Multiple Settings I Hate Waiting in Another World!

[BuggaBoo]

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CoCo - The Wheel Woman

​

By herself and looking to the Sky...

"They lookin like they fixin' to leave...?! But I'm like less than half a block away! Un-frickin'-believable..."

CoCo leapt over another little bush then slowed her rapid pace down to a crawl. A sigh couple with a toss of both arms in the air; both actions illiciting disgust. She shook her head as she walked kicking a loose rock with much vigour. Blue eyes popped wide, "Eyo. am I ever so dirty..."

Peering down upon her dirty crop top, she immediately commenced the cleaning off of oneself. As she pat and swatted away at the strange metallic flecked debris off her person, she became immediately annoyed at how difficult it was to get the dirt offa her body. The scowl pulled down from her brow slowly dissipated the moment she fiiiiiinally cleared to top of the sparkly alien dirt. Finally she looked up and smirked. 'Chills' was there now with the others but it looked like a couple of them had disappeared? She had a quick glance around and didn't see them anywhere in the scrub.

But yeah. They were moving alright. Another sigh and another tossing of both hands skyward. Blue eyes narrowed as she watched them move... east? She supposed it would be east back home in her world. Suddenly a pang of homesickness hit her. Where was her car? A little push up of her lower lip could be called a pout; she actually missed her car, Rumbler in this moment. For an alien badland this place would actually be sooooooo nice to drop the top and cruise around in. The big woman sighed, eyes sparkling in longing and melancholy. It really would be nice to take her cute little DMV girl out for a ride... find a nice spot somewhere for just the two of them... slide into the backseat and slowly slide--

A shadow yanked her hard out of her daydream, her lewd smile and coy look immediately vapourized. The shadow came from above! Instinctively, CoCo's tan hand reached for her waistband but shockingly grabbed at nothing but air. "Dammit! It's in the car!"

Instead she took a defensive fight pose as she located the threat from above. It was some kinda giant alien bird with some kinda lumpy growth on its back. CoCo lowered to the ground and picked up two hefty sparkly pink and purple rocks. As she rose, waiting until it was well within strike zone, she finally realized what that thing acually was. Blue eyes popped wide and a grin breached full pink lips. It was the little silverheaded girlie from the group that had waved back at CoCo. And she was riding some kinda giant alien bird.

"Niiiiice. She caught a Pokepet..." CoCo said neath her breath and giggled. Idea Shoya A gloved hand rose up high, waving in greeting. Her other hand cupped her mouth as she shouted, "Hi!! What's good girlie and birdie! Eyo, I'm heading towards that group!"

To reiterate non-verbally, CoCo pointed a finger at herself then at the others less than half a block away. If the little thing had anything to say, CoCo would smile as she took it in and would nod along. But now, she knew that the aerial pair would catch up to her but she wanted to see how fast this alien birde was. That and she was CoCo after all.

"The name's Bunny! And you can't catch me!" the big woman broke into a full sprint.

​

---

 

[Shoya]

Sora​

Sora gives Mina a glare for calling him bird boy, biting his tongue from a sly remark before turning to a more pressing issue.

Why do I have to carry some commoner girl? I'm sure my eyes would be good enough to get information from the sky, especially as a bird... peacock? Whatever. Cooperating with the group is for the best, but it's an exceptioin.

"Don't let free rides become a habit, alright?" he says, in an almost pleading tone. He begins to transform, remembering the strange feeling of transforming as his body slowly begins to morph, expanding and growing feathers. His posture changes and before he knows it, is back in "bird form". He gives his wings a few flaps to feel how much impulse he makes with the wind, before allowing Kona to hop on his back. He does a running start before beginning to flap his wings in what felt like a rather natural and intuitive rythm. While somewhat shaky at first as he accounts for the extra weight on his body, he eventually steadies out enough for Kona to do her investigation of the land.

As they survey the land, he stares at the ground below, eventually seeing a human looking figure below, separate from the group. Kona points it out, and Sora begins making a descent to the ground below. He considers trying a nose dive to catch the girl quickly, as it seems to begin running. However, he considers it too risky.

Don't wanna scare the commoner too badly, and if I lose control, she could end up a splatter on the ground. Right after surviving the first fall too...

He glides down at a steady pace, eventually flying slightly above her.

"Who you are you calling a birdie? Just because I look like one doesn't mean I am one!" he says, landing a short distance ahead of her. Now landed, he takes in her appearance, coming to the quick realization that...

another commoner... come on...

He puts down a wing spread out across the floor to allow Kona to slide down, wanting more than anything to return to his normal and better looking human form.

 

[Coryen2]

"Actually, I think I spotted someone earlier. They were waving towards us, no, was it two people? She waved this way too. Everyone else I happened to see I think is already here, but I was actually about to use my power to make a spyglass and look around. Maybe I'll spot someone else while I'm at it."

"That's a pretty good idea, kid." Mina nodded to Kona, still not remembering her name. "Uh, don't push yourself though. We haven't found anything to eat yet. Wait..." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a slightly crumpled bag of salty peanuts, handing them to Kona. "Think this'll work?"

"Now, bird boy." Mina found herself acting unexpectedly bossy. Maybe it was due to finally speaking in person to people again after a long time? "How...big can you get? I mean, as a bird. If you can get big enough to lift kiddo here you can cover more of the area from the sky. Hopefully..." She glanced momentarily at Will. "...we find something that we can eat, instead of anything that wants to eat us. Now come on, sun's setting."

As the girl pointed off in the direction he had just come in from, Randal nodded, "If you two will look from the air, I will check our perimeter as we move. I am pretty sure you saw myself and Bunny off in that direction, but I will give it another look, just in case." Turning, he calculated the distance to his destination and vanished with an eerie lack of sound or warning.

Pulling himself through space, he appeared back up in the tree where he had first encountered Bunny before blinking himself down to the ground. Mina had been correct. The shadows had gotten considerably longer. "Anyone out here?" he called into the encroaching darkness, his voice oddly muted by the thick, soft grass. Pausing for a response, he listened as hard as he could, but there was no reply. Unsure how long he should wait, he paused for a few more seconds before dashing away. Now that he was moving on his own, he took a moment to take in his surroundings while on the move. It was at this point that he realized that there were no sounds of insects or birds. For a brief moment, he considered that the sound dampening of the foliage was covering it up, but no. There were no birds, insects, small animals....nothing.

Distracted, he stumbled on an uneven piece of terrain and slammed into the ground. No wait, it hadn't be uneven just a moment ago. Glancing down, his heart jumped in his chest. His leg was wrapped in some sort of root. Following the direction of the root with his eyes, he saw as it extended in an unnaturally straight line right towards the open face of a flower roughly 6 feet across. Before he had time to recognize the truth of the situation, the root pulled.

Five meters. Four meters. Three. His augmented understanding of distance did nothing to avert the upcoming disaster.

Two meters. One meter. Tearing his eyes away, he pulled on a point six meters away with all his might and felt an awful wrenching sensation in his knee. Panting for breath, he gritted his teeth in pain as sweat poured down his face. Looking back at his leg, he realized why he felt so tired. Not only had he moved himself, but he had uprooted the plant creature as well. The bush, flower, and roots were seventeen point eight five meters in height and twelve point three six meters across.

In its final moments of life, the flower sagged towards him. Not wanting to touch the thing before him, he reached down to the roots and began ripping and tearing away at them. Now that he wasn't being dragged closer, it was much easier to reach. Unfortunately, without a knife, the dropping petals reached him just before he could escape sending a tingling sensation through his arm where it had come in contact.

Jerking back and away, he finally loosed himself into the closing darkness. Both his right arm and leg refusing to respond to his thoughts. "Note to self," he gasped. "Do not let anything grab you."

Not wanting to push his luck any further, he teleported his way back to the group. Each jump a little more tiring than the last. It seemed the distance he moved drained him much the same as walking that distance would. Doubly so now that walking was out of the question. Panting, he arrived back with the group as darkness fell over them completely, "Stay away from the big flowers!"

 

[strawberryspiral]

As he hid beneath lush under brush body low to the ground and heart hammering away Gabriel begins to spiral, after all he's only human. A human in a world so unlike his own it may as well be work of fiction, a figment of some sort of concussed state- he must've smacked his head on the tile floors of the DMV. That's the only possible explanation, he'd heard of people hitting their head so hard they see stars- see the so called "heavens above," and the "pearly gates," all that holy junk. But, with his own shaky beliefs he'd expect to awake in eternal flames instead of soft pastel grass and cotton candy skies.

Down hill he's watching over some girl, panning over the vast clearing, and out over the horizon. Short, silverish hair that shined almost lavender under this strange pearlescent sky. The insides of the flower is slightly fuzzy against his skin, like a duckling's downy feathers. He's never been one to confront his fears and this is no different than that, he's always had an issue with meeting new people. Not an anxiety really, more like a dislike for small talk and the like that came from a deep hatred for awkward silences and intrusive questions. The migraines didn't help either, and maybe if he's honest with himself- Gabriel hates awkward silences because he's bad at social interaction. It's taken him this long to get his license for a reason after all, over thinking everything in his life is kinda his whole personality.

To some people that could be insufferable, an annoying addition to his already intolerable personality. He doesn't mind, Gabriel's grown up knowing he's an acquired taste. Here, alone, he can watch things happen from a far, observe the mannerisms of the people who seemingly dropped here out of nowhere just like him. Out there, gathered together like herd for slaughter, in the open, he's sure only trouble can follow. Besides, he's more comfortable alone anyways, or at least that's what he tries to tell himself while isolating himself in a world full of unknown potential peril. At what point did being alone become a con instead of the pro he tried to twist it into, for a long moment he considers standing up. Slightly shifting in the tall grass before starting to stand, only to jolt back onto his hands, and knees while chewing on the inside of his cheek. He's still a socially awkward coward, doesn't matter what planet he stands on. That won't change. No point in making himself known now, he' already committed to the flower camouflage hopefully, if anyone noticed him, they'd understand he posed no threat.

---

Mentions: Idea

 

[Idea]

• Coded
• Phone Version

• While she was scouting, Kona spotted that doctor person - Randall - suddenly show up in her field of vision. Confused, she looked back down to the group, and he was indeed gone. so he could just disappear from one place and appear in another like that? Kona guessed that explained how he showed up next to them... or it didn't, really. She was no closer to having a clue how it was supposed to work. Or any of their powers really. What even were these powers?
  
  Just as sudden as he appeared, the man disappeared again, this time in a much more understandable way that nearly made Kona jump in place, turned into a kick into the air by the fact that she was so far off the ground, unlike Randall who seemingly just fell on his back all of the sudden.
  
  "Ah, sorry!" She cried out, impulsively attempting to comb the bird's feathers as if stroking hair. She wasn't even sure she really hit him, but just in case... By the time she looked for Randall with the spyglass again, the man was standing there to some kind of tree thing tall enough to cast a shadow like a natural-born building. She couldn't help nudge the bird's neck "Wow! Hey do you see that? Do you?"
  
  It was a stupid question of course, it would be harder not to see a nearly six story weird alien-colored plant that popped out of nowhere blocking the fading sunlight, but the bizarreness of that whole situation was part of why Kona wasn't even able to think about what she was doing or just did. It was the kind of thing that sounded like some fairy tale about magic beans and giants on clouds or some other children's book with pop-up pictures her sister read to her back when she was respectable. Kona slumped a little forward. gently lowering her hands and the eyeglass she held onto Sora's back. To carry that new weight she felt unlike the one from before, her back fell into a hunch, and her gaze cast down as well as if to follow it's arc.
  
  "We're... definitely not on Earth...are we?" Sure, Kona said Earth. Their planet. Some world who knows what distance away and which she knew so little about. Her tone, however, spelled out a different word: Home.
  
  She shook her head and her thought along with it (a skill she could finally put to use!). She had to focus. They had already spotted a direction to go to. Mister Randall seemed to be alright. Now there was that other person she spotted! Kona made her request, and Sora began his descent. Kona expected a raise of a hand, a smile, maybe a glance of surprise at a highschool girl riding a giant peacock. Sure, she got that too, but not before she spotted 'Bunny' raising two fists to her chest and glance at her like a guy with a rebellious streak in a drama getting picked on.
  
  "WAIT! NO, FRIENDLY, FRIENDLY NO HARM COME IN PEACE!" Kona just blurted out whatever shouts came to mind while raising her arms in an X position. Maybe her panic was giving Sora a hard time, yet once more the situation was simply overwhelming.
  
  Whether Kona's flailing helped or made things worse, the piercing woman seemed to get the message that they weren't trying to pick a fight. Kona breathed a sigh of relief, ""simulating"" in her mind of what she was about to tell the woman... Only for her to suddenly starting away from them.
  
  "Where are you going?"
  
  Although not so much Kona would fall off, Sora seemed to pick up the pace (Kona tried not to pay attention to his annoyed tone, it felt like the kind of thing that was best not to think about while riding on his back who knows how high up) and managed to catch up to the leaping woman, landing not far away from her. Even despite his carefulness, Kona felt like her eyes were spinning as she panted out an explanation.
  
  "Wait... wait up... My name is Kona, this is Sora, and we..." She coughed a bit, covering her mouth with both hands. "We just wanted to tell you we managed to meet up with some other people in our situation, and yours. I think. You probably fell too and have some powers too... Anyway, we're going over that way, I spotted some smoke, so there could be people there!"
  
  Kona pointed the way Mina had started moving.
  
  "You're really good on your feet, so I don't think you'll need a ride. I hope that's alright." Besides, Sora might be too annoyed to let the woman on his back. Kona shot her an apologetic smile. "Can you get me to miss Mina and the rest Sora? Please? I'll try to walk on my own afterwards. You're the only one I can count on right now..."
  
  While they flew back, Kona couldn't help throwing glances (back or even in front if need be) to make sure 'Bunny' was coming along to the group. And yet, something else still bothered her. She didn't want to say to say it but on the off-chance, the tiny little widdle chance that the other "creature" she saw earlier was a person... Then they were the only ones not told where everyone else was going. Kona couldn't tell anyone to go find out (not even Sora) but if it was a person, wasn't she basically just abandoning them?
  
  She bit her lip. In a moment of foolishness or inspiration she unzipped her bag and ripped a page out of small notebook with squared paper and scribbled in a short message. She gulped, then tossed the message "overboard" hoping, no, praying, that potential other person she saw earlier would find it and follow them.
  
  

  Spoiler: Message

  If you're a person too, and you read this, we're going to the East, towards the smoke! Please come too!

  
  After that, the group was reunited. Or at least she was with the main group.
  
  

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

  
  Kona woke up to a strange beeping sound, and her hand instinctively reached for the alarm, only to find her palm slamming into the dirt. She slowly recalled where she was, and almost felt the weight returning to her chest, but this was replaced by the surprise of a bright blue panel floating in front of her vision.
  
  

  
  MISSION: Cleansing
  Objective: Slay the corrupted goblins.
  
  

  Goblins Slain: 0%

  
  Reward:

  Evolution

  
  
  
  Kona blinked a couple of times. Corrupted... goblins? Evolution?
  
  "Uhm.... excuse me.... is anyone else seeing this? Does anyone know what it means?"
  
  

  

  
  

  Artist Credit: ねく | neku on Pixiv​
• Artist Credit: ねく | neku on Pixiv

  
  
  
  While she was scouting, Kona spotted that doctor person - Randall - suddenly show up in her field of vision. Confused, she looked back down to the group, and he was indeed gone. so he could just disappear from one place and appear in another like that? Kona guessed that explained how he showed up next to them... or it didn't, really. She was no closer to having a clue how it was supposed to work. Or any of their powers really. What even were these powers?
  
  Just as sudden as he appeared, the man disappeared again, this time in a much more understandable way that nearly made Kona jump in place, turned into a kick into the air by the fact that she was so far off the ground, unlike Randall who seemingly just fell on his back all of the sudden.
  
  "Ah, sorry!" She cried out, impulsively attempting to comb the bird's feathers as if stroking hair. She wasn't even sure she really hit him, but just in case... By the time she looked for Randall with the spyglass again, the man was standing there to some kind of tree thing tall enough to cast a shadow like a natural-born building. She couldn't help nudge the bird's neck "Wow! Hey do you see that? Do you?"
  
  It was a stupid question of course, it would be harder not to see a nearly six story weird alien-colored plant that popped out of nowhere blocking the fading sunlight, but the bizarreness of that whole situation was part of why Kona wasn't even able to think about what she was doing or just did. It was the kind of thing that sounded like some fairy tale about magic beans and giants on clouds or some other children's book with pop-up pictures her sister read to her back when she was respectable. Kona slumped a little forward. gently lowering her hands and the eyeglass she held onto Sora's back. To carry that new weight she felt unlike the one from before, her back fell into a hunch, and her gaze cast down as well as if to follow it's arc.
  
  "We're... definitely not on Earth...are we?" Sure, Kona said Earth. Their planet. Some world who knows what distance away and which she knew so little about. Her tone, however, spelled out a different word: Home.
  
  She shook her head and her thought along with it (a skill she could finally put to use!). She had to focus. They had already spotted a direction to go to. Mister Randall seemed to be alright. Now there was that other person she spotted! Kona made her request, and Sora began his descent. Kona expected a raise of a hand, a smile, maybe a glance of surprise at a highschool girl riding a giant peacock. Sure, she got that too, but not before she spotted 'Bunny' raising two fists to her chest and glance at her like a guy with a rebellious streak in a drama getting picked on.
  
  "WAIT! NO, FRIENDLY, FRIENDLY NO HARM COME IN PEACE!" Kona just blurted out whatever shouts came to mind while raising her arms in an X position. Maybe her panic was giving Sora a hard time, yet once more the situation was simply overwhelming.
  
  Whether Kona's flailing helped or made things worse, the piercing woman seemed to get the message that they weren't trying to pick a fight. Kona breathed a sigh of relief, ""simulating"" in her mind of what she was about to tell the woman... Only for her to suddenly starting away from them.
  
  "Where are you going?"
  
  Although not so much Kona would fall off, Sora seemed to pick up the pace (Kona tried not to pay attention to his annoyed tone, it felt like the kind of thing that was best not to think about while riding on his back who knows how high up) and managed to catch up to the leaping woman, landing not far away from her. Even despite his carefulness, Kona felt like her eyes were spinning as she panted out an explanation.
  
  "Wait... wait up... My name is Kona, this is Sora, and we..." She coughed a bit, covering her mouth with both hands. "We just wanted to tell you we managed to meet up with some other people in our situation, and yours. I think. You probably fell too and have some powers too... Anyway, we're going over that way, I spotted some smoke, so there could be people there!"
  
  Kona pointed the way Mina had started moving.
  
  "You're really good on your feet, so I don't think you'll need a ride. I hope that's alright." Besides, Sora might be too annoyed to let the woman on his back. Kona shot her an apologetic smile. "Can you get me to miss Mina and the rest Sora? Please? I'll try to walk on my own afterwards. You're the only one I can count on right now..."
  
  While they flew back, Kona couldn't help throwing glances (back or even in front if need be) to make sure 'Bunny' was coming along to the group. And yet, something else still bothered her. She didn't want to say to say it but on the off-chance, the tiny little widdle chance that the other "creature" she saw earlier was a person... Then they were the only ones not told where everyone else was going. Kona couldn't tell anyone to go find out (not even Sora) but if it was a person, wasn't she basically just abandoning them?
  
  She bit her lip. In a moment of foolishness or inspiration she unzipped her bag and ripped a page out of small notebook with squared paper and scribbled in a short message. She gulped, then tossed the message "overboard" hoping, no, praying, that potential other person she saw earlier would find it and follow them.
  
  

  Spoiler: Message

  If you're a person too, and you read this, we're going to the East, towards the smoke! Please come too!

  
  After that, the group was reunited. Or at least she was with the main group.
  
  

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

  
  Kona woke up to a strange beeping sound, and her hand instinctively reached for the alarm, only to find her palm slamming into the dirt. She slowly recalled where she was, and almost felt the weight returning to her chest, but this was replaced by the surprise of a bright blue panel floating in front of her vision.
  
  

  
  MISSION: Cleansing
  Objective: Slay the corrupted goblins.
  
  

  Goblins Slain: 0%

  
  Reward:

  Evolution

  
  
  
  Kona blinked a couple of times. Corrupted... goblins? Evolution?
  
  "Uhm.... excuse me.... is anyone else seeing this? Does anyone know what it means?"
  
  

Interactions: Sora ( Shoya ) CoCo ( BuggaBoo )
Mentions: Gabriel ( strawberryspiral ) Randal ( Coryen2 ) Mina ( Nellancholy )
May Also Want to Read: Gaius Danius Griinia

 

[Coryen2]

Place holder for Montage.

 

[Coryen2]

Randal woke feeling much refreshed. Whatever Bunny did last night, it had helped immensely. Sitting up gingerly, he was surprised when his shoulder didn't hurt. Testing it, he realized that she had healed not only the damage done by carnivorous flower, but also his old football injury. Standing up, he looked towards the sunrise. Immediately, the dark blues, greens, and reds hover in the morning sky felt ominous. The strong reminder that he wasn't on earth only doubling when the screen appeared.

MISSION: Cleansing
Objective: Slay the corrupted goblins.

Goblins Slain: 0%

Reward:

Evolution

"Uhm.... excuse me.... is anyone else seeing this? Does anyone know what it means?"

Sighing, he cast his eyes around the perimeter of the camp, half expecting there to be corrupted goblins ready to pounce, when there were none, he replied, "Yeah, I see it. Kona, right? I think it means we are in for a fight. If this is anything like the web novels or anime I have watched, then either we are about to be ambushed, or the town that we are heading towards is in danger."

Turning to the camp and thinking about his previous night's incident he paused. This is probably a bad idea, he thought to himself, "I'll be right back. If I am gone more than 15 minutes, then I have probably gotten eaten by the forest or attacked by the goblins. Either way, you will know that heading towards the village is dangerous."

Pausing to mentally prepare himself, he threw Kona a reassuring smile, "Be right back."

Jumping slightly, he pulled himself straight up into the air fifty-six meters and oriented himself to the east. Up above the trees, he had an excellent view of what was to come. The smoke was some ways away yet. Based on his sense of distance, he quickly calculated it would take about an hour to walk. As gravity exerted itself upon him, he pulled again, moving towards the place in the distance, making sure to regain both height and move in smaller jumps. No point in traveling the full distance now if would drain him of a full hour's strength in one go.

Each pull carried him closer to his destination. As he moved, he tried to plot out a path on the ground to take as well, but growing up in the city had ill prepared him for this. He had a general idea of the lay of the land, but hiking and navigation had never really been his thing. If it wasn't for his ability telling him precise distances, he would have been worried about getting back.

A few moments later, he found a perch on a tree with a decent view of their destination. Chills ran down his spine. This town was not some peaceful hamlet in need of saving, it was an enemy camp. Tents, barricades, guards. All the trappings of a military outpost. This was what they had to fight? As he watched, he saw the beasts drag out members of their own kind.

No. Not their own kind. He wasn't sure how he knew, but something in his gut said that they were different. Glancing around, he found a better vantage and pulled himself over to it. Holding still, he realized the difference. Most of the goblins in this camp had long, spiky growths sticking out of their body, but the ones being dragged did not. When the captured group of goblins reached the center of the camp, one of the tent flaps flipped aside and a corrupted goblin came out. The thorns sticking out of this creature were much longer than that of the others, and on the spikes on its head hung small balls of what looked like cotton.

Sitting here, Randal could faintly hear the screams of terror from the captured goblins that were soon drowned out. The corrupted camp was chanting in some sort of language he couldn't understand. He couldn't look away. He knew something terrible was about to happen, but he couldn't help himself.

The one crowned in cotton approached its captives and raised its arms into the air. As it did so, the camp fell into silence. Pulling, it snapped one of the growths off of its head and stabbed it straight into the chest of its captive.

It was at this point that Randal turned away. The screams of the victims and the barbaric roars of approval were enough to turn his stomach. He needed to get back. Chancing a look back at the carnage, he prepared himself for gore and death. What he saw was in many ways worse.

Standing where the captured goblins once were were three newly converted corrupted goblins.




Horrified, Randal returned to camp and gave his report.

 

[strawberryspiral]

As light began to crowd his vision Gabriel came to with a restless start. He’d managed to find himself a small crowding of trees, leaned back into it, and fell asleep among the soft blue moss. Just like he would out hunting back home, in the countryside. Luckily enough, for him the large seed pods stuck between fibrous fluff of the flower he wore seemed to be some sort of edible. Chewy, and lacking any real flavor but dirt and pungent floral, but sustenance nonetheless. Gabriel had been a bit sussed out about eating an unfamiliar plant but had eaten the tiniest bit at first and waited to see if stomach cramps followed.

It hadn’t rained last night thankfully, or whatever is this planet's version of water falling from the sky. He’d have to put together some sort of tent or lean to, something with a roof woven from branches and vines. Though, he wouldn’t get far without a tool of some sort. So, he’d taken to sharpening a flat rock against another- both found at a nearby stream bank. It’d taken most of the night, and Gabriel shivered throughout the whole ordeal. But after several hours of sliding stone to stone he’d made himself a makeshift spear head, then attached it to a dry yet thick stick with vines thick mud he'd applied like clay. Letting it dry in the last hours of sunset and the wee hours of sunrise.

It was a poor cry from an actual spear, but he was proud of it, maybe all those years being dragged on family hunting trips was finally paying off. His dad had always been a survivalist and doomsday prepper, but who knew he’d find himself in a world not his own using those same skills. Now he’d wished he’d paid more attention, especially to the hunting part. There were these little fuzzy creatures- similar to squirrels with longer snouts and ringed blue and gray tails, he bet they’d be good roasted over an open flame. But Gabriel had never been that great at aiming a firearm or bow and arrow, let alone any spear, fishing suited him much better.

The small group he’d noticed from afar had moved some and collected another two people. When he’d last checked they all seemed to be sleeping, except for one person who had disappeared, some guy who had joined up with them alongside the tall woman with bright pink hair. Gabriel knew at some point he’d have to reveal himself, but getting the layout of the land first was important. Plus, figuring out whether these people could be trusted…

But there was a girl, how old he isn’t sure- she’d left some sort of note that he could only take as a sign of potential goodwill. Or great manipulation on her part, either way, he didn’t know anyone’s true intentions but she seemed alright. This new world had turned his own upside down, so, his lack of trust for fellow man could be seen as paranoid. But to him, it was warranted. Who knew what someone could be capable of in such an intense survival situation? But his likelihood of surviving out here long without help was slim to none. Self preservation had never been his strong suit exactly, his brothers were much better at that sort of stuff than him. Especially when it came to finding a way to fit in socially with strangers, he had a tendency to overthink things- it was why migraines and anxiety were pretty much a constant in his life.

That thought makes him pause as he begins to stretch out fatigued muscles, Gabriel hadn’t had a single head ache since arriving here. Strangely, the light around him was rather calming to his eyes unlike the brilliance of the Earth’s sun. Just as he pushes himself off the cold, hard ground a distant chorus of screams, shrill yet guttural, inhuman in every way echo off the trees. Gabriel takes the time to duck into underbrush, before bending at the knees to jump high into the pastel purple sky. As he breezes up through branches, above tree tops, he looks down over the small camp of fellow crash landing humans, shifting his body mid air to turn behind him. Smoke that he’d noticed while tailing the group billows high into the air and he sees figures, like little specs, darting to and from from tents and shabby buildings. Then his body is dragged back down to earth, stopping himself from crash landing by focusing on that center weight, a pull in the bottom of his gut that somehow managed to make his body defy gravity.

He drifts lightly to the ground, preventing another crash landing just like he had yesterday. The little settlement of inhuman shriekers beyond the crowded trees and brush grows louder. This time, releasing blood curdling screams that shatter any sense of peace or control he might’ve once felt. Shabby spear in hand he takes a few unsteady steps in the direction of the garbled shrieks, unable to fight the curiosity it brings him.

Just a peek, just one, a long enough look to understand what sort of situation he’d fallen smack dab in the middle of. As he crests over a gathering of multicolored bushes, pressing in between tightly knitted trees a strange screen appears before him. Another prompting from whatever conniving being put them all here.

“Slay the corrupted goblins?” He mutters to himself in disbelief, holding up his lame attempt at a tool slash weapon with a grimace.

Poking his head through the screen of ink purple ivy he comes face to face with some tiny, green, fuzzy monstrous thing. A cheshire-like grin slowly spreads over its pale green, cherubic cheeks. Raising both miniature arms, it starts waving them, while screaming something in a language that sounds like straight up gibberish to his ears. Then like clockwork more of them begin to appear, Gabriel shouts out in alarm as the first one he meets grabs him by the leg. Digging sharp little talon-like fingers into the meat of his thigh.

“AAUGH! God that stings like mother-” Jabbing it blindly with his spear, he panics as he’s swarmed. Little hands digging into his pants and thighs trying to drag him down to his knees.

So, he does the only thing he can think of, launching his body high up into the air, and watching little green bodies fall off from the sudden velocity of his jump. Kicking his feet wildly to rid himself of the gremlins.

“EEEEEP!” The little creatures’ desperate cries cut off with the loud THUNKS of their bodies hitting the hard ground below.

Gravity taking effect as he begins to sink down, he takes a deep breath to prepare himself. White knuckles squeezing around the thick spear’s bark handle, his only hope is the ability to leap away. Unless somehow the tide is turned, but he doubts it will, with his luck as of late, the others are probably still sound asleep- naive to the present looming danger.

“Goblins, of all the mythical creatures, it just had to be goblins? Aw man, why couldn’t I fall onto a planet with corrupted unicorns and butterflies instead?” Below him the ground approaches and the viscous screams of barbaric goblins bring him back to his startling, yet unbelievable reality.

“This just- just can’t be real, can’t be-” The burning sensation of his thigh, where the little monster dug into him snaps him back to the present. Looking down to see red blood spilling down his jeans, warm unlike the rest of him, having spent the night shivering against a tree.

Gabriel shifts his weight, pulling himself from falling down to swinging sideways to situate himself in a thick tree trunk about twenty feet above the chaos. If he was lucky he could stay up here and make his way down later in the night when they stopped searching for him. If not he’d have to hope distraction came along, or the others got the same message and are already on their way. His left thigh still throbbing, pressing down on it with his free hand, hoping to start some clotting. Hopefully they hadn’t nicked an artery, or he’d be dead in minutes.

 

[Nellancholy]

Mina was one of the later ones to awaken, from what had been a dark, dreamless, but largely ineffective sleep. It would have been nice, heart-wrenching perhaps, if she could say that after all this time, she had a dream of her. But she didn't. Her subconscious mind did not fire her neurons in just the right combination to dredge up memories of her, formed into some pleasing or perhaps ominous image. Ah, who could she even tell for sympathy? Certainly no one she knew, and no one in this little group that had formed a sort of impromptu camping trip on some far-flung planet they could not leave, if not for the mercy of the same inhuman forces that granted them these utterly odd gifts.

Speaking of which...

She sat up from where she lay amidst the grass, her arm numb from being rested on in lieu of trying to use a stone as a pillow. Her eyes were blurry and crusty, and her lips were dry but her throat was...more hydrated than she would expect. Was this a pleasant side effect of her gift? She had spent much of last night experimenting with her back turned to Kona, bird boy, and the others, drooling, spitting, and coughing at various objects, figuring out what on this blasted landscape burned readily and what took some effort. What kind of exertion was needed for her to deliberately breathe fire, and what she could get away with without setting anything in front of her face alight.

So when the notification and the scouting report came in, she was ready.

"You're not kidding, right? Some kinda joke because most of us can't fly or do your weird pully thing?" Mina croaked at Randal. "Haa...fine." She pinched the bridge of her nose, flopping back down to the ground. Whoever had sucked them into this odd situation, they seemed to enjoy setting it up as some kind of game. And this round of the game was set up like one of those open world shooters. "So we gotta...swoop in, clear the outpost, and get our reward, right?" Her voice took on a grim tone. "I wonder if they'll penalize us if any of the...uncorrupted get hurt. I guess we'll find out."

With that, she stood up, opening her arms to address the rest of the group. "Alright everyone! I got a plan." Or at least, a part of one. But she wouldn't admit that in front of her new acquaintances.

It took her around fifteen to twenty minutes of assembly with little explanation, as she gathered branches, wrapped leaves around them, and coated them in her pyroclastic excrescence. "Okay, so! Clearly whoever wants us to play along with this little game likes the fantasy tropes. So why don't we make like an angry mob and torch the place? Like...not all of it, but enough to send those goblins out into a choke point or something, you know? And then anyone who's feeling punchy can just give them a good pounding." With that, she handed them each a branch, effectively serving as an oversized match that could strike very easily and then thrown, or perhaps used as a striking weapon with a lot of extra spice. Except her, of course. She had two.

"You, bird boy, you're with me."

---

Assuming Sora's assent, she would take wing with him, either in a full avian form if he consented, or clutched in his talons if he preferred to maintain a more humanoid form. The two would fly over the goblin camp to kick off the assault with a strike from above.

"Hmm...where should I..." The capture and conversion of the goblins had continued apace, with a few green ones still trying to run or fend off their assailants. Most, however, were now decidedly more...spiky. Mina's eyes came across...a stack of barrels, placed in a somewhat central location of the camp, next to a large tent. "...there we go." Barrels in an enemy camp? That could only mean one thing.

Mina took in a deep breath, and then...

"Aghaghurgh!"

An ugly cough escaped her lips and a slimy ball of fire struck the barrels. Instead of going up in flames like she'd expected, the barrels simply ruptured in rapid succession, and a thick flood of slimy, translucent, gray-tinted fluid spilled out. The fluid didn't seem to burn readily, but it flowed quickly before setting, gumming up a group of corrupted and uncorrupted goblins alike and prevented them from fleeing the aftermath. Was that stock of fluid some kind of beverage or sweetener? Maybe fuel? Mina couldn't tell, but that went alright, all things considered.

With that, a cry went up from the camp, the corrupted goblins moving in sync as several of them seized bows and spears, sending a stream of pointy projectiles into the air.

"Ah crap..."

Sora would have to begin dodging those attacks while dealing with a momentary shift of Mina's weight. She snorted onto one of the torches she carried, lighting it up before winding up and giving a good throw at the goblin archers.

It proceeded to bean one of the taller archers in the head-

"Fuck yeah!"

-and send that goblin toppling to the ground with it, where it would start a small fire, sending the other archers scattering for the moment.

Even so, things were still looking wobbly for Mina and Sora, as not all of their assailants relented.

"D-don't worry if you have to drop me, kid. I won't be uh...TOO mad, I got this."

She wasn't entirely sure she could pull off the same updraft trick she pulled when she arrived here, but she wasn't about to show her fear right in front of everyone.

Coryen2 Shoya

 

[BuggaBoo]

---

CoCo - The Ki Flow Healer

​

Waking and readying for murder...

How the hell was this even cool with everyone..?

Okay sure she was a criminal that may or may not have been involved in activities that resulted in fatal endings for opps... But this? This was something else entirely. This was a full out assault on some unknown aliens. All given by a faceless, electronic command to murder; an objective, as if that was such a normal thing to receive and then execute.

She picked up the long smooth dark purple giant thorn and put it with the rest of her collection. Upon the ground was more of these thorns, all with rope-like pink vines used to bind to eerily straight and petrified branches. There was more than enough to go around. These would do as spears and she also had collected absolutely gorgeous shiny baseball sized rocks. They too were also eerie despite looking like collectors items; pink and purple marbled stones with amazing reflective patterned metal inlays. And they were perfect spheres. And eerily, they were alive too.

Yes, she knew they were alive. In fact she could tell what was alive, in this paranormal purply-pink expanse, and actually what they did, just by touching them. That was part of this whole insane... otherworldly 'event' they were all unwittingly forced to volunteer in. CoCo could now detect and manipulate primal life forces; 'Ki'. She was now also a channeling healer of sorts. But it still did kinda freak her out that she didn't sleep, and yet still got up and walked around as if nothing bad happens to people who don't sleep for nearly 24hrs straight. That and she was a big girl with an even bigger appetite. But nothing. No grumbling tummy, not even a whimper. It actually kinda pissed CoCo off; she loved eating breakfast!!

And so the big pink-headed inked up woman had spent the early 'morn' scouring, scavenging and setting up for the oncoming onslaught. The big woman hefted her makeshift carrying satchels, spears framing her tan visage like a headdress, giving her the look like some kinda bastardized tribal warrior. Nellancholy "Eyo, I love the smell of burnt alien flowers in the morning."

A huge grin she tossed Mina as she continued to cough, spit and gag up blast after blast of fiery goodness, practicing her newly found skill. A fist bump she offered the pyrotechnic lady before sauntering over and Idea patting little silvery-headed Kona's shoulder gently, offering up a friendly smile.

"How'd you sleep last night?"she jerked a thumb towards the feathery fella she rode upon yesterday. Shoya He had got all sassy about being called a birdie. And yet nothing about her other descriptor, "Did your 'Pokepet' keep you all snuggly and warm? Hahahahah! I kid, I joke... Mornin' Poke-- I mean; Sora. Hahahahah...!"

But her morning mirth soon ended. Coryen2 A disgruntled sigh she let out as the teleporting dude she called 'Chills' returned. How the hell was everyone okay with all this? They had been given: a Mission, an Ojective and a Reward. Like they were in some kinda' freakin' video game. But still they were all balls deep in this effery and so if it meant finishing objectives so they could make it back home then so be it. "Good morning to you too, Chills. Now... who wants to commit murder..."

A scowl remained upon her face as Mina delivered her plan to all of them here. As she watched Mina go forth and make her 'matches', CoCo untied her satchel and both gloved hands lay out her goods. "Amigos y amigas, check it. Ya girl got some fresh kit for us to share. Badass spears and projectiles that will absolutely wreck mfers.

Grab a spear or 2 but bruh, careful 'kay? They are made from the thorns of those giant dancy, fancy flowers there. They kinda goofy and cute but their thorns are lined with some kinda' numbing substance. Even if they still not attached. Yeah, so like Chills said; careful of the giant flowers, y'all.

Now each of us gots a sack with 3 gorgeous marbly orbs in them. Not Prada but it will do hahahahah! Ahem anywho the 'rocks' yeah they a biiiiiit smaller but heavier than a baseball but pack an even bigger punch when you chuck 'em. They actually seeds 'kay? But eyo careful; Don't let them break on you; they will tryna root into your flesh, force themselves deep in and grow into your organs. Yeah, I know rite? Nightmare fuel, y'all..."

She exchanged goods with Mina before watching she and Sora fly off. Blue eyes had to look away; a dark thought of both never returning had snuck up into her mind. The big woman cleared her throat and turned to the others,"Okay, so just remember, I can heal you. But you need to be calm and lie still, 'kay? Chills, you the measuring phenom. Just let me know where to go and what to do and I will absolutely slay out there."

Big tattoed arms flexed as she holstered her weaponry and hefted her carrying sacks over her shoulders, taking good care keep the 'matches' away from rough surfaces. A smile, wink and nod, she warmly gave to the little silvery-headed Kona, "If you get hurt just hop on back to ya girl, right? Bunny gots ya."

A curt nod. Blue eyes turned into gunmetal, "Alright. Let's Freakin' Go...!"

​

---

 

[Idea]

• Coded
• Phone Version

• "Fight? What do you mean, fight?" Kona gasped. Truth be told this was the kind of thing she realized probably shouldn't be so shocking, considering their skydiving experience yesterday and that they were in this strange mysterious place where nothing was as they knew. It only made less sense when the doctor guy started talking like Devan, about anime and mango. Kona wasn't sure what cartoons and fruit had to do with the danger, but with everything that was actually happening in front of her, she was ready to believe anything.
  
  "Hey, wait..." But the good doctor was already on his way, the first one to take action. Randall's "reassuring" smile hadn't reassured her at all, rather leaving her with the echoes of his warning of impending danger in the one place they found with civilization. Now, Kona didn't know much about history, but she knew she wasn't nearly talented enough to completely recreate it from scratch. If the one place with people was inhabited by these "corrupted goblins" they were being told to kill, weren't they basically just stranded in prehistory? Not that even prehistory was as weird as this place was.
  
  She didn't want to disturb the self-proclaimed bunny who was awake even before Kona was apparently, and was either super strict or had something really important to do, not that Kona knew what. As such, in her moments of waiting all she could do was sit down to the person who seemed nearest to her age, Sora. She wondered if he'd let her stroke his feathers. They were surprisingly soft back when she rode him. She blushed a little just at the thought of asking such an awkward question, and he probably wouldn't like that anyway, plus he was asleep and all! Really, what was she thinking? Kona had to get a hold of herself. She rubbed her temples, trying to regain a bit of composure. Unfortunately, the world wasn't set on letting her.
  
  She thought she spotted some figure in the distance, leaping high into the air as a bunch of smaller things fell off helplessly, like fragments of a cookie breaking off as one tries to grab it from a pack.
  
  Kona slowly, gently fell to her knees. Wasn't she supposed to wake up from dreams in her bed, staring at a pile of half-read textbooks and panicking about school? Wasn't this too much? Her hand instinctively searched for her bag, but her memory caught up to the fact that even if it was in reach it would be empty of what she sought. Hands shaking, she brought one to her lips, as she stared vaguely into the ground and nibbled on the back of her index finger. The world felt silent, giving her no reply nor listening to her internal pleas.
  
  Then she felt a weight on her shoulder. A simple shoulder pat, a simple smile and a simple question about how she slept. The kind her parents might ask each morning even as she scowled at them for daring to ask her how she was doing after having to wake up.
  
  "Like a rock. On the road. An old dirt road." She replied, hurriedly taking the finger from her mouth. She didn't even notice a single tear flowing over her cheek. "I'd rather have gotten somewhere comfier to sleep in... not that there's anything.. and if I tried making it I'd go to sleep even hungrier..."
  
  Right on cue, her stomach growled.
  
  "See? But uhm... thank you for asking uhm... Bunny was it?"
  
  Moments later, Randall had returned with an absolutely 'Nope' kind of look, and before Kona knew it everything was moving at a pace she couldn't keep up with.
  
  Randall briefed them on the situation. Kona's eyes widened and she covered her mouth as she took in the horror being describe. It was being described by a medical professional - To someone like Kona, some words sounded all the more gruesome for her lack of comprehension. Kona didn't even know what a goblin was but nonetheless her chest pounded and sunk and she couldn't help borderline jumping up.
  
  "We-We've got to stop them, that's horrible!" She almost shouted. Not that she had the slightest idea how, and it took but a moment for it to dawn on her that rescuing anyone would involve confronting those things themselves. Then again... Kona glanced at the floating panel. They had to do that regardless didn't they? Otherwise even if there was no penalty, they just be stuck here forever. She didn't get why any of this was happening, or what was happening really, but it was their only way out, if there was a way out, wasn't it?
  
  All of the sudden, even as she convinced herself to go through on her own words, people were in motion, strategies were being discussed, mss Mina was gathering and wrapping sticks, people were murmuring, Sora was getting his bearings... Kona just ran to her bag and grabbed some books, no idea what she was doing, but maybe by some miracle there would be some kind of idea there?
  
  Best she could come up with from that was the last resort of killing the goblins with boredom. Or math. Same thing.
  
  They gathered for a planning session.
  
  ...
  
  "We're going to set fire to them?!" This time Kona actually shouted, then shrunk on herself. "Ah, no, I'm sorry..:"
  
  Wouldn't this burn all the good goblins too though? And sure it wasn't night time, but Randall told them there was like a fortress or something there didn't he? If they just walked up to it with giant matchsticks, wouldn't be gunned- arrowed down on the spot?
  
  Kona didn't get to gather the courage to elaborate on her objection before things were again moving on. Already miss Mina was leaving, having handed her a stick while she took Sora away with her. That was really kind of him, though he didn't seem too pleased the first time either... Come to think of it he did just wake up too... Maybe he was just going along with it cause he wasn't quite a morning person?
  
  Then Bunny began giving out sticks herself, or thorns in her case. Kona almost dropped hers from the scare what she was told what they were coated with. Numbing was probably worse for her than regular poison, she might actually fall asleep while she fought! Fortunately even if she dropped one, Bunny had a lot of them. It made her think of one of those torture things a classmate presented in class once, and there was also that tr...ap...
  
  It was only when they begun to move that an idea finally clicked for Kona.
  
  "Uhm! Please! Excuse me! Miss Bunny!" She cried out while trying to keep up with the woman's own pace, a rather complicated thing given even despite their age difference, the woman seemed far more athletic than Kona would ever dare try to be. "I-I-I was thinking, aren't there a ton of goblins and stuff? I ate a little last night and I slept, so I think I could use my power again and and, I was thinking, well, maybe I could..."
  
  She stopped and put a hand to her chest, breathing in and out to try to sort her thoughts.
  
  "I was thinking we could lure them into a trap! I don't know much about these things at all, but I heard about these traps that were like, holes with spikes on the bottom? You brought all those spikes... and I think if you can give me some time, I can make an excavator to make a rally big hole. Then I could cover it with something... And if we can get the goblins on that something, I could just turn off my power after that, and they would all fall in! D-does that sound like a good idea?"
  
  A big smile was plastered on the teen girl's face as she received approval for her plan.
  
  "Yes! I'll do my best! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
  
  She covered her mouth, embarrassed at the high pitched yelp.
  
  "I-I'm not sure what we'll do to hide the dirt, but I'll try thinking of something! I'll go over that way to get started!"
  
  

  ......................​

  
  There were several reasons why creating the excavator could take time. First, it was big. Probably the biggest thing Kona had tried yet and her stomach while fuller thanks to some food she and others had managed to scavenge the night before, was not exactly really full. Second, unlike most of what she created she knew basically nothing about how excavators worked. Sure she saw plenty in construction work, but she didn't know anything about how they were inside and stuff. She didn't even take the chance to go inside one during a museum trip, a childhood memory she never imagined would get dredged up, let alone with regret. Third, she needed to set up the thing to dig her hole on its own and fast. Still, with whatever mysterious instinct she had within her to understand her power, it was clear to her this was possible, if extremely taxing on her. She doubted she could truly reproduce a full-blown excavator, and even her approximation probably wouldn't last for as much as an hour.
  
  Kona stretched out her arms, even beginning to sweat as a she squeezed as hard as she could mentally, physically and supernaturally. What memories she had of what she was trying to make flooded her mind, flashing in quick succession while trying to map out the idea of it and every bit of information she had. As she opened her eyes to see the stream of green energy particles pouring out of her, now that she was creating a larger and object that took longer to make, she noticed for the first time that there was some kind of spherical object at the center, an almost transparent phantom of the final semi-transparent product that was forming.
  
  Still she knew the sensation creeping up even as she began to really construct things. She could see it in her mind, so many short-cuts, so much hand-waving of mechanics, she felt like fish smoking in the grill, being slowly dried off. Her body shook, she almost fell on her back a couple of times. She thought of home. Of all the things she wanted to get back to. She didn't like any of this. She wanted out. The others probably did too. That's why they had to do this nasty thing. And when she got home, maybe she would apologize.
  
  Oops, she almost relaxed for a moment. The construct almost broke mid-construction. Kona gritted her teeth and pushed through.
  
  The end result was the smallest, most sloppy excavator she had ever seen in her life. It was like a clown car excavator painted by Picasso, it was like some kind of children's toy standing at a mere five feet tall and far flatter than a typical excavator could ever be. Fortunately this excavator could work on its own without needing someone to pilot it. Good thing too, because even as the thing began to move, Kona's legs gave out and she face-planted into the ground.
  
  It wasn't what Kona had hoped for, but it was what she could make right now. It would do to dig their hole. Besides, she still had one more job to do once that was finished. Kona needed to rest, but she couldn't afford to fall asleep yet.
  
  "Go get them, everyone." She cheered, voice muffled by the ground.
  
  

  

  
  

  Artist Credit: ねく | neku on Pixiv​
• Artist Credit: ねく | neku on Pixiv

  
  
  
  "Fight? What do you mean, fight?" Kona gasped. Truth be told this was the kind of thing she realized probably shouldn't be so shocking, considering their skydiving experience yesterday and that they were in this strange mysterious place where nothing was as they knew. It only made less sense when the doctor guy started talking like Devan, about anime and mango. Kona wasn't sure what cartoons and fruit had to do with the danger, but with everything that was actually happening in front of her, she was ready to believe anything.
  
  "Hey, wait..." But the good doctor was already on his way, the first one to take action. Randall's "reassuring" smile hadn't reassured her at all, rather leaving her with the echoes of his warning of impending danger in the one place they found with civilization. Now, Kona didn't know much about history, but she knew she wasn't nearly talented enough to completely recreate it from scratch. If the one place with people was inhabited by these "corrupted goblins" they were being told to kill, weren't they basically just stranded in prehistory? Not that even prehistory was as weird as this place was.
  
  She didn't want to disturb the self-proclaimed bunny who was awake even before Kona was apparently, and was either super strict or had something really important to do, not that Kona knew what. As such, in her moments of waiting all she could do was sit down to the person who seemed nearest to her age, Sora. She wondered if he'd let her stroke his feathers. They were surprisingly soft back when she rode him. She blushed a little just at the thought of asking such an awkward question, and he probably wouldn't like that anyway, plus he was asleep and all! Really, what was she thinking? Kona had to get a hold of herself. She rubbed her temples, trying to regain a bit of composure. Unfortunately, the world wasn't set on letting her.
  
  She thought she spotted some figure in the distance, leaping high into the air as a bunch of smaller things fell off helplessly, like fragments of a cookie breaking off as one tries to grab it from a pack.
  
  Kona slowly, gently fell to her knees. Wasn't she supposed to wake up from dreams in her bed, staring at a pile of half-read textbooks and panicking about school? Wasn't this too much? Her hand instinctively searched for her bag, but her memory caught up to the fact that even if it was in reach it would be empty of what she sought. Hands shaking, she brought one to her lips, as she stared vaguely into the ground and nibbled on the back of her index finger. The world felt silent, giving her no reply nor listening to her internal pleas.
  
  Then she felt a weight on her shoulder. A simple shoulder pat, a simple smile and a simple question about how she slept. The kind her parents might ask each morning even as she scowled at them for daring to ask her how she was doing after having to wake up.
  
  "Like a rock. On the road. An old dirt road." She replied, hurriedly taking the finger from her mouth. She didn't even notice a single tear flowing over her cheek. "I'd rather have gotten somewhere comfier to sleep in... not that there's anything.. and if I tried making it I'd go to sleep even hungrier..."
  
  Right on cue, her stomach growled.
  
  "See? But uhm... thank you for asking uhm... Bunny was it?"
  
  Moments later, Randall had returned with an absolutely 'Nope' kind of look, and before Kona knew it everything was moving at a pace she couldn't keep up with.
  
  Randall briefed them on the situation. Kona's eyes widened and she covered her mouth as she took in the horror being describe. It was being described by a medical professional - To someone like Kona, some words sounded all the more gruesome for her lack of comprehension. Kona didn't even know what a goblin was but nonetheless her chest pounded and sunk and she couldn't help borderline jumping up.
  
  "We-We've got to stop them, that's horrible!" She almost shouted. Not that she had the slightest idea how, and it took but a moment for it to dawn on her that rescuing anyone would involve confronting those things themselves. Then again... Kona glanced at the floating panel. They had to do that regardless didn't they? Otherwise even if there was no penalty, they just be stuck here forever. She didn't get why any of this was happening, or what was happening really, but it was their only way out, if there was a way out, wasn't it?
  
  All of the sudden, even as she convinced herself to go through on her own words, people were in motion, strategies were being discussed, mss Mina was gathering and wrapping sticks, people were murmuring, Sora was getting his bearings... Kona just ran to her bag and grabbed some books, no idea what she was doing, but maybe by some miracle there would be some kind of idea there?
  
  Best she could come up with from that was the last resort of killing the goblins with boredom. Or math. Same thing.
  
  They gathered for a planning session.
  
  ...
  
  "We're going to set fire to them?!" This time Kona actually shouted, then shrunk on herself. "Ah, no, I'm sorry..:"
  
  Wouldn't this burn all the good goblins too though? And sure it wasn't night time, but Randall told them there was like a fortress or something there didn't he? If they just walked up to it with giant matchsticks, wouldn't be gunned- arrowed down on the spot?
  
  Kona didn't get to gather the courage to elaborate on her objection before things were again moving on. Already miss Mina was leaving, having handed her a stick while she took Sora away with her. That was really kind of him, though he didn't seem too pleased the first time either... Come to think of it he did just wake up too... Maybe he was just going along with it cause he wasn't quite a morning person?
  
  Then Bunny began giving out sticks herself, or thorns in her case. Kona almost dropped hers from the scare what she was told what they were coated with. Numbing was probably worse for her than regular poison, she might actually fall asleep while she fought! Fortunately even if she dropped one, Bunny had a lot of them. It made her think of one of those torture things a classmate presented in class once, and there was also that tr...ap...
  
  It was only when they begun to move that an idea finally clicked for Kona.
  
  "Uhm! Please! Excuse me! Miss Bunny!" She cried out while trying to keep up with the woman's own pace, a rather complicated thing given even despite their age difference, the woman seemed far more athletic than Kona would ever dare try to be. "I-I-I was thinking, aren't there a ton of goblins and stuff? I ate a little last night and I slept, so I think I could use my power again and and, I was thinking, well, maybe I could..."
  
  She stopped and put a hand to her chest, breathing in and out to try to sort her thoughts.
  
  "I was thinking we could lure them into a trap! I don't know much about these things at all, but I heard about these traps that were like, holes with spikes on the bottom? You brought all those spikes... and I think if you can give me some time, I can make an excavator to make a rally big hole. Then I could cover it with something... And if we can get the goblins on that something, I could just turn off my power after that, and they would all fall in! D-does that sound like a good idea?"
  
  A big smile was plastered on the teen girl's face as she received approval for her plan.
  
  "Yes! I'll do my best! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
  
  She covered her mouth, embarrassed at the high pitched yelp.
  
  "I-I'm not sure what we'll do to hide the dirt, but I'll try thinking of something! I'll go over that way to get started!"
  
  

  ......................​

  
  There were several reasons why creating the excavator could take time. First, it was big. Probably the biggest thing Kona had tried yet and her stomach while fuller thanks to some food she and others had managed to scavenge the night before, was not exactly really full. Second, unlike most of what she created she knew basically nothing about how excavators worked. Sure she saw plenty in construction work, but she didn't know anything about how they were inside and stuff. She didn't even take the chance to go inside one during a museum trip, a childhood memory she never imagined would get dredged up, let alone with regret. Third, she needed to set up the thing to dig her hole on its own and fast. Still, with whatever mysterious instinct she had within her to understand her power, it was clear to her this was possible, if extremely taxing on her. She doubted she could truly reproduce a full-blown excavator, and even her approximation probably wouldn't last for as much as an hour.
  
  Kona stretched out her arms, even beginning to sweat as a she squeezed as hard as she could mentally, physically and supernaturally. What memories she had of what she was trying to make flooded her mind, flashing in quick succession while trying to map out the idea of it and every bit of information she had. As she opened her eyes to see the stream of green energy particles pouring out of her, now that she was creating a larger and object that took longer to make, she noticed for the first time that there was some kind of spherical object at the center, an almost transparent phantom of the final semi-transparent product that was forming.
  
  Still she knew the sensation creeping up even as she began to really construct things. She could see it in her mind, so many short-cuts, so much hand-waving of mechanics, she felt like fish smoking in the grill, being slowly dried off. Her body shook, she almost fell on her back a couple of times. She thought of home. Of all the things she wanted to get back to. She didn't like any of this. She wanted out. The others probably did too. That's why they had to do this nasty thing. And when she got home, maybe she would apologize.
  
  Oops, she almost relaxed for a moment. The construct almost broke mid-construction. Kona gritted her teeth and pushed through.
  
  The end result was the smallest, most sloppy excavator she had ever seen in her life. It was like a clown car excavator painted by Picasso, it was like some kind of children's toy standing at a mere five feet tall and far flatter than a typical excavator could ever be. Fortunately this excavator could work on its own without needing someone to pilot it. Good thing too, because even as the thing began to move, Kona's legs gave out and she face-planted into the ground.
  
  It wasn't what Kona had hoped for, but it was what she could make right now. It would do to dig their hole. Besides, she still had one more job to do once that was finished. Kona needed to rest, but she couldn't afford to fall asleep yet.
  
  "Go get them, everyone." She cheered, voice muffled by the ground.
  
  

Interactions: CoCo ( BuggaBoo ) Randal ( Coryen2 ) Mina ( Nellancholy )
Mentions: Gabriel ( strawberryspiral ) Sora ( Shoya )
May Also Want to Read: Gaius Danius Griinia

 

[Gaius Danius Griinia]

Will

Will was pretty happy to see that their presence here had warranted the system granting them power to issue a quest. It was even a beginner friendly quest to slay a group of goblins. Goblins tended to be standard fare when it came to tutorial enemies in JRPG's. Actually fighting real goblins would probably prove a bit more difficult but he was more than willing to give it a try if it meant he could earn that reward. Also the group was severely lacking in regards to supplies. Hopefully the goblins were edible or at least had food tucked away in that camp of theirs. He was about to suggest a strategy to attack the camp when he noticed everyone else had already gone off to do their own thing. Will suddenly felt like the last kid picked for a schoolyard game. Perhaps he had been a bit presumptuous in thinking he was already a part of the group. Everyone seemed to have split off into their own groups. Whereas he just stood there without much to say on the situation.

After that Will locked eyes with a goblin who emerged from a bush. The little thing was covered in weird tufts of what Will could only HOPE was fur. It may have been some kind of viral parasite endemic to this place. A flicker of moment caught Will off guard as he barely managed to dodge the goblins spear. Crude as it was, that pointy stick was fully capable to stabbing him where it hurt. Will brandished his arm spikes without hesitation. He had no formal training in the martial arts, just a few moves he tended to mimic from fighting games. Another thrust came at him, this time parried by Will's spike. Thrusting his foot into the goblins gut, the little green creature fell on its back. Picking up the makeshift spear after noticing it had been dropped. Will scooped it up before jabbing it into the goblins throat. The goblin grasped at the shaft of its weapon in desperation as blood gushed from its open wound. Forcing his spike into the things eye for a few seconds to double tap the thing. Will retrieved the spear but noticed the thing had broken in the struggle.

Looking at the group assaulting the camp. Will felt a strange warmth in his chest after gazing at the blood on his clothes. He didn't know why but the adrenaline rush was hitting him in a real good way at that moment. Wandering over to the entrance while the archers were up in a tizzy over Mina's surprise attack. A few more goblins rushed out once they saw Will. Scraping his arm spikes against one another while a large slasher smile covered his face. The first goblin came at Will with a cudgel which Will pierced with his spike before wrenching it away. Feeling an impact against the back of his leg. Will stumbled before throwing himself into a combat roll. Punching forward at the second goblin, it got a spike in the forehead for its trouble. Forced to separate from the thing before retracting his spike. Will felt white hot pain shoot through his forearm as his arm spike actually broke. Retracting it into his arm while the thing did is best to hurt on the way back in. He picked up a burning piece of timber and shoved it into the mouth of the third goblin while it screamed in agony. Arm almost limp at his side while gripping a crude machete in the other. Will took a few eager steps into the goblin camp.

 

[Coryen2]

The air was tense as the assault plan was laid out. Mina and Sora would strike first. Their combined powers causing havoc and confusion in the camp. Will would hit the front gate, hopefully drawing enough of the goblins out and away that the uncorrupted goblins would be safely out of the way. Kona's ability put a heavy strain on her so it was best to utilize her power for a big support action, while Randal and Coco would serve the double purpose of medical assistance and surprise assaults.

Bunny's words stuck with Randal as they prepared. Murder. Are we really going to do this? He had seen first hand what these creatures were doing. Even so, he had gone into the business of saving lives, not ending them. Just blindly following the orders of someone on the other side of a screen... As he pondered, Mina and Sora took off while Kona and Coco began some sort of excavational trap. Glancing over at Will, Randal wondered what he thought. The two of them had compared anime lists the night before as they had both recognized the summons, but the look of determination in Will's eyes told him that they were not handling this the same way.

Something isn't right. He thought and then he whispered it again out loud, "Something isn't right."

“AAUGH! God that stings like mother-”

The sudden cry in the distance caught his attention. A voice he didn't recognize. On an impulse he checked the screen:

MISSION: Cleansing
Objective: Slay the corrupted goblins.

Goblins Slain: 1.25%

Reward:

Evolution

One point two five percent? But they hadn't done anything yet! The goblin camp was too far away for Mina and Sora to have gotten there so fast. Glancing to Kona, Coco, and Will, Randal made up his mind. If there was another survivor, it looked like they had just taken out one or more of the corrupted goblins. More than that, though, it sounded like they might need some help. "Dig fast! We may need that trap sooner than later!"

Pulling himself towards the sound, he blinked through the sky once again and narrowed in on the sound of conflict. A group of roughly ten goblins were surrounding a guy in what seemed to be a ghillie suit. Making eye contact, Randal nodded reassuringly, his outward appearance calm while his mind was screaming. There was blood running down the leg of the ghillie suit. Strong enough that he could see it from here. Femoral Artery? If so, he could go into hypovolemic shock. No saline, no transfusion. He has pressure on the wound. Good. That will slow things down. Goblins are starting to get organized. We are too close to camp. If the goblins aren't taken care of, they could attack us while Bunny heals this guy.

Course of action decided, Randal pulled on the space directly in the middle of the group, "Hey! What are we looking at?" The shock of his sudden appearance in their midst caused the goblins to pause for a second. Then, with a cry of anger, they turned and swung their thorny limbs and hit....nothing?

"Over here, you overgrown pieces of hedge art!" Waving his arms at the now enraged pile of goblins, Randal stood a good three meters away. As they charged, he pulled himself around. Egging them on each time. "You lot are pretty fast, for weeds." "No, not there. I am over here. No wait, I am there. Oops! Sorry, seems I'm this way now!"

Leading the goblins away, he reached what he was looking for. With one final insult ("") the frenzied goblins charge at him blindly and promptly vanished as the branches they were running over gave way. Dropping them straight into one of Kona's pits. Looking in, he felt a strange heat enter him. He had experienced adrenaline several times in his life, but this felt a little different. This had a similar rush to it, but for some reason it also felt...wrong. He couldn't explain it, exactly, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. A few of the goblins below were beginning to move. The trap had been effective, but not perfect. Thinking fast, he took the torch Mina had given him, struck it, and dropped in inside.

The fire caught the branches they had used to hide the trap, and then spread to the goblins. A second wave of that same warmth passed through him, sending shivers down his spine. Step one, complete. Now to save that guy.

Pulling, he quickly found Kona and Coco.

"Eyo, Chills!"

"No time, Bunny! We have another survivor who needs that magic healing of yours. Kona! You and Will should...." He trailed off. Will was nowhere in sight. He must have headed off to the goblin camp to continue the assault. "Nevermind." Seeing how low on energy the girl was, he blinked away and came back with the remainder of their food supply. "Here. Eat this. I'm going to put you up on top of your excavator there. If you see any goblins, I want you to drive away and lead them into the traps you have set up. If you have to, run the goblins over. I need to bring Bunny over to someone in need, but I will be right back afterwards."

Getting Kona set up for her safety, he quickly hopped Bunny over to the guy in the tree. "Hey! We're here to help. I have medical training and she has...well, I don't really know how to explain it better than 'healing hands'. Lets get you patched up before you pass out, yeah?"

 

[Shoya]

Sora​

Waking up, Sora admittingly had wished the prior day was a dream. It didn't help that he dreamt of waking up in his room, away from whatever this place was. Getting up, he's startled by the screen showing up in front him, pestering him to commit a mass extermination.

"Corrupted goblins, huh? Does this mean normal goblins are, like, prety chill?" he groggily says to himself, rubbing his eyes before being quickly dragged away.

Seemingly, he was the last to wake up, and everyone else had already planned up a scheme to eradicate these corrupted goblins. He finds himself too sleepy to give a strong reaction to be called a pet, simply giving CoCo a glare as he transforms back into his bird form. It seemed like his part in the plan was to be a carrier for Mina, who was going to be dropping things from above.

Come on, am I anything but a glorified balloon?

He lowers a wing to allow Mina up before taking off once she's comfortable. Once above the goblin camp, Sora does his best to remain steady for Mina, not wanting to be blamed for her potential bad aim. At least, that's what he was trying to do before he began to be targetted by arrows from archers. He begins moving a bit more erratically to make the archers miss, as Mina begins to pick off archers with her own projectiles. Not being used to the movement, he occasionally loses his control in the air but uses a wing to keep Mina upright when he does.

"Sorry! Don't think I'll ever truly get used to this..." he says, focusing on any stray arrows coming his way.

 

[BuggaBoo]

---

CoCo - The Ki Flow Healer

​

Trying to finish it...

strawberryspiral "Eyo, hold still, 'New Guy'...!" strong hands tore away at the cloth surrounding the wound. Blue eyes closed as her breathing slowed her heart rate. When she was ready she laid her hands upon his leg.

Lids snapped open, her blue eyes held a silvery glow to them, "The wound isn't life threatening. The uhhhh... the 'Corruption' is though. It's in your blood. But let the Bunny deal with it. Bruh I can fix you. Listen, the more you hold still and focus on slowing your breathing, the less it gonna hurt, 'kay? Ready...?"

When he gave her the signal, CoCo's eyes lit up, shining silver of the spirits. She located the toxin and drew it outta his leg; the wound oozed a brackish, viscous dark green. "Just keep breathing, New Guy. You'll be good as new..."

Even better actually. When Coco used her power to heal 'Chills' it actually healed his old lingering ailments from when he was younger. A smile then she handed New Guy a sack with 3 baseball sized seeds in it. "Good work, man. Now here take these. Don't let them break on you. We just rid you of Corrupted flora stuff. These are invasive. Literally. Just toss them at the goblins and vines will grow and entangle them."

It seemed as if the others had not chosen to take the seeds CoCo had offered them all; must've been her explicit description of what they do? CoCo shrugged. But! She had an idea brewing how to make use of them. A glint lit up blue eyes, Coryen2 "Eyo, Chills! Get us outta here and down to Kona, bruh. Time to play Tag!-you-goin-down!!"

CoCo shivered yet again as Randall's power set off her Ki sensitivity. After a quick head shake, a gloved hand smacked the excavator twice to get Kona's attention Idea

"Eyo, 'Silver!' You still feelin' pushy?" a smile, wink and pink-headed nod she gave the other lady, "I'mma get them all stuck, tryna bulldoze them into the pit and hopefully what's-her-name with the 'Pokepet' bird..? Meanie? I dunno...anyways! Hopefully 'Spitfire' will light 'em up! If not, we still gots matches... aight. Yo! Chills! Get us to the main horde. Bruh, whaddya say we help out lil' bro-bro with his broken spike arms...!"

The pair flashed up into existence right beside Will. CoCo shook out her hands to rid herself of the Teleportation Lag. A pair of thorny shrubby scrubby goblins squealed as, a heartbeat later, the big pink-headed woman roared out a battlecry and they were skewered like a shish-kebab by her spear. The big pink-haired woman grunted loudly as she shoved the pair away and rid herself of her weapon the the offending things stuck fast to it. Gaius Danius Griinia She wheeled around and waved at her claw-armed ally.

"Yo, bro-bro. Yo, 'Spike'! Hold still I'mma fix your arm!" if he let her, CoCo would take a deep breathe and firmly grasp his wrist, concentrating on their energies for the broken arm-claw to regenerate it, "good? Good. Now come with us! It ain't safe with the archers still raining down hell on us. Listen; we gunna fall back and lure them to the pit, if not, don't get surrounded; their thorns leak poison."

CoCo chucked another spear right in the middle of a large group of Corrupted goblins to get their attention. Quickly she wheeled around and nodded, "Okay we gots their attention! Now run!"

Near the pits, she had left the sacks of baseball sized seeds. She waited till she saw the white of their eyes then she reached into a sack, pulled out a seed and felt the weight of the sparkly, purple and pink marbled orb. "Steady... steady... steadyyyyyy... OKAY NOW!!"

With all her might she chucked seed after seed at the oncoming horde. Upon impact, the orbs were pierced by the little green monsters thorns, illiciting the seeds to tear open. Instantly dark purple roots exploded from the gash in the seed shell and drove deep into a goblin. A heartbeat later, the little thing was screaming, falling its arms as sinewy purple roots sprayed out from its chest like a demonic starburst. Like dagger tipped tentacles, they found home in other goblins and began to dig and make root into the thorny body which they pierced. They were effectively entangled in a net of fast growing purple roots, gteedily penetrating their bodies and feeding offa their life energies. The fate was the same for all that they hit with the seeds.

When all was said and done, their was a layered mess of screaming and writhing goblins desperately trying to tear and break free from the invasive tentacles worming their way through their innards and bodily cavities. "Silver! Girl, shove them! Shove them in the pit!!"

If Kona managed to bulldoze the tangled mess of shrieking goblins in to the pits, CoCo would light up her match and stare at it for a heartbeat. The objective to eliminate the goblins... just like a video game getting you to unlock a freakin' badge... is that what we doin here...?

The bravado that drove her onward had faded away into shadows and aether. In this moment the gravity of what she had just done hit her like a tonne of bricks-- A rough swallow as dark lashes descended over glistening blue eyes --and what she was about to do. "But bruh... this ain't a game... this is... this is..."

CoCo tossed the lit match into the pit and walked away slowly as the roots caught flame. Intense heat and black smoke rose up high from the pits and soon enough the flame would cease the rising crescendo of frantic thrashing, terrified wails and desperate pleas. She continued until she was with the others, waiting to see if it was now over. The big, inked up, musclebound pink-headed woman would merely shrugg if addressed. Should she be prompted to commit even more murder before unlocking her achievement, she would. Wearing the 'Mass-Murderer' achievement badge was worth the trip to finally return back home to normalcy and forget this ever happened.

A sigh heaved massive tan shoulders up and down. At least one could hope.

​

---

 

[strawberryspiral]

"Hey! We're here to help. I have medical training and she has...well, I don't really know how to explain it better than 'healing hands'. Lets get you patched up before you pass out, yeah?" A friendly voice- a human one, yells out to him from below.

Gabriel would respond, but he's trying not to lose his lunch right now. Er, or, whatever the insides of alien seeds and nuts qualifies for as far as a meal goes.

While positioned high above in a massive tree branch things seem above Gabriel watches all hell break loose, and that’s putting it kindly. He’s taken aback by the crashing of branches and tall weeds on all sides, it’s them, the people he’s been avoiding. He's never been good at facing his fears, put that on top of facing a real threat to his life and you've got him stuck in a tree, useless as a scared cat.

Then one of those mini grinches shoots an arrow in his direction and it lands in the trunk right next to his head. Time slows as he takes in his situation.

“Holy ssshii-!”

He reels his whole body backwards and sends himself flailing out of the tree. He reaches inward for that sensation that makes his abdominal muscles clench. Toppling over onto a tent roof that collapses, his leg burns as he falls over on his side. Thankfully he’s slightly cushioned by something under him that is both soft and hard at the same time. Poking him in all the wrong places of his spine, knocking the air out of his lungs, yet pillowing his head.

“RRREEEAAGH-”

An ungodly screeching growl, arises from below him and he’s still getting used to this gut pulling sensation that seems to warp his center of gravity. Hitting the ground so hard when he rolls off, still trying to get a feel for what's up and what's down. The tent and ground beneath him is crushed in, his body leaving a big crater and cracks behind. Beneath the pale tent blood begins to color and pull.

“I-I did that?” Gabriel turns away, stumbling in the pastel grass as the ground claws him to the ground.

Black dots begin to swarm his vision, all he wants to do is sleep. Things feel fuzzy and he also wants to throw up, it’s like he’s on a boat at sea…

A tall form approaches him and in between delirious blinks he catches blue eyes, feels warm hands grabbing at him.

Ripping away at the torn leg of his pants, "Eyo, hold still, 'New Guy'...!"

It’s one of them, they actually showed up. If not for the nausea and stomach acid crawling up his throat he might’ve hugged, he’s so happy to see another human’s face.

“That’s about all I can do right now, stay still,” he laughs and it jostles the wound making him lean over with a heaving wince. His heart is beating out of his chest, lungs burning along with his leg.

"Just keep breathing, New Guy. You'll be good as new..."

Pink hair blurs his vision for a moment, he’s lost in the thought of cotton candy, and how it’s similar to his own pink highlights when he realizes she’s speaking to him. Then her eyes changed, light danced behind the blue until it shined bright silver. Watching as her touch healed him, drawing out green and yellow corruption like it was second nature to her.

The touch does more than just fix the weeping gash in his thigh. When he takes another slow breath it doesn’t hurt, his heart isn’t hammering against his ribcage either. A gentle relief, like sap trickling through his veins comes over him. Almost all the anxiety he felt leaves as he’s slowly helped to stand. Some seeds are pushed into his hand, similar to the ones he’d been shredding apart and eating last night.

"Good work, man. Now here take these. Don't let them break on you. We just rid you of Corrupted flora stuff. These are invasive. Literally. Just toss them at the goblins and vines will grow and entangle them."

“The flowers are corrupted?” He adjusts the flower head cap on his head, patting at the dried petals, “For once in my life it seems I got lucky.” Coming upon a dead flower and dormant seeds instead of a live and angry ones was one thing to be grateful for at least.

Looking down to the seeds he’s shoved in his pockets he realizes he dropped his spear somewhere. He searches the area around where he fell a few feet away and spots a tool of some sort with a crescent shaped blade and a leather bound handle.

He takes a few swipes in the air. ‘SHING' 'SHING’

A lot sharper than the shoddy half spear he put together for sure. Gabriel turns to thank the girl with the healing touch only to see her and some guy from the group he’d been following fizzle into nothing.

“What the- no fair! He can teleport!?” Gabriel’s jaw dropped and just as the guy reappeared, grabbed his arm and yanked him out of his spot just the same. It was similar to the swooping in his gut when he shifted his center of gravity except it felt like every atom in his body was buzzing, goosebumps crawled all over his skin, and suddenly he’s somewhere else completely.

Standing just beyond the fold of goblin archers and in the center of what looked like a whole operation. Several people discuss a hole they dug and placing spikes, others messing around with weapons. It was impressive really, Gabriel didn’t want to sit around and waste time being useless. He’d already done plenty of that before he was dropped in this world and gained strange powers beyond his comprehension.

Grabbing one of the seeds in his pocket, he took a couple steps to the side from the others. Approaching a line of brush where arrows were being shot in an attempt to reach them and warns the others whose names he’d yet to know, “Try not to get under me! What goes up must come-”

He launches himself in the air, soaring above the goblin archers posted up in trees and chucking a seed at some trees with a couple of archers. Looking out into the distance to spot any oncoming creatures that could be herded into the trap. Body yanked back down by the earth’s gravity, he tries to fight it, holding onto that gut wrenching feeling to keep himself from fully slamming all of his weight times more force back into the earth like he had earlier. Even though they were obviously shitty company he still felt bad for the little guy, he’d literally crushed it to death after all.

When he lands Gabriel bends at the knees, ready to hurdle his center of gravity sideways into trees if he has to just to avoid hitting anybody. Luckily they seem to be busy or have heard his warning, “There’s more coming in from the northeast!” He shouts out, tosses his body weight up in the air again, flinging the seeds in succession at any little gremlin he spots along the way.

"good? Good. Now come with us! It ain't safe with the archers still raining down hell on us. Listen; we gunna fall back and lure them to the pit, if not, don't get surrounded; their thorns leak poison."

The tall, pink haired woman who healed him seems to be the unofficial battle leader of some sort. Her shouts ring out clear among the group, immediately they begin darting deeper into the woods. Gabriel trails behind them, occasionally pausing to leap into the air and chuck a seed in any stragglers direction. As lifts in the air he begins to notice a certain brightly colored bird soaring in the sky with a girl riding on top of it, and speaking to it?

Okay, now he feels like he's really lost his mind.

Dropping back down to the ground at all sides it's like the forest comes to life, screams and growls ring clearly through the air, the whole army of little bastards swarming them. He takes another mighty leap to the other side of the warmongers tossing seed after seed, slashing at any of them that approach with the crescent moon shaped blade. They run forward to avoid him, another person goes by him in the shadowed wood, shoving the creatures with all their might in the direction of the trap. Every goblin they touch goes flying as if their arms are steel and the goblins are merely stuffed toys. Vines tangle around in the trees, the little monsters have nowhere else to go but right towards their doom and Gabriel’s too caught up in the fact that he could’ve died to feel any more guilt.

Later...
Standing over the pit of simmering bodies his adrenaline for the nights spent, he can't get that fuzzy, faded feeling out of his head. The way the world had reverted to black splotches like the missing pixels in some video game, except the pain was real, blood was warm. None of this should exist and yet it does, he's here, other people from the DMV-

Gabriel catches a waft of burning flesh and runs over to slam to his knees in the brush, spewing out the fibrous seed fluff he'd shoved down his throat for breakfast and dinner. Fingers clench into the dirt, and the sounds of wet snaps and the final 'CRUNCH' from the corrupted goblin's crushed body fill his ears. A rush of emotions coming over him he lurches up high in the air, calling upon the comfort of the horizon from the highest tree he can find within earshot of the group. He just needs a minute, or maybe a thousand, then he'll go back down... Then he'll face the music for what he's done.

Interactions & Mentions BuggaBoo (as Coco) Coryen2 (as Randal) Shoya (as Sora) Nellancholy (as Mina)

 

[Idea]

• Coded
• Phone Version

• Despite Randall's earlier request, Kona could only make the machine dig so fast. She wanted to protest against being lifted onto the machine while it worked, which only made it harder on her, but the loud rumbling of her stomach and the difficulty she already felt moving of her accord prevent her protest at Randall. The man and Coco left to help the other survivor, leaving Kona alone to her thoughts and the leftovers Randall had seemingly saved. She remained there, laying face-down on the machine and slowly nibbling on the food as though eating like a squirrel would let her save some for winter. Did this place even have winter? Would she recognize it if it did? Even if she had spoken there would have been no response but the cries in the distance from the mysterious creatures they were meant to end for reasons as unknown as those creatures themselves. She shivered a bit, from a coldness distinct from the morning climate and found herself closing her school uniform a little tighter than usual against her neck, even grabbing the tip of her own sleeves, as a terrible and sudden sensation of loneliness overcame her.
  
  Even so, despite some stubborn roots and rocks and things Kona wasn't quite able to describe making obstacles on the way of the tiny excavator, something of a substantial, if far shallower than Kona would've wished hole was made. The next problem was, of course, making the cover. The girl rolled out of the machine, just barely managing to land on her feet despite a degree of disorientation and her vision slightly spinning after spending that long shaking up and down as the excavator worked with her on top of it. She reached out her arms while the excavator was next to her like a loyal puppy, and she took a deep breath. This was going to be easier, Kona. She could do this. This was a lot simpler than the excavator, she could do this!
  
  Being aware of that 'core' that had appeared before when she made the excavator, she tried focusing on that instead. Unlike the previous times when she made items that appeared simply where her body (or mind) instinctively decided to make them, she was able to more precisely place what she wanted. She began to envision it, a simple platform structure, basically just a floor. It didn't need to do much besides existing and being thick enough to not break without Kona herself shutting it off, and being wide enough to cover the hole. Oh and maybe a grassy appearance. So, something like the floor of a soccer stadium? Yeah, she could imagine that. The teen poured what willpower she could into it, memories of the times her father insisted on visiting stadiums while they were on a trip flashing inside her mind even as the core gained that simple shape, and the mass of energy poured out from her while she nudged her arms forward like a mime pushing against an invisible wall.
  
  "Yaaaaaaah!" She let out a short scream, not that there was anyone around to hear it (or she hoped as much since everyone she "knew" here had left by now).
  
  And in the end, after all of that, she was... unsuccessful.
  
  The field expanded, far more easily (if not for how relatively much more low on energy Kona was to begin with) than with the excavator, and rapidly expanded over the hole it dug, but her leg faltered and her concentration dropped, her stomach crying out as Kona dropped to a knee with baited breath. Her fingers shook but her arms didn't hold her hands up for long. Even with Randall's generosity there just wasn't much that could really fill their stomachs in such an unknown place, and ultimately the result was that the cover Kona had tried to make simply wasn't big enough to hide the whole thing. What's more, Kona realized a fatal mistake: Her constructs were semi-transparent in appearance. Even if they functioned like the real thing it was clear at a glance they were not.
  
  Still, she wasn't out of options. Glancing behind her shoulder, the pile of dirt the excavator dug up was a shining ray of dirty brown hope. She would have to apologize to Randall later, or so she thought after laying on the ground again after the man had gone out of his way to get her out of it the first time, but she allowed her body to get what little rest it could while she commanded the machine to push the dirt over the cover to spread it out as much as possible. In the end it would still be like a large sandbox in the middle of this would-be-"grass"lands, and with hole entries still on each side, and Kona could only prey they weren't intelligent enough or at least were distracted enough, to still fall for their trap.
  
  It appeared her prayers were answered when Randall made a comeback, luring the goblins towards the edges of the pit which Kona had been unable to cover (though perhaps they appeared as holes in of themselves). There was a risk that once the creatures fell in they would realize the trap at large, but those fears were quickly dissuaded by a torch thrown at the goblin's face by Randall. The creature screeched, but the dirty slope was inconvenient to climb in a panic especially if effectively blinded. The goblin had little choice but to run beneath Kona's cover, which ironically only further trapped it with too little air to breathe, the fire competing for its oxygen. Yet though the screams died out, Kona was still quite in reach to hear them. To smell the burning, charred flesh as the creature got closer to her side of the trap.
  
  For a couple of minutes, Kona found herself frozen in place, a slight taste of bile building up around her tongue. She covered her mouth even as she laid on her side. They were killing them. They were dying. She knew she had no idea how to get home and this was probably the only way they could ever approach such a thing, if it was possible, but she had no idea it would feel like this. It was still so distant, it wasn't as though she had seen it herself, but just the hints of it reaching her senses... What if was all for nothing? What if even after such
  a deed, they still couldn't go back to their own world? No, no, she couldn't afford to think like that. They had to do this, and they would get home! She was... sure... of it... And besides they were evil goblins doing evil things to those other goblins, so surely this was a good thing they were doing anyway... right? Shut her eyes close, ignoring the itching of dirt particles that might have gotten between the eyelids. Then she heard a metallic sound.
  
  Kona opened her eyes to see 'Bunny' with a hand resting on the excavator. She had come bearing news that she was joining in on the goblin-luring. Slowly, arms trembling, Kona pushed herself up and gave the woman a nod.
  
  "I'll do my best." She promised. Her lips curled into a faint smile. For all her eccentricities, Kona was nonetheless a teenager. She hated studying, she would make excuses to herself and others to sleep in, and there times when if her parents told her to get some food on her plate, she'd slam the pasta onto the table and put the plate on top. Yet in this moment of despair, when she felt lost, these adults around her where those she could turn to. She had no clue if they were all that reliable or "a good influence" or whatever the hell.... She just knew that in this moment they were there for her. For this moment, she didn't have to think of the difficult stuff, surely they knew the right way to do things. She had to trust they did. Still, one question her brain had failed to register until a moment after the healing, leaping woman gone. "....Silver? That was me she was referring to, right?"
  
  As the battle raged on, Kona's own fight was to lean against the excavator and recover what little energy she could even as some was continually taken from her to maintain the two constructs she had made.
  
  Bunny came back, bringing a whole lot of the creatures with her. All of the sudden, the woman turned around and tossed something at the goblins, quickly making it far clearer to Kona was she had proposed earlier as purple roots seeming grew out of the goblins and wrapped them in a trap of poisonous thorns. As they struggled against the alien net, Bunny screamed at Kona (presumably) to shove the the goblins inside.
  
  Commanding the excavator as fast she could make it go, Kona had it curve around the struggling horde, few of which were starting to free themselves though not without covering themselves in cuts. With a yelp, Kona threw her hand down to mentally command the semitranslucent machine to push forward, dragging the goblins caught in the trap inside the pit.
  
  The remaining ones witnessed this, but that would work in the otherwolder's favor. As they chased the unfamiliar machine with a vengeful look, Kona made the excavator move to the center of the platform as though escaping. The goblins seemed rather unconcerned but the sudden change in terrain as they chased down the excavator and began hitting it with their primitive weaponry.
  
  "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Kona grabbed the sides of her head and fell to her knees. The pain was far from the worst thing she had ever experienced, but it was pretty close (it wasn't as though her type of lifestyle was frequently exposed to anything like an injury after all) and more important it was completely unexpected. It didn't come from any sort of hurt to her body, it was being hit projected right inside her mind every time the goblins hit the excavator. "AH! AH! AH! AH!"
  
  From the outside she probably looked like she was convulsing, what with the sudden falling and screaming, tears and bit of drool or spit to add to the party. She had to hold on though, because some of the goblins were yet to enter the trap. What's worse, her scream had attracted the attention of some of the goblins that were previously assaulting the machine, though the silver lining was that it also some of the attention of ones lingering, previously still concentrated on Koko or other people near the pits.
  
  In the meantime, goblins were being sent flying onto the woods or onto the the platform on top of Kona's trap. Others were running into it before even knowing what was happening there, running from something or someone in the forest - probably the person Kona had seen leaping and throwing those thorn balls earlier, the one who eerily resembled the "unknown creature" Kona had only left a note to the day before..... Even through the pain, a part of her couldn't help spare a thought to the hope they weren't angry about that.
  
  Some of the goblins attacking the excavator seemingly spoke to the others while pointing at Kona. They began to approach her, not in a particular hurry since she was in no uncertain terms literally on the floor, and also out of caution for such an oddly defenseless opponent. Though they were far from the brightest they did manage to organize enough to build that warlike village of theirs. Some more goblins were still coming into the trap. The pain continued.
  
  "Aaaaaah.... aaaaaah...." Kona forced herself to keep an eye open even as she kept holding and shaking her head.
  
  The goblins approach Kona raised their weapons.
  
  "AAAAAAHHH!!!" Something broke in the excavator. Only a couple goblins left, but the scream startled the ones coming after Kona, who started running faster.
  
  The last goblin Kona could see stepped into the trap. They weren't fully inside, but there wasn't a single more second to waste. Kona let go of her hold on the trap's cover and the excavator, dissolving both into green mists and pulling all the goblins on top onto the bottom before they could realize what was happening. A tossed spear was pinned to the ground dangerously close to Kona's leg, stealing her breath and heartbeat for a moment, but her companions were quick to get to work incinerating and covering the goblins with more of those thorns. Naturally the screeches of the helpless creatures in a panicked frenzy were louder than ever, and Kona's hands were already in position to cover her ears. None of that would help with the stench filling up her nostrils and even her mouth, the heat she felt, or the sight as one of the creatures, still covered in flames, managed to climb its way to the edge of the pit on Kona's side, nails carving into the dirt, blackening skin and smoke coupled with exposed flesh making it seem somehow more monstrous. The creature screeched with a gaze of both fury and pleading, finally losing the last of its strength as it managed to get its waist out of the hole, only to slide back down lifelessly.
  
  Nonetheless that sight, in her exhausted and panicked state, finally broke Kona. She almost felt her stomach turning inside out, heart beating a million miles per minute and tasted the puke that poured out of her mouth before she could think to move her hands to stop some of the spillage. Her eyelids felt heavy, the world started to spin around her and blur out, and then, Kona lost consciousness.
  
  

  

  
  

  Artist Credit: ねく | neku on Pixiv​
• Artist Credit: ねく | neku on Pixiv

  
  
  
  Despite Randall's earlier request, Kona could only make the machine dig so fast. She wanted to protest against being lifted onto the machine while it worked, which only made it harder on her, but the loud rumbling of her stomach and the difficulty she already felt moving of her accord prevent her protest at Randall. The man and Coco left to help the other survivor, leaving Kona alone to her thoughts and the leftovers Randall had seemingly saved. She remained there, laying face-down on the machine and slowly nibbling on the food as though eating like a squirrel would let her save some for winter. Did this place even have winter? Would she recognize it if it did? Even if she had spoken there would have been no response but the cries in the distance from the mysterious creatures they were meant to end for reasons as unknown as those creatures themselves. She shivered a bit, from a coldness distinct from the morning climate and found herself closing her school uniform a little tighter than usual against her neck, even grabbing the tip of her own sleeves, as a terrible and sudden sensation of loneliness overcame her.
  
  Even so, despite some stubborn roots and rocks and things Kona wasn't quite able to describe making obstacles on the way of the tiny excavator, something of a substantial, if far shallower than Kona would've wished hole was made. The next problem was, of course, making the cover. The girl rolled out of the machine, just barely managing to land on her feet despite a degree of disorientation and her vision slightly spinning after spending that long shaking up and down as the excavator worked with her on top of it. She reached out her arms while the excavator was next to her like a loyal puppy, and she took a deep breath. This was going to be easier, Kona. She could do this. This was a lot simpler than the excavator, she could do this!
  
  Being aware of that 'core' that had appeared before when she made the excavator, she tried focusing on that instead. Unlike the previous times when she made items that appeared simply where her body (or mind) instinctively decided to make them, she was able to more precisely place what she wanted. She began to envision it, a simple platform structure, basically just a floor. It didn't need to do much besides existing and being thick enough to not break without Kona herself shutting it off, and being wide enough to cover the hole. Oh and maybe a grassy appearance. So, something like the floor of a soccer stadium? Yeah, she could imagine that. The teen poured what willpower she could into it, memories of the times her father insisted on visiting stadiums while they were on a trip flashing inside her mind even as the core gained that simple shape, and the mass of energy poured out from her while she nudged her arms forward like a mime pushing against an invisible wall.
  
  "Yaaaaaaah!" She let out a short scream, not that there was anyone around to hear it (or she hoped as much since everyone she "knew" here had left by now).
  
  And in the end, after all of that, she was... unsuccessful.
  
  The field expanded, far more easily (if not for how relatively much more low on energy Kona was to begin with) than with the excavator, and rapidly expanded over the hole it dug, but her leg faltered and her concentration dropped, her stomach crying out as Kona dropped to a knee with baited breath. Her fingers shook but her arms didn't hold her hands up for long. Even with Randall's generosity there just wasn't much that could really fill their stomachs in such an unknown place, and ultimately the result was that the cover Kona had tried to make simply wasn't big enough to hide the whole thing. What's more, Kona realized a fatal mistake: Her constructs were semi-transparent in appearance. Even if they functioned like the real thing it was clear at a glance they were not.
  
  Still, she wasn't out of options. Glancing behind her shoulder, the pile of dirt the excavator dug up was a shining ray of dirty brown hope. She would have to apologize to Randall later, or so she thought after laying on the ground again after the man had gone out of his way to get her out of it the first time, but she allowed her body to get what little rest it could while she commanded the machine to push the dirt over the cover to spread it out as much as possible. In the end it would still be like a large sandbox in the middle of this would-be-"grass"lands, and with hole entries still on each side, and Kona could only prey they weren't intelligent enough or at least were distracted enough, to still fall for their trap.
  
  It appeared her prayers were answered when Randall made a comeback, luring the goblins towards the edges of the pit which Kona had been unable to cover (though perhaps they appeared as holes in of themselves). There was a risk that once the creatures fell in they would realize the trap at large, but those fears were quickly dissuaded by a torch thrown at the goblin's face by Randall. The creature screeched, but the dirty slope was inconvenient to climb in a panic especially if effectively blinded. The goblin had little choice but to run beneath Kona's cover, which ironically only further trapped it with too little air to breathe, the fire competing for its oxygen. Yet though the screams died out, Kona was still quite in reach to hear them. To smell the burning, charred flesh as the creature got closer to her side of the trap.
  
  For a couple of minutes, Kona found herself frozen in place, a slight taste of bile building up around her tongue. She covered her mouth even as she laid on her side. They were killing them. They were dying. She knew she had no idea how to get home and this was probably the only way they could ever approach such a thing, if it was possible, but she had no idea it would feel like this. It was still so distant, it wasn't as though she had seen it herself, but just the hints of it reaching her senses... What if was all for nothing? What if even after such
  a deed, they still couldn't go back to their own world? No, no, she couldn't afford to think like that. They had to do this, and they would get home! She was... sure... of it... And besides they were evil goblins doing evil things to those other goblins, so surely this was a good thing they were doing anyway... right? Shut her eyes close, ignoring the itching of dirt particles that might have gotten between the eyelids. Then she heard a metallic sound.
  
  Kona opened her eyes to see 'Bunny' with a hand resting on the excavator. She had come bearing news that she was joining in on the goblin-luring. Slowly, arms trembling, Kona pushed herself up and gave the woman a nod.
  
  "I'll do my best." She promised. Her lips curled into a faint smile. For all her eccentricities, Kona was nonetheless a teenager. She hated studying, she would make excuses to herself and others to sleep in, and there times when if her parents told her to get some food on her plate, she'd slam the pasta onto the table and put the plate on top. Yet in this moment of despair, when she felt lost, these adults around her where those she could turn to. She had no clue if they were all that reliable or "a good influence" or whatever the hell.... She just knew that in this moment they were there for her. For this moment, she didn't have to think of the difficult stuff, surely they knew the right way to do things. She had to trust they did. Still, one question her brain had failed to register until a moment after the healing, leaping woman gone. "....Silver? That was me she was referring to, right?"
  
  As the battle raged on, Kona's own fight was to lean against the excavator and recover what little energy she could even as some was continually taken from her to maintain the two constructs she had made.
  
  Bunny came back, bringing a whole lot of the creatures with her. All of the sudden, the woman turned around and tossed something at the goblins, quickly making it far clearer to Kona was she had proposed earlier as purple roots seeming grew out of the goblins and wrapped them in a trap of poisonous thorns. As they struggled against the alien net, Bunny screamed at Kona (presumably) to shove the the goblins inside.
  
  Commanding the excavator as fast she could make it go, Kona had it curve around the struggling horde, few of which were starting to free themselves though not without covering themselves in cuts. With a yelp, Kona threw her hand down to mentally command the semitranslucent machine to push forward, dragging the goblins caught in the trap inside the pit.
  
  The remaining ones witnessed this, but that would work in the otherwolder's favor. As they chased the unfamiliar machine with a vengeful look, Kona made the excavator move to the center of the platform as though escaping. The goblins seemed rather unconcerned but the sudden change in terrain as they chased down the excavator and began hitting it with their primitive weaponry.
  
  "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Kona grabbed the sides of her head and fell to her knees. The pain was far from the worst thing she had ever experienced, but it was pretty close (it wasn't as though her type of lifestyle was frequently exposed to anything like an injury after all) and more important it was completely unexpected. It didn't come from any sort of hurt to her body, it was being hit projected right inside her mind every time the goblins hit the excavator. "AH! AH! AH! AH!"
  
  From the outside she probably looked like she was convulsing, what with the sudden falling and screaming, tears and bit of drool or spit to add to the party. She had to hold on though, because some of the goblins were yet to enter the trap. What's worse, her scream had attracted the attention of some of the goblins that were previously assaulting the machine, though the silver lining was that it also some of the attention of ones lingering, previously still concentrated on Koko or other people near the pits.
  
  In the meantime, goblins were being sent flying onto the woods or onto the the platform on top of Kona's trap. Others were running into it before even knowing what was happening there, running from something or someone in the forest - probably the person Kona had seen leaping and throwing those thorn balls earlier, the one who eerily resembled the "unknown creature" Kona had only left a note to the day before..... Even through the pain, a part of her couldn't help spare a thought to the hope they weren't angry about that.
  
  Some of the goblins attacking the excavator seemingly spoke to the others while pointing at Kona. They began to approach her, not in a particular hurry since she was in no uncertain terms literally on the floor, and also out of caution for such an oddly defenseless opponent. Though they were far from the brightest they did manage to organize enough to build that warlike village of theirs. Some more goblins were still coming into the trap. The pain continued.
  
  "Aaaaaah.... aaaaaah...." Kona forced herself to keep an eye open even as she kept holding and shaking her head.
  
  The goblins approach Kona raised their weapons.
  
  "AAAAAAHHH!!!" Something broke in the excavator. Only a couple goblins left, but the scream startled the ones coming after Kona, who started running faster.
  
  The last goblin Kona could see stepped into the trap. They weren't fully inside, but there wasn't a single more second to waste. Kona let go of her hold on the trap's cover and the excavator, dissolving both into green mists and pulling all the goblins on top onto the bottom before they could realize what was happening. A tossed spear was pinned to the ground dangerously close to Kona's leg, stealing her breath and heartbeat for a moment, but her companions were quick to get to work incinerating and covering the goblins with more of those thorns. Naturally the screeches of the helpless creatures in a panicked frenzy were louder than ever, and Kona's hands were already in position to cover her ears. None of that would help with the stench filling up her nostrils and even her mouth, the heat she felt, or the sight as one of the creatures, still covered in flames, managed to climb its way to the edge of the pit on Kona's side, nails carving into the dirt, blackening skin and smoke coupled with exposed flesh making it seem somehow more monstrous. The creature screeched with a gaze of both fury and pleading, finally losing the last of its strength as it managed to get its waist out of the hole, only to slide back down lifelessly.
  
  Nonetheless that sight, in her exhausted and panicked state, finally broke Kona. She almost felt her stomach turning inside out, heart beating a million miles per minute and tasted the puke that poured out of her mouth before she could think to move her hands to stop some of the spillage. Her eyelids felt heavy, the world started to spin around her and blur out, and then, Kona lost consciousness.
  
  
  

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