Fandom DELTARUNE ~ Tale Anew

[Ciscodog]

Kell
With his remaining quarters, Kell heads over to the pizza sim.
The games don't last too long luckily, since you had five minutes to manage a pizzeria as best you could by serving your customers their pizzas. It was mainly about time management, including making pizzas, taking orders, cleaning tables, and other pizzeria based tasks while it started off extremely simple, it begins to grow in difficulty very quickly.
During the end game, you're serving 5 customers at once. Kell has studied several of the games here, this one included, but he always seems to choke on the end game section where things get much more brutal. Not that it's unusual for that to happen to anyone...
He played through once and managed to server a total of 30 customers. Granted, most of the tasks only take a few seconds to complete, the management comes in with your own speed of moving the joystick. Sometimes multiple things can be done at once, but those cases aren't as common as you'd initially think. You would need god-like RNG to hit a game where everything falls into place.
And yet the highscore boasts just over 50 customers served.
Dang this game is good, but I need to spend time here a bit better. I should probably leave at around 10 till...
It was 11:36. He thought he may as well say hi to mom (despite the peer pressure from cool guy Thogas), since it was polite and, well, who knows how long this little trip would be? He made his way over to her as
"Oh hey, sweetie! How are you doing this morning?"
"H-hey mom! I'm doing good. Thanks for giving me Muffet's Donut. It looks really good. I hope it didn't cost much..."
"Don't worry about it, I have it covered! Is there anything you wanted to talk to me about?"
"Oh yeah, Thogas wants to show me something by the ruins of the old city, so I wanted to clarify I may be missing for a bit."
"Oh a little adventure, how exciting! Just be back home before dinner for me, I'm planning to bake us an extravagant dessert tonight."
"Okay mom, thanks a bunch!"
Time check: 11:38.
One more game of the pizza simulator should do...
...
11:43. Satisfied and ready to go, he decided to head to the computer lab to see what he may be dealing with.
He typed into the computer's search bar, "Solace Burrow Graffiti" and quickly found an image of some spray paint splattered on the wall. Though, it seemed to be a bit blurry, as if someone was taking the picture in a rush.
He decided to scroll around for a bit before leaving, setting a timer on his phone for 11:50.

Location: Bliptown Computer Lab
Nearby: Roe ( withinasapphire )
OPEN FOR INTERACTIONS​

 

[Vagabond Spectre]

Sophie

The duo didn't seem to quite notice her presence or perhaps just ignored her eavesdropping. Either way, she heard enough. The day is still young as the sun shines overhead. The mall doesn't open till later, why not see what all the fuss is about.

To-do list
*Go to mall
*Investigate incident

This crime appears to be today's talk of the town, even the town sheriff has become aware of it and yet she has yet heard of it. Looking back to the two officers, she walked away without notice. It seems she has an idea where the crime scene took place, her feet had dragged themselves on the sidewalk again. Her hand is placed beneath her chin while her eyes are glued to the ground.

Halfway through the trip, an empty green soda can lies on the ground, its shape undented. She halts instantly upon encounter, it appears it has been here for a while. Her eyes traced away from the can to find a blue trashcan 6 feet away. She could not help but sigh before looking down at the piece of trash. A gentle breeze blows by, sun hat shades the girl's eyes and a stance of confidence from her shoulders down to the shoes. The imagination of a trajectory arc holograms itself into her line of sight. Kick! The can flew with a 'clank' sound at launch by her swift low kick. The can's impressive multi-flips came to an unsatisfying ending, the can was deflected from the open trashcan's lips and bounced back to the sender. Obviously, an annoyed look on her face as her trajectory calculation was off by an inch. Looking around hoping no one had witnessed the shot. Picking up the now dented can from the ground, it was thrown into the trash in a boring yet practical manner. With that out of the way she continued down the current path.

 

[Squad141]

Sunny blinked before responding.

"I suppose, but I don't want to get in trouble or anything. Besides, I have to stay here most of the day to get my articles done for club, so..."

Suddenly, she perked up, and turned to face Roe with her whole body.

"Hey, would you mind going for me? Your mom's part of the police force, right? I'm sure it'd be okay if you just take a peek, give me a few more details! I'll be in here all day, so it's impossible for me to get there anyways!"

withinasapphire

-------------------------------​

While you focus on scrolling, you find a few more, albeit blurry, pictures of the scene. Most seem odd, with the 'graffitti' by any modern standards being minimal. In fact, it looks like someone outright carved something into the stones, which would explain why it's so big of a deal when not many payed attention to those old ruins outside town.

Ciscodog

-------------------​

Where were those old rocks, anyway...

Well, the sheriff and the deputy mentioned something about a caretaker. There's not many places in town that need one of those nowadays, so it's got to be by someplace old...

Of course! With the snap of her fingers, Sophie realized: the old graveyard!

Vagabond Spectre ​

 

[withinasapphire]

It took a moment for Roe to properly process what was said. When the words finally got through, Roe could only stare in slight shock. Yes technically it was him who brought up going in the first place, but..going by himself? To a place that his mom probably wouldn't want him to go to right now in hindsight? That's..a lot. Would his mom get in trouble if he was caught wandering around there?

"I..don't.." Roe paused, eyes trailing towards Sunny. Well..he supposed when he thought about it, this was Sunny who was asking. She was the one who could make him feel at ease just by being there. Maybe..just once..he could repay that feeling by doing this little favor? It would just be a peek, nothing more. It all would be over before he knew it. Surely.

He breathed in a little and quickly exhaled. "..okay. But i-it'll just be a quick peek, right? Nothing..too crazy." He said, sounding more like he was looking for some sort of reassurance than anything else. "I've..never really.."

All of a sudden, Roe's words had trailed off. His eye had caught sight of something truly horrific. Right there, sitting at one of the computers, was a spider monster. A walking nightmare it was and Roe could already feel a shudder run through him. No no no no. Why is one here?

It was so creepy and scary and Roe couldn't bare to even look at it. His body now running on reflex, he reached out and lightly grabbed onto Sunny's sleeve. "S..Sunny, um.." Was all he had managed to get out before his voice had begun to fail him. He wanted nothing more than to just run out of here as fast as possible, away from that spider, yet he also didn't want to just leave Sunny out of seemingly nowhere. So he instead just stood there, doing his best to keep his breathing steady.

 

[Ciscodog]

Kell
Damn. Even if they were to clean up the paint itself, they'll never be able to fix the carvings.
He leaned back in his own chair, and checked the time.
11:45.
Well, at least he didn't need his timer. He turns it off as he overhears class happy girl, Sunny, talking to the shy and timid Roe. Heck, Roe seems to have a specific avoidance of Kell more than anyone else at school though, which is strange.
Even she knows about the incident? It must be that serious, then. Well...
He stands up and walks over to greet the two, smiling to be polite.
"Hey! Couldn't help but hear you guys are interested in that weird ruins stuff. I was invited by Thogas to go check it out in a few minutes. Wanna come with?"
Before he got his answer, Kell quickly checked his phone again to keep on schedule. A deal was a deal, specially when it came to Thogas.
If all goes well, Roe may lighten up to him as well. He's one of the very few classmates who hasn't really gotten to know him. As such, he doesn't really know much about Roe either. But better late then never, right?

Location: Bliptown Computer Lab
Interactions: Sunny ( Squad141 ) Roe ( withinasapphire )​

 

[Squad141]

Looking between the bug and the feline/canine with increasing excitement, Sunny quickly stood up, before awkwardly taking her seat trying to calm herself.

"Kell! If you're already going, then maybe you and Roe could go together! It'd be great to get different perspectives in my article, especially from both a policeman's son and a civilian. And Thogas..."

Sunny trailed off a second.

"Well, be careful. You know how he can get when he isn't able to release his energy in the school halls like usual. He can be erratic at times. And I hear the Sheriff is roaming around too, so try not to look too suspicious if you go!"

Opening one of her tabs, she spun back around and pointed at an image from the Library Archives. It was of a large, grassy area, but was hard to make out due to the age of the sketch.

"It shouldn't be hard getting there, either. You just have to go past the Cemetery in Old Town, and walk about a quarter of a mile into the wilder hill areas just outside of town. Oh, thank you both so much! I hear the cemetery is especially pretty during this time of year!"

Ciscodog withinasapphire

----------------------------------------------​

Indeed, pretty was a term that Sophie might have used for it.

On the edge of town with the leaves and wind blowing by momentarily, and having passed the large Cathedral Clocktower, a cared-for steel gate arched overhead, reading, 'Steward Family Cemetery'. If a cheerful song had been playing in town at this point, it would have faded to the tune of a slow, mellow music box.

The beauty of a graveyard came not from how it looked, but from how it was cared for, like a child. Observing the tombstones, it was clear that each area was carefully tended to during the evenings by the caretaker, with rarely any stones out of place or crooked. Even the famous Steward Stone Pots, oddly marked caskets for the Steward Family placed at the back near the Funeral Home and Caretaker's Home, were dusted and lightly shined.

There were only two others there at the time Sophie arrived. A pale monster with a purple ponytail holding a bundle of flowers looking at a grave before her, and parallel to her, one of your classmates, the spectral goopy girl in her neon blue hoodie, Tasia. She seemed to be silently sketching a landscape of the Graveyard, but barely seemed to register that someone new had entered her frame.

Opposite the entrance, at the very back of the graveyard, was a similar iron gate that read the same as the first. Underneath, a dirty rugged path rolled up a hill and into the distance.

Vagabond Spectre ​

 

[withinasapphire]

Roe immediately jumped upon hearing the voice of the spider, who had now moved closer. Turning his head ever so slightly to look at the monster, Roe could feel his fur standing up, along with his claws now beginning to reveal themselves all on their own. The second he noticed it, Roe had quickly hidden his now sharper paws behind his back. It was..embarrassing, but even worse than that, Roe had to practically fight with himself to not bare his teeth at the spider. He would not growl at the spider, he would not..he wouldn't, not here and now, but it's scary, why did it have to come over here?

Roe did not, in fact, want to come with. His eyes now intensely fixated on the floor, Roe could feel a part of himself die when Sunny brought up how he could go together with the spider. And if that wasn't bad enough already, apparently Thogas was going to be there too. Two monsters that Roe would much rather not be around, ever. His breathing began to feel even less steady at the thought.

He really couldn't focus. He tried to at least listen when Sunny was talking, but her voice had begun to sound far away at some point. It had to be because the spider was now way too close for comfort..or perhaps it was due to just how aware Roe was becoming of the situation he was getting himself into. He couldn't help but to feel as if he would get in trouble for this. He could already picture the stern face of his mother and how long the incoming lecture would be..probably around the same length of the ones his older siblings used to often get. Roe had never been on the receiving end though.

Shaking those thoughts from his head, Roe had managed to tune in long enough to know where to go. At some point, he had apparently taken out his smiley keychain, which was now being crushed in his grip. He didn't feel better.

Sending a quick wary glance at the spider, Roe nodded at Sunny's words. "Mm-hm.." His mind failed to add anything else. His claws slowly began to retract back into his paws, and Roe tried to breathe at a normal rate. He could get through this. As long..as this spider keeps his distance, and does not talk to him at all, then Roe would be fine.

Wordlessly, Roe had turned his body as if he were about to leave. He squeezed his smiley keychain as he seemed to wait, wanting to leave yet not wanting to make any moves of his own first. Even when he was afraid, he still didn't want to do anything if no one else was doing it beforehand. It was the safe route to take.

 

[Ciscodog]

Kell
"Hey thanks Sunny! I'll see you around, then!"
And with that Kell turns around towards the door.
"I've got to be there in about 10 minutes, but we'll make it just by walking."
He begins to walk through the crowds, looking behind him every now and then to make sure Roe is still with him. When they finally escape Bliptown, Kell takes a long breath.
"Another nice day to be out, huh? Sure, I love to game on the arcade cabinets with the smell of my mom's baking wafting through, but the sun is something you can't replace!"
His light green widow symbol seems to glow a bit in the sunlight. He stretches all of his arms to catch the rays, and looks behind himself.
"Ahh... That feels good... Are you ready to head to the ruins?"
He offers a welcoming smile to the cat-dog, hoping to start a new adventure.


Location: Bliptown (Moving towards Graveyard/Ruins)
Interactions: Sunny ( Squad141 ) & Roe ( withinasapphire )
​

 

[Vagabond Spectre]

Sophie

Steward Family Cemetery​

Finally, she arrived at the family cemetery of the Stewards family. Ever in pristine conditions, thanks to those who are responsible for caring for the graveyard, each tombstone was free of moss or soot of dirt. The beauty of the cemetery did not put the young girl to a halt, entering the gates without a decrease in walking speed. Quietness is in the air, along with the occasional howling wind whispering in the air also. It was just her and her footsteps.

After passing many tombstones, she slows down. Now her eyes scroll through the distance looking for out-of-place vandalism on the clean cemetery. So far, she is yet to find the rumoured graffiti. What did she did found was other visitors to the graveyard. One of them has a familiar face. Brushing past the purple-haired stranger, she came face to face with a classmate. Although, she was ignored, taking advantage of the lack of her classmate's spatial focus. She casually snuck behind her from her left. There she snuck around to check on the in-progress artwork. It was the graveyard itself being contoured into the paper. Her eyes diverted after a split second of artwork observation to look directly into Tasia herself. Again, barely noticed her presence. Waiting at least a minute.

"*Ahem* Good Morning."​

 

[withinasapphire]

Roe fiddled with his keychain as he reluctantly followed after Kell, his legs moving fast so as to not get left behind in the crowd. That would probably be worse than being stuck with this spider. Probably, though.

Finally out of Bliptown, Roe flinched when Kell took a long breath. He looked at the spider with wide eyes, expecting for this to be the part where the fellow monster decides to attack him. Spiders seemed like the type to go after their prey when away from crowded places.

Instead, however, Kell started talking. Roe listened, mostly out of fear of what would happen if he didn't. Maybe spiders have senses that let them know things like that, who knows. Roe didn't want to find out. Quietly, he took in what was said. Baking..Roe liked the smell of things being baked, too. It was nice. He didn't say that out loud though. Rather, Roe stared down at his keychain, pressing his paws into it hard. His voice was gone, or at least that's how it felt right now.

Roe also felt like his body had decided to leave the world when he watched, out of the corner of his eye, as Kell stretched every last one of his arms. In response, Roe decided to take a couple steps back, placing a bit of distance between them.

The other monster looked behind at Roe suddenly, and Roe's eyes swiftly looked away. He gave his keychain a crushing squeeze when Kell asked him the dreadful question. Was he ready?

He wanted to say no. It wouldn't be hard to just do that and run the other way home. It wasn't like he really wanted to be here, after all. With a spider monster too, at that. But...

Holding his keychain close, Roe gave a small nod. He was doing this for Sunny, he had to remind himself of that. Even if she was the one to force him to go together with this spider..

 

[Ciscodog]

Kell
Just a nod. Oh well, that just how some people respond.
"Alright then, let's move!"
They were still on time to get to Thogas before 12, though they can't afford to make too large of a stop. As such, Kell continues to walk linearly to the Old Town, only stopping when traffic causes issues. Eventually, he arrives at the entrance to the old town.
"Wow... so this was the old town area, huh. It's not really as old as people make it up to be. Just a bit more rustic architecture is all."
He continues further in. Kell knew where they were headed, but Sunny did give the recommendation to check out the graveyard, so they may as well take a peek.
When they reach the graveyard, Kell quickly takes a break to look around. It did look quite magnificent with the flowers in bloom and all. Sunny always did have a really good eye for that stuff...
"Sunny really knows her stuff about scenery, this is pretty great."
It didn't look grim or scary like in the movies, and it was much more serene and peaceful. There must have been a few visitors within the recent days, as some graves had flowers atop of them.
"What about you, Roe? You ever seen some of Sunny's suggestions?"
After pausing for his response, something caught his eye. Or rather, a small party of people.
"Hey, Roe? I think we got a fresh case."
Kell runs inside trying to catch up to what was going on. He turned around when he got close to make sure Roe was able to follow.
"Hey what's going on... is there a new incident?"
Upon closer inspection, there was two teens in the center of the crowd, one drawing something on piece of paper. It was too hard to tell what it was from the distance he was at, but it had a similar color to the cemetery as a whole.
"Hey, that's an interesting pair. I wonder what they're doing... Should we ask them, Roe?"

LOCATION: Old Town Cemetary
Interactions: Roe ( withinasapphire )
Nearby: Sophie, Tasia, ( Vagabond Spectre ) NPC Bystanders ( Squad141 )​

 

[Squad141]

Tasia, her eyes half-open, feeling the light breeze that passed over the headstone took a minute to register that Sophie had appeared. Mellow as ever, Tasia smiled.

"oh, morning, sophie. sorry, i've been working all day on this painting. it's getting harder and harder to focus nowawadays with school being out."

Tasia took a second.

...

Tasia took another second.
She looked back down, and painted a bit more.

"especially with the sherrif and deputy coming in and out earlier today. it was difficult to see from behind them."

Tasia dotted a speck of gray

...

Tasia looked up at Sophie.
Tasia slowly looked over Sophie.

"oh. hey kell. roe."

Tasi slowly waved.

Vagabond Spectre Ciscodog withinasapphire ​

 

[Vagabond Spectre]

Sophie

The spectral monster greets back, surprised that one of her classmates has made it behind her without noticing. She resumed her artwork in progress, the sun-hatted young woman only chimed in at the mention of the Deputy and Sheriff passing by before.

"Hmmm... I just passed them earlier. I heard something about, hmm, vandalism somewhere near here...?"

Sounding unsure at the end.

"You. Have you heard about that?"

After asking her classmate, just now she noticed how Tasia was not focused on her, in fact right behind her. Almost raising an eyebrow at her, Tasia called out two names. Almost familiar to her.

She watched Tasia wave her arm gently like a bamboo plant in a soft breeze. She too turned around quickly, whipping/flipping her hair back flawlessly. There she saw two monsters, a Canine-feline, and an arachnid based to be specific.

"Hello, can we help you with anything?"

Not asking a specific person, as she folds her arms.

withinasapphire Ciscodog Squad141

 

[Ciscodog]

Kell

"Oop, looks like they've spotted us. C'mon, let's go say hi."
Kell approaches the other two, smiling. He quickly analyzes the two from school. Tasia and Sophie.
"Hey Tasia, hey Sophie. Just stopped by to see what some of the other people are doing around here. In all honesty they seem to just be hovering the scene..."
Kell takes a quick look at some of the crowd surrounding the four. It wasn't like a mob gathering or anything, just a few people, but it was strange they all visited at this exact moment. Unless they are all related to this random guy who just died, seems off at cemetery.
He looks back to the others.
"Anyways, I came from Bliptown after Thogas wanted to meet me at around noon-ish to see the weird vandalism thing going on near the ruins."
Kell takes a look at the drawing Tasia is making as well.
"Hey, what's this, Tas? It looks really good!"
He always had a knack for compliments, perhaps that's what made him so likable.

LOCATION: Graveyard
INTERACTIONS: Tasia ( Squad141 ), Sophie ( Vagabond Spectre ), and Roe ( withinasapphire )​

 

[withinasapphire]

Roe quietly trailed behind the spider, eyes occasionally flicking to and from as they walked. He was keeping an eye on this spider, as well as his surroundings. He wasn't about to let his guard down anytime soon, especially considering who was walking with.

Roe raised his head when they arrived at the entrance to old town, aware that Kell was talking but still keeping his eyes trained elsewhere. "Mm."
He paused, eyes moving across the various graves. He didn't come all the way out here too often, mostly because his mother wasn't one to allow any of her kids to wander very far from home, but..he did have to admit that the surrounding scenery was kind of pretty. It wasn't as scary as he thought it'd be.

But then Roe felt his train of thought freeze before quickly falling away when he heard Kell say something directed at him. The scenery itself may not be too scary, but there was in fact something scary still present. He turned his head, eyes wide. "H-Huh?"

His brain had to catch up with the rest of him. The spider said something about Sunny. "S..Suggestions.." He had to stop for a minute, his mouth feeling like it had froze. He continued after a brief moment, his voice really quiet. "..Sometimes.."

Roe looked down at the ground after speaking, his eyes not exactly registering the small party of people. His ears twitched when Kell spoke to him again, something about a fresh case. Not really having the time or desire to respond, he immediately looked at Kell like he was crazy for running inside, but nonetheless he very reluctantly tagged along.

Roe noticed two teens who were probably around his age. When Kell suggested asking them, he was quick to shake his head no. The keychain that was held loosely in his paws received another tight squeeze. A spider was enough to deal with as is for him. And yet...

Tasia must have spotted them. Roe, with no real thought in mind other than wanting to hide from incoming stares, swiftly moved himself behind Kell. This was the closest he had ever gotten to the spider in the entire time they had been in each other's presence. The experience was short-lived, however, as Roe realized what he had just done. He took a few steps back, distancing himself a little from Kell. He still made an attempt to utilize Kell like a makeshift shield, though, by standing behind him. Just not too close.

Roe didn't say anything, but gazed at the human. Her name was Sophie, if he remembered right. He was aware of humans and their existence, of course, but they never ceased to amaze him all the same. They were just so..different from monsters. It was kind of interesting. Roe pressed his paws against his keychain when she spoke to them.

He couldn't will himself to say anything to her. Instead, he listened to Kell talk. At the mention of the other people, Roe nervously acknowledged their company. Crowds always sucked.