2023-12-20: In a Strange and Alien Forest

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<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

It is a strange, alien forest that this motley group of Filgaian and Lunarian wanderers find themselves in. It looks like a forest on Filgaia or Lunar...

...but none of the trees are quite right. Patterns of bark don't match those back home. The leaves are different shapes; the colors are slightly off, with more blues and reds than a Filgaian forest. And, of course, past the canopy, there are small floating islands in the sky.

And further past that canopy, there is a sky with a shimmering barrier.

The little yellow rodent that found them is gone now, scurrying back into the brush. An hour has gone by, and Xiumei Klein has deactivated her armor -- she frowns up at the sky -- and then shakes her head. "...All I can conclude is we're on that 'Energy Nede' that those strange men talked about," she says. "I wish I knew where we were exactly, though."

She sighs, then she adjusts her glasses.

"Or... what that funny looking rat was," she adds.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

An hour has passed, and Eleanor's worrying over Anastasia turned into a nap, curled up next to Xiumei. The battle was very tiring for her. But now...

Her eyelashes flutter as she wakes up, and she listens to Xiumei. "Energy Nede," Eleanor reflects thoughtfully. "Look at these trees. They're like nothing I recall..."

"I know for sure we're not on Filgaia," she says. "I can feel it."

Pause. "...It was adorable is what it was," she says, sitting up.

"...But I suppose that's not much to go on." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "I can give ya shome clarity," says Seraph Lanval, Oracle of Schturdark, he who helps speak for the water of Filgaia itself. He's holding up an arm, lethargically, as he lies down near some tall grass. This posture underscores his level of authority and sagacious advice he might give in this situation, but in an unfamiliar place without answers or clarity, perhaps he, of all people...
 
     "We ain't on Filgaia." He lowers his arm back down on the ground.
 
     ...Okay then.
 
     There are a small handful of rabbit-like creatures with long teeth jumping around him. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    Lunata emerges into sight, and would be breathless if she had to breathe. She doesn't, so all she is is, uh--

    She's extremely sticky from a whole wad of string that's all tangled around you. "Oh, I found you!! I was starting to get worried I was stranded in a really strange but... ...kinda nice place."

    There is a green adorable bug sitting ontop of her head.

    "I met a little friend. It won't stop shooting string at me. Please help." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida was the one who found Gwen, and helped haul her back to the makeshift camp. After setting the unconscious courier on some comfortable moss--and wrapping her in an old insulated emergency blanket--she passed out herself. Half an hour of regenerative torpor later, she woke up with enough energy and announced intent to 'search for supplies'.

    Footsteps crunch through leaf litter, heavy and solid. A moment later, Ida emerges from behind the bole of one of those alien trees, her arms full of dead wood and dry leaf litter. She's still wearing her bloodied armor and gear webbing, which makes her look all the more out of place in this serene natural setting. There are leaves stuck in her hair, which is well on its way to escaping from its bun.

    "I found us some firewood," Ida says, genuine pride in her voice at having accomplished a basic Drifter task. "We just need... rocks, right? To keep the firepit under control." A pause. Ida glances at Lanval, then the creatures around him, then at Lunata as she emerges. "Hold perfectly still," she says, and she sets down the bundle. Slowly--carefully--she approaches the... bug, hands out and ready to pick it up.

    What is it? Is it poisonous?? It's cute, but...

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

The light fades... and they find themselves somewhere new. Jacqueline winces and shields her eyes as she readjusts to the light - and finds herself abruptly faced with so much new.

"You're right. This place doesn't look like anywhere on Filgaia I've ever seen." She notes. She reaches into her bag, then, drawing out the Lifeweaver's Codex and flipping through the pages. "None of the fauna here is in the Codex, either..."

With Eleanor and Lanval, the foremost authorities on the subject, declaring that this isn't Filgaia, and the fauna and flora not matching Lunar's... Xiumei's conclusion is the only one that makes sense.

"...Yeah. I agree." Jacqueline says. She shuts the Codex and takes a look around where she spots Lunata... and she can't help but laugh good-naturedly a little at her predicament.

"Hold on, let me see if I can..." Jacqueline says. She approaches Lunata and starts to try to help pull away some of the string - but she realises her error a second too late.

"...Ah." Jacqueline notes. ...Now she's stuck, too. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Indeed," Avril chimes in, as Eleanor remarks on the foliage. "I have not seen their like before. So this is Energy Nede..."

    They had found themselves in a forest once the proverbial dust had settled. When set alongside the other world-leaping jumps that Avril has endured over the last few years this one is... not all that terrible, if she can be honest. There had been some initial panic and confusion which had given way to a more immediate and pressing need: a rest, after all that everyone had gone through.

    "Oh?"

    Lunata makes her approach, looking somewhat the worse for wear for their exploration of the forest. "I do not think it is dangerous. Perhaps if I -- ah," Avril says, drawing up short as Ida steps in to do the needful thing.

    "I am reminded of a caterpillar," she adds, watching from the sidelines. 

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah and Zephyr had ended up separated from the others, and Hannah stumbles into that clearing approximately an hour later. Her rifle is drawn, but she brightens as she sees some familiar faces. (And she puts the safety on and puts the rifle away.)

"Eleanor! Xiumei! Lanval! Ida! Miss Barber! And... um, hi," she says to Lunata and Avril. "Sorry, ain't quite sure I've made your acquaintances."

There's a critter shooting string at Lunata... Zephyr comes swooping back into the clering right about then, landing on a branch. Maybe that'll help?

But Hannah rushes over to hug Eleanor, relieved to have found her friend. "I'm here," she says quietly, as if trying to reassure Eleanor--or maybe herself.

"Zephyr got an aerial view. This aint' Filgaia or Lunar." A beat. "Some yellow thing tried to shoot lightnin' at 'im though." 

<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.

    Shalune is too busy making good on her threat of sleeping off the battle with the Wise Men. At least her colour looks better now, and her leg has depetrified along the way thanks to a remedy and time wearing the magic off, so it isn't an uneasy rest so much as just the doze of someone who's burnt through all their energy. Even hilarious romcom escapades from Lunata and Jay cannot wake her right now. 

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

"W-Well..." Xiumei flushes a little. Then, she pushes her glasses up with her nose; the sun overhead catches her glasses and glints off them, hiding her eyes. "...I can't argue that it was very cute. But you're right."

She pats Eleanor on the shoulder. Before she curled up for a nap, Xiumei had been worried.

She is still a little worried.

She does look at Hannah and smile -- then scoot a little, to give her room to hug Eleanor. "Hannah," she says. "Thank goodness."

Xiumei looks at Lanval. Her eyes widen a little at the statement. Then they widen a lot at the rabbit-like creatures with teeth, jumping around him.

Then, she looks at the green bug on Lunata's head. Her mouth opens, then closes. Ida seems to have this in hand, though. And Jay.

"The... wildlife here is... something else, isn't it?" she asks, looking a little crtestfallen as Jay gets stuck. Then, she looks at Avril. "Yes, not... unlike one. But different, too."

She sighs, stands up, and dusts herself off. "Let me see. Maybe--" She takes a step -- and catches something in the grass, falls, and hits the ground. "OW!"

She moves her foot -- and there is a strange thing. In the ground, there is a large red and white capsule. Placed there, affixed, deliberately. As if it is meant to be found. It opens on its own, and there are a trio of small red-and-white balls inside.

One of the drones that had been sitting on the ground by Xiumei lifts up. Lines of blue-green light move over Avile's Biometal, as she declares: "Hey! We found something!"

"Ow," Xiumei whines again.

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"Hannah!" Eleanor says in relief, hugging back, and only then does she stand up. "I'm glad," she says. Then she looks around at the others. "Yes," she agrees with Lanval, "Quite..."

She tilts her head at the large bug. "Hmmm..." But Xiumnei says 'ow' and--"Oh! Are you all right?"

A capsule...

Eleanor takes one of the little balls, and then reaches out to pat Xiu's arm. "It's all right," she says. "You found something good! ...I think."

"Hello, everyone. Wherever we are, we seem relatively safe at least..." 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    Lunata lets out a little 'pweh' to pluck out some of the string in her mouth, but as Jay reaches forward to try to unstick her-- "Wait, Jay--"

    Oh no! Now they're stuck... together. If Lunata could burn up, she would, but then that'd also burn up the string, wouldn't it? Ida comes to the rescue to take the adorable little bug off, who mostly just makes comfortable 'mprrrrph' noises and curls up into a ball. Avril's right.

    "It's... clean here," she admits. "Really clean. And... high-tech, from some of the things I've seen."

    Hannah says she hasn't met her acquaintance, and feeling a bit cheeky (having just survived a life-death experience with Innominat), Lunata introduces:r
    "Hey, I'm Lunata, Jay's girlfriend."

    She looks so proud. Xiumei's yell draws her out of it, though, and she stares towards the red and white balls. "Are those... orbs?"

    A pause.

    "Is it part of a puzzle for us to get out of here?"

    Lunata, life isn't a perpetual Wits challenge-- wait...

    She nods at Eleanor, though. "I don't sense danger. ... if anything, uh, this sounds weird, but I think we might be the most dangerous people here. I saw some kids and they just bolted at the sight of me." 

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

The second, approximately helmet-shaped drone by Xiumei flies up.

"Damn right I'm the most dangerous thing here! Kids should be scared of me!" Varius declares. Then, he pauses. "Wait. That didn't come out right."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    'We seem relatively safe at least...'
 
     Suddenly, one of the rabbits leaping around Lanval suddenly leans forward, and their fangs shoot out to an unfathomably long length relative to their body size into the grass! It's startling! It's weird!
 
     And it has a colorful berry in its paws, as a small purplish rat angrily chatters and starts to give chase to the lot of them.
 
     "The mosht dangeroush? You? Paaahhhhh," Lanval throws down an arm as he sits up, ambivalent to the display of natural competition for resources unfolding around him. "None of ya are dangeroush. Ya only shtood up to the World Eater, Seraph Liath, Odessa, the Lord of Calamity," their most recent one, not the ancient one unleashed, "Sin, 'n the Ten Wise Men. Ain't nobody who doesh ish capable of bein' dangeroush~"
 
 He rolls back and forth to get up to his feet, scratching at his chin as if wondering about his words, looking over to how Jay and Lunata are struggling with sticky insect string but not quite moving with a solution. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida lets the caterpillar-creature curl up in her hands. Her eyes light up, and she coos, gently, before remembering that she's holding an alien lifeform and she has no idea what it can do.

    Aside from the sticky string. If nothing else, that seems to have brought Jay and Lunata closer together.

    Ida sets the bug down in a nearby bush, and turns back just in time to see the hubbub about Lanval. "Lanval!" A pause. The xenoforms seemed more interested in each other--and the berry--than any of them. Fortunate. The odd sphere, though...

    "It's a tripping hazard," Ida says, indulging in a bit of pettiness as she kneels before it. She grips the container and tries to pick it up. "It's anchored in place." The tiny capsules... A pause. Jay and Lunata are still in their sticky predicament. "Lanval, could you, ah, get them some water? That might work."

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

"It really is..." Jacqueline notes as she continues to attempt to free herself and Lunata, as Xiumei comments on the wildlife. "But... none of it seems particularly hostile to us, either. Curious, more than anything."

That's a relief. They must all be pretty exhausted - the last thing they want is to attract the wrath of the local wildlife. ...Shalune's already making good on her threats, even, napping away over there.

Even in her predicament, though, Jacqueline offers everyone a nod and a smile of greeting as everyone meets up.

"Oh, yes!" Jacqueline confirms for Hannah, as Lunata introduces herself as her girlfriend. ...She still needs to handle the current situation - though thankfully, Ida has that covered. "Yes, thank you - just a little splash should do..."

That should help, at least... but for now, Jacqueline cranes her head over toward Eleanor, who's picked up one of the objects Xiumei's bumped into.

"That's interesting... and colorful, too. What's it for?" She asks. ...She laughs a little, though, as Lanval outlines everythine they've done. ...Maybe they are kind of dangerous... 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "I am pleased to meet you. I am... I am Avril," she tells Hannah, an incident in Meria still on her mind.

    "Yes," Avril agrees when Xiumei sums it up, "Though, I must admit I have not seen very much of it just yet." Not much more beyond this forest, and some of the strange creatures within it. Are they animals? They seem a little unusual when placed against the wildlife of Filgaia and Lunar. Monsters, perhaps? Yet, they haven't displayed any aggression, either...

    Lunata sums up the other thing that has been on Avril's mind since they've arrived here--

    It's really clean.

    "Yes..." Avril muses, furrowing her brow. "This is not precisely a natural forest. There is a particular..." She pauses, struggling perhaps for the right word.

    There is a particular precision to the woods.

    "...It is as if it were designed on purpose."

    She falls silent then as Xiumei uncovers a few strange orbs.%R "What are these?" Avril, ever the curious sort, kneels by them and moves to pick one up.
SCENE: Your timezone is now America/New_York. 

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Xieumei mentions the wildlife, and Hannah nods, once she lets go of Eleanor. "Been seein' quite a few strange critters... started makin' a list, too. Maybe we should all compare notes?"

She squints curiously at the 'discovery'. "You alright, Xiumei? Did... someone leave that there to be found...?"

Lunata introduces herself, and Hannah brightens. "Oh!" She knows--dates--Jacqueline. And she gets an introduction from Avril and gives her a smile, too. "Nice to meetcha! I'm Hannah, and this--" she inclines her head to the very normal red-tailed hawk perched on a branch, "--is Zephyr."

Zephyr chirps a greeting.

Lanval has... quite a list, and Hannah looks at him, trying to process that. She's a bit sad, for a moment. "Y'all been through a lot, huh..." Up above, Zephyr chirps, and Hannah looks up to him. She smiles a little, and nods. "Right."

This time, she's right here with the rest of them.

Jay comments that the local wildlife is particularly hostile. "... To y'all, maybe, but they sure seem to notice Zephyr a whole lot."

Hannah picks up one of the odd balls to examine it. "Must have some kinda function, or value..." she mutters. Then out loud, she says, "I think Zephyr spotted some cities in the distance, but I don't want him gettin' too far away on account of all the critters, so I ain't exactly sure." 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "Mmmm. Shuppoooooooshe I could," he sounds about one off from choosing to just take a stress-related nap right then and there. He makes throat-clearing noises because breathing is his hobby and he's going to mimic that much, and one Seraphic Arte incantation later...
 
     There's a gentle splash of water against all of that silly, but very sticky, caterpillar-wrought string to try and free Lunata and Jay of their lowered Speed stats. 

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

"M-Maybe?" Xiumei asks, as she pushes herself up. She looks at Eleanor -- a quick smile, to say she's all right -- and then she adjusts her glasses. So they're a little down on her nose, so she can give Varius a look.

She looks at Lunata, then to Lanval -- and her eyes are wide for a moment. When Jay starts laughing, though, she starts too. "I... I suppose you have a point, Lord Lanval."

She shifts herself a little, to look at Ida -- and where the bug is set down. Then, she looks back at Jay and Lunata. She doesn't have any brilliant ideas here, and Lanval has it well in hand. "I think so, Hannah. Someone must have placed this here," she says, looking it over. "And... there were children, you said? These woods must be safer than the ones back home."

Despite being filled with creatures. She glances at where the rat-like creature gives chase to the rabbits. She looks back at Avril, then -- and considers the conclusion she reaches. "I think you must be right. But... why? There's still, essentially, wildlife here. And they'll go after each other -- and Zephyr -- at least."

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Eleanor frowns at Varius. But he realizes it didn't come out right, so she laughs a little instead. "I suppose that's true... We're 'invaders'." She smiles at Lunata and Jay, meanwhile. And at Lanval! "Well, we wouldn't intentionally endanger the people here, I'm sure..."

She looks to Avril thoughtfully. "You're right. It is like that, isn't it?"

But the berry... Hmmm. And the little rat. "Well, I suppose they're hungry. I'm a little hungry myself..."

"I haven't seen much," Eleanor admits. "I took a nap. I'm worried about Ana..."

"I haven't the foggiest," Eleanor admits of 'why'. "Still, I am surprised. Maybe they saw your weapon and that's why they ran, Lunata?" 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    "Hush, you!" Lunata pouts at Varius.

    "And t-that's not what I mean--" Lunata speaks up to Lanval, though a moment later, water's splooshed over her and her Speed stages are reset back to +0. Whew!

    She shakes her face for a momment, then nods to Eleanor. "That's what I mean. I feel awkward carrying a weapon around here." There's a nod to Jay as well. "You said the Codex was of no help? Now that's something..."

    Avril mentions how the forest feels designed for a purpose. "Yeah. I mean, look, the forest's groomed into wide, roomy passages, it's not like we're in underbrush..."

    She glances back to Hannah and pumps her fist gently. "Hannah! I'm always excited to meet someone new. Zephyr, huh? Looks like you two're quite the team."

    Eleanor's worried about Ana. Lunata purses her lips. "... she said she couldn't believe that she didn't deserve to be locked away. That really, really struck me. I... can't believe that about anyone. I don't believe in locking people up, no matter how bad." 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

Lanval splashes, and it proves super-effective at freeing Jacqueline and Lunata from their current predicament. With a sigh of relief, she wipes away the now wet string. Soaked like this, it doesn't pose an issue.

"Thank you, Lanval." Jacqueline replies, then considers Hannah for a second. "Then, maybe it's just toward people...?"

Well, it's something to think about - it's such a small data group right now, anyway. She can't make sweeping conclusions. She shakes her head.

"That's right. At least, not from what I could tell. Nothing here really matches any of the entries already present." Jacqueline considers. "...I guess that'll give me something to do, at any rate."

The Lifeweaver's Codex was already mostly full for Filgaia and Lunar when she got it... there's something a little fun about being able to pen in an entire new chapter in it all on her own.

...Anastasia, though...

"...I'm worried, too. I hope there's something we can do for her." She replies. She considers Avril, then.

"...Designed on purpose..." She repeats. "...I hadn't really considered that." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida takes the remaining white-and-red sphere, and rolls it over in her hand, pondering it as the others talk. Her thumb pushes against the little indentation on the front--clearly a button, of some sort--and the sphere pops open. "Huh!" She glances inside, then holds it up so the others can see, too. "It's empty." There's equal parts curiosity and disappointment in her voice. Nevertheless...

    "Eleanor's right," Ida says. "We need to use a light touch. If Zephyr did see settlements--" A glance at Hannah, and her companion-- "--Then that may be a start, but... there's no telling how they'll react to us."

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Hannah... and Zephyr." She turns towards the bird and says, "I am pleased to meet you as well, Zephyr." Glancing between them and then Lunata, Avril nods. "Yes. So you think so, too? It feels as if this was designed to be a well-traveled path. Yet, it does not feel 'unnatural', precisely. How very strange..."

    Is there something a little bit familiar about this, too? Or is she merely projecting? Surely, even with the creation of the TF System, the Veruni of old had not...

    Watching as Ida takes one in hand and it turns out to be empty, Avril does likewise.

    "I wonder. What were these intended to hold? Medicine, perhaps?" 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "No problem," Lanval waves a hand as he drags himself along the turf away from the emergent drama involving a purple rat and some bouncing rabbits, moving along to open an eye and peer at the thing in Ida's hand from a respectable distance.
 
     "Dunno what ya would put in there... mmm. They sheem reeeeeeeeeal shmall, like ya couldn't put anything in 'em," he surmises as he scratches at his chin, sits back down, and decides he's better off staring into his drinking gourd in the short term. "...They wouldn't make a bad Vessel though." 

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

"But who would leave somethin' valuable just... layin' around like this? Someone could take it." Someone like them, perhaps. It's hard to pass up taking something useful when you're fouraging or scavenging for supplies, after all.

Hannah looks to Eleanor as she brings up Ana. "That was Miss Marivel's friend, right? She took charge of Innominat just so we could all get away..." A moment of silence. "... think that makes her pretty heroic, if you ask me."

Lunata comments on the flat wide passageways. "Yeah! And they seem to leave ya alone long as ya stay out of the taller grass, too. That's kind of a weird behavior, right?" But she and Zephyr are, indeed, quite the team. She grins back at Lunata. "Best friend a girl could ever ask for!"

Zephyr chirps his agreement enthusiastically.

"Miss Barber, I'll share some of the notes I've taken already, if you want 'em." For her Codex.

Ida gets hers open, only to find it empty. She looks at the inside of it. "Oh hey, you got it open? How'd..." she finds the button on hers, pushes it, and... also finds it empty. She holds it up to show everyone else. "So someone put a ball on the ground, and then put three smaller balls in it... and inside those balls is... nothin'? Guess we could put somethin' in 'em..."

She nods to Ida, confirming Zephyr saw settlements. "Seems like. Gives us a direction to go, at least. Or... well I guess they made a bunch oof paths for people to follow, too."

Lanval mentions they'd make a good vessel, and Hannah shrugs. She closes hers and holds it out to Lanval. "Want this one? Dunno what it's for, but if you can get some use out of it, that's somethin'." 

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

Xiumei looks at Eleanor, her expression concerned for a moment. "I'm worried for Ana too," she admits, her voice quiet or a moment. "I never got to meet her. But..." She looks down. "...Still. I have faith in her, but..."

"Tough crowd," Varius sighs.

Xiumei looks at Lunata and Hannah, then she smiles. Nice to see Hannah make more friends, she thinks. Then, though, she looks more thoughtful on the topic of Ana. "...I hope so," she says. "I... owe her a great deal. For making sure Eleanor came back from that place."

Xiu glances at Nora, then, and reaches out. She squeezes her hand, before she looks at Hannah. "...Yes. They were close," she says. "So... we have to help her."

When Ida presses a button, though, and makes the little orb open, Xiumei gasps. She looks at it, tilting her head. "What... I haven't the foggiest, Miss Fleur. As Lanval says, they're so small..."

Then, Avile floats over. "Let me see if I can scan it!" she declares. A light flashes out from her drone-body; a grainy cone of blue light, which washes over the open ball. She floats closer. "I think--"

Then, light from the red-and-white ball shines out over the drone -- and with a flash and a SNAP, the ball closes after pulling Avile in.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID THAT THING JUST DO."

"P-Press the button, Miss Everstead-Rey!" Xiumei stammers. "Oh, no, Avile!!"

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    "THAT THING JUST ATE AVILE," Lunata exclaims in terror, drawing her sword. 

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"A vessel?" Eleanor wonders of Lanval. "Well, that's encouraging." Then she looks to the others, who ask about Anastasia. Lunata and Hannah, in particular. "...SHe deserves to be saved," Eleanor says. "She's given so much for this world." A look to Hannah. "Heroic, yes. But... I'm tired of a world that sacrifices its heroes. And I promised her in the Memory Maze that I would..."

She smiles at Xiumei, and squeezes her hand. She nods, to her explanation of Marivel and Anastasia. But then--

"Aah!" Eleanor says, in alarm. "Avile!!" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    "Maybe," Ida says. "It's just small enough for a little flask, or a few capsules." 'Nothing', Lanval says, though maybe it has vessel potential? Ida's brow furrows. She holds the sphere still as Avile comes in--

    And then--

    FLASH.

    SNAP.

    The ball closes. It rolls back and forth in Ida's palm. Ida stares at it, jaw slack, eyes wide. "Ah--ah, just a--Avile! Avile, are you all right?!" Ida's thumb slides into place again, and she points the ball at the ground before pressing the button again. "Is it a trap?" she says, voice tight. "Who would make something like this?!"

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

A good question - what are these spheres intended to hold...?

"The seal looks like it'd be pretty airtight... you could probably hold something in it safely for a long while, as long as it's really small." Jacqueline considers. "It seems pretty well-designed..."

She looks up from the sphere and over toward Hannah, offering her a grateful smile.

"Ah, that'd be great - it'd be a good head-start." She replies. She doesn't mind accepting a little help.

Her attention turns back toward Xiumei, then - and then Avile, as she examines the sphere.

...Which then promptly pulls in her in. Jacqueline's eyes open wide.

"...Ah." Jacqueline gasps. ...She certainly hopes Avile's alright after that. So, those capsules draw things in... quite the devious contraption, indeed. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Seraph Lanval's ideal choice of a Vessel after having left that statue some years ago has always been a bottle. (It might not reflect well on his ability to choose them, but after being used to the same thing for over five-hundred years...)
 
     He grimaces almost cartoonishly as Avile gets trapped in the strange red-and-white ball, just as Hannah offers it to him.
 
     "I-I'm fine, thaaaaanksh," he probably is okay, he only recalls there being two very powerful Hellions (one significantly moreso) at the center of Marduk and he doesn't sense them that close by.
 
     "What kinda place hash a mimic that ain't got teeth?!" 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Everything seems alright when they open the mysterious spheres--

    For about five seconds, anyway. This is the point where a bright light shines and Avile vanishes, seemingly into the depths of the sphere. "No!" Avril gasps, startled enough that she actually fumbles with her own sphere, hastily attempting to get it closed again lest it eat someone else. 

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah had made a lot of new friends, recently... and, well, perhaps more importantly, she's here, with everyone else, involved in the dangerous events.

Making a difference.

Xantia and Eleanor explain about Anastasia. She nods solemnly. "She does," deserve to be saved, that is. If not for her own sake, then surely... she'd do anything she could to help Miss Marivel regardless. "Let me know if I can help."

And then the strange red and white sphere just... sucks in Avile. Hannah stares, in shock... and it's just as well that Lanval was about to refuse, because with a sudden jerk of her arm and a startled "Whaugh!" she flings hers away from her as fast as she can.

It flies through the air and.... bonks a different (it looks identical but it's not the same one from before) caterpillar looking thing, and it gets sucked into the ball too. It starts to wobble as Hannah rushes over. "Oh no no no..."

And all of a sudden it stops and makes a gentle pinging sound. 

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    "STRINGY CATERPILLAR FRIEND!! NOOO!!" Lunata exclaims with double the terror of before. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    "NOBODY ELSE TOUCH THE SPHERES!" Ida screams, dignity completely forgotten. In the background, wings flap and rustle as her shout disturbs some--sparrows? No, those aren't sparrows.

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

"I-I can't activate my Biometal!" Xiumei stammers out, staring and sputtering. There is a glance at Eleanor with deep alarm. Then, she looks at Jay -- and Lunata -- and hopes it's not too well designed.

So Lunata can chop it up and free Avile!

"I-I don't know!" she says to Lanval, on the verge of hyperventilating. Then Hannah throws hers, and it eats a bug, and Xiumei puts her hands on her cheeks.

"BWAAARRRGGGHH," she commands.

Ida presses the button on the ball.

Faced down at the ground, as it is, it spits out Avile's light blue drone; the drone falls down against the ground and bounces. The flickering lines of blue light on her body are, briefly, shaped like swirly eyes. "It... it was..."

Then, she sproings back up. "...comfy! It had a simulation of a natural environment and food and water and--it kind of glitched out because it wasn't sure what to make of me. Because of my innate awesomeness. But it was pretty nice!"

Xiumei's lips curve into a frown. "...C-Comfy? What is that thing, anyways?"

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

Bounce, bounce. "I'll... let you know," Eleanor says to Hannah, and then sees Avril sproing around. "Oh! Oh no!" The little bug...

"Comfy," Eleanor says thoughtfully, and lifts the last one, in her hand.

"...Hmmm. It does have a faint magical signature to it..."

"I can study it," she suggests. "But it appears to be a containment device of some sort for..." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida takes a moment to breathe as the sphere spits Avile out. For that moment, she is the picture of panic--ball pointed at the ground, held at arm's-length, as if it could turn around and suck her in at any moment. Wide eyes dart at the sphere that just ate the bug, then at Hanah, then at Xiumei, then at Avile. "Are you all right?" she asks the drone, offering her a hand. She's now holding the sphere in a deathgrip, just in case it gets any more ideas.

    "...A containment device?" Ida turns to Eleanor. "Can you tell what sort of magic it is? And... ah, Hannah, could you bring yours over here? Carefully."

<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.

    Avile is released, and shares that it's surprisingly... comfy inside. Eleanor points it that it might be a containment device.

    Lunata's legs turn to Jelly and she has to go SIT DOWN against a tree, stressed out. "... what if we're in a containment device right now too?" she asks, paranoidly. Lunata, you might need a nap...

    ... you're strung out right now. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval eases (somewhat) when Avile gets out from the clutches of the Strange Toothless Mimic. He leans backwards in a cartoonish ground-shaking 'thump' with his legs sticking up.
 
     "None of thish makesh shenshe," says the water spirit whose nature ignores virtually all laws of physics aside from occasionally gravity. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Avril slowly glances sidelong at the sphere that Hannah just threw and freezes in place, her in-control all-consuming sphere finally closed again and in her clutches. Ever so slightly, she readjusts her grip so she's holding it firmly. Perhaps throwing it would be a bad idea...?

    But at least Avile is released, provoking a quiet sigh from Avril. "Thank goodness..." 

<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.

There's some panic, but eventually, Avile is released from the contraption. Safely, too... if a little dazed. And a nearby bug is captured by another...

"Comfy..." Jacqueline notes with interest. There's a natural environment inside? A simulated one, anyway. She considers the bug, too...

"I think you might be right." Jacqueline considers, in response to Eleanor's observation. "If there's an environment inside, they must be made to contain living things... This goes without saying, but let's try not to point them at each other until we know how far this goes."

For now, though, Jacqueline moves to sit next to Lunata as she collapses next to a tree.

"...Let's just take things one step at a time." Jacqueline suggests. They can figure the rest out as they go.

"...Still... Energy Nede certainly isn't short of surprises..." She considers. 

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah is already rushing over to ball as Avile is being released, while Zephyr watches on in mild concern. "Oh no little bug, let me-- maybe if I press this--" She presses the button on the ball, and in another flash of red light, the strange caterpillar-like being appears.

Hannah heaves a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, whew. Sorry about that." She leans down to look at the critter. "Sorry about that, hun. You okay? Uh... you can, um... run along now, okay?"

The caterpillar just looks up to her and makes a questioning noise.

"Okay, um.... here." Hannah picks the critter up and puts him back in the bushes, then steps away. "There, that should do it."

And it just crawls out of the bushes and right up to Hannah and gives her ankle a nuzzle. She tenses up. "Ummm... Guys? I think this little guy may've just imprinted on me..."

Zephyr chirps, and Hannah blinks and looks up to him. "Whaddya mean, 'comfty?'" Wait is Hannah actually talking to her bird?

Is that even the weirdest thing happening right now?? 

<Pose Tracker> Xiumei Klein has posed.

"I-I don't want to think about that," Xiumei tells Lunata, a little shortly because she doesn't handle that sort of stress well. Her eyebrow twitches a little. But she nods to Eleanor. "...Studying it seems wise. You're really fine?"

"Super fine!" Avile answers cheerfully.

Xiumei's shoulders slump. "N-No, Lord Lanval, it doesn't."

She puts a hand against her forehead, then she slumps back against a tree. (In ways, she is similar to Lunata.) "We... we should handle these with the utmost care."

Then, she looks at Jay, and she nods. "You're right, Miss Barber. I suppose... it's not all bad. Scare aside."

She looks towards Hannah, then. Xiumei blinks -- as she registers that, indeed, the caterpillar-like creature has scurried over to rejoin her. Her eyebrows knit.

"...well, you might be stuck with him for a little bit?"

<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.

"I can try," Eleanor says to Ida. She shakes her head at Lunata. "I'm sure that's not true," she says. "At least, no more than any of the other people around here..."

Eleanor that might not be helpful.

She looks to Avril, then. Hmmm. "You might be able to help me," she says. "If you have an opinion on the make of this. It's certainly technological, but..."

SHe looks to Jay, "Yes. Let's not point them at each other."

Sense or no, "My first glance tells me that it's..."

"Well. There's some Symbols faintly along the middle... But I don't recognize them. THey're almost too small to see..."

Eleanor waves her hand. "But the 'feel' of the magic is... Symbology. Very, very advanced. And it's not just magic, either."

Then, she looks to Hannah, away from her nerdery. "Aww, Hannah. You made a friend!" 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    "Lunata, breathe," Ida says. A moment later, she realizes she needs to take her own advice. Two square breaths later, she feels significantly less like she's holding a ticking time bomb. "...It... makes sense, I suppose," she says, to Jay. "And it explains why it glitched out when it sucked Avile in." Her brow furrows in thought as she looks down at the 'imprinted' caterpillar. "I guess... she did? The Symbols, though... I think we might want Hesiod to take a look at these, if we can find him. He might know what they are."

<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.

Hannah looks to Avile as she says she's fine form the experience. "... Huh." She looks down to the caterpillar. "You don't seem angry or hurt..."

She might be stuck with him for a while. "W-well, I guess if he's imprinted, I should be responsible for 'im. Um... Dunno what you eat, though..." she muses, considering.

Hannah reaches down to hold out a hand for the creature, and it nuzzles at her hand. "Awww, you're a cute little fella though, ain'tcha?" She looks up to Eleanor and nods. "Suppose I did. You said there's Symbology in it? Ain't never seen somethin' that small, if so."

I guess she did? "Well, don't seem especially skittish now, so..." Hannah gives the creature a small pet, and gets an extremely pleased trilling noise out of it. "Awww..."

Hannah scoops the creature up in her arms, then, and it starts to crawl up her arm and onto her shoulder to nuzzle at her cheek. The (accidental) pokemon trainer laughs and giggles a bit. "Friendly little guy!"

Above, Zephyr squawks, a bit indignantly, and Hannah rolls her eyes. "I got two shoulders, Zephyr. Don't go gettin' jealous now."

"Puttin' you away before you cause any more commotion, though." Hannah slips the ball into her satchel. She turns to the others. "I don't understand it, but... I gotta admit. He's awfully cuddly." 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    All's well that ends well, but there are far more questions than answers at hand presently. "It may be best to hold onto this," she remarks to Eleanor. "Perhaps if we should find somewhere safer," well, safer relatively speaking -- it's hardly as if this forest is thick with dangers, "we might investigate these spheres."

    She nods, when Eleanor asks about the 'make' of the sphere. "I believe so. Yet, there is something else. I wonder... might this be magic as well?" It wouldn't be one of the magic schools favored by Filgaia or Lunar, of course, but...

    "Symbology."

    "It would have to be Symbology, would it not...?" Avril theorizes, looking down at the object in her hands. "Symbology is an arte practiced on Lunar and Filgaia... and in other worlds as well," she finishes, thinking of Ethius. "Then it must be Symbology, of a form more advanced than we have yet witnessed. ...Those Wise Men, did they not use Symbology as well?"

    Perhaps in worlds beyond theirs, the art of Symbology is that much more advanced.

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