intro log.

[fracturamods]

welcome mingle

( AND SO IT BEGINS. )

There's nothing but the clatter of train tracks, and the odd feeling of almost floating.

When you wake, it's hard to tell exactly what it is that you're missing - only that you are. There are pieces that aren't quite right, even if you're not sure where those pieces would normally be. Pieces of what, exactly....? Well, if you had to put a word to it, it would be - yourself, probably.

The place you've found yourself in is strange, certainly. It's probably worth exploring a bit. Though it just as easily seems that the only form of welcome or explanation that you have, comes from nothing more than a slab of marble.

Well - that, and all the people who seem to have woken up alongside you, lost and also probably Doing Their Best™.

There's no need to fret that much though. It's hard to say exactly where you're going next, even though some places might feel a little bit more like a clue, but what you do know is one unshakeable thing:

There's still much more ahead of you.

Comments

[amberspirit]

[This is stupid, Haku thinks, the one single person maybe who is absolutely accustomed to magical nuances such as this. His brows knot when Kano starts banging on the keys.]

Stop that.

[His voice is a little sharper this time, and his movement toward the cart is cautious, like a cat. Since cats and dragons have same energy.]

Playing with things or eating the food of other worlds can trap you there.

[suddenlybees]

[ Kano takes his hands back immediately, because unlike with the bell, the piano can be easily lifted and smashed over his head. He sits back and kicks his feet a little. ]

Ohh, sounds dangerous~ I wonder if everybody will be okay? It looks like most of 'em's eaten from the little snack carts around here~ It'd be too bad if they're all doomed!

[amberspirit]

[Haku with Kano.]

Don't speak of it so lightly. Even if you haven't eaten anything, something here powerful enough could turn you into a toad or a pig.

[He glances over the food on the cart, frowning.] ...I don't feel magic, [is murmured to himself.]

[suddenlybees]

I'm not, I'm not, I'm being to~tally serious!

[ He can't speak in a way that sounds serious. It's impossible. Once he gets his eye ability back, if he ever does, he's going to try turning into a toad or a pig in front of Haku.

But for now, he's pulling away from the piano and hopping over to join Haku by the cart, picking up a package with some sort of sponge cake roll inside and squishing it lightly between his fingers so the wrapper crinkles. ]

Are you sure? You can eat this without turning into a farm animal? Why don'tcha try it out?

[amberspirit]

[STOP. Don't bully him. Plenty of humans turn into pigs and toads where he's from.]

Why don't you eat it instead? [He watches Kano squeeze the packaged cake before turning his eyes to Kano's face.] I'll turn you back if you transform.

[That's even if he is able to do that at all, but Kano doesn't have to know!]

[suddenlybees]

[ Haha. He'll do it with love and care; it's not bullying.

But oh, good thing Haku knows how to un-transform people! Kano takes comfort in that, unwrapping the cake from the wrapper, bringing it up to his mouth


and smashing it against Haku's face. ]

[amberspirit]

[What the HECK!!

As soon as he sees Kano's hand veering in, he tenses and squawks. One hand snaps around Kano's wrist, squeezing firmly. There's no shock really, it's just all irritation and anger unfortunately for Kano. His hair is practically standing on end.]

You'll regret that.

[From where his hand is gripped, a sickly green hue starts wrapping over Kano's skin in either direction--up toward the fingers and down the arm. It doesn't hurt? But it looks quite gross, and it'll keep going until Kano yanks away.]

[suddenlybees]

[ He did it with love and care!! Why is Haku being mean, Anna

Kano regrets it immediately, laughing and crying out at the same time when Haku grabs his wrist, only making a feeble effort to wrench his arm away because he needs to stay close enough to dig a packet of relish out of his pocket and tear it open with his teeth so he can dribble it on Haku's hand. ]

[amberspirit]

[CARD, THIS IS HARASSMENT.

NO to the relish. Absolutely not. He yanks his arm away and leaps back several unnatural feet. Quickly, he rubs the back of his wrist and arm over his face, and then he grabs onto the cart's handle.

He rushes forward with it, trying to ram Kano... but... keep going? He's going to ram and slam against the seat of the train, or try to.]

[suddenlybees]

[ Kano would die if he let that happen, and he's definitely not quick enough to run away or jump onto the cart or anything like that, so the next best thing he's got is to— first, keep the relish packet clenched between his teeth, because he's not dropping it and wasting relish— then duck behind the keyboard that will very likely get smashed along with Kano, but not before he yells his last ditch bid for his life. ]

STOP STOP STOP!! IF YOU BREAK THIS YOU'LL UNLEASH THE PIANO DEMON!!!

[amberspirit]

[You have betrayed his tiny trust, Kano, and for that: no mercy. Haku at least doesn't pursue with the cart himself. He lets go, but allows it to continue on its trajectory toward Kano and the piano.

And then he promptly turns and runs. The whole of the car's interior fills with a swift gust of wind as he pushes off his feet, rattling and disturbing everything. He doesn't use his legs so much as he goes from where he stands to zipping out of the door where they came in flight.

there he go]

[suddenlybees]

[ It's Haku's fault for trusting him. But, well. Kano's bowled over and needs a minute or two to lie there staring at the ceiling, but then he picks himself up and goes back through the door too.

You know what's great about trains?

There is only one direction, and the end is blocked, so there's no escape (: He's coming for you, Haku (: ]

[amberspirit]

[In the next car, Kano finds... nothing? Weird. There's no evidence of Haku being there, not even the soft pitter-patter of his feet. So Kano keeps going? On down through the car to the next.

That one, too--there's no Haku there. Hm. Extra weird.

So Kano keeps going still, on to the next car. When the door connecting them opens, he's greeted with a surprise:

At the opposite end of the car is the greyscale-looking dragon again, much too big for the train, much too long too. It's accordioned up, and it seems to be... ramming the door to try to get out? When Kano appears, though, it whips its head around and snarls in warning.]

[suddenlybees]

[ He just keeps going and going and going... he's taking his sweet time walking, really, since he's in no rush and frankly can't run for that long anyways. Not here. Not in this car either. He ducks a little to peer under the seats, but Haku's not hiding there either...

He stops short when he opens the next door and sees the dragon there. ...leans over to look under the seats... ]

So, um, I'm lookin' for this, like, bob haired kid? Did you eat him?

[amberspirit]

[The long tail curls over through the rungs of the seat. The dragon turns slightly in place to face Kano, the growl still trickling lowly as the only answer. One of the front legs rises to latch onto the edge of the seat.

It really just hunkers up like a cat-snake, waiting on Kano's move. (Or, preferably, Kano's staying away.)

The train seems to be gradually slowing down...? Hm!]

[suddenlybees]

Huh... Oh, okay. So you did eat the bob haired kid. That's so sad.

[ RIP bob haired kid. Kano sits down on the closest train seat and swings his legs a little, because even if he doesn't know dragons, he's watched/sniffed/been enough cats in his life to sort of get the warning. Doesn't make him shut up, though. ]

So, like, he said not to eat anything on the train, or you'll be stuck here forever! Or turn into a pig or something. That's really too bad, huh? I hope you turn into a cute pig.

[ RIP dragon, he'll miss you too. ]

[amberspirit]

[Kano? Please stop sniffing cats?

The dragon... does not turn into a pig, unfortunately. It doesn't get sick, or vanish, or turn into a toad even. The mane along its back waves with the two long whiskers. Its eyes watch Kano at the other end of the car, but it's difficult to see what's behind them when there is no color to be found.

It watches Kano for the whole time the train slows to a crawl and then a stop.]

[suddenlybees]

[ It was a necessary evil, and if you don't think he won't sniff everybody here at least once, you're wrong.

...It's very tempting to step forward and sniff the dragon, to be honest. Most of the time he's been sitting, he's been staring at the dragon and trying to memorize how it looks, but he doubts he can pull off anything massive; there's no point since he can't fly or spit fire or bite people's heads off or anything like that. But the train finally coming to a stop cuts into that train of thought, and he turns to stare out the window to see what their final destination is. ]

Hu~h... An airport! Cool.

[ He hates flying. Not cool. ]

You're gonna, like, fly next to the plane, right? Yeah! Too bad you'll be missing the complementary drinks and stuff, but here, here, snacks for the road~

[ He slides some snacks out of his pockets. Things like a foil packet of pop tarts, some salt packets, a pink crayon that he runs forward to retrieve again because that's not for eating. It's all good stuff. ]

[amberspirit]

[The dragon's head turns briefly to look out of the window while the train's doors open. It doesn't move yet, but it does look back at what Kano has thrown down? Kano pls. Maybe he wanted to eat the crayon, Kano doesn't know.

The rush forward, though, does earn a soft growl of warning again. The dragon waits for Kano to retreat, hesitates... and then stretches its head out to snatch the foiled tart packet. Quickly, it twists around at the end of the car, all long body, until it can duck out of the open door. All four feet don't seem to touch the train; the dragon slithers out into the air and disappears up toward the roof of the train.]

[suddenlybees]

[ If he's a good dragon, maybe Kano will feed him a crayon later. Foil is shiny and that's an understandable choice; Kano picks up everything else that he'd dropped, and then heads back towards the front of the train to see if he can find that fake conductor's cab again so he can ring the bell to his heart's content without Haku breathing over his shoulder.

Enjoy the pop tart. It's good old fashioned strawberry. ]