Welcome to Ryslig's test drive meme! If you're considering apping here, this is where you can try your characters out in the game's setting. A few things to note:
Lots of people have asked good questions on the FAQ, so do take a look.
You can only app ONE character per round so choose wisely.
Test drive meme threads can be used for your roleplay sample!
NEW! Players with characters already in the game can earn up to a maximum of 3 coins by replying to potential character threads! You will need to have your normal 20 comment AC in the game. You cannot use this to go over the bonus 10 coins per month total, but you can use it if you are missing some threads to reach that coin total. Same rules as normal bonuses apply.
Sample scenarios:
SCENARIO ONE: So you've just arrived, fresh out of the hospital, and already the natives are trying to get on your good side. Offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all great pamphlets. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through.
Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others.
SCENARIO TWO: You've become hopelessly lost in Lager Woods. Paths don't seem to lead where you remember them leading, and you feel as if you're going around in circles. Childlike giggling can be heard from no direction in particular. Suddenly, you stumble upon another character, who seems to be just as lost as you! Perhaps you can find a way out together.
SCENARIO THREE: You've heard about the fog, but you've never seen it before. Now, the mist surrounds you. Barely able to see before you, you need to get home - and fast. It's far too dangerous in this situation.
SCENARIO FOUR: The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? NOTE: Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.
[Waking up from a conscious dream would've been a tad disorienting by itself; to wake into what feels like another one, with polite smiles but curt words from doctors and nurses alike, that's something else. There’s no sign of Alvis, nor anyone else. No Fiora chiding him to rest, no Sharla doing it in her stead. What is going on?
The hushed talk of monsters and transformations as these strangers tend to his wounds is also troubling. And this area, this peninsula, he’s never heard of such a location. What kind of place is this?
He tries to ignore the yawning pit that forms in his gut to match the empty stares of the staff when he asks about the Bionis and Mechonis.
One of the younger nurses approaches him nervously, wordlessly, and hands him a crumpled tote bag before he’s sent on his way, out into the streets. He adjusts it on his quivering shoulder, scratching at the bandages peppered across his torso and arms. These injuries are odd, and clearly not from his fight with Egil. Those had been the familiar feel of burns, of bruises bubbling under his skin. The...gunshot wound is gone too. But these…had something happened after Alvis…?
Shulk doesn’t get time to contemplate this - he’s met with more enthusiastic, yet strained, kindness from the locals. Pamphlet after pamphlet after pamphlet is pushed into his hands, food slipped into his bag, accompanied by a cacophony of “Please accept this…!” and “Don’t forget this face!” It’s a bit too much for him, and he soundlessly works his mouth, any protests dying long before they reach his tongue. As quickly as they’d come though, they'd gone. Shulk settles on a stoop, legs crossed at the ankles as he begins leafing through the pamphlets one by one. There's an answer in them somewhere, perhaps something more substantial than what he’s been getting. Or at least less confusing now that he has the wherewithal to suss it out. Brow furrowed, eyes raking over the words, he’s basically dead to the world, muttering to himself as he reads.]
...A balanced diet for your best friend-turned-harpy......the ins and outs of innards...
[The town has gone into something of a mild uproar, and from what Yusei could gather from the the snippets of conversation he could hear, people have been washing up ashore. So it was happening again. He wanted to go see if anyone he knew would show up. Jack, Crow, Aki, Ruka, Rua... even Ushio would be a welcome face. At the same time, he hopes to not see them. He doesn't want any of them to be stuck here like he is, and to undergo the same hardships he has.
And he doesn't know how they'd react seeing him now. It wasn't just how he looked, not just the scales and claws and fangs and yellow eyes. His friends know him well enough to know that this place has changed him as a person. It's still changing him, he knows that at the very least, he still has a pair of wings to grow. And he doesn't know how they would view that change.
He goes through a few crowds and gives what advice he can to the people stuck in the middle of them. As the townsfolk begin to disperse, he gets a better look at the new arrivals, both relieved and disappointed that there isn't a familiar face among them. Most of them are talking to others who are there to explain things to them and try to prepare them for what's to come, and so, Yusei picks out one of the people who seem to have not yet been approached by anyone yet.]
Don't put much stock in those. They're based on rumors and superstition, not scientific fact.
[Yusei and Shulk should totally be science buddies y/y]
[Shulk has a niggling voice in the back of his mind telling him to pursue more people for answers rather than focusing on what are turning out to be really oddly written pamphlets about creatures he's never heard of, creatures that possibly do not exist. Reading is a comfort zone for him though, and he's resettled farther away from the people milling the streets. So far it seems like everyone is just as lost as he is anyway.
He's oblivious to the burgeoning gargoyle's approach, and if Yusei had been a threat, well. There's no Reyn to intercept. Fortunately Yusei is an upstanding fellow, and Shulk nods absently in response to his statement, nose still buried in his current pamphlet of choice.]
They're written more like gossip rags than anything else. But what would inspire anyone to write these and hand them out in droves?
[Finally Shulk looks up, bemused. Yusei is...well, he's certainly not a Homs. Was this place more like Bionis than he thought?]
Are you one of the locals? It's actually quite an amusing question as many people have told Yusei that he sticks out, even before he started transforming. (In fact, the changes actually made him blend in a little better.) So he finds it strange to be asked this question.]
No. I washed up on the shores of this land like you.
[He says it as a fact. He doesn't need to ask. All of the outsiders have washed up from the sea, either here or in Rota like he did. He remembers when the people who came before him spoke to him to tell him all these things. Now he was the one passing the information on to others. And now he knows how they felt when they did, having to say something that's simply unbelievable. Then he would have to tell them that it was both unavoidable and irreversible and that there was no way for them to return where they came from.
It's a depressing task.
Still, he's holding on to hope. He's not exactly sure what he's hoping for, but he's keeping it alive all the same.]
I suppose there's no nice way to say this. The outsiders, that is, people like you and me who aren't from around here, all turn change into the creatures these pamphlets talk about. These pamphlets... they're well meaning, but mostly useless.
[Shulk had set aside the pamphlets the second Yusei started talking. It wasn't just his serious tone, but the mention of the sea. Yes, he'd...he'd washed ashore, they said. And the way this strange man phrases it - like you, he says - Shulk's stomach suddenly feels hollow again. He's...not sure, what to say about this. Shulk assumed, when Alvis had delivered his ultimatum, that he'd either wake up surrounded by his friends, or not wake up at all, if he'd simply been dreaming as he died. That hadn't seemed likely, however. Thus, a third possibility never occurred to him. And to share these circumstances with someone else...?
That only makes the approach to the topic of monsters more foreboding as he pays closer attention to the man's appearance, eyes darting from Yusei's white scales to his gold, sharp eyes. A part of him wondered if he was still dreaming.]
[It's only been a short time since his first transformations started, and only now does Yusei wake up, not being startled by the sight of his scale covered arms and claw tipped fingers. Only now does he not flinch when he sees he has golden eyes in the mirror, and only now has he figured out how to eat and how to talk without risking biting his own tongue.]
I used to not have scales, claws, or fangs, and my eyes used to be blue. Sunlight annoys me now.
[Although he still stubbornly comes out during the day.]
I'm not even done changing. More will be coming soon.
[The next time, whenever that is, will be even worse, he already knows. If it's true that he's turning into a gargoyle like Kirijo, then a pair of wings are on the way. The days when he was completely human seem so far away now, even though it has only been such a short time.]
They say the Fog God of this land is responsible, and no one knows why this happens. When it does happen, it's not pleasant.
[ So, this Homs man is in the midst of transformation. Shulk's never seen anything like it. He would have thought it an odd and disturbing disease, but then Yusei mentions a Fog God, and Shulk visibly tenses, his face darkening several shades. A god that changes his people into monsters...a god...he never imagined there'd be more gods besides Zanza and Meyneth out there. Unfortunately the god of this land appears to be more Zanza than Meyneth, and suddenly, being brought here is full of much less mystery. No, now he knew he was in grave danger, and looking at Yusei only confirms that.]
I'd assume changing everyone into monsters benefits this god in some way. Maybe not the transformation itself, but something that results from it.
[Shulk shakes his head. He doubts Alvis had anything to do with this, but...The last words he said come roaring back to the forefront of Shulk's mind. "Does this world belong to you...or to Zanza?"]
I don't think our fate is inevitable.
[He's not sure what he can do that without the Monado, but that didn't stop him from answering Alvis. He holds out a hand to Yusei.]
I'm Shulk, and I'd like to help you in any way I can.
[He takes the offered hand and gives it a good shake. He, too, has had some experiences with gods. Benevolent ones like the Crimson Dragon, and cruel ones like the Earthbound Gods, that turned people into a different kind of monster.]
I, too, don't think fate is set in stone. I would love to tell you where to start, but I haven't got any ideas. Still, that doesn't mean I have given up on anything.
[Yusei wishes he could tell Shulk a more definitive answer on what to do, but he doesn't even know himself. What does the Fog God gain from transforming people like this? That was a question still unanswered. No matter what it was, he wasn't about to let whatever machinations were in place control him. He served the Crimson Dragon of his own free will. The Fog God is not a being worthy of his respect.]
I have hope everything will be okay.
[He has prior experience fighting gods...but that was in his world, which operated under different rules. He almost wishes he can confront the Fog God himself. Even if it's something he can't fight, to be able to even just deny it and defy it would mean something to him.
The gods can change his body, but as long as he was still who he was, he had hope.]
[Shulk responds with a strong grip of his own. Camaraderie...they'd need that if they wanted to make any headway. He would never have made it as far as he did if he'd accepted his supposed destiny, if he didn't have his friends at his back to push him along. Shaking his head, he smiles.]
I think this right here is as good a start as any.
[Yes, Yusei had adopted monstrous qualities on the outside, but they clearly hadn't touched his heart. The Fog God couldn't take that way from him.
Hope too, hope was a powerful thing. It's interesting to hear that word...perhaps things aren't so dire here, if Yusei hasn't been crushed by despair.]
If we work together, everything will be okay.
[Already, Yusei has had a profound effect on Shulk's understanding of this place. A swift gust of wind had lifted some of the fog clouding his mind. There are many questions left to ask, left to answer, left to be forgotten. But Shulk doesn't feel as lost as before, not anymore.]
[That's right. You can't do things out of order, can you? One doesn't just go and skip right to the last step of solving the problem. It just doesn't work that way. You have to start at the beginning and go from there. Otherwise, everything just falls apart and fails miserably. Sometimes with explosions.
The first step, in this case, is just to meet the others in the same situation and make friends. It seems so ordinary and mundane, but this is something he can't do by himself. Bonds start small, but they grow into something very powerful. He, of all people, should know that.]
That's right. It will be.
[He had nearly forgotten. Yusei is fortunate to have met someone who could remind him of that. This was something he and the others in Ryslig would get through. One step at a time.]
But for now, there's more immediate things to deal with. Do you have a place to stay?
[This place is dangerous, especially at night. Monsters are no stranger to violence, and the hunger was something they all will experience sooner or later.
[A strong foundation. That's what anyone here would need if they wanted to survive. The tactic of tearing someone away from everything they knew was a devastating, effective one, and the Fog God of this world absolutely intended that, didn't it? Gods made mistakes though - nothing that exists is perfect.
Allowing people to band together like this is one of them. It doesn't matter where they're from, or what they are, a common goal is all they need. And Shulk knows no one is willing to suffer under the thumb of a cruel god.
He's jerked out of his reverie by Yusei's question.]
N-no, I don't. I've only just gotten my feet under me. [He ruffles the hair at the nape of his neck.] I would be grateful for any shelter you could offer. Or direct me to...I don't want to impose.
[Here he was ready to do the helping, but it's struck him once again that Yusei knows so much more about this place than he does. There's many questions bubbling in his throat. It's probably better not to discuss things on the street, however, now that he thinks about it. Although the danger he's aware of is small compared to the real horrors waiting after dark.]
[If it was just about lodging, then there were scores of local people who would be willing to take Shulk in. Most of them, however, were not doing so out of the goodness of their own hearts, just like when the showered Shulk with gifts and food. Beware of offers that seem too good, and rarely is something truly free. That's what Martha had taught him.
Yusei likes to believe in the good of people, but he's also realistic to know that people aren't usually that nice.]
You can stay with me if you like.
[Now that he's met and made friends with Shulk, it only feels like the right thing to do. Besides, it's a bit lonely living by himself. He had always lived with others, or people would come and go through his place all the time. Now it was just him.]
It's a bit dark and messy though. Lots of tools, diagrams, and blueprints scattered about. It would be incentive to finally clean them up and organize.
[Yusei can see just fine in the dark, and although it's a bit inconvenient, he would be okay with opening up some windows or making a little more use of the lighting. Artificial lighting doesn't bother him as much as it did when he first transformed and sunlight, for now, only made him feel lethargic and sometimes gave him a headache.]
[It'd slipped to the back of Shulk's mind, that turning into a monster might be dangerous for anyone around him. Yusei appeared to be in complete control of himself, and the mentions of people-eating had begun to resonate more as hysterical fabrication. Fortunate, then, that Shulk had no desire to live with any one of his broad selection of the locals.
The way they acted was both insincere, and unsettling.]
Thank you. [Shulk smiles, relieved. At the mere mention of "tools", he noticeably perks up.] Tools? Blueprints? Are you building something?
[There's no masking the excitement in his voice. It's been a long time since he was last sequestered in his R&D lab back at Colony 9, scavenging the fields for Mechon parts. Shulk can't help but grasp onto something that evokes the familiarity of that, messy or not.]
[A task he would be done with were it not for the pending transformations that he knows are coming.]
I'm a mechanic. I work in a shop in the city and during my free time I fix things and work on personal projects. Everything here is different from what I'm used to, so it's been taking a while to learn how everything works. It keeps me busy.
[And keeping himself busy is one way he's been able to cope with being in this place. Boredom is a fearsome enemy.]
[ngl a gargoyle riding a motorcycle sounds as ridiculous as it does awesome]
A motorcycle! And you're a mechanic!
[Shulk's just a tad starry-eyed. How fortunate is this, to meet someone who held an interest in the mechanical?]
You'll have to show me these projects of yours, they must be incredible.
[Shulk decides to swallow the odd lump in his throat, when Yusei says "everything is different". He has no clue what Yusei's familiar with when it comes to machines, but the sheer lack of ether-based anything here presents Shulk with a unique challenge.
What does the machinery here run on? Will the form and function be drastically different from the designs of Colony 9 because of the alternate energy source used here? Is it as efficient as ether? More efficient? Yusei can answer some of these questions, he's sure. The rest would be left to research.]
Um, yes! I specialized in weaponry development back home, but I've dabbled in other fields.
[In Colony 9 he was known for being able to fix any trinket or gadget handed to him, but that...probably won't be true here. Not for awhile.]
[Shulk doesn't seem like the type of person who would work in weaponry to Yusei, but he had to admit he hardly knew anything about him at all. Maybe it was a necessity where he came from. Weapons technology isn't inherently bad and it could be used as a springboard for more peaceful developments, but there was really no getting around the fact that weapons were meant to be used for fighting and killing.
For a moment, Yusei glances at his claws. These were natural weapons. For a given value of "natural." They were meant to rip and tear flesh. He would have to use them eventually, when the hunger finally awakens within him. To take a life is wrong.
But he's already done it once here. He didn't kill Amelia directly, but he allowed it to happen. He had no choice and it was for the good of all. She forgave him when she came back. At least, that's what he tells himself whenever he remembers.
He wonders how much longer he can uphold these views. He feels like a hypocrite. He's in no position to judge anyone here.]
I'll show them to you. I would like any input or suggestions you'd have on them. But in return, I'd like to hear about your work.
[Shulk hadn't thought about the sordid implications of a profession like that, especially in comparison to Yusei's comparatively harmless one. Not that his weapons had ever harmed a person as far as he knew, no, they were only for the dangers beyond the colony. For the Mechon.
Yusei's subtle shift in mood isn't lost on him, however, but he can't understand why what he said would prompt it. Maybe it wasn't necessarily his words alone, but something in them he couldn't see. Yes, Yusei's mind had drifted elsewhere. He can't be sure of where, but there's an unmistakable aura of pain there. It's too familiar.
His enthusiasm is muted, when he nods.]
Of course. [He bends to retrieve his bag, hefting the strap over his shoulder.] It never hurts to have someone to bounce ideas off of. I think we can learn from each other.
[He looks Yusei in the eyes when he says this. Not to threaten, definitely not, but to show openness.]
[The answer brings Yusei back to the conversation at hand. He hadn't meant to wander off in philosophical thought. Should he bring up the hunger to Shulk? No, not now. Already, this was an overwhelming situation to be in.
That was a conversation that would wait until later. After Shulk has established himself here and made some more friends.]
[Shulk's buried every ounce of the anxiety tangled in his gut under pure focus - as long as he set down goals to meet, it should lead him back home, right? Following Yusei was the first task.
There's no telling if any of his friends are okay, or if he'll even see home again. It's some kind of cruel joke, to be reunited with Fiora, only to be torn away from her once more. But he was breathing, and he wouldn't waste that breath on sustained inaction. There was no choice but to move.]
[Yusei's place is an apartment near the top of one of city's higher complexes. He used to live in a lower unit, but since the transformations, he has taken a liking to higher locations. Sometimes he makes his way to the roof of the building and just sits up there for a while. He's not entirely sure why. It probably has something to do with his transformations.
It's not as messy as he made it out to be, with a few scattered tools sitting in places that make sense only to him and sheets of paper with drawings and notes are scattered over most flat surfaces. The curtains on all the windows are drawn, and on a desk, next to that lump of metal that passes as a communication device in this place, sits a pink sheep plush, a souvenir from the last night he spent as a human.]
Feel free to turn on the lights or open the curtains.
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graveyardsmash2015-03-01 12:14 am
Shulk | Xenoblade Chronicles | OTA
[Waking up from a conscious dream would've been a tad disorienting by itself; to wake into what feels like another one, with polite smiles but curt words from doctors and nurses alike, that's something else. There’s no sign of Alvis, nor anyone else. No Fiora chiding him to rest, no Sharla doing it in her stead. What is going on?
The hushed talk of monsters and transformations as these strangers tend to his wounds is also troubling. And this area, this peninsula, he’s never heard of such a location. What kind of place is this?
He tries to ignore the yawning pit that forms in his gut to match the empty stares of the staff when he asks about the Bionis and Mechonis.
One of the younger nurses approaches him nervously, wordlessly, and hands him a crumpled tote bag before he’s sent on his way, out into the streets. He adjusts it on his quivering shoulder, scratching at the bandages peppered across his torso and arms. These injuries are odd, and clearly not from his fight with Egil. Those had been the familiar feel of burns, of bruises bubbling under his skin. The...gunshot wound is gone too. But these…had something happened after Alvis…?
Shulk doesn’t get time to contemplate this - he’s met with more enthusiastic, yet strained, kindness from the locals. Pamphlet after pamphlet after pamphlet is pushed into his hands, food slipped into his bag, accompanied by a cacophony of “Please accept this…!” and “Don’t forget this face!” It’s a bit too much for him, and he soundlessly works his mouth, any protests dying long before they reach his tongue.
As quickly as they’d come though, they'd gone. Shulk settles on a stoop, legs crossed at the ankles as he begins leafing through the pamphlets one by one. There's an answer in them somewhere, perhaps something more substantial than what he’s been getting. Or at least less confusing now that he has the wherewithal to suss it out. Brow furrowed, eyes raking over the words, he’s basically dead to the world, muttering to himself as he reads.]
...A balanced diet for your best friend-turned-harpy......the ins and outs of innards...
omg Shulk
And he doesn't know how they'd react seeing him now. It wasn't just how he looked, not just the scales and claws and fangs and yellow eyes. His friends know him well enough to know that this place has changed him as a person. It's still changing him, he knows that at the very least, he still has a pair of wings to grow. And he doesn't know how they would view that change.
He goes through a few crowds and gives what advice he can to the people stuck in the middle of them. As the townsfolk begin to disperse, he gets a better look at the new arrivals, both relieved and disappointed that there isn't a familiar face among them. Most of them are talking to others who are there to explain things to them and try to prepare them for what's to come, and so, Yusei picks out one of the people who seem to have not yet been approached by anyone yet.]
Don't put much stock in those. They're based on rumors and superstition, not scientific fact.
[dub Jack Atlas voice] Yoosay
Yusei and Shulk should totally be science buddies y/y][Shulk has a niggling voice in the back of his mind telling him to pursue more people for answers rather than focusing on what are turning out to be really oddly written pamphlets about creatures he's never heard of, creatures that possibly do not exist. Reading is a comfort zone for him though, and he's resettled farther away from the people milling the streets. So far it seems like everyone is just as lost as he is anyway.
He's oblivious to the burgeoning gargoyle's approach, and if Yusei had been a threat, well. There's no Reyn to intercept. Fortunately Yusei is an upstanding fellow, and Shulk nods absently in response to his statement, nose still buried in his current pamphlet of choice.]
They're written more like gossip rags than anything else. But what would inspire anyone to write these and hand them out in droves?
[Finally Shulk looks up, bemused. Yusei is...well, he's certainly not a Homs. Was this place more like Bionis than he thought?]
Are you one of the locals?
no subject
Yes please, nerds unite.Are you one of the locals? It's actually quite an amusing question as many people have told Yusei that he sticks out, even before he started transforming. (In fact, the changes actually made him blend in a little better.) So he finds it strange to be asked this question.]
No. I washed up on the shores of this land like you.
[He says it as a fact. He doesn't need to ask. All of the outsiders have washed up from the sea, either here or in Rota like he did. He remembers when the people who came before him spoke to him to tell him all these things. Now he was the one passing the information on to others. And now he knows how they felt when they did, having to say something that's simply unbelievable. Then he would have to tell them that it was both unavoidable and irreversible and that there was no way for them to return where they came from.
It's a depressing task.
Still, he's holding on to hope. He's not exactly sure what he's hoping for, but he's keeping it alive all the same.]
I suppose there's no nice way to say this. The outsiders, that is, people like you and me who aren't from around here, all turn change into the creatures these pamphlets talk about. These pamphlets... they're well meaning, but mostly useless.
no subject
He's...not sure, what to say about this. Shulk assumed, when Alvis had delivered his ultimatum, that he'd either wake up surrounded by his friends, or not wake up at all, if he'd simply been dreaming as he died. That hadn't seemed likely, however. Thus, a third possibility never occurred to him. And to share these circumstances with someone else...?
That only makes the approach to the topic of monsters more foreboding as he pays closer attention to the man's appearance, eyes darting from Yusei's white scales to his gold, sharp eyes. A part of him wondered if he was still dreaming.]
...So you haven't always looked like this.
no subject
I used to not have scales, claws, or fangs, and my eyes used to be blue. Sunlight annoys me now.
[Although he still stubbornly comes out during the day.]
I'm not even done changing. More will be coming soon.
[The next time, whenever that is, will be even worse, he already knows. If it's true that he's turning into a gargoyle like Kirijo, then a pair of wings are on the way. The days when he was completely human seem so far away now, even though it has only been such a short time.]
They say the Fog God of this land is responsible, and no one knows why this happens. When it does happen, it's not pleasant.
100000 yrs later
I'd assume changing everyone into monsters benefits this god in some way. Maybe not the transformation itself, but something that results from it.
[Shulk shakes his head. He doubts Alvis had anything to do with this, but...The last words he said come roaring back to the forefront of Shulk's mind. "Does this world belong to you...or to Zanza?"]
I don't think our fate is inevitable.
[He's not sure what he can do that without the Monado, but that didn't stop him from answering Alvis. He holds out a hand to Yusei.]
I'm Shulk, and I'd like to help you in any way I can.
no subject
[He takes the offered hand and gives it a good shake. He, too, has had some experiences with gods. Benevolent ones like the Crimson Dragon, and cruel ones like the Earthbound Gods, that turned people into a different kind of monster.]
I, too, don't think fate is set in stone. I would love to tell you where to start, but I haven't got any ideas. Still, that doesn't mean I have given up on anything.
[Yusei wishes he could tell Shulk a more definitive answer on what to do, but he doesn't even know himself. What does the Fog God gain from transforming people like this? That was a question still unanswered. No matter what it was, he wasn't about to let whatever machinations were in place control him. He served the Crimson Dragon of his own free will. The Fog God is not a being worthy of his respect.]
I have hope everything will be okay.
[He has prior experience fighting gods...but that was in his world, which operated under different rules. He almost wishes he can confront the Fog God himself. Even if it's something he can't fight, to be able to even just deny it and defy it would mean something to him.
The gods can change his body, but as long as he was still who he was, he had hope.]
no subject
I think this right here is as good a start as any.
[Yes, Yusei had adopted monstrous qualities on the outside, but they clearly hadn't touched his heart. The Fog God couldn't take that way from him.
Hope too, hope was a powerful thing. It's interesting to hear that word...perhaps things aren't so dire here, if Yusei hasn't been crushed by despair.]
If we work together, everything will be okay.
[Already, Yusei has had a profound effect on Shulk's understanding of this place. A swift gust of wind had lifted some of the fog clouding his mind. There are many questions left to ask, left to answer, left to be forgotten. But Shulk doesn't feel as lost as before, not anymore.]
no subject
The first step, in this case, is just to meet the others in the same situation and make friends. It seems so ordinary and mundane, but this is something he can't do by himself. Bonds start small, but they grow into something very powerful. He, of all people, should know that.]
That's right. It will be.
[He had nearly forgotten. Yusei is fortunate to have met someone who could remind him of that. This was something he and the others in Ryslig would get through. One step at a time.]
But for now, there's more immediate things to deal with. Do you have a place to stay?
[This place is dangerous, especially at night. Monsters are no stranger to violence, and the hunger was something they all will experience sooner or later.
Yusei dreads the day it comes to him.]
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Allowing people to band together like this is one of them. It doesn't matter where they're from, or what they are, a common goal is all they need. And Shulk knows no one is willing to suffer under the thumb of a cruel god.
He's jerked out of his reverie by Yusei's question.]
N-no, I don't. I've only just gotten my feet under me. [He ruffles the hair at the nape of his neck.] I would be grateful for any shelter you could offer. Or direct me to...I don't want to impose.
[Here he was ready to do the helping, but it's struck him once again that Yusei knows so much more about this place than he does. There's many questions bubbling in his throat. It's probably better not to discuss things on the street, however, now that he thinks about it. Although the danger he's aware of is small compared to the real horrors waiting after dark.]
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Yusei likes to believe in the good of people, but he's also realistic to know that people aren't usually that nice.]
You can stay with me if you like.
[Now that he's met and made friends with Shulk, it only feels like the right thing to do. Besides, it's a bit lonely living by himself. He had always lived with others, or people would come and go through his place all the time. Now it was just him.]
It's a bit dark and messy though. Lots of tools, diagrams, and blueprints scattered about. It would be incentive to finally clean them up and organize.
[Yusei can see just fine in the dark, and although it's a bit inconvenient, he would be okay with opening up some windows or making a little more use of the lighting. Artificial lighting doesn't bother him as much as it did when he first transformed and sunlight, for now, only made him feel lethargic and sometimes gave him a headache.]
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The way they acted was both insincere, and unsettling.]
Thank you. [Shulk smiles, relieved. At the mere mention of "tools", he noticeably perks up.] Tools? Blueprints? Are you building something?
[There's no masking the excitement in his voice. It's been a long time since he was last sequestered in his R&D lab back at Colony 9, scavenging the fields for Mechon parts. Shulk can't help but grasp onto something that evokes the familiarity of that, messy or not.]
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[A task he would be done with were it not for the pending transformations that he knows are coming.]
I'm a mechanic. I work in a shop in the city and during my free time I fix things and work on personal projects. Everything here is different from what I'm used to, so it's been taking a while to learn how everything works. It keeps me busy.
[And keeping himself busy is one way he's been able to cope with being in this place. Boredom is a fearsome enemy.]
Are you interested in that kind of thing?
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[ngl a gargoyle riding a motorcycle sounds as ridiculous as it does awesome]A motorcycle! And you're a mechanic!
[Shulk's just a tad starry-eyed. How fortunate is this, to meet someone who held an interest in the mechanical?]
You'll have to show me these projects of yours, they must be incredible.
[Shulk decides to swallow the odd lump in his throat, when Yusei says "everything is different". He has no clue what Yusei's familiar with when it comes to machines, but the sheer lack of ether-based anything here presents Shulk with a unique challenge.
What does the machinery here run on? Will the form and function be drastically different from the designs of Colony 9 because of the alternate energy source used here? Is it as efficient as ether? More efficient? Yusei can answer some of these questions, he's sure. The rest would be left to research.]
Um, yes! I specialized in weaponry development back home, but I've dabbled in other fields.
[In Colony 9 he was known for being able to fix any trinket or gadget handed to him, but that...probably won't be true here. Not for awhile.]
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For a moment, Yusei glances at his claws. These were natural weapons. For a given value of "natural." They were meant to rip and tear flesh. He would have to use them eventually, when the hunger finally awakens within him. To take a life is wrong.
But he's already done it once here. He didn't kill Amelia directly, but he allowed it to happen. He had no choice and it was for the good of all. She forgave him when she came back. At least, that's what he tells himself whenever he remembers.
He wonders how much longer he can uphold these views. He feels like a hypocrite. He's in no position to judge anyone here.]
I'll show them to you. I would like any input or suggestions you'd have on them. But in return, I'd like to hear about your work.
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Yusei's subtle shift in mood isn't lost on him, however, but he can't understand why what he said would prompt it. Maybe it wasn't necessarily his words alone, but something in them he couldn't see. Yes, Yusei's mind had drifted elsewhere. He can't be sure of where, but there's an unmistakable aura of pain there. It's too familiar.
His enthusiasm is muted, when he nods.]
Of course. [He bends to retrieve his bag, hefting the strap over his shoulder.] It never hurts to have someone to bounce ideas off of. I think we can learn from each other.
[He looks Yusei in the eyes when he says this. Not to threaten, definitely not, but to show openness.]
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That was a conversation that would wait until later. After Shulk has established himself here and made some more friends.]
Let's get you settled in then.
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There's no telling if any of his friends are okay, or if he'll even see home again. It's some kind of cruel joke, to be reunited with Fiora, only to be torn away from her once more. But he was breathing, and he wouldn't waste that breath on sustained inaction. There was no choice but to move.]
Right. Lead the way.
[And he falls into step beside Yusei.]
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It's not as messy as he made it out to be, with a few scattered tools sitting in places that make sense only to him and sheets of paper with drawings and notes are scattered over most flat surfaces. The curtains on all the windows are drawn, and on a desk, next to that lump of metal that passes as a communication device in this place, sits a pink sheep plush, a souvenir from the last night he spent as a human.]
Feel free to turn on the lights or open the curtains.
[A little light won't kill him. For now.]