Big Eyes, Small Mouth (BESM): In the Shadows of the City - Chapter 3: ______ Festivities

[AceWildcard]

"I know, just hard for me to do so." he said with a sigh. "Just been tense over the past while now. Something new is good for me. I just hope nothing goes wrong while we are off." He goes to stare at Anne. He wanted to say an apology, but figure he said it too many time last night.

[Fiona Warner]

"Kohaku..."

She wanted to hug him at this point... but she refrained. "...hey... this isn't just your problem, it's ours. I'm sure as hell not gonna let you carry this weight alone."

She smiled, hoping that at least some emotional weight would be lifted.

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku understood what she was trying to do. It did not completely put him at rest, but helped. He also respected Anne for that. He knew each one had their own problems and his were most likely the least. "Thank you." he said. "I just hope my problems don't come to cause you problems. I can't state them all, but I just hope that things go well for all of us." He said sincerly. He also hopped the best for everyone currently here.

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko pointed at Anne, then lifted that finger to her lips in a 'shush' gesture...and then pointed at Sayoko. She then pointed at her own temple and twirled her finger in a little circle, crossing her eyes. Then pointed at Anne again.

Somehow she managed to be loud and annoying, without even saying anything.

[z-Galiana]

"You will tell us now." Galiana had turned to Kohaku and her expression was hard and unwavering.

"What?" the boy asked, looking surprised.

"I said, you will tell us of these problems now." The werecat stared at the boy. "You state that these problems might cause us problems. You will tell us of them now, so that we are prepared."

[z004]

Ayami edged around the frightening foreigner and quietly asked Sayoko, "Is there time to pack some clothes, if we'll be gone for a month...?"

It was a trifle embarrassing to ask, but she already felt uncomfortable from having her bathing suit on under her clothes for so long. She didn't really want to go home yet, but she only had a her emergency credit card on her and didn't think she could afford enough clothes on that - or explain to Takaido-san why she'd gone on such a shopping spree.

[Justin OOC]

Sayoko let them all go for a time, and then sighed. "You can miss a day of school. If you don't there may not be a school in a week's time."

"There are none of the modern amenities. There is a hotspring nearby, and another coldwater rliver and lake for bathing and drinking water. Shelter will be provided, and plenty of game to hunt. I have provisioned the site with some more modern foods to ease the transition, but not much."

She looked to Ayami. "Clothing will be provided for you, though some of you may not be as used to it as others. This will be a training retreat. The days you will train and recover, the nights, the nights you will be pushed to your limits, and either break under them, or as I believe, surpass them."

She spoke with great conviction, and faith in them.

[Fiona Warner]

"Well if there was anything where I would test my survival skills, this would be it... and I can wash what I got with what is there..."

She paused... "What do you mean... Break?"

[Karren Gaunt]

"Exactly that, I'm guessing. Break. Like shards of steel on an anvil if we aren't pure enough to fold into our blacksmith's sword," commented the Yakuza heiress for the first time since coming back, expression nuetral, a bokken hanging in it's sheath, a duffle bag full of training clothes on one shoulder. her eyes were unimpressed mirrors, wondering why if their host had the power to warp space and time she hadn't used it or her connections to get better help for an entire world than a handful of teenagers, only three, four if they counted Anne, of whom seemed to know how to use their 'gifts' offensively.

It was a stupid, uncaring way to save the world.

"But hopefully it won't come to that, Aceworth-San. At least for enough of us to make a difference with so very little warning. I'm... ready to go," she finished softly, "Whenever the rest of you are. My Mother is missing, likely dead, and many of my Father's men *are* dead. I'll throw myself into the fire with the hope I can come out the other side able to help them. Or avenge them."

[Fiona Warner]

Anne silently thought of Amara's words.

"So... either we are up to this or we're dead..."

Anne's bands glow as she sits back. "Shit... So... yeah. Rather on the training ground than to a demon, I wager, right?"

She starts going through her bags, taking stock. "I am really going to need the most training I think... I'm a 3-dimensional asset since I am flight capable. That would require a whole different set of excersises I would wager... knowing my center of balance and applying it would allow me to increase my mobility in the air, that and knowing my outer limits to the point of exhaustion in terms of actually flying."

She thanks herself for remembering the parachute. "To be honest... if there is anyone likely to be a casualty in training here... it's me..."

"And I don't say that because I'm not up to this, I am... but there is quite a risk of accident compared to everyone else here."

[z004]

Ayami paled whiter and whiter and Sayoko described what the next month would be like for them. "H-hunt?," her eyes were as wide as saucers by then end and she whispered, "....night?"

She'd never missed a day of school before, either. She'd be very healthy as a child and careful to use masks when colds circulated in the winter...now she was supposed to ditch school and she wasn't even sick? And hunt? Takaido-san was vegetarian, so Ayami had never had much meat in her life and really had only ever been around pets and animals at the zoo on school field trips. Now she was supposed to hunt? At night?

Her hand curled around the flashlight she carried in her satchel and tried not to panic as memories from that one disastrous week in the photography club in middle school flashed across her mind. She looked down in fear and shame, mumbling, "I-I don't know if....maybe I'm not....?"

[z-Galiana]

“Don’t worry.” Galiana gave her a smile, shoveled in some food and swallowed before adding, “We’ll help you hunt. Besides, it’s easy.” And it probably was easy for a creature with cat reflexes and speed, claws, teeth and the ability to see in low levels of light.

Galiana wasn’t looking forward to training either, but she could see that this group needed to be whipped into shape. If they were to be successful hunters, they would need to be a proper pride. To achieve that, they needed time to hunt together. It was simple logic to the inhuman girl who was wolfing down breakfast.

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko scowled. "No wifi? Okay, I need to get some things together."

She hopped nimbly off the couch and raced upstairs. The sounds of things clunking could be heard. Then a loud noise, like a heavy box falling to the floor. A scrape. Something like...glass breaking? More scraping. Footsteps pitter-patted across to what was presumably another room. Ominous silence. Then more footsteps.

Finally she came back downstairs with a duffel bag hung over her shoulder.

"If it's between school and martial arts camp, I say martial arts camp! This'll be just like summer vacation! They probably have beaches and palm trees and everything! We'll come back feeling like a million yen!"

[Fiona Warner]

Anne smiled. "Gonna feel like the survival course I took a while back. The people in charge of our security had me, and my dad do some pretty detailed scenarios. Bugging out of a town under siege, evading terrorists, water ditch survival, hostage scenarios... more to help those in charge of our protection to have an easier time of things so we'd know what to do when the calvary arrived... but there was many useful things I can rely on.

Of course I am willing to share, and to assist where needed. Particularly my first aid skills. I wager we are going to be bandaging alot of scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Might even need stitches here and there."

Sitting back, she ate the last of her meal. "Hopefully on the other side of this training we all well be more than ready to fight off whatever comes our way. To be honest I hope we all make it. The more of us in the fight, the better chance we have of victory."

[Justin OOC]

You won't have to hunt your meals. though you can if you wish. I can simply hunt them for you, but it might be good for you to learn. I figured some among you may enjoy the challenge."

"I know that all of you are up to the challenge, even if you don't believe it is so." She nodded. "We need to be going soon. Already we're going to be giving them at least three uninterrupted hours tonight with no one to hinder them. I don't like that."

She looked at Ayami. "Besides what you'll be hunting at night, well it's not the sorts of things you'll want to eat."

[SalmonMax]

"I'm always up to the challenge!" boasted Sachiko, shifting her duffel bag on her shoulders. Then she facefaulted and blurted, "Oh!"

In a wink she was off, running over to the foyer where she grabbed her baseball bat out of the umbrella holder next to the door, then running back.

"Okay, now I'm ready!"

[AceWildcard]

"For the most part I have piss alot of people off. Lets just say I am a bit more curious for my own good. I may have done something that would make someone want me dead. It's just a feeling." Kohaku said to Galiana. He did not say everything. Plus he did not know if people would believe them even with what had gone on.

Kohaku was curious about the trip that they were going on and hoped that it would be as a challenge as was spoken of. He need something new to renew himself. He was wondering if he was slipping in so many things that were going on in his life. He just wanted to get away from it all, even if it's just for a little bit. He listens in and wonders when they would go. The quicker the better.

[Justin OOC]

With a final nod, She smiled, and A bright light enveloped them all.

The light faded and they found themselves in a room with a large fireplace, teak floors, and no furniture save some low tables. "Welcome to my private hunting grounds. Here you will train in usage of your gifts, of your artifacts, and working with each other."

(Exploration reveals the house to be large, with six rooms with soft Tatami mats and blankets, a large primitive kitchen, and few windows. Beyond the doors outside, Sunlight gleams, revealing a verdant forest, with the greenest grass any of you has ever seen. The whole place smells of primal nature. A walkway leads outback to a large building, looking and revealing itself to be a training Dojo. There's a very large open field behind the house, though little grass grows upon.it. The sounds and smells of real nature abound. Normal technology only works inside the house.)

[SalmonMax]

There's a lond BONK as the duffel bag Sachiko brought hits the floor; released by her suddenly nerveless hands.

For a moment...a heartbeat, maybe, or a tick or two of the clock...she stands transfixed with dawning glee. Then, before anything mortal can stop her, she blurts, "OH WOW," and is off like a shot, like a bullet, like a winged rodent from a place of eternal torment. One fancies one can see an afterimage of her composed of dust filling in the hole in the air she leaves...but that is merely fancy.

From outside one can hear her exclaim, "TREES!"

Galiana may have a hunt on her hands earlier than expected.

[z004]

Ayami started when Sachiko's bag hit the floor, then again when the mercurial girl shot off outside. She collected her wits back to her, shaking her head and smiling just a little for the first time since this whole nightmare began; a lot could be said about Sachiko, much of it unkind by annoyed classmates and exhausted teachers, but she was always enthusiastic, no matter what life threw at her.

She took careful steps around the house, exploring cautiously and thoroughly so she wouldn't get lost over the next several days. Especially if they were going to be out at night. A shiver ran through her and the ghost of a smile fled as quickly as it had appeared. Her darker mood couldn't persist for long, though, as the entire area was permeated with a feeling of peace and rightness.

I wonder where we really are...she thought as she looked out over the trees from a window in the kitchen.

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku looked around the immediate surroundings before looking out to see the outside. "This is going to be an interesting month." Kohaku said to himself. He enjoy the natural area and seem to hint at something that intridge him. He always like to go to new places. He knew he was going to enjoy the training no matter how hard it was. Something new could get his mind off his present worries which was always a plus to him.

After a few minutes he got back inside and asked. "So who's staying where?" He asked so he knew where to not go uninvited. He goes to asked each of them that unless they were all together.

[Fiona Warner]

"Sayoko, Do you mind if I do a quick scouting around of the area?" Anne asked. "I should get a proper lay of the land. I can do some hunting during the day. I think learning some land-based survival kills can be beneficial, as of your analysis. All I have to do is step outside and hover up."

Anne didn't seem to be shocked that she was teleported to a new location... well other than suddenly kneeling down to catch her breath. "So... first time teleporting..." She smiled. "Cool..."

"I do have to ask..." She shakes the cob-webs out... "...what is out-of-bounds here? I need to know particularly if I can't fly above a certain ceiling before I exit whatever causes your sanctuary to sit outside the normal flow of time."

[z-Galiana]

Galiana paused only a second longer than Sachiko before dropping her gear and bolting out the door. Unlike the girl running, Gali was dropping more than gear: her shirt and bra arched high over her head as she tossed them behind her. The were-cat stopped her mad dash only to wiggle the shorts and underwear off her lower body, discarding them with the sandals she had been using.

Then the lean silver and black form of Galiana’s cat form disappeared into the thick forests. It was verdant and primeval; full of life and scents that the cat had never known and that were yet completely familiar. It was home and virgin, unknown land. Nose twitching, eyes wide and ears swiveling, Galiana began to explore.

[Justin OOC]

Sayoko chuckled. "Well that's near what I expected. "She went and picked up Galiana's clothing, folding it and leaving it neatly stacked by the door.

"Kohaku, no one has claimed a room, so take the one you like. You and Shinji will be sharing one though."

She looked to Anne. "Fly as you wish. Be aware though, you may not be alone in the skies."

[Fiona Warner]

"I'm staying close to home plate, Sayoko... I just need to fly over the house about 100 feet and take a look. I'm going to get changed out of my school uniform here real quick... mind if I stake my claim on a room now while I am at it?"

Anne intends on looking for a room that either is near a outer wall, or facing the courtyard so she can do some quick sorties over the next month.

"That and I think Sachiko and Gali could appreciate the overwatch. I'll be right back."

Anne starts to head off but stops in her tracks to see if Sayoko suggests anything.

[Kaori Aoyama]

Kaori had no arguments or bit of wisdom to impart upon the group as Sayoko whisked them away. Silently she looked out upon the landscape once they arrived, taking in the ley of the land. It was not unlike the retreats she and her grandfather used to take in the off months for Kaori's more dedicated and focused training. She barely heard the others talking and wasn't much interested in the things they were discussing, yet managed to blush deeply as Galiana disrobed and ran off into the copse of close by trees.

"Unacceptable." She murmured at the were-beasts antics, hiding the impressed wonderment beneath a veil of discipline. "Sayoko, where will I be staying?"

"You may choose anyone you wish, Kaori." Sayoko replied, giving the young woman a once-over. "You've brought nothing with you. Will you be alright?"

"Clothes are provided, as you said." The raven-haired swordmaiden placed her hand on Onimaru. "I require only lodgings, rice, and water. My training will begin in the morning. Tonight I will clear my mind and meditate on the recent happenings. If I am to be darkness' Reaper, then I must find and focus my light."

[Fiona Warner]

Anne nodded. "Agreed, Kaori. To be honest I'm not going to become our ace without knowing my limits, myself."

She smacked her forehead. "Dammit... Well, unless they would have been rendered useless anyways, I really should have gotten walkie-talkies for everyone here... in case were in different areas of the... oh never mind. Can't prepare for everything."

She smiled. "I'll be heading out in a minute to scout the area from above. Just going to get changed then when I select my room."

She quickly walks to a room facing what could be a courtyard or just a yard. Making sure she had a wide window in case she had to deploy quickly. Seeing that all the courtesies were laid on her sleeping arrangement, she quickly gets out of her school uniform, and gets into her surplus flight-suit. The dark grey was a personal choice. It was just a every-day consideration as something to wear when out and about. After getting the rest of her stuff on, she straps on her parachute. A choice generally made by BASE jumpers, but this was more for her in case her mental stamina was about to run out.

She heads back to the main room where everyone was and makes for the exit outside to take off.

"Any requests before I start my sortie?"

[Shosuro Toshi]

Shinji shrugged and went off to set up what little he had in his section of the room. He ended up picking the right side and setting up stuff. Honestly, Kohaku seemed a bit slow and inattentive, but Shinji accepted he couldn't bunk with anyone else.

Walking back out, he looked at the necklace, glowing blue in response to what he was preparing to do. "Come, Tezara. It's training time."

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku nodded and did not say anything. He just wanted to relax for today and get his head straight. He did not have anything realy to unpack. He goes to sit outside and watch the sky.

[Fiona Warner]

Anne shrugs and takes off skyward to about 100 feet above Sayoko's residence and begins to take in the surroundings outside from her location.

Note:

At her height she should see everything out to 12.3 miles according to this. I suppose the GM will fill us in on the lay of the land outside...

It felt good to just fly... not worrying about who could be below watching her wondering if what they saw was real. This was Anne... and this was freedom. Freedom she now had to earn.

[Justin OOC]

Tezara appeared from the magic circle that shone on the floor. Her nostrils flared. "This is..."

Sayoko nodded. "Wolfhome." She gave the golden -eyed warrior a proud grin. "My own private sector and hunting ground, roughly eight thousand square miles."

Tezara looked to Shinji and smiled. "We have a true training ground now it seems plenty large enough for my greater spells." She actually seemed excited. "This is actually going to be fun."

-------------------------------

Clouds passed by idly, and It was at just the right temperature, roughly 75 degrees, with a light wind blowing against the door of the house. For Kohaku it was perfect and peaceful.

---------------

The woods were seemingly endless, and teemed with small game, squirrels, rabbits and the like. Within a Kilometer, Sachiko and then Galiana happened upon a family of deer following a game trail. This place was perfect, unspoiled, all the good that nature could be, self-contained.

----------------

For Anne, The aerial view revealed large copses of massive pines and oaks virtually no tree was unrepresented within thirty miles of the house. There were many birds as well, it was as if the place was one giant forest nature preserve.

---------

Kaori was left to her meditation, Ayame to explore. The doors Sayoko wished to remain closed would not open without her permission.

[Karren Gaunt]

Amara picked an empty room, set her stuff down, and slept. Or at least tried to sleep, turning on her futon in search of a comfortable position that could slow the frantic turning of thoughts in her head. One month of training while a mere day went by in the 'real' world. One month of not knowing whether or not Mother was okay before they would be flung into headlong battle again. One month to find out if she could unlock the secret potential of a childhood gift and herself, be useful beyond suddenly useless academic skills and connections to a group as helpless as the rest of mankind. This was... The Yakuza heiress hated feeling helpless, trapped, and she didn't see an option, an angle, a lever.

Kami, there had to be something. Maybe if she threw herself into the training... Tommorow though. Tonight if she had to. Their mentor could give her that much time to cope with this, right?

[z004]

Ayami picked out a room for herself by the simple expedient of leaving her purse just inside the sliding doors so it would be the first thing anyone entering the room would see. Not wishing to be rude, she left the rest of the house to be explored later, as rooms were used or until Sayoko brought them to closed doors. Instead, she headed back outside, slipping on her shoes at the door and quietly exploring the areas directly around the house.

She caught site of Anne hanging impossibly in the air above the house and for a moment the world tilted under her. How can this be possible? It's like TV, only I know her. Can all British people fly?

She snorted at her stupid mental question. I think people would have noticed. So....maybe it's a family thing for her? She touched the mirror in the pocket of her skirt, wondering yet again just who her parents had been and now if they'd known she was different...if they were different. What would it have been like, if they had been alive? Would they have taught me about the mirror?

She hesitated and then waved at Anne, not wanting to be rude but worried that she might fall if Ayami distracted her. Is flying difficult, I wonder?

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko looked around and trotted to a halt; her energy finally, temporarily exhausted. She realized she had no idea where she was. The thought was not troubling...she'd find her way back eventually...but it was a good chance to try that GPS in her watch. She chewed the tip of her tongue as she squinted at the complicated dial, and the myriad little displays and controls...and finally picked one.

Mode two, engage, reported a feminine voice pleasantly. Deploying defense grid.

Sachiko emitted a startled yelp as metal slats of incredible thinness sliced out from the edges of the watch and telescoped around to make a wide disc with the watch face in the center. A moment later a small 'umbrella' of the same strange silvery metal unfolded over the watch face, making the transformation complete. She was now wearing a fairly large shield on her forearm, that went just over her left hand and extended to just short of her left elbow. Despite its size, it was incredibly light...no heavier than just the watch had been.

Which made sense, really, since all that had been in the watch to begin with. ...hadn't it?

After shaking her arm a bit to try to shake it off, Sachiko tried to push some buttons on the watch that she could still get to, under the shield's backside.

Error, reported the watch's voice pleasantly. Cannot reconfigure. Nanostorage units recharging.

"Come on," Sachiko muttered, and tried different buttons. Each time the voice said something different.

Error. Cannot reconfigure. System overload.

Error. Cannot reconfigure. Parameters exceeded.

Error. Cannot reconfigure. Insufficient pixie dust.

Error. Cannot reconfigure. Please insert more time.

Finally, after about a minute, Sachiko's efforts were greeted with the shield disc suddenly collapsing back into metal blades which retracted into the watch again.

Mode four, engage. Deploying nonlethal countermeasures.

A pair of metal rods extended from the bottom of the watch face, out to just about an inch or two past Sachiko's hand. Black insulation lined each one, except for the very tips. Between them arced little flashes of electricity.

Sachiko's face lit up. "Now that's what I'm talking about," she said with reverence. "But I really need the GPS."

Error. Cannot reconfigure. Thoughts are not happy enough.

She sighed and looked up. And there, hanging in midair, was Anne!

Am incredulous smile spread over Sachiko's face. "I guess she's good for something after all..."

Figuring that Anne would be coming from the direction the house was in, Sachiko headed for the flying girl!

[Fiona Warner]

Anne stretched out, finally getting to about where she intended. 100 feet. She pulled her goggles down as a slight breeze flitted about her hair. She takes the time to make a couple ponytails to keep her hair in place. The view to say the least... was amazing. She wanted to dash out and fly along the tree-tops, join the birds... but she promised to stay close, particularly after Sayoko's warning about things that live here, in this place out of time.

"Hmm, if this is in some sort of temporal pocket... how long has it been in it? 100 years? 1000 years? ..." She whispered... "Bloody hell... what if this has... always been around? Could Dinosaurs be here?"

Her armbands glowed, reacting to her mental inquiry. "I mean I would have to defend myself, yes, but I would... I would be responsible for their extinction, not a asteroid..."

Leave it to Anne to worry about that...

[AceWildcard]

Kohaku eventually got bored of just laying around and decided to explore a little himself. Not too far from the place, but enought to see some of the area around him. He had the feeling he was just a thorn to the groups side. He did not really know how to fix it if it could be at all. It was rather comical to him in a cosmic sense of hindsight with the way his life been.

[Justin OOC]

Night came for them all soon enough, finding them rerturned to the Cabin, Where Sayoko had prepared a feast of fresh roast deer. She smiled as they sat and ate, all in their natural forms. "Tonight you will hunt four demons I have released into the woods here. You MUST kill them all. For tonight I will allow you to choose your own teams of three. You can hunt in groups of up to three, but at least two. There are no exceptions. These foes are beyond any one of you."

She looked at Kaori and Galiana. "You will hunt in teams in the human world, you must get used to it now. Now, finish dinner, choose your teams, and depart into the forest you have nine hours to complete your task."

She shook her head. "If you fail, this entire area will be sanitized, permanently."

[SalmonMax]

Sachiko immediately raised her hand. She'd finally managed to get the watch back to being just a watch again, after the 'nonlethal countermeasures' had scorched the table with electricity more than once as she tried to eat. When Sayoko gave her a little nod she asked, "I need a little more time to study for this, seeing as how I only found out today my watch was apparently made by a wizard, so could I get an extra day?"

Sayoko shook her head. "The demons will not wait for you to learn in the real world. They will not in this world either. And neither will I. You must do the best you can, with what you have."

Sachi raised her hand again, then said, "Okay, but that seems a little unfair, since half the people here were born knowing how their powers work, and mine doesn't even come with an instruction book? I can't even get it to do the same thing twice in a row."

[z004]

"Then we should make sure each team has one or two people on it that know their powers, and one person that will need help." Her voice was barely above a whisper and she was ghost-pale at the thought of going out into the dark, to hunt demons. With her classmates. It was like some anime, but a nightmare one to actually be in.

But Sayoko had said 'sterilized,' and Ayami was pretty sure that meant that everything in the bubble would be killed. And she was in the bubble. With her classmates. This wasn't a game and there weren't second chances, so either they figured this out or they died. Like those so many other people had already died.

She took a deep breath, trying to find calm inside herself and finding at least the spark of resolve instead. "I-I don't really know anything I can do with my mirror, other than show the...truth of things, I guess, but I do know a little of how to use a sword." She swallowed and the spark flickered for a moment, "Though I've never used one outside of competitions. The same with archery and martial arts. It's....it's always just been for clubs...competitions, before. And basic self defense."

She stood and clasped her hands in front of her, her fingers worrying nervously along her the back of her hand as she looked around the room. "I-I'm finished with dinner, I think. Would...would anyone like to be in a team with me?"

[SalmonMax]

"I will!" Sachiko gleefully announced, in complete ignorance, defiance or simple disregard for the pairing criteria Ayami had just outlined a moment before. "If we join forces we'll be unstoppable!"

She'd seemed to have changed her mind about the fairness thing as well.