The Search for the Newcomers, December 2012 Edition.

[stringmods]

Who: Open to Everyone, but only Newly Accepted Characters can start threads.
Where: All around the city! They appear where you want them to appear.
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.

Last month's initial testing of the HORUS system had worked really well. The device which allowed everyone to spot abnormalities; and now even more refined, they could hone in on newcomers at a much faster pace. The leftover energy from the travel (commonly called Magatama Residue) gave them a few minutes to find them before it would flicker out.

Combined with 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 own radar function, it was also nice enough to calculate for you the best transport and destination routes to take to get there. Speed was of the essence, after all.

[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

[sageprincess]

While she takes no notice of the strange looks she gets from the natives, it's kind of hard to ignore the sleeve-tugging. So she stops, lowers the Ocarina from her lips, and...

... Are those wings?

Needless to say, she's not exactly in the best of states to hide her emotions, so bewilderment is written clear as day on her face as she looks over to the winged boy. Eventually, uncertainly, she manages to eek out a, "... Yes?"

What is going on.

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Are you new here?"

The suspicious wings twitch, as if they want to stretch out, but their owner thought better. (Which he did. Stretching his wings out in a crowd is...not the best idea.)

[sageprincess]

No, Pit, she's an old hat here, playing music in the middle of winter (?) in the inventor's district.

"I suppose... I do not know know where 'here' is, precisely."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Oh. Welcome to Hinoto-ri, then," he says, his wings stretching out a bit further before contracting. He might've gotten a dirty eye from a passerby. "My name's Pit. Nice to meet you!"

[sageprincess]

"Hinoto... ri?"

That doesn't really sound like any place she's ever heard of. Still rather overwhelmed, his wings and the sneer from the passerby both distract her somewhat before she remembers, right, manners. She doesn't know what's going on, but this boy apparently does, so she may as well be polite.

"I am Zelda. I would return the sentiment, but, frankly... this is all a bit much to take in."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Yeah, I can get that." I mean, I know you're from a really really old-school-type world, not as old school as mine, mind, but still way before the time period they're in now, even though your world has time travel and also I think you're a stealth bard ninja but.

Details.

"If you want, I can take you to a diner or something where you can eat and get your thoughts together. I can answer any questions you have. Well, basic questions. I'm sure there's lots of people on the network who'd be able to answer your questions better than I can."

[sageprincess]

Gonna think you're a stalker one day, Pit. ... Not that she's entirely innocent in that regard, but it was for the sake of Hyrule! Honest!

She hesitates for a moment, considering his offer. Following a stranger is typically a bad idea, but... this place is loud and strange and she'd probably spend hours trying to navigate her way out of it alone. So...

"I would appreciate that very much, actually. Thank you, Pit."

He seems friendly enough, anyway.

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

He's not a stalker, just a Nintendo fanatic.

"No problem. Follow me!"

He leads her a short distance to a clean, and rather bright, diner--full of people working on computers. What can be said? It's the Cancer district. Thankfully, there are many tables that are there for the purpose of eating (and using one's computer, if it's close enough to an outlet). Pit walks over to an empty one, pulling a chair out for Zelda.

[sageprincess]

She squints a bit upon entering the diner - how is it so bright indoors? - and she eyes the people on computers with equal parts wariness and curiosity, but she follows her winged escort dutifully. Taking the offered seat, she nods her gratitude before beginning the first part of her questioning.

"... So. Are you a native of this place, Pit?"

She saw a few odd figures out on streets, but the majority of people looked like round-eared Hylians...

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

He shakes his head, sitting down in the chair across from her. "Nope. I was brought here by that Philemon guy just like you were."

[sageprincess]

Philemon! That's the butterfly man's name. She tilts her head, brow furrowing. "I suppose your seeming experience with this place would imply he has not granted us a way to return home."

After all, who would want to stay away from their native land willingly?

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"I think you can," he says, resting his hand beneath his chin as he thinks. "But I think you'd only come right back here if Philemon's not done with you."

[sageprincess]

Slightly, oh so very slightly, her eyes narrow.

She does not like the sound of this.

"And under what conditions will he be 'done' with us, do you know? I only vaguely recall something regarding protecting this place."

Something she doesn't have much interest in, at the moment. Her allegiance lies with Hyrule, and Hyrule alone.

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

Pit shrugs. "I dunno. Some people have been here for months. Other people are only here for a few days or weeks before they disappear."

[sageprincess]

She lets out something of a frustrated sigh. If people are to come and go at random, then finding a 'return home' condition would be next to impossible.

"I do not suppose anyone has found a way to contact him?"

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

He shakes his head. "People have tried, but they've had a better time finding information on this city's past than they have with contacting him."

[sageprincess]

"As I thought." It would just be too easy otherwise, wouldn't it. "What of this city, then? How do things work here, and why does it need protecting?"

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"There are a lot of demons that walk around here at night. The people of the city can't protect themselves from it. And... and there's not much of anything outside the city walls. The world's kind of been destroyed."

[sageprincess]

Okay, that gets a rather surprised and confused look.

"So... we are to protect the native population from these 'demons'? And, presumably, whatever destroyed the rest of the world?"

Even as she says it, it sounds ridiculous to her - one city saved and the rest of a world gone? - but everything else she's seen and heard today has been ridiculous, so...

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Something like that. I mean, you don't have to do anything at all if you don't want. The guy said we had a choice, right? Help the world or not. Me? I'd rather help. I'm an angel. That's what we do."

[sageprincess]

"Of course I wish to keep innocents away from unnecessary harm, but... my responsibility lies with my country."

Hyrule had seen better days when she left it, and with her stuck here, there is yet another power vacuum where there shouldn't be.

She purses her lips. "Besides, I may possess magic, but I am not a warrior in the truest sense."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Not to be rude, ma'am, but a lot of us have responsibilities back at home. Like me. It's my duty to protect the humans in my world from those who want to bring them harm. That doesn't mean I can't do what I can to help out here. If you ask around, you'll find there's plenty of other people in the same boat."

[sageprincess]

For a brief moment, there is a flash of irritation across her features. Is that supposed to make her feel better, she wants to ask. Just because there are others with responsibilities to their homes trapped here, she is supposed to be... okay with the idea that yet another tyrant could waltz in and make her country a living hell once again in her absence?

But she doesn't. She subtly grits her teeth, lets out a frustrated sigh, and does not let her emotions get the better of her.

"In any case, I would not know where to begin in 'helping' the people here. I do not yet even know my way around."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

Pit doesn't skip a beat: "If you're worried about what might happen in your world, don't be. I think time's stopped there while you're here. When you go back home, you'll be right back where you left off."

He can tell when someone's trying to change the subject.

[sageprincess]

"Can you be certain of that?" she asks, worry evident in her voice. The risk is just... too great to ask for anything but absolute certainty.