Scene #8835: Echoes and Shadows

Owner	Pose
Dysnomia	Anyone who's been through the gate before can recognize that a great deal of work has been done in a short amount of time, turning it into a proper checkpoint. An iris to close it off has been half-built around the warpgate, on a platform made of repurposed steel, on a raised dias. Various towers surround the gate on all sides--some still under construction--all of them manned with soldiers wearing that same symbol. Pieces of their guns hummed with a strange glow, and they don't make much sense to look at, but carried with all the heft of something lethal. But, none of those weapons rose to face the gate, though suspicious eyes did. They were expected...But the face that greeted them on the other side of the gate was unfamili-- "H-hey hey!" They didn't bounce on their toes, but it was a near thing. "Over here!" Their hair was brown, with a thin streak of pink down the left side. Their vest looked like Nine Moons standard, but, a lot had been done with it. It was so littered with patches that it threatened to crowd out the actual emblem of their nation. They wore a pair of goggles built into their cap, shimmering with images projected on the glass, even as it rested against their forehead. "Over here!" There was no one else competing for the elites' attention. "You really DO look just like us!)] They really DID bounce, that time. Their hands grasped together, fingers fidgeting, shifting from foot to foot. " Um...Sorry. I'm Alkaline! My friends call me Kali." They offered them a nervous smile, an unspoken invitation to do the same. "I'll be your pilot! I can try to answer any questions on the flight."
Dysnomia	...The ship, come to think of it, doesn't seem to have been parked too far from the gate. It looked...Quite a bit like its pilot, at first glance. It was painted brown and green and had a rectangular shape, tappering off to a point at the nose, with no windows to speak of, with three metal 'feet' extending down from its hull and into the dirt, and another flat walkway lowered down from its side. There were large, serpetine figure with four wings drawn across both of its sides, with various additions strapped to and connected with the ship that oh-so-clearly had not been part of the original blueprint. The particularly keen-eyed might just be able to make out the imprint of lettering from its old, much more conservative paint-job; SHUTTLE SEVENTEEN. The refurbished interior of what must have once been a transport was still fit for purpose, with seats facing each othe against the side of the hull and belts to keep everything in place. But some of the seats had been carved out from the hull, replaced with some more of that pulsing energy. The seats had also been given cupholders, and one of them had been torn out to make room for a fridge. A screen hung at the front, in easy view. Kali scurried ahead of the elites, sliding open a door at the front of the vessel, near the front. They slid open something--a door, flush with the wide of the hull, scooched themselves into a what could generously be called a cubby, with a chair in it. They sat. Closed their eyes. The door shut tight. Behind it, in the dark, hidden from all but the keenest of senses, a long, metal tube with a point at the end slinked down from above them, and-- --STABBED, sharply, violently, into the back of their neck. The machinery around flickered and whirred. Something in the ceiling began to glow and shimmer-- --And Alkaline was there, a flickery-transparent hologram. "Everyone strap in!" They said cheerily, rubbing their hands together, as though nothing untoward had happened. "Who's ready to fly?!" They snapped their fingers, and the elites found themselves surrounded by holographic screens, acting almost like windows against every wall.
Captain Hook	Well, that's right inconvenient. Captain Hook turns on his heel to examine the iris thoughtfully. His golden hook taps against the warpgate thoughtfully, ignoring the rest of the room. May make things difficult in the future. He turns back around and spreads his arms wide, swinging his coat around his shoulders. "Well, now! If an armed society is a polite society then you must be a very polite society, I should think!" His arms go behind his back, tucked under his coat, as he starts walking forward. With the ease of a practiced thief he flicks a tiny little gold doubloon into the iris. There's an indetectable little glint as the doubloon disappears, easily mistaken for the light, and Hook, with his usual broad smile on his face, walks away. He folds his hand over his chest and bows. "Well then, if you'll forgive my forwardness, Kali - I am Captain William Hook. Your pleasure, madam." Old-timey, archaic, gentlemanly, and distracting. He follows with his arms back behind his back and a broad smile on his face, looking around thoughtfully from his good eye. "Quite the technology you've got here. Absolutely fascinating. Can't make heads nor tails of it but it's smashing for sure." He sits down in one of the seats and spreads his arms like a mob boss relaxing, his coat draped over the chair's back. "Tally-ho, and all that, shall we?"
Madeleine Cadrasteia	The first thing Madeleine notices about the pilot is the vest, and then the hair. Madeleine subtly raises an eyebrow at the pilot's eclectic presentation, and nods in greeting. "I'm Madeleine," she says. "It's nice to meet you." She inspects her nails, feigning disinterest in the new face. Drogrung, on the huntress's back, keeps its half-lidded reptilian eye on Kali. When Madeleine enters the shuttle she beelines for the fridge, and she's inspecting its contents when a noise from the cockpit makes her jump a little. After selecting a beverage she sits across from Captain Hook. "Ah, William," she says, "Good to see you again. Did Odette invite you here, or are you simply curious to see what Snaer has to offer? Funny name for a planet, don't you think?" When Kali's hologram pops up, Madeleine dutifully buckles her seat's straps and waits for a chance to speak. "Hey, uh, Kali? Do you know why it's called Snaer?"
Captain Hook	"The latter, of course. Something tells me there's treasure to be had. Call it finely-honed pirate intuition, if you like." Hook flashes a brilliant smile.
Odette Raskins	When Odette steps through the gate, she looks a little confused at first. Wasn't there way more wilderness before? What happened to all the sliced trees? The fish in the sky? She certainly doesn't remember seeing all these guards or towers around, but that symbol on the soldiers' uniforms tells her enough of what she already knows. She's here to meet Captain Castilian for the scouting mission, and the EMT is already looking tense as hell on her way through. She's dressed for work, of course, wearing that same blue uniform of hers with the puffy jacket over it and a wider hat with little ear flaps to keep her head warmer for the cold weather she was warned about. Her chunky white duffle bag is still slung diagonally over her shoulder, and she's also wearing a fuzzy (but somehow cheap looking) pair of boots to really show she means to stay healthy through this whole scouting trip. She's just confused when she doesn't actually see the intimidating captain. It's a relief, but Odette does't let her guard down just yet as she sees a stranger seemingly excited to see everyone coming to help on this job. She giggles lightly at Alkaline's introduction, nodding quickly and finding herself bouncing on her heels a bit before long. "Hi there! I'm Odette from the Company. N-nice to meet you, M-" She can't really tell from a glance who they are, and she's only now realizing she doesn't actually know which word to use. If she gets something as basic as this wrong, she could make things awkward for her and them entire trip! Sweating a bit while to sort that out, Odette finally realizes she's frozen up for a good five seconds or so, then clears her throat and curtseys lightly to Kali. "Sorry! Um. Is... Should I be using Miss or Mister...?" The sight of the ship has Odette pausing, but not because of the way it looks. She's been on all manner of ships before, but one with this kind of artwork on it is something else entirely. She's easy to catch gawking at the serpentine figure, the paint job that reminds her more of grass and dirt than it does of something meant to fly, and the interior that strikes her so much as something unlike all those clean and sterile ships she's been on before. It's disconcerting, but not in a bad way. After staring at everything for several minutes, Odette finally gets herself seated, then flinches only briefly when Kali's hologram appears right in front of her. "Y.. Yeah! I'm ready! She calls out with a light cheer, both loud enough to be enthusiastic while still hushed enough to be 'polite'. It's only when Madeleine sits down with a drink that Odette realizes she forgot to grab one, but she sees Hook before she can, then shrugs. "I-I don't mind if you don't, Miss Madeleine. Um. As long as nothing goes wrong, right?" She chuckles awkwardly and clears her throat, fidgeting a bit before dipping her head lightly in greeting to Hook. "Treasure hunting's probably fine, too.. Um. I-I think. Right?" She looks to Kali's hologram for guidance there. "And... Oh. What is this place we're heading to, anyway? The Captain said it'd be cold and there's.. Uh. 'Anomalous readings' around. Did she say how... Um. Anomalous?"
Lory Thumper	Well, most of them look much like Kali. But, one of the elites who steps through...is a bunny in an officer outfit, complete with holstered guns and a belt full of various and sundry police-related tools. She looks around at the gathered forces and the half-built iris through the visor of her riot helmet, then follows the others. Alkaline is certainly hard to miss, and the bunny can't help a smile at the amount of excitement they seem to have about meeting some Multiversals. The bunny approaches and offers a salute. "Officer Lory Thumper, MPD and Paladin." she introduces herself to Alkaline, still with a smile. She hops into the shuttle (literally) then watches as Madeleine heads for the fridge. Captain Hook being here makes her keep alert. He's a well known pirate and quite proud of it from what she's heard. Then, they are asked to buckle in and get ready to fly! Lory's ears perk at the strange sound of that needle being jammed in, but she doesn't really know what to make of it. The holograms pop up, and Lory flinches lightly before giggling a bit at herself. "...jumpy much..?" she murmurs before taking a seat close to Odette and Madeleine. "Ready!" she calls out, making sure her seatbelt is buckled if there is one. She smiles to Odette. "Don't worry. You've got at least two capable people here. And me!"
Angela	Malkuth doesn't have any interest in helping The Captain any more than the bare minimum and the people she sent definitely aren't gonna return, Fox wouldn't even under orders at this point but there's other ways for this to go and other ways to engage these people. Right now, the way Lobotomy Corp has chosen to engage te Captain is to support The Other Captain--specifically, Captain Hook. Nonon says, "GA HA HA," as she arrives with Hook, alone, carrying the Geburapad in case someone with some responsible is neccessary to be here. She arrives with Captain Hook himself and is wearing a big flamboyant pirate hat with skull and crossbones on her head that looks like it's been through the ringer. Other than that, she's in full EGO Gear. "Excited to draw some new maps?" Nonon is immediately charmed by Alkaline, possibly because she knows a friendly face seems like it's gonna be rare to find here. "Well well, Kali--that's a funny coincidence, you see my friend here--" "Don't. I go by Gebura now." Gebura says from the pad. "Oh come on, how often do Kalis meet??" "About as often as you get multiple Geburas I guess." Gebura mutters. Nonon whistles at the transport as she rubs the back of her neck and-- Alkaline is now a hologram. Nonon's senses are not especially keen off the sea and even that is more a sign of experience than a talent for being perceptive. "Well, well! Isn't that something!" Nonon says. "You're a lot friendlier than the reception the others said I'd get. Glad to see it! I'm a friendly lady! HA HA HA!" She punches her palm into her fist, powerfully, but she might not realize there's a fight to be had here. There's a gas harpoon on her back that she hasn't made any move towards. "Tally-ho, we shall!" She laughs some more. She's this kind of person.
Captain Hook	Hook can't help but appreciate Nonon and Kali. The smile on his face gets a little less 'flashy' and a little more 'genuine' when Nonon makes her big show (while he's doing his thing with the coin) and is a big loud distraction. "You know, I'm a rather terrible artist," he says as they walk, "Can't draw a map to save my life, damn near literally. Remind me to tell you about the last time I did, before I had my Map With An X On It." His smile widens a little more at Nonon echoing Tally-Ho. To Gebura, he says, "I appreciate you being along, you know. Both of you. Especially when there's constabulary eyeing me as if I'm the fox in the henhouse." His smile turns into a flat-out grin.
Dysnomia	"Sorry! Um. Is... Should I be using Miss or Mister...?" "Iiiiii think just Kali is fine?" Their smile is a little more forced. "Please?" "You're a lot friendlier than the reception the others said I'd get." "Well..." Their eyes darted. "The Captain can be...A lot. But! I'm glad it worked out!" Their voice was almost a squeak. ____________ Madeleine finds can upon colorful can of something called SPACERS RUSH as she rummages through the fridge, some absurd concontion of distilled caffeine and sugar that would probably make someone vibrate through a wall. Someone had left a few empty cans there after they were done. Below, almost an afterthought, there were several water bottles, some of them actually filled with water, the others with some kind of brown, sugary, carbonated drink. "You like?" Kali said, looking over Mads' shoulder. "I spent all my requisition credits for MONTHS to get those shipped!" "Hey, uh, Kali? Do you know why it's called Snaer?" "Well, I'm not a historian...Buttttt..." The Kali-gram stroked their chin. "I think it's all based on some old Terran myth. Ran, our star, is named for a sea goddess, and all the planets are connected to her. Somehow!" "Tally-ho, and all that, shall we?" "Tally-ho, we shall!" "Yeah!" Kali cheered, pumping a hand into the air, and the ship ROSE. They got a clear view of the forest of floating, glowing kelp around them, before the crested above it all, looking over an alien landscape. Something that looks like a shark snaps at a cloud of fish in the sky, scattering them in all directions, some of the darting around the ship itself. The elites could see the way they skirted around the sides of the hull, the way they glowed. The ship pitched forward, and everyone can feel the g-forces pushing them into their seats as they flow over fieldds of floating kelp, spotys of waving coral. Surreally, they come across a river, cutting over some...Plants? With long stalks that reach up into the air, spreading into violet strands, eerily grasping at the air. "The Captain said it'd be cold and there's.. Uh. 'Anomalous readings' around. Did she say how... Um. Anomalous?" "...Well, this is a cold planet, and it's the icy season. And..." They hesitated. "Um...Amomalous like THAT." They pointed at one of the holo screens, and there were... ...Rocks. Floating. Unsupported. In the air. The ship slowed to a gentler pace, as they felt themselves cross a threshold. Kali shuddered, but it didn't take someone psionically sensitive to feel it. Like there were eyes on you. If you turned fast enough, you could see them. They just at the corner of your vision, they were... ...Nowhere. The ship settled down, slowly. Everyone's harnessess pop up, and Kali visibly regathers their composure. "She thinks you might be less senstive to it. Whatever's here. We don't understand it. Maybe you could find out...?" Their smile was wan.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine peers at a can of Spacers Rush before opting for the water. Not worth taking chances with that stuff yet. She'll have plenty of time to try 'local' favorites over the coming month. As the flying fish part around the ship, Madeleine watches with interest. "This place must be beautiful at night," she says. "Especially from up here." "What, just some floating rocks? That's what's got you folks all worried? I don't see how-" Madeleine cuts off as the shuttle passes a threshold and the sensation of being observed strikes her. "We're not- Are you quite sure it's safe to land here? Will you be sticking around for us, or should we give you some kind of signal to pick us up once we've finished the survey?" The huntress has her spear in hand before she's even off the shuttle, scanning the surrounding landscape for landmarks and vantage points.
Odette Raskins	After Kali tells Odette how to refer to them, the EMT lets out a breathe she didn't realize she was holding and nods quickly. "W-will do. Thanks, Kali." Seeing Lory has Odette doing a double-take at first. It's not like she hasn't seen talking animals before, but that's usually in the context of her shows. Seeing one in person... Again? Again. Right. She needs to get used to this. After taking a moment to breathe properly, Odette offers Lory a polite nod and smile. "R-right! Two of..." She looks over at Madeleine, then Hook, then at Kali's hologram. The smile stays, but there's just enough of a slouch in the way she sits afterwards that it's easy to tell Odette's ego is already suffering a bit there. Nonon's enthusiasm proves to be rather infectious, though, even drawing a laugh out of Odette before long. "Y-yeah! Tally ho! ...?" She repeats after the agent, laughing and then trailing off at the end with a questioning noise. She's never actually heard anyone say that out loud before, so repeating it feels strange in retrospect. Gebura speaking up has Odette clamming up a bit, though, and she even straightens up a bit in her seat to try and look a little more put together. "If there were two... That'd make your work easier, right? Unless the second is an evil clone..." Through the ride, Odette resists the urge to grab a drink. She's curious about those colorful cans, sure, but the feeling that this space is so much more personal for Kali than any other ship (especially after seeing those water bottles filled with the mystery juice) is something she can't quite shake until Kali points out those floating rocks. "I didn't know rocks could do... Oh. Wait. Anomalous." She chuckles lightly and clears her throat while feeling that uncomfortable looming feeling wash over her. Naturally, she glances behind herself quickly, but not quickly enough to get a clear look at whoever those eyes belonged to. Shuddering briefly, Odette turns forward again, and she closes her eyes to try and force that anxiety out of her head before it's time to leave. Naturally, Odette fails terribly at that, and she's still glancing around even by the time Kali's ready to set everyone loose. "L-less sensitive? If that... Feeling's supposed to be less sensitive, I... I can't even imagine how bad it must be for you and anyone else coming through here." Forcing a confident smile badly, Odette's teeth are still chattering a bit behind her lips as she re-shoulders her duffle bag. "Don't worry, Kali. We'll.. We'll be back! W-with plenty of info and.. Um. A-all that stuff the Captain wanted. Is there anything you want us to keep an eye out for?" Unlike Madeleine, Odette's not quite as capable of looking out for the high ground, so she's instead looking for more obviously weird things around the ship first. She also looks for loose rocks around their landing zone, too, picking one up and testing her throwing arm to just fling one right at one of those large floating stones.
Captain Hook	Another smile as Odette echoes 'tally-ho.' "That's the spirit, lasses!" He's not that much older than any of them, if he is at all; it's just pirate-ness flowing through. Hook crosses his legs as he examines the holoscreen, an eyebrow raised only slightly. He's been to dreamlands like this. He's plundered dreamlands like this. People love flying, love dreaming of flying, and love dreaming of things that fly. Flying rocks are sort of passe for him. The plants are a bit more unusual, and eerie, and that's a good thing as far as Hook's concerned - eerie places with floating rocks tend to mean things to profit off of, eventually. When they finally land, he uncrosses his legs and hops to his feet. The sense of eyes on his person is unsettling, uncomfortable, so of course, he reacts to it like he does everything that makes him uncomfortable: Own it. He takes his hat in hand and bows, widely, to the room. "Hello there, my dear phantoms, mysterious watchers, and mischevious spirits, whatsoever you may be! I am Captain William Hook, and I am delighted to make your acquaintance." He isn't, but confidence is about projecting it, not about feeling it. Projecting it is important. Projecting it helps other people feel confident, too, and he can already tell the rest of them aren't as accustomed to the Weird Shit as a man who plunders dreams. He strolls out of the ship and puts a hand on his hip. "So, then! Lovely place you have here. Shame there's no greeting party, but if you're offering to let us make ourselves at home then I shall accept your invitation on behalf of the gathered party." "And if you are not offering, then may I advise you that I am a notorious, clever, and charming criminal of a corsair nature, and that I will assuredly rummage and root and ramble one way or the other!" He laughs, pleasantly, and puts his hat back on his head.
Angela	Nonon says, "GA ha! I know the feeling!" She says, regarding the Captain being a lot. Regardless, Kali's enthusiasm is endearing. Nonon sort of half listens to her delivering exposition. Gebura just full listens but if you were to look, it'd probably look like Gebura was half listening and Nonon was enraptured. ansi(+gold, "Ran...")] Nonon does at least catch that part. "Wow, a sea goddess! That's something, huh! ... I guess even space needs a sea goddess." Nonon looks over to Kali and frowns lightly when she says they'll be less sensitive to whatever is around here. Nonon wonders why that is. Odette's laughter is encouraging. Nonon claps her on the back and says, "C'mon, I can barely hear ya! TALLY HO! Like that!" Gebura, at like half this volume, "A shared name, not a shared identity." with a long sigh. Nonon follows after Hook, stretching her arms into the air and then shaking out her hands, beaming. "Haha, the three C's..." She tells Hook before pausing and adding, "Well okay two C's and an N..."} "If you count criminal and corsair that's four C's." Gebura says, pausing for am oment to think if that's the case for corsair before nodding.
Lory Thumper	'Especially when there's constabulary eyeing me as if I'm the fox in the henhouse.' Lory's expression flattens, and even moreso when there seems to be a second pirate gleefully planning pirate things. There is a golden sparkle at the edge of her vision when they were at the gate, and the bunny turns to look but doesn't quite catch what it was. The g-forces make Lory's teeth clench for a few moments, but her lips curl up and after a moment she lets out a "Woohoo!" as they take off. As Odette joins in the pirate cheer, Lory sighs and shrugs with a wry smile. "Tally ho." she says with a small resigned laugh. She also makes a note of how Kali prefers to simply be called Kali. Odette seems to droop at Lory's attempt at a self-deprcating joke, and Lory's ears droop in return. "Oh! No, I...didn't mean...I meant I wasn't..." She rubs the back of her neck self-consiously. That smile wears off as they cross that threshold. Lory's fur stands on end, making her look a bit more fluffy than usual, and she is soon looking around nervously at those eyes that she can't quite see. When that harness pops up she gets up slowly. That feeling of being watched is triggering some of her deeper insticts. That feeling of being prey. "Sure...we'll find out." she says to Kali. She heads to the fridge to take some water, chugs a good portion of it, then sticks the bottle onto one of her open belt slots. She does take in the awe of the floating rocks, the plants, and the aerial river. And watches in curiousity as Odette does a little experiment. "We are supposed to investigate, right? That's one thing I should be good at. But...paranormal is a new area of investigation for me, so...any tips?" she says, just in general to those around her. Madeleine asks some good questions about their plan and their extraction, and Lory's ears perk as she waits for an answer. But, while she waits she pulls out a grapple gun and does an experiment of her own. She tries to grapple up to one of those floating rocks to see what she can see from on top of it...or to see if it will come crashing down at them. She makes sure she's angled away from the others or the shuttle just in case.
Dysnomia	"I'll be providing air support..." They sputter. "I-I know how that sounds, I won't be going anywhere. I'll be in touch..." Holo-Kali taps a finger to the side of her head, meaningfully. "A-and I'll be right there! If you need help! I promise!" It was hard not to feel abandoned, as the door shut behind the elites, and Kali took off into the sky. It left them with a feeling. It was quiet, insidious, a crawling rot in your gut, an electric shiver do0wn the back of your spine. They're watching... But Hook helps alleviate that crushing feeling, a moment's levity, the appearance of confidence. The pressure doesn't let up, not even slightly. But, perhaps the spirits of his comrades were buoyed, somewhat...? When Odette throws a stone at the rock, when it strikes she finds it...Bounces off, and falls. Back down onto the rock, as if the center of gravity was not the ground below them, but the stone hovering in the air. They're watching... Madeleine and Lori find that, as they see deeper into this place, it makes even less sense. Mads find a tall hill, a cresent of earth that seems like it was peeled forward from the ground, that should have fallen under its own weight long ago, while Lori's grappling hook carries her up, atop the floating rock. But it's Madeleine's hunting knowledge that lets her see it...Was THAT the remains of of dirt path, trod deep into the dirt? But, it was overgrown. Did something live here once...? If she sought further tracks, she would find imprints, pressed into the dirt. The tracks of the feet...Hands? Were...Very large, with five digits. Some of them could have even been opposable. Tool using, maybe. But on all fours...? The tracks led yet deeper in. "L-less sensitive? If that... Feeling's supposed to be less sensitive, I... I can't even imagine how bad it must be for you and anyone else coming through here." "Y-you're not psychic, right? I-It's a psychic contaminant, I think." Kali's words babbled into everyone's minds. "Like when your friends ate the wrong thing and they...Oh, no, wait, aaa! That's not professional, forget that, please please please!" They're right behind you...!
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine is a little perturbed by Captain Hook's display of bravado, but her attention is mostly on the strange landscape... and the prints she finds. "Something's been by here," she half-whispers into her radio on the local band. "Big, with four legs or walking on its hands, like an ape? And there's an overgrown path. Kali, is the Voluspa not the first people to settle on Snaer? It looks like-" Madeleine's sense that she's being followed reaches a crescendo, and she cuts off mid-sentence to scurry for cover. She finds some in the hollow of the crescent hill, relying on the low overhang of soil to protect her on three sides. Her eyes dart from side to side. There's no cover from anyone approaching toward the hollow's mouth, but with a moment's focus she does her best to veil herself from the perception of anything that might pass by.
Captain Hook	That's right. All eyes (metaphysical) on him. Keep the show going and everyone else can feel a little better. A twirl of the pistol on his gleaming gold-and-amber hook hand, a finger drumming on the edge of his cutlass - anyone would imagine them to be nothing but showmanship with his smile. Indeed he even breaks out into cheerful little whistle, some sea shanty or another judging by the simple, clear pace. It's not. But you'd have to peek at his mind to know that. As far as the world is concerned he's cheerful and Fine and enjoying having an audience, even an audience that he can't see. It's very charismatic, isn't it? To perform even when nobody might be watching - or when what's watching might not even exist in the first place. They aren't behind him. He knows that. But his eye still slides to the side, very subtly. And his fingers tap the cutlass just a little bit louder as he keeps walking. Maddy mentions that something's been here, points out the tracks, and then cuts off mid-sentence. Hook mouths a curse before he spins around, arms wide, still twirling the pistol, almost a full all-around pivot in all directions. "Well, then! Are we going to have a chat like sensible folk, or are you going to keep scurrying and scuttling and thinking at us! Hmmmm?" "Come along, then! I've not got all day - busy job, piracy, you know! You set your own hours and I'm quite the taskmaster!" A bark of a laugh. You never let them see you sweat. You show the confidence, you live the confidence, when you're Captain Hook. You're larger-than-life. That's how you have to be. That's how Will has to be. Masking 'checking all around you' as 'loudly announcing your desire to just talk' is a great way to keep to that.
Odette Raskins	Odette still doesn't look quite at ease after departing Kali's ship. Even with the breathable air and that prior encouragement from Hook and Nonon, she still can't shake the anxious feeling in the back of her head. She chuckles lightly at Hook's attempts to put whatever's watching them at ease, and Gebura's calmness in the strange new surroundings does bolster her confidence at least somewhat, but... They're watching. Shivering lightly, she squirms around a bit in her coat as she watches the stone ping off and home right back into that larger rock, letting out a confused noise when she realizes that her stone isn't coming back down anytime soon. "Is... Are the rocks here magnets or something?" She asks aloud, turning to Lory as though she might have the answer for whatever reason. "Para...? N-no, it's probably just some weird... Uh. Science stuff or something." She states, sounding a fair bit more blunt than she has this entire time. "I-if it's magic or something, then... Then there's gotta be someone around doing it. Nothing..." She inhales and bites her lip briefly, then looks behind herself quickly when she feels that gnawing feeling again. "N-nothing paranormal. Uhh. If we could get up there and see if any other stuff sticks..." Odette trails off when she still can't shake that feeling off, following closely behind Hook for fear of getting lost herself. She nearly jumps out of her skin with a shrill yelp when she suddenly hears Kali talking inside her head, grabbing onto the captain's arm in that moment of terror. It takes her a moment to catch her breath and recognize their voice, quickly releasing Hook's arm and casping her hands over her mouth to breathe in and out steadily just to calm herself. "Guh.. S-sorry, Captain Hook. Uh. N-no, I'm... No psychic stuff, no. Uhh. Wait, Kali? Did you get psychic powers from food poi-" They're right behind you...! Luckily for Kali, Odette's mind is drawn elsewhere when that feeling replaces everything else she might have been wanting to say. Falling forward, she snags another stone from underfoot and twists around to whip it right behind her, trying to nail whatever it is that's giving her that feeling like there's actually a person behind it and not something unseeable!
Lory Thumper	Lory is more baffled than perturbed by Hook's display, but its enough to cause her to giggle slightly and lighten the mood a bit. Madeleine seems to be on the trail of something, and Lory looks that direction from her perch. "An ape, huh? Great apes are pretty tou-" 'They're right behind you...!' The fur on the back of Lory's neck stands up even more, and instinctively she pulls her pistols and whirls around, ready to fire. But, there's nothing there. She blinks in surprise and stumbles back, almost falling off the rock in the process. Her breathing is fast now, a bit panicked. She tries to take some deep breaths, but her instincts are on edge majorly now. 'Like when your friends ate the wrong thing and they...' That one leaves Lory confused and with an eyebrow raised. "...when they...?" she starts, then just shakes her head and files that one away. Eating the wrong food apparently makes Kali's friends have psychic reactions. Maybe it's like a food allergy in a psychic? 'Are the rocks here magnets or something?' Odette's question draws a pondering look from Lory. She walks to the underside of her rock and just...stands there. "...something like that. Gravity is apparently shifted with them. Pretty neat, all things considered. And could be useful. But, it also means we need to keep an eye on these rocks since something could easily ambush us from above. I'll stay up here to give you another eye in the sky and hopefully ample warning if something comes jumping along on them." she says. Then, with a few more breaths...Lory tries to jump from her rock to another. She's a pretty good hopper, so she might be able to just moon jump it. But if not, she still has that grapple gun.
Angela	Nonon is all grins again once she leaves. Not psychic? Hm. She looks at the large gauntlet she's wearing uncertainly because she has no idea how 'psychic contaminents' will interact with an EGO Weapon. She elects to not worry about it. Nonon doesn't seem to be someone who does a lot of worrying in life. ''They're right behind you...!'' Nonon, predictably, turns around and looks behind her, her entire expression a question mark. "Huh who is saying this..?" Nonon isn't adept at tracking and is just following along with Hook. Her job is to keep Hook safe(ish). You know, about as safe as you can keep a pirate. Specifically, she is there to punch someone in the face if they offend Hook or cause him trouble. "...Don't worry too much about professionalism." Gebura says. "Not if it's getting in the way of sharing information. Say it the way you think will get the message across. We can pretty up our words in reports."
Dysnomia	Odette's trusty rock sails through the air, and hits nothing. Nobody. There's nothing. There's no one. You're just imagining things. They're here. "Big, with four legs or walking on its hands--Kali, is the Voluspa not the first people to settle on Snaer? It looks like-" "Everyone else should be dead--Wait, big?--Could it--" They're HERE. Where the tracks lead, through the strange, violet crinoids...Is nothing. It's Lori who sees it first, hopping between her high vantage points. Vast swaths of the earth just seem to have...vanished, leaving oddly shaped hollows in the earth. Like something was plucked up and ripped out of the world. It hurts to look at. Echoes of a mind reverberating off of the hollow places in your skull, in your mind. Something was here. Something wasn't there anymore. Something had left a hole in the world when that something peeled away from it. The creeping certainty that something waits in darkness. The shape know is hidden under the bed. The spies in disguise that watch your house as they pass by. The clawed hand reaching out to grasp. "--A dragon...?"
Lory Thumper	Lori looks out at the scene...and can only stare in awe and some fear. And that mind reverberation isn't helping. She puts a paw to her head, trying to block it out somehow. "S-sweet peas and carrots..." she mutters, which is sent over the radio whether she means for it to be or not. "There's just...a giant hole! Whatever was here...or is here...it's gotta be -big-!" she radios down to the others. She makes her way back down to the ground, avoiding those crinoids since...well they just seem like a bad idea. She heads closer to that darkness. That nothing. That something. Whatever it is! Guns still in hand. She waits a moment at the edge of it and looks back at the others. "Well...guess there's only one way to find out what's in there, huh?" she says, a bit shakily. She swallows, then takes a deep breath. "I'll go in first if no objects. I'm...pretty hard to pin down." she says, but doesn't really wait for anyone's approval before she hops down and slides her way toward the center of the closest hollow. "...did you say dragon...?" Lory wonders worriedly over the comms as she slides.
Captain Hook	No, no. Not just imagining things. That Hook knows for certain. He's been in dreams too long to ignore those little feelings. He's been in dreams too long to ever think he's just imagining things when it comes to the odd and the strange. That open-minded awareness that everything is true in a dream has kept him alive long enough that he's internalized it - and feelings to the contrary are suppressed harshly. The dragon, though. Hook doesn't look away. He doesn't look away from the echoes, from the noise, from the sight. It makes him feel ill, in his heart, like looking at a gap where something should be and has not simply ceased but left an impression. Like a crater. Like the aftermath of a fire. Just applied to nature. He takes a very deep breath and puts his smile back on. He's not happy it slipped there. Shouldn't've slipped at all, but the sight of it caught him off. Won't happen again. "Well, onward and inward, I suppose." He slides down, keeping his good hand on his hat and his pistol spinning on his hook. "Must be something good down here, you know. Places like this don't tend to be empty. Just look it."
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Madeleine peers out around the corner of her hillock and sees the other Elites hurrying down the trail. She hustles along after the others, chattering into her radio as she goes. "So, Kali, 'everyone else' should be dead. But there was an 'everyone else', huh? Tell us what you can about them." Coming into view - or not coming into view - through the trees is... nothing. A hole in the world. Madeleine stops in amazement. She hasn't seen anything like this since she Unified - everything that's purported to be "un-real" hasn't been, or rather, it has been, such that unreality was an improper descriptor. But more than just a hole in the dirt, this was a whole in the world. There is an absence here, or something like an absence was here, or something very much not an absence wasn't here - the metaphysics of this sort of thing were always complicated. But not so much so that they were beyond Madeleine's comprehension, usually. Slowly, carefully, Madeleine walks forward, strapping her spear on her back as she goes. She holds out her hands ahead of her and to the sides, as if trying to calm a beast. The stars in her eyes flare with power, cascading downward through their night sky, as she reminds herself that she too is an absence, a hole in the world where a woman used to be. Hoping that like can recognize like, she deepens her alienation from the world and reaches out a hand to not-touch what isn't-there.
Odette Raskins	Damn. Odette was really hoping she.. Actually. What was she hoping for, anyway? If she had hit something, that could've been terrible! Good thing nobody's here. Nobody- They're here. They're HERE. The feeling in her spine is less of a chill at this point and more a constant state of freezing. Between that constant dread and Lory's suggestion that the rocks in the sky could be throwing down stuff at the whole group at any time, she doesn't even know where to look beyond knowing that Lory's acting as an eye in the sky. "Th-thanks... Oh geez. Uh. Guess we'll just have to keep following the trail, then, right? A_at least we..." She trails off, not really having anywhere to go with that thought. It's not helped any further when she sees the swaths of vanished earth, resisting the urge to throw another rock in there due to the pain in the back of her head. "Dr... Dragon? What? I don't see a... Do you mean something big did this?" Odette asks, uncertain if Kali can even hear her speaking aloud like that. Then again, if they can project their voice this way, why not? "I mean, we can't rule it out, but is that really something that could happen here?" She stops, feeling her teeth chattering again to the point that anybody that gets close to Odette could very well see or hear it. "W-w-wait. A-are we really gonna go LOOK for it?! What if it's following us? J... just a picture should be enough, right? A-and then we can go?" She asks, fear-stricken while fumbling with her PDA to get it ready to start recording footage at the first sign of trouble. She sticks close to Madeleine and Hook as best she can, straining just to remember to breathe properly instead of taking rapid, shallow breaths. At least she's not throwing rocks behind herself anymore, but she is looking around frantically, as though that might somehow help stave away those horrible feelings.
Dysnomia	"I...I...Other colonies came, and they failed. This is...Contested territory. Um..." Under the weight of this places' pressure, Kali can't quite articulate herself. "Dragons are like...They're like...The dreams of dead psychics. That--sometimes!--live on, after they die. If they...Oh...Oh no....! "Madeleine doesn't see it. She doesn't see it, with fever-dream clarity. She doesn't see a wound in the world, where something cut away. Her hand burns from the intensity of the cut that wasn't made. The stump of an amputated limb, still bleeding reality where the dragon had slipped through the story of the World That Is into The World That Is Not. It's not here anymore. Just a hole to nowhere. She begins to feel herself slipping off the precipice, seeping out through the wound. Madeleine feels the Is-Not swelling twxist her fingers, around her. Feels it pull. Feels it flow around her, like the retreating tide, away from the universe. The others, they can't see it. But they know it. The monster from under the bed isn't that. It isn't grabbing her. It isn't pulling her into the dark. But, what is, what is not, they blur. The void laps at her feet. And before their eyes it begins to ferry her away, to nowhere.
Angela	Nonon says, "Ehh...? A dragon? ... Oh! Shajo met one before. A librarian dragon. If this is a librarian dragon we can't take the books without talking to 'em first." Nonon knows this about dragons at least, though to be fair she doesn't think she knows any dragons from around here. She only knows Etherwyrms and she's pretty sure those are two differnet things. "Onward and inward." Nonon smiles, her expression still full of smiles but they're a bit muted right now. She continues following the pirate captain (as opposed to former pirate captain which is her). "This remind you of any of your adventures, Cap'n?" She asks. ''W-w-wait. A-are we really gonna go LOOK for it?!'' This is a very good question but this is Nonon and her grin widens again. "Course, hardly an adventure if you stay AWAY from the dragon eh? Don't worry, I'll look out for ya too, GA HA HA!" Gebura sighs. Then she startles, "Look alive, Nonon!" "Oh so they ARE different huh." Nonon says, more UNCERTAIN of what she thought was the truth now that someone seems to have confirmed it. She readies her Gasharpon but-- --there's nothing she can see. but-- "Madeleine, Grab on!" She shouts, firing off her harpoon, the rope trailing behind the blade--less aiming to try and harm the force and more trying to give MAdeleine something to hold onto in order to pull herself free of it.
Lory Thumper	Lory's eyes widen as the image of some huge clawed beast fills her mind but not her vision. "What in the...?!" Kali offers some advice on what they are not seeing but it really doesn't help Lory, who is definitely not used to dealing with dead psychics and reality shifting and all of that. She's just a police bunny from a pretty normal world! That doesn't stop her from leaping in when Madeleine starts getting pulled in! She leaps for Madeleine without hesitation, wraps her legs around Maddie's waist for a leg lock, then fires her grapple toward the nearest not-tree. The grapple's motor whirs, but neither it or the bunny are super powered. At best it is an anchor if this stuff is especially strong. "H-hang on!" the bunny exclaims, gritting her teeth against the effort of trying to grip that grapple while pulling Maddie at the same time. And just to try anything else that might help, Lory pulls a disc grenade from her belt and tosses it into the nothing. It will explode a few moments later, but who knows if it will hit anything or nothing or something inbetween!
Captain Hook	Hook isn't able to help Madeleine. Not exactly easy to make yourself rock-solid stable when you've only got one hand, and when six other people are working on it it's not really necessary. He's good at keeping a cool head under pressure, thankfully. "Dreams of a dead psychic, hmmm." "So it's a ghost." Hook sighs, shaking his head. "I never like ghosts. They're so repetitive. Things that don't die never know how to live. Just rote all day, every day. The same thing, time, and time, and time, and time again." Oh, it's eerie as hell, and it's a danger, but now that it's been named, it's a danger he can put a face to, a name to, a concept to, and that means he's got even a shred of power over it. That means, again, that he can be the anchor. As everyone else grabs at Madeleine, Hook starts walking around the limits of the gap. "So what are you repeating, hm? What are you reviewing, relitigating, over and over? What memory are you clinging to - protecting with all that remains of yourself?" And what's the treasure you're keeping from me? He unrolls the Map With The X On It. Where's the treasure you're hoarding so jealously, hmm? After all...fear, unsettled unease, anxiety... All of that is secondary to William Hook's greed, and now that he's named it as a ghost, and been told it's a dragon... What kind of pirate would he be if he just ignored that?
Odette Raskins	"Course, hardly an adventure if you stay AWAY from the dragon eh? Don't worry, I'll look out for ya too, GA HA HA!" Although Odette still doesn't seem fully on-board with the idea, she does at least move a little closer to Nonon after she says that. "I-I guess, yeah. I mean, it might be cool? But if it starts attacking... W-we'll need to be ready to run. Or take cover or..." "Dragons are like...They're like...The dreams of dead psychics. That--sometimes!--live on, after they die. If they...Oh...Oh no....!" "What? No... That's.. No. C-come on, Kali. Th-that doesn't sound like a dragon at all. That almost sounds like..." Odette's face goes pale at hearing Kali say all that in broken fragments. That can't possibly be right. Ghosts don't exist. Ghosts CAN'T exist. In her own home, in the stations she's worked at, that'd just be impossible. Sure, she can't see gas leaks either, but she's seen plenty of people suffering from... Oh. That's what this is. That's what this has to be. Some kind of weird gas leak, but from the planet itself. Maybe even from those giant floating rocks. Laughing anxiously at her own reasoning behind the continued feelings of dread, Odette hastily pulls a breathing mask and pocket-sized oxygen tank out of her bag, putting the first on and attaching it to the latter before slipping it onto her belt for easy carrying. "Th.. There. Everyone, if you don't.. Haven't.. Um. B-breathing... The air here must be really bad, if..." She can't quite finish that thought as she continues feeling something terrible around her, looking down when that feeling hits her from... Wait. She's not at home. This isn't her bed. She's still on this weird planet with the bad atmosphere. That's all it is. Closing her eyes, Odette takes a deep breath of fresh, invigorating, bottled up air before reopening them and screaming again when she sees the pulling Madeleine away. Go time. Still in a panicked haze, Odette's hands dive into her bag as she sprints for Madeleine, practically tearing a handheld circular saw out of it. Even without getting a clear look at the , she revs up the saw and starts laying into it, shoving that spinning blade into the to try and separate it from Madeleine.
Madeleine Cadrasteia	Odette's saw slides into the nothingness with such ease that it slips her grasp, its material integrity breaking down in the breach's absence of natural laws. Half of it goes up in flames as the rest dissolves into mist, and the tool is gone. Lory's grenade flies through the wound and bounces downhill before exploding in a shower of dirt. As the rabbit policewoman deploys her grappling hook and pulls at Madeleine, the huntress half-turns, mumbling to herself in an unfamiliar language. Her movements are slow, aimless, like she's sleepwalking underwater. She blinks in confusion at Lory and Odette, apparently forgetting where she is or who she came here with. "Why are you..." her voice is distant, soft. If the pair of first-responders weren't so close, the tears in Madeleine's eyes would be invisible for their smallness. She looks like she's seen something impossibly beautiful and is struggling to comprehend it. Her hands fumble at Lory's legs, weakly moving as if to break the policewoman's grasp. The motion is ineffectual, distant. Nonon's harpoon strikes Madeleine square in the chest. Bones crack as the wicked barbs sink into her flesh. Blood sprays from the wound and she looks down, slowly, and gasps in shock and pain. Then the harpoon's winch is retracting, and Lory and Odette's efforts are rewarded as Madeleine stumbles forward, out of the wound. She falls to her knees, clutching at the harpoon, movements suddenly at normal speed and weight again. Madeleine takes the harpoon cord in her hands as it drags her back toward Nonon, and snaps the cable with a sharp tug. There is a horrible, horrible sound from her mouth matched only by the awful squelch in her chest as she pushes the harpoon the rest of the way through her body, pushing it out through her back rather than fight the barbs by pulling it out the way it went in. Blood pools on the snow. Dropping the harpoon at last, Madeleine weakly points at Odette. "Doctor..." The huntress groans as she collapses, barely conscious and squirming in agony.
Dysnomia	His map does not whirl, it does not shift. It does not change. It is what it always has been. A map with an X on it. And as everyone knows, a map with an X on it always shows the way to treasure. And this one is no different. There's something, a settlement by a frozen sea in ruin, overgrown with fungi. A...Picture? Alongside the dotted line was a woman with falling stars in her eyes leading back to...To THIS hole, this abyss, and down, into the dark, into a great maw that was somehow even darker. And beyond it all, under the X, a pearl, glittering, not like a stone, or a gem, or a prism, but like the way those things gleam in memory. Hook is struck with a sudden, terrible certainty that if he were to stare into it, his own dreams would reflect back at him. There's a sound of something whirring through the air, and a sudden impact, shattering one of the crinoids. There's barely enough time to panic, before the ship lands, almost smashing down. The landing ramp folds down. You can almost FEEL Kali hyperventilating. "Get IN!" They shouted, worbled, half-hysterical from the paranoia that sang in this place. "Mission over! We're leaving! NOW!"
Angela	Nonon startles as Madeleine suddenly moves INTO the harpoon. "Oh fuck--!" She startles. "It wasn't supposed to go in ''there''!" "Nah, it's fine." Gebura adds. "She's moving faster now." "I'd hope so! Mads... I...fuck, my hand's occupied..." Nonon does, in fact, always carry HP Ampules on her but she can't really fire a harpoon and shoot one out at the same time and dropping the launcher is probably not a great idea. You don't really want to start wiggling around with it while it's in the chest. Normally Nonon would assume this would be fatal but she's from the City with lots of weird medical tech and also she's been in the multiverse long enough to know a Kukuru exists so there's SOLUTIONS. But that doesn't mean it's presently available. Madeleine starts pulling the harpoon THROUGH her body. "Uh..." Nonon says, "Aren't...your...organs in the way? Wow, that's...badass??" Madeleine falls over. "Ah fuck!! Get her on the sip we gotta vamoosh!" She intends to pull Madeleine towards the ship (Qualities: Big Arms) so Odette can work on her there instead of--well HERE.
Odette Raskins	In that panicked state, Odette doesn't even have a backups plan for if her circular saw somehow missed something she was running straight at. When she does, in fact, miss her target entirely and the tool falls out of her grasps, she's already moving too fast to actually stop herself, and she falls right on her face in a painful tumble before turning over to see... Nonon's harpoon crashing right into Madeleine's chest. With about as little information to go on as she did seconds ago, she leaves the saw to its fate as she scrambles to get back over to where Madeleine falls. Even without the fancy HUD on her glasses, Odette can tell that Madeleine's not in good shape, and whatever happened in- No. No time to think about whatever that was. Not yet. Stabilize the patient, get her into the airship, fix the rest during evacuation. Luckily, Nonon's on the case already, and Odette hoists Madeleine by the legs so they can double time it to the ship. "When we're in, keep holding her arms down. Gonna need her on her back." She states plainly, running a bit just to give herself enough wiggle room to knee one end of her duffle bag up so all of the stuff inside doesn't spill out in her haste. Once they're in, she gestures at Madeleine's arms as quick reminder to Nonon while practically straddling Madeleine's legs to try and minimize the risk of her thrashing around at what comes next. Digging back into her duffle bag, Odette pushes aside what might as well be a disorganized pile of tools and corked-up bottles inside to dig out one specific bottle and a still-wrapped roll of gauze. The roll of gauze, oddly enough, is not used to bandage anything. That'd take too long. Instead, she just tries shoving it right into Madeleine's mouth to keep her tongue away from her teeth. She opens the bottle next, then dumps it on the wound. It stings like all hell on open wounds, it smells rancid, but it's potent enough to (ideally) get those wounds closed up and Madeleine stable enough for proper treatment/field surgery.
Lory Thumper	Lory's eyes widen as Odette dives in as well. Lory at least has a lifeline. When that harpoon hits Lory is horrified! "Sweet peas and carrots! What is wrong with you!" she exclaims. She's not used to this after all and usually when you get harpooned in the chest it is pretty bad. She's even -more- horrified when Madeleine pulls the harpoon THROUGH HERSELF! "Holy cucumbers! D-don't do that!" she exclaims. She reaches out as if to stop Madeleine but...honestly she's just overwhelmed at this point and she just ends up making a sort of pawwing motion. The shuttle comes crashing down, and with no time to process anything Lory just grabs Madeleine and helps pull her into the shuttle. She's no medic, but she stays close to Odette to be of assistance. Officers have some level of training in basic life support after all. She isn't sure that will even be helpful here, but...she's there just in case. Odette says hold Madeleine down. Lory does just that, helping hold down those arms. "Geeze...I have to hand it to you, Odette. You dove right in there! I am not sure all EMTs would do something like that! That was pretty brave!" she says, then looks to Nonon. "I'm...not sure what to say. That harpoon may have killed her, but...it also definitely saved her. So...good work! And also what the heck!"
Dysnomia	The ramp slams shut as everyone filters into the ship, and before anyone can even strap in, they're already in the air, propulsion emitters straining to the utmost to bring them higher and higher and higher... And bit by bit, paranoia fades. The holopanels flickered uncertainly back to life, catching a glimpse of a sunset over the horizon. "S14 to base, we have wounded! I repeat..." The ship turned back toward home at a brisk pace, leaving the wound behind them.