Exploration [Open]

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

This ship or whatever it was called was too big. That much Alanna had decided, having already gotten lost more times then her pride would let her admit. Big and strange were the best words that she could come up with to describe it, but it was not actually unpleasant so far. It could be a bit lonely at times without her friends, but she had her brother here and that was something to cherish in itself. She comforted herself with the thought that her friends were sleeping safely in that cavern where she'd woken up though. If they woke up, then she'd be glad to see them. If they did not, then she'd see them when this war was done and their world restored. And that was what she believed. She didn't see any point in dwelling on the negative. This was hardly the first time that she'd gone traveling without her friends, although... it was admittedly the first time she'd done so when not on their world anymore.

She sighed as she entered the next room, her thoughts drifting to the palace before she could stop them. In her mind's eye, she could picture the beautifully decorated walls of the castle and how comfortable she felt when there, assuming that she didn't need to attend any silly formal functions. Looking back on it now, it was funny to think that she hadn't always felt that way, but she supposed that was what happened when you spent so long living and working in one spot surrounding by people that you cared for deeply. It had been her home for years and she still thought of that way for the most part.

Looking around the room, it seemed to Alanna that could physically see the castle walls around her. It was kind of a surprise as her imagination was not usually so vivid, but it wasn't as though...

Then she froze and really stared at one of the walls. That didn't look like a figment of her imagination. It looked real, but that wasn't possible. The palace had been destroyed along with Tortall. She stepped closer and reached out her hand to touch the wall, jerking it back quickly when her hand hit what felt like a solid wall, her other hand flying to the Goddess' token around her neck. What type of sorcery was this? She clutched the ember stone tightly as she looked for signs of magic, but her amulet revealed nothing. Was this not caused by magic then or was it just something that her amulet couldn't detect? It didn't usually fail to react.

With her mind now cleared of all thoughts of anything except the strange things going on in this room, the image of the palace faded away, leaving Alanna with little more then confusion. She reached for her Gift and tried to use it to investigate the room, but she found nothing with it. That was not encouraging.

What had just happened? Why had the palace appeared out of nowhere like that? It obviously hadn't been real given that it was gone now. Not only had it appeared, but it had appeared right when she'd been thinking of it.

That thought caused her to pause. From what she'd learned so far, the ship that they were living on was alive in some sense of the word at least and that it had some very unusual capabilities. Had it... done that? Could it do that? It was hard to believe that it was a coincidence that the castle had appeared just when she'd been thinking of it.

She tried again, this time picturing Pirate's Swoop in her mind as she'd last seen it. Sure enough it appeared just as she'd remembered it. The tall walls, although still in the process of being redone since she and George had moved in, were beautiful and the image of her home managed to put a smile on Alanna's face.

As she walked the halls of the Swoop though, the smile faded some. Being able to see her home was nice, but it was the people who really made it home. She prevented her thoughts of drifting to George though, not sure what would happen if she wished to see him. There was no doubt that she would love to see George, but she wanted to see the real him and not some imitation, no matter how real whatever controlled this room could make him seem.

Still, she'd enjoy what she could get from the experience and if this was the only way to see her home then so be it. Her mind turned again, this time picturing the Bloody Hawk village in her mind, the Great Southern Desert all around them.

Comments

[on_errantry]

A small black cat seemed to step out of thin air onto the desert sand.

It would be a painfully familiar sight to Alanna, but the truth was Rhiow was simply looking for a workspace. Grand Central seemed emptier than ever these days, but the Sensoriums had no such memories.

When she saw that the room was occupied, she paused, her ear twitching. Not a simulation she'd stepped into before, but whose was it?

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

Caught up in the moment, Alanna didn't notice the newcomer's entry right away, but as her eyes scanned the area all around her, taking in every sight that she could, she spotted the black cat. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight and it was another a few seconds before she was able to speak again.

"Faithful?" The name came to her lips unbidden when she was finally able to verbalize anything. It couldn't be... Faithful... Faithful was gone. Then again though, her brother had also lost his life in her world and he was here as though it had never happened. Was it possible that Faithful had been brought here as well?

She stepped closer to the black cat hopefully, but that hope was quickly replaced with disappointment as she got a closer look at the cat. There was a resemblance to Faithful certainly, but this cat was clearly not her old friend. The look in her eyes was sadder now then it had been moment ago.

With a shake of her head and a sigh, Alanna forced a smile and knelt beside the cat. "Hi there," she said softly, not wanting to startle.

[on_errantry]

"Dai stihó," Rhiow said. Stacy's translators would translate it as 'go well,' but there was still an echo of the Speech underneath it. Magic languages did that. "Well met on errantry."

Despite the verbal greeting, Rhiow otherwise behaved in a distinctly catlike manner, sniffing at Alanna's knees with her ears perked forward. She paused and looked up, a hint of sadness in her large green eyes. "I'm sorry that I'm not who you thought I was," she said.

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

Alanna's eyes widened in surprise when the cat spoke to her, although, given her own history, a talking cat probably should not have thrown her. Still, Faithful hadn't exactly been a normal cat, although she hadn't known that for sure during their time together. The realization of who he actually was hadn't come to her until very shortly after his death when she'd looked up at the night's sky to gaze at the constellations, the Goddess' in particular, and noticed the Cat back at her feet where he hadn't been for years. It was not unheard of for the Cat constellation to vanish from time to time, but it seemed awfully coincidental that it should return so soon after Faithful's demise. Add to that all the little bits that had made him so different from the other animals that she'd known like the ability to speak with whomever he chose to speak to, the ability to use magic, and even the color of his eyes which had so strangely matched her own. Not to mention those strange conversations that he had seemed to have with the Goddess when they met. At the time, she'd dismissed all these things, but she couldn't keep denying the facts forever.

She missed him nonetheless though and had since the day he'd vanished from her life. Alanna hoped that he was happy wherever he was though. At the very least, he had to still be safe. Surely, the beings who had destroyed her world couldn't have the power to harm a constellation, especially one who was so closely linked to the Goddess. Alanna shoved the worry lingering in the back of her mind away. He was fine and probably still by the Goddess' side watching over them all somehow, willing them to succeed in their mission. Her hand toyed with the trinket around her neck as she thought of them both; her former guardian and her patron. She wouldn't let either of them down.

Violet eyes examined the black cat in front of her curiously. Could this cat be like Faithful then? Other then the talking, she seemed to be behaving like a normal cat, but so had Faithful much of time. Plus, this cat spoke verbally whereas Faithful had seemed to use magic to direct his words to those who he wished to hear him. What did that mean?

"It's nice to meet you," the knight responded, pressing her curiosity aside for the time being. She doubted that her guest would appreciate being peppered with a thousand questions about herself and, if this cat was like Faithful, she probably wouldn't answer most of them anyway. At Rhiow's apology, Alanna shook her head and smiled, although it was still a rather sad one. "There's no need to apologize. You're hardly to blame for a case of mistaken identity and wishful thinking on my part. I'm Alanna. May I ask your name?"

[on_errantry]

"Alah'nna," Rhiow repeated, trying it out with her Ailurin accent. It came off pretty well, actually. "I'm Rhiow, one of the councilors of this ship. I'm not bothering you, am I? I know the new arrivals tend to hog the Sensoriums a little."

Rhiow may be a cat, but she was also trained as a wizard to respect others. She didn't want to seem like she was intruding on any memories Alanna wanted to call up. She missed New York, and she missed the rest of her team. She wouldn't begrudge anyone else on board the chance to see places and people they missed, either. "Is this your home?"

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

She blinked in surprise at the revelation that Rhiow was a councilor aboard Stacy, having not expected to run into someone with authority on the ship so casually. Alanna herself had, in fact, had easy access to the governing figures in Tortall for a variety of reasons, but for a good majority of people doing the same would not have been a simple task.

"No, you're not bothering me at all," she answered quickly. "I was just... daydreaming a bit. Nothing important." Nothing real anyway. She'd enjoyed being able to see images of her home, but at the end of the day that was all they were. No matter how real they appeared and felt, they were not real. Still, it had helped quell the homesickness a little and that was something for which she was grateful.

Alanna hesitated a moment and then nodded. "Sort of. Yes. In a sense anyway." It was the village of her tribe and that made it her home as much as any of the other places that she thought of as such. The people that lived in this village had adopted her as one of their own and, although many of the tribe had been slow to warm to her, they had all eventually accepted and embraced her for herself. She never felt out of place among the others of the tribe. "It's one of the places that I call home," she finished finally, unable to find better words to explain.

[on_errantry]

The councilors weren't exactly elusive, but Alanna would find that out in time. With such a small onboard population, almost everyone was on a first-name basis with at least most of the crew.

"If you say it isn't important, I hope you don't mind company," Rhiow said. "I was looking for a workspace, but it looks like the Sensoriums are crowded today." She put her whiskers forward a little in amusement at Alanna's hesitation. "It's a very ehhif thing to have several places to call home. The People tend to stick to their own territory unless they have good reason to head somewhere else. Even then, we get antsy until we're back on home ground."

[not_the_philistine]

Goliath considered stepping out when he found the Sensorium occupied, but not before raising a wing to shade his eyes in the bright, simulated sun. He had managed to step in just between the transition from Pirate's Swoop to the desert, and the sudden excess brightness caught him off guard. He closed his eyes in discomfort, lifting a hand to shield them along with his wing.

Hopefully whoever had conjured the simulation, if they were human, would not be quick to alarm at the sight of him. Even awake in the memory of the sun, he was vulnerable.

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

Alanna tensed when she spotted the unfamiliar figure standing a short distance away. His appearance was intimidating and her first reaction was to reach for a weapon, although only for the sake of protection in case it proved necessary rather then to attack. As far as she knew, this stranger had done nothing wrong and she would never strike at someone unless they'd done something to warrant it. She stopped herself from even grabbing for a weapon though before she could make a move, determined not to overreact simply because she'd been startled. The Lioness did not draw her weapons against the innocent and she wasn't about to start now.

She stepped toward the newcomer, frowning when she noticed the way he seemed to cower from the sun's light. As she let go of the mental image of the Bazhir village, it faded away taking with it the sun and desert, leaving the two of them alone in the empty room.

"Are you okay?"

[not_the_philistine]

Relieved, Goliath lowered his wings. At his mental influence, the light in the room dimmed slightly to accommodate his recovering vision.

"Thank you. My kind are nocturnal. Even the memory of the sun is hard on my sight."

He considered the woman, now that he could see her. She carried herself with certainty and bore weapons. She struck him as a warrior, and one who thought before launching an attack. He approved already.

"I apologize for interrupting. It is not uncommon to enter one of these rooms and find them already in use."

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

It took a few minutes for Alanna's eyes to adjust as the room dimmed. Fortunately, it didn't get too dark so she could still see well enough once her eyes adjusted, but those moments of visual impairment made her a bit nervous. It might not have technically been that long, but even a momentary disadvantage could be a very serious problem depending on the circumstances. Taking a deep breath, Alanna forced herself to relax, reminding herself that so far she'd met no one here who appeared to mean her any harm. There were no bandits waiting around a dark corner to rob and possibly kill nor were there any enemy soldiers waiting until the moment her guard was down to strike. At least as far as she knew. On top of that, from what she could tell her visitor seemed to be peaceful enough.

"Ah, that would explain it. The desert during the day would then definitely be no place for you. I hope that it didn't hurt you and I'm sorry if it did. I hadn't expected anyone else to come." She did feel bad. Even if she hadn't meant any harm, it didn't change the circumstances.

She shook her head and smiled at her current companion. "Please don't apologize. You're welcome here. My name is Alanna. May I ask yours?" Glancing around the room, she added, "This room is impressive, although I don't really understand how it can... do the things it does. It doesn't seem to be magic." If it was then it wasn't the sort that her amulet could detect at least.

[not_the_philistine]

"I have learned that much of what appears to be magic here is the work of machines. Very advanced machines, but still the work of mortals. Well met, Alanna. I am called Goliath. Am I right to take you for a warrior?"

Goliath has continued to hold his wings aloft, and he stretches them slightly in the confines of the room. "I come here to maintain my gliding strength. There are no other areas on the ship with adequate wind. If it does not displease you to share your visions with another, neither have I objections to sharing the room. I need only a strong wind to achieve my purpose."

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

"It does seem that way from what else I've been told," she agreed. She'd already seen a few odd things that were apparently machine run rather then fueled by magic. It confused her, but she'd simply have to learn if she was to live here.

Her eyebrows raised at Goliath's phrasing though. "The work of mortals? Are you not mortal then?" It sounded to her like something an immortal being might have said and that certainly brought new questions about her companion to mind.

Alanna nodded at Goliath's question. "I'm a knight of Tortall. What about you? Are you a warrior as well?"

"I have no objections," she answered, an approving smile on her face. "I've nothing to hide and I wouldn't want to get in the way of your training. Any knight knows how important it is to stay in shape." She shook her head. "I need to get back into my old exercise routine. I haven't been keeping up as well as I should have been. My former teachers would be ashamed." She'd been searching for an adequate place to train, but she hadn't yet found a good spot yet. Alanna made a mental note to spend some more time searching for an open enough area where she could practice without the risk of hurting anyone.

Decided to tag anyway! Bendytimed to when he comes home

[theboywhodied]

After wasting so many days on the completely worthless nonsense that had been the last mission, Cedric was ready to give himself a break. He was planning to find a quiet corner of the ship and study, concentrating on recalling a spell that would restore his hair. The bald head the competition had forced on him might have been 'edgy', but it wasn't his style at all. By now, at least, he'd regrown some very thin fuzz.

He carelessly swooped into the nearest Sensorium, finding himself in someone else's simulation. Oops. Cedric couldn't quite bring himself to leave, though. The winding halls here were interesting, and there was plenty of space to hide out. He'd simply ask the owner if he could stay for a little while.

"Hello?"

Yay!

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

Startled by the sudden appearance of the sound of another's voice, she spun around to scan the room for the intruder, her hand hovering near but not on her sword's hilt. Her eyes fell on the newcomer a moment later, although it took another moment before she recognized Cedric, mostly due to the change in his appearance. Moving her hand away from the weapon, she stepped forward and smiled.

"Hello there. Your name was Cedric, right?" She hadn't seen him since they'd both first woken up after all. Alanna eyed him curiously. "May I ask what happened to you? You don't look quite the same as I remember."

[theboywhodied]

"That's right." He hadn't meant to startle her. Cedric stepped into the light, smiling despite all he'd been through. Alanna was a friendly face.

"I was sent on my first mission," he grumbled. "To compete with the others and attempt to become the multiverse's next top model. It's all rubbish, of course. They demanded I shave my head, dress as a chicken, burn my face off, and dangle from the claw of a vending machine. I lost, of course. I wasn't quite deranged enough to please them."

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

Alanna's eyes were wide. "Is... are missions like that common here?" It was a strange sounding mission indeed. How would something like that aid in the war effort? She was fully aware of just how little she knew of the war effort as of yet and it wasn't for her to judge, but she still didn't see the purpose of someone dressing like a chicken or any of the other things that Cedric had mentioned.

"Well, at least you're back and in one piece. That is something to celebrate," she added more positively. "Hopefully, the next mission that you participate in will be an easier one."

[theboywhodied]

"According to the others, no. They're usually some sort of battle or negotiation. I suppose you could say this was a negotiation, because the winner is going to receive important information about our mission, but this other nonsense was completely arbitrary."

Yes, he was irritated. But he tried to shake it off, looking at their surroundings curiously. "Where are we? Other than inside the Sensoriums, of course."

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

It sounded to Alanna as though he had every reason to be irritated. She very much doubted that she'd have played along quite so nicely, but then diplomacy had never been her strongest point and she'd be the first to admit it. "I hope that the information proves to be worth it."

"My... my home," she said slowly as she turned her attention back to the building created from her own memories. As real as it looked, it was hard to believe that it was only an illusion. It made her miss George all the more, something that she hadn't though could be possible.

(OOC: I assumed that you brought Cedric in at the Pirate's Swoop part of the post because she does a bit of a freak out when the Palace shows up, so it wouldn't have been up for that long and she didn't really understand this area at that point, but I can fix it if I'm guessing incorrectly.)

[Visiting the Castle]

[newyorkbynight.livejournal.com]

When Alanna finally decided to visit Castle Wyvern, she would find Elisa on the front lawn, peering under the bonnet of the red Ford Fairlane that was parked on the grass. Goliath had retrieved her car from below deck long before she’d woken up from the pods. She’d intended to give the vehicle a once over since she’d arrived, but she’d spent most of her downtime at the precinct or in the media library, finding out all she could about the war. Mechanics had been low on her list of priorities.

As soon as she saw her friend, it would slip down the list once again.

Re: [Visiting the Castle]

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

Alanna approached slowly, trying to take in all the details of the castle. In a sense, it was the most familiar, real thing that she'd seen since she'd woken up on this ship even if it wasn't a castle that she truly knew. Parts of the structure were reminiscent of the castles that she knew and given how little there was on Stacy that was familiar to her, it was a bit of a relief to see something that wasn't completely unknown to her.

As she drew closer though, her thoughts were disrupted when she spotted Elisa. A smile crossed her face as she moved quickly towards her friend, calling out to her. "Elisa!"

[newyorkbynight.livejournal.com]

“Alanna?” Elisa straightened up, stepping out from underneath the bonnet of the car to greet her with a surprised smile. “Welcome to Castle Wyvern.”

Although it was a long way from New York, the city at the heart of the ship was big enough for the castle to remain largely deserted. There weren’t many residents and there were even fewer visitors. She was clearly pleased to see her friend.

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

"Thank you for the welcome. It's good to see you again," she smiled happily, clearly pleased to see her friend. Eying the building appreciatively, she added, "It's a beautiful structure. This is where you and Goliath live?"

She looked at the odd machine in front of Elisa curiously. One of these days, she'd stop being surprised by the things around this place, but apparently today wasn't that day. "What are you working on?" she asked, motioning towards the wheeled device. Based on those wheels, she'd have guessed that it was some sort of vehicle, but she'd never seen anything like it. It didn't look like the sort of thing that might be pulled by a horse. Perhaps it was powered by some sort of magic?

[newyorkbynight.livejournal.com]

“It’s the ancestral home of Goliath’s clan,” said Elisa after giving a nod of confirmation, “I’ve been staying here since I woke up.”

It felt more like a home than anywhere else on the ship, both because of the familiarity and the fact that he was there with her.

“You’ve met?”

They’d met and, if her tone was any indication, Alanna hadn’t held Goliath’s species against him.

“It’s my car. Sort of like a carriage without a horse.”

[lionesschampion.livejournal.com]

Alanna nodded, her gaze focused back on the castle walls as she tried familiarized her with the building's exterior. After all, one never knew what might prove useful, so a good knowledge of the buildings layout seemed a positive idea especially if she was to live here. "It seems to be a nice place."

Looking back at Elisa, she answered, "Yes. Not too long ago we ran into each other and had the opportunity to speak. He's very kind and invited me to come visit." Actually, his invitation had been far more generous, but it seemed like a poor idea to simply walk up and announce that she was to move in with them. Besides, she hadn't even technically made her decision yet. She wanted to know that they would all be happy with this situation first.

"So, it's a magical device then?" That was the only explanation that she could come up with anyway. Carriages did not pull themselves. "I wasn't aware that you could use magic as well." She touched the ember stone at her neck and frowned when she saw no reaction around the "car". Why didn't it show the magic that powered it?