"V Is Not For Valentines" (Trisell Roleplay) (Group Roleplay)

PREFACE
This roleplay is going to be centered on a very… self-centered character, and will involve demands of characters that will most-likely upset them. This is just a statement of self-awareness that that’s the kind of roleplay you’re getting into. Just know that the feelings expressed by characters in the roleplay don’t reflect those of the host (me) as this is just a fun little test for things.

INTRODUCTION
Greetings, User. I, Urd Wallace Breckam IV, will be your guide for this venture. You will see your character entering a white and red room with LOVELY pillars. In front of them is a podium, and atop this podium is a parchment. Please have your character answer truthfully to the questions listed, as it will determine your score for the future (except Riven, unless he wants to). Afterward, your character will be escorted to their own personal paradise until further events.

More information SHALL be provided in the future… GLORIOUSLY…

Once you answer each question, explain why, then place your answers in the comments.

Q1: How far would you go to save the love of your life?
A) As far as it doesn’t change my general routine or inconvenience me.

B) As far as it may be at my expense, but I wouldn’t die.

C) I would give up my life to save this person, be it hesitantly or otherwise.

D) I would give up my life and/or make life worse for others—even as far as killing innocent—to save this person.

E) I would save this person… even if they don’t want me to.

Q2: How far would you go to save an enemy, someone who despises you?
A) As far as it doesn’t change my general routine or inconvenience me.

B) As far as it may be at my expense, but I wouldn’t die.

C) I would give up my life to save this person, be it hesitantly or otherwise.

D) I would give up my life and/or make life worse for others—even as far as killing innocent—to save this person.

E) I would save this person… even if they don’t want me to.

Q3: Which of the following traits do you find attractive?
A) Greed

B) Gluttony

C) Wrath

D) Jealousy

E) Self-Pity

F) Corruption

G) Laziness

H) Ego

I) Obsession/Addiction

J) Apathy

K) Deception

Q6: What would you do with an abusive spouse?
A) Leave them.

B) Abuse them back.

C) Leave their fate to the authorities.

D) Endure them.

E) Show them that you can be even worse than them.

F) Make them fear/respect you.

G) Bring in an exorcist.

H) Kill them.

I) Attempt to change/save them.

PLEASE WRITE THE FOLLOWING WITH YOUR NAME BELOW
“I __________ by signing this promise to respond daily, and believe I can balance this roleplay with other things in my life. I will not abandon it and then move on without speaking with the creator first. I understand that I am expected to see this through and will strive to do so.”

Placements
'''Here you will find where each character is placed in terms of points. At the end of the event, the points from their quiz answers will be added to the points that will be shown as the roleplay progresses. The current placements are in no particular order until points are given.'''
 * 1) Xan 25
 * 2) Rixcit 20
 * 3) Asonja 20
 * 4) Mars 15
 * 5) He-No 5
 * 6) Vladimir
 * 7) Riven
 * 8) Lord of Darkness

XAN
“DOWEE DESIMUL!” A loud voice sounded. Xan found himself suddenly standing in a long hall. Slight creaks surrounded him just faintly with rows upon rows of books. The ceiling was designed with lined constellations. Behind him was the door for the exit, and dozens of stories with slight humming in the back were seen and heard.

To his far left was a single woman behind the desk: hair in a bun behind her with blue circular glasses. She was a pale blue  mouse with round ears, about a foot shorter than he. She wore a small white and silver skirt-suit, and seemed to be writing down on a series of papers: a single strand of hair flopping over her eyes which she regularly adjusted.

"..." Xan remained silent for a few seconds as he glanced around at his surroundings. "A..Library." He observed.

"TIS INDEED!" The voice of the Urd Man called from above. " You have arrived in your designated area! Hooray! Now! You must know that what you experience will be quite actual in all scenarios."

A score sheet appeared over his head. "In two days, a storm will appear.  You must construct your shelter!"

At this, the woman at the desk paused, looking about with confusion: probably wondering why a shelter would be built in the library.

"What kind of storm? And what is this for?" Xan questioned, Jabbing a thumb at the score-sheet above his head.

His hand passed through it. The voice did not answer. The woman faintly spoke up. "Do... you wish to purchase something?" Her voice was distinctly Irish.

"Hmm. I might indeed. But for now, I have a few questions to ask you.." He replied. Somewhat glaring at the score-card, before drifting over to the desk that the mouse sat behind. "That is. If you're willing to entertain such nonsense." Xan said, in a jovial manor.

"What would that be?" She fixed her glasses.

"For starters, a name to call you by, other than Librarian would be nice. Secondly. Where am I? as in, where does this Library stand?" He asked.

"The library sets in the city," She answered. "I... do not know what you should refer to me as."

"Mm. Then I shall call you Paige. Pun fully intended." Xan chuckled a bit. Before glancing around. "What kind of weather do you have around here?" He inquired.

Five points given.

"Normally?  It's warm enough... sunny," She noted.

Xan nodded at this. "Well then. Apparently I need to construct a shelter, Dear Paige. One that can outlast a.. special storm." He grinned. "Perhaps you can be of assistance."

She looked up to him completely now. "... How?" She cocked her head.

"You seem like a smart woman. I might need you to navigate your library, and to figure out a solution to my problem." He said, admiring the starry details along the ceiling wall.

"Oh," She straightened a bit. "W-well, um, what would you need at the moment?"

Five points awarded.

His eyes narrowed. "Hmm. Currently, I need to see a map of the city. While the library counts as a 'shelter.' I do believe I have to construct my own." He replied. Giving Paige something to do.

"Um... well we do have a section on maps.  It should be near the back left of the second floor."

"Thank you, I will be back shortly.." Xan nodded before turning to walk down the long hall of books.

He found that no one else seemed to be in sight. Rows of shelves were the only other company. Some audiobooks and DVDs were seen eventually as he neared a curved staircase on either end of the walls.

He absently ran his fingers along the wooden sides of the shelves, as he traveled down the hall to the stairs. Once he arrived, Xan quickly climbed the stair-case, not wanting to waist anymore time.

He soon found himself at the catalog section of the library where various books and rolled maps were placed on shelves next to varying globes.

Gracefully navigating to the back of the wall. Xan looked among the things for a map of the city he was currently in.

As he didn't have a name for the city, it seemed faint any chance of finding the right one, but then, to the left, mounted was a map with the tagline "Our fair city".

Arching a brow, he went to investigate the parchment on display.

The city wasn't very detailed, as if parts were being written in as it went. the library was the only labeled section.

"Find what you need?" Paige asked from behind.

"Not exactly but it will suffice." He replied, twisting around so he could actually see the mouse. "You know. Theres not much here to really consider this place to be a city. I have yet to see another soul.. Other than yourself.. Wandering the library. Doesn't it get terribly boring?"

"It pays," she noted. "You need to make a shelter or something, right?  You're looking for a hardware store?"

"Yes. Along with a good solid foundation to build from.. You dodged the question, by the way." He said complacently.

"I, what?" She rose an eyebrow. "The boring part?"

"Indeed. Boring for you.. that is. I would be good living here until I ran out of materials to read." Xan said, Closing his eyes. Despite lacking a visible nose of sorts, He Seemed to inhale the woody smell of the library. "So, you mentioned something about a hardware shop..?" He reminded Paige. Opening his eyes once more.

"It was what I suggested, yeah," She looked to the map.

Xan tapped his chin thoughtfully. "The map of your city is rather. Spare. What happened to the inhabitants?"

"Nothing," She shook her head, pointing to a now filled-in section where a hardware store was noticed.

"...Intriguing." He muttered. "Well, lets be off then.." Xan declared. Turning heel to head towards the stairs.

He found that he was now already at the front door somehow.

The parasite came to a complete halt. Eyes narrowing. "Dearest Paige. Does this sort of thing happen frequently?"

"Parts of the map appearing out of nowhere?  No..."

five points added

He glanced up at his scorecard. Taking note the new numbers. To test a theory, he reached for the exit handle and swung the door wide open. "Life can be quite the mystery.." He randomly commented, holding the door open for Paige. "Ladies first." He gestured.

"I'm... coming with you?" She blinked.

"But of course. Some fresh air will do you good. Besides, You know your way around here better than I. Without your assistance, I might not make it.. alive." Xan replied with a bit of dramatic flair. He was laying it on pretty thick.

"Oh.  Well, I suppose.  I'll... have to close up first though," She looked off a ways for a moment.

"Hm. Well. Tell me what I can do to help assist. Two pairs of hands are better than one." He persisted. Determined to see if his hunch was right.

"I just need to lock things up.  I'll be back in a moment," She stepped back to go back to the desk.

Xan ended up peering outside while he waited, to observe the new scenery of nature.

The city was being drawn into place as he looked. A fall neighborhood with not a car in sight.

A faint chuckle "thoUgHt youhAteD th- furr-" it was cut off as Paige walked back up. her hair was down. "Okay, that should be it."

He stood there, leaning on the door post, staring off into space. His tail twitched several times, before Xan actually made eye contact with Paige again. "Ah, great.." He said, attention snapping back to the present. "Now then, Shall we be off?"

She nodded with a smile, stepping out.

Ten points added...try-hard.

As I suspected. He thought with a grin. "Now Paige, this might seem like a silly question. But is there anything floating over my head?" Xan asked.

"There is, yeah," She nodded.

He nodded thoughtfully, As they walked along the pathway. "Do you have any idea what this.. 'storm' is..?" Xan questioned.

"... Wind... rain... lightning?" She listed as they turned a corner.

He rolled his eyes but managed to bite back a sharp insult. "Mmmhm. Hail.. Tornadoes.." He added.

"You think it'll be that intense?" She blinked. "Guess it makes sense: shelter and all... Just... it just sounds really... sudden- oh, here we are," She gestured to the large warehouse building in the distance: a large logo on the top with dozens of various barbecue models lining the walls.

"Considering the circumstances, I can't help but believe the worst." He said, pausing to inspect the rows upon rows of barbecue stands. "...Do you people really enjoy roasting creatures this much..?" Xan said to no one in particular.

"They're leftovers from Summer," Paige informed, stepping up to the front doors which opened automatically. "Next-Year Rush."

"..Ridiculous." he muttered. Following Paige closely from behind.

"Agreed, but have you ever barbequed?"

The store was empty.

"..Never once in my life. Crispy food is useless.." Xan looked around, arching an eye brow. "Wow. Either the Next-Year Rush is a genius marketing move, or this place has been shut down."

"... You know, this didn't really happen till you walked in," She noted. "Maybe that has something to do with it... A-anyway, you wanted... wooden boards or something?"

His eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Yes. Quite a few stacks of boards and some materials for walls. I'm going to need a binding substance too.. I think you guys use.. Nails for building, Right?"

"Nails... glue... rope..."

"Eeeeeh, we'll go with nails." He determined. "Now to find it all.."

Pagie walked down the rows, pointing to various drawers.

Xan followed after her, and opened a few drawers at once to see his options.

Various screws and nails were found: some long, some thick, some made of wood. Some had hooks, some had joints, and so on.

Xan went with two boxes of long nails, and a box of thick nails as well. "..You wouldn't happen to know where the wood is..would you?"

"Shouldn't be hard to find," She noted, walking down the halls.

He sighed, and followed her along. "Why does your town seem to be.. Sketchy? Or.. Unfinished?"

"I think I prefer the latter description.  Sketchy implies something devious is happening and I don't want to think about the possibility of something evil going on..." She eventually turned down to a row of various wooden materials.

"Oh..Anything can be twisted into something quite wicked, if you put your mind to it." He said half-jokingly. Handing the boxes of nails off to his tail to hold, before picking out several slabs of wood.

"Do you want a cart for that?"

"..Yep. That would be appreciated."

She walked off a ways to pull one over. It was entirely quiet otherwise. Making a fortress against a storm in a nearly empty city: save one Librarian...

(@_O;)

The parasite pulled some roofing as well, and hefted everything out of the aisle to meet Paige for the cart.

She pulled it up to him. "We'll probably need more.  No one else being here, I doubt you'd need to pay for it."

"Ah good. Otherwise I would have killed the cashier." Xan said coolly. Dumping off his supplies and steering the cart to the exit.

"Oh no," She replied, assuming he was joking. "What else do you need?"

"A carlstn, stones, and while we're at it, A body along with a few dozen innocent souls. " Xan grinned. It was hard to tell where he was joking and where he really was being serious at this point. The only thing that was recognizable was the heavy amounts of sarcasm.

"Well if we're doing a blood-ritual, there should be books on that," She replied.

RIXCIT
“THE WIND IS HOWLING!” a loud voice sounded. Rixcit found himself on a cold lone beach just at the edge of a long series of mountains covered in moss, with the tips in snow. The sky was white and cloudy: the waves large, but never crashing far enough to reach his feet. The wind sounded as a slow pattern of black sand passing by him toward a crevice-like trail directly behind.

"Where the hell am I...?" He looks around before looking at the trail. "Hm.."

The flowing sand seemed to whisper... or sing as it went. "Onward," It tuned in a distinctly feminine voice.

"...Assuming the odd womanly voice wants me to head to the trail," He starts walking along the trail, "Just what am I dealing with here?"

"Whatever you want... or don't want..." As he and the sand trailed through the path, the sand at his feet slowly became grass with a snake or two slithering back with some ladybugs flying up.

Breaking the mood came a large voice of the short crowned man. "Is this on? GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS! THIS IS YOUR  ALMIGHTY URD  SPEAKING! You have arrived in your designated area! Hooray! Now! You must know that what you experience will be quite actual in all scenarios.  Also,"

a score sheet appeared over his head, starting at zero. "You will be scored based on your actions.  BEST OF LUCK!"

"...So I'm stuck in some sort of game?! What the hell!"

The sand turned to Rixcit, pausing at his actions in mid-air. The voice of Urd was gone... and then it came back. "YOU HAVE TWO DAYS TO CONSTRUCT A SHELTER BEFORE THE STORM!"

He sighs, rubbing his face. "Great. Making a shelter in two days. Not hard at all," He looks at the sand, "And who're you?"

The sand flew back a bit, then toward him again. "I am... what would I be?"

"...I don't know, to be honest. All I know is you're sand and a woman."

"... You think of me as a woman?  Not simply a girl?"

"You don't sound like a girl. So you're a woman." He shrugs, looking around for material to make a shelter.

"Hm..." Her voice echoed for a moment.

Five points added

Only some broken-off stone, grass, and sand was seen about in this canyon-like mid-pass between the mountains. Further areas could be seen in the far distance.

"..." He looks at the points counter. "Hm." He looks at the sand. "Bad news, no materials in this place besides stone. There's some areas a little ways away. Can you make it up there or do you need some help?"

"Up?" The sand floated upward, as if looking to the mountain tops. "Oh... yes I believe so."

"Need help getting up there?" He looks around, making ice bowls to keep stone chunks in.

"I... should be fine," The sand began floating further up.

Five points added

"If you insist. I'm right here though." He merges the bowls into a single sphere, all the rocks contained inside, "Alright, let's go."

"Hm?" The sand circled back. " 'let's go'?"

"You don't know what that means? It means that we can go leave now. Unless you need to do something?"

"Go leave up or down to the path?" The sand asked.

"Hm...I didn't see anything on the path, so I'd say go up. Maybe more stuff to build a shelter up there. What do you think?"

"We can see more up," The sand noted.

"Then let's go." He starts walking upwards.

The sand floated upward. Soon the air got somewhat thinner as flecks of snow were seen floating down. Some thirty feet of walking up, the path was more clearly seen. Various splits were about, but in the far distance, a mile or two, was an opening with random trees scattered about the way.

"And there's the wood for walls." He looks at the sand. "So...are you normally sand?" He steps on the path.

"... I... suppose.  Would there be a different kind of sand?"

"Erm...I meant, like are you a person sometimes?"

"Like... you?" The sand circled him a few times. "Should I look like you?"

"What do you mean by that? Look like a humanoid figure, or like myself?" He looks at the sand as it circles.

"Like you... both I suppose..."

"Erm...Not like myself. But a humanoid figure. If you want that is."

"Hm..." The sand stretched out, some faint thin legs and arms connecting to a stick-figure like body. The wind blew against them coldly as the day continued on.

"Hm." He looks at the figure, setting the ice container down.

The form thickened slightly, a basic body form swaying in the wind now. "Will this do?"

"Sure, for now at least. Feel free to make yourself look however you want. Just, tell me if you get cold."

The form nodded. "Where will we be going?"

He points at the trees. "We'll need those to make walls for the shelter."

The sand figure floated toward the trees. "We will cut them down, yes?"

"That's the idea."

The figure sped up, flying over to one of the trees.

"...?" He looks at the figure.

She began scratching at the tree's lower trunk, though it didn't seem to be doing much to it.

"Do...Do you need any help?"

"I don't think I can affect these very much like this," She informed.

He forms an axe out of ice and grabs his sword. He hands her the axe and he walks over to the other side of the tree with his sword. "I'll cut on one side, and you do the other. Ok?"

She nodded, her hands thickening around the axe as she began to chop.

He starts doing the same on his side.

Soon the tree toppled, a brief spray of maple liquid shooting out.

He sidesteps the spray. "Hey, did any of this get on you?"

The sand figure shook her head. She began cutting off the remains of the trunk.

"I could do that." He helps.

She stepped back. "How many more will we need?"

"Hm...I don't know. We'll probably need more than one though."

She placed the axe down, floating up to look for more. "Will we need food?"

"Do you eat?" He looks at her.

"I do not think so... Not like..." She waved a hand down her face, "this..."

"...Go ahead and make yourself a face. I'd rather you not starve because you can't eat."

"What kind of face?"

"Hm...One with a mouth," He points at his mouth, "A nose," He points at his nose, "Ears and Eyes," He points at his ears and eyes. "Add any features you'd want."

"Hm..." She floated down to the sap of the tree, scooping some up a bit as it slid over her, forming into varying patterns. It took on a somewhat nervous-system style at first as the sand thickened further into a much more solid feminine form. The dark orange sap became like stripes with most sections circling the joints as if holding them. Cuffs around two wide pointed ears in the back and a slightly long pointed muzzle with hollowed eyes and long fingers. A tail developed. She looked somewhat like a coyotte.

"Huh. Nice look." He gives her a thumbs up.

Her eyes crowned up a bit with her cheeks, implying a smile. "More trees to cut down, yes?"

"Yep."

She began floating toward another in the far distance before turning back. "How do we carry this one?"

He makes a carriage out of ice. "With this."

"... Nicely," She nodded, making her way toward the next tree. A sudden large blast of wind sent the sand creature distorting to the side for a moment.

"??"

She was forced to dive under in a circular pattern and press against the side of the mountain from the wind.

He spins his sword and stabs it into the ground, making a wall of ice to defend against the wind. "Are you alright?"

She resolidified, turning to him with a nod. "It's harder to ignore the wind like this... heavier..."

"Easier not to get blown apart though.." He takes off his jacket and tosses it to her. "But here, maybe it'll help."

She jumped over to catch it, quickly skidding to a halt. She examined it for a moment before putting it on. The sun was nearing sunset.

"...Darn. We're losing light."

"More trees," She mutered, walking now toward the next.

He follows her. "Can you keep going?"

"I believe so."

It didn't take long to reach the tree. It was much taller, though no thicker. "... This is going to take a while.  Two days, yes?" She asked.

"Probably."

She began hacking away at the tree. It took only some short minutes to break, but as it collapsed, it began sliding down the mountainside.

"!!!" He starts running after the tree.

(A little more than "!!!" would be appreciated.)

The tree was crashing into the ravine,  the steep slick snow-covered ground beneath his feet making travel difficult. The sand girl chased after.

"Stupid, tree...!" He continues running.

The tree finally stopped at the bottom, splitting in many sections as water splashed upward.

He stops at the edge of the water. "..."

The girl eventually arrived, stopping next to him. The sap from the tree leaked into the water. To the left there was a cave.

"...A cave."

The girl stepped into the water to pick up the tree but began to sink as her feet were getting wet.

"Hey, hey. Don't forget that you're made of sand!" He grabs her hand and pulls her out of the water. "I'll pick up the tree."

She stumbled back, falling on her rear. She looked over her foot,shaking it a bit to try and dry off. "Should... I look into the cave?"

"We'll both go." He helps her up.

"What about the tree?" She asked.

Ten points added

"I'll get them later. Then we'll see if a fire can't be made." He starts walking towards the cave.

It was quite wide and tall, but hidden well enough on the turning side of the mountain. Water leaked into it from the stream, but it wasn't nearly deep enough to be of concern. Moss grew out throughout, a tunnel of sorts at the back.

"Hm...Goes a bit deeper."

The sand coyotte walked further into the cave, toward the tunnel. "It's quite dark..."

"Sure is...Wait there, I'll go get a piece of the tree to use for a torch."

She nodded, sitting down at the side. As he looked back out, the sunset was overhead, fading.

"Hm..." He starts fishing out pieces of the wood.

Mostly it was bark that broke off into the water, though some two or three stakes of the inner wood were found about.

He picks up a piece, examining it closely. "Better be good for fire.."

Sap was over most of them but they hadn't quite soaked yet.

"...I think these are good enough." He bundles up the pieces and walks back into the cave. "Alright! Found some pieces we could use for light."

"How do we light them?" She asked.

"..." His head droops. "Knew I was forgetting something..."

She looked about the cave for a moment. "There," She walked over, digging out some dry grass. "Will this work?"

"...Yeah, that would work. Nice thinking."

She smiled, handing it over to him.

He sets it down, trying to make a torch out of the bundle and grass.

It was a nice fit, but still no spark. "We rub it or something?"

"Yeah, we'll probably have to rub it."

"... Okay... Are... you going to do it?  Since you're holding it?"

He starts rubbing the sticks together against the grass.

It took a while but eventually a spark started up, with smoke forming at the base.

He continues rubbing. "C'mon, light..."

Fire began to flicker out, a glow forming soon after.

"Yes!" He continues until a decent sized fire appears.

The sand girl clapped her hands, causing a bit of her fingers to burst out slightly before solidifying again. She slowly poked at the fire curiously.

He stops her hand. "Nope. Fire hurts to touch. Don't want you burning yourself."

She pulled back slowly, looking at her fingers. "Am I burnable?" She looked back at the tunnel ahead.

"I'd rather we not find out. I'd rather you stay nice and unburned." He makes a torch. "Shall we?"

She nodded, heading into the tunnel. As they made their way through, it kept to a rather thin form, but thankfully did not bottlecap--shrinking against them.

The path went on for a good half-hour. Clicking sounds were heard farther ahead, but a faint light was also seen in the far distance.

"Do you hear that? Clicking."

"Yes," She looked about, toward the floor. "Oh..." Various insects were crawling about the walls, but a vast amount on the floor, with pinchers on a great many of them.

"...Oh."

"Do we turn around?"

"I think we should...For now at least."

She started to turn back, glancing to the light in the distance. "Will we come back?"

"Yes. We'll come back. But we'll have to think of what to do about the bugs."

She looked at the fire, then back to Rixcit. "Could you... freeze them?"

"...That's...That actually could work."

She stepped to the left to be out of his way.

He looks at the bugs, stepping up and placing his hand on the ground. Sheets of ice form, covering the bugs.

The sand coyotte knocked the ice a few times before stepping forward. "That was... um 'cool'... I- I didn't mean to make that a joke."

"It's fine." He steps forwards on the ice. "Be careful, it's slippery."

She nodded, tip-toeing over it. Some bugs were about the walls still, prompting the sand coyotte to run forward.

"Easy!" He follows her.

Nearing the light soon, it was found to be quite small, but an exit none the less. The sand coyotte quickly slipped through in a more airborne form.

"...Hm." He looks through the hole. "Just how small is it.."

(Ups.  Sorry.  4 inch radius)

"...Hm." He crawls through. "Tight...Fit..!"

The crack gave way as he exited, landing into a body of water.

"Woah!" He falls in, making a splash.

It seemed he was in a lake or pond. There was no current here and above, the mountains were nearly out of sight.

He looks around in the water for a brief bit, before swimming to the surface of the lake.

The sand girl was waiting for him. "Sorry, I wanted to help but... water..."

"It's...fine. It's fine." He coughs up the water. "I'm good."

She reached out a hand to him.

He takes her hand.

She pulled him further up the shore. "I-" She stopped. A roar came from the distance.

He grabs his sword. "What was that?"

She started walking toward it.

He looks at her, before following.

Thumping sounded as a beast was running toward them: a large bear.

"...Big bear."

As it got closer, the running height seeemed to be around twelve feet, and it wasn't slowing.

He draws his sword. "Guess we're about to kill a bear."

The sand coyotte stepped back as the bear jumped at Rixcit, biting at him.

He stabs at it's face.

The bear fell forward at him as the blade pierced its head.

"Oh nononono...!" It falls on him. "Umf...Get...off!"

The weight was over five-hundred pounds, the teeth poking at just below his neck. The sand coyotte tugged at the body, slowly tilting it to the left.

He pushes it off slowly. "Of course it's this heavy...!"

Eventually the bear toppled, flopping with a slight hissing breath on the ground. "... I hope that was the only one," The sand coyotte noted. "This doesn't help make a shelter does it?"

"No, I don't think it does. But it'll provide food, so we don't starve at least."

"How do we move the wood into here?"

"Hm? Into the cave?"

"Into this opening... I guess we could climb back over?"

ASONJA
“RANDOM CHANCE!” A hot bright canyon is where Asonja’s feet landed. He was under the shade just next to a stream of water: sparkling against the sun. There were many caves about and smoke was seen in the far distance, miles ahead.

A body was in the water, slowly drifting down the way. At first it would seem they were unconscious, but as she blinked,  it was clear she was simply relaxing in the slow current. She was an insect it seemed: a butterfly with thin yellow wings: black fur and gold stripes.

With Asonja's many questions and concerns about where he is now, the female first had caught his eye. He inched toward the stream as much as he could, trying not to be taken by the current, to grab the body and bring it ashore.

He slowly and carefully brought the body down to the ground and knelt beside it. "Hmm...her pulse seems weak," he says quietly. "Her lungs are probably water-logged..."

"Um..." Her eyes flickered open. "... Why aren't I in the water?"

This conversation was quickly stopped when a voice called out  "Is this on? GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS! THIS IS YOUR  ALMIGHTY URD  SPEAKING! You have arrived in your designated area! Hooray! Now! You must know that what you experience will be quite actual in all scenarios."

A score sheet appeared over Asonja's head.

"Two days until the storm.  You must create shelter!"

"Are you serious?" Asonja said, looking at the score sheet. "I am going to suck at this game..." He mutters to himself before looking back down at the female, speaking normally. "Are you alright? I saw you floating by this river here. Anything hurt, broken, etc.?"

"I was only relaxing," She shrugged.

Ten points added.

"..." He looked up at the board, narrowing his eyes. He might have an idea on what was up. "I see...I was slightly worried, that was all. Do you need help getting up, or...?"

She started to stand up, but her wings were too wet, weighing her down.

"I will take that as a yes..." Asonja says as he helped her up by holding her hand, and wrapping his left arm to keep her steady. "There we are...I do like those wings. I wish I had some of those. Must be great to flight around and feel the wind breeze. Or, am I thinking it wrong...?"

"It is very nice," she nodded. "The sky is too hot for it mostly though."

Five points added.

"That's understandable. I hate areas like these, where it's too hot. I just wish I could conquer air and sea; it's so much different than the land." Asonja then sighed. "I'm talking too much, I apologize. What I'm more concerned with at the moment is finding some shelter, food, and some drinkable water. I'm unsure if this lake here is suitable to drink from."

"I don't know if it has the same affect to you, but I've been drinking from it," She shrugged.

"Who knows." Asonja shrugged as well. "But, at least we have a water source. Now, we just need to find food and a roof or something over our heads. I'm not a good builder nor a scavenger so..."

"A roof?  Why?"

"I have a feeling a dangerous storm is on its way." Asonja said. "It's just a hunch.."

"You follow the weather?"

"...I guess?" Asonja shrugged, slightly confused. "I hate rainy days, but yet I like cloudy weather with few bits of thunder and lightning strikes. It's rather calming to me, and it's not too hot and not too cold. I'm not a heat nor a sun person."

"I don't think anyone would like this kind of weather," She noted. "So...we just walk on?"

"It seems that way to me." Asonja says as he begins to walk, his arm still around her to keep her up. "Let's follow the river this way, and stay in the shade. Well, at least I prefer to stay in the shade before the sun goes down."

She nodded as they went. It wasn't long before they arrived at a fork in the road. They could attempt to scale the middle wall, but the canyon was too high on either side to tell where the two paths went.

"Shoot...this is a predicament..." Asonja sighs. "I suppose we're going to have to guess where to go. Which side of this road do you think we should take?"

"Me?" She rose an eyebrow. "I don't really..." she looked at the water as it passed under the wall. "I was just floating about in the water.  I don't really know."

"Yes, you're right...I shouldn't put you in that situation. I apologize." He thought for a moment, sighing a bit afterwards. "We'll go left."

"... Alright," She shrugged, following him to the left. The path went on a downward slope, very slowly. The shade grew as the height of the walls rose upon their descent. Cracks along the walls and the increased volume of echoes filled each step.

"Thank god for shade..." Asonja says. "I was just about to sweat. Do you want to take a break from walking, by the way?"

"Are you tired?" She asked.

"...Yeah, hate to admit it. I don't walk long distances...." He slowly and carefully sat down on the side of the canyon wall.

The butterfly flapped her wings a bit, sighing as they were still a bit heavy. "Whenever you're ready."

He nods, and massaged his legs a little bit. "It's going to be a long and painful trip..." He mutters before being silent for a while. "...Oh Jeez, I forgot my manners. My name's Asonja by the way." He looked up toward the sky, as if measuring the humidity, the cloud formations, and just the sky in general.

"Does your name mean anything?"

"...What do you mean by that?" He looked at her for a moment. "Like...origin-wise or importance? If importance, then it means nothing. Origin-wise, also means nothing. After all, it's just a name. What's so special about it?"

"It sounds irregular," She noted.

He shrugged. "My parents probably hated me. I'll never know." He puts his hands behind his head, this time looking back up at the sky.

Cracking sounds came from high up. With so many loose rocks far up, the speed they'd fall at would be... leaving an impact. It was nearing 2-o-clock.

Asonja looked slightly concerned. He looked at the female. "Can you stand without my help? And run?"

She took a few steps. "I can walk at least."

"Well, we need to get out of this spot soon." He says as he has gotten up and walked along with her. "I might be paranoid, but I feel that a boulder from a 100 meter cliff of about 80,000 kilograms is about to come this way at high speeds. It'll leave a huge mark if we stand there any longer."

She looked up. "Oh... right," She started walking forward again.

After a few moments of silence, Asonja asked. "So, I said my name...what's yours?"

"I don't know,"She answered. They seemed to get further down as they went. The light was beginning to dim.

"Shoot...we're losing our heat source." Asonja mutters under his breath, seeming to ignore the fact that she has no name. "We need to find some wood or anything burnable to create heat for the night.

The girl looked about. Aside from some roots poking out, nothing appeared in sight.

"...Oh boy." Asonja says. "We're gonna freeze out here. Knowing that it gets super hot out here, it'll get super cold. Be careful."

As they went, the two found that there was a continuous path forward going down, but a hole to the right. Loose rocks, large enough to climb up.

Asonja looked a bit nervous, gulping and stepping back slightly. "Uhh...maybe we should go a different way...I think the right way is a bit better than this.."

"We walk back then?"

"Yeah. I'm not a fan of heights, basically. And I hate falling, as it also correlates to my fear of heights."

"I'd fly up but it's pretty... small.  Do you think we'll get back to the surface before dark?"

"Maybe...it depends on how far down it goes, or how fast we can get up."

"Well, which way do we go then?"

Asonja sat there for a moment, thinking. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, though even if that was his thought, there was no possible way he could upset her by changing plans. He doesn't acknowledge that fact, sighs, and says, "We'll climb down."

"You mean walk down further?"

"...Yeah that. Sorry, I'm not thinking straight at the moment." Asonja scratched his head a bit.

"... Alright," She started further down.

Five points removed

It went on for a half-hour until finally clearing up. The two were walking out to a flat section of the canyon, walled off at the sides.

He had his arms crossed, walking along-side. He was silent, as there wasn't much to talk about, in his mind. At one point, he wanted to strike up a conversation, considering he lost a few points. He mentally shook his head, as nothing was coming to mind. He looked up at the sky, trying to tell the time by using his instincts, but they didn't cooperate with him at the current moment.

There didn't appear to be any further path in this massive opening, though some grass was growing in select spots.

"I could probably fly out," The girl noted.

"You could, but I'm not sure how I could get out of this." Asonja shrugged.

"I... could try to carry you out?"

Asonja scratched the back of his head, looking hesitant. "I mean...you could do that. Wouldn't hurt to try, but I'm not sure that I'm light enough."

She wrapped her hands around his arms, slowly flapping up some feet before collapsing back down on the ground.

He sighed, and thought for a moment. "I figured so...It was a good try though. You're pretty strong, I'll have to admit." He complimented as he thought.

"I guess," She shrugged, looking up.

Five points added

"I... could fly up to see if there's an opening?"

"Sure. I'll be down here. I'll join you momentarily. Just call me and I'll try to get up there faster if you're in trouble."

"Okay.  I'll be back I promise," She started toward the edge of the walls.

Asonja said nothing at first, but then cupped his hands around his mouth to shout, "Be safe, okay?!" He looked confused as to why he said that. He felt weird, knowing that he doesn't usually say that. He shrugged it off, thinking it was instinct. During the rest of the time, he kept watch of her and thinking at the same time.

She was soon out of sight.

Five points added

Asonja was alone, and the sun was slowly nearing the late afternoon. The wind blew, and slowly the sound of a creaking could be located at the far end of this canyon enclosure, just behind a cracked section of the wall.

"I have to think of something fast or I'm a frozen pancake..." Asonja said to himself. "Though, I am curious about that crack...could I fit in there? No, that's too dangerous...I could get squashed pretty quickly...drat, come on! Quit being such a wuss and get on with it." He went to check out the crack before doing anything else.

Through the crack, he could see what seemed to be a very rusty old vehicle: the door swaying back and forth.

"...I swear if this is a Model T Ford, I will be surprised..." Asonja stated as he went closer to the vehicle to examine it.

The crack was a bit too small to get through, but the car seemed to be some old form of Jeep. Perhaps it was carrying something.

"Oh shoot...I don't think I can get in there. Dang it..." Asonja sighed. "I mean...I could try it?" He got onto his knees to see if he could crawl in it. "How'd the Jeep get in there anyway?"

There wasn't much else could see through the crack, but perhaps it could be damaged.

"My curiosity is picking at me...I need to see this for myself closer." Asonja got up to his feet and tried to make the crack bigger by, illogically, pushing at opposite sides of the crack. Perhaps he has forgotten what he could do with his body...

The pressure wasn't doing much. It seemed most of the weight was pushing out rather than going in.

"Darn it... I'll try to remember this location for later once I get in." He ran back to where he was previously, going back to thinking. "Perhaps there are places where I can get a foot hold?"

The butterfly girl was flying back toward him now.

"Oh! What'd you find out there? Did anything attempt to hurt you in anyway?"

"W- no, I'm okay," She shook her head, landing. "I saw some kind of car though."

"I did too." Asonja said, pointing to the crack. "I figured that there would be some way to get in there from here, but I had no luck. Was there an open end on the other side to get the car?"

"It was kind of covered in rocks... Maybe we could... break the wall open or something?"

"I did try that, but I am not sure we have any explosives or super strength with us." Asonja shrugged for probably the 3rd time in the last few minutes. "Dang, it was a pretty cool Jeep as well, and I think I saw something in it too...now I'm just desperate to get that thing open."

"...So we just walk back then?"

"No, I think I'll have to find my way across this..." He cracked his knuckles and went up to a wall that he thought was good enough to have grips on, and tried to climb it. Though, he didn't get too far when he slipped and fell about a meter. "Argh...no use."

(Wall near the car thing?) (Yeah)

The butterfly looked about, walking back with a stick. "Maybe this will help?"

He took the stick anyway, looking rather determined. "We can try." Instead of using a stick for an expected purpose, he dug the stick into the ground a bit until it had a good stability. He jumped onto the top of the stick, keeping his balance fairly well. Then, using his core energy that he hasn't bothered to use before, he jumped up just about at the top of the wall. He brought himself up. "Alright! I made it over! Come along!" He fell off the other side, but didn't land on his feet, but on his back. "Owww..." His voice echoed slightly on the other side.

"W- I- I was meaning using it to break the wall open!" She flew up and over quickly, looking around for Asonja.

Five points added

He got up, rubbing his side which was damaged from the fall. "Argh...that hurt...well, at least we got to the other side. Shall we go check on the Jeep? I bet some pretty interesting stuff is inside it."

"... Are you sure you're okay?"

He nods, though he actually sprained a bit of his back. He just pretended that he was fine. "Yeah. I've been through worse. Don't worry about it. Come on, let's go check on the vehicle."

"... Okay," She stepped up to it, looking into the trunk. There were canisters, rope, some electronic equipment, wood...

"Jeez, all of these seem to be old...I'd say about thousands of years old." Asonja says, digging through stuff, but with great care. "I've heard about these vehicles being used in battles or something. At least, that's the first time anyway. I doubt one of these were the ones used in battles.."

"They might be," She shrugged. "... Maybe there's oil in it?"

MARS AND RIVEN
“POWER OF TWO!” Both Riven and Mars found themselves dropped at the gate of a massive castle. It was silver with white designs along it. A glowing forest of twisting trees surrounded it. It was nearly blinding but thankfully the doors opened to show a more general volume of light inside.

A lone woman, tall and thin, with a tall neck and pointed face, stepped forward wearing a black dress that trailed yards behind her. She gestured to the inside of the castle as if inviting them.

Riven and Mars looked at eachother, then the woman, before shrugging and walking towards the castle. "... How come this castle isn't grimdark and mine is..?" Riven mumbled to himself with a small sigh.

"I believe tha-" Before the woman could speak further, the voice of the short crowned man came up "Is this on? GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS! THIS IS YOUR ALMIGHTY URD SPEAKING! You have arrived in your designated area! Hooray! Now! You must know that what you experience will be quite actual in all scenarios."

A score sheet suddenly appeared on the heads of both of them. "You will gain and lose points based on your actions! Best of luck!"

"... Well, to answer your que-" The woman was once again interrupted when Urd quickly called back in "Oh yes, and you have two days to construct a sustainable fortress before a terrible storm comes through."

"Huh.. Construct a sustainable fortress? This a game show..?" Riven asked, while Mars just shrugged.

"This castle is a fortress enough I would have assumed," The woman noted, pressing a hand to her chin in pondering.

"Is something going to happen to the castle?" Mars asked.

The woman looked to Mars, blinking once or twice silently before looking down again. She didn't seem to have an answer to that question.

Riven just shrugged, taking the piece of paper off his head. "Well.. Time to make like Perturabo and fortify fortify fortify~" He chuckled.

"That's Dorn.." Mars sweatdropped, still wondering what the heck he got himself into.

Riven's hand passed through the sheet, as if it were a hologram.

The woman looked back and forth between the two of them. "What are you called?"

"I'm Riven." The waifish looking human answered. "I'm Mars." The greyish green wolf spoke.

The woman fixed her long silver hair aside for a moment. "I see..." Thunder sounded in the distance as the woman turned to walk further into the castle's courtyard. Horses were heard in the distance to the left.

Mars shrugged. "Well, lets get this over with.." He chuckled, as the two followed the woman.

The woman stepped through a set of doors, leading to a hall of white and grey stone. Various artifacts lined the walls on pillars.

"So who's coming to the castle by horseback?" Riven asked, as Mars looked at each of the various artifacts.

"What's your name by the way..?" Mars asked:

Most artifacts were some kind of clothing, though items, weapons, and occasionally, gemstones, sat about as well.

"My name?" The woman turned back to Mars.

"Yeah!" Mars smiled. "I mean, we did introduce ourselves so its only fair you do the same."

"... I... would ask that, yes," The woman pondered somewhat vaguely.

Riven just shrugged, staying silent because he had no real contribution to this conversation.

"Soo, what is your name?" Mars asked again.

"I do not know what I should be addressed as," She informed.

"Hmm.. Nashandra..?" Riven suggested.

"Is... that what I'd be called?" She asked.

"Only if you wish to be called Nashandra." Riven answered.

"It sounds pronouncable enough," She nodded. The area pulsed for a moment, from the clean white to dirty black.

"This castle can change too? Why can't mine turn into a walking fortress when I ask it too.. Stupid Oracles.. qwq"

"Oracles?" The woman inquired.

"Nothing important really." Riven shrugged, he really didnt feel like explaining what they were nor could he really give an accurate explanation.

"Do either of you need food?" Nashandra asked.

Riven and Mars both shook their head no.

"But I am curious about something Nashandra..? I heard horses earlier, from the western front I believe..? Who's horses might those be?"

"Horses for those that live here," She informed.

"Huh, well that answers that.." Riven shrugged. "Maaan, I have no clue why i'm here and It's driving me.. Well I wouldnt say nuts.. Wonky."

"Do you wish to ride the horses?" She asked.

"... Sure, why not? It could be fun..?" Riven shrugged.

The glowing woman nodded, turning quickly to the doorway in order to lead them to the pastures. As she did so, suddenly the flickering went off again, the castle changing to the more decayed form once more as the faint neighing of horses became suddenly very loud.

"Seriously!? Why is this castle trying to remind me of castle Grimskull!!" Riven shouted, while Mars shifted around a tad nervously. This was starting to get spooky for him and he was ready to electrocute the crap outta any jumpscare attempts.

"I... this-" The woman shook her head. "Perhaps we should be outside," She hurried out the doors.

Mars followed after the woman at a brisk pace, while Riven just walked casually.. Like he was used to creepy castles that do creepy stuff. "Hmm.. The decor needs some improvement..~"

"What do you mean?" Nashandra walked toward the stables.

"For one, if this castle is supposed to be grimdark.. Where are the skulls, or the fountains of blood, or the obsidian walls, or the many diabolical traps and hexes meant to sow utter despair into any invading force? Seriously.. I give this a four outta ten for lack of any true grimdark decorations.. Even some creepy ambiance would do.." Riven lectured, despite his supposed distaste for the excessively grimdark castles his predecessors liked Riven seemed to know quite a bit on grimdark decorative fixtures and the like.

"Geeze, what are you; some kind of Final boss wannabe..?" Mars sweatdropped.

"No, I'm the Dark Lord.... And a very unintimidating one at that.. Sigh." Riven grumbled.

"This castle is not meant to be horrific," Nashandra noted. "You are a Dark Lord?" She opened the gate to the stables.

"Yes.. It's just a job and no i'm not into world domination or any of that crap, that can wait until much later."

"So you still plan to dominate the world later?"

"Probably, probably not.. Who knows, maybe when it doesn't involve a lot of work."

"Do you want to?" She walked into the stables.

"Right now? No, I have other priorities.. Like pizza, and video games."

"... I see.  Are you coming inside?"

"Yeah." The two stepped inside.

A line of healthy horses waited for them. "Have you ridden before?"

"Yes." Riven replied, while Mars shook his head no. "Can't, horses just don't like me for some reason.." He wasn't going to mention the whole electrokinesis thing yet.

"Are you sure you do not want to try?"

"Positive."

"Hm... very well," She climbed up to a horse's back, reaching out to Riven.

Riven took her hand, trying to climb on the horse.

Soon they were riding slowly out the stables. Nashandra looked to Mars. "What will you be doig?"

"I'll be trying to figure out what that weird guy said about making a fortress before a storm occurrs..."

"Oh... well best of luck then," She smiled before riding off out the gates into the forest of glowing trees. The trees were spaced out, most fairly young and thin, but few had leaves, as if a fire had gone through and these were the scortched remains.

Mars was left still in the stables with the remaining horses. The animals began to slow and finally stop completely, freezing in place.

Mars scowled, looking at the horses. "What do you want..?" He grumbled, electricity arcing off his arms.

Riven paid attention to the trees.

The horses didn't answer, or move... for a moment, before suddenly jerking back to regular movement, as if nothing had happened.

The forest went on as far as the two could see. "What kind of materials would you gather for this?" Nashandra asked.

"Many ores.. To make steel.. I'm going off of the old Iron King's castle in Dark Souls 2"

(Do you want to follow both characters or just Riven for now?) "... Dark Souls... Two?" She slowed as they continued in the endless forest.

(Just riven.)

(M'kay)

"Yes, it's fun~"

"What is it?"

"A video game."

"I... will leave that to you then.  You do not wish to stay at the castle?"

"God yes I do, it's the closest thing to home!"

"Do you want to go back?" She slowed more.

"Yes, yes I do.."

She nodded, turning back. As they went back, a tree seemed to flicker into existence... striaght inside the front of the horse. The horse crashed dead immediately, sending the two flying.

Riven, despite being chubby, was somehow able to stick a roll and land on his feet. "Yes..!"

The woman fell hard on a foot and knee, grunting a bit before quickly standing up, turning as the horse collapse: taking the tree with it. "T- what-," She ran back over to the tree-staked horse.

"Who the hell knows, now stay close.." Riven muttered, removing a small leather bound grimoire from his pocket and opening it. "We can make it the rest of the way on foot."

She nodded. "It is some miles at this point but we should be there within an hour or so..." She looked over at the three. "... This isn't-" She shook her head, starting to walk back.

Riven followed her, looking around cautiously.

"I would ask if that happens to you often but considering you are new to this place... I'd imagine you would be asking me," She sighed.

"I'm used to stuff like this." Riven shrugged. "I wouldn't leave my own castle otherwise.."

"The trees don't usually just... appear," She noted, still walking back. She held up the end of her dress briefly, looking over some dirtied cuts on the garment before dropping it back down with a sigh.

It was nearing sunset, but it was a faint thing to tell. The sky was quite cloudy, and soon, thunder was heard.

"Welcome to my world sweetie, now we should probably get back to the castle now.."

"That is why we are walking," She replied.

"Yeah.." Riven sighed, this was not how he pictured his evening going. 'Ah maaaan, this friggin suuucks!' He thought to himself internally.

"Is there a forest in your castle?" She asked. "The area around it that is."

"Yeah, there is, but trees popping out of nowhere definitely isn't normal."

"... This will take time to walk.  Do you often have faster means of travel?"

"I prefer to walk, but I have a book of spells.. So I could probably summon a mount if needed."

"I was just wondering if you were used to portals."

"I am, yes."

A white wall appeared in front of them.

"What the fu-.. Nooooo... Okay."

She nodded, stepping through.

Riven followed after her.

They appeared just outside of the castle. The base of the walls were darker it seemed.

"Darker ambiance, I approve." Riven said, giving the base of the walls an appraising glance.

"What do y-," She froze at the sight. "... That... " she muttered out a "why is this happening..." before rushing inside.

Riven followed her with a shrug.

The inside of the castle courtyard appeared unchanged, though the horses weren't heard anymore. "Where is... the other one?" She looked about for Mars.

There was a distinct smell of ozone coming from the stables, that and cooked meat.

"... Follow your nose?" Riven attempted humor.

Her jaw dropped before rushing to the stables.

There Mars was, cooking the horses for meat, odd since there were no physical wounds on the horses that would indicate that he killed them.

Nashandra stopped in the doorway, only giving a gasp at the sight. Strangely though...

Mars Ten points added

Riven smiled. "Sweet, mind if I have some~" He always did like cooked meat for a snack.

"Sure, it'll probably be a tad bloody though because it mixes well with the juices of cooked meat.." Mars shrugged, somehow slicing off three legs and biting into one of them.

(Iirc there is a french meat dish that involves the blood being cooked with the meat.)

"W- Why did you do that?!" She yelled.

(The more you know @_@)

"Because I was hungry, and horse meat is a delicasy.." Mars stated bluntly, under any other circumstance he would be more tactful or apologetic but he was hungry, confused and a tad unnerved by what was going on so his reactions to things were more focused on self preservation.

Riven shrugged, taking a bite out of the leg. "Could be worse.

"Those horses aren-" She covered her mouth. "We had food..."

"....." Mars finally snapped, his patience at an end as he raised a hand a la darth sideous and fired a stream of electricity at Nashandra from his fingertips.

A white wall appeared in front of her, the electricity vanishing away.

Riven blinked. "What the -censored- is going on now!?" He shouted.

Mars blinked, just taking another bite out of horsemeat.

"Get out," She pointed to the entrance.

"Sure." Mars shrugged, standing up with his horse leg and walking towards the entrance, he had no real problem leaving. He was more comfortable in the woods anyways. Though if there was anything flammable he would use it to start a raging inferno via lightning strike.

Riven sighed. "You wish for me to leave as well, I do not mind if you do."

"Why did you join him in this?" She tensed.

"Old practices from my days as a monk, right now is the eve of Nyim-Lok.. A rather sacred evening that involves the consumption of horse.. The bones are then buried in the ground as we honor the horse in death by fasting for a week."

"This isn't your land!  ... These weren't your horses!"

"Meh." Riven stood up. "This land is boring anyways, and you're the daft idiot who decided to play host to two total strangers.. Life lesson for another day~" With that, he patted her head and started to walk away.

His hand vanished upon touching her head, as if cut off entirely.

Riven shrugs, if it was cut off he could just regrow it using his healing magic; and it was never implied that he felt any pain from it so the normal panic response didnt occur. So with that he walked away.

He found himself vanishing from within the stables, and reappearing outside the castle, along with Mars.

"Well, that's quaint." Riven shrugged, being rather plausé about all of this.

Mars just shrugged. "Might as well start walking in a direction." He said, as Riven nodded his head in agreement and the two just started their trek with no real forethought about it.

A large boom of laughter suddenly bursted out around them, a voice chuckling out once calm enough. "That was... simply... delicious."

"Who's there..? I have a book of arcane secrets that I probably know how to use, maybe.. Sure as heck aint afraid to use it either.." Riven shouted.

Mars just looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

No response came, though they were quite alone now, between themselves, the woods, and the castle.

"... Bloody heck that's weird.." Mars spoked, as the two continued onward.

"Sooner or later we might as well kill that princess lass and take her castle for our own, if the creepy bear pedo's warnings about a storm coming are to be trusted." Riven said, as Mars nodded his head in agreement.

The castle was closed. They could attempt to arrive back inside, or move on through the woods.

HE-NO
"Nature's love," He-No found himself appearing just in front of a small forest clearing. It was mid-day, a nice cool day with the sound of a split stream to the west. Some yards away from him were the decayed remains of a small cabin.

Atop the trees, laying in the branches, was a feminine figure: a blue bat with pale red hair. She wore a white shirt and pants, seeming half-awake.

He glanced around quietly, his ears perked and listening to the nature around him, was this really happening? he continued to scan over the area, glancing up into the tree's and seeing the female, then looked at the cabin, then back at the bat.

" ...Hello?"

"Hello," she called down.

"... is that your cabin?" He examined her the best he could.

"Not mine at all," She called down.

he then walks over to the remains of the cabin, touching it a bit to see if it really was real.

The cabin was quite physically tangible, and suddenly heard a voice calling  "Is this on? GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS! THIS IS YOUR  ALMIGHTY URD  SPEAKING! You have arrived in your designated area! Hooray! Now! You must know that what you experience will be quite actual in all scenarios.  Also,"

 a score sheet appeared over his head, starting at zero. "You will be scored based on your actions.  BEST OF LUCK!" He-no jolted slightly at the sudden voice and looked around, then up at the score sheet. " ... all scenarios?" "Oh yes.  A storm arrives in two days.  You must create a shelter."

"... what happens after the storm?"

The voice didn't respond. "..." He looks over at the girl. " did you hear that?" "What?" She called down, slightly out of earshot now.

He walks back over to her " did you hear that voice?"

She leaned forward, down at him. "The loud one?  All... um... energetic?" "yes" he looked at her, adjusting his coat a bit and tensing his wings " the... Urd?" "I suppose," She shrugged.

" hm... whats your name." He turned and headed to the cabin again.

"I dunno," She stood up, looking for a way down the tree. He heard her shuffling on the branch, turning and facing her. "... do you need help?" "I didn't think this through," She informed.

He walked back over to the tree and looked at her wings. " can you glide down?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Yea- uh, right, um..." She walked toward the edge of a branch, wings spreading out. "Just not a fan of maybe hitting a branch... one sec," She swung upside down before dropping, flapping once or twice to keep balance till she was floating down steadily.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He waited there quietly, watching her to make sure if she did fall he would be there " what is your name?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She crouched upon landing, flattening her wings down. "I... dunno.  I dunno."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">" you dont know? how dont you know?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"The more I think about it, the more it's kind of freaking me out," Her ears flattened.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"hmm..." He thinks, then shakes his head " don't let it worry you too much, do you have something you'd like to be called?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She shrugged. "Like a nicknam- whoa," she blinked a few times now actually being able to observe this new person a bit. "Uh..."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He looked down at her quietly ".... yes, a nickname" He tensed a bit when she started to observe him " is there something wrong?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"No-, never mind," She turned away a bit, clearing her throat. "I don't have a nickname thatI remember, no." <p style="font-weight:normal;">" hm..." * he narrowed his eye's slightly at her, then shrugged a bit.* " what about strelliah" <p style="font-weight:normal;">She blinked a bit. "Sounds... tangy?  Does it mean something?" <p style="font-weight:normal;">" it mean bat girl in my language" He glances up at the tree's for a moment, then back at her " if you don't like it you can change it, I am not very good at names."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"No, it's fine," She smiled. "... So, what are you here for?  Kinda wasn't paying too much attention to what that... voice... thing said."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">" I do not know, I don't remember much, filling out a form, then was here." He examines her for a moment, then gave a slight smile back to her but it disapeared just as quick. " Urd... He said there is a storm coming, to build a shelter strong enough to be kept safe, but this will be difficult... all the tree's surrounding the area, the river could be posed as threat as well."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"... Well... I guess you could build something with trees?  I think there's a mountain or something that way," She pointed to the left.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"mhm... depending on the storm we might have to worry about landslides as well..." He then looks at her again. "why are you out here?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Relaxation... drawing the landscapes..."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Drawings?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She nodded, looking about. "Oh... back in the tree... I'll get that later."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He nods " alright... I have two days to make a shelter" He looks up at the sky. " I suggest you make it home before it hits... I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"M- oh... well, I'm not really- I've nrever really built a house..."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Five points added <p style="font-weight:normal;">" ..." his ear twitches, he glances up at the score sheet, then back at her. " you mean, you don't have a house? somewhere you live?" <p style="font-weight:normal;">"Not near here," She shook her head. "I don't live anywhere close."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">" ..." He sighs softly, then rolls up his sleeves, revealing some scars that wrapped around his arms. " you can stay here if you'd like."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"... Wait..." Her ears flattened. "Am I like... on your property or something?  I- I can move if y-" then she noticed the scars. "Those... don't look like Emo cuts..."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">" I was practically dropped here." he looked at his scars for a moment, started walking towards the whithered cabin. " they aren't, from past battles and masters." He slightly mumbles. " you are fine being here, it isn't my property, I think... it seems nature has claimed it."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Oh... well I guess I'll help... if I can," She scratched her head. "Don't we need to dig or something first?" <p style="font-weight:normal;">"why?" He glances back at her as he checks the cabin for water damage. <p style="font-weight:normal;">The cabin seemed more decayed by insects than water, though some links did have signs of bending that could be traced back to soaking. <p style="font-weight:normal;">"Isn't that how it works?  You... make a hole, stick in the posts, build from there?  I'm not an architect, just thinking outloud."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">" Mmm... I'm not an architect either, but... that would be wise to do, elevate the cabin to keep the river from hitting it... could you gather up as many large stones as you can from the river?" he tries summoning his scythe

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She began to answer but then promptly fell on her rear when his scythe appeared.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He looked at her " ...sorry." He leaned over a bit and held his hand out to help her up.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She took his hand. "That's okay... Where... do you keep that exactly?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He pulled her up gently. " in the shadows mainly." He points to the ground with the scythe.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"... So, magic?" <p style="font-weight:normal;">" .... in a way, yes." <p style="font-weight:normal;">"Does it make buildings?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">" it can help make buildings."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Well best not waste time right?" She started toward the river. <p style="font-weight:normal;">He nods and watches her a bit, then head over to the cabin and starts tearing it down, saving any wood that can be saved. <p style="font-weight:normal;">Some good long planks were found, with various concrete bricks here and there.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He kept the bricks and moved them aside, once the cabin was cleared out, he tried summoning his crystal claws to form around his hands to create shovels in a way.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">The girl, S trelliah, was walking back with a pile of stones, looking at the crystal claws silently.

<p style="font-weight:normal;"> He glanced over at her, his ear flicking a bit, then a started digging " thank you strelliah..."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She nodded. "I'll try to get used to that.  Doesn't seem too hard," She arched her back, stretching a bit before beginning to walk back. It was around one-o-clock now. The bat had carried at least thirty stones varying in size from small 4-inch radiuses to 14-inch.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He-no was now cutting down the tree's that posed a threat to the cabin, leaving quite a but of stump in their place, and was going to use the remaining wood for the cabin and other such furnishings and fire's.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">His ear twitched as he glanced at her " ... would you like something to eat?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"I... I mean I guess," she straightened up, wiping her hands a bit. "What do we have to eat?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">One of the tree's fell to the ground, making a loud creaking sound before it slammed down on the ground. "depends what the forest gives us... there's bound to be fish in the river, wildlife all around, and possible berries somewhere."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Fish maybe.  Berries... I mean, we can check.  You want to look for the fish and me the berries?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He nods " alright... be careful, there could be other predators out here." He starts to head to the river.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She nodded, walking some ways away.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Some fish were located going through the river, but very few in general. The water was going rather fast, and a faint shhhhhhh sound was heard far in the distance, a faint mist barely recognizable far out.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He watched the fish and listened quietly to the running water, taking in a deep breath and relaxing a bit, then made his way up the river towards the mist, walking slowly and enjoying the wilderness as much as he could, taking in the sounds and sights.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">The sound got louder till he found himself nearing a waterfall.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He watched it for a moment, then sat down beside the river as his crystal claws formed once more, he watched the river calmly and carefully, sitting completely still.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">Time passed. Fish swam. Time passed more.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He had caught one fish during that time, and slowly made his way back, the fish was medium sized and would only be for strelliah.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">It had been about thirty minutes, though Strelliah had yet to return to the ruins of the cabin. <p style="font-weight:normal;">He began to get a bit worrysome, his ears perked forward as he listened quietly, he would wait another 5 minutes, then would start his search for her. <p style="font-weight:normal;">Five minutes passed but she didn't seem to reappear.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He cursed under his breath and put the fish under some of the stones, then quickly headed into the forest in search of her. " strelliah?" He called

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He could hear movement in the forest, cracking in the leaves. <p style="font-weight:normal;">He grew quiet and moves quietly and quickly towards the sound of the movement, staying low. <p style="font-weight:normal;">It was higher in the trees, getting higher still.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">his ear perked, then looked up, trying to see if he could spot it first as he continued moving a bit, his wings stretching out and ready to help him fly "... strelliah?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Yeah?" A voice called back down.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He let out a sigh of relief " what are you doing up there... "

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"I couldn't find any berries yet.  I wanted to see if that storm was starting in the distance."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">He blinks, then starts making his way up to an opening in the tree's, then flies up the rest of the way to join up with her.

<p style="font-weight:normal;">She waved as he arrived: glancing around. Some hills and mountains were seen through the mostly flat forest land, and some faint clouds in the distance. <p style="font-weight:normal;">He looked at the clouds, then around the area as he flew next to her, looking at the scene around them " beautiful isn't it?" he asked <p style="font-weight:normal;">"It is, yeah," She nodded. "Weird... you think there will really be a storm?"

<p style="font-weight:normal;">" it's best to be prepared... he said in two days, if it doesnt happen, then at least we built something structable for when one does happen." He looks at her. " I got a fish...."

<p style="font-weight:normal;">"Oh!  Nice... And I was sight-seeing," She looked aways off, slightly ashamed.