A Journey Begins

A Journey Begins
Date of Scene:	05 July 2013
Location:	Wutai - City
Synopsis:	After dealing with the skeletal invaders at Traverse, Rapunzel hops aboard a ship that takes her to the inland port of Wutai. There she encounters a few familiar faces.
Cast of Characters:	Rapunzel, Elysiana Glyphanos, Shadow, Izolde Danefield

---

Rapunzel has posed:
Despite being several miles inland from the edge of the large island that makes up the the southeastern section of the Central Isles, Wutai is still able to make the claim of being a proper port city. Nestled in the edge of a mountain range that blockades it from the north, the town's center of trade sits along the winding path of a rather sizable river.

Flowing down from the high peaks, several massive waterfalls pool together below the elevated platforms and wooden structures to create a beautiful lake closer to the city proper and from these two great sources of water the city draws its prosperity. Fish and seafood of all sorts can be found here as well as rice harvested from the well-irrigated fields that stretch out near the base of the rocky crags.

Every facet of Wutai is steeped in Oriental design, from the arched black roofs of layered ceramic shingles that tower upwards like temples to the ornate kimonos and wooden sandals that seem to be the standard garb of those who make this land their home.

In a place like this, Rapunzel stands out even more than she usually does. That doesn't stop the bold young girl from exploring everything she finds. The moment the small ferry she rode over on hits the side of the docks she leaps into motion, dashing towards the wide bazaar to take in the various stalls of dried and smoked fish to the dyed fabrics being hawked by boisterous merchants.

It takes her the better part of the morning to wear herself out in the manner but eventually she finds her way up towards the main section of the city where the houses and dojos litter the ground. She pauses on a the curved red bridges that passes over one of the many streams that cut through the plateau and grins down at the water as a pair of koi fish swim past.

"Wow. Everything here is so colorful!"

Pascal frowns on her shoulder and leaps down into the water. One of the fish swims up to him curiously and the lizard reaches out to touch the koi on the nose, instantly taking on a blotchy red and white skin-tone much like the fish. He looks up at Rapunzel smugly.

"Aww, you don't have to be jealous Pascal."

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Inhaling the air... and for a moment the young woman is startled by the length of golden hair that wizzes by her. "Umm... It is colorful." she admits peering into the water and noticing the koi. "Those look like Izomi fish.. sort of." she said. Elysiana pointed to the lizard. "Quite a.. friend there.."

Shadow has posed:
You know where a black-clad ninja would fit in? A city of ninjas. Though the attention Shadow is getting is the polar opposite of what he is used to. Instead of people paying him little mind-- all sorts of people are coming up to him.

'What do you study?'
'What style do you use?'
'Where did you get the clothes?'

Notably most of the people tugging at Shadow are children. Two of them are chasing Interceptor around an open area. Bark bark woof! The large dog wags his tail-- rolling around in the dirt with the giggling ninja children.

Shadow, on the other hand, is standing there are he is assaulted. His eyes wander past the children-- looking over towards familiar faces: Izo and Rapunzel. Normally those eyes seem lazy and detached, but they clearly say 'Help me' right now. Otherwise a kid might get THROWN to another pagoda.

Rapunzel has posed:
Upon being spoken to, Rapunzel turns to smile at the dusky skinned girl. "So they're called Izomi? I've never read about these kinds of fish. There's so much I missed out on!"

Pascal glances up at this new person with his usual smirk but as he does so the fish he was clinging to suddenly decides to bolt. With a splash it whirls around and vanishes down the stream leaving Pascal to fall flat on his face in the shallow water.

The golden-haired girl stifles a giggle and sticks her foot through one of the gaps in the bridge's railing. The lizard accepts the offering and hops up onto her bare toes, shaking himself off thoroughly before scuttling up inside her dress only to reappear at her shoulder.

"Pascal /is/ quite a friend," she affirms, which makes him blush. He blends in with her dress, turning a dark purple to try and hide it.

The sound of happy children distracts Rapunzel from her new acquaintance as her eyes come to rest on the strange man in black from before. Or is it? Since he's wearing a mask she can't really tell if he's the same person from the beach or just another random man in a body suit. Ah, but there's the dog. Can't be too many people who happen to wear all black /and/ have a pet that looks like that, right? Right.

Seeing his distress, Rapunzel bites her lip in amusement but being the good-natured person she is, she moves over to help him out. "Hey, you guys, wanna see something neat?"

Half a dozen pairs of eyes turn on her at once, all of them going wide in amazement at the sight of a girl with pale white skin and golden hair that stretches behind her so far that the end is out of sight around one of the nearby buildings. They quickly shift focus, their attention jumping from one thing to the next as children tend to do, and cluster around Rapunzel who kneels down on the grass.

She reaches up to her shoulder and scoops up Pascal, holding him in her palms towards the children. They stare at him curiously for a few moments but it's not until he shifts to match her light skin tone that they gasp in unison.

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Elysiana Glyphanos shakes her head. "Well they resemble the Izomi fish from my home." she explain. "Though less.. brightly colored. " she turns as Rapunzel's attention is turned and eyes and eyes the lizard. "Quite a friend." She said kneeling down amongst the children. "I could do something ,,equivalent though, not as 'easil' as your friend there, Lady." she says to Rapunzel. She lowers her hood allowing her white hair to spill from its confines meants. "Can he match?" she asked holding up the pale hair.

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield had been making quite good progress on her exploration of this new world comprised of...many worlds really. She'd been visiting the continents pretty frequently and upon hearing of Wutai, she paid her dues and hopped on the first boat to the place. She's wearing her normal attire which wasn't terribly out of place here, her staff sitting on a holster on her back while her hands are busy with some sort of meat skewer of which she had a half a dozen of, and the other hand on a book she acquired of somewhere, looking to contain some local map information. She was pulling off the meat from the skewers rather quickly, the lady apparently having quite the appetite.

"Such lovely architecture...Who knew wood could be so eloquently stated?"

Shadow has posed:
Shadow slowly creeps away as the kids are distracted by Rapunzel's antics. Slide left. Slide left. Slide into the shadow of a building. Now he is just a pair of eyes that pop out of the darkness and watch. Whenever the kids turn around to look in his direction, the ninja closes his eyes. So he is a ninja-Boo-ghost.

"Indeed," says the disembodied voice to Izo-- otherwise being his pair-o-eyes in the shadows. Interceptor watches Rapu with the children-- sitting down at attention and wagging his tail. When the 'ooo' of the show happens, he barks 'Neato!' in dogese.

Rapunzel has posed:
Pascal puts on another smug smile as his trick gets a positive reaction, his tail uncoiling and recoiling in a lizard-like approximation of wagging. He turns and climbs back up her sleeve a few inches and shifts to a link pink to match, getting more amused laughs and claps from the captive audience.

Rapunzel turns to face Elysiana when she follows and nods at her explanation of the fish. "I see. Well, I'll have to find out what they /are/ called then. As she unleashes her hair and holds it up, Pascal takes notice of a chance to show off.

Without waiting for his mistress to ask, the lizard leaps from her arm into the pile of silvery hair and quickly shifts to mimic the hue perfectly, nearly completely blending in save for the odd shape of his body against the flowing locks.

"Ofcourse he can," she says proudly. "He can match any color that I've seen. Even patterns."

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Elysiana Glyphanos looks momentarily stunned. "Ahh..." she closes her eyes. "That's a first, most of the time, this sort of color is only among the Blessed, and to be able to mimic it.. Pascal.. was it..." she said to the little lizard. "Is .. impressive."

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield just about closes her book when the disembodied but familar voice speaks towards her. She shoves a book underneath her arm and bites off a few pieces of meat before offering one towards Shadow.

"You know, if I didn't have clan-mates that were into the whole sneaky-shadowy-darkness-subterfuge thing, that might have startled me...around seventy years ago. What's are you doing here though? Are you from here? I could see someone like you fitting right in."

She turns to look at the eyes currently nearby, and offers him a wave of greeting after the question.

Shadow has posed:
Shadow's hand is removed from the darkness-- a single glove reaching for the piece of meat. It soon disappears into the darkness where the ninja stays. Eyes certainly can make an 'I am eating' look-- or at least Shadow's does as he munches on it.

Swallowing, the ninja tells the Nu Mou, "That is the problem. The children ask too many questions," he tells her. Hearing the voice, one of the children turn to Izo and Shadow-Eyes. The ninja closes his eyes, becoming Boo-invisible for a moment until the Mario-child turns back around. "Otherwise," he continues to Izo as Shadow's eyes reopen, "this place has a lot of useful information."

Interceptor barks at Rapunzel and Pascal every time they do a trick. Tail wag. Tail wag. Needy eyes to Ely for a scritch or two.

Rapunzel has posed:
Fading back to his normal dark green, Pascal gives a final smug nod to the girl with white hair before he hops back over to Rapunzel and takes up a perch on the top of her head. She doesn't seem to mind.

"What, or I suppose, who, are the Blessed?" She peers at Elysiana curiously while reaching out a hand towards Interceptor, indicating that she's willing to satisfy his desire for pettings.

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Elysiana Glyphanos thinks. "They are people like me... in my home land, ahh introductions." she looks sheepish. "A pleasure, I'm Elysiana Glyphanos. Ely- for short." she offered a polite bow of her head. "The Blessed, are people who've been chosen by a guardian... spirit. I was chosen by the Holy Sky Mothers of my mother's birth land, and was going to be.. sacrificed to the nation I was born in -Kelm's deity, because I am blessed." she explained. "Well essentially."

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield offers a wave towards the nearby children, looking...quite weird from their perspective. Probably not going to want to stand too close to the weird grey-dog woman with way too big ears. But in either case, she turns to look towards the voice after the kids move on, taking on another skewer full of food.

"Well aren't you just not the type with kids? I bet they see people like you all the time. It's only natural...I think. I can't really speak for the habits of Humes. Nu Mou children are more likely to be a slight bit more inquisitive."

Shadow has posed:
It takes a moment-- but the children do start to fade away. Some other sparkly thing in the distance draws an eye and away they go to the next cool thing. Ninja cards? Yes. Ninja cards.

Shadow steps out of the Shadows (shadowception) to speak to Izo. "I'm not good with kids," he admits. Yes. He is in the running for worst Dad award somewhere in there. Though in this mega-verse, he isn't villain level poor parenting so at least he is out of the Top 10.

Interceptor, however, is great with kids. Kids. Women. Sometimes cats. He has his tongue out of his side as the skritch comes his way. Ooooh yeah. Right there. Woof!

Rapunzel has posed:
Rapunzel shifts her focus to the dog as Interceptor draws close enough for her to deliver the promised scratchings. She smiles at him and makes the same face that everyone makes when talking to a pet, scrunching up her nose and altering her voice to a playful tone.

"Aww. Who's a good boy? Yes, you are!"

This continues for a few moments until Elysiana makes her introduction, at which point Rapunzel turns back to face her, still patting away at the loyal attack dog's head. "I'm Rapunzel. Just Rapunzel," she admits.

Her good cheer fades in a flash at the revelation about the other girl's past, however. "S-sacrificed? Tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means!"

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Elysiana Glyphanos thinks. "I was five, when we left Kelm... but yes.. in that manner. Or rather.. I was going to have... my life force, drained slowly. Like.. drinking a cup of water a sip at a time. Leaving the glass... empty."

Shadow has posed:
While on the subject of introductions, Shadow motions to the dog that Rapunzel is petting, "That is Interceptor. I'm Shadow." Interceptor promptly woofs-- grinning in a way only a dog can do with his mouth half open. With the children gone, the ninja returns to the small group in Wutai. "Thank you for distracting the kids."

For a moment the shrouded man regards Ely and her statement. There is a nod, "Many cultures have similar tales-- though the act is no less villainous among them." Thats his cheerful way of saying 'Good on you for surviving that!'

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield turns towards the others present and passes a wave towards the girl with the half mile of hair that she'd met recently. She turns back towards the Shinobi and bows her head a little bit in a curtsy for an introductory gesture.

"My name is Izolde Danesfield. I wouldn't have named you anything other than a Shadow considering your...job? Occupation? Hobby? Something. There are those who are good at that shadows thing. I don't make annnny pretenses to say I am."

Elysiana Glyphanos has posed:
Elysiana Glyphanos nods. "I can't say it was my own survival. The Kelm's Queen, wanted mt to fuel their deity, as she fueled it. Mother got my,self, and my brother and sister and our father, out. And then became Queen of her own nation..." she seemed weirded out by it. "IT was simply the way it was." she turn towards Izolde. " "A Pleasure to meet all of you."

Rapunzel has posed:
Rapunzel stares at the girl sitting next to her, at a loss for words. Eventually she just smiles big with an obviously nervous expression. "Well, um... glad that didn't happen!"

The dog barks and she turns away, happy to have anything else to talk about right this moment. "Interceptor, huh? I bet he's really good at his job! Who's a fast doggie? Yes you are!" She's doing it again.

After another session of energetic petting, Rapunzel nods at the ninja. "No problem! I could see you were having some trouble. You just have to know how to get their attention, is all."

Shadow has posed:
The ninja isn't much for expressing the pleasure of greeting people-- but Ely does get a brief nod. Interceptor's tail wags as he barks. Bark bark! He hops onto his hind legs, jumping up at Rapunzel as if to say 'Me! Me! I am! I am!'Shadow doesn't stop him-- the dog is his own person.

"I'm not good with children," he says like a broken record. A hand motions down to about how high they are, "They are small and ask a lot of questions." Shadow regards Izo with a touch of a nod, "Job. Where I was from-- I could travel without drawing much concern or attention. When they knew what I did for a living only the occasional treasure hunter would try to talk to me." A hand motions to Interceptor-- who is not doing a very good job at the job Shadow describes, "And Interceptor usually keeps them away as well."

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield smirks towards the dog having the time of his life and offers him a low wave to see if he'd catch it from his position. Ely gets a small nod and Rapunzel gets a moderate wave of greeting. After that, she perks an ear towards Shadow again.

"Most children are like that though. You have to worry about them if they don't ask you questions. But in either event, at the very least if you are as old as you appear, then you have some skill in your profession no? Though I'm imagining that your content canine probably breaks your 'I'm dark, mysterious and serious' motif pretty regularly. Like now for instance."

Rapunzel has posed:
Rapunzel continues to humor Interceptor for abit. Even Pascal hops down onto his head once he settles down a bit and peers down at him from above, his scales shifting to the dark black of the dog's fur.

"Small and asks a lot of questions sounds exactly like how I would describe a child," she says with a grin.

Not that she's interacted with many of them but she remembers her own youth pretty well. Unlike most people who were allowed to go out and make lots of memories throughout their lives, she spent all but the last few days locked up in her tower, so every thing she's ever done remains pretty clear. She's encountered plenty of children since setting foot in Traverse Town, however.

"So um... there's something I want to ask you all, since we're here talking. Have any of you ever seen strange floating lights in the sky? They come in all different colors and sizes and there's tons of them!"

Shadow has posed:
R Its true. Shadow can only maintain two of the three qualities: dark, mysterious, and serious. Interceptor often lightens the mood or gets him involved in things a cold creature would otherwise miss out on. A single gloved hand points to his wild and happy dog, "Since I arrived here, he has been acting like this. Though-- he is his own dog. I own him no more than he owns me... But he has been following me around for a long time now." Interceptor turns his head to bark at Shadow 'Because its fun!' "Its possible he may take a shine to one of you-- and you will be stuck with him," Shadow dismisses. Interceptor whines. Changing the topic, the ninja informs Izo, "I have some skill in my profession. Often I am hired due to a lack of discretion in terms of job details-- not the cost or prowess. Especially here-- its the former and not the later that land me any work."

Rapunzel's question gives Shadow pause. He response with, "Yes. Though-- not in these lands." He is thinking more along the lines of sky mortars and magitek weaponry that Vector used-- but its pretty in its own way, right?

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield blinks towards Rapunzel's question, shaking her head a little bit, her large floppy ears following suit.

"Well, they could be any number of things. They could be fireflies if they're about the size of a fingertip. They're only around in the summer..."

She stops to roll her eyes back in her head, visibly thinking for a moment.

"...Where I come from anyway. These lights could be any sort of magical occurrence...or creature...or they just could simply be lights. You'd have to ask those of the world you are visiting."

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield additionally nods towards Shadow and gestures towards his canine.

"That's an interesting relationship, but I don't have room for a friend in my abode. Maybe one day."

Rapunzel has posed:
"Really?!"

Rapunzel hops to her feet, her face full of hope. But then she deflates just as quickly when Shadow adds in the amendment. "Oh... well, any clues would be great."

She glances over at Izolde and shrugs. "I don't know. I only ever saw them from the window of my tower. They appear every year on my birthday. That was a couple days ago."

The girl flops back in the ground and begins to fiddle with her hair. "I don't think they are magic lights... though it's not impossible. My mother called them stars but... I've charted the stars for years and these only appear on that one day. I really want to find out what's causing them. I get this feeling like they're related to me somehow."

Shadow has posed:
Interceptor knows exactly what the cure to this is. He sits seriously and looks at Rapunzel. Woof woof bark bark woof bark howl woof bark. There was probably a long discussion about how the possibilities could range from fireworks to magic. Shadow watches and sees the shift in the questing girl. "She is right," the ninja notes as he motions a hand to Izo, "you need to travel to where your land is-- if it exists-- and start there. If there is a connection, you'll want to see it-- not simply accept it on the words of strangers." Well maybe Izo is a more credible source of information over the ninja-- but Shadow is about as trustworthy looking as a psychotic clown. Interceptor barks back to the ninja 'Thats what I said!'

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield looks over towards Rapunzel in the hopes that it might have answered her question but likely not. She shrugs towards her.

"If they're higher in the air, they could be celebratory Fireworks of some kind. Honestly, there's alot of things it could be. But the only way to find out is to head home and investigate."

She looks down towards Shadow and blinks at his sassy canine friend.

"Does he always talk like that? It's almost like he can hear us. Or is just reciprocal."

Rapunzel has posed:
Pascal hangs on to the dogs ears with his tiny three-toed feet as Interceptor tilts his head back to bark up a storm. Rapunzel giggles and pats the dog again and the lizard takes that opportunity to escape back to the safety of her dress.

"They're not fireworks. I saw those at the beach when those weird skeletons came out of the water. These lights were more constant but much brighter than the stars that I've seen." She sighs. "Well, I'm sure I'll find them one day. It's my dream to see the floating lights!"

The girl pushes back to her feet and dusts herself off. "But it looks like I'll have to wait til next year before I can make that happen. I'll just have to spend the time I have finding out if anyone knows about them. I should probably look for Flynn too... I hope he's okay..."

Turning to leave, Rapunzel gives a final wave at those present. "Well, I should find a place to stay for the night. It was nice to meet you all properly!"

Shadow has posed:
Flynn... that is a name Shadow will have to remember. That and the others he learned today. To the blonde departure the ninja ofers a nod. As for Izo, he answers to Interceptor's behavior, "Always." Silly megamutt.

Izolde Danefield has posed:
Izolde Danefield offers a wave towards the long-haired human before smirking towards Shadow's canine.

"Sounds like you wouldn't want it any other way though, right?"

Shadow has posed:
Shadow asides to Izolde-- having one of those stances that could stay still for hours without tire, "You are very observant-- a resourceful quality." Interceptor barks 'Yes, observant!' with a tail wag. Everyone's skill in understanding dogese increases by 1 (13). Hearing some children rustle by, the ninja slips towards the shadows once more, "It is my time as well. I'd say a silent goodbye-- but we keep running into each other. So, til next time."