Mao's Battlebook: Entry 001 ♪ action

[blazing_heart]

<sub>[Hey Luceti!

There's this one redhead, who's walking around the village as if he was looking for someone. He doesn't really seem lost, but judging from clothes he's wearing, he's obviously new here.

After a moment of searching though, he scratches the back of his head and makes a thoughtful look. It seems he won't find his friends here. But they're okay for sure, so there's nothing to worry.

And so, instead, Mao turns around and walks up to the first person he sees.]</sub>

Excuse me! Can you tell me where am I?

Comments

[Action]

[immamartillo]

[ Firo never enjoys being the bearer of bad news, but he can't just leave a new person without any information. ]

Yeah. You're in a place called Luceti.

[ He pauses, and then decides he may as well just cut to the chase. ]

You can't get home from here unless you're sent back.

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

_{[Mao gives him a surprised look.]}

What do you mean by that?

[Action]

[immamartillo]

[ He sighs and runs a hand through his hair as he tries to find a good starting point for the explanation. ]

These guys called the Malnosso brought you hear and put those wings on you. There's a barrier around this whole place and nobody's managed to break it yet.

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

...Really? _{[now, that doesn't sound good, but before asking more questions...]}

Hey, can we go inside or something? It's kinda cold here...

_{[Mao shivered a little from cold, as if he wanted to show he really is cold now.]}

[Action]

[immamartillo]

Oh, right. Sorry.

[ He goes to lead Mao into one of the nearby shops. Cold weather and New Feather garb don't go well together. ]

You can probably find your clothes here. If not, you can at least get warmer stuff.

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

<sub>[cold is totally not fine with Mao, so he will gladly follow Firo into the shop.

He then makes a thoughtful look.]</sub>

Do I have to pay?

_{[those were his things, but.. if they're in a shop now... Oh, this place is so weird! And he has no money anyway!]}

[Action]

[immamartillo]

[ He shakes his head. ]

That's another weird thing about this place: everything's free. Once you're ready to get settled in you can even get an apartment for free. I don't think there's money here.

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

But that's a good thing, isn't it?

[Action]

[immamartillo]

It's good, yeah, but sure as hell doesn't make up for the other stuff goin' on here.

[ Firo's really bad at this welcome wagon thing. ]

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

Huh? And what do you mean by that?

[Action]

[immamartillo]

Well...

[ He runs a hand through his hair, wondering where to start. ]

Every so often, there are these experiments. The guys who run this place make really weird stuff happen. Like once we got stuck with these masks that'd make you act a certain way, or blow you up.

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

What? They really do things like that?!

[Action]

[immamartillo]

[ He nods, sighing. ]

You bet they do. Sometimes they'll take just one person, but the experiment on the whole village come about once a month, I think.

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

But this isn't right! Can't we do anything to stop them from doing that?

[Action]

[immamartillo]

The things that take people away don't seem to respond to pain. As for the guys runnin' this place... I don't think anyone's ever seen 'em.

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

...Then what can we do?

[Action]

[immamartillo]

[ He sighs, feeling bad for being so blunt about the whole thing. ]

Keep your eyes peeled for anything to use against them. But for now, you gotta get settled in. Besides your clothes, did you have anything important with you before ya got here?

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

Yeah! I had my tonfa!

[Action]

[immamartillo]

What's a tonfa?

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

You don't know? It's a kind of weapon.

[Action]

[immamartillo]

Never heard of it before.

[ But he's really interested now. ]

If you've got your clothes, then we can go to the weapon shop next. It might be there.

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

You'll see when I get it back.

_{[he nods.]}

Let's go!

[Action]

[immamartillo]

Follow me! It's not too far away.

[ He manages a small smile, happy that Mao seems to be adjusting well. Then Firo heads to the door, propping it open as he glances back to make sure Mao's following. ]

[Action]

[blazing_heart]

Alright!

<sub>[And he follows you again.

but wait, he never introduced himself, right?]</sub>

Ah, right. I forgot about that... My name's Mao!

[Action]

[immamartillo]

Firo Prochainezo. Nice to meet'cha, Mao.

[ He pauses and then laughs bitterly. ]

Or not so nice, I guess.