TRP is a post-Great War AU RWBY RP set in Mistral City and Haven Academy with no canons, no rank claims, no maidens, and no god interference. We offer a progression system and site-wide events that change the setting based on player actions.
Post by Altalune Gloriole on Dec 2, 2020 3:41:31 GMT -5
It was a long trip from that strange wintry coastal town to this even stranger mountain city, Mistral City they called it. The winterland had passed long ago, so the experiment could finally breath. She was safe, and out of eye shot of those who could turn her in. It wasnt a fun existence but now she could do whatever she wanted. The morning that she arrived into Mistral was peculiar as once within the city grounds, it was beautiful. You could see each district from each level of the city, and it was all connected by bridges between each section. It was so different to the snowy place, and she got to work exploring.
It didnt take too long before she realised she was quite out of place here. The Ground District seemed to be rather poor, and she kept getting very peculiar looks which meant nothing to her. After all, she was still in her Atlesian furs, and she was starting to feel it too. It was warm, VERY warm. Checking her pockets revealed some money, which still made no sense to her, but those kind citizens said she could use it to buy things like food and clothes, which she decided to do. First was clothes, as it was getting warmer with each second.
It took a few hours, but she managed to find her way to the Wind District, bought a new outfit which was purple and rather revealing, but boy did she love its colour. Matched the pale blue of her blade and sigil of her semblance. She kept getting comments of "bellydancer" whatever that meant, she just smiled and continued back to the Ground District for food. It wasnt much but a sandwich with chicken and bacon would suffice for now. Whilst munching away is when she saw it. A large compound that was surrounded by chain link fences, within a large block of buildings. If anything, it looked like a safe place to bunk down for the day possibly. It didnt look like much but she did need a place to sleep for the night, so she began to prowl around the block. To civilians, she looked very much out of place, acting very, very strangely.
Not long after, she had found a suitable building to scale and then climb across into the compound. With a bit of help from her semblance, she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, that moon sigil forming on her forehead with each leap, and began to climb down into the compound, noticing a few people around. Once close enough, she leapt off her spot, landing and rolling on the ground levels, before standing up with a huge smile. "Hiya! Is it okay to bunk down here for the night? I can help defend the place whilst I'm here and all!" As she said this, she had instinctively activated her semblance, the sigil forming once again, and a moonlight copy of her blade forming in her free off hand.
Post by Alina Rybalka on Dec 2, 2020 18:59:08 GMT -5
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[attr="class","nikki101"]WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE
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[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT IN THE END, IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY
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[attr="class","nikki109"]The way she had set up her district had physical security as the first priority. Layers of defense was better than one outer ring that, once broken, meant that the enemy could run roughshod over all of your land. There was an outer shell, sure, but one that changed every time their sphere of influence expanded. That meant that there were multiple shells, and an invader would have to punch through all of them to get to the actual important parts. [break][break]
Every building was used, regardless of what its prior purposes was. Warehouses could be repurposed into schools, and old factories could be scrapped for parts and metal the same as old prisons could before being turned into community centers or gyms. They didn’t have the infrastructure to support big business, so liquidated what they could into short term financial gains to stave off the inevitable bankruptcy that was coming sooner rather than later. [break][break]
While a free and open society was the goal, there were certain things that needed to be kept under lock and key. Weapons and dust, for example, were held in fenced in and heavily guarded compounds and there were even some dummy ones build using some of the repurposed guard posts to trick anyone attacking into wandering into a useless location. These were designed to look legit on the outside, and any insider would know damn well that they were fake but would serve to distract and reroute people who didn’t bother to do any research. [break][break]
Truth be told, she mostly used it as a training tool to get people used to routine with little to no risk. The people stationed in those places were either inexperienced or unable to perform normal duties but wanting to help out in a low stress, low stakes way. With the current situation, though, there was one veteran at each of these outposts… and when her radio chirped it was one of those veterans who was on the other end. [break][break]
”Got a semblance user at Sixth Depot, doesn’t seem hostile but super weird if you catch my drift.” [break][break]
”Just keep them busy. Be calm, offer them some food. I’m on my way.” [break][break]
It was getting to the end of the day and starting to get below freezing, so she was dressed for the occasion with a thick white and gray parka zipped and buttoned up covering her torso while a waterproof and synthetic white and gray alpine set of pants covered her legs, with an integrated belt and a zip ankle closure for easy access to her combat boots. White nylon dress gloves completed the ensemble, along with the fact that she was open carrying her Szabla on sword belt worn underneath the parka, but with the sword out in the open and firmly on her left hip. Both the blade and the sheath were all metal, and her own modified boots crunched into the snow with every step. [break][break]
She was already nearby this depot, so she got there within a few minutes. She hadn’t gotten a call back, so she assumed at least nobody had been attacked. Both of her hands were in the pockets of the parka, except to unlock the gates with her key and see herself in and to then shut the gate behind her. Much as she liked the style of blade, this particular one held no real sentimental value to her, and she intentionally kept her hands away from it in most cases. It was there as a distraction and for an invitation for some idiot to try and yank it from her and out themselves as hostile more than anything. She didn’t need the sword, and making people think they could render her defenseless without it was a good misdirection she was fond of. [break][break]
She got to the scene without much issue, finding the veteran offering a faunus wearing entirely too little clothes to not be protected by aura. ”Now I know why Dumb and Dumber look so interested. I’ll take it from here, yeah?” [break][break]
It was kind of satisfying how immediate the dismissal was, even from the inexperienced teenagers who were a little too excited to meet the new girl. Alina walked forward and extended her left glove covered hand forward as she introduced herself. ”Hello there, my name is Alina. You appear to be lost, so I’ll get you to where you need to be if you let me know where you’re trying to go.” [break][break]
Weird didn’t mean hostile, and she fit absolutely none of the descriptors of the killer said to be stalking around at the moment. There was no point in being unpleasant, especially when being nice yielded better initial results in most cases. The faunus didn’t particularly like getting in fights, so going in with a mindset of avoiding one was her default state unless there was a solid reason not to do that.
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[attr="class","nikki103"]819 words
[attr="class","nikki103"]ASCHE SYNDICATE
[attr="class","nikki103"]819 TOTAL WORDS
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NOTES
B Semblance, D Weapons, B Dust Enhancement, C Durability, C Agility, C Martial Arts, D Stamina, D Exhaustion
Post by Altalune Gloriole on Dec 3, 2020 12:05:36 GMT -5
◄
HAVEN'T YOU HEARD WHAT BECOMES OF CURIOUS MINDS?
As she asked the question, a few people looked super shocked, but somewhat interested, their eyes lowering occasionally which she didn't understand but didn't stop them either. An older guy approached with some food, offering it to her which she gave one of the largest smiles ever, taking it quickly. "Oh my gosh really? Thank you so much! There's not that many nice people around here, everyone looks so brooding and moody." Her eyes lit up as she spoke, before she moved to one of the walls and sat down cross leggeded and began munching away on an apple, some small sandwiches and other goodies. Her silver-looking kopesh laid across her legs and the moonlight version remained floating near her off hand, the blade pointing down and remaining motionless apart from it hovering up and down.
It didn't take too long for someone else to turn up, a girl with white hair and some sort of animal ears. Cat? Dog? Wolf maybe? She wasn't too sure but it definitely captivated her as she watched her talk to the super kind man who gave her the food. At least she starred at them until those set of ears came walking over, to which her attention snapped to her face. She had pretty coloured eyes, then again alot of the faunus girls and women in the city had pretty coloured eyes and hair. Lunar hadn't paid much attention to the humans as they were mean sometimes. As the white haired girl walked over and introduced herself, she scrambled to her feet, using her blade to push her up and hold it in a defensive stance, despite her very much happy attitude. "Oh! Hi Alina! I... guess I'm lost? I only came here today and I'm not really sure where I'm going. A bed I think? Maybe some shelter? Some kind people back in the snowy place took me in last time I came to a big place like this. Oh! I should give you my name.. people called me Subject: Lunar a lot, I think that's my name." Her eyes looked at the extended hand, which she tilted her head at and prodded gently with the tip of her silver blade. "How come you're holding your hand out? Are you here to take me back to the snowy place?" Even as she spoke about this "snowy place" her body tensed up, and the grip on her blade tightened as well as the moonlight version shifted towards her off hand.
Post by Alina Rybalka on Dec 3, 2020 20:20:22 GMT -5
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[attr="class","nikki101"]WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE
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[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT IN THE END, IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY
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[attr="class","nikki109"]”I have no idea what you’re talking about. The entire country is snowy this time of year.” was the immediate reply when the girl tensed up and started talking about a ‘snowy place’. The move to prod her hand with a blade was one that on a different day would’ve resulted in the faunus going start for the attack, but she was getting dumbass vibes far more than dangerous vibes. This person was either a random from the wilderness raised by wolves, a sewer hobo, an escaped prisoner, a high school runaway, or someone who suffered some brain damage and forgot who the fuck they were. Those were her three guesses, and she was sticking with them. [break][break]
Someone else, with the same assumption, would try to be as friendly as possible and try to ease the other person into a feeling of warmth and safety. Alina wasn’t that person and uttered a sigh and resigned herself to dealing with another lost idiot. Her tone when she continued was less friendly and more annoyed. Her right hand curled up in a fist and she pressed that fist against the bridge of her nose and her forehead in momentary frustration and closed her eyes for about a second before pulling the hand back down and gesturing with it around neck level as she talked. ”Starting from step one, your weapons are out.” If they were still stationary, she’d tap her hand against them in emphasis without a care in the world about their sharpness. [break][break]
[”The only reason to have a weapon out is if you’re going to attack and try and kill me, and if you’re going to do that – then do it. If you’re not, put the swords away.” [break][break]
She’d pause a few seconds, then, and not react in the slightest even if the girl did swing a blade at her to gauge what she was dealing with. If she didn’t, or only swung once to find that the swing had absolutely zero effect whatsoever due to Alina’s aura being as protected as an average armored vehicle, she’d continue. If subjected to more than one attack, the white-haired faunus would draw her own blade and fight back. [break][break]
”Semblance use is also going to scare the shit out of people, especially now. Killer on the loose means everyone’s a bit antsy right now, because nobody knows where the guy will pop up next. Using your semblance to create weapons is same shit – no reason to do it unless you’re trying to kill someone. Make a sword in front of someone and they’ll assume you’re going to attack them. They’ll defend themselves and bang, there’s a couple bullets in your direction.” [break][break]
”Notice my hand placement. Left hand is behind my back, out of sight but absolutely nowhere near the hilt of my sword. Right hand is the one moving right now as I’m talking, again far away from my sword. If I were to make a sudden movement with my right hand and reach for it, then you make your own and defend yourself. But I won’t, largely because there’s no point. The killer description is a tall guy with dark hair, so I’m pretty sure you’re not him.” [break][break]
Right hand flexed multiple times at this point as Alina decided how she wanted to handle this, pausing again for several seconds. ”Shelter and a bed are easy, my only concern is how stable you are.” she’d note, her tone losing its audible tinge of annoyance as she did. ”Let’s look at the situation from my perspective for a second, Lunar. This is a boarded up compound, specifically designed to keep wandering people out. You either got in through the rooftops, underground, flying, or phasing through the fences. Normal, well to do people don’t do that. If you were a thief, you’d have either snuck through or fought through to the cargo that doesn’t even exist in this location and made your way out the same way you came in.” Right hand moved to her right cheek as that cheek rested against that hand now formed into a fist. [break][break]
”Your first reaction to me coming in and offering help is to threaten me with weapons drawn and give me a name that has to be made up. Subject: Lunar sounds like the name of an animated television series, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where you ripped it from. I am responsible for the health and wellbeing of everyone in four city wards, plus partially in two others at this point. This entire area for miles, and I have just encountered someone asking for shelter who seems to have come from nowhere and has shown me they have the means to kill quite a few people with a semblance and unlocked aura if left alone.” [break][break]
”Hair’s in decent condition, well-fed. That rules out sewer hobo, and probably wilderness random. Neither of those types bathe or eat. At this point, my best guess is that you’re an escaped criminal who put on the first outfit someone would sell you to replace whatever jumpsuit you had on before. The other plausible alternative is a high school dropout slash runaway who’s too edgy for their own good. That would explain the fake name and the quick draw on the weapons. How am I doing so far?” [break][break]
Direct confrontation was inadvisable to anyone except her, due to the danger of being attacked. If she was right, that’d be the response. If she was wrong, the girl could freak out anyway and attack her. She wasn’t positive about that conclusion, but she mostly wanted to know how the other faunus reacted when put under pressure. Was their first instinct to lash out and silence any naysayers by force, or to verbally defend themselves, or to run off when challenged even the slightest bit? It said a lot about a person, and how much of a potential danger they were to have in the area. [break][break]
The last thing she wanted was another superpowered threat running around, tweaking out and just itching for an excuse to rip the nearest person apart. One of those types of shitheads was more than enough, thanks.
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[attr="class","nikki103"]1041 words
[attr="class","nikki103"]ASCHE SYNDICATE
[attr="class","nikki103"]1860 TOTAL WORDS
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NOTES
B Semblance, D Weapons, B Dust Enhancement, C Durability, C Agility, C Martial Arts, D Stamina, D Exhaustion
Post by Altalune Gloriole on Dec 4, 2020 18:23:38 GMT -5
◄
HAVEN'T YOU HEARD WHAT BECOMES OF CURIOUS MINDS?
The entire country was snowy at this time? Does that mean they could be nearby? That didn't sit well with the girl, and she fidgeted at that notification, looking left and right before a shiver rippled through her body. Maybe she could ask later, and if it was bad news she would need to dip out. But the girl was talking quick and she had to refocus again. So having weapons out was bad, right. Something to remember next time, and that guy in the transport here was right too. There was a lot of information coming her way right now, but she was trying her hardest to absorb what she could. For now, she did a few hand movements and the moonlight blade would shrink into a small mote of lunar energy before it moved to Lunar's shoulder and hovered a few centimetres above it. She would also lower her own crescent blade and lean on it. "Ohh so should I do the same? Left hand behind my back and right arm forward?" As she did it too, her blade would drop, causing her to lurch forward and grab it, before laying it gently on the floor. "Almost broke it..."
Next was semblance use scaring people. Which, was along the same lines of weapons. That was also bad, which she nodded in understanding, now that she knew about the weapons. But this killer on the loose put her on edge, she didn't like the sound of that. Killers shouldn't exist. "If there's some killer on the loose, don't we need to find him and stop him from killing again?" It was a fair question after all. Her face contorted into concern as she said this, shuffling and bouncing from foot to foot. "Hey I am perfectly stable!" She would whine before getting swiftly cut off as Alina began to describe it. "Well.. I climbed over the buildings up there." Her head would turn up to her point of entry as she spoke. "This little place looked interesting and safe, so I thought it would be okay..."
She let Alina continued with no more interruptions as she tried to seemingly guess where she was from, and with the short choices given, technically escaped prisoner was the closest? But she wasn't sure. She definitely needed to ask. "How are you doing so far? In guessing? Umm.. it's all wrong I think but escaped criminal would be the best bet... I don't know what a jumpsuit is, all I own is this, my sword and these furs." Her hands would pull out what was most certainly Atlesian clothing, designed to keep her toasty and warm, but it was covered in grime. "I came across a big ocean on a huge boat. Maybe Subject: Lunar isn't my name, but that's what all the weird official looky people called me. I remember reading something about being an experiment? I have so many questions, I don't really know what to do now that I'm here. I can leave if you want me to and find somewhere else if you want me to? I'd like to stay though, everyone looks really nice and friendly, especially that old guy who gave me food!" She would wave at the man in question, smiling wide before looking back to Alina. "If Subject: Lunar isn't a name... then I don't have a name."
Post by Alina Rybalka on Dec 4, 2020 19:57:31 GMT -5
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[attr="class","nikki101"]WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE
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[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT IN THE END, IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY
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[attr="class","nikki109"]”Nobody really cares where your hands are as long as they’re not holding a weapon. Only reason your hand would be near it is because you’re ready to fight, which means you’re either starting something or scared that someone else will.” [break][break]
At the question of finding the killer, Alina opened and closed her right fist several times as she responded and plastered on a big, forced smile. ”That’s what we’ve been trying to do, but the issue is we don’t know where he is. For all I know he could be anywhere within a thirty-mile circle around us, and I can’t search that much space. He could be on a rooftop somewhere, or below us in the sewers. He may have even run from the city entirely, I don’t know. There are dozens of people looking for him right now, and if they hear anything there’s going to be a loud blare coming from the radio.” [break][break]
Alina’s radio was on a pouch on her right hip, mostly covered up by the parka. He lifted her jacket a bit to reveal it for a moment before letting it hang limp at her side for a bit as Lunar explained that she climbed on the rooftops to get there. Who the fuck was this person? When the girl pulled out furs, the white-haired faunus’s eyes narrowed as she examined them. They were professionally made and tailored, which meant that it came from someplace good. It was too dirty and nondescript for her to get an easy tag on where it came from, though, and somehow, she figured the actual tags inside would be ripped out or removed somehow to avoid identification that way. [break][break]
As Lunar continued speaking, Alina’s right hand moved to cover her forehead before sliding down across her face as she got a better idea of what she was dealing with. ”Alright, No Name. Based on what you told me, my number one concern before we move any further is that you have some form of location tracker on you. You’re either batshit insane or telling the truth, and I don’t know which is worse. Experimentation on people to that degree is fifty shades of illegal in any kingdom, and if you have a tracking device on you or are chipped that means we’re going to get attacked by whoever did it in short order. Before we go any farther, I’m going to need a metal detector over you. Can you set your sword and any metal that you know you have somewhere for a second?” [break][break]
She turned back, then and barked orders at the group of gawking bystanders behind her. ”Metal detector, now. Shad, you go. The rest of you, do your jobs. Potential incoming if I’m right on that tracking chip, put on your armor.” The veteran sprinted off into the house while the younger Iron Wolves ran out to the perimeter themselves. Turning back to the girl, Alina would then continue speaking. [break][break]
”If you do have a tracker on you, it’s not going to be safe for a while even if it gets destroyed. Some luck you have, wandering here when you did. Do me a favor from now on, and never mention what you just told me to any stranger. It’s a synonym for ‘someone will pay a lot of money for me back’ and a lot of people are desperate for money at this point. A lot of people would tell you that the folks around here fight for the freedom to do what they want, and I’d call those people dumbasses. We fight for the freedom to believe what we want, which is much more important. How fortunate for you that we’re hippy dippy enough to hate slavery and believe everyone has the right to choose what they want to do.” Whereas some would have rolled their eyes saying something like that, Alina’s tone was dead serious and there wasn’t a hint of lightness in her facial expression at all. She was going to help someone who could offer her nothing except danger to herself and danger to her own people because she felt it was the right thing to do, but she didn’t have to be thrilled about it. [break][break]
”Shad’s going to take a second with the metal detector. If you’re chipped, I’m going to send you further in where you can bunker down for a bit out of sight with the rest of these dumbasses who will keep you safe. I’ll stay behind and deal with whoever comes up. Once that’s taken care of, you’ll be free to do whatever the fuck you want. If you’re not chipped, we can walk back and see if we can’t find a bunk for you for the night and we’ll get you a decent meal or two before you have to decide what you want to do next. If I were you, I’d run off and go see a lot of places and try to do as many things as I could. If you just got free, don’t settle down the first place that’ll take you. Find out your options first, yeah?” [break][break]
Shad would’ve come back with the metal detector, and if allowed Alina would then run the thing over the other faunus to see if anything caught. If nothing did, she’d pull out her radio and relay that information… and if something did and she got a chance to confirm it was a bug or a subdermal chip she’d relay an alert level upgrade on her radio so that everyone nearby would know to watch themselves for some danger that may or may not come for them. The alternative was that this was just an idiot making shit up, but the way shit was happening in the capital lately an escaped lab rat was something she could buy immediately as something that may have actually happened… and it was better to be safe than sorry in situations like this. If she was going to get raided by a mercenary company or pet huntsmen, she needed to know in advance so that none of her people died.
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[attr="class","nikki103"]1028 words
[attr="class","nikki103"]ASCHE SYNDICATE
[attr="class","nikki103"]2888 TOTAL WORDS
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NOTES
B Semblance, D Weapons, B Dust Enhancement, C Durability, C Agility, C Martial Arts, D Stamina, D Exhaustion
Post by Altalune Gloriole on Dec 5, 2020 18:07:49 GMT -5
◄
HAVEN'T YOU HEARD WHAT BECOMES OF CURIOUS MINDS?
Oh okay, so she could do whatever with her hands, as long as they didn't hold weapons. That made a bit more sense, so she rested them on her hips as they spoke, giving a strange sassy vibe without meaning to. To be fair, Lunar wasn't too sure what she was doing, but she was learning more which was good. Being locked up for 18 years can "hinder" development to the shock of some. As for this killer, it seemed no one knew where he was which was a big concern, but a big concern for future Lunar. However, it didn't take long to ponder on this killer thought when Alina seemed to realise what could be happening. In which, they had began preparing for a possible attack. "Oh... That doesn't sound good..." She mumbled as the taller girl barked orders to the others around them, but she followed the orders given to her as well. Removing a necklace from her pocket, pushing her sword away and removing her pale silver bracers, she believed she was clear of metals.
"I don't like the sound of this tracker chip, have I done something really bad? I'm sorry if I've caused so much trouble..." Her head dipped in shame as she apologised, her eyes looking left to right as this Shad came up with the metal detecter, and Lunar just remained still for the scan. "If... If I am chipped, can't I help fend whoever off? I can fight, honestly. It's what I've been brought up to do." This wasn't technically wrong, she WAS raised to fight. But she was raised to fight for the enemy, not the good guys she was in the company of now. She wasn't sure how it could go. Letting the detecter go over her, head... shoulders... torso... arms... hips... legs, which would get a response. It would set off and Lunar looked panicked and scared for a moment before closing her eyes. When checked, on the ankle of her left leg, would be a small device that looked very reminiscent of a tracking chip.
"That didnt sound good... it's not good is it? Oh god they're after me, that's bad, that's really bad, I dont wanna go back, please dont make me go back!" Her panicking would increase more and more, which would cause the small mote of moonlight energy to manifest into a sword again, hanging menacing above her as she stepped back, scared.
Post by Alina Rybalka on Dec 5, 2020 20:00:38 GMT -5
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[attr="class","nikki101"]WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE
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[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT IN THE END, IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY
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[attr="class","nikki109"]”If you want to stay and fight, I won’t stop you. If you say you can, I’ll choose to believe you. The issue is I know that the other guys here can’t really and this was supposed to be their easing into things so they’re going to take a backseat and go home if it turns out you are chipped. You didn’t do anything wrong, there’s basically no way you could have known.” [break][break]
When Shad came back with the metal detector, and Alina would have taken it from it and ran the scan over No Name’s body. There was still a chance she was full of shit, but that chance evaporated when there was a hit around the ankle, where there was something that certainly wasn’t a piece of jewelry. [break][break]
”Congratulations. I believe your story now. Give me a second, please.” she’d say as she kicked the device with her metal and aura reinforced boot hard enough to snap it off of No Name’s ankle. She nudged it away from both of them with a kick and snapped the middle finger and thumb of her right hand to generate a fireball only a few inches wide and tall to completely melt the device and remove its ability to function. The white flames would disappear as soon as they were visible, and Alina would have pulled out her radio entirely from the pouch on her right hip and was speaking directly into it. The biggest thing that Lunar would notice, most likely, was the complete and utter lack of panic coming from the other faunus. The former soldier had seen much worse, and went through the list of things she needed to do in this situation like a checklist but never gave off an ounce of anxiety or uncertainty. [break][break]
”Attention all units. Please be advised that we’re now expecting a visit from some unfriendly neighbors at some point in the near future. Had a refugee with a tracking chip come in just now, and not the type the Council uses. It’s unknown whether anyone was in range to track it by the time it got here, so until we know more I want patrols to be a minimum of four people and for everyone to be very aware of out of towners trying to worm their way in over the next few days. Better cautious than dead. Out.” [break][break]
From there, she’d turn back to Shad and say much more gently: ”I need you to take the others and go back to the interior. They’re going to try and fight you and say they can do it, but I can’t protect all of them if a fucking PMC comes kicking through or something. This could be nothing, or it could be something very bad and I’d rather not risk it.” The man would salute, then, and say that he understood before going to wrangle up the other dumbasses at the outpost and send them back home. [break][break]
From there, she’d turn back to the panicking faunus in front of her that had re-activated her semblance. ”Nobody’s going to make you go back as long as you’re with me.” were the first words out of her mouth, said so confidently as to brook exactly zero doubt. ”This outpost has nothing valuable inside, and the window of the building over there has a good view of the courtyard. It has a stocked kitchen and more importantly is warmer than it is out here. If someone was tracking you, they’re either watching now and will attack when there’s only two of us or are on their way to the location where the tracker was destroyed. I don’t know if they’re coming in thirty seconds, five minutes from now, or never. I could have left the chip going to find out, but that would mean the chip would have been tracking and sending information to spirits know where for a much longer time – in my district. Pick up all your shit and let’s go inside for a bit. My left hand is going to move to my sword at this point, because I’m fully expecting someone to come out and try to whack us at this point.” [break][break]
Left hand moved to the topmost part of the scabbard with her left thumb pressed up against the cross guard, ready to push it out at any point. She didn’t do this because she planned on using her sword, because if they were actually attacked she’d just use her semblance. She did so in case anyone was watching, because her use of semblance earlier could have easily been mistaken for a use of fire dust earlier by anyone not paying very close attention. She’d begin strolling over to the building inside the compound, with its uninspiring exterior and thick stone outer walls. It was a pawn shop before, built by an owner who was paranoid about being robbed… well, justifiably paranoid about being robbed. The poor dude ended up dying in an armed robbery a couple of years after he built the pawn shop, and it had been abandoned for years up until the Kozaks started using it again. The only reason she even knew about it was because she was curious one day and decided to search through some old newspaper websites to figure out what happened and came across some articles. [break][break]
”Any information you can give me about who’s after you and what their capabilities are would be helpful. Kingdom name, organization name, facility descriptions, whatever. If you don’t have anything, that’s fine too. With any luck, they might even have some blankets or air mattresses in here and you can bunk somewhere that’s actually defensible for the night. If they actually come tonight, that’s a good thing believe it or not because then we get some information. If they don’t, well, they’re still out there somewhere and there’s no easy way to find out how much they know or when they plan to act.” [break][break]
The door to the building was unlocked and Alina knew it, so she just turned the lever and kicked it the rest of the way open to reveal the interior which was essentially just an apartment at this point. There was a pretty large central area that used to act as the pawn shop interior, a side bathroom, and behind the counter there was a bathroom, small kitchen area, and a small bedroom area. Sleeping bags were strewn around the common area, and there was indeed an air mattress or two floating around for those fancy people who spent some money for comfort. There were also some chairs of varying size and quality strewn around a circular table with a card deck in the middle, but she wasn't concerned about that for now. [break][break]
”One of us needs to stay here and watch outside, so I’m going to take one of the chairs and camp out. Please don’t smash up the kitchen or the bathrooms, though. That shit would be so hard to replace at this point.”
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[attr="class","nikki103"]1181 words
[attr="class","nikki103"]ASCHE SYNDICATE
[attr="class","nikki103"]4069 TOTAL WORDS
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NOTES
A Semblance, D Weapons, B Dust Enhancement, C Durability, C Agility, C Martial Arts, D Stamina, D Exhaustion
Post by Altalune Gloriole on Dec 8, 2020 10:44:47 GMT -5
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HAVEN'T YOU HEARD WHAT BECOMES OF CURIOUS MINDS?
So this compound she stumbled into was a strange training ground for whatever this group was. At least, that's what she could understand. It was definitely a more pretty training ground compared to her prison. Her mind couldnt dwell long on it as she watched Alina admit her belief of the story, kick off and burn the tracking device, and pull off her radio. Lunar didnt want to go back, and it sounded like this group of whatever is the one to protect her, or something like that. It didnt sound good but she kept quiet and her panic inside as the faunus infront spoke into the radio about raising threat levels and stuff. Honestly, it all didnt mean much but she could gather and assume what it all meant. Scrambling to grab her gear, she understood the nature of the situation and followed her hastily inside, grabbing the moonlight blade from the air with her off hand as they moved inside.
It was a lovely kitchen, and did look completely stocked up with all sorts of goodies, but she didnt really know how to cook, there was alot of basic skills she lacked due to the nature of her imprisonment. She quickly took a seat on the table, keeping her crescent blade close as she looked around to take in her new surroundings. It... wasnt much but she knew that she had to stay for longer than planned, so she didnt mind it. Definitely more cozy than other places shes bunked down in. When the request came to her ears, she closed her eyes for a second before nodding. "Umm.. it helps me remember if I visualise it, I can remake the scene with my moonlight, hold on.." Closing her eyes again, the sigil formed on her forehead again as she brought forth a moonlight spectral version of a huge control panel and wall of screens next to the table, imagining it's the wall. Opening her eyes, she began moving as she did the night she broke out, miming the actions of typing and swiping with her hand. It would take a few minutes before the image faded, and when it did, Lunar was breathing heavily. "Kingdom... was Atlas I think. The facility was hidden in the tundra of the north, many days travel on foot, No organisation name, just that they wanted to use me to overthrow the Atlesian government.. whatever that means. And that umm... I've been locked up for 18 years with them.. but I kinda knew that already." She shuffled from one foot to the other, looking down at the floor and feeling sorry for herself. "Umm.. this might sound stupid and a bit silly I guess.. but could you call me something else instead of No Name?"
Post by Alina Rybalka on Dec 8, 2020 22:39:54 GMT -5
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[attr="class","nikki101"]WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE
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[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT IN THE END, IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY
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[attr="class","nikki109"]Well, this wasn’t how she imagined spending her day. She was mostly just out and about to check on things before going home and taking a fucking nap, but that wasn’t going to happen today. Or tonight. Or probably tomorrow. That was a shame, really, because the chances of this girl actually being followed closely and allowed to go shopping in the Ground District, or even in the Wind District without getting whacked were slim to none. She was mostly just being cautious and trying to bait a semblance use, because they lived in a world where people could walk through walls and fly. Going visibly with only one other person into an otherwise cleared out building in an otherwise cleared out area was a decent bait, especially if the pursuer thought themselves capable in a fight. [break][break]
Gray eyes flickered between the table and outside as No Name gave her demonstration, showing off her semblance and giving Alina some frankly incomprehensible images along with a bare minimum of information. It was enough to be reasonably confident that her people weren’t in any immediate danger, which was good. The focus of an attack would be much more of a smash and grab than an invasion, if it came, unless the rogue organization had vastly more resources than indicated. [break][break]
”Well, that’s some good news at least, No Name. It means that the people you escaped from can’t work openly in this kingdom, so they’d need to come in secret and wouldn’t have police or Council support. That’s good at least, it means they almost have to catch you alone or try something big and flashy. They’re probably not capable of the latter, frankly, because if they went through all that effort and expense to raise up one person with a more situationally useful offensive semblance, they probably don’t have a good private military – or any. Like don’t get me wrong, moonlight isn’t bad by any means but you’d think that a psycho organization raising people from birth would want the optimal setup – some sort of transformation for an assassin or an earth or air manipulator for a general use set and forget weapon.” There was a pause, then but it only lasted a second. ”Well, even if there are others they’re a continent away and probably just as confused so they won’t be coming after you anytime soon.” [break][break]
Or further along in the process and shipping out right then and there to capture or kill you, but Alina didn’t say that. Last thing she needed was a caged animal lashing out at her due to panic. Better to take the more reasonable and likely route rather than the reaching, paranoid route. The girl could start freaking out and get violent at any point, and if Alina was anyone else that would be a constant fear in the back of her mind. At the present, it was more of a calculated risk that might end up ruining the interior of this building and some of the plumbing and kitchen, but that would still suck to lose. The girl then asked to be called something other than No Name, which was fair enough. [break][break]
”Sure. What do you want to be called? I don’t exactly have a baby book of names for you to choose from, but I can roll with just about anything.” [break][break]
She was still standing, with her left hand still at the very top of her scabbard and thumb still pressed against the cross guard of her Szabla. While an attack wasn’t likely, if it did come it would very likely come within the next few minutes and she wanted to be ready for it if it did. While she wasn’t concerned about No Name being a threat to her, it was pretty plausible that she was in fact one of the weaker, younger, and not trained members of whatever organization captured her in the first place. Someone a little bit farther down that process could end up being… problematic to deal with, especially if this organization had resources to give them actual equipment and real training with heavy hitters. [break][break]
”What was your goal in coming this far off the coast in Mistral?” she asked, mostly out of curiosity. ”You could have kept sailing down to Vale, Menagerie, or Vacuo even and been much farther away from Atlas. Other side of the world, even. Did you just randomly wander here or something?” [break][break]
It was about what she expected, truth be told. Just randomly following people who went the Atlas to Argus to Mistral City common route. Still, it didn’t hurt to ask because it would show how much geography and general world knowledge the girl had. Chances are, she wouldn’t have heard of any of the places she had named if she was telling the truth about her backstory… which was partially why she asked. The fact that she had killed a Haven student and made some enemies within the government wasn’t exactly new, and there was always the chance the girl had been sent with a cover story to get her alone and kill her. Not that she seemed capable, but if an assassination attempt was going to take place it may as well be triggered sooner rather than later. It would mean that she’d be able to leave and take that nap, after all, which would be a nice surprise. Not a likely turn of events, really, but one that was certainly just as possible as them being attacked from an outside source. The girl might just be really good at pretending to be clueless, or actually clueless and just employed for her semblance… which would be kind of insulting, really, because if anyone was hired to kill Alina you’d think they’d spring for an actual water semblance user for the hard counter.
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[attr="class","nikki103"]978 words
[attr="class","nikki103"]ASCHE SYNDICATE
[attr="class","nikki103"]5047 TOTAL WORDS
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NOTES
A Semblance, D Weapons, B Dust Enhancement, C Durability, C Agility, C Martial Arts, D Stamina, D Exhaustion
Post by Altalune Gloriole on Dec 9, 2020 5:25:41 GMT -5
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HAVEN'T YOU HEARD WHAT BECOMES OF CURIOUS MINDS?
At least she was learning more and more about the seeming "rules" of the land she was in. Mistral was a seperate entity from Atlas and that meant what was law in Atlas might not be so in Mistral. That still didn't solve the kidnapping when she was just an infant, as surely that was criminal as well? Her facial expression definitely conveyed her confusion. Uncertain of why, she moved passed it as Alina kept talking about the situation at hand. So if there was to be a mounting expedition to bring her back, it wasn't going to be as easy for them as she thought, which was good. Although, from her memory, there wasn't anyone else that was being experimented on, just herself. She gave a shrug in response until the real hard hitter came. What did she want to be called?
"Well... I've never known what a name really is.. I only know yours, Alina. I never learnt the names of the people in the facility. What do you think would suit me..? I don't really know what would." An honest answer, but it sounded sad. Even she frowned at that and looked up to Alina again. "That doesn't sound good does it? It doesn't to me.." A sigh escaped her lips as she sat down on the table again, twiddling with her thumbs and looking at her silver blade. Was most of her life, if not all, a lie? It didn't sound all that good.
"Oh umm, the family that fed me said this ferry would take me somewhere safe. It dropped me in... Argus? What's Vale, and Vacuo? What's a Menagerie? I don't know those. Are they places? What are they like?" She asked with wonder and curiousity in her eyes. They were just words, and she wanted meaning placed behind them otherwise it's all pointless.
Post by Alina Rybalka on Dec 13, 2020 14:27:07 GMT -5
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[attr="class","nikki101"]WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE
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[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT IN THE END, IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY
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[attr="class","nikki109"]”I don’t know what name suits you either. You can pick your own at some point, there’s going to be a book or list somewhere we can dig up.” [break][break]
Alina could have looked up a list of baby names on her phone, but she wasn’t going to even say that it was possible. She really didn’t want to deal with that particular issue right now and waste attention on it, especially when there was still the off chance an ambush was coming. The next question was something she was more willing to interact with, because it was one of the most dangerous things that No Name could ask. [break][break]
”See, there’s an issue with the question.” Alina would start, before continuing in a matter-of-fact manner. [break][break]
”Asking other people what they think about places and things and taking their word for it means you don’t get a clear picture, because how everyone views different things is shaped by their experiences and perspective. Ten different people go to the same place and have ten different opinions about it personally, and five of them can’t even imagine that other people may have a different perspective.” Especially among those with semblances, ego and self-centeredness was common. Alina wasn’t immune to it, either, and she didn’t think anyone truly was. [break][break]
”Take for example Menagerie. Someone with no concept of history may go there, see the giant settlement on the beach, and assume that it’s a good place fit for a vacation or to start a new life. Sane humans with an understanding of history would never want to go, due to them fighting an entire war to force the faunus to live there. A faunus with pride intact would also hate the idea of even visiting, because they fought an entire war to not be forced on that godforsaken island. If you were willing to give up your pride and just live in a place where you wouldn’t be fucked with and never have to fight again, though, it’s a good retirement home. Lots of families with young children, lots of old people sick of fighting.” [break][break]
Still staring out the window, Alina paused for a couple of seconds and then added: ”If nothing happens in the next half hour or so, I’ll take you to a library if you know how to read. You’ll be able to find much more specific information there about basically anything you want, and much more neutral information than most people will give you.” [break][break]
She could have taken the opportunity to ensure that No Name was exposed to Alina’s own world view first and effectively indoctrinated her… but that was never her style. Having a base and having someone’s own opinions first was ideal, and if they could be convinced or even fell naturally in line with her mission and goals that was all the better. There was no victory in taking someone who was essentially a blank slate and molding them into something useful to the person who ‘rescued’ them, however. That was just extending the cycle of abuse and treating the girl like property that had no doubt been her entire life. Alina didn’t really care what No Name did, whether she decided to go chase squirrels for the rest of her life or fell down a sewer and became slum lord. She had no real investment in the girl, and just wanted what she wanted for her what she wanted anyone to be capable of doing – making their own choices and then dealing with the consequences of those choices the best they could.
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[attr="class","nikki103"]600 words
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[attr="class","nikki103"]5647 TOTAL WORDS
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NOTES
A Semblance, D Weapons, B Dust Enhancement, C Durability, C Agility, C Martial Arts, D Stamina, D Exhaustion
Post by Altalune Gloriole on Dec 14, 2020 18:21:08 GMT -5
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HAVEN'T YOU HEARD WHAT BECOMES OF CURIOUS MINDS?
She gave a nod to the name suggestion, maybe she could find a time to discuss names with Alina later. For now, she faunus had more to say and Lunar gave all the attention. So listening to the word of mouth about places would be different from every person due to personal experiences and their personalities too. With the example of Menagerie, it was a very indepth and informative talk. She learned more about the war she had heard about back at the facility, her face showing this fact as when Alina mentioned the war, she made a silent "Ooohhhh.." as the dots connected in her head. A war took place between humans and faunus to keep faunus on the island that is now called Menagerie, which the faunus won and got their freedom to live wherever they pleased. That made her smile, knowing that what she was wasn't so bad.
All in all, this little tresspassing scene got her to learn alot more about the world than she had known in the past 18 years. She felt really comfortable here, and seemingly around Alina. "Ohhh right, so that's what that war I heard about was for. All I heard was that there was a war going on, but we were too far in the tundra to be affected all that much. That's sad to hear that a war had to happen for faunus freedom. We shouldn't have to fight for the right to live where we want. That's not nice of humans." It was another instance of humans being mean to faunus for a reason she didn't understand. "Are libraries like places with loads and loads of books? I can read but I've never been to a library before, only heard it when I passed people back in Argus. They had a big one I walked past I think."
"Umm... two questions. Maybe three before we go. Could I find stuff about names in this library? Uhh, what do you do.. exactly? You seem to be a big person in this thing we're in. What's it for? Do you fight bad people?"
Post by Alina Rybalka on Dec 15, 2020 21:59:49 GMT -5
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[attr="class","nikki101"]WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT VIOLENCE BREEDS VIOLENCE
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[attr="class","nikki102"]BUT IN THE END, IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY
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[attr="class","nikki109"]Alina wasn’t acting like one might expect someone who was told there may be a private army or semblance enhanced slavers coming up to greet them at any moment. Her expression and posture were downright relaxed, and there wasn’t even the slightest indication of any tenseness whatsoever. It was another aspect of trying to act like a normal person that she was never able to really do, the anxiety that most people felt when there was the threat of physical danger. Truth be told, she hadn’t been scared for her life in so long that she wouldn’t be able to fake it if she tried. The sense of fear before a fight or even during just wasn’t real to her at this point, and she honestly felt a little bad for those who still had those feelings. Going in with the absolute certainty that the outcome would be a total victory certainly helped, though, which was how she approached most things mentally. There was no use in beating yourself before anyone else got the chance to, after all. [break][break]
She wouldn’t comment on the war, more because she didn’t want to think about it than for any real altruistic reason of wanting to avoid coloring the perception of No Name. When the other faunus asked about the library, though, she was quick to respond. ”Yeah. Libraries have lots of books about a lot of things. People use them to learn things.” [break][break]
As she finished speaking, she tilted her head to the right and rolled her neck to the audible noise of it cracking. There were more questions, and Alina didn’t have an issue with answering them largely due to the fact that the alternative was awkwardly sitting in silence. ”You should be able to find some books about names in the library.” was the first answer. ”I don’t even know how to describe what I do anymore… you can think of me as a community organizer.” was the second one, and it wasn’t even really lying. It wasn’t how many would describe what she did there, but it was close enough for this conversation. [break][break]
There was a several second delay before answering the third question, though. ”Something you might want to consider is that everyone you meet will consider themselves good people, doing good things. The people who locked you up also likely believe they are good people, just as you yourself likely believe you are a good person. Asking if someone fights bad people isn’t a good question, because most people will answer the same. The slaver will answer the same as the soldier who answers the same as the preacher who answers the same as the random dude who hasn’t left his couch for the past six months.” [break][break]
Another pause lasting several seconds was present before she continued. ”Everyone has different definitions for ‘good’ and ‘bad’. Most of the issue in meeting new people is figuring out how close your definitions are for those words are from the other person, and hoping you find out before somebody gets hurt if they differ too much. You have to watch how people act before deciding whether they’re good or bad, because any answer that anyone gives you is going to be worthless otherwise.” [break][break]
Turning back for the first time from the window, the wolf faunus started walking towards the kitchen. ”You can keep guard if you want, I’m going to make some coffee while we’re here. You can go through the drawers and stuff for food to take with you if you want, but we’re not staying long enough to cook anything that requires a lot of prep. Hell, there’s a good chunk of no prep foods here. Crackers, cereal, granola bars, and there should even be some...” she stopped talking for a moment as she made it to the kitchen and pulled open a higher cabinet that she had to stand on her tiptoes to open and reached her left hand in with a smile that was quickly replaced with one of confusion and then anger. ”And it looks like some fucker stole the donuts I hid here earlier. Damn.” [break][break]
It was a loss, but not one that would anger her for more than thirty seconds or so. She had literally specifically hidden it in a small horizontal cabinet that was out of the way for a reason, but someone had gotten to it first. That was annoying, but not entirely unexpected. Lapses in discipline were unavoidable, especially over things that minor. She’d write her name on the box next time, see if anyone stole it then. Greedy pieces of shit were unbelievable sometimes, honestly. [break][break]
”Coffee it is.” she’d sigh as she closed the cabinet and moved to the other end of the counter to prep the coffee maker and open the cabinets to find out where the pound of sugar was in this kitchen.
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[attr="class","nikki103"]823 words
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[attr="class","nikki103"]6470 TOTAL WORDS
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NOTES
A Semblance, D Weapons, B Dust Enhancement, C Durability, C Agility, C Martial Arts, D Stamina, D Exhaustion
Post by Altalune Gloriole on Dec 17, 2020 9:14:51 GMT -5
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HAVEN'T YOU HEARD WHAT BECOMES OF CURIOUS MINDS?
Even though her question about the war seemed to get dodged, she definitely paid attention to the other answers. Libraries were places of learning, with books about all sorts of things, including names. That made her smile, as she quickly climbed onto the table and sat cross legged in the middle of it, listening to Aline intently. It was strange that this 19 year old faunus was acting like a child being taught the basics of life, but anything was possible now. The crack did make her shudder slightly, and she was about to open her mouth to see if Alina was okay, but she just continued on.
A community organizer? That was weird. What did she organize? "What do you organize? I-If you don't mind me asking that is." She was fascinated with this girl, and wanted to know more. The answer to her third question was just as cryptic as many of the other answers however. But, as she continued learning and listening, she began to learn a bit more into the insights of the people around her, including Alina. She appeared to be some woman for the people. At least, that's what she thought it was. One that fights for the betterment of others. Whilst she was dumb, she was a fast learner. "Right, I think I understand. So like, if people steal from others, thats bad, but if they steal to help others that need it more, that's good? That's how I feel, everyone should be happy and be living a good life, but a lot of the people here don't look all that happy and that doesn't seem fair."
When Alina lifted off the chair in search for food, she gave a little salute and kept watch of the window from her spot on the table. She knew what basic foods were like coffee and donuts, even if she's rarely seen them. Crackers though, no clue. "Crackers? That doesn't sound nice. I'll get some food on the way to the library if we're going tonight. I think I have some leftover coins and thingies.." Rummaging around her pockets and her person rewarded with miniscul money, but she seemed to believe that it was enough. "Oh! Can I have some coffee too? If that's okay.." She gave a small, innocent smile. "And we can get donuts on the way too!"