Tales of a Journey (Private!)

OOC: life. You know the drill.


"Hey! I am a proper weight for a moogle, kupo! You're just. . . Weak!" Monty exclaimed, pouting. Ranma simply laughed at this failure to come up with a strong response and just followed the others as they went down.

This stairway soon came to the bottom, which didn't look all too unlike the bottom of some castle's tower. A simple wooden door had greenish light glowing from all the cracks.

"Well, that's probably not normal," Kinta remarked examining the door. "Looks like there isn't anywhere else to go. . ."
"So what are you waiting for, open it! If it's deadly, you'll be the first to know!" Ranma continued to cackle, using Riri as a shield in event of explosion.

 

Kinta just shrugged and pulled the old iron handle of the door like a reasonable person. It opened easily. The greenish light was apparently from two green crystals on opposite sides of the door, mounted to the wall by brackets.

Cavern by =IgnisFerroque on deviantART

Kinta walked outside and whistled, looking upon the cavernous city.
"Wow, I've never been in a cavern this large before." He commented, stepping out of the way so the others could come through.

Ranma approached after setting Riri back down looking around with a befuddled look on his face. "Wait, so is this why there weren't any people up on that hot place?"

 

"Last time I checked, I'm not a mole," A voice spoke from behind the group. A strange man stood behind them, a sheepish look on his face. His skin was somewhat of a grey-brown, almost a sickly shade, wearing what appeared to be a long cloak. His hair was kept short except for the bangs, which were long and kept to the sides of his face. The hair had blue streaks in it.

"Sorry, for interrupting, but if you're looking for people, the Residential district is in the passage at that side. I'll be on my way now," The nervous man mumbled as he gestured to a gate infront of one of the walls, walking away. Before he was out of sight, they heard, "Now where in the world is that girl?"


"Well, that was weird. You think all of them look as sick as him?" Ranma asked Riri, though he wasn't expecting much of an answer.

 

"Germophobe, huh? I'll keep that in mind," Ranma cackled as they reached the gate. The tall structure wasn't locked or anything, and in fact had a smaller door inside one of the larger ones. Kinta opened this and walked through, entering into what appeared to be a much larger cavern with green crystals everywhere. A little ways down a path, a bustling marketplace was thriving.

Neli simply hung by her coat over Scarlett's shoulder, not really doing much. From where she was hanging, the robot had an easy view of what was behind the group. And in the corner of her eye, she noticed a small girl with peering around the corner of some building, though she was gone when Neli blinked.


Kinta began walking down the path to the marketplace, waiting at the bottom of the hill for the others to catch up.

 

"You've got issues, Riri," Ranma sighed, facepalming. "Mad issues."

Kinta smiled slightly as they drew closer to the marketplace. "I think we don't need to worry about getting sick. It looks like plenty of different sorts of people are here."

And indeed there were. The Commercial District was a veritable cornucopia of people, as just about any sort of person you could imagine did business there. And in all manner of garb, too.

"Wow, look at all these things they're selling. . ." Kinta hummed, eyeing some of the produce in this area. Mostly food was being sold in this section, with just the odd trinket seller jutting out. Monty wandered to the edge of the group, eyeing one such seller.

"Wow, I'm sure Stitzlkin would give his pom-pom to see what's around here, kupo," The moogle whistled.

 

"Well, in that case, why don't we split up? And we can meet in an hour or two at. . .."

Kinta paused for a moment, looking for a landmark. His search ended quickly when he noticed a monument far down the main street, carved out of one of those massive green crystals in the shape of a dragon. "That dragon statue? Sounds good, right?"

"Yeah, but if you haven't noticed, the only one who has munny is Monty here, and I am SURE that he's as much of a moneygrubber as his brother." Ranma picked, putting particular emphasis on the second half.

"How dare you compare me to him, kupo! I am nothing like him! In fact, take some munny! Go ahead, take it, kupo!" The moogle yapped furiously, tossing a pouch of munny to Ranma, who just grinned like a gambler and thanked, "Much obliged!"

Neli simply said, "Duped," before moving next to Scarlett.

 

OOC: The layout of the place is kinda like a starfish or some other multi-appendaged creature, with the dragon statue at the very center. Each "Arm" is something different, such as weapons/tools, food, clothing/fabrics, and so on.

"WELP! Looks like I'm gonna go get something shiny for m'self!" Ranma cackled, tossing the pouch of munny up and down as he trotted into the crowds. Monty had already gone a minute earlier, easily disappearing underfoot in the throngs of people.

"And then there was one," Kinta sighed, only to be reminded by a certain voice that he was a little off.
You're forgetting me, you know.
"You don't even count. You're just a. . . voice. This is the first time I've really gotten to talk to you without getting disturbed."
And yet you still listen to me.
"Do I ever have a choice?"
You always have a choice. You just never take advantage of it. Now, head for that dragon statue. There's something I want to show you.
"If you say so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Neli found herself being taken by Scarlett as they weaved through the people, the robot leaving Scarlett to do the navigation while she looked around. Every now and then, she would catch a glimpse of that white-haired girl from earlier. But nothing more.

 

OOC: The layout of the place is kinda like a starfish or some other multi-appendaged creature, with the dragon statue at the very center. Each "Arm" is something different, such as weapons/tools, food, clothing/fabrics, and so on.

"WELP! Looks like I'm gonna go get something shiny for m'self!" Ranma cackled, tossing the pouch of munny up and down as he trotted into the crowds. Monty had already gone a minute earlier, easily disappearing underfoot in the throngs of people.

"And then there was one," Kinta sighed, only to be reminded by a certain voice that he was a little off.
You're forgetting me, you know.
"You don't even count. You're just a. . . voice. This is the first time I've really gotten to talk to you without getting disturbed."
And yet you still listen to me.
"Do I ever have a choice?"
You always have a choice. You just never take advantage of it. Now, head for that dragon statue. There's something I want to show you.
"If you say so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Neli found herself being taken by Scarlett as they weaved through the people, the robot leaving Scarlett to do the navigation while she looked around. Every now and then, she would catch a glimpse of that white-haired girl from earlier. But nothing more.

 

Ranma found his way into the weapons area fairly easily, having gotten directions moments before. His efforts were rewarded with everything one could possibly think of on say, from Arbaelist kits to zanbatos. He grinned as he headed for a booth with a wide selection of pistols, eyeing one in particular.
"Hey, how much for that gun?" He asked, gesturing to (Dragon's Breath by *Dragunofff on deviantART). The owner simply replied, "You can't afford tha-"

Ranma held up the bag of munny.

"Try me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Somebody was following Riri. He had suspicions ever since he spotted this bunch on the surface, but now that she was separate, it would be easier to approach her. And so he waited, cloaked by the shadows for the right opportunity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unfortunately for Scarlett, the moment her eyes were off of Neli, she was gone.

The robot found herself being dragged along into the crowds by the same young girl that she had spotted earlier. She didn't resist because honestly, she was curious about this strange young person.

 

Ranma looked pleased with himself. In addition to a brand new gun (Which came with an instruction booklet for some strange reason), he bought a one-handed axe - X-BLADE by ~tanwooikien on deviantART

"Hah! I'd like to see somebody catch me off-guard now!" He cackled, spinning the gun around before slipping it into a holster that he got to go with it. "Now then, what else should I do?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inumimi Ezreal by ~melsubayai on deviantART

The blonde shed his covering of darkness and approached Riri from behind, announcing in her ear, "Gotcha! You're not getting anywhere!"

A set of handcuffs materialized from shadow and he snapped one around her wrist and one around his.

"Hah! I never thought I'd see a Balancer around here!" The stranger boasted in a rather proud tone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girl had brought Neli through numerous small alleyways and crannies. It was a miracle, for sure, how quickly she navigated the place. But soon, they reached the entrance of a small cavern and then stopped. The girl whipped around, her ponytails spinning and addressed Neli, "You're the only kid here without an Aura! How do you make yours undetectable?"

The robot simply cocked her head to the side and asked, "Aura?" before her companion facepalmed. "Oh great, you're a natural! That makes everything so much harder! Aura is magical field that surrounds all living things! Basically, no matter how good you are at magic, there will always be an aura!"

"Not living. No magic. Ro-bot," Neli simply informed the girl, who scratched her head. "What in the world is a robot?"
"Automaton."
"Automaton?"
"Equivalent - Golem."
"A Golem? But golems are made of ma-"
"Mechanical."
"That. . . makes more sense."

 

Ranma looked pleased with himself. In addition to a brand new gun (Which came with an instruction booklet for some strange reason), he bought a one-handed axe - X-BLADE by ~tanwooikien on deviantART

"Hah! I'd like to see somebody catch me off-guard now!" He cackled, spinning the gun around before slipping it into a holster that he got to go with it. "Now then, what else should I do?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inumimi Ezreal by ~melsubayai on deviantART

The blonde shed his covering of darkness and approached Riri from behind, announcing in her ear, "Gotcha! You're not getting anywhere!"

A set of handcuffs materialized from shadow and he snapped one around her wrist and one around his.

"Hah! I never thought I'd see a Balancer around here!" The stranger boasted in a rather proud tone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The girl had brought Neli through numerous small alleyways and crannies. It was a miracle, for sure, how quickly she navigated the place. But soon, they reached the entrance of a small cavern and then stopped. The girl whipped around, her ponytails spinning and addressed Neli, "You're the only kid here without an Aura! How do you make yours undetectable?"

The robot simply cocked her head to the side and asked, "Aura?" before her companion facepalmed. "Oh great, you're a natural! That makes everything so much harder! Aura is magical field that surrounds all living things! Basically, no matter how good you are at magic, there will always be an aura!"

"Not living. No magic. Ro-bot," Neli simply informed the girl, who scratched her head. "What in the world is a robot?"
"Automaton."
"Automaton?"
"Equivalent - Golem."
"A Golem? But golems are made of ma-"
"Mechanical."
"That. . . makes more sense."