Scene #3408: The Travellers' Rest

Owner	Pose
Hoshi Amakasu	DRACHENBLATT ACADEMY, CLASS 304. Hoshi Amakasu found herself looking up at the clock for what must have been the sixth time in the past ten minutes. So close to the school bell. For the life of her, she wasn't sure why she was so excited to get the project August had been describing underway. Only... It felt like things were finally coming together. Events were happening a lot faster than they had before, so maybe the issue was that Hoshi wanted to make sure her stride matched the events. Finding a safe place for a group to discuss in secret, a base of operations, was a good way to get everything started. As her teacher went on, eventually Hoshi digs her phone out of her bag and texts August, "Going to change to P.E. clothes. Meet at woods." As soon as the bell rang, she was out of her seat and walking through the halls as fast as she could and heading to the locker room; a quick change-out and she was going as fast as she could for the gate, gripping her transformed katana in her hand as she went. She probably got a lot of looks as she was heading out, but what were a few more rumors? It's not like they didn't already have enough ammo in the first place. "Hopefully I won't be late," she grumbles under her breath.
August Kohler	August's texts are as brief as his usual replies. "Right.", he replies, as he pockets his own phone. He steps out of his own classroom, before heading to his dorm to grab his backpack of supplies. From there, he takes the fastest exit out of the school, before taking his own shortcut towards the woods. He tends to go out there fairly often, whether he'd like to admit it or not. As he gets to the entrance of the woods, he waits for Hoshi. He is still blushing a bit, as he speaks on his radio. Ira's words definitely are getting to him!
Hoshi Amakasu	It took a few more minutes after August's arrival for Hoshi to make her appearance, jogging towards the meeting point. When she spots August, she lifts her hand to wave quickly, scowling down at her radio as she went. Gudako was back, of course, but she'd proven to be a hassle that was going to haunt her anyway, no matter how hard she pushed. This MacNally, on the other hand... How was she so cavalier about all of this? When she came close, Hoshi offers August a weak smile. "Sorry I'm late. I have a little good news, though. My mom and I cooked extra lunches for our hike today. But... Do you actually have any idea where we're going?"
August Kohler	August puts his phone to the side as Hoshi shows up, looking up to her in a nod of acknowledgement before turning to the forest. "Thank you. Tell her thanks as well." He begins moving forward, pulling out a map from his bag. It seems handdrawn. "There's an area near the gate I haven't mapped out yet. Nobody goes that way, so the likelihood of finding something abandoned is better than anywhere else. You up for it?" August grins slightly, as he begins imagining something. "You know, if we find a place, we should put up a flag. Put our /logo/ on it, and then just put a huge mirror inside. Something from the department store."
Hoshi Amakasu	Hoshi gives a small nod at the thanks, patting the backpack she was still holding to indicate where the food was. She follows after him, of course, peering curiously at the map as soon as he draws it out. "Ehh? A hand-drawn map, huh? You've been wandering around here a lot, haven't you?" The idea of August tromping around with and explorer's hat and a compass causes her to grin widely in return. "I'm ready whenever you are, great explorer." Again with the logos! And a flag?! "And what happens if someone wanders into the forest and sees a random abandoned building that has a flag on it? With our luck, they'd think we're terrorists. Also how would we sneak a mirror into the forest without causing any ruckus? Out in the Multiverse, it's not as important, but here? We have to be really careful."
August Kohler	"It's how I kill time. And how I found the Multiverse in the first place." Looking througuh his map, August passes it to Hoshi to look over, as he silently begins towards the uncharted area. As they move, he laughs. "It's a joke. The flag, atleast. I won't make you a copy of the logo, if that's how it is." He grins as he moves, stopping to glance at the map briefly. "The mirror's easier. We can move it through the warp gate, out the cave, and towards the clubhouse. If we /find one/, that is." He glances at the direction of the cave as they pass it, as they get further through the woods. "I'd suggest doing it in another world, but you can't get into the Mirror Forest outside of ours, it seems. Haven't tried outside of Alberichstadt, but that'd just be more difficult anyhow."
Hoshi Amakasu	Fair enough, though... Hoshi glances towards August quietly, remembering how upset August had sounded when Ira had mentioned something about him having friends. "Ah... Kohler. We're friends, yes? Admittedly you and I don't see eye to eye sometimes, but i'd like to think that doesn't matter. So... if you'd like to talk about anything, you can. I don't mind." That awkward bit past, Hoshi shrugs a bit with a sigh. "I just want to keep people safe as much as possible. So do you. So... Fine, do a logo. Just try not to make it too conspicuous, okay?" Maybe they could wear something unobtrusive, or something. "And no t-shirts," she adds on as an afterthought. "Yeah, I remember testing that as soon as I left our world. Do we really need a second entrance, though? I'd rather not wander away from that pig if we can help it."
August Kohler	As Hoshi speaks, August immediately turns his back on her. It seems this makes him a bit uneasy, but it's hard to tell whether it's about Hoshi being his friend or something more. Once she's done talking, however, he speaks, trying to keep up the same tone he did before. "Hey, I think I see something out there. Let's get closer!" August speeds up, moving farther into the woods. In a clearing past the trees lies an old shack. The door is slightly cracked open, and it looks like it hasn't seen use in atleast a decade, on first glance. It's made of wood, and the dirt around it lies mostly untouched. "This...looks perfect. It's out of the way, not too far from the gate, seems fairly spacious, nobody comes this way...I don't even think anyone's been here in years. ...Should we go in?" He's definitely hoping she forgot what happened two minutes ago.
Hoshi Amakasu	Of all the things Hoshi was expecting out of August regarding his reaction, that... wasn't it. She's flatly ignored, from the looks of things, and suddenly August was picking up speed. "Wha--hey, wait! You can't just run away from stuff like this!... rgh." He was getting farther. Reluctantly, she picks up her pace to go and catch up to him. When she gets around the last tree, she slows down as she looks over the ruined wooden shack. It was a bit lonely, standing out here in the Forest abandoned, but she had to admit--it was promising. "We'll have to renovate it," she says critically as she looks over it. "The roof is probably leaking or collapsed, and the walls probably won't be much better. We'd also have to do it ourselves if we want to keep it a secret." She approaches the door carefully, making sure to watch her step, but she stops before she does. "I mean what I said, Kohler. Please remember." And then she went inside.
August Kohler	The steps are slightly cracking, but it doesn't look like the shack is going to collapse on them, atleast today. Inside, it's much more obvious that someone /did/ live here, but likely not for over a decade. There's a bed, a kitchen, a small living area. There's a stack of books and papers on a desk, and then what seems to be the withered remains of stockpiled food in a pantry. "Jackpot. We can renovate it, yeah. Get some help down here, fix it up, new coat of paint. Move all that stuff through the warpgate. When we're done, we'll have the coolest secret investigation club house ever." August looks around, rifling through the kitchen supplies, before jumping back. "Agh, I think I saw a spider!" He goes to grab the frying pan from the stove, before glancing around for the evil, sinister, malicious arachnid.
Hoshi Amakasu	Admittedly Hoshi hadn't spent much time in abandoned buildings, and she's still carefully tip-toeing about to avoid any potential nasty surprises that might be waiting on the floor. She does take the time to look around the area, though, occaisonally leaning over to see if she can read any titles or notes of interest. She stays far away from the pantry, though. Who knew what sort of gross stuff was in there after who knows how long? "You're really excited about this aren't you? I don't think I've ever seen you quite this enthusiastic without being on fire." His sudden terrified reaction makes Hoshi jump, but when she realizes what it is he's panicking over, she rolls her eyes. "There aren't even that many poisonous spiders in Germany, are there? Geez." A quick glance around on the scattered bits of the floor--ah. Her hairtie elongates to it's sword form, and she carefully starts urging the spider to carry on outside with the tip. "Go on, you. You won't like it in here very soon."
August Kohler	The notes seem to be more like rambling diary entries, belonging to the former owner of this shack. It seems like an old man with grown children became disillusioned with society back in the late 90s, moved out into the Black Forest, built himself a shack, and lived there until 2003 where the notes just stop after what seems to be a period of sickness. Absolutely none of it seems to relate to the investigation, but it's still potentially interesting, if sad. Once Hoshi grabs the spider with her supersword, August backs up, letting her dispose of it. The spider, meanwhile, does absolutely spiderlike things, like escape off the sword into the wilderness away from the crazy screaming German. Once it's gone, August relaxes significantly, as he looks at Hoshi's sword. "That's...actually pretty cool. Where'd you get it?" He grins, before answering the previous question. "I mean, this is fun, isn't it? We're basically...superheroes. Fighting monsters, saving lives, even getting our own secret base, what's not to enjoy?"
Hoshi Amakasu	Hoshi frowns a bit at the picture that the notes paint. It's better than if this place had been a base for the Woodsman, for instance, but still... Sad. Carefully, she bundles what things she can together and brings them over to the door. "This person deserves better than to just be forgotten and pushed aside," she explains quietly. August's mention of her sword causes her to grin a bit, the sword shrinking back into it's hairtie form. "Staren made it for me. I figured having an actual sword would be better than wandering the Forest with my bokken. He agreed, and also figured I could use something that can be hidden. It's called a Proto-Abstractum." As to what's not to enjoy... Hoshi shrugs uncomfortably. "You're not wrong. It's pretty cool for us, I guess, but I'm more worried about the people who're getting caught in this. Besides... no matter how many times we go into into the Forest, it never actually feels safe. Or fun."
August Kohler	"We'll make good use of his home. It's probably the best for it, rather than get found abandoned and turned into mulch." August looks over it, as he steps back outside, leaving the door as it is, partially in fear of it falling off. "...You're right, I guess. Either way, it doesn't look like we're stopping anytime soon, so I guess the best we can do is get more comfortable around it. We can't let it scare us, or stop us. Right?" August grins at Hoshi, before turning to the forest. "After all, we have to protect our city. No one else can."
Hoshi Amakasu	"Yeah... I wonder if he ever thought his home would end up being used like this?" Well, they'd found what they were looking for. Hoshi tucks her hairtie into her pocket as she starts picking up the bits of the journal she found. "I'll return this when we've made sure it won't just rot away down here," she promises the shack as she makes her way out. August is right, as well. They couldn't stop, not anymore. There might have been a time when they could've decided to leave well enough alone, but that time is past. Is Alberichstadt really her city, though? Hoshi takes a look around the Black Forest with a small frown. She missed Japan, but she'd at least made some semblance of a life here. "Right," she says eventually, her expression hardening with resolve. She accepted this awhile ago. "So that means no slacking from either of us. We have to be the ones to lead the charge, or else no one else will." Giving August a firm nod, Hoshi starts making her way back into the forest.
August Kohler	"I guess we're a team, then. I'll get us matching jackets." Augusts grins, as he steps back into the woods. It looks like Die Reisenden's a reality, and he finally has something. But can they keep it up? Only time will tell.
Hoshi Amakasu	As lunchtime rolled around for the day, Drachenblatt's many students took a collective sigh of relief and rushed out of their classes to partake in whatever sustenance was available to them. Sadly, not everyone was so excited for the lunch period to start; Hoshi Amakasu couldn't help but feel a bit nervous as she watched the clock move towards the meeting time that August and herself had set up with Ira. When the bell rings and everyone goes off, Hoshi goes a little more slowly, pulling on a blue hoodie over her sailor fuku as she made her way up to the roof as quickly as she could. It was starting to get cold, after all. Thankfully the door is still open--no need to steal the key from the poor janitor this time--and Hoshi makes sure to set her bag down to hold it open as she slowly started pacing along the length of the roof. No doubt everyone would be here soon, but for the time being Hoshi had to entertain her thoughts. Mostly, she was worried about Gudako and Ira. What precisely had that crazy girl told Ira, anyway? "Why is that woman always getting involved," she mutters quietly under her breath, her breath exhaling clouds of vapor into the sky.