a toy"
Tori stared at the female for a second, ears flicking back in slight worry. Not knowing what else to do, the fox called upon her new-found powers of communication and squeaked.
Shortly afterward, her ears flicked forward again as a faint shout in the distance reached her ears.
Direct response to [x], mention of [x] [x] [x] [x]-- other mentions untagged
(( No pictures again this time > < I just got back from work and I'm way too tired to draw everything currently-- next event for sure OTL ))
- oOo -
Lyca had been watching all the different interactions with an amused expression, still knelt on the ground as she hadn't really found a reason to get to her feet yet. It wasn't until just about everybody had been returned to their non-toy counterpart that she stood up, habitually going through the motions of dusting herself off as she stretched.
Well, I'm glad everyone's back to normal, she thought to herself, combing her fingers through her hair to brush it back a little, before fumbling to catch the conjured piece of paper with her off-hand.
“Would you still like help in finding that fox plushie?”
"Ah?" The mage paused in her reading and looked towards the source of the voice, blinking blankly at the blue-haired elf opposite her before she realized who she was talking to.
"Oh! You were the music box, right? Sorry I couldn't understand you, earlier." Lyca smiled cheerfully as she adjusted her glasses, before flapping her hand with a laugh when the girl's partner offered to stay back. "It's fine, it's fine -- it shouldn't be too hard to find a toy fox now that most of the other guests seem to have turned back. Thank you, though."
There was a short pause before she stuck out her hand with a slight grin.
"Name's Lycaenion, but that's a mouthful and you can just call me Lyca."
In response to [x] [x], with mention of [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
(( Oh, gosh. This might turn out a bit long-- ))
Tori flattened her ears against her head as another explosion rocked the building, a startled squeak escaping from somewhere in her body as another hole was opened in the ceiling.
Strangely, the only thought that really registered in her mind was that she could /squeak/. She couldn't talk, but she could squeak -- and she wasn't quite sure what to think about that.
The plushie poked at the wires again, nonexistent eyebrows pulling down in frustration at her lack of fingers. She was used to tangled wires -- they'd been a lot more common when she'd first started out using puppets. This would be easy to fix if she just. Had. /Fingers/.
Of course, her problems were solved for her when the marionette was suddenly picked up. Tori reeled back in surprise, before letting out an indignant bark-squeak as she bounced forward, invisible hackles raised. It wasn't until the giant spoke that the fox calmed down, tail lowering as she shifted out of a combative stance.
After a moment of observing the woman, Tori padded to the stranger's feet, hoping she'd be able to help Ferghus. She certainly sounded like she knew what she was doing--
"This has got to work. I hope it does."
--then again, maybe not. At least she untangled the poor puppet from his wires.
- oOo -
While awaiting a reply from the toys -- she wasn't exactly sure what she would be waiting for, since she couldn't understand them even if they spoke -- Lyca started in surprise when a voice suddenly spoke up from beside her.
"Pardon me,"
"Ah, sorry," she managed out, shifting to allow the newcomer some space -- before realizing there was another toy nearby. "Go ahead..?"
"I can also help you find yours, if you’d like,"
The mage's eyebrows rose at his offer. "That'd be wonderful, thank you," she replied, grinning in return as she nodded her head.
Seeing how much care he was taking in supporting the multi-colored marionette, Lyca couldn't help but wonder if he was a puppet-user, too -- Tori certainly seemed to act the same way towards her own puppets -- before blinking as a couple people came from out of nowhere and gave scraps of paper to the snowman and music box.
Well, it was certainly getting a bit crowded over here -- and it would be especially so when the toys transformed back into their normal, not as small forms.
She scooted back a few feet to avoid getting squished.
"I can't.. understand you.." Lyca glanced away, scratching her cheek awkwardly as the music box practically exploded with notes in response to her question. She couldn't even tell what the answer was.. though, the one thing that absurdly came to mind was how melodic the box's sounds were.
"Maybe we could help each other out?" she mused aloud, rubbing her chin thoughtfully as she turned her gaze back to the toys. "You guys don't look like you can move around all that well.."
There was a pause, before she slapped a fist into her palm.
"How about I carry you guys around with me on my search?" she asked, grinning. "I can ask around if anyone's looking for you guys, and you let me know if you see a toy fox, alright?"
It was a long shot.. but it wasn't like she couldn't take them with her, right?
Response to [x], sort-of response to [x], with mention of [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]
(( I'm so sorry this is late, thought Bree was responding next OTL ))
While she'd been debating with herself on whether or not she should approach the familiar doll, Ferghus had been attempting to stand up --
I hope that didn't hurt.
After a moment's hesitation, the plushie padded over to the fallen figure, noticing with bemusement that he wasn't actually a doll at all, but a marionette.
And he seemed a bit entangled within the wires.
Sweatdropping a little, Tori mustered up the courage to talk to the puppet, only to deflate when she realized she didn't exactly have a voicebox to do so.
After nosing at the wires for a second before giving up -- it would be difficult to detangle the poor soul in her current form -- Tori released a mental sigh before poking her nose at Ferghus' stomach, crouching down onto her own belly as she did so.
While she couldn't untangle the marionette from the wires, the least she could do was carry him where he wanted to go.
-oOo-
"Tooorii~" the blue-haired elf called out, hands cupped around her mouth. "And fox plushie? I feel kind of silly." The woman muttered the last part beneath her breath, stepping around the cluster of toys delicately, not really wanting to accidentally tread on one. Years of spending time with her friend's puppets had instilled a sort of respect for the inanimate objects -- especially when they grew to inflict heavy damage over the years... and with the sight of some of the toys transforming into the vanished guests, she didn't want to injure any one of them in case they weren't actually.. well, toys.
Shivering slightly at the memory of the time the marionettes gained the ability to move around on their own, the mage continued her search, bright ball of flame orbiting her body for light -- before jumping when a chair clattered in her path.
"Holy Eweca--"
Holding a hand over her heart, Lyca looked down to see the strangest sight of a snowman controlling a marionette, with a music box tinkling away.
"Uh.. You guys didn't happen to see a fox plushie around, did you?" she asked, bending down to right the chair.
With mention of: [ x ] - [ x ] - [ x ]
(( It's a long post, sorry D: ))
This, Lyca thought, pushing up her glasses with a slight grin, might turn out to be interesting after all..
She stuck one hand into her pocket, steel-gray eyes scanning the room with amusement. Half of the people that had been present just a few seconds earlier had vanished, presumably magicked away to some other area in the crystalline palace. The girl she'd arrived with had been one of them.
"I do hope you remember what we talked about," the woman mused softly, staring down at the paper that had taken the place of her friend.
...Definitely interesting, Lyca nodded to herself, folding up the slip of parchment and sliding it into her pocket. Now, where's the entrance to the basement...?
She barely managed to finish that thought when an explosion rocked the room, sending the woman stumbling a bit in surprise.
Her eyebrows rose in bemusement when she spotted a gaping hole in the floor that hadn't been there before, which was visibly closing in on itself as she looked at it. That works, too. How clever.
Lyca shifted to begin weaving her way through the throng of people, intending on reaching that opening before it disappeared, before her eye was caught by movement ahead of her. Another female seemed intent on reaching the basement through the newly-made and rapidly vanishing shortcut, as well, though her.. wings..? seemed to be stalling her progress.
Mesmerized by the unique appendages, the mage blinked as the girl let out a groan of frustration -- before releasing a groan of her own as she realized the hole had closed up and she'd missed her chance to jump through it.
The sight of the woman summoning a hermit staff -- she was a mage? -- made the elf's eyebrows raise again, before she instinctively braced herself as the familiar casting orbs appeared.
A highly accomplished mage, Lyca thought, impressed with the skill the woman displayed, before her eyes widened at the enormous explosion that followed the released Fireball.
Druid-level, even, she amended, eyes lighting up with excitement and more than a little wonder. Rarely in her travels did she come across someone with that much power in their control.. the fact that she could be near one now made her almost giddy.
She started when she realized that a new shortcut to the basement had been made, and the elf quickly weaved through the crowd before jumping down the hole after the mysterious woman, ecstatic grin in place.
An interesting night, for sure.
-oOo-
W-Where /am/ I?
One moment, she'd been protesting her stubborn friend's 'make sure you socialize tonight', and the next.. darkness. The atmosphere certainly /felt/ different.. but she couldn't quite place it enough to know where she was.
Tori blinked to help her eyes adjust to the change in brightness, before realizing she /couldn't/ blink. At all. That was certainly different.. and her body felt off, as well.
She shifted to push herself to her feet.....
..... And realized she didn't really have those, either.
Were those.. /paws/? The previously-an-elf didn't think she'd transformed into anything.. to her knowledge, anyway. She moved her limbs a bit, to get a better feel for what she was, before pausing.
...a stuffed animal. She wasn't even a live one -- she was a /plushie/. Of what, she couldn't quite tell at the moment. She was strangely curious about her form, but the thought that really locked in her mind was that Lyca wasn't here, and she was expected to socialize -- or else.
She wasn't really sure what that 'or else' was going to be, but knowing her friend.. the plushie shuddered, before looking around.
There was music playing, and some kind of NOIP noises repeating over and over in the background -- what even /was/ that?? -- and..
Fergus?
She stood up, eyes locked on the lone figure in the distance. She knew him, of course; while she hadn't trusted him with her equipment for years, he was something like an uncle to her.
And, in this roomful of.. toys? He was the most familiar to her. Maybe she should approach..?
