Preparations

[death_gone_mad]

The front door opens and in walks Sarah Black, wearing something much darker and greener than she usually does. There might be a bit of red hair visible under the hood, but she is very well covered and hard to identify.

There is something big about to happen. Whether it is happening here or elseworlds is the big question. It could be both. Either way, she has decided it is about time that she readies herself for the fight ahead, and she might as well practice wearing the armor she plans on wearing.

But it is practice best done outside. The first order of business is summoning up and refamiliarizing herself with a memory shaken loose by the briefing on the creatures of Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance's Earth.

If you catch her outside you will find why she has to practice outside in the snow. A pyroclast, glowing white hot floats about her, occasionally racing off this way or that, as if it where playing catch the invisible stick with her.

[ooc: you can also catch her while she is inside, just say so.]

Comments

[seat_five_girl]

Ako is wrapped in layers of winter clothing and watching the show.

Mostly because fire is neat, and so is magic and both of them together are great!

Re:

[death_gone_mad]

The floating lava bomb notices Ako and races toward her. But luckily for Ako, Sarah is paying attention to the critter.

"Hisssssssssss…"

"No! Stop there," shouts out the hooded figure. "Friend."

The lava bomb demeanor? changes, from something aggressive and angry to something friendly and puppylike, somehow. Maybe by the way it bobs up and down?

Ako might not want to pet it anyhow. Or get too close. It's still very hot. "Back away from her, you don't want her to catch fire, do you?"

The lava critter backs up a bit.

[seat_five_girl]

"Sarah-san? What, who is your friend?"

[death_gone_mad]

"Hi Ako! Yes, it is me." She greets, as she takes the headgear off. "That… well, that is something my world hasn't seen me or anyone else do for a very long time. It won't tell me its name though. I don't think I would be able to understand it anyway."

She never thought that glowing ember was an appropriate name for it anyway.

[seat_five_girl]

"I guess it's surprising enough that something that different understands the idea of friend let alone having a name that we could pronounce," says Ako, "Um, what exactly are you doing though?"

[death_gone_mad]

"Well, it takes certain skills," she waffles, "it is something more like body language. In a ways."

The glowing critter bobs up and down. In agreement maybe?

"I am practicing," Sarah says as she walks over. "Someone invited me on an … adventure on their world and one of the creatures he warned me about reminded me of this one."

"Flying things called combots and scanners. I thought that maybe these would be good at keeping them or any thing else sneaky away." Like cats. Evil evil traitors to humanity, those cats.

[seat_five_girl]

"Oh! So is it more liker a dog or, um, like one of those hunting birds that people used to raise?"

[death_gone_mad]

There's a problem. Neither of them will explode on command. "More like a dog," she answers. Except they will go BOOM! instead of WOOF! at intruders.

[seat_five_girl]

...That's a little hard on the lava dog, going BOOM like that.

"That's just neat, Sarah-san."

[death_gone_mad]

It seems to be a theme with her, doesn't it? Pets that go boom. Fortunately for the lava dogs, they get to go back home to their world after going boom in whichever world they were summoned. Summoning is strange that way.

The exploding carnivorous chinchillas aren't so lucky. In a way, summoning the lava doggies is more humane. But then again, using chinchompas helps prevent an extremely dangerous overpopulation problem.

"Oh definitely. I must have remembered some things about these wrong, though. I has hoping that these would look enough like those combots that they could be used to play tricks on the enemy. But they fly in completely opposite way to those combots and they don't have a shield like the combots do. Plus combots don't glow like that, I am sure."

[seat_five_girl]

Part of Ako still wants some chinchompas. Luckily it is a part mostly stifled by the rest of her being away that having exploding, carnivorous pets is a bad idea.

"And it'd be hard to strap any sort of a disguise costume to it as hot as it is."

[death_gone_mad]

She brightens at first at the mention of a costume, but then, "… yes, costumes would either burn or melt." Or be too heavy. Darn.

She thinks, "Well. Gordon did tell me some things are able to see the dark by seeing heat. Maybe these could blind them!"

[seat_five_girl]

"Like a, um, flare I think. I think it's called a flare when you use a machine to do it."

[forgottenmotley]

The Fool stalks her... well, stalks as in completely and utterly in a total conspicuous manner... as she walks. He's not really trying to be subtle.

[death_gone_mad]

She looks back, as stalky things are usually cats! CATS! Why are cats always following her around? She knows! They are trying to stop her from fixing the world because because… She'll expose the feline conspiracy! Yes! Cats have enslaved everyone! She is just trying to free everyone from their own personal tyrants! Yes! Heeeheeehawheeehaw!

Um...

She sees no cats, so she continues on.

[forgottenmotley]

And he continues to follow her.

This is fun!

She looks like she has a purpose and the Fool wants to know what it is.

[death_gone_mad]

She gets outside and it's snowing, but no worries, it will warm up soon.

She sits down a distance away from any buildings and trees and thinks for a bit. The forms a fire ball, but it pops when she is distracted by stalkey stalk sounds.

Cat!

She stands up and looks around, ready to defend herself.

"Oh. It's you," says the hooded figure when she spots Alex.

[forgottenmotley]

"Yup. It's me! You looked like you were doing something interesting, so I decided to follow you and see what," he says cheerfully. "Also, I love the outfit."

[death_gone_mad]

"Oh, yes, the outfit. Of course it would attract attention. I am lucky I didn't get the 'Welcome to Milliways!' speech."

"It's something special developed for those odd people who like both magic and archery. Not that it is common. Most people only have one lifetime to learn one skill well. But, I have had much more time than that, despite my protestations. I suppose that is the advantage of wearing the same body for so long."

[forgottenmotley]

"Can you shoot magic flaming arrows then that burst into rainbow colors and sprinkle confetti everywhere?"

Then.

"I didn't know you wore bodies too."

[death_gone_mad]

"There are magic crossbow bolts that do that. Well, bursting into flames, not rainbows and confetti." Producing rainbows and confetti is a very strange use of magic in her opinion, but she has already met plenty here who would disagree with her on that point. Wisely, she keeps quiet about it. This time.

She sighs, "It isn't so much that I wear bodies. It's more like I am trapped in this one. I have tried taking it off, but it just grows back."

[forgottenmotley]

He almost says 'I'd like to see that' but remembers that perhaps people might not like to demonstrate.

"I suppose one out of three isn't too bad."

[death_gone_mad]

"They are dreadfully expensive as they require a specially cut gem at a tip. Not a very common gem, either."

She shivers. "It is cold, I should start a fire or…" There was a reason she came out here, right? She carefully forms a fire ball and on some unspoken command, a small mass of rocks and sand rises up from the ground to meet the fireball. A bit more work and it turns into a bright blue floating mass of molten and partially molten rock.

There is a dark spot on the surface of the interior molten mass. It first turns toward Amascut, lingers for a while, then turns toward the Fool.

Then a flame drops from it and onto the ground.

Amascut sighs. "That is not quite what I had in mind, but it will do. These ones were always such messy things."

The bright blue pyroclast bobs up and down in a pattern that communicates its happiness, and lets another tongue of flame drop to the ground. Now there are two fires on the ground burning brightly and warmly.

Amascut rolls her eyes at the thing.

[forgottenmotley]

The Fool, of course, pokes the thing.

[death_gone_mad]

Lighting yourself on fire is an effective way of keeping yourself warm in snowy weather. It is also something very foolish to do.

If the Fool manages not to burst into flames, though, he might feel as though he is poking extremely hot, extremely thick molasseses.

Amascut is very conflicted about the situation.