thebastion | Core Event: Day 259 [open]

[The one thing that the shops are not lacking in is money. Lots lots and lots of money.

Well, paper money. Money that is mostly useless, since the world ended and all. There are shards around, though! Mostly in things like flashlights and such, and small packs of them kept as backups. But they are there and can be gotten.

In addition, the one grocery store nearby is full of rotted food. Enjoy the smell!

But there are plenty of nooks and crannies to search for things too, so take your pick: a fancy-looking law office, a small park-ish area, or a three-story apartment building-looking-building.]

[Rob's fairly broad-shouldered and looks like he could mess someone up if he wanted to (though next to Takamura he doesn't look nearly as impressive), but when he speaks up his voice is low enough that it would be hard to hear if there was any background noise.]

I don't know. The only other one I've been on was a lot of walking through dark tunnels and we didn't find an actual Core, but it sounds like they're usually a lot more exciting than this.

[As they search, Rob will ignore the paper money, though rolls of coins might be taken for the metal if any are found. Things like flashlights will be put in his bag along with unused stationery and writing supplies, and a cursory check of the grocery store will be made for anything useful in the two minutes before that stench becomes unbearable.

The next section looks like something different, at least. They've been burned by the professional-type places so far, so something different might change their luck. He gestures at the park with his sword.]

How about we try there? Nathaniel said that some Cores got dislodged from the ground during the Calamity, so an open area might be a good bet for that.

[By comparison Edea looks tinier than she already is, but nowhere near harmless thanks to all her bits of armor and the katana at her side.]

I've only been on the mine run too. But honestly I'll take boring any day, so long as we still get results.

[She's not terribly interested in shard gathering this time, seeing how many she amasses and how few she spends. You might see her shove a bundle or two into the pack resting on the small of her back but that's about it. And don't even think of asking her to go into that grocery store. Not happening.]

Works for me. I'd rather not risk it in... whatever that big building is.

[Takamura picks up some of the money, looking down at it before letting the useless bills fall from his hands with a sigh. Whole new world comes with completely new priorities. Instead, he begins gathering what shards he can find, keeping one of the flashlights he picks up just in case he needs it.

Takamura more or less follows Rob around though he lets him go alone into the grocery store. He's not about to subject his nose to that stench. When he suggests a new area, Takamura shrugs and nods.]

Sure, that's fine with me. Maybe I'll find more shards or something.

[The park appears to have once been a well-maintained and beautiful spot. However, eight months of unattended growing have turned it into a mess of waist-high grass and viney plants creeping all over the paths. No attacking plants seem to be visible, but they could be hidden in the tall grass.

There is also a sweet smell in the area, not unlike delicious, fresh fruit, though the exact fruit is unidentifiable.]

[Insert obligatory Lost World reference here.]

[Rob, for his part, has a brief Pokémon-related thought, but as he's yet to encounter any attacking plants himself he doesn't think to worry about them in particular. Still, tall grass, so he'll stick to the vine-covered paths as much as possible as he enters, sniffing the air a couple of times. The smell seems strong enough that he assumes the other two have noticed it already, so he says nothing about it but keeps an eye out for its source - he'll gather some of whatever fruit it is if they find it. He gently pokes his sword into the grass as he slowly moves down the path in case the Core is hidden somewhere here. It's only gentle poking because if there happens to be some animal there he'd rather not startle it into attacking by suddenly slashing at the grass, nor does he want to accidentally damage the Core.]

[On the other hand she is having flashbacks to fighting Pincushions and other unpleasant plants in the bog. Which might explain why she's hanging back a bit and looking noticeably more on alert. If she hears even a hint of spikes being fired or a Swampweed being stepped on she wants to be able to get them out of range. Avoiding injury is important when your healing skill only works on other members of your team.]

This is starting to seem a little less like a good idea... If you see a colored flower on the ground that hasn't bloomed yet, don't step on it. Don't even touch it.

[Since Takamura doesn't have nearly the same amount of experience dealing with the various dangers of the Skywalk, he's not really acting all that cautious as he walks out among the high grass. In fact, when he notices that rather pleasant smell, he begins wandering further away towards the source. It smelled far better than the ruins of the store had.]

Something smells so good it's making me hungry.

[It does smell delicious, doesn't it? And the closer Takamura gets (since he's the one following it), the stronger the smell.

It seems to be coming from an odd arrangement of plants, near an overgrown fence. There's a big, bulbous, pitcher-shaped plant of some sort, about as large as a human torso, and the smell seems to be coming from inside. Maybe the fruit grows in there!]

[Rob stops and raises an eyebrow at Edea.]

There's dangerous plants here too?

[And Takamura's just casually walking through the grass without a care in the world. Rob follows after him so as not to separate the party. He's about to point out that they're getting pretty deep into the grass when...]

Shit shit shit.

[It's a giant pitcher plant, and he suddenly remembers how pitcher plants attract prey. And they've just been attracted to it. Quod erat demonstrandum they're prey.]

Stay away from that thing!

[He doesn't know why he's whispering, it's not like it can hear them, but he's backing up now with both hands on his sword.]

[When Takamura comes face to pitcher with the source of the smell, it's pretty clear that he's quite disappointed. He was hoping for maybe a bush or tree with tasty looking fruit, not some weird looking plant that looked like it ate too much.

Hearing Rob whispering to him, he turns to look at him. Whisper? Nah, that silly.]

Huh? What did you say?

[She nods, making a mental note to ask her team for the next mission how much of the Skyway they had been to.]

A whole swamp full of them, at the very least. I wouldn't put it past them to be elsewhere.

[Yep, following after Rob and Takamura now and wow that is a big plant. The smell is really pinging her inner craving for sweets but after Rob's reaction it sets up major red flags. This had better not be a boss fight waiting to happen. Their team is obviously unbalanced (and unprepared) and she is not in the mood for this.

Edea's voice is louder but in a false calm sort of way. She's actually gone so far as to take Takamura's arm and pull him away so that she can place herself between her teammates and the suspicious object.]

He said to stay away from the plant. It could be out to do us harm.

[But why stay away from the plant? It smells so sweet and delicious, and so much better than anything the Bastion has to offer...

Why not reach right in and pick one of those fruits that is obviously growing inside the strange pitcher-shaped plant? What harm could come from picking a fruit?]

[Takamura's still looking back at that plant as Edea physically pulls him away. Unfortunately, Takamura doesn't always go with the best intentions of those around him.]

Come on, what can a plant do? Besides, I think I saw the fruit on the inside.

[Pulling his arm free, he returns to the plant and glances down before reaching in with his left arm to try and grab one of them.]

[The opening in the top of the plant suddenly grows fangs and chomps down on Takamura's arm. Hard.

Since he's strong it probably won't be able to bit clean through his arm, but it's going to hurt. A lot.]

OW! WHAT THE HELL?! LET GO OF ME, DAMNIT!

[Yeah, the feeling of the plant's suddenly appearing fangs sinking into his arm was not pleasant. His first reaction was to start hitting the plant which, while it didn't seem to hurt it, did damage it some. He then gripped the 'jaws' and pried it open to free his arm before pulling it up by the root and stomping on it repeatedly.

That'll teach it to not deliver on its promises.]

[Rob takes one hand off of his sword to facepalm.]

Are you a fucking idiot? Did you seriously expect to find fruit inside a plant?

[Pausing mid stomp, the tension in Takamura's shoulders can be seen as he slowly turns his head to glare at Rob. Probably not the best idea to insult Takamura when he's pissed.]

What did you just call me?

[Rob has a sudden sense of impending doom. Perhaps it's time to invoke technicalities?]

I didn't call you anything. I just asked if you're something, or if you're just pretending to be. I'd rather not have to drag your corpse back to the Bastion.

[Well, that answer pulled him out if immediate danger, but Takamura's got him in his sights now and he hasn't quite worked off the anger from being bitten.

Walking over, he leans down so that his face is close to Rob's.]

Do I look like an idiot to you?!

[Answer wisely.]

[Well if Takamura's not going to listen to her, Edea is in no mood to argue. As bad as she feels for one of her team mates getting injured hopefully he has learned something. Hopefully. Best go and heal-

And now they're arguing. Great. She takes a deep breath, inserts herself in front of Rob and plants her hands on her hips to glare firmly at Takamura. Don't make her turn this expedition around.]

I only wanna have to heal one of you, so I suggest you calm down. This is no place for us to be fighting each other.

[Hey don't blame him! Takamura started it!

He's an adult, honest. One who just got saved from saying something that would've gone over much worse than he expected it to.

Rob exhales through his nose, something half-sigh-half-snort, while continuing to look at Takamura in case something happens. His face shows annoyance, but the rest of his body shows nervousness about what Takamura might do. He may look pretty strong and tough, but he's well aware that the reality is different.]

Yeah. We're here to try and find a Core. We should get back to doing that. And not reach into things without thinking first.

Hmph! Fine. Just so long as he keeps his smart ass remarks to himself.

[With that, Takamura draws back away from Rob and turns the bleeding shoulder towards Edea. Really, despite the blood, the damage isn't really that bad. It'll probably just be soar for a while.]

[Edea has to resist the urge to say a smart ass comment of her own. Instead she forces herself to focus on using the one healing ability she managed to keep. She reaches a hand out and holds it over Takamura's arm, silently casting Treat over it. The bleeding stops and the lower layers of damaged skin are repaired, but a dull hint pain and a top layer of tender pink skin still remains.]

This spell's not very strong but it's certainly better than nothing. Now let's keep moving. I don't want to be around long enough to be found by anything that can smell blood.

[A good idea, since there certainly are things that can smell that blood.

There is also a massive tornado of fire in the sky not too far away that just suddenly appeared.

Do you want to keep searching here, or go see what's going on?]

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dragonsorcsandwolves - 2014-12-28 21:13 (UTC) - Expand

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kuma_killer - 2014-12-29 08:15 (UTC) - Expand