The Search for the Newcomers, November 2012 Edition.

[stringmods]

Who: Open to Everyone, but only Newly Accepted Characters can start threads.
Where: All around the city, anywhere from the 5th to the 20th.
Summary: Newcomers arrive and by now the Government is more ready and sends everyone out to go people hunting.
Warnings: ARRIVALS. Also assume the first thread is the ones who tell you about the city, and the other tags for the character can be talking with others in the city and learning more about it.

[FOR THOSE IN THE CITY:]
They were getting much better at this, it was for certain.

The COMPS had been upgraded with a new program, HORUS which allowed them to spot abnormalities; if something or someone showed up suddenly in a city that was constantly scanned, then there was a high probability it was a newcomer. There was also a sort of left energy from the travel; the Wise Men called it leftover Magatama Residue, where the magical energy used to pull them to this world and keep the String intact was still faintly present around them. It wouldn't last more than a few minutes, however, and due to the fact they could appear in most parts of the city, it made finding the newcomers was both easy yet frustratingly difficult. As the blips appear on your radar function, they were nice enough to calculate for you the best transport and destination routes to take to get there.

Now it was just left up to chance and make sure you got there fast enough that you were still able to find them relatively easily. For the most part, the fact they stuck out would most certainly help...

[FOR THOSE WHO JUST ARRIVED:]
You're not in your homeworld anymore. That much is evident. So how do you feel? Happy? Sad? Troubled? A little of all three? No matter what, the memories of a butterfly man named Philemon are fading like a dream; you'll remember the details, but perhaps not everything he has said.

There is one word that stays with you, however.

Persona.

So...here to save the city, huh? First you'll need to find out more information. And who knows, maybe a familiar face or two...

[OOC: As stated above, only new characters can start a thread, but feel free to jump in any of them. characters arrive with their clothing and whatever items they had on them the moment they were taken; the remaining items will be later found in their apartments.]

Comments

[whitedarklord]

If you, yes you, happened to look up that night, you might be able to see a strange looking bat circling around the city. It was much larger than a normal bat should be, not to mention pure white, except for the underside of the wings, which were a rather brilliant blue. Obviously, it wasn't normal, and if you're really lucky, you might be able to follow it down to the ground when it takes a break...

...but that is a bat, right...?

[demifemme]

That is a MAGNIFICENT bat, and Shura has been trying her best to run after it, narrowly avoiding cars. Maybe it was a distant relative of Mothman!

[whitedarklord]

The bat circled around, seeming to be looking down at Shura in mild interest. It was a moment before it decided to take a rest, coming to land on a lamp post in a... rather odd position for a bat. But then again, that might have been because it suddenly wasn't a bat anymore, but a young man with white hair and awfully pale skin for someone that was clearly human.

Soma preferred to get an aerial view when he first arrived somewhere. It gave him a chance to anticipate what to expect, and most monsters weren't dumb enough to mess with a creature of his size when he was in his bat form. Most, not all; so he had to admit that Shura trying to follow him around was interesting.

"Hey," he greeted.

[demifemme]

"Oh. Hey." Shura looked disappointed when he stopped, turned into a man and greeted her. "You're not a giant bat..." She had really hoped she had discovered a new demon, one potentially as fluffy as Mothman.

[whitedarklord]

Soma raised an eyebrow, trying and failing not to look amused.

"Not normally," he replied easily. "Sorry to disappoint."

He jumped down from his perch, landing easily on the ground, his coat flying out behind him and almost looking like bat wings themselves.

[demifemme]

"That's really too bad." She let out a small sigh. "Oh well. Welcome to Hinoto-Ri. I'm the Hitoshura. Shura for short." And speaking of short, shorts and shoes were the only things she was wearing despite the chill of the November night. She was, however, covered in what looked like black abstract tattoos.

[whitedarklord]

He nodded in acknowledgement of her greeting. "Soma Cruz," he introduced in return.

His gaze flicked over her form real quick, noticing the light wear and tattoos. In...teresting? He had a hunch this woman wasn't entirely human, but he didn't want to make accusations.

[demifemme]

"Soma." Hee, funny name. "I'm guessing you're a person that turns into a bat and not the other way around?"

[whitedarklord]

Soma let out an amused noise.

"That would be right."

[demifemme]

"That's cool. I wish my powers included flight."

Oh, right. New guy. "A-anyway, did you get the explanation as to why you're here?"

[whitedarklord]

"More or less, but I get the gist," he replied easily, slipping his hands into his trench coat pockets. "I'm a bit used to this sort of thing."

[demifemme]

"Oh, you too, huh. Well. I'm not really used to saving the world, but..."

[fools_journey]

Coming back after a closing shift at the cafe, Minato finds himself trudging to the subway station in the dark when a flash of white and blue in a street light catches his attention. He looks up only to see a -- bat?

It doesn't look like an ordinary bat, and Minato is nothing if not curious. So he follows it. Is it a demon? Or some new arrival?

[whitedarklord]

He was being followed... hunh. The bat paused his flight, circling around this human curiously, before it landed... and suddenly was human. Soma stood up straight, running a hand through his white hair.

"Most humans don't bother with bats that large."

[fools_journey]

well, that was... surprising. And Minato blinked at the former bat, but his surprise was otherwise pretty understated, and he watched Soma, still full of curiosity.

"I've never seen a bat that color before."

[whitedarklord]

Soma stared at him in disbelief... before he let out an amused noise, one of those rare things known as a "smile" coming to his face.

"That's why you were following me?"

[fools_journey]

Minato nods once. "... I was curious if you were a demon or someone who'd just shown up here."

[whitedarklord]

Soma chuckled softly. "Sorry, I'm just a human being."

That... happens to possess a number of monster souls. No big.

[fools_journey]

He lifts an eyebrow. "That's nothing to be sorry about. ... ah, my name is Minato Arisato, by the way."

It's only polite to actually have introductions, right?

[whitedarklord]

Of course, introductions were important.

"Soma Cruz. Pleasure."

[fools_journey]

Minato pauses for a moment and then asks, "If you don't mind my asking, how did you turn into a bat?"

There's no suspicion in his voice as he asks - just plain, ordinary curiosity and perhaps a little fascination.

[whitedarklord]

"It's... one of my powers."

Soma hesitated to explain more; he wasn't sure how people in this city would react to his abilities. Would this person recognize them as something from Dracula? He suspected not, given the implication that there were many different worlds represented here, but he could never be certain.

Still, if he didn't take the chance...

"I can absorb the souls of monsters, and use their powers as my own."

[fools_journey]

"Wow, really? That's pretty cool, but... doesn't that... get confusing?"

He meant in Soma's head - surely absorbing different souls would have an impact on one's self-identity, wouldn't it? Still - it really did sound pretty awesome to him.

[whitedarklord]

"Confusing?"

Soma had to pause to think about what he could mean by that.

"...well, I guess, though most of the monsters I possess aren't... vocal."

Seriously, there's only so much a zombie could moan, and a warg could howl after all. Mini Devil was probably the only one actually capable of speech, and he was just an ass.

[fools_journey]

"Oh... that's fortunate, then."

He could just imagine having a monster bat squeaking inside one's mind constantly, and it didn't sound fun.

But he wondered if it was rude to ask what else Soma could transform into....