BZPRPG: Ga-Wahi

IC: The Seventh

"W-what are you two even doing?!"

IC: Wraith

Seven was right, enough of this foolishness. He didn't want a hat and that was final. 

...

"Seven, if we were to recruit people to help liberate Ko-koro, where would we find them?" He didn't know Ga-koro well, but Seven did. Right now just the three of them couldn't do much against Echelon, but if they were able to pull together a large group...they'd stand a chance. Wraith wasn't used to working with others, but he knew this was not something he could do alone. 

IC:Iraxis

...and just as soon as he had decided to stay and watch the horizon, he grew bored. With a seemingly agitated sigh, Iraxis turned on his heel, wandering along the beach and through Ga-Koro's gate. Being a De-Toa, Iraxis didn't like to draw attention to himself. Having an Akaku, being largely white, and having an also white sword and shield, making him look reminiscent of a certain someone from history, he liked to draw attention to himself even less. Even so, Iraxis had no intention of isolating himself from society. He wandered through the streets, looking for something to do.

OOC:Iraxis still open for interaction.

IC:

This is going downhill quickly. I wonder how swiftly this conversation can be turned around.

Or evacuated from.

IC: Either my poor mind had finally broken under the continued strain that my psyche'd been subjected to that day, or I was seeing a few familiar faces from our village's honored guests in decidedly less ceremonial, reflective, and distinct garb.

Well, they weren't the only ones sporting newer, less conspicuous looks either. The smith was undoubtedly going to have questions as to why the ever-present metal greatbow on my back was notably absent.

And I was fairly certain my answer that it nearly drowned me and was gathering dust at the bottom of the shallows with the farm spheres... Wasn't going to make him very happy.

I understand I've been making a bad habit of this lately, but I really don't believe I was groaning under my breath as I walked the streets without reason.

At that point, I only had it in me to hope I hadn't lost my ability to haggle along with my means of income.

Was probably time I bought a rod anyway, assuming this didn't put me in the red.

IC: The Seventh

"Um."

Everything was going by so quickly.

"The marines, I guess?"

IC:

Whitehot had, clearly, reached the same conclusion.

"It's getting late," she said to fill the silence as she quaffed most of her final beer. "Should check if I have any final arrest paperwork to do at HQ. They might need me over there. It was, uh...good meeting you. Commodore. You too, Dai. I'll look into that buoy. Sinshi, uh...I had a lovely evening. I know I said I'd show you the beach, but..." She finished the rest of her beer in a go, unable to say anything else without her voice breaking. "Duty calls. Might run into you later tonight, Dantas. Seeya."

A bit unceremoniously, she pulled her jacket's collar closer to her neck, gave a quick smile to the two Dasaka she'd invited, and walked out of the bar before her legs started to shake in uncertainty - or she buried her fist inside Ayiwah's forehead.

-Tyler

IC:

"Well," I said, taking another sip of beer. "That went well."

-Void

IC:

"Miss Whitehot," A familiar voice sounded from over the Onu-Toa's right shoulder before she was even half a dozen steps from the door. Sinshi stood just past the door, arms crossed casually across her torso.

"I did not wish to let you leave before I said 'thank you'. I had a good time."

IC:

Momentarily, Whitehot's smile beamed like the Wall of Stars above her.

"It was worth all the , then. You're welcome."

-Tyler

IC:

Now that I'd come to the sad conclusion that there was only one Dasaka ever getting into Whitehot's greaves, I sat back and watched the two dorks reenacting every teenager's romantic fantasy ever.

I should have ordered popcorn for this.

-Void

IC: "One strawberry sundae, please. Gettin' about that time where I need to indulge." Goldie smoothly called to a passing waitress.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IC: My head didn't even turn as I passed by Goldenpecks-- Golden Weapons Gambling.

I did swear I would never get open that name, though. To be perfectly frank, it sounded like something you'd find only on the credits of....

E-hem

Adult entertainment. Not that I'd know particularly more than the next guy.

Anyways.

While there was some cheesy atmosphere emanating from the place with such force that even I, a random passerby could feel it, I did my best not to notice. Given the way the rest of today had gone, I could only extrapolate trouble from even thinking too hard about it. Better I just stayed on my course towards Altedor's Weapons and Armor.

I made a mental note to file an appointment with a psychiatrist for an acute case of Paranoia the following morning. It said a lot about what I'd gone through for me to honestly be having those thoughts.

That, and that I need to cut back on my fiction intake. This was the real world, not some crazy ongoing novel. Nobody could think of both a character as wild as the Sargeant, or Dantas, and someone as comparatively beige as me. I refused to believe that there was any story where such radically different concepts could interact so regularly and casually.

Then again, I could have just fit the mold for faceless background character. Someone whose thoughts, dreams, and aspirations were barely, if at all, looked upon.

Well, that certainly wasn't the case, given that I'm here to tell my own story.

As I strode onwards, leaving the sticky and mushy air around the bar behind me, I turned to my left and entered the open arch of the smithy, located on the corner of the block. Not many people came by this late, which easily explained why I'd heard the bellows working and the rhythmic clangs of hammer upon hot steel as I took my seat on the bench, ringing the bell to announce my presence as a customer.

"I'll be out in a minute! Finishing touches!" came the gruff voice from within the depths. 

It didn't sound like the finishing touches were being put on to me.

"Don't be a smart-, kid! Should have brought one of your books!" he replied jovially, evidently recognizing me.

I didn't have any on my person, but that was fine by me. Everyone knew I welcomed time to think.

IC (Akimoto)

The strangers continued staring at each other, not even talking (or if they were, they were doing it silently and without moving their mouths). Aki cocked her head, then sighed. 

"Well, it was great to hang out with you, but we'd better be getting back. Thanks for the tour. Asa? Soraph?"

The Dasaka waved cheerily, then moved towards the village at a swift trot.

IC Sorox

Sorox straightened up when one of the party members began leaving. He would have to ascend soon.

IC:

Soraph nodded at Akimoto and followed after her.

She didn't like having to hurry from one place to another, but orders were orders. The commodore wanted the Dasaka to stick together, so that's what Soraph was going to have to do. But that didn't mean she couldn't bring along friends.

"C'mon!" the Vilda MEnti shouted at Casanuva and the rest of his team. "We've got to go find the Commodore!"

IC: Asa

I followed.

IC: Casanuva quickly fell in behind Soraph, with Zueya catching up to walk beside him. The Vo-Toa gave Casanuva a wry grin.

"You know, your 'acquainting' is certainly going a fair bit different than your usual. Unless you got slapped before we found you."

The Fa-Toa rolled his eyes. "I was a matoran when that happened; can you drop it? Kalyss did."

"Yeah, but she regularly punches people, plenty of time to have our little incident knocked out of her head."

Vakua and Aelied trailed behind the party. Aelied seemed to be looking at the surrounding nature, but spoke under his breath to Vakua. "I want all information you have found out regarding these Dasaka. Via mental transmission, if you please." The De-Toa nodded in compliance. His step slowed and his hand went to his forehead, concentrating on filling in what he had learned previously. Several seconds later, Vakua finished, reeling as he felt lightheaded. Aelied continued on. The extent of their mental powers are... troubling. I want you to be on alert while we are here; if you sense mental intrusion, with myself in particular, I want you to begin a combat mindlink. Also, I want you to probe Casanuva for anything he might have picked up from Soraph's Willhammer interrogation.

Vakua weakly nodded.

IC Sorox

whoosh.

He took off much faster this time, mostly to avoid being seen. Once he was not very recognizable, he continued to hover right above the group.

IC: Voulge

"I know many people who have, though a good majority of them don't do it alone in case of accident."

However as she mentioned getting a move on he glanced around the beach

"Eh, don't know about you but generally the worst thing on this beach is still simple enough for a toa to handle, let alone two. However if you look out that way." he stated, gesturing off in the distance "You should just about be able to make out the faint outline of Ga-Koro."

IC (Ayiwah): 

The commodore nodded as Whitehot took her leave. Once the Toa had left, she let her head fall back, closed her eyes for a moment and let out a deep breath. As much as she disliked having to admit it to herself, she had failed to get a read on Whitehot as a person. Normally, she had a good sense of what made others tick. It was a necessary skill for anybody in a position like hers. If there were many more people with personalities like this, the mission had just gotten more complicated.

Command an entire fleet Aya. she thought. 'No problem.'

Here, have dinner with some strangers: 'Crushed by Zataka's left cheek.'

She wished Tazera had come with her. Her input was invaluable at times like these. She sighed again, then looked at Sinshi and the others. "It's getting late. Anybody want to take an evening stroll through the village before we head back to the ship?"

IC:

"I'll say yes to that, ma'am," I said, leaning over to the edge of the table before calling to the waitress, "Excuse me! Could I get one of those sundaes to go, please?"

-Void 

IC: Buriath "Lily" Ili

Buriath glanced up at where he pointed. She had to squint a little against the sun, but sure enough, he was correct:

"Alas, Ga-Koro!" she exclaimed, with a dramatic flair of the arms. And alas, real food.

IC:

"I am glad." The Menti said, pausing for a moment, then giving a slight bow. "It was a pleasure, Ms. Whitehot. I think my compatriots are departing shortly, but I rather suspect I shall see you again before we leave the village."

IC:

"I really hope so. Bye, Sinshi. Let me know if you need anything...or if you wanna call in a trip to the beach." Whitehot smiled warmly for a second and reached out for Sinshi's hand - when it was in hers, she squeezed it and her smile became an impish grin. "And for ######'s sake, I'm not a miss. Just Whitehot."

-Tyler

IC:

"I shall endeavor to remember that, Whitehot."

IC:

Her laugh shook two hours worth of tension right off her shoulders.

"I'll call that a victory, then." She squeezed the Dasaka's hand tighter, winked one green eye, then the other, and slipped off backwards towards Marine HQ. "For tonight!"

-Tyler

IC:

The Menti gave a single wave, watching the Onu-Toa leave before pivoting to face the bar once more.

.:I await you outside, Commodore, Daijuno.:.

IC: "For tonight!"

The cry came ringing out from down the way I'd approached, bouncing through the empty air between the buildings and passing into my cochlea clear as day.

An unmistakable voice with the slightest, most subtle hint of that unplaceable accent -- Sergeant Munequita. Evidently, her "date" with Sinshi and her shipmates had gone well. That was all well and good, but she didn't need to rub it in.

"Rub what in?"

I looked up, flummoxed in expression and emotion, as Altedor stared me down a bit too closely. For an aging smith, he certainly played the role of curious, gossipy stylist better when he got like this. Seriously, scoot back a bit.

"Nothing. I'm looking to buy a few things. A friend's Naming Day's coming up."

I don't know why I couldn't come fully clean there. For some reason, I felt the need to tell a little, insignificant white lie. It wasn't like it would matter one way or another... Maybe I was just tired of the Dasaka for a day. Or I'd had enough childish prodding about girlfriends from Denwa. It's as hard to say now as it was back then, but as life has a habit of doing, it rolled right on by with no consequence that I could see.

"Aaaaah." he replied with an understanding tone, folding his burly arms and nodding sagely. "S one, then?"

I fidgeted a bit before rising, hoping my smile looked less forced than it felt. "You could say that. They come from a pretty martial family. I was wondering if you had any good..."

What did she carry again, aside from her Soulswords? Something I remember being crystalline... pointy, stabby, rather than a proper blade...

Right.

"Any good Rapiers available." I finished, indicating the plainly obvious rack of thrusting swords behind him with a finger and a nod. This elicited a raised eyebrow.

"Ah, a fencer. Interesting. How good are you talking here?" 

I was pretty sure most swordsmanship can fall under the umbrella term of "fencing", actually. Saber, Epee, Rapier, I've even heard it used for longsword a few times.

And really, what was that other question even supposed to mean? He'd sell me whatever I pick as the best bang for my buck. I knew merchants, I sold my catches to fish stalls all the time. I wasn't planning on playing that game tonight, and I didn't care if I was saying it only through paranoia. This one was going to be on him.

"Pretty much the best one I can afford, if coupled with that deal where it comes with maintenance kit and manual." I explained. "...You do still do that, right?" came the follow-up question, glancing to where I thought I remembered his little bookcase to be, filled with little blue, leather-bound booklets.

​At that, I received hearty laughter, and the kind of clap on my back that made me stagger forward, winded. Was it me, or did everyone feel like doing that these days? Seriously, we aren't all big guys who can shrug off a Tarakava bite, here. Have some consideration for normal people.

"I never thought of stopping, kid! Of course, not everyone that comes my way plans to go for it already like you do, buuuuuuut..."

But you always got them in the end, right?

More laughter, the deep booming pulses of sound practically reverberating in my chest. I thought this man was a Fe-Toa, not a De-Toa.

"Exactly! Now then, let's see what your budget is."

I opened my wallet, and counted out the contents. A bit low in terms of living, but for purchasing a weapon, I could probably get something of decent quality if I went all in...

"...Say, where's that bow you always carry around with ya?"

New plan. Ask about the one with the highest price, and avoid the subject like the plague.

IC: Gabe

"What's this about 'liberation'?" he asked, pulling out some straw and weaving together a new hat.

IC: Iraxis

The ice-white and grey De-Toa decided he would hang around near the gate. Perhaps someone, or something interesting would come through. Looking out, he indeed saw movement. Couple people, one of them flaired their arms for a moment. How nice.

OOC: Iraxis open still

IC: Elaadis

After dropping her non-natural armor, the heavy stuff that made her look like a tank, Elaadis' build did not look to fit her comparably unimpressive natural armor.

She flopped into her bed.

And passed out.

IC: Wraith

"Echelon and the Legacy have taken Ko-koro. I cannot rest till it's free from their grasp." 

IC: Iraxis

The ice-white and grey De-Toa decided he would hang around near the gate. Perhaps someone, or something interesting would come through. Looking out, he indeed saw movement. Couple people, one of them flaired their arms for a moment. How nice.OOC: Iraxis open still.

OOC: Interacting with Iraxis.

IC (As Kudiha): "Sand. I hate sand." The Su-Matoran grumbled as he stomped his way to the gate. *What's a bloody Ko-Toa doing here?* he thought to himself, incorrectly guessing the toa's element due to his color scheme. "Oi!" He called out. "What's your business in Ga-Wahi!" The Parakuka on his back mentally willed its host to shout at the toa.

IC: Iraxis

Oh look. Now someone was shouting. Incredible. Turning his head with a rather uncaring blink, he extended the telescopic lens on his Akaku slightly. Some Su-Matoran having a bad day, by the looks of it.

"What's it to you what I'm doing here?" He called back.

IC (Ahren, Ga-Koro):

As Wraith spoke, a fourth being slowly approached the group that he was speaking to. He was wrapped in a thick grey cloak, although he left the hood of it down. A sword hung from his belt at his left hip and a small dagger from the other, but no heavier arms or armour were to be found on the man at that point in time. His face and eyes shown with curiosity even as he heard Wraith speaking, and after Gabe spoke up, he spoke as well, stepping from the shadows and properly revealing himself.

"If it would please you," he said to Wraith, "I would hear more of this tragedy that has befallen Ko-Koro." Ahren had been travelling for a while, and was somewhat out of the loop in terms of news; he'd heard of Ko-Koro's fall, though not much beyond that, and he was thirsty for some information regarding it.

IC: Iraxis

Oh look. Now someone was shouting. Incredible. Turning his head with a rather uncaring blink, he extended the telescopic lens on his Akaku slightly. Some Su-Matoran having a bad day, by the looks of it.

"What's it to you what I'm doing here?" He called back.

IC (As Kudiha): "Why stand at the gate when you can walk right through? What do you have in mind, toa?" The matoran of plasma asked in a growl, his grip clenching on the hilt of the sword.

OOC: Iraxis is on the inside of the gate.

IC: Iraxis

Iraxis blinked.

What?

OOC: You didn't say he was on the inside, so I assumed he was on the outside. 

IC (As Kudiha): He simply walked past silently, the Parakuka on his beck beginning to act up. 

IC (Ahren, Ga-Koro):

 

As Wraith spoke, a fourth being slowly approached the group that he was speaking to. He was wrapped in a thick grey cloak, although he left the hood of it down. A sword hung from his belt at his left hip and a small dagger from the other, but no heavier arms or armour were to be found on the man at that point in time. His face and eyes shown with curiosity even as he heard Wraith speaking, and after Gabe spoke up, he spoke as well, stepping from the shadows and properly revealing himself.

 

"If it would please you," he said to Wraith, "I would hear more of this tragedy that has befallen Ko-Koro." Ahren had been travelling for a while, and was somewhat out of the loop in terms of news; he'd heard of Ko-Koro's fall, though not much beyond that, and he was thirsty for some information regarding it.

 

IC: Gabe

Now this was a man who seemed well-educated in the art of tipping.

IC: Melna (Ga-Koro)

Rays of sunlight beamed down from the highest point in the sky onto the shores of Ga-Wahi. The sun was setting its smiling gaze on the soothing waves and gentle breezes of the Wahi of Water.

From somewhere down below, the light met with another flash of gold, as if something smiled back. That was actually an apt description, because the Lesterin that caused a spray of light-fracturing water drops from where she landed up to her waist in the water smiled pretty widely indeed.

Melna drew a deep sigh, and her face settled back into mellower folds as she leaned back in the water and floated towards the shore. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the large rock she just jumped from, slightly hidden in the shadow of the larger rock next to it.

Her copper body parts flashed in the sunlight, forcing her to blink a few times to get the sting out of her eyes. Of course, when she blinked she saw the other flashes…

Wading onto shore and grabbing her towel, Melna sat down in the closest shadow (not quite as many flashes there), that of the large rock, and took stock of the height she’d just jumped from. That was a pretty sweet jump, right?

She sunk her feet into her own footprints in the sand from earlier, and cocked her head over to look at her mask rested on a nearby table, from this angle, tilted forward a bit as it was, it looked almost… angry, she’d never noticed that before.

She shook the idea out of her mind as she got back up, and scaled the rock again, it was cold and rugged, and her wet hands had some trouble finding a solid grip, but she managed.

Once she was up, she sat down and looked over the area, checking what Lux and Day were up to…

IC: Wraith

Wraith sized up the newcomer. The Toa was older, had clearly seen his share of battles, but the look of him he seemed to be one of honor. Wraith decided he could trust him. 

"Very well, how much do you know already?" Wraith did not feel like wasting time giving details that were already known.