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

[tyrantball]

In the Virgo district, there's a small girl wandering around, calling out in a forlorn voice with just the barest edge of encroaching panic.

"Big Sis? Big Sis!"

She'd present the perfect image of a lost little girl, scared and alone - except for the fact that she is pretty obviously a demon of some kind. There's a bulky mass comprised mostly of tentacles and slit-pupiled golden eyes attached to her back, tiny red horns peeking out from under her purple bangs, and her clothing seems to be made of chitin and is an actual part of her body, judging from the way the eyes on it are moving around.

Said eyes (and the slightly more human-looking red eyes on her actual face) are starting to water slightly at the edges as she begins to give into panic.

If you move quickly, maybe you'll be able to head off the incipient tantrum!

[forcebonded]

Picture the scene: You're in a massive ancient factory surrounded by the emaciated corpses of Jedi students, standing over the body of your mortal enemy/dear friend/would-be murderer/ex-apprentice/usurper, struggling with mingled grief and weary victory, and then... you pass out for a minute, and have a very curious dream about a city that needs a protector. And then you wake up in a dumpster with a killer crick in your neck.

This just wasn't Revan's day.

She groaned, briefly contemplated going right back into unconsciousness, and hauled herself upright. If this wasn't some kind of fatigued fever dream, she needed to get to the bottom of this.

That is, if anyone was going to be forthcoming with someone in scuffed brown robes, a rifle slung over her back and a lightsaber hilt on her belt, climbing out of a pile of cardboard boxes.

No rest for the wicked...

[echo_of_a_jedi]

Who needed HORUS when you had Jedi senses? Meetra felt a disturbance in the Force. A presence she had not felt since Malachor...

It was, nonetheless, unmistakeable, the psychic equivalent of a comet crashing into the city, even if she was the only one who could feel it so strongly. Meetra didn't know (or really care) how they'd ended up in the same place, but she wasn't going to fail in her self-appointed mission to find her now that she was this close.

Meetra threw on her own robe...and her lightsaber. She was rushing ahead without thinking of what she would do, first, and she knew that was a mistake, but she kept her mind focused on her immediate goal. That was calming enough.

After the initial shock, the Exile did need to use HORUS to pinpoint the new arrival in the loud background "noise" of Hinoto-Ri's human and demon population, but she still managed to arrive at the dingy alley where the Republic's savior and destroyer had found herself after only a few minutes...

Wow. Revan had clearly had better days.

[forcebonded]

In turn, Revan had sensed the approaching Jedi—something odd about it that she couldn't quite put her finger on, not wrong, just... something. She'd figure it out in her own time. It obviously wasn't Bastila or Jolee or even Juhani, but it was a familiar presence in an unfamiliar place.

Actually, on that train of thought—

When the stranger appeared in the alleyway, Revan looked up with what she hoped was a disarming smile (more like a grimace, in practice). "Hi," she said. "Help a fellow up?"

[greyerrant]

Or the virtuous, as a huge figure stands nearby, armored in grey. He seems to watch her like a giant, silent wolf, trying to decide what to do with this new being that has entered Hinoto-Ri, and in so doing trespassed on his territory.

[doesasordered]

"Troubled" covers how Nikolai feels right now quite well. Also "conflicted" and "somewhat relieved".

Nik was always good at blending into the scenery. Being plain-looking man of average height and weight helps, as well as a lot of practice going unnoticed, for now he will stalk the streets and get a feeling of where is he and what's going on. This all seems like a dream. Better to stay on the defensive for a bit while he gets himself sorted out.

Later in the day, you might come across him sitting on a public bench, a man in a nice suit having a cigarette and looking damn confused. Nik's given up on the blending-in part, and doesn't care if he looks like a newbie tourist. You'll probably find him poking at his nifty new watch and muttering to himself in Russian.

[greyerrant]

An armored figure shuffles by Niko's position, checking a small computer, the HORUS system giving out a little ping. He looks at Nik, back at the computer, and rumbles in a surly-sounding voice.

"This cogitator says you are new here."

[doesasordered]

A large armored man was the last thing Nikolai was expecting. He can't hid his surprise, and he even slides away a bit defensively.

"Ah. Does it now."

[greyerrant]

"Yes. No need to fear, I'm another sojourner here like you. My name is Cerberus."

He is quiet for a moment and says, "Welcome. I can lead you to the dormitories and more talkative people, if you like."

[threadspinner]

Her first reaction is that this must be some sort of consequence for asking for more time in Three's game -- but then she realizes that she's somewhere completely unfamiliar, and so she stands extremely still, taking in the scenery. There's not much; a wide plain, no buildings for at least a great distance.

It's safe to say that she is thoroughly confused. And also she's impossibly hot -- she pulls down the green hood she's wearing and decides it's probably best to just sit down right where she is and wait for someone to appear and tell her what to do. Getting lost in a strange realm with no teammates sounded like an awful way to spend the time.

[bakegarasu]

A red light district. Seriously? Otoha stared at the buildings around him, and then looked up.

No bubble. So this wasn't Vatheon, but it wasn't Shinjuku either. He reached into his pocket and clutched his amulet, and checked to make sure his sword was within reach.

He could tell there were demons around - a few of them were staring at him, too. He could ask them where he was... or he could figure it out himself. He headed towards a tall building and started climbing the fire escape, heading up to the roof.

[sageprincess]

Don't panic, Zelda. Stay calm, and don't panic.

Of course, that is easier thought than done in the depths of the Cancer District, where one young woman with long, pointed ears can't help but jump a bit at each whirring gizmo and gadget she passes by. Being from a world perpetually stuck in a medieval-like stasis, the oddities of this ward are beyond her imagination, and it's disorienting at best.

Think, Zelda. Stay focused.

Right. She needs to find that butterfly man she saw in her dream. She doesn't know exactly why, but it feels like he would know how she can return to Hyrule, and get away from... whatever this place is. What was his name... Augh, it's hard to think through all this noise--

Wait.

Suddenly, the woman stops in her tracks, pulling out a small, blue flute-like instrument and beginning to play a series of melodies, one after the other. She gets a few odd looks from some passing natives (shouldn't she be in Scorpio?), but she pays them no heed, putting everything she has into playing. Maybe you might be able to hear it over the din of the crowd...

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

Pit was in the Cancer district for a Very Important Mission: to buy a handheld console! He missed his 3DS, with all his favorite games, such as including Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Ocarina of Time 3D. Apparently he has Ocarina of Time on the brain, as he's hearing the warp songs from nowh--

Wait. Hang on. It's not coming from nowhere. Someone's playing them, and on a ocarina, even! Pit searches the crowd for his nerdy soulmate, eager to meet another Nintendo fanatic, when he spots--

Is that--

It is!

Except...except she's probably like the Link from Ocarina of Time and wouldn't know what he's talking about if he mentioned Melee. Given that she's outside in the could dressed in full royal regalia, playing an ocarina for seemingly no reason, she must be new. Which means Pit must be brave, suppress his fanboy glee, and do his civic duty as a guest of Hinoto-ri to introduce the Princess of Hyrule to the city!

...a few moments later, a teenage angel boy is tugging at her sleeves.

"Um um um um..."

I hate prose too!

[all_wound_up]

Excuse me, are you lost...?

[Nano's on her way home from grocery shopping, and as a conscientious citizen of Hinoto-Ri, has decided to take pity on this poor confused looking guy on the bench.]

[killervocabulary]

Ginia's not too fond of this district, either. Granted, some of the more advanced dwarven things she'd seen at home piqued her curiosity a great deal, but this world was simply too much all at once. However, passing through this section of it was a necessity to deliver some things to someone in Libra.

Zelda gets her attention, however - between the way she's dressed and the music, it's enough to give the blacksmith pause as she passes by. She joins those giving the odd looks for a time, but sticks around, until she can at least get a word in between tunes.

"If you don't mind me saying, this is a rather odd choice of place to perform..."

After all, Zelda's clearly a bard of some sort. Right?

[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.)

[nofairy]

Link is heading towards the arcade today, but he hears the faint strains of a tune over the sounds of the crowd. No... it couldn't be.

Could it?

He takes out his ocarina and answers the music with his own, heading towards the source of it as fast as he can. It's not too long until he pushes his way through a pack of people and spots Zelda standing there with her ocarina.

"... Princess!"

She'd been here before, but disappeared not long after... it had been a long while since he'd seen her. He rushes over towards her, pocketing his ocarina again and stopping in front of her. He's dressed a little strangely, but it's unmistakeably him.

[growths]

Persona.

At first it's the only thing Garra takes in as he stands motionless in one of Aquarius' many streets. Blank-faced, a little spacey... But then again that's Garra on a good day anyway when he's not paying attention to the outside world. His host's body feels ill, like it wants to vomit. But he knows from practice that it can't so he ignores the sensation for the moment.

Warmth, sun, noise.

With a slight blink Garra's eyes come into focus. He still spends several more seconds staring blankly ahead before bothering to lift a hand and look down at it. Still in the same Host...but the setting is different. Or is it the same? He isn't sure, he wasn't paying attention. It must be some sort of task or mission though, Garra decides, though what that might be is...also a train of thought that dies as he starts staring straight up, one hand held up to shield his eyes from the sun.

Then he just keeps staring...and staring...

Braining, hard at work.

[primordial]

Ah, so that's how they had found him when he appeared in this city last month. The little radar blips, and he follows it, not because he's particularly aiming to help, but because he's curious as to what sort of new people would be brought here.

He eventually makes his way over to the spot, looking around, and...there we go. He approaches carefully, narrowed eyes looking her over through his matted brown hair. What an interesting outfit...what did that symbol mean?

"Ah...are you new?"

[sageprincess]

Damn it, why isn't it working...

In the brief moment before she segues into another melody, the "bard" appears to frown around her instrument, as though frustrated with the songs for one reason or another. But then she gets the sense that someone's talking to her, rather than just about her, and she looks up.

This woman certainly doesn't hold herself with the kind of confidence a bard should - in fact, she seems more than a bit uncomfortable, holding the blue instrument closely, protectively to her chest.

"... I am not precisely playing for others at this time, nor did I choose this venue. In all honesty... I do not know where I am, exactly."

Newbie alert.

[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."

[primordial]

"Are you alright?"

Don't look now, Garra, but there's a mess of a guy standing in front of you, bent over slightly in clothes that are a bit too big for his body, squinted eyes blinking behind messy long brown hair. He doesn't at all look like much- Sam looks like the guy made for living in a dark corner of an alley than a nice room.

He waves a hand, trying to get his attention. "Hello? Staring at the sun isn't good for your eyes, you know..."

[not_heavens_adam]

"At least they have a red light district here. Bound to be some fun to have." Besides, he'd probably need money here, he could always go back to his old ways.

The vampire wandered a bit more before deciding a roof-side view was probably best and flew up to the top of a building, standing on the edge to get a better view. This was vastly different than what he'd become accustomed to...and yet, it reminded him of L.A. in a way.

"Mmm....time for a clean slate~ And...maybe we'll see some of the others again. Hopefully." He looked up at the night sky, vaguely realizing that no bubble meant no more sun for him...oh well.

[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!"