#ic-rp

[starzfield]

{ Starter for @fieldsofstardew }

Breathing deep in, then out. Again. Again…

It was time to face the truth. No amount of breathing would help Johann calm herself, not with the situation she was in. 

For her defense, running away from her family who wanted her gone in the most definitive way wasn't exactly helping someone to stay calm and relaxed.

Johann was running out of money too, the small pouch she managed to bring with her while escaping the house - well, manor - she lived in her whole life was getting thinner with each passing day. At least she knew how to be careful with her spendings, a thing not every nobles handled well.

The blonde found the place by chance, someone in the last town she passed by mentioned it was looking for a farmer… And considering her [skills], it sounded like a godsent.

Now, Johann didn't actually use her [skills] before, she barely grasped how they worked - of course, what noble lady would use farming skills for ? But she had them, so things should work out… They had to.

After that she took the next carriage she could find for Mistria, and now she arrived at the town, only to end doing deep breathings. Eventually, Johann started walking around, a bit at loss. What was one supposed to do in her shoes ?

Swallowing hard, Johann decided she'd ask the next person she crossed paths with. She didn't do all this to be stopped by… Well, actually, by nothing !

Fists clenched, the woman huffed with a determined face, looking around until her gaze landed on someone. Reddish hair, a not so friendly expression maybe, but she couldn't let herself be discouraged.

Putting her legs into motion, Johann jogged to him, her bag hopping on her back.

“Excuse me !! Mister please, I heard this town is looking for a farmer…?”

She managed not to blush, but she was embarrassed. It was very, VERY different from social gatherings she faced in her life before.

“Is it true ? And is the job still open by chance ?”

Her hands joined in a kind of praying motion, full of hope as her eyes nearly sparkled.

[starzfield]

Starter for @tactful-kind-daedra

Even without his computing abilities, Niel could have predicted this outcome. He sighed - ironically, both a programmed behaviour when annoyance rose, and a way to let escape some heat provoked by the overheating that said annoyance caused.

Far from bringing a positive outcome, his ‘success’ in bringing the orange moss actually made his superior, the scientist he was assisting, even more upset about him. For a moment, except for some bitter glances thrown his way, Niel received nothing bad from the scientist, making him hope it would stay at that…

But considering his luck until now - and yes, he accepted the concept of luck even if it was countering logic and statistics - he wasn’t surprised when consequences eventually happened.

It first started with his superior welcoming him with a smile, a fact that immediately switched to red every internal alarm Niel possessed. Wary, he listened to the speech that was unnecessarily long, and understood what was the essence of it : 

Considering the ‘success’ of his last mission, he was sent to search for something in the Relic Castle. And since he managed it without help last time…

“...You won’t need an escort for this mission either, do you ? Someone as talented as you. I’m sure you’ll do well, so I convinced the higher ups. I’m counting on you !” So sweet and syrupy yet his eyes were sparkling with malice and revenge. Niel wondered what he did to this man, really.

Just a few praises towards Niel when he got engaged were enough to gain the scientist’s hatred, for some reason. When the android asked nothing more than to help the other in his projects…

Sighing again, he was reading his mission summary once more, despite having registered it already.

A notification popped on his screen, a familiar red attracting his eyes.

Gears turned in his head. Should he…? After their meeting, he managed to send a few texts and pics here and there to the kind trainer who helped him - a fact he had to hide from his report, since mentioning would mean he’d have to explain why he didn’t have an escort in the first place and - yeah, not going into that rabbit hole.

She did say she would like to help, so maybe he could ask ?

He didn’t have much of a choice. The chances of him managing the mission alone was under 15%.

It took way too long for an android as evolved as himself to find an acceptable wording, but eventually the message was sent to Daedra.

Niel : [ Hello. Would you mind going to the Relic Castle ? I’m afraid I have a new mission there, and no one to accompany me. If you don’t mind. ]

After a quick thought, he added : 

Niel : [We could meet at the entrance of Desert Resort, or anywhere between there and Castelia City.]

[I can find a way to pay for your help if you wish.]

She refused last time, but nothing says Daedra still would help without wanting anything in return. It rarely worked like that.

[starzfield]

Starter for @newsidequest (Helena)

It was a peaceful day. Maybe it would surprise many, but the life of a Dark Lord’s minister was actually pretty uneventful, since he was mostly doing meetings and paperwork, not going on the field.

However, this peace wasn’t meant to last. As Kaelus was writing in the mix of boredom and comfort that came from usual, menial tasks, someone knocked at the door of his office.

That fact alone wasn’t a common occurrence. Few came to his door, and if Kaelus’s mathematics skill was as sharp as always, it rarely brought anything good. Reports were supposed to be given in the morning, and they were in the evening, so whatever it was… Was not planned.

“Enter…?” He couldn’t fully erase the perplexity in his voice, which increased as Saphira entered the room, followed by some nameless minions- And as his gaze landed on the thing one was carrying like a potato bag, Kaelus felt very distinctly cold sweat form on his back.

Troubles. It was invisibly written all over the tied down, obviously human and apparently woman-shaped person on the minion shoulder, despite the cotton bag covering her head.

Already distressed, Kaelus turned a begging gaze to Saphira, a silent scream of a “NO” in his eyes. Now, Saphira, one of the Dark Lord’s Generals, only shook her head, looking pretty much as tired as him. Muscular, short black hair, scars, many silver rings at her ears and dark blue eyes - She was one of the few people here Kaelus actually didn’t mind having a conversation.

A gesture of her head, and the minion carefully put down the woman (?) he was carrying, then removed the bag from her head. She was gagged with a piece of fabric tied behind her head, and her hands were also tied, but behind her back. Pink hair, blue eyes, quite pretty - but it was something that long stopped mattering for Kaelus.

He was waiting for explanations, and Saphira didn’t disappoint. “The Lord asked us to bring her to him. He wishes her to sing for him whenever he request it, from what he told me. It wasn’t that hard to capture her, but I can’t exactly keep her with me…”

Right. No one was crazy enough to bother the Generals, and whoever tried didn’t live long enough to brag about it. But keeping this pink haired woman among minions and mercenaries… It’d be like leaving a roasted chicken in front of famished beasts. Even if the fear to touch what was the Lord’s would keep most at bay, there would always be one stupid enough to cross the line. And they would all pay for that.

“So, a singing bird ?” Kaelus asked as the General nodded. “Where am I even supposed to put her…?” He rubbed his temples, already tired by it all. But he was the best choice - strong enough to protect her if needed, but far from most troublemakers.

“Alright, I’ll handle this.” Relieved, Saphira gave him a short nod as a sort of salute, before leaving with her little group, leaving the ‘bird’ behind.

Once alone with the unknown woman, Kaelus gazed at her, thinking. Then lifted his hand, dark power glowing around it, as if absorbing light - and both the gag and the rope tying the woman’s hands came undone, freeing her.

“Let’s see what we have here.” Even if she tried to flee, a mere flick of fingers would block the doors with dark power. Not that she’d have luck even if she managed to come out of the office - finding the exit, avoiding or escaping the guards… Were only a few of the struggles she’d be met with. “What’s your name ?”

[starzfield]

Starter for @tactful-kind-daedra !

Field work wasn’t for him, Niel had concluded already before, but was confirming again. He was made - quite literally - to work in a lab, surrounded by walls. Not in the depth of the Pinwheel, trying to gather the data he was requested to, all the while hoping for wild pokemon to not get too interested in him.

That far, he had been rather lucky. Most of the information he was looking for were found and noted down - despite remembering them perfectly, he’d have to type them out eventually to send them, so Niel may as well do it right away.

There was one specific kind of moss that was still missing, and the man moved to another corner of the forest he had yet to check. On his shoulder, Joltik was resting, as usual. They left only to eat, nearly. At least it was easy for him to keep track of which area he visited or not.

Finally, the thing he was looking for came into his sight, and he approached the bing, old fallen stump the moss was growing on.

The way Joltik started to buzz on his shoulder all of sudden made Niel slow down, but it was already too late.

A whole group of Panpour, Pansear and Pansage came out of the stump and from the trees and bushes around. What had happened ? He didn’t have enough data about these pokemons to know why they were hostile all of sudden, and to stop them.

The research came second behind survival, and Niel started to walk backward, knowing even with all his pokemon he’d be no match for them. Joltik was affectionate but weak despite their advantage against water, Durant would turn into a crisp at the slightest ember, and Solosis… Solosis was very free spirited, and didn’t own any strong attack against those.

The stats were definitely not in the lab assistant’s favor. The hypothesis the scientist he was working for sent him here to get him in trouble out of jealousy was, however, getting higher probability.

Step by step, the man was retreating, the group of wild pokemons walking towards him in a threatening manner…

Until Niel’s back bumped into something.

Or rather, as he checked behind himself, someone.

A scolipede.

On his shoulder, Joltik was nearly vibrating with how hard they were buzzing, while in his head his percentage of chance of getting out in one piece was quickly dropping.

He wasn’t one to take luck into account, but this probably counted like shitty luck. 

After all, Niel had no way to know this scolipede had an owner - the monkey-like group seemed to hesitate at the sight of the big pokemon behind the man, but it didn’t mean he was saved yet.

[starzfield]

Disaster incoming for @punkbites

The rest of the weekend was - luckily - pretty eventless on William’s side, and after a hangover and a breakfast, he managed to escape his parents. No doubt everyone in the little family would end up hearing about his playtime with a knife…

For now however, he was back on the job and in the street, patrolling with Gin like he did most of the time. He had mentioned the wound to her just in case, not wanting his coworker to have a bad surprise - or slap his arm by accident. His more than light explanation made her stare with scrutiny, but she didn’t pry… Yet.

So everything was pretty much back to the usual, to the point William nearly wished for something to happen. Nothing bad to anyone of course, he wasn’t the kind to wish for people’s sorrow, but the day was pretty slow that far, to the point of being boring.

“You still don’t want to tell me how you got that wound ?”

Gin poked, apparently reached by the general tranquility of the day and looking for a distraction. “I told you. Someone got attacked and I got in the middle.”

Her gaze was telling him pretty much what she was thinking, just as well as words would.

“And we both know you’re occulting so much in that story that it means you’re hiding something. Now are you done taking me for an idiot ?”

Just a disagreeable groan answered her. God, he hoped something would happen, anything-

Which was a very dangerous wish to make.

===============================================

Unlike his brother, in his small, charming flower shop, Evan Groveheart was enjoying the day thoroughly. He welcomed the calm, happily humming to himself and the plants surrounding him.

The boutique looked homey, all wood and few wrought iron parts, windows reminiscent of a greenhouse… The young man loved his shop. Not only was it the embodiment of his love for plants, but it also looked pretty romantic, at least he was thinking it did.

Often, when customers were scarce, he found himself daydreaming about a fateful encounter in his shop. He couldn’t believe it happened to his older sister, who didn’t even believe love existed to begin with, but not to him ! Of course he was glad for her happiness, but… It was a little unfair.

A sigh left him as he gazed at the flowers with affection, smiling. At least he had his shop. And maybe one day someone special would enter, make the bell jingle… Who knew ? Not a thought was given to the idea of a disaster potentially walking in.

[starzfield]

{ Starter for @suizokukans [Briar] }

B.B.Boxes.

Even if Erik mostly played or posted videos himself, sometimes he indulged into watching other streamers. Particularly when his followers suggested them, because it gave bonus points, making them happy he actually followed their suggestions.

Most of the time it leads to nothing. The hybrid looked at it, then commented on it on stream if the asker was around, and that was about it. But this one ? Erik actually fell into the rabbit hole about this one.

The excitement of the box opening spoke to him, and the guy managed to make him laugh several times, so watching his videos became one of his past times, when he had minutes to spare - or mostly, when there was no one at work, which happened quite a lot.

It was to the point Erik mentioned Briar’s videos in his own streams and videos, reposting some of B.B.Boxes stuff he particularly liked. After all, the hybrid wasn’t a very famous streamer, mostly having a small close-knit group. So there was little chance, if any at all, the other youtuber would notice him or his actions.

Right ?

At least, he heard about nothing of the sort, in the one month or so he started watching, then mentioning Briar.

Speaking about that, he was currently watching one of B.B.Boxes videos while at work, the 24/7 shop empty in the early one or two in the morning. Which was one of the reasons Erik liked his job so much. The 22 to 6 schedule didn’t bother him at all, and he then usually slept until two or three in the afternoon. 

Someone entered the shop, the whirling noise of the automatic door warning Erik. The rabbit glanced at the newcomer, who went for their purchases without paying him attention. Good.

Still, from years of caution, Erik checked his large beanie, making sure his ears were perfectly hidden. He didn’t need to check his tail, safely tucked out of sight. His phone was hidden by the cash machine, his earplug - and what a mess it was to make that fit - was under his beanie as well.

When steps approached though, he put the phone on the side discreetly, getting ready to greet and do his job. “Good evening- “

His voice kind of wavered at the end, and he suddenly stared blatantly at the customer, confusion rising.

Despite the mask and hat, there was no doubt about it. Erik had just been staring at his video one second ago, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize Briar when the other was right in front of him.

Thoughts knocked heads with each other in his brain. Was it really Briar ? What was he doing here ? Well, probably buying stuff but- Shit, did he know who Erik was ? What should he do ???

He was nearly panicking, and that was only from his own dumb thoughts, freezing and looking like a deer in the car's light - maybe even missing the customer’s first words.

[starzfield]

{ Starter for @punkbites }

It didn’t take long for William to spot the familiar, platinum blond hair in the bar. Smiling already, he walked through the pub, blending in the surroundings with some of his favorite, band-tagged and ragged clothes.

He took the seat in front of Kim as he greeted her, gasping in fake offense when seeing her already ordered beer. “Where’s mine ?”

“You’re late brother, I had to drown my loneliness somewhere, didn’t I ?” She grinned at him, mischievous.

Vaguely ashamed - he was more than fifteen minutes late after all - he ordered one for himself before finally joining her for real. “Yeah, sorry about that. Don’t think you’d have enjoyed hanging out with me in my work’s clothes though.”

Amused by his antics, she rolled her eyes. “I’m fiancee to a lawyer, I shouldn’t judge.”

This in turn made William chuckle. Kimberly (though she’d hit whoever called her that instead of ‘Kim’) looked pretty much her job - nearly every visible skin showed a tattoo of sorts, except for a face, but she had a few piercings to compensate. Short blond hair, with an undercut, and very great tastes in music though she leaned more on the heavy metal kind of things (with a hint of classical here and there from her roots).

“Mom keeps bugging me about your marriage, as if she didn’t have enough to bother me about with my lack of lovelife, or so she says. Can you two please pick a date ?” He half groaned half begged, with not much hope on the matter.

And as expected, Kim just made an impish grin at his request. “Dunno… You know I like being ‘The fiancée’.”

With a sigh and a shake of his head, William then took a sip of his drink, not surprised at all by this answer.

“You could be a little more grateful to your ‘savior’...” He complained and pretty fast regretted it.

“Technically, Jade saved me, you just put us in touch. And I do help you…” In front of William’s confusion, she continued with a charming smile. “I told Jade to not meddle with you and the family’s guest ‘s business, and I’m not even interrogating you about it. Ain’t that grateful to you ?”

Suddenly sipping on his beer as if it’d prevent him from talking, William was looking very intensely to the side, nearly feeling like sweating. Shit.

He slowly deposed his glass. “Ok fine, thanks. Seriously, you spend too much time with Jade.” She raised her eyebrows, as if saying ‘well, duh.’ 

“So, on a less troubling topic for me, how is the shop doing ?”

From that point, the chat got less teasing and more happy-friendly, Kim sharing stories about the tattoo parlor while William shared what he could of his job without making it too obvious he was a cop, knowing some customers may not much appreciate the presence of one at the pub.

[starzfield]

As the aftermath of the monumental battle faded, Regulus found himself transformed into an unfamiliar being—a pure white cat with striking yellow eyes, a stark departure from his previous identity. The experience of death had altered him profoundly. He surveyed his surroundings, confusion briefly clouding his mind until clarity emerged. No longer the feared Sin Archbishop, he had become a symbol of purity and innocence. The irony of his new reality struck him; he had once sought power, respect, and fear, but now he was at the mercy of the world, vulnerable and fragile. Yet, amidst this unexpected change, a sense of peace enveloped him. He was liberated from the oppressive weight of his own ambitions and desires.

Viewing the world through feline eyes was a revelation. Colors danced with vibrancy, sounds resonated with clarity, and the myriad scents of nature created a delightful symphony for his keen nose. Regulus took a cautious step forward, feeling the soft grass yield beneath his paws. He marveled at how his tail swayed in the gentle breeze and how his whiskers quivered as they brushed against unfamiliar scents.

For the first time in his tumultuous life, he experienced a true sense of wonder about the world around him, free from the shadows of his past desire for control.

The city streets unfolded like a labyrinth of uncharted experiences, brimming with fresh sights and sounds. He observed the people as they moved past him, some casting curious looks his way, yet none recognizing the once-dreaded archbishop now reduced to this unassuming figure. Each person walked with determination, lost in their own thoughts and concerns. Their indifference felt liberating; there were no bows, no signs of fear. He was simply another being seeking his place in the vast tapestry of life.

Zephyr could have sworn he knew any and every cat in the neighborhood. Yet, as he was coming home from work, enjoying the fresh air of very early morning, the perfect pearl white of soft looking fur catch his eyes.

Unlike all the people - the humans - passing by, walking through the street and through life with their purpose in mind, the oni stopped on the sidewalk, near the wall the cat was resting on.

It wasn't that he was an expert in cats, but there was just something unusual about this one critter. It was a quite elegant one, but its aura particularly seemed to stand out.

How strange.

The wall was high enough that Zephyr had to look up slightly to look at the cat, but the animal was in hand reach - though he made no gesture towards it yet.

"Hey there. What are you doing here, pretty kitty ?" Slowly, with a gentlness a little unexpected from someone his height and bulk, a hand was lifted up towards the cat, open and offered for it to sniff. Viole teyes kept observing it, trying to understand what it was that tickled his mind when looking at the tiny beast. His oni nature made him sensible to magical surnatural things, but he wasn't so sharp about those that he could understand what, or who, was in front of him.