you'll have to find out the hard way on the Queen Anne's Revenge

[felinemystique]

Characters: Bastet (felinemystique), and OPEN

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QUICKLOG - Elevator @ City Without Walls

[earth_uninstall]

[Normally he would not have cared about this explosion, leaving it to others to handle. But since it had been that building.. After having informed the closest co-worker he could find, Aurora left his post to head to the elevator, journal open. He constantly checked it, replying when it was needed to give directions to Steel and Range, and was soon waiting for them at the designated point.]

[wartimenovelty]

[Range had been at home when he had seen the entries going up--it was only after sifting through them that he noticed Aurora mentioning an investigation; before he became fully aware he was leaving and heading to the meeting point, moving without keeping much track of the time or distance.

Something about this was bothering him, stronger than the feelings that had come when Gene appeared. It made him restless, and he wanted to walk as far as he could possibly manage; when he caught sight of the others, he was almost disappointed. Almost. He had to go.]

Hey!

[He crossed the short distance to where they were standing, nodding at the both of them.] Aurora. And you must be Steel. Thanks for helping out.

[earth_uninstall]

That's correct.

[He looked critically at Steel, checking to see if he was armed out of habit. He didn't look like he would be a burden, but time would tell.]

Once Range arrives we'll-

[A familiar shout interrupted him and Aurora looked to Range, posture still on alert but something in his face softening. It had been so long since he'd seen the other man, alive and well. It was almost enough to make him forget about their purpose for meeting.]

Range, hello. Are you ready?

[pinkhairedchild]

After receiving Bastet's last message, Blood went off in search of Bridge. Knocking on his door, she made sure to leave him two notes - one on and one under the door - before setting off on her merry way down to the explosion site. Technically, she was supposed to be napping, but she had a feeling her presence would come in handy.

Grabbing a flash light from the house along with her sword, Blood quickly ran down to where Bastet was. Noticing the kitty, she reached out to pat her as she glanced up at her Captain.

"I brought you a flash light, and I left notes for City-san. Do you need anything else, Lady B?"

[felinemystique]

Bastet managed a smile when Blood showed up, accepting the flashlight. "Thanks, kiddo," she said. "And I'm sure Bridge will get here as soon as he can."

She frowned; just as she'd suspected, people were starting to show up. She needed to keep them back so they didn't interfere with Bridge finding any information.

"You can stay here until Stony gets here," she said. "I might need help keeping people out of the way."

[pinkhairedchild]

Blood's mouth set in a thin line of grim determination as she nodded at Bastet. "You're welcome," she responded. "I can keep the kitty here out of the way too."

She wasn't sure if Digit liked her or not, but she always got Ingvar purring so she was sure this one probably could too.

"I'll make sure nobody gets too close without your permission," she said. "I got my sword, they won't get past me."

[felinemystique]

"I'm sure she'd like the attention," Bastet said. She'd refrain from mentioning that this was Crow's cat, especially since Crow's place of business had just been destroyed. But Blood wasn't stupid; it could still come up.

"Be sure to let me know if people are being too pushy. You can explain to them we don't want to disturb any evidence; if that doesn't work, Stony or I can talk to them."

Quicklog -at the scene

[snapsnap_boom]

[Snap got to the scene as quickly as he could, pulling on his gloves as he ran swiftly from the Adventurer's building. He joined Bastet, already cursing and running his hand through his hair.]

...Damn. Did anyone see what happened exactly?

Re: Quicklog -at the scene

[felinemystique]

[She looked up at his approach, shaking her head.]

Nothing. Unless you count this one.

[She motioned towards the suit of clothes filled with sand and impaled by a pole.]

And he's not talking.

Quicklog - at the scene

[snapsnap_boom]

[He felt a sting of familiarity at the sight of the sand. The format of it was wrong, but still.]

Are we sure whoever that was was even human?

Quicklog - at the scene

[felinemystique]

[She gave him a calm look.]

Maybe not; there are those of us here who aren't, after all. But I'm betting that person was alive at one point, regardless.

[saleskitten]

Just coming off of a shift and stepping outside, she'd heard the explosion. With a sharp intake of breath, wondering if the fellow at the hot sandwich shop had blown up their oven again, she sped in the direction of falling debris and smoke. When she found that she was moving past the food court district and in a very familiar direction, one she took often, she ran faster...

"What on earth was-"

Wait, wasn't that where... no. She stopped. Her heart thudded thrice in her chest and seemed to stop, her body growing shockingly cold and numb from the adrenaline that flooded her system. Her mind willed her hands to rub her eyes to make sure they weren't playing with her, but they did not move. Instead, her gaze was locked on the crater. Her bag full of her belongings slipped through her fingers, plodding quietly to the ground.

This had to be some kind of sick dream, one of those awful dreams where you wake and say, 'Good heavens, that felt so REAL!'

She made no move to pinch herself, however. She stood, and stared in silence.

if this is okay? can put her in a separate thread if you'd rather they not meet like this

[ice_echani]

Handmaiden stared at the pit in the ground at had once been the bookshop. If the energy surrounding the place could be given voice, it would be screaming out the--the wrongness of this.

There was no debris. Smoke curled up faintly from within the crater, but there was no charring on any of the surroundings. An explosion that would cause something like this would surely have created a great deal of heat and wind, but the shops around the bookstore were untouched.

A soft thump across the way made Handmaiden's eyes snap up to see someone--a girl, though she held herself with the confidence of a woman. Or at least she would have if not for the sight in front of her. Her eyes were fixed on the crater. Uncertain, but realizing the gravity of the situation, Handmaiden stepped around. "Are you all right?" she asked quietly.

It's fine! Oh, and shoot, ignore my debris bit. oops.

[saleskitten]

He was working tonight, right? Her mind swam with possibilities. No, no, this was Crow, her teacher, her brother... there was no way this would be it. He was outside taking a break, off getting dinner when the place was ruined. He was still gone, and was fine.

The things Crow knew... something like this couldn't do him in. That's just silly! Yeah!

Despite Handmaiden's quieted tone, Rose still jumped and found feeling in her limbs - albeit little - rubbing her eyes in staged disbelief.

"Y-yes," she answered, her eyes never pulling away from the crater. She recognized the voice, as she did with nearly all the other Edensphere residents; delivering birthday cake to them also helped her attach a face to the voice and name.

"Do you know what happened?" She then asked, not quite clever enough to note how the neighboring buildings were strangely intact.

We're even; I forgot she's seen Rose before XD

[ice_echani]

Getting a closer look at the young woman, Handmaiden realized that she had seen her before--Kitty? Yes, the one who made cakes. Hadn't she rediscovered her real name? That was not the matter at hand.

"I do not know," she said, glancing back at the crater herself. It had been the same sense that she had felt on the day Bastet and Snap were killed. Death. Wrong. She did not to see the strangeness of the scene to tell.

Someone was dead. Perhaps more than one. "Who do you know that works here?" she asked, a wary gentleness entering her voice. To Handmaiden it was very plain; Kitty was afraid that someone she knew was dead.

[yourealrightnow]

Roswell hadn't sad much - hadn't said anything, as a matter of fact - from the moment they left the Post Office. Maybe he was just being paranoid, maybe he was over-thinking things, but he didn't want anybody or anything overhearing. It didn't matter how excited he was to talk about it with her, how much he wanted to theorize or plan. As it were, he already knew his next step. But she didn't. Quickly pulling out a sheet of crumpled paper in his pocket, Roswell hastily scrawed a note on its surface.

'He gave me a messenger butterfly. I just have to tie a note to it, send it, and we'll get the next step from him soon.'Hoping she burned it later or something similar, he continued his silent trek until the Marketplace island was at his feet. It wasn't a second of this before, of course, something else decided to make itself known. A crowd had gathered near the smoking emptiness of what he was pretty sure used to be a bookstore. Shooting Fred a look, he had to stop himself from jogging over, settling for a power walk. What happened? Was

[burntorangesky]

Fred read the words and then quickly pulled out her journal to see if they appeared there. When they didn't, she relaxed marginally. Crumpling up the paper and stuffing it into her empty pocket, she nodded her understanding.

Continuing to follow his silent lead, her attention was also drawn to the crowd when they reached the Marketplace proper. She looked over at Roswell, meeting his eyes and then looking away. Had they caused this somehow? She tightened her grip on the 'loot' bag slung over one shoulder with its precious cargo of paper as they both walked quickly over to the disturbance.

[yourealrightnow]

Arriving at the edge of the crater, Roswell found himself amazed at how thorough the destruction had been. There were no bodies, no bits of wood and glass; nothing. Aside from a set of sand-filled clothes and a stray piece of pipe near it, the crater was featureless.

The look in Roswell's eyes as he stared at his companion was much more intense than his words. They spoke volumes more. "We should get home." His eyes shifted to her bag, then back. "We can ask what happened over the journals."

[burntorangesky]

"Yes, that's a good idea." This place made Fred nervous. There hadn't been any sign of destruction when she passed this way earlier.