This is a very sudden transition from my own bedside to a patch of sand on the other side of the island. Perhaps anyone has any notion as to what to giant ants might have thought to do with a man-sized glass cocoon?
[And indeed, near the southern tip of Melee Island, Huo is currently sitting in a patch of sand in the midst of the bamboo forest: somewhat rumpled, hair full of sand and at large mildly confused. Thankfully, there are no ants nearby at the moment, but he's quite aware that that blessed fact might change at any moment.
It might be a bit awkward, the ride back with Above. Or even more than a bit. But awkward is better than ants.
Re: [Quicklog]azhdarchidaeJune 12 2011, 04:31:20 UTC
[Above circles in the sky. Her eyes are sharper than human, though she can't know that they're not as sharp as a true Quetzalcoatlus's. She can see several ants - twelve feet long, something like her size, though rather differently proportioned - blundering slowly through the bamboo, and a little sandy clearing right in the middle, with a guy she assumes is Huo sitting in it.]
[She's glad to see him, but that'll wait. The clearing is... she gauges it to be just barely large enough for her to land in; she is far too big, and her wings aren't made right, for hovering to be feasible, so there always has to be something of a landing strip. Of course, there's another problem.]
[Above spills height to sweep what feels like dangerously close to both the tops of the tallest bamboo stalks and the ground, but is a safe enough distance. Even tens of feet can feel like far less when something is swooping. Over the clearing, she calls out]
< I can't just take off with a weight! >
[She can quad-launch alone just fine, but despite being far
( ... )
[Distract the - oh. Huo does not like the mental sound of that. The obvious downside of the thick bamboo is that he cannot see the ants as they come for him, and he has a distinct feeling that they are not so limited in their tracking ability. He rather resents the idea of being menaced by ants, but he isn't stupid.
Well. He'd trusted Above with his life high up in the air; trusting her down here on the ground is a rather minor issue.
And he can't particularly answer, either, not without shouting and alerting the ants (can ants hear?). So he opts for moving in the direction pointed out and hope that Above has some sense of strategy. While not very fast, he's nimble and quiet. No delicious insect treats here, no sir.]
Re: [Quicklog]azhdarchidaeJune 12 2011, 15:21:07 UTC
[The arrow lingers a bit, but disappears soon after she refocuses her attention. There are actually two bands of giant ants in the bamboo, clearly visible, one rather close to Huo's position. Tracking by scent? She doesn't know.]
< Hey, you stupid... >
[...She can't really insult ants. People, sure. But these are big, limping bugs. They're... there was a movie, once. Shrunken kids...]
< Hey, you! Antie! I see a giant Oreo! >
[She pictures it in great detail and projects with all her power. Something house-sized, at least, flattening part of the bamboo forest. Sweet smelling. Sweet tasting, or what she remembers sweet to smell and taste like. A malleable, gooey center between moistened crumbling chocolate cracker-bits. The scent wafts along.]
[Above holds the image firmly as she circles. Broken antennae wave towards the place she's picturing it in as the ants stop and raise their heads, moving their pincered jaws.]
< Yum, yum. Don't you want it? It's not going anywhere. Everyone can have some, come on! >
Re: [Quicklog]getsome_sleepJune 13 2011, 11:15:32 UTC
[Despite the more immediate concern of, well, ants, Huo pauses in his swift escape for a moment to look at - well, the giant cookie. This is turning into a very strange day. Intellectually, he understands that Above is creating the illusion somehow, but his senses (and stomach) are taking in the enormous sweet on face value. It's a fascinating sort of contradiction. He once more feels a little sorry for the ants who will be left empty-mandibled. They are simple animals, after all: all that they know is that they're hungry
( ... )
No - I only just woke, and they never came near me. I am in luck to enjoy your assistance.
[What he woke from is rather obvious from the journal entry, he knows, and there's little hiding it anyway when his clothes and more so his hair are positively trailing sand. Washing it all out is going to take hours.]
Re: [Quicklog]azhdarchidaeJune 13 2011, 12:21:26 UTC
< Well that's good, because they're supposed to be poisonous. Or... no, that would be venomous, wouldn't it? > [She blinks, translucent third eyelids closing just ahead of and opening just after her conventional pair.] < I'd recommend the waterfall on the little fighting island, but then again I'm sure you have no trouble getting into showers. >
< It's early June. Don't really know the date, sorry. Kind of hard to keep track. >
Re: [Quicklog]getsome_sleepJune 13 2011, 14:31:49 UTC
They may certainly be both, although presumably, not at the same time. [It's difficult to imagine anyone trying to make a meal out of a giant ant, but also hard to avoid the thought that if anyone has the mouth to get away with it, Above is probably it. Huo definitely knows better than to take the joke in that direction, though. She really is intensely alien, he thinks, seeing that great eye blink. But underneath that eye, that skin...
He diverts his thoughts from there, for now. June is... late.] That is rather longer than I might have expected, [he says with a frown.] Has anything remarkable happened in my absence?
Re: [Quicklog]azhdarchidaeJune 14 2011, 01:27:02 UTC
< Most animals aren't. Then again I'm sure there are some which are. >
[She moves her head and neck fluidly through the gesture which serves as a shrug, and cants both to the side a little in the thoughtful sort of frown. It's been long enough for her that practically every conceivable facial expression has some body-language equivalent, now.]
< There's a fancy Wilderness with portals or something. Oh, and the ants. They're sick, apparently, but they were here and more dangerous last year. >
[Her head moves - she inscribes a small circle in the air with the tip of her beak.] Some people had amnesia... like, they forgot the Sphere and the people in it. But they got better. I got a prize from a machine in the bar that I don't really want. And I found something weird.]
[He knows her well enough - the gestures are not hard to follow. It's remarkable how she's adapted really, he thinks, but there was something of the winged, flying creature in the girl before - the girl he now remembers. There was something...
He must tell her, he knows, even if she is bound to dislike it.
The news she delivers, though, is a persistent distraction. Another spell of lost memories, another sign of decay and failure in the Tree. Suddenly he wonders if Hawk has returned yet. But he cannot focus on these matters now. If Above is not involved in them, that is for the best. He should keep smiling.]
Nothing too extremely out of the ordinary, then, [he says lightly.] Unless perhaps that weird something of yours is of note. I may inquire further - but perhaps you should wish to hear of my dust-dream, first. [It's only a hint, but she's smart, and knows that he never says anything needlessly. If she asks then he will say. Simple as that.]
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It would be a kindness.
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It might be a bit awkward, the ride back with Above. Or even more than a bit. But awkward is better than ants.
And they need to talk, anyhow.]
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[She's glad to see him, but that'll wait. The clearing is... she gauges it to be just barely large enough for her to land in; she is far too big, and her wings aren't made right, for hovering to be feasible, so there always has to be something of a landing strip. Of course, there's another problem.]
[Above spills height to sweep what feels like dangerously close to both the tops of the tallest bamboo stalks and the ground, but is a safe enough distance. Even tens of feet can feel like far less when something is swooping. Over the clearing, she calls out]
< I can't just take off with a weight! >
[She can quad-launch alone just fine, but despite being far ( ... )
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Well. He'd trusted Above with his life high up in the air; trusting her down here on the ground is a rather minor issue.
And he can't particularly answer, either, not without shouting and alerting the ants (can ants hear?). So he opts for moving in the direction pointed out and hope that Above has some sense of strategy. While not very fast, he's nimble and quiet. No delicious insect treats here, no sir.]
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< Hey, you stupid... >
[...She can't really insult ants. People, sure. But these are big, limping bugs. They're... there was a movie, once. Shrunken kids...]
< Hey, you! Antie! I see a giant Oreo! >
[She pictures it in great detail and projects with all her power. Something house-sized, at least, flattening part of the bamboo forest. Sweet smelling. Sweet tasting, or what she remembers sweet to smell and taste like. A malleable, gooey center between moistened crumbling chocolate cracker-bits. The scent wafts along.]
[Above holds the image firmly as she circles. Broken antennae wave towards the place she's picturing it in as the ants stop and raise their heads, moving their pincered jaws.]
< Yum, yum. Don't you want it? It's not going anywhere. Everyone can have some, come on! >
[God she wishes she ( ... )
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< Yeah, I know, I'm awesome. >
[Her head tilts, and she regards him with one big red eye.]
< You're not hurt or anything? >
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[What he woke from is rather obvious from the journal entry, he knows, and there's little hiding it anyway when his clothes and more so his hair are positively trailing sand. Washing it all out is going to take hours.]
May I ask how long has it been?
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< It's early June. Don't really know the date, sorry. Kind of hard to keep track. >
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He diverts his thoughts from there, for now. June is... late.] That is rather longer than I might have expected, [he says with a frown.] Has anything remarkable happened in my absence?
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[She moves her head and neck fluidly through the gesture which serves as a shrug, and cants both to the side a little in the thoughtful sort of frown. It's been long enough for her that practically every conceivable facial expression has some body-language equivalent, now.]
< There's a fancy Wilderness with portals or something. Oh, and the ants. They're sick, apparently, but they were here and more dangerous last year. >
[Her head moves - she inscribes a small circle in the air with the tip of her beak.] Some people had amnesia... like, they forgot the Sphere and the people in it. But they got better. I got a prize from a machine in the bar that I don't really want. And I found something weird.]
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He must tell her, he knows, even if she is bound to dislike it.
The news she delivers, though, is a persistent distraction. Another spell of lost memories, another sign of decay and failure in the Tree. Suddenly he wonders if Hawk has returned yet. But he cannot focus on these matters now. If Above is not involved in them, that is for the best. He should keep smiling.]
Nothing too extremely out of the ordinary, then, [he says lightly.] Unless perhaps that weird something of yours is of note. I may inquire further - but perhaps you should wish to hear of my dust-dream, first. [It's only a hint, but she's smart, and knows that he never says anything needlessly. If she asks then he will say. Simple as that.]
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