Day 244 :: This is not a proper wasteland, damnit! [OPEN]

[schroedingersgun]

Who: Maya Schroedinger and anyone
Open: Open
When: Day 244
Where: Around the monument
What: Maya Schroedinger tries to steal inspect the monument.
Format: Will match yours.
Warnings: N/A


It hadn't been Maya's day, that was for sure. Waking up in what looked like a dried-up wasteland was, well, normal for her. Not waking up with her team at her side, however, was not.

Nor was discovering that the world had been torn apart, that there were only patches left! And the only remotely stable place might as well be on another continent, with the constant shifting of this sorry excuse of 'ground'!

Traversing this all had been a much needed distraction, though. It had forced her to move ever forward, to put her worries about Alfred, Todd, even Shady, not to mention Virginia and some others on the back of her mind.

And it had left her angry, really angry. Her only wish: To have a very stern talk with whoever was responsible for this, all of it. And then shoot them in the face!


After quite an odyssey, she had finally arrived at what was apparently called the Bastion. It didn't even look like anything from her world, and the crazy rambling of the only person she had met so far (the poor NPC mentioned in the FAQ) hadn't helped at all. At least he had given her an amulet with a pretty gem embedded into it, that alleviated her mood somewhat. What she had spotted shortly afterwards, though... that was different and immediately distracted her from everything else, including the toll the travel had taken on her.

The monument. Or, rather, the fact that a part of it resembled a large, pretty gem. Pretty much a mystical mega-sized gem, practically asking for her to take embrace it!

And thus, she started circling the monument. Could it be transported? What about the people that no doubt lived in this blasted place? Maybe a distraction would be needed...

[Your character can spot her walking around the monument, poking it, trying to climb it, trying to take a sample, in other words being totally suspicious and/or nuts.

Alternatively, she might spot your character, in which case she'd shout a "Hey, you! Yes, you! Get over here!" and point at them - Maya is anything but shy when it comes to requesting information on gems and gem-like objects!

And she'll likely continue to do all of this even after the first person tries to tell her off. She can be pretty persistent!]

Comments

[daughterofursa]

The demons I know are actually impressive.

[Granted that's really just... Rin, but still.

Maya's first move is something Zuko herself might have tried, making it easy to predict. She jumps over the staff, the motion bringing her in range to strike her fist forward at Maya's upper body.]

[schroedingersgun]

[Yeah, Zuko's counter was definitely effective, countering her move well and preventing Maya from snapping back a reply on the topics of demons. Indeed, it pretty much shut her up as she tried a last-second low block, which she barely managed.

Of course, she was too stubborn to go entirely on the defensive, so she attempted to immediately follow her block up with a tackle, as she was quite close to Zuko - too close to utilize her staff at all!]

[daughterofursa]

[All right, that was less expected, and Maya succeeds at tackling Zuko to the ground. She tries to roll with the momentum of the tackle, though, and force Maya back off of her by pushing her up with her legs.]

[schroedingersgun]

Grgh...!

[Maya was knocked off before she could manage a followup, and skidded to a nearby hald.]

Not too shabby!

[She whirled the staff around - she somehow had managed not to lose it in the chaos - and pointed it at Zuko again, grinning. Apparently, she was quite happy about having a fight here!]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko is back on her feet facing Maya quickly enough.]

I've had experience.

[She's not sure what to make of the grin, though. She agreed to this fight because of the slight to her honor, and figured Maya felt the same. So why does she seem happy when there's no clear winner yet?

Zuko darts forward this time, expecting to have to deflect a swing of that staff with her forearm as she comes in range, and hoping to follow it up with a kick.]

[schroedingersgun]

[Maya had expected the attack, but not that Zuko'd block Maya's swing right away with the forearm, so the kick caught her off guard, knocking her backwards.

Grunting, she attempted to regain her balance while preparing for the follow-up attack that would surely come. Her improvised plan: She'd try to drop her staff and catch said attack if it was a kick, to reverse the situation.

Maybe. ]

[daughterofursa]

[A fair bit of Zuko's experience is against someone who used a staff, too, and Maya isn't an airbender.

Maya moving back increases the distance between them, though, so Zuko does try another kick instead of moving in closer. Maya's block trips her up, making her stumble back a step herself.]

\o

[schroedingersgun]

[An opening! Maya tried to leverage the short stumbling by closing in and attacking: With a headbutt.

She was quite headstrong, after all, and that might have been a move that Zuko wouldn't have expected.


Of course, if Zuko HAD expected that, Maya might be kinda screwed, but no risk, no gain!]

[daughterofursa]

[Of course Zuko was expecting some kind of attack, but a headbutt? Who trained this girl, Sokka?

She has enough of her balance back that she's able to sidestep the attack, Maya's shoulder just brushing her. Zuko makes a grab for the staff as she goes past.]

[schroedingersgun]

[Which Zuko suceeded at. Suddenly, Maya found herself de-staffed. Eeep!

Muttering a curse, she dove low, aiming for Zukos legs once more. If she managed to unbalance the other woman, maybe she could get HER staff back, damnit!]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko brings the staff around with the intention of warding Maya off with a knock to the head.

But Zuko isn't trained with staffs, and if Maya pushes forward anyway, they might just wind up in an undignified heap.]

[schroedingersgun]

[And Maya was just stubborn enough to do just that - it was all about pushing forward with her, always!

...Which, now, resulted in the most undignified result.]

Oof!

[daughterofursa]

Ah-!

[This fight is getting a little ridiculous. Zuko tosses the staff aside and pushes herself up on her arms to try to wriggle her legs out from under Maya.]

[schroedingersgun]

[Maya did likewise, rolling off and getting back to her feet, where she dusted herself off.]

Sheesh!

[daughterofursa]

I don't know where you learned to fight..

[Zuko jumps back to her feet, wasting no time in brushing herself off but sticking to a ready stance. She's not sure if Maya wants to call it quits after that or not, but she's not letting herself be caught off-guard by another foolhardy tackle.]

[schroedingersgun]

In my book, of course.

[Maya picked up her staff, glared at Zuko, then smirked.]

You weren't that bad. You probably CAN survive out there, to my surprise! Although on my homeworld, you might run into trouble. Of course.

[daughterofursa]

That explains the tactics. [Or lack thereof.] You usually don't want to wind up on the ground with your opponent.

At least you've got your guns to fall back on.

[schroedingersgun]

Well, I don't normally fight like this. And however you want to put it, it did catch you off guard!

[To be fair, other than escaping a fortress on a self destruct sequence, the whole martial arts thing had never turned out well for Maya in an actual battle - but she still liked it, despite the evidence.]

[daughterofursa]

It took you just as long to recover as me. I wouldn't try it on any monsters if I were you. The rest of them would pick you off pretty easily.

[schroedingersgun]

...Maybe, but I'd have poked dozens of holes into them before they even reached me!

[She glanced at the stick]

With my guns, I mean.

[daughterofursa]

Right.

Well, there are other people here who use them if you need to practice or get more of those... [What are they even called? She's never asked.] metal balls.

[schroedingersgun]

Oh, I shouldn't need practice, but I suppose comparing my skills to theirs might be a good idea. Thanks for the idea!

[Maya nodded. Apparently, she considered it a plan.]

But...Metal balls? You mean Ammo? Don't worry about something like that.

[daughterofursa]

I don't know how they're normally made.

[She could get them from the monument, but if there's some alternative, that's probably better.]

[schroedingersgun]

Oh, it's an annoying process, normally. I'm just skipping it. My guns are special.

[It helps to use a weapon that runs on willpower and guts. Because videogames really have a fetish for stupid special weaponry. And Maya was not one to hide something like that, ego and all.

Regardless, she threw Zuko a glance after that remark, since Zuko's earlier remark on the effectiveness of her, uh, style against monsters was still on her mind.]

So, how do you deal with large, scaly, fanged creatures?

[daughterofursa]

[Magic bullets? Sure, maybe. Zuko has seen stranger things.]

Usually by talking. You just described Paarthurnax.

If you mean the Skyway monsters, I'm a firebender, but I mostly rely on my swords.