[Ongoing] Don't You Open That--...

[rocklikerunaway]

Characters: Toph, Andrew, Link [closed]
Location: Deck 18
Date: Backdated. After this post
Rating: PG

Comments

[couldbeavillain]

Having obeyed Toph's request for bread and milk, it took Andrew a little longer to get to Deck 18 than he'd expected, as he'd made a stop at Sergei's first. But now he trotted slowly towards her, carrying a loaf of bread and half-gallon of milk in his arms. "I--I don't know if you should do that," he called, noticing how she tapped on the statue. "We still don't know what it does!"

[excuuusemehero]

"It's only a giant spirit-demon statue, isn't it?" Link said, coming up behind Andrew. "What danger could a kid like Toph be in?" He gave Toph a pointed look, smirking. No, he still didn't believe her boasts.

He glanced at the statue. "So, this is it, huh?"

[rocklikerunaway]

Toph turned, an over-confident grin plastered across her face. Her expression dropped as soon as she heard Link. Great.

"Yeah, this is it. And quit worrying. It hasn't done anything... Yet."

She knocked lightly on the statue again and seemed to listen for a moment before turning back to face it entirely.

"So, oh wise Demon Master," Noodlebrain just wouldn't cut it any more, "You think anything'll happen if we try feeding it first?"

[couldbeavillain]

"W--well, I wouldn't call myself a... a 'demon master'... But, uh--yeah, something probably will happen." He shifts his arms a bit, feeling the milk jug slipping. "I mean, I've never really dealt with demon statues, but if its a demon inside the statue, then feeding it might... like, bring it out or--or... I'm not sure, but something will... probably happen." That's the best he can do, really, without knowing what kind of demon it is. Boy, does he wish he had a book right now... Or Mr. Giles, 'cause Mr. Giles would know what to do. What did Andrew sign up for here?

[excuuusemehero]

Link was already fishing a hand around inside his pouch while Andrew spoke - a pouch that seemed to allow his hand to sink far deeper than it looked like it should have. When his hand emerged, it was holding what looked like a very stale sandwich with maybe a hint of mold on the edge.

"Or it could be nothing at all," he said. "Might be someone's idea of a joke. Why don't we just feed it and find out?" He headed for the statue, sandwich in hand. Caution? What was that? Since when are heroes cautious?

[rocklikerunaway]

Toph had stopped listening. If there was something not-marble using the statue as a marble shell, she was just the girl to find out. She slapped her palms onto the statue's middle and kept them there, focusing on any tremors she could feel through the stone. Then she grinned. Dirt. She had felt dirt, not in the statue, but underneath it somehow.

But His Hero-ness was walking over.

"Huh? Yeah, you might wanna give it what it wants first." Because there was no way Toph could just leave it alone now.

[couldbeavillain]

Andrew didn't know this kid in the hat, but he suddenly felt outnumbered in his opinion. It was very obvious that these two were dead-set on achieving their goal of possibly setting this demon loose and killing everyone on board and who was Andrew to stop them? Besides, probably even the blind girl could drop Andrew in a fight.

So reluctantly, he shuffled towards the statue and the two others. "For--for the record, I'm really, really unsupportive of this idea and anything bad that might come of it, just so we're clear." He may be a weak follower, but he wasn't bad anymore.

[excuuusemehero]

"Hey, relax." As Link moved past, he tried to clap a reassuring hand to Andrew's shoulder. "I'm a professional hero. If anything bad happens, I'll take care of it."

He didn't know what Toph was doing, but to him it didn't look like much. Ignoring it, he reached up and stuffed his sandwich inside the statue's open mouth.

[elegante_masks]

The statue did not move.

It did look quite angry though.

[rocklikerunaway]

Toph waited. Nothing happened. Toph frowned.

"Good job, your heroness. You sure showed him."

She turned away but waved lazily back at the base of the statue before talking to Andrew, "There's dirt under there. Does your demon-knowledge say anything about that? And where's the milk?"

[couldbeavillain]

He was put slightly more at ease by the fact that nothing happened when the statue got fed, but Andrew is obviously still on edge. "Look, I don't know a whole lot about demon statues. I know demons, that was my thing. I can summon them and I read their languages, but I've never even seen just a demonic statue," he explained as he shifted the loaf of bread and the milk awkwardly until he could grasp the milk by its handle and offer it to Toph. It seems like a lot more work than it should have been.

After a split moment, he realized Toph couldn't see him offering the milk and added, "Here. It's here."

[excuuusemehero]

"Hey!" Link protested, shrugging with uplifted hands. "Excuuuuse ME if a hunk of rock doesn't actually do anything when you try to feed it a sandwich." He stepped closer and kicked the statue with one foot. "Maybe this is just someone's idea of a joke."

[elegante_masks]

[There was a low, heavy grinding sound, as if stone was moving over stone.

The statue looks exactly the same.]

[rocklikerunaway]

Toph swiped at the offered milk, catching it on the second swing and taking it from Andrew.

"Can you fight them?" Wait, he couldn't fight, "Or do you know how-?"

She stopped talking at the sound of stone grinding on stone. It was her turn to juggle the milk so that she could place her free hand on the statue. It hadn't changed.

"How'd you-" She squared her stance and gave the statue a small bending shove, just enough to see if it might budge. For a moment, the bread-and-milk offering was forgotten.