Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 4, 2015 11:22:56 GMT
((ooc: This quest will introduce my new character and serves as her introduction to the QA. It is a solo version of the original because I need it finished and that's clearly not going to happen otherwise.))
Cars sped past on almost empty roads, their blinding lights announcing their arrivals whole minutes in advance. Buildings towered dozens of meters above the tallest trees, their darkened windows and walls black silhouettes against the starry sky. People hurried along the pavements, eager to get home and out of the cold and dark before the predators of the night made themselves known. In a long, dark alley a raggedy stray cat hissed and backed away from the person fading into existence before it. The girl fell to her knees, her ash blonde hair trailing its green and black tips through a puddle as she tried to catch her breath. The sword at her hip struck a note as it hit the concrete, which echoed around the alley, and the longbow and quiver on her back slid round to her side as gravity pulled them down. The terrified cat fled its usual hunting ground. Her clothes marked her as an outsider, even more than her weapons. While her black trousers and blue and black sneakers may have been fairly commonplace, her sleeveless top and cravat most certainly weren't. Her torso appeared to be somewhat non-existent, as though her clothing had turned her chest into a window to the night sky. This was not so, it was merely an illusion, albeit a rather convincing one. Shades of blue and purple blended together and were littered with stars that looked so real anyone might have sworn they could reach through the fabric and feel the void on the other side. After a couple of minutes she stood, repositioned her weaponry, clipped her hair out of her face with a star-shaped slide and looked around. To anyone paying attention this strange girl, with the scar on her cheek and tattoo circling her arm, had simply appeared from nowhere. Anyone paying attention would be right. "By the stars..." She sighed "Where am I this time?"
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 4, 2015 11:38:06 GMT
The hiss of steam and ticking of clockwork announced that Katara had been called to the portal room against her will again. She only ever revealed she was coming when she wanted someone to know she wasn't happy. She hated having to stop her inventing, especially when she was having a creative day, like today. "Any idea what's going on this time?" She asked the turquoise humanoid technician. "I just make the portals." He said glumly. "I think I heard something about dinosaurs..." "What's a dinosaur?" Katara asked. "Massive, prehistoric reptiles." "...I'm going to need a bigger gun..." She looked down at her gunblades and the crossbow she'd invented attached to her belt and sighed.
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 4, 2015 11:43:04 GMT
"Kat! I thought you were spending the day in your lab? Did I hear something about dinosaurs?" DG asked excitedly as she entered the portal room. Katara grinned at her. She hadn't realised she'd be questing with her favourite mostly-human. "That's only what I think I heard." The technician clarified as he set up the portal. "How you Questers accomplish anything with so little information is beyond me." The portal opened up and the technician stood back. "Good luck."
The two Questers raised an eyebrow at each other, nodded and stepped through the portal.
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 4, 2015 11:48:05 GMT
The girl looked around for some clue as to when and where she had ended up, blissfully unaware she was being watched.
High up on a rooftop a man crouched, watching and waiting. He could sense a great darkness in the girl below. He would have to do something about her, but a bright light appeared behind the girl, as though the gates of heaven had opened into the mortal realm for one brief and shining moment.
"At least we came out in an alley" DG sighed "the chances we were seen should be quite slim."
The girl watched, crouched behind an industrial-sized dumpster, as two people appeared through the light. One hand hovered over the hilt of her sword. Who were these people? Why were they here? Where had they come from? They didn't look like they were with the Allies. Then again, they didn't look like they were with the Opposition either, and they definitely weren't Invaders. Of course, they might be in disguise, it wouldn't be the first time. The light faded, plunging the alleyway into darkness again. Seeing the newcomers looking around as though trying to work out where they were, the girl stepped carefully out of her hiding place, hand still on the hilt of her sword. "Who are you?"
High up on the rooftop the man watched with fascination. Two more had appeared, and he could sense a darkness in the newcomers too. This may be harder than he'd initially thought. He would require his assistants. Now. He snapped his fingers and waited.
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 4, 2015 15:59:11 GMT
"Who are you?" Katara countered, one hand resting on her crossbow warily. The blonde shifted her gaze from one to the other and back again. "I asked first." She said stubbornly. "She's got a point." DG put in. "My name is Dayana, but most people call me DG. My friend here is Katara." "Robyn." Said the blonde. "Which side do you fight for?" This question rather puzzled the two Questers, who had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. "We're not from around here, is there a war on?" Katara asked, genuinely interested. "I... Sort of..." the blonde replied, looking a little confused. "Where are we?" DG asked to fill the growing silence. "You mean you don't know either?" Robyn asked cautiously. This could definitely still be a trap. She would not release her sword until she knew she was safe. The Invaders wouldn't think twice about killing her, and neither side of the war wanted her alive, save for one man. Her commander. Her king. Only he knew where she could go, what she could do. What she had done.
The man on the roof felt the darkness rise in the yellow-haired girl. Where were they when he needed them? Three small sighs sounded the arrival of the man's assistants. Three small worms, almost ethereal in nature, had faded into existence at the man's side. The Sanshi had appeared at last. "Go." He commanded. "Show me their souls." The Sanshi slithered away, down the side of the building and towards the girls. The three of them seemed to understand their unspoken instructions as they split up and each headed for one of the newcomers.
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 4, 2015 23:25:29 GMT
"It's definitely an Earth variant." DG stated with certainty. "They all look the same to me" Katara shrugged. Robyn listened silently. She needed to learn as much as she could about these people. They'd appeared in a flash of light, the only ones she'd ever seen do it. She needed to know which side they were on, though they'd seemed genuinely confused when she'd asked outright. Perhaps they really didn't know about the war. "Well we can't be here for no reason" the one with longer hair was saying. Katara, was it? That sounded about right. "What about the dinosaur rumour?" The other, DG, suggested. "Did you say dinosaur?" Robyn asked, entering the conversion. "Why, you know something?" Katara replied. Robyn shrugged. "Dinosaurs died out eons ago, and we're definitely not that far back in time. This is clearly civilisation, not primordial forestry." "True, but in our line of work anything is possible." DG nodded. "What exactly is your line of work?" "We go out into the worlds and try to help when things go wrong." "Epically wrong." Katara added. "We don't just turn up because something's screwed." "We're sent to fix problems that should never have happened on that world. We keep the balance." DG tried to clarify. "If something happens that isn't meant to, we're sent in to find out what's going on and put it right." "Like dinosaurs in the present day?" "Exactly!" Robyn was having a hard time wrapping her head around this. "So you're really not part of the war?" She asked eventually. "We don't even know what war you're talking about." Katara said bluntly. Robyn gingerly let go of her sword. Katara moved her hand away from her crossbow.
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 7, 2015 1:30:52 GMT
"So, you know an awful lot more about us than we do about you." DG started. "Maybe it's time for a little quid pro quo." "Maybe I prefer asking the questions." Robyn replied simply. "See, Deej, this is what happens when you start by playing nice." Katara said, cracking her knuckles. "Now now, Kat, I thought you were trying to keep that dark side under control." Katara rolled her eyes and turned away. "Just answer one question then, Robyn. If you don't know where you are either, how did you get here?" DG asked in all seriousness. He'd warned her about this, people trying to find out what she could do. 'Trust no one.' That's what he'd said. 'Analyse. Calculate. Work out the most believable lie and spin it. Your life may depend on it.' "Some kind of bright light brought me here." Robyn replied. "One minute I'm on patrol, the next I'm in some alley I've never seen before." "Patrol?" Katara turned to face her again. "Are you law enforcement or a soldier?" "A little of both, I guess. They call us Sentinels. We watch the skies and protect the people as best we can." The best lies always had an element of truth. "Watch the skies?" DG repeated "For what?" "The Invaders..." A slight tingling passed through Robyn's throat, but it lasted only a moment and she thought no more about it. The man on the roof smiled.
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 10, 2015 0:19:01 GMT
A reptilian screech echoed around the narrow alley and all three whipped around to try to work out where it had come from. "That way." Katara pointed diagonally through the walls fencing them in. "You can tell?" Robyn asked sceptically. "Good ears." Katara explained as DG rushed past them and peered around the building on the corner of their alley. She snapped back against the wall almost instantly, breathing fast and shallow. There was fear in DG's eyes, though they looked a little cloudy.
The man on the roof never took his eyes from the three women in the alley below him, and he smiled once again.
Katara heard a slight ringing in her ears, but any thought of the sensation left her once DG had explained what she'd seen. "Dinosaur..."
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Apr 10, 2015 0:42:05 GMT
Katara and Robyn ran to join DG and see for themselves. Sure enough, coming down the middle of the road and heading in their direction was a large, vicious-looking, feathered lizard, about seven metres long from nose to tail and at least two high. The dagger-like teeth made it clear it was a carnivore, the big curved claws on its hind feet suggested it was part of the raptor family and its size could only mean one thing: Utahraptor, the biggest of its kind. "Oh that doesn't look good..." Robyn whispered. Katara silently agreed.
|
|
Echo
Administrator
Keeper of the Multiversal Peace
PM me if you've got any questions!
Posts: 8,659
Characters: Lexi Elendil, Sergeant Valerie Reyes, Katara Shadowdancer, Emilie Golding, Meghan Squire, Dayana "DG" Grace Williams, Jessica Rose, Chiyo, Aniani and Mirati, Xani, Robyn Luxli
|
Post by Echo on Jun 24, 2020 4:12:57 GMT
"Raptors hunt in packs," DG said quietly. "This probably isn't the only one around." She blinked. Everything was starting to look kind of fuzzy. Hopefully it was just portal sickness, it wouldn't be the first time.
"Oh good," Katara drawled, "just what we need. What in the ore are we meant to do now?" Even as she spoke, she could tell something was wrong. She could hear herself less and less clearly.
"I suggest running?" Robyn offered, clearing her throat a little. She sounded hoarse.
|
|