Beached

Beached
Date of Scene:	07 February 2013
Location:	Traverse Area - Bodhum - Beach
Synopsis:	Ariel washes up on the sores of Traverse Town!
Cast of Characters:	Jack Skellington, Will Sherman, Sarafina Carenze, Deelel, Kaydin, CADUCEUS, Kim Possible, Ping, Tigger, Ariel, Clayton, Scrooge McDuck

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Ariel has posed:
It's dark out, because that is the standard status of this particular beach. The stars are bright and the air is clear, but there's a wind out over the ocean. The sea itself a bit rough tonight. Combined with the darkness, it's not really a great time to be swimming here.

Nevertheless, there is a young woman out here swimming. Well, she is not swimming terribly well. In fact, she's crawling up onto the beach from the edge of the surf, coughing, and hacking up a good deal of water.

Tigger has posed:
Tiggers are knockturn animals. They are the best at being knockturned, because that must relate to bouncing. Logically. Of course. Having once again lost most of his party members by virtue of his relentless bouncing, Tigger has found himself on a beach at night.

Tigger has been playing a game for the last few hours. The waves come in, flying high! Tigger hurls himself at them from the beach, pouncing them! Tigger gets swept into the water, disappearing for a few moments. Tigger washes back up on the beach, further down than he was before, rolling over and over before coming to rest on the wet sand.

Tigger gets up, twisting himself around almost like he was wringing out a towel. The water comes off, somehow. He taps the side of his head, a rattling noise coming from somewhere, until he dislodges whatever inappropriate thing has gotten stuck in him this time. He shakes out his arms, wiggles around to rebuild his strength, and looks back toward the sea.

The waves come in, flying high! Tigger hurls himself into another one, pouncing it! Tigger is swept into the water, disappearing for a few moments. He will start to wash up somewhere near Ariel, floating like so much debris.

"Mrs. Lady, you need to do more floating," he says. "We all float down here donchaknow."

Kim Possible has posed:
Kim Possible is a school girl but even she gets days off. As a result, she came to the beach today. Unfortunately, most of her friends had to go home, but Kim doesn't want the fun of the beach to end on her own. Instead, she's decided to relax here for a little while longer, enjoying the calm peace of the night time sky. She lies on her beach blanket, thinking to herself about various girl-gossip topics, as well as the various missions she's been on recently. At the same time, she's occasionally looking at Tigger and giggling as he plays in the surf. Those giggles, however, will stop when she sees Tigger talking to what looks like debris... but it's not debris? It's a woman!

Barefooted, Kim rushes towards where Tigger is, leaving her footprints in the sand as she struggles to get a look at what Tigger's talking to. "Hey, are you all right?" Kim calls out, not fully seeing who the person is yet.

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
An elderly duck is wandering down the beach, sweeping his cane back and forth as he sniffs at the ocean air. Occasioanlly he stops, bending over and digging through the sand for a moment before pulling up a piece of munny, which he brushes off and stores in his frock coat. With the top hat and the cane, he looks very much like he does not belong on a beach. Nevertheless, he sees the distressed young girl, leaning on his cane as he walks over to her, peering at her cautiously.

"Ach, d'ye need help, lassie? Ye look like y'eve taken on a fair dose of water and mayhap worse besides."

He reaches over to pat Ariel reassuringly on the back.

CADUCEUS has posed:
The sound of a lightcycle is heard as a green and white motorcycle which glows as it whines along. When CADUCEUS picks up the woman washed up on the beach he immediately turns, the cycle immediatly rushing at her and before reaching her, it glows and seems to disassemble into light and energy which goes into the glowing green rod He held. He puts the rod along his side which fastens to the glowing circuit lines and he pulls the disk from his back and begins to approach the woman and tigger, the disk giving a green glow as he scans her condition and determine the best couse of treatment for the woman. "Do any of you know her?" He asks of those nearby in a concerned tone.

Ariel has posed:
The young woman rolls onto her backside. She is a redhead, and is wearing a purple bikini - including a bottom part, because portals are weird.

She seems curiously interested in her own toes. She looks down at them for a second as water drips off of them.

Then, she lets out a little screech, like, "Eeee!"

Then she notices that there is a Tigger next to her, and the Tigger is talking. She has obviously never seen a Tigger before (since Tigger has never seen her before, and he is the only one). So she lets out another, slightly larger screech, and backcrawls with mostly her hands up the beach. Her legs drag a bit behind her, in a numb-paralyzed sort of way as if she forgot how to use them.

In the water, there is the quiet 'clonk' sound of a tiny crab facepalming. Faceclawing.

The young woman then startles again as a hand is placed on her back. She looks over her shoulder and sees... a duck.

Well, she has seen ducks before, but Scrooge is tall, for the usual sort of duck. She blinks at him a few confused times.

Well, better try to play it cool. "Oh! I'm, uh, I'm fine." Ariel tries to figure out how to explain what she is doing out here. The truth is, she just swam through a door in a rock, and has no idea where she is or why she is there. She also notices both a campfire and a motorcycle. The motorcycle is a greater cause for confusion than the campfire, so she tilts her head at it.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will Sherman, king of the Hobos and the oldest Teenager to exist in the world has been brought to the ocean again.

Not litterally...well maybe.

Being a creature of fate, he sometimes finds himself in places he normally would not go...the ocean...that is such a place. Why? He hates the ocean, and most would say this is because he hates bathing, which is not true you just don't find many baths when living on the streets! No, Will has a geuine phobia of the ocean.

So why is he here? Fate is a funny thing sometimes, both it and luck sometimes plays tricks on him, or subtly guide him to adventure in places...even in the most hated of places! Like Tonight, he had been watching the strange talking animal pounce waves from afar. If it were anything else, Will would have joined hours ago, but...the waves bring a shudder to him. The ocean is something to be avoided! Unless he has no choice.

Like a young woman washing up on the ocean!

There is a flashback...his eyes move as if caught in a dream...how long ago was it that he washed up on the shores of America? The memories of watching himself do it come to him, thanks to whatever magic existed in Castle Oblivion. Will shakes the memory from his head as Tigger shakes a fish out of his ear, and rushes down the beach, moving to help the young woman out.

"You can teach her to float after we get the sea water and perhaps the fis-" And she starts talking. "Welp! She's fine. Hi, do you remember your name? Where you came from?" he pauses, "She looks in better shape than..." he pauses, "Most other people in her situation!" and then towards Scrooge, "Hey! Mr. McDuck. Long time no see, how's the ice cream buisness?" Oh man...people are everywhere. "Man this reminds me of..something.." the last time a bunch of random people gathered randomly at a place of a person who fell through a portal..

He looks around for trees and falling Rikus.

Tigger has posed:
Tigger doesn't see anything really the matter yet, but nobody's ever accused him of being bright. When Ariel screeches at him, he waves his mitteny hands in sudden alarm and submerges, knocked down by another wave. He is only vaguely aware of a whole bunch of people heading her way.

Tigger has ... no real ability to affect his momentum in the water, so ends up a few yards down the beach before he finally washes up.

Tigger wrings himself out again, smacking out a munny coin from the side of his head. He looks over curiously at the redheaded lady and the people coming over toward her. He pauses before going over to clench down on the end of his nose, drawing in a breath! Water sprays out of his ears. A lot. Don't ask.

Tigger releases his nose, sighing in relief. He starts to bound over to the others. "Tiggers are the best at floating," he says, as if he needed to explain this to everyone. He is distracted by the lightcycle because it is shiny.

Tigger diverts. He starts to approach the lightcycle.

Clayton has posed:
"Now what in blazes is that?" Clayton asks as the lightcycle comes onto the scene. He finds himself fascinated by the colors, the streamlined build of this marvelous machine. He had a brief feeling of being old and backwards, but dismisses it. He makes a mental note to visit a world with better guns. That ought to make his hunting trips a lot more fun. He only gets up when he sees tigger. It's...a tiger? No, not a tiger. He grabs his shotgun and loads up two shells anyway.

He ponders shooting it. He could probably hit it from here, easily. After a few more seconds of it, he decided..not too. It doesn't look like interesting game. The way it talks makes his skin crawl a bit, but that's all.

"I say, bring her by the fire," he calls to the group. A gentleman ought to help out a lady, after all.

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
Scrooge McDuck smiles pleasantly. "Oh, I'd happy to hear it. You looked like you'd taken a nasty bit of wet there, and not that it's me place to be suggesting night swimming isn't a fine thing at times, but it hardly seems safes t' be doin' it alone."

Scrooge looks up at the others. "I cannae say I've met the wee lass before now." 'Wee' may be a bit of an exaggeration, as he probably comes up to Ariel's waist.

His primary concerns seems to be with her, but he does offer a smile to Sherman. "Aye, there's profit to be had - it's not the size of business I'm used to, I warrant, but even a little enterprise can build into somethin' grand given the time and investment."

Deelel has posed:
The first Lightcycle is joined by another one it's just flat out blue as it zoome along saide the other ones. Ther'es no light wall today, nay. Why would there be there's no need for a fight. A very similar process happens to the second machinea s the first it derezzes it and she attache the rod to her pant leg. She's a bit strange metal like blue hair, bright green eyes and a bit of an odd complexion on the darker side ad she looks at the strange woman a little confused. "I have no idea CAD, though she doesn't look all right."

Ariel has posed:
Ariel pushes a little bit of wet red hair out of her eyes. She sees Kim and then Clayton talking - and looks really embarassed. "Yes, I'm fine!" She hears Will asking some questions. "My... situation?" Yes, dummy, she tells herself, the situation of almost drowning when you suddenly couldn't breathe underwater is probably the situation that he means. "Sorry. I'm Ariel!" she says, more cheerfully. "And I'm from..."

Oh, drat, well, she doesn't really want to tell him that. "Um--"

Maybe it would be okay just to pretend she doesn't remember. She would hate to have to be sent back there. So she affects a confused look - which isn't very hard because she IS confused, just not by THAT - and shrugs. "I, um," She decides it wouldn't hurt to just ask one question. "What beach is this? I don't recognize it."

She starts to stand up. Or at least, she tries to. This is actually a very terrible idea, because she doesn't seem to have any control over her legs as such. Her knees knock together, and she tumbles over, falling at Scrooge and Will.

CADUCEUS has posed:
CADUCEUS would stand and try and catch Ariel, the circuit lines on him glowing brightly so even in this twilight setting he glows brightly. "Whoa easy easy...From this reaction I wager you have had little practice walking. Just take it one small step at a time." He says as he remains close so she could balance against him. He glances to those nearby and he would pull the rod with his free hand and holds it out. The Lightcycle rezzes into existance beside him and he would lead her to hold onto it and so others can come gawk at the glowing motorcycle.

Kim Possible has posed:
"I'm Kim, nice to meet you Ariel." Kim smiles a little as well. "This is..." A pause as Kim's smile turns into a frown. "Wait a minute, you don't know where you are? Then that means..." Kim looks down a little before looking at Ariel again. "You must have just arrived here, right?" Having only arrived not too long ago, she realizes that Ariel must be a recent arrival also. "Listen, everything will be OK. I'll get you a towel so you won't be cold," Kim comments as she starts back to her beach blanket, tripping over a rock that's sticking out of the sand and resulting in an 'OUCH!' as she holds her big toe for a moment before deciding to put her shoes back on. She reaches into her beach bag and is relieved to find she brought an extra towel with her.

Dashing back to where Ariel is, Kim offers the towel to Ariel. "Here, use this. It's got a cool design on it, you'll like it!"

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
"It's all right," Scrooge says with a generous (at least, less-tightfisted) smile. "We're all from different worlds here. It's nae so unusual as it used to be, lass. I'm Scrooge McDuck, and it's a pleasure to meet ye."

Then Ariel tumbles. "Ach!" He tries to help her stay up, dropping his cane - for a duck that's easily a septuagenarian, he's hale and strong - just not that big, so it's good that there are others here.

"C'mon lassie, let's get ye warmed up by the fire."

Clayton has posed:
Clayton watches the party give Ariel a towel and help her walk with a calm detachment. His servants, a Chinese man and a man with a turban, get up to set down boxes and other things for people to sit on. Not exactly comfy chairs and pillows, but they should serve.

Clayton is cleaning his shotgun with a cloth. The gun is huge with double barrels, gleaming in the firelight. He cleans it with the methodical care of a long-time user. "This would be Traverse Town's beach," he adds to the conversation.

Tigger has posed:
Tigger was totally referring to the blue lightcycle. Not the green one. That would be silly. He sees it just before it disappears, looking perplexed. As Deelel starts talking about the situation, Tigger marauds around her, trying to figure out where it went. It's kind of like watching a dog chase its tail.

Another lightcycle appears! There's the green one. That was totally a continuity error. Happens to the best of us. Tigger loses interest in trying to find the missing one and flounces over to it. He puts his hands on the back wheel, trying to figure it out. He doesn't understand what it is or how it works.

Ariel almost falls down, with several people trying to help her up. Tigger sees something he needs to immediately correct. "Like this!" he says, and pounces an empty patch of air next to the lightcycle. "You gotta wind up your springs to bounce high!"

Tigger pounces ahead a few more times in the general direction of the fire, trying to demonstrate appropriate technique to Ariel. "You can do it, Mrs. Lady!"

Will Sherman has posed:
Will's eyes have a strange...tone to them Ariel can see close up. It is faint, but it is almost like they glow...

Will see's things in a strange light, strings of connection, those of bonds and fate...those who can reveal hidden darkness and light come to him. He can not shut it off, nor can he see without this strange...way.

Despite all of this, Ariel is as normal to him as any other person, which is good. You want to be normal, because not being normal is...

Bad.

Sometimes.

"Uh, this is a beach near Traverse Town." he says, "And you're from another world right? Yeah, so am I? Did...your world get eaten by Heartless too?" He asks, helping Scrooge help Ariel to the fire. "You're legs must have been hurt." he observes!

Ariel has posed:
Ariel looks offended at CADUCEUS. "...What? Of - course I know how to walk!"

She wobbles a bit more, until she is properly standing on her feet. "I was out in the water and-" Kim gives her a towel. It seems very nice. Underwater there is no use for towels, because there is no use to be dry. So she holds it up to examine it, then smiles, because she now has a New Human Thing. She gleefully wraps it around her shoulders. Then she - for some reason - flashes an OK sign back out at the ocean.

She looks back at Kim. "Thank you, nice to meet you! I did just... Arrive here. You make it sound like something that happens. Am I not... the first to wash up here?"

She thinks Bouncing is probably a little too advanced, but she is slowly figuring out walking. "Traverse Town..." No, she hasn't heard of it. When she's brought over to the fire, she looks wide-eyed at Clayton's gun. She's seen them before, but only shooting darts at whales. She is not sure if Scuttle told her what that thing is called, so she tries to wrack her brain.

"Oh, so this is another world?" she asks Will. She sounds really excited. "Wait, no - I didn't - I don't think it got eaten. I-" She knits her brow. "I was swimming-" This is fine, not suspcious, right? No, humans swim. "And I was sucked into a door down in the ocean. I guess I got my legs caught, but... they work. See?!" She points at a foot.

CADUCEUS has posed:
"Her legs are healthy but she acts as those who have lost the use of their legs and regained them. Scans didnt reveal any signs that she has underwent any trauma." CADUCEUS says as he puts the disk back onto his back which stays for some odd reason. "It is difficult to explain, Miss, but appearantly there exists hundreds of thousands of worlds, and when something happens, something bad, people sometimes fall through into other worlds." CADUCEUS explains as he tries to continue helping her. "I am a doctor of sorts, atleast I can function as one." He says to those present.

Tigger has posed:
"We'll keep working on that," Tigger says to Ariel, when bouncing does not seem to be forthcoming. Tigger has no reaction to firearms whatsoever. The idea has never occurred to him.

Tigger does know about fires. He moves up to it, steam coming off of him as he starts to dry out. He is looking particularly velvety today.

Tigger looks back at CADUCEUS when he talks. He walks up to his leg and watches the energy move through his circuits. He will do this for a while, occasionally trying to lightly bat at concentrations of energy that pass in front of him. The batting is completely harmless. It's like being lightly tapped with the corner of a pillow.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina Carenze likes to relax too, though she usually doesn't go to a beach at night to do so. Instead, she has come because she's feeling contemplative. She notices a lot of people (and ducks) ((and one (the only) tigger)) fussing too. She looks over, concerned, her horrible abomination wings twisting back as she squints on over and--catches something about feet working.

That only makes her more concerned. The last thing she wishes to do is crowd but she recognizes Scrooge--Will too--but Will has a thing with almost drowning and besides which--it has been quite some time since she last spoke with him.

"Scrooge McDuck." She says, approaching. "Is everything alright?" She looks towards the teenager and instantly feels sympathetic. Teenagers. You give them an inch--and they drown themselves? No that's not right.

Ping has posed:
Ping has been sleeping on a short pier that reaches out over a small cove. He has a makeshift fishing pole propped up in knothole in the pier, a slender thread leading down to a bobber bobbing silently on the water. The bait has long since been nibbled away.
On one of the logs that holds up the pier, a small cricket perches. One of its antenna is bent to shield its eyes and it peers down the length of the beach to where it has noticed some activity nearby. Its back leg taps lightly on the wood, as if it were deep in thought.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Yup. This World is Traverse town...it seems to be a place where others from lost worlds gather." Will says to Ariel, and then looks towards Sarafina. "Hey! How's it going! This is Sarafina, Ariel." He comments, and helps set her down. "Well, nothing fate wise is messing with your legs...so nothing I can do to help you there." he frowns.

"A...door huh? OH! You must have found a portal! Better watch those, because they can be dark and stuff, they can put you almost anywhere...well, anywhere they connect. I guess you found one here through the ocean."

Will scratches the back of his head, "Well, the World of Ruin is big...so is Phantasia too. THough I guess it's getting smaller these days..."

"Anyway, no need for that, We'll probably need to get you clothes. I mean, while going around in that is fine by me, you'd get cold!" Will winks.

Clayton has posed:
The fire is warm and inviting, and there are plenty of seats around it. The two servants begin to offer hot tea to Ariel and the others, and whatever foodstuffs they have. After all, it's only proper to serve guests. Clayton is always sure of that. Even when he is, presently, only wearing a white undershirt. His body is very well toned and tanned from being in the sun. He flips the shotgun open and starts to clean the inside, eyeing up the winged humanoid that suddenly arrives with that same suave look in his eyes, like nothing can flap his demeanor.

"Night swimming can be treacherous," he says. "Wu, see to it the lady gets the pillow seat, would you?" he asks his Chinese servant. There's only one pillow. The man in the turban is the tea-bearer. "I once swam for two miles down the Amazon river at night, to escape from a tribe of headhunters," he mentions casually.

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
Scrooge McDuck looks at Sarafina as other people with more the correct proportions to help give Ariel assistance. "Well, this poor lass came through t' Traverse in the water. She half-drowned, but I think she's gonna pull through. I expect she just wasn't prepared - though she is dressed like she's been in the water before." He hooks his cane with one foot, lauching it back up into his hand as he hobbles towards the fire.

He stops halfway there, sniffing for a moment before reaching down into the sand and pulling out another coin. He chuckles and tucks it into his coat.

Scrooge doesn't seem to be put out by Clayton's gun - he owns several himself, wherever his mansion has gotten to. He does raise an eyebrow at it, though, since the beach seems an odd place for a hunt.

Kim Possible has posed:
Kim, meanwhile, simply stands off to the side and watches what the others have to say, before looking around as if looking for something or someone to appear. Then she looks to Ariel and notices the way she's walking. "Are you all right? Did you hurt your legs or something?"

CADUCEUS has posed:
"I think with time and practice she will regain complete control." CADUCEUS says as he would help her to the pillow seat and would turn to Deelel. "Derezz my lightcycle for me please?" He asks the music program before looking to the source of the patting and chuckles a bit. "Where I come from, everyone has these glowing lines like me. Different colors dictate different types of people."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel :looks over at Ping as they arrive and gives them a bit of a tilted look for a moment, she turns back to the other basic and nods. "I'll be honest I know little about how users are put together." She pokes her self. "Though we seem prehaps to be made of the same thing here? I do not know I must admit." She look to the strange girl for a moment "Still there's so many worlds, given how lost I was when I first arrived. I nearly hid from the sun...thinking something was exploding. She looks at teh woman for a moment and nods for a moment "Swimming? Humm I see and oh hello Will." She notices one of the more notable members of the TDA is here. "Well you are fornate you washed up here and yes they certainly seem to do." She'll head over and do so returning the cycle to it's rod state.

"Gererally hints to the health or function of the basic in question. I'm a media program he's a medical one."

Ariel has posed:
Ariel is trying to take stock of the situation. What she understands so far is that clearly Larger Than Normal Ducks, People Who Glow, Tiggers, and... now Winged People, are also from other worlds, and this is one of them. But there must be humans in this world often. She looks a little worried, suddenly. She feels sick when CADUCEUS says sometimes something bad happens. She hopes nothing bad happened. She didn't want her world to be destroyed, or anything. He explains the lines. "Oh, I see! So you're a medical type of person?" Will says nothing 'fatewise' is messing with her legs, and she looks pretty confused at that. "Really?" She clears her throat, coughing up a last bit of water. "Okay. Yes, some clothes would be great, that's very kind of you!" She looks at Serafina. "It's nice to meet you, too. So in the World you come from, do all Humans... have big wings like that?" She says 'human' in a funny kind of way. She seems happy to sit on the pillow seat - and downright delighted to be handed some tea. "That sounds really dangerous. You must be a good swimmer!" But the weapon is a cause for concern. "You aren't planning on shooting at any fish with that gun..." she says. Well, it's more of a question.

At Kim's question, she looks at her feet, and wiggles her toes again. "They don't seem to be hurt," she says. Then she adds, "I like your hair!" They match.

The cricket down the way might also see a crab crawling up onto the pier. But this is a thing that happens all the time, surely.

Tigger has posed:
Tigger continues trying to catch the light. He would probably do this forever, but people start talking to him again. "You have shiny stripes!" he decides. "You're shiny, Doc. You could almost be a Tigger, but I'm the only Tigger there is."

A servant gives Tigger a tea biscuit. He pops open his hinge-like jaw and puts the biscuit inside, chewing it. Tigger learns that he loves tea biscuits, but the call to adventure resonates with him. "Headhunters!" he gasps. "They're almost as dangerous as woozles! You better be careful, mister, or they'll steal all of your biscuits. Maybe I should have some more for safe keeping."

Tigger moves away from the shiny people (with reluctance) to examine Ariel. He looks right at her legs. "We'll get you into bouncing form in no time," he says, with great confidence. "Tiggers are the best at coaching."

Ping has posed:
The cricket does look alarmed as it notices the crab crawling down the pier, presumably towards Ping. It hops down off its post and bounds toward the crab. With curious eyes, the cricket inspects the armored creature's arsenal. Two claws? Check. Weird eyes? Check. Lots of scary legs? Check.
The cricket bounds back down the pier and inspects Ping's arsenal, now. Cool dragony sword? Check. About 130 lbs heavier than a crab? Check. The cricket shrugs its shoulders and figures Ping can deal with at least this tiny interloper himself. He bounds back up onto his post and watches the group down on the beach, again. Ping snores.

CADUCEUS has posed:
"Well my color actually indicates I am military in origin but yes I was designed to be able to treat any type of injuries, even cure certain diseases if given enough time and effort." CADUCEUS explains as he nods. "The brighter the glow the healthier people like me and Deelel are. Where we come from is rather complicated but rest assured, Deelel and myself mean no harm, we wish to help anyway we can." He says with a calm tone, seeming genuine. He pulls the disk from his back again and moves the broadside over by her legs. "This may tickle a bit, going to run a more extensive scan.

What happens next is the disk lets out a green light identical to the lines on him. The woman would feel slight tingling as the other side of the disk reveals images and symbols which may appear to be gibberish but these seem to be things he understands. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Healthy strong legs." He says as he scans her now.

Clayton has posed:
"Shoot fish? With a gun? Wahahahaha!" Clayton lets out a deep belly laugh at that, slapping his knee. He wipes his nose briefly and shakes his head. "No no no, that's, haha, not my plan at all, I assure you. I'm just giving the old girl a thorough cleaning while I enjoy the ocean and a spot of tea. I'm something of an outdoorsman. My name is Clayton, John Clayton. You may call me Clayton, miss...?" he trails off, gesturing slightly at her.

He has been doing his best to ignore the Tigger near him, but the servants laugh when he dispenses his wisdom. They seem to enjoy Tigger's company a lot more.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
"Well, even experienced swimmers can have difficulty if dragged down by a wave, or other such things." Or, you know, die one of the most horrible deaths imaginable, but she is not going to mention that aspect in front of Ariel who, by appearances, nearly drowned. Must not be used to the ocean, Sarafina assumes.

Talking tigers (or tiggers) are still pretty surprising to Sarafina but not so much she exclaims or anything. There's a talking duck right here, after all. Who is a super entrepeneur. A tiger that bounces is practically normal She listens to Ariel even though she calls her Serafina in the metatext like everyone else. That's okay. She seems nice enough anyway.

"Ah--no." Sarafina tells Ariel, embarrassed--because she really doesn't want to explain this, she doesn't seem like someone who should be troubled by what happened.

"Though there are winged people in these worlds." She uses HALF TRUTH skill to avoid properly answering. She squints faintly at the way she says 'human' but, well, it's probably just her imagination.

She also doesn't seem to mind gun. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WORLDDDD??

Will Sherman has posed:
Will takes a biscuit and eats it!

And anything else that is food NEAR him, like he is a black hole of food.

"Alright. Hold on then, I can get you something...when you're legs are workin' better. For now.." he says, taking off his coat and putting it around her. It...kinda smells like homeless person. But it's warm, really really warm. "I know a place we can get you some clothes, but...hm, do you know how to get back home?"

Kim Possible has posed:
"Really? That's cool!" Kim replies to Ariel with a grin. "I kinda like your hair too. Either way, don't, like, try to push yourself too hard, OK? Your legs look bad. We should try to get you some clothes." Then she looks to Tigger and asks, "What's a Tigger?" Apparently, Kim doesn't know what a Tigger is yet! Oh the horror!

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
Scrooge nods knowingly at Sarafina. She doesn't have to state the unsaid - as a survivor of the Titanic, Scrooge is well aware of the dangers of the water. "Aye" is all he says before he makes it to the fire.

Scrooge settles into one of the seats easily - this isn't his first time in one of them, and the whole setup rather reminds him of a similar set of gear he had during his days in the darkest jungles - some of those days he'd like to forget, honestly, but that's neither here nor there."

He doesn't react at all to the way Ariel says 'humans.' After all, he's a duck, most of the people around here look pretty human to him. Well, except Tigger. And that cricket way over there that he actually doesn't notice.

He ahems imperiously at one of Clayton's servants until they fetch him a tea and some biscuits.

Ariel has posed:
The crab does not actually seem to have much interest in crawling on Ping. In fact, he appears to just be trying to get a better look at the fire from this vantage point. He looks at the cricket, and then back over at the fire, craning... what passes for a neck, on a crab.

"Oh, that's wonderful," Ariel says to CADUCEUS. At least one thing is all right, then (if unexplained). "Well, I'd love to be coached in bouncing soon." She has NO idea how to bounce but it sounds really fun.

"It's Ariel," she says to Clayton. "...By the way, do you know someone named Eric?" She winces. That feels like a long shot in a way, but he looks like he maybe knows some people.

She accepts Will's coat, weird smell and all. "I'm not really all that eager to get back home. I mean, I just got here. Tell me about YOUR world, what's it like?" Changing the subject seems to make her cheerful. She looks at Serafina and Scrooge. "Oh, and your world with wings and... the world of ducks. I want to hear all about them!"

Ping has posed:
Ping must be dreaming about something lovely. His expression is so peaceful and happy. He even mumbles a little something in his dreaming, something about a bath. The cricket pays it no mind.
The cricket bounces down off of the post and sits down on the pier next to the crab. He glances up at the much larger 'insect' as if to judge any potential danger, and then smiles. A deep and meaningful friendship has been formed, certainly. He goes back to watching the group on the beach.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel looks over the woman for a moment as CADUCEUS conversees with them for the moment. "That's about accurate, it seems worlds can be wildly alien to one another in our experiance. She does seem curious as Cad is checking the strange redhaired woman over also she had no idea users could have /hair/ like that though she's not very fond of red due to its connection with the MCP.

Clayton has posed:
"Ah, Ariel. Pleasure to make your acquaintance...same to the rest of you." He adds this as an afterthought. Clayton carefully, perhaps lovingly, props his gun barrel-up against a nearby crate, then pulls out a wooden pipe, in which he places a generous helping of tobacco before lighting it up. He takes a puff, then blows a smoke ring over the fire where it lingers before dissipating. "I come from Earth circa 1882. Born in the Empire where the sun never sets...or Britain, in other words. I was on expedition into the darkest parts of Africa when I was cut off from my world. I do miss it." He sighs nostalgically.

He rubs his chin when Ariel mentions 'Eric'. "I knew an Eric. Shoemaker by trade, adventurer by hobby. Got himself snagged by the tusk of a wild boar in Borneo. Tragic, that." He pauses. "Not the Eric you are thinking, I imagine."

CADUCEUS has posed:
"Interesting..." CADUCEUS says as he looks over the scan. "Most interesting." He says to himself and then he nods and the light vanishes. "You are a perfectly healthy woman. Nothing wrong at all." He says as he would then look about finally to the other people and then back to Ariel. "Unfortunatly Miss Ariel, most people here are from worlds which have had a...bad thing happen to them. The cause of this bad thing is a race of beings called Heartless, monsters which attack anyone and anything alive, those who are slain by them, become more heartless. These creatures when gather enough numbers can consume a world...People sometimes will pop up in the most odd places, the only connections between them is they have had strong force of will and incredible good, or evil natures." He tries to explain but in truth he seems to not know much about the subject in question.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will sighs...

"It was a city called Manhattan." he pauses, many people here already know the story, "Tall towers, taller than the clouds. A city of millions of people, all packed into a small area. Lights, the city never slepted, day or night something was always going on. People always did things...and even in the darkness behind the veil of what most people see there were worlds onto themselves...the mystics, the strange people, the people who were beneath the notices of the normal...the city was teeming with life, teaming with people all who wanted to live. It was...beautiful."

Will finds himself pausing for a moment, a tear running down his face. "Cuture and great works of art...children who went to school and became older, who went to even bigger schools called Colleges and looked for a place in the city as they grew. The city that changes, yet stays the same...it is...was like human nature. Even with the Heartless and the loss of the greater city around it...it still moved on,"

Will pauses again, and looks down.

He stops talking.

Tigger has posed:
"Great!" Tigger says. He is very pleased! He will coach Ariel into the second-bestest bouncer ever (for the position of bestest is, ahem, well-filled right now, but we'll keep your resume on file).

Kim Possible asks an important question. As if by supernatural power, Tigger is right in front of her an instant later.

"Why, I'm a Tigger," he says. "I'm the only one there is! We're the bounciest, the springest, the flounciest things around! And what might you be?"

Tigger squints, leaning in toward Kim's midriff. "You know that shirt doesn't fit," he mutters, conspiratorially. He gestures at it with a mitteny hand. "Maybe we can get you and Mrs. Lady some warm clothes somewhere. You aren't lucky enough to have fuzz like a Tigger. You don't want to catch cold!"

Various important things are being said. Tigger's imagination burns with wonder. But there is something dissonant, discordant. Will is intensely sad. It calls to Tigger in a way that very little can. He touches Kim's hand as if to excuse himself, moving over toward Will. He reaches over to try to hold Will's hand.

"Buddy boy, it'll be okay," Tigger says. "Whatever happened, it'll get better, I know it. You know why?"

Tigger speaks with great sincerity. "Because if you keep your perspiration close to you, you'll be able to reach your dreams one day."

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
Scrooge McDuck is more than happy to share his own story. "Me world is a pretty big place, but I like the city of Duckberg, which I helped build from a little fort to the grandest city in all of Calisota! True, it be a far cry from Castle McDuck, but it's me home. Me nephews, me friends, and o'course me money bin. Ach, maybe soon. I've got all sorts of stories - I was once a grand adventurer, and I traveled all around the world t' make me fortune.""

Kim Possible has posed:
"Well, it's nice to meet you Tigger," Kim says while grinning. "But this shirt is worn short for a reason. It's... Well, I'll explain it later." She then looks to Ariel, and then to the others. "So, what's the sitch? What should we do for Ariel here?"

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina Carenze looks on over towards the crab.

Her stomach rumbles faintly. She hasn't eaten crab in ages.

She shakes her head. Don't think about food, there's a lost soul here, who needs help and-- and... seems...totally okay with not being in her world? Seems more interested in theirs? Hmm. But what is she really up to saying about her world? Well.

"I cannot say much about the world of ducks." She says wryly. "But my own world--I was a captain." Pause. "Of an airship. Which is almost precisely like a normal ship, except it sails over the winds." She grins fondly. "...Course, right now I can't make that claim." And then she asks a truly terrible question. "Your parents..."

Oh dear.

"Shouldn't they be worried about you?"

Jack Skellington has posed:
"Yes, tell her about everything. Every last little wonderfully horrid thing!" As something seems to pull itself up up from the shadow's that Ariel casts, the water having concealed his mysterious approach, the darkness enshoruding him. It moves from beind her, rising, overcast finally to move the shade over, the fire seeming to do little but to cast his pitch black and boney white form in contrast to the woman before him.

Such words come from a very, very dead being that is much more of a tree than a person, stiff as a brick, and likely as cold as the bark on the very tree. Hands like claws initally, form far larger than it has any right to seem. Ariel's gaze might be to find that voice, but the voice is interested in finding her first, boney gaze grinning as he may seemingly appear, filling her vision, all too eager to welcome her.

"So very excited about other worlds -- Yet aren't you afraid something terrible lurks within them, or around them? " He must ask, cackling!

But it is the beginning and the end of such 'harassment', 'ears' perking as he listens to Clayton.

"Oh, I believe I know that exact Eric!" He responds to Clayton, taking a few steps, "He does have a habit of hobbling, but a worn down shoe's much better than one new. Why, not even a snake could get into his shoes! How absurd!" He proclaims, striding into the firelight willingly, hands clasping together, dressed just as dapper as a scrooge!

Ariel has posed:
Ariel frowns at Clayton. "Oh. No. I don't think so." But thank goodness that's NOT the same Eric.

Her eyes widen when he pulls out the pipe. She almost tries to dive over and grab it, but then pulls her hands back when it's clear he is using it! She folds them again. ...Funny, he doesn't seem to be playing it too much. "That's a very lovely snarfblat," she says, happy she knows a human word and all.

She looks up at Will, and nods. "Well, your world sounds very nice." She wishes she could see it! "But you'll get back there some day," she says with confidence, even though in truth she has no idea. And Scrooge's talk of Adventures makes her look gleeful; she clasps her hands.

Sarafina asks her something that seems to make her sore, though. She pouts a bit, rolling her eyes. "Aw, my Dad doesn't care about me. He--"

"AH!" And then she tumbles over almost falling off the cushion at the sound of a very scary voice. She jumps to her feet - which seem to work at least - but then Jack starts to talk to Clayton and not her anymore. He's still freaking her out, though. Well... she's seen bones before; fish bones. And it's not entirely impossible for them to get up and wander, if magic is involved. So he must be magic too.

Clayton has posed:
Suddenly there's a shotgun pointed at Jack's face. Clayton moves quite fast, and Jack just showing up, cackling and sitting with them is about the extent of the weirdness he can tolerate before getting ready to shoot something. He stands, hair slightly askew (he combs it religiously at least three times a day), eyes narrowed and teeth gritted. "What the DEVIL IS-" He makes a joke of some sort about Eric. Well, it's kind of funny. His gun lowers a bit. "What's your business, monster?" he asks.

Ping has posed:
Waking with a gasp, Ping sits up like a bolt, straight and tense. The sound of Ariel's gasps seems to have shaken him awake. He rubs his eyes and turns to look out toward the fire not far away from where he's sitting. Moving a short distance, he lets his legs hang over the peer and leans forward, squinting, to get a better look.
On the pier, it is crab, cricket, and conscript, all sitting in a row. Ping whispers to himself, "Is that man... pointing a gun at a... skeleton?" The cricket shrugs its shoulder but Ping doesn't seem to notice. The image of a skeleton reminds him of his fishing and he scrambles to pull in his line. He's pulled in a boot, causing him to slump and pout.

CADUCEUS has posed:
CADUCEUS looks at Jack and aims the broadside of the disk at the skeleton. "Most intriguing...Your dead...A skeleton, and yet you walk and talk as if you are living. That is a very interesting world." He says as he would then look about. "I am going to get some clothes for miss Ariel." He says as he begins to walk off.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Oh she really is a teenager, Sarafina thinks. She must be overthink--

...Snarfblat?

She blinks a few times and then says, "Ah--yes--we...better do that." She decides not to mention the father besides a, "Oh that's too bad. You seem lovely." This might be a bit of underselling the 'dad doesn't care about me' stuff but she's about 75 percent sure it's just normal girl stuff. Even if her world calls pipes snarfblaats.

"Mr Skellington..." Sarafina recognizes that skeleton...anywhere? Okay she turns off that line of thinking. "It's been some time."

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
Scrooge sighs, waving his cane threateningly at the crowd. "Ach, you people. Ye act like ye've never seen a talkin' skeleton before. There be all manner of strange beasties comin' from all the worlds..."

And then he whips the end of the cane towards Jack, narrowing his eyes at him. "Though ye'd best be showin' the young lass some manners, laddie."

It's... /possible/ that Scrooge is older than Jack. Possible. He calls him laddie regardless.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will looks up, right at Tigger who immediately takes his hand. Will doesn't resist or anything, Tigger is incapable of hurting him, if he even had the ability anyway. He blinks for a moment, and nods, with a smile, his free hand wiping the tears from his eyes, "Yeah...yeah, your right." he says, and then towards Aerial, "We will...it just..." He shakes his head, "I'm homesick. The worlds are nice, and everything...but I want to go home and be there again. Even if for a little while."

"But we'll get it back...and the other worlds too." he grins a bit, returning to the more happy go lucky Will.

"I'm sorry guys, don't worry about me, I didn't mean to take this down.." he looks at Jack, "Hey you're that guy who tried to play a trick on my friend."

"Who are you?"

Tigger has posed:
Tigger shares a moment with Will. It's what he does.

Suddenly, Jack! Tigger sees the frightful form of Jack Skellington and bounces up onto Will, grappling onto the back of his head like a bizarre hat. It is at least a very warm and squishy hat. Tigger stares at the ghastly figure, wide-eyed, tail sticking straight up and wobbling with distress.

Tigger slowly relaxes when it looks like the horrible skeleton creature isn't going to devour them or take all the tea biscuits. He continues to grip onto Will's head anyway.

Kaydin has posed:
Normally this isnt noticable but since Jack has such a thin shadow, it does become noticeable. His shadow seems to grow, merging with other shadows until it is finally large enough a person could be completely covered by it. It was then that the shadows become intensely dark, and a pair of hands fly out of the shadow, grabbing the edges of beach as if someone is trying to climb out. Course with this being sand the hands continually slip until a sword flies out and stabs the sand, black chain connecting the pommel of the sword as a cloaked figure climbs out of the darkness, kicking a shadow heartless which happened to try and investigate the doorway.

After a moment the cloaked man comes fully out and the shadows form back to normal and he is panting heavily as if he just climbed a great distance. With his hood off since he was lying down, his face can be seen. It was Kaydin for those who knew him, of course his hair has gotten much longer.

Tigger has posed:
Tigger, still latched onto Will's head, yowls in distress when Kaydin emerges from a shadow.

Jack Skellington has posed:
"My business here?" Jack asks in response. "Why, I was simply passing through, but to see such a group of lively people, it was too much to resist!" He proclaims, "I am quite charmed as well, sir! Such a compliment upon first meeting, though it wasn't my particularly best work. There was but a simple gasp! I had hoped for a shriek and the trailing of hair as she fell faint... it's far better this way, however!" He remarks, "Not many are very verbose while scared stiff." He continues.

Oh, he has forgotten something, has he not? "Yes, I am very much dead, but - oh yes! That is exactly it." He bows, forwards, "I had forgotten to introduce myself. Jack Skellington is my name! Oh, Sarafina! You are still alive and well." Which is a mixed blessing, after all. He stands tall up once more, a boney fingertip pushing the barrel of the gun away, slowly. "Yes, I know for certain that I am not the first skeleton that may have dealt with, however less mindless - oh, but it was the very best of manners, sir! A good scare is but the best way to greet a new face!" To Will, he replies, "I do hope they were properly frightened!" Hmmming, Jack turns afterwards, almost admiring the dark portal that appeared. "My, such an appearance!"

Ariel has posed:
It's likely the crab did not notice Ping was there until he sat up. He startles, just like Ariel did when she saw Jack, and runs off down the pier. Humans are scary.

Ariel tosses her hair. Yes, Scrooge is being very practical so she should be too. "He just... startled me." She sits back down.

Oh, CADUCEUS is going to get her some clothes. That's great! She wonders what kind they'll be. "...Thank you," she says to Sarafina, and now the topic has changed and she does NOT have to discuss her dad, so that is all wonderful.

She looks at both of the creepy-looking people. She doesn't mind attention taken off of herself as she's curious about learning about them too. She tries to find her teacup, which was tossed when she got startled. She finds it, picks it up, and wipes off some of the sand using the towel. A Towel seems like a very handy thing to have indeed when traveling to unfamiliar worlds.

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina looks towards Tigger and Will's head.

"Your hats just get stranger and stranger." She adds wryly. SUDDENLY THE SHADOWS. THE DARKNESS. Forms into a person that she once left in a desert! Well that's what happens when you are impolite to the only ride out.

She gives him a nod, still relaxed.

Kim Possible has posed:
Finally doing something different, Kim spots Jack Skellington and jumps back. "Gah!" She exclaims, looking a bit nervous. Then she frowns at Jack Skellington. She's about to say something, but doesn't actually speak after all.

Clayton has posed:
Clayton does not tear his gaze from Jack, looking into those hollow sockets. His pipe is firmly set in the corner of his mouth, puffing smoke rings into the air. Finally, he sits down, and after a few MORE moments rests his gun against the crate again, even as another shadowy figure joins them. "The situation with the worlds does make for some odd company," he finally says, then laughs stiffly to try and show he is not ready to shoot someone. It probably doesn't work.

"I'm afraid provisions are light, but I have some brandy in the tent. Of which I will be taking a drink of, in fact. Pradeep! Get the brandy glasses, will you?" He grins. Alcohol always puts him in good spirits, no pun intended.

He tries to make smalltalk. "I don't suppose any of you hunt."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will grins as he holds Tigger in his hands "Hee hee! It's okay Tigger, being scared is fun too! The...good kind of scares, ya know?" he grins back at Jack, "Maybe a little. She's easily frightened...not too hard to scare her I'm afraid!" he says, with a nod. However, with the Dark Portal, he tenses...then there was Kaydin. <GOOSEHONK> it universe! Why can't will be /happy/ for once! It /CONSPIRES/ him to be unhappy!

"Get behind me." Will says and steps to stand infront of Aerial, And place Tigger in her care. "You! What are you doing here?! You think I'll /ever/ forgive you!" his voice growls...the kid who was so happy go lucky now speaks Kaydin's name as if it is a curse.

"Leave. You don't belong in this place...a place filled with people /you/ made homeless!" he growls again, "Go now. Or else."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel watches as the other Basic heads off for the moment he'll be back sooner or later and she ponder shouldn't she go then again she doesn't have much in the way of user clothing really. She however pause at the dark knight arrives and her eyes narrow a bit she does look to Ariel and realises she'd not introduced her self. She'd said what she was but not whome. "Oh! I'm sorry my name is Deelel." The riches duck likely in the entire multiverse gets her notice however she's heard of him however with Kaydin here she's going for her id disk, and there's a hum as it comers to life.

"Baron, is virial."

Kaydin has posed:
"While I am the reason why they are homeless, I am also the reason why many of them were able to still be alive and not heartless." Kaydin says as he regains his breath as he tries to sit up. "Are you going to attack me while I am down an unarmed or am I atleast allowed to reclaim my weapon?" He asks as he looks to those present, black chain wrapped about his arm and connected to the sword which is still stuck into the sand. "Maybe if your both lucky, Sarafina there can take my unconscious body out to leave me in the desert again once your both done."

Ping has posed:
Between skeletons, guns, talking ducks, and sentient computer programs, things look pretty strange on the beach of Traverse Town. But really it really is just a typical weekday night in this town of interdimensional refugees. It's the portal of darkness that gets his attention. He whistles and bounds up, racing to the start of the pier. A large, black horse answers his summons and dips low to let him swing into the saddle. The horse races off toward the flash of darkness visible. He grits his teeth, "Heartless."
The cricket squeaks and bounces up into action, too, though too late to catch a ride on ping. He pushes the boot back into the water and hops down into it. Conveniently, there is a teaspoon in the bottom of the boot that the cricket uses as an oar, rowing away toward the ruckus.

Tigger has posed:
Tigger can be readily removed from Will. He's lightweight and not very large. He is powered by the innocent belief of children. Scared of skeletons? You bet. Kayden is almost incomprehensibly terrifying by comparison. His simple mind can barely process it. He can be handed off to Ariel easily enough. He's starting to slowly come out of the initial puff of shock.

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
"I hunted in my youth," Scrooge says. "Don't really have the taste for it these days - not most of the time." He sees people getting up in Kaydin's case - it's not his fight, but Scrooge McDuck sees the situation escalating.

"Now see here," he says. "This poor lass has just stumbled into this world, and the last thing she needs is for the lot of you startin' a brawl right here on this very beach!" This seems /largely/ focused on Kaydin, but he's addressing the entire situation at large.

His feathers are officially a little ruffled - after a moment, he reaches up to adjust his glasses, which have gotten slightly askew as he jabbed his cane in their general direction.

Will Sherman has posed:
"I said go." Will demands, he does not ask, he /DEMANDS/. There is a weight to his voice that /shouldn't/ be there. That glow in his eyes is fiercer, there is something welling...wanting to get out. "Take your escuses, take your lies, and leave. Do not come back. Do not ever let me find you. I offer you only this one chance. I do so because.." he pauses, "I do so because Someone with large ears told me that I should at least let people have the chance for forgiveness. MAYBE you'll managed to right all the wrongs you've committed.." he pauses, "But do you think saving some people can make up for what you've taken?!" He growls, "DO you know how many people were lost Kaydin? DO YOU? Millions. MILLIONS."

Will tries to calm down...hate won't bring them back... "Just...leave. I don't want to see you here Kaydin. Or ever."

Ariel has posed:
Ariel shakes her head at Clayton. Most hunters she knows are sharks.

When Will lashes out at the Shadow-man, she makes a small, silent 'oh' of understanding. Despite the fact that she doesn't really understand. He made people homeless how?

She looks at Deelel and is glad for the distraction. "Pleased to meet you."

She now is suddenly holding a Tigger. Well, he doesn't seem harmful at all.

So, these guys are bad guys. Will seems to be handling it. But she'd fight if she had to.

Jack Skellington has posed:
He positively smiles at Kim, Jack does, at least. "I find that kind of company the very best company!" Jack proclaims, sitting down as well, smiling quite cheerfully despite lacking skin, a mouth and veritable other things that allow such a function. He looks a bit odd, spindly as he sits. "I have much experience in hunting, but perhaps stalking is a different kind. Though I have scared a few to death...oh, wonderful!" He proclaims to Will, and his hat.

"Oh, now, he has every right to be here, doesn't he?" He asks, unaware of Manhatten, or it's fall.

To scrooge, "Oh? Is that true?" He remarks, stalking over to Ariel, leaning a bit down, legs bending a bit unnaturally, but he has no flesh, so it's easy. "Welcome, then! Now... why did you leave, may I ask, and wished to go abroad? ... Interested in seeing more?" He asks, finding a paticular soulmate in whimsical wonder.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel looks at Kaydin and isn't sure if she could bring her self to kill a user but she could darn well hurt this one. He willfully crashed an entire user system and she doesn't want to think how many of her kind were derezzed with the users who made them. Still she's not about to throw the first disk as she stares him down. Tiggers gets noticed but she flags him as harmless had Kadyin not been an issue she'd be utterly faciated about the strange creature.

"Depart user, millions of users and how many of MY KIND!? How many basics were deleted along with their creators. Just leave Kaydin you are not welcome here."

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina is disinclined towards starting a fight in front of Tigger, who is powered by the innocent belief of children. It just feels wrong on a gut level. But Sarafina can steel her heart if she has to.

"You rewrite history well." She tells Kaydin. "Do what you came here to do and depart quickly."

She gives a nod to Scrooge, agreeably. Seems reasonable to her.

Clayton has posed:
"Too old?" Clayton asks Scrooge with a thin smile. Or is it a sneer? "Ah, what a rush it gives. The planning, the preparation, the travelling...and of course, the build up to the final moment where you bag your quarry. Runs in the family; it was father that got me into it, dear old pap." He has Wu pour the brandy...though he pours himself a LOT of it. He's going to need a stiff drink around THESE characters.

He takes a deep drink...while still smoking, no less! He pauses at the skeleton's words. "YOU hunt?" He sounds incredulous. The thing's made of skin and bones! Clayton assumes Jack is an undead human. Well, if he ate more sandwiches, he might still be alive. "Some might say the stalking is the best part, not the shot itself," he remarks. "Knowing the prey is out there somewhere, using all of your physical and mental power to track and nab him...there's nothing else in the world like it."

Kaydin has posed:
"The way I see it, kid, if we are busy fighting against each other then it will make it that much harder to bring down the shadow lords, now will it? So far you are the one with the problem." He says as he pulls his arm hard and the sword flies from the ground and he catches it. He then begins to unravel the chain from his arm and wraps it about the blade now. "And personally I would rather spend my energy killing heartless then having to deal with you, so calm down. We all have our sins and wrongs to make up for." He says calmly after finishing wrapping the blade.

"Rewrite history? It's the truth, believe it or not I can care less." He says as he then turns to Ariel. "If she just stumbled into this world then she either found a portal or was thrown out when her world was consumed by darkness." He says as he begins to walk to her now, holding his sword in a reverse grip so the wrapped blade was against him. "Tell me, What do you remember before you woke here. Do you remember bright light or Darkness?"

Ping has posed:
Ping may not be very intimidating, but his horse is. The large, powerful horse kicks up sand and surf behind him as it barrels down on the crowd around the fire. Ping tugs on the reins and the horse rears up, its houves skidding through the sand, right up to the fire. The flames even flare dramaticly, illuminating him and his horse.
He overhears the words, "Shadow Lords," and he calls out, "You're in league with those demons!" The horse settles down and wheels around the fire, Ping's eyes focused on Kaydin, as if to size him up. He glances back toward Scrooge, Ariel, Tigger, Will, and the rest before looking back at Kaydin.
The cricket is making much slower progress, but its not long before the boot washes up on the shore and the little insect bounds out toward the camp.

Tigger has posed:
Tiggers are warm and pleasant to hold. He's like a heated pillow. Does he even have bones? Where does he keep his springs?! These mysteries and more will never be answered.

Tigger stares at Jack Skellington as he comes nearer. He seems to be adjusting to the clearly not harmful skeleton. "Hello Mr. Skeleton?" he asks. The hunting conversation sounds like a similar but ultimately foreign language. Tigger may ape some of it later.

Kaydin approaches. Tigger is still scared of him. He presses his rear end into Ariel's armpit, as if trying to slide around to hide in her hair.

Ariel has posed:
"Ah, well," Ariel starts to say to Jack. "My world is--"

She almost says, it's very boring, but it's not REALLY so boring. She has had lots of adventures under the sea, with manta rays and sharks and crashed ships and witches and magic and music...

She looks back at the ocean for a second. Well, there is no turning back now, is there? She doesn't think she could reliably swim back down to where the door was if she could even find it again. "I heard some stories," she doesn't say from whom or where or if she made it all up, "about there being other worlds. I have always wondered if it was possible... So, yes, I want to explore as many worlds as there are!"

She looks at Kaydin, and squints. "Well. It was under water. But it was... light, like a door made of light."

She looks up suddenly. Oh, wow, a horse - and not a seahorse! It's beautiful, all four legs! She almost stands up to go see it, but Tigger is crawling into her armpit. Well, okay.

Will Sherman has posed:
"You...feel no remorse for what you did?!" Will just stares at Kaydin. <GOOSEHONK> it Mickey...

"Yes." he says towards Ping, "He worked with the Shadow Lords to consume Manhattan. It's gone...my home is gone and YOU helped!" Will says again, right towards Kaydin, "Don't answer him, Ariel." he warns, "He'll bring the Heartless there...again." he mutters. "What part of leave did you not Get, Kaydin? /Leave/ means go."

He says, this time his stance shifts, there IS some hand to hand training in that stance, Ping might even reconize it...a bit bastardized, but it's defintely familar in style.

"Or I'll cram you into that portal."

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
Scrooge McDuck shoots a warning gaze at Will, then at Kaydin, before turning back to Clayton, sipping at his tea. "I was hunting before you were even a wee laddie," he says. "It's just not profitable these days." He sighs a bit, hearing the two continue to argue - he may have to intervene again, but he's trying to be good.

Kaydin has posed:
Kaydin nods. "Thats good. It means she may have found that world's portal to the other worlds. Means she can get back to it if she tries to find it. Also means her world is in danger, I suggest finding the portal and helping those in her world better defend, but you good and noble heroes will most likely will ignore that idea." He says as he sighs as he rubs his eyes.

"My homeland serves the shadow lords and I was a knight of my homeland trying to figure a way to turn the nation back around. There are still innocent people in baron that doesnt know their nation is being used to do monstrous things. When Manhattan fell I knew I could no longer serve them loyally if they intended to do more. So I left my homeland." He explains to those present. "I fight the heartless now. I came searching for Jack, to see how he was faring." He says, gesturing to the skeleton.

Clayton has posed:
Clayton frowns at the remark. Was this duck in a top hat mocking him? His expression briefly darkens, but then turns into something different. Something more sly. "Oh, I don't know. There's a market for almost anything...and people with disposable income enjoy the exotic, it reminds them of strange, far-off places they may never see." He winks a little. He largely ignores the little drama going on; the brandy is helping that. With it, he can take these sorts of things in stride a little easier.

He is by no means a drunkard, though, as he holds the brandy glass correctly and isn't drinking it down too quickly. He lets the amber liquid breathe in the ocean air. The approach of a horse draws his attention. Ah, an Oriental fellow. "Ni hao, chap," he greets.

Ping has posed:
Ping's horse is restless. It can smell the tension in the air and the large animal's fight-or-flight response is struggling against Ping's attempts to corral him. He can feel his loyal friend's heart beating like a drum beneath him, hear his snorts and rapid breaths. Ping steers the horse around the camp as best he can but like Khan, he's just as confused. Just like his horse, he's ready to act like a trigger cocked.
A cricket slides up onto the shore in a boot and bounces out, finding a little fiddler crab playing in the surf. He bounds in front of it and squeaks in his cricket tongue. The crab salutes with his little claw and allows the cricket to bounce up onto his back. Like Ping, the cricket now has a strong and loyal steed to carry him speedily into the melee.

Jack Skellington has posed:
"Oh! Yes, that's very familiar!" He remarks, a bit more silent now.

"I hope you've found everything... so .. interesting so far!" He cackles a bit... goodnaturedly if at all possible. "I do want to see other worlds as well. Say, perhaps I can take you around to them!" He adds to Ariel, "I'm certain we'll see all of the haunts!"

Tigger has posed:
Tigger reaches a point where his brain seems to do a hard reset. He looks blankly out at Kaydin as he keeps expositing, saying a lot of complex things that he doesn't understand, and forgets that he's scared.

Tigger hops off of Ariel and wanders back over toward the fire. He looks to appropriate more tea biscuits. "I should protect these from the Heartalumps," he says. "They sound like the worst kind of Heffalumps."

Ariel has posed:
"Oh." Ariel is pretty sure she does not want home to be overrun by a thing called the Heartless. So she doesn't explain anymore about her world, or if it's in danger or not.

She's not really sure who to trust when Kaydin tells his story. But the majority, who all seem to be nice people, seem to be against him.

"Great!" she says to Jack. "Well, once I get some warmer normal clothes. And if you need someone to help with..." The Heartless and everything, she supposes. She trails off, but gestures, they should see what she means. "I can do that, too. But I may as well explore this word while I'm here."

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina focuses on Tigger, leaving Kaydin be for the moment. It's like looking at childhood personified. She wants to take him home and show him off to her kids.She shakes her head quickly, what is she thinking?? This is a living breathing(?) creature! She shouldn't think such things.

"Perhaps you should." She tells Tigger. "What is a Heffalump?" Or a Heartalump for that matter. Maybe Heartalumps mean Heartless, but even then she's not sure what he's talking about. Still more comprehensible than Kaydin though.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will just...

Stares at Kaydin. He like...wants to get mad at this guy, supplex him into a mountain and then set it on fire.

But this guy is like a retarded puppy. Seriously, like a retarded puppy...He just...tries to get mad, but Kaydin just fails to understand anything on very concevable level so hard that Will kinda feels bad for him.

"Heartalumps are bad news. The worst news...if you see one, you should run away, okay?" Will says to Tigger... "Or get me or someone like me who can make it go away." He says, ignoring Kaydin. He just...rubs his face, "There is a lot to explore too...so many neat worlds out there...including ones almost without water."

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
Scrooge McDuck can appreciate that Clayton knows his way around a glass of brandy. He sticks to the tea he had earlier. He gives Ping a hard look - a soldier, and a young one. Fair-featured, too, but all humans look ridiculous to him anyway, with their total lack of feathers and their insistence on wearing pants. Who wears pants /all the time/?

"Well lassie, if you're going to be staying a while, you should stop by my ice cream shoppe," he says to Ariel. "Sea-salt ice cream, a wonderful little treat. Ach, I know!"

He takes off his hat rooting around in it for a coupon. "The first one's on me, lassie. The rest ye'll have t' buy!"

Jack Skellington has posed:
"Oh I shouldn't need to ask you to assist me with anything, I'm quite alright! I'll gladly take you up on your offer to travel, though! I certanly haven't seen enough of the people of these worlds, much less the worlds they must all have! They're all so colorful, active... what's the word, oh yes, lively!" He admits, hands splayed out.

Oh, seeing how he is faring? "Oh, I haven't been better. I admit, however... I haven't spoken with you in quite a while. Hmmm.."

Clayton has posed:
"Sea salt....ice cream," Clayton says, slowly, rolling the words around as if THIS was the weirdest thing, forget the skeletons and shadows and stuffed tigers. "You can't be serious, old boy."

Tigger has posed:
Tigger begins describing a heffalump with enthusiasm. "Oh, a Heffalump is... it's big, it's big and wide, and it has ... /horns/ and giant stompy feet and a tail on its face. And it eats hunny."

"You can run off the Heartalumps?!" Tigger asks of Will. "I'll be watchful! You can count on me, buddy boy!" He salutes! And then he eats more tea biscuits.

"I like ice creams," he says, with his mouth full.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel takes the coupon. "Thank you!" Oh, buy. She'll have to come across some human ... munny, then? It may take her some time to figure out how buying works, but she doesn't want to embarass herself by asking. She inspects the coupon quite carefully.

She nods at Jack. "So, you must have an interesting story too. I'll bet you know witches and pirates!"

Kaydin has posed:
"I been sorta hiding as you can tell I am not the most popular man here." Kaydin says as he walks towards Jack. "I decided to come out of hiding, to do the right thing and protect those who were my friends at one point from the heartless and fight the heartless." He says to Jck.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will nods! "I sure can. Beat a bunch of them up!" he pauses, "Though if you see a short guy with big ears and a key? You should get him first." Will nods.

He pauses, "Hey..uh Tigger. There was a little girl you bounced off with last night? Where did she go?" he asks.

It is likely Will just missed Emi.

"Yeah...this guy wouldn't even give us free ice cream after we recovered his recipe...well, besides the one." he sags, "Man you're just lucky it's good." he says to Scrooge. "Really good."

"That reminds me...I gota go punch more heartless. I need more munny."

Tigger has posed:
Tigger looks back at Will blankly. His mouth opens a little as if he were going to answer, but there is nothing there.

"Um."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel just is about as dumb founded as Will is she sighs for a moment and lowers her weapon a bit the disk then is shortly on her back. "I know how yhou frel about water. Stuff's instantly lethal on the grid." She seems to have relaxed now the drama seems to be over. She's not sure what to do about Kaydin honestly but what the heck to do about him.

"If you need a place to sleep hit up the hotel in town they will have you doing dishes or cleaning but you'll get a room for the night." She also nods to jack, not sure still want to make of him other than he's quite the social being.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will pauses, "I mean, BOUNCE on them until they give up their munny." he says, with a nod. "That's what I meant."

Scrooge McDuck has posed:
"Nae laddie," Scrooge says to Clayton. "Sea-salt ice cream has always been a favorite o' mine - it took me ages t' discover the proper recipe before some /miscreants/ tried t' steal it. This young laddie and some others helped me recover it." he says, pointing at Will.

"I admit, it's not high finance or prospecting for gold, but it makes me a tidy profit and I get as much of it as I like!" He chuckles to himself happily.

Tigger has posed:
"No the other thing," Tigger says. "I don't know where she went! One minute we were bouncing along, and the next she got herself misinplaced."

Will Sherman has posed:
"Huh." Will pauses, he thinks about this for a moment, "Well, she's small and easily loosable. I am sure she'll turn up. Her sisters don't seem worried, so I am not." He grins at Tigger, "Lots of bouncing to do out there right? Even if she's not a Tigger, she'll still probably do it lots."

Ariel has posed:
Ariel makes a mental note that munny happens when you punch Heartless. Okay. Well that seems easy enough. Of course, everyone knows that, right? Of course. And if you don't have munny, you can go to the hotel and do dishes. Okay. She nods to Deelel. Maybe the hotel is used to people falling in like that. She will have to figure out what the hotel is.

Her eagerness to explore is really getting the better of her. There's so much to figure out. "Thanks. Everyone's been super-helpful. I'll try to find the hotel."

Sarafina Carenze has posed:
Sarafina says, "Oh." Pause. "That sounds horrible." W/re to heffalumps. She manages to say nothing else. OR rather doesn't manage to add anything.

Tigger has posed:
"Bouncing is the bestest thing there is!" Tigger says with renewed confidence. "She'll learn how to do it. You've just got to wiggle your rear and wind up your springs. It's as natural as can be."

Jack Skellington has posed:
The skeleton turns to Ariel once more, "Why, yes, I happen to know a certain pirate about here, but witches, zombies, creatures from the black lagoon, and even one that hides under your bed." He exclaims, grinning with glee, "For I know many a ghost and ghoul, if I do say so myself." He exclaims, "I'm sure you know many lively, living being yourself... like a baker, or a candlestick maker, I'm certain. There's always that man, Eric, you had spoken of."

The Skeleton turns to Kadyin, tilting his head, a bony finger pressing against his cheek. "It's a pity the heartless didn't work out... but they're such a good wealth of terrible ideas! .. Fighting for your friends? But what of your other friends?"

Ping has posed:
Ping starts to get the feeling that even if Kayden is in league with the Heartless, he's the kind of danger that's not going to sneak up on him, but talk him to death. He slides from his saddle and tugs on his horse's reins, working to calm him.
Meanwhile, a cricket perched on top of a fiddler crab continues its charge up from the beach, intending to do battle.

Kaydin has posed:
"They seem to be doing just fine without me. Guess I just need to kill heartless." Kaydin says as he would begin to walk off. "Take care of yourself Jack. Pray the heartless doesnt ever consume your world. And watch out. These hero types are about as trustworthy as the heartless." He says as he walks off.l

Clayton has posed:
"Well, I'm sure it fetches a decent income but, you'll forgive me if I choose to stick to what I know...and love." Then talk turns to the Heartless. "I have had run ins with these 'Heartless' myself, travelling here and there. Dreadful creatures, that. At least they go down with a few well placed shots. Not the only dangers out there, though. Recently I fought shapeshifting monkey men in ancient China." He nods to Ping.

Then he laughs. "Imagine, men who can change into beasts. It's just absurd, and...wrong. Very wrong. To go savage like that.":

Will Sherman has posed:
"A Pirate? You don't mean Faris?" Will asks Jack, and then he turns back towards Tigger. "I dunno man. I can hop on my feet, and bounce even...Well.." Will grins. "I'm pretty good at that." he says, and bends down, stretching a bit. Then, without warning, Will /litterally/ jumps straight up...a good six feet off the ground. He lands, and grins, "Not a Tigger, I'm afraid, but...I think it's pretty good." he looks towards Ping, "Hey come sit down and don't worry about...him. Seriously." he shrugs, "Not now anyway...not here." he motions towards Tigger. He can't beat someone up infront of Tigger.

Tigger has posed:
Tigger claps appreciative at Will's bouncing. "Like that!" he says. "That's a good bounce!" Tigger is quite pleased. As long as he can find people to bounce with, he'll make it anywhere.

Ariel has posed:
Ariel seems intrigued, if a little concerned, when Jack mentions all the scary people that he knows. She should be brave of course. But then he mentions Eric, and she nods. "Yes. But, uh, I don't know where he is right now, so..." She takes a step back, and huddles into the borrowed jacket. She'll give it back to Will later, as soon as CADUCEUS comes back with real clothes. "Thanks everyone so much for helping me out of the water."

Jack Skellington has posed:
"Oh no, another! So there must be more than Zeke here!" He proclaims, hmming. "Prey? Of course they will be prey if they come back! They've worn out there welcome, haha! For I, Jack,the Pumpkin King won't welcome them back! Especially not with what they have done!" Well... maybe he'll let the small, nice and behaving ones. He's not an iron ruler kind of person.

"A hero.. type?" He thinks, rubbing his boney chin. "I'd never imagined they came in different types... oh. Well, if you need clothes as well, I know a certain someone who does wonders with a needle! I'll have to talk to Sally then, for you... oh, but perhaps I should check in with the mayor first, it's been a bit of a while since I've been back home."

Ping has posed:
Ping reaches down and scoops up a little fiddler crab that races up at his feet. The cricket on board is tumbled off into the sand. "I'm watching you..." He peers at Kayden before he disappears. "Take care." He says to all the rest of the folks gathered. To his horse, "At least we can have some crab stew..."
A cricket bounces up after being spilled into the said, shakes his head, and straightens his antennas. He bounces up onto Ping's leg and then into the tiny cage he wears on his hip. He pulls the door closed.
Starts to walk away, leading his horse down along the beach, away from the conversation.