(no subject)
3/8/2007
First Post ( http://community.livejournal.com/outsideinn/257.html)
The inn is calm tonight, a gentle breeze blowing out back. A small fire is in the grate, the restauraunt is open, with appetizing smells wafting from it, and behind the vast wooden desk is a man. He is alternately munching a fruit and reading something on a small datapad.
Welcome to the Outside Inn. We hope your stay is comfortable.
Cast: Anakin Skywalker, Biggs Darklighter, Luna Lovegood, Carl Arbogast, Sakura Haruno
Anakin was looking for a cantina. Gaarlan V was a backwater planet, only interesting because of the high number of Separatists that used it as an information clearing house. After spending hours on stakeout with Obi-Wan, Anakin needed a drink. Badly. And so, he was looking for a cantina.
That wasn't exactly what he got. "What the kriff?"
Biggs looks up from the datapad. "Oh, hey. Company." He grins, easily, a bit roguishly. "I just got here not long ago myself, man. I'm still not exactly sure what it is, but according to notes someone left me, it's the Outside Inn. Or something."
Anakin sighed, gritted his teeth, and rolled his eyes. "Now I really need a drink."
A glass appears on the desk in front of Biggs, whatever drink Anakin was thinking of at that moment. Biggs, for his part stares. "That's really kriffing weird. I wish it would stop doing that."
Anakin staaaaaaaaares at the glass, then cursed long and fluently in Huttese. "How did that happen? Or do I not want to know?"
Biggs raises an eyebrow at the Huttese. "Damn. Those were some nice ones. I should take lessons." He pauses, shrugging. "Really, I don't know. All of a sudden, I just appeared here. And I'm already dead. And I was already in some other strange place."
"Dead? Stang, Obi-Wan is going to kill me." Anakin swallowed the entire drink in one gulp.
"Now hold on a moment, there. You mightn't be dead. If it's anything like the place I was, only a few of the people weren't alive." He shrugs. "If you don't remember dying, you're probably fine."
"Good." He looked around before starting to pace. "Now I've just got to figure where the hell this place is and what I'm doing here."
"I couldn't tell you where it actually is. As to why, your guess is as good as mine." Biggs shrugs idly. "I wish I had more information."
"I wish there was someone I could ask." Anakin fidgeted with his lightsaber.
The lightsaber gets a confused look, but Biggs doesn't say anything. "If you find someone to ask, man, let me know? I want to know how the kriff I got a job."
Anakin raises an eyebrow. "Job?"
He shrugs. "I run the place. Or at least the note I found said so." Kriff if he knows what he's running, though.
"Better you than me. You can't save the galaxy and get stuck running this place at the same time."
"Oh, so you're one of those guys who goes off and saves the galaxy?" Biggs smirks, and leans back in his chair. "I tried that. Got vaped in the process."
Anakin gave him a skeptical look. "No one can vape me. I'm the best pilot in the galaxy."
"Sure, sure. That's what they all say. Then again, there's a friend of mine who's that damn good, so I probably shouldn't say anything."
"You're friend ever race pods?" Anakin is young and arrogant. Of course he's going to get into a pissing contest with someone he doesn't even know.
"Nah. He's the best damn bush pilot in the outer rim territories, though." Grin.
"He wouldn't be able to take me. I raced pods when I was nine. Won the Boonta Eve race, actually." Why yes, Anakin's... lightsaber is bigger than yours.
"Damn. I didn't even know they let humans in that." There's a bit of admiration in Biggs' eyes. "Although, Luke might give you a bit more of a run for your money than you think." He's a loyal friend.
"Fine. Get him in an Aethersprite and we'll see."
Biggs grins. "Next time I see him, we'll have to see what we can do. Well, that is if he comes in here." He holds out a hand. "Biggs Darklighter."
Anakin shakes it. "Anakin Skywalker."
"Huh. I didn't realize Skywalker was that common of a name." Biggs blinks. "Luke, my friend... that's his name." He shrugs. "It's a strange galaxy, man."
"Oh yeah. You see a lot of weird things when you're a Jedi."
"Jedi, huh?" Biggs raises an eyebrow. "When are you from, anyway?" He can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Kriffing Imperial propaganda.
"When?" Anakin is puzzled. "The start of the Clone Wars. Don't you know there's a war going on?"
"Oh. Um. I probably should have mentioned that people from different times come to places like this." Biggs winces. "There's a bit of a different war going on in my time."
"Well, that explains your question. When are you from?"
***
This doesn't look like any part of Hogwarts that Luna's ever seen. She was just heading back to the Ravenclaw common room after commentating on a Quidditch match. She could have sworn she turned the right corner. The Ravenclaw common room should be straight ahead. Only it's not. Luna glances around carefully and decides that this place--whatever it is--is in dire need of exploration. You never know what strange creatures might be lurking in a place capable of materializing spontaneously. She looks toward the gentleman at the desk, trying to decide if she wants to ask questions first, or just start hunting for Wrackspurts and Nargles.
The man at the desk raises an eyebrow. "You look lost." He pauses. "Then again, I'm still not exactly sure where this place is anyway."
Hmmm. A place of uncertain location? That sounds promising. Definite potential here. She can worry about how to get back to school later.
"I suppose I am a bit lost," she says with a smile. "But that's all right. Getting lost can start so many things. I don't suppose you know when we are? Or the name of the place?"
"I have no clue when we are. I was somewhere else, and I just appeared here. According to the note I found, this is the Outside Inn. And I'm supposed to run the place. I have no kriffing clue, though, how to do that."
The Outside Inn. Well, someone likes puns. Luna grins in appreciation.
"It doesn't sound too hard," she says. "Just think of how you wouldn't want someone to run the place if you were a guest, and then do the opposite.
"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Luna Lovegood."
She bows her head slightly, and the wand stuck behind her ear clatters to the desktop. For a moment, a radish earring is clearly visible.
"No, I don't think it will be that hard. Things just seem to keep appearing." He blinks at the wand. Who keeps wood behind their ears? Must be some custom he's never heard of.
Nodding, he smiles again. "Biggs Darklighter, nice to meet you."
Luna picks up the wood and sticks behind her ear again. It hasn't really occurred to her that he doesn't know what it's for.
She just nods at the name. No one named Luna Lovegood will ever make comments about other people's names.
"How did you get here?" she asks with what might be called scientific curiosity. "And where were you before you were here? I don't suppose you saw any Wrackspurts, did you? Or Nargles?"
A platter of fudge appears in front of her. It gets a stare, because judging from the smell, it's her mother's recipe. The one the house elves of Hogwarts never get right. And her mother's been dead since Luna was nine.
"That smells really good." Biggs blinks at it for a moment, then goes back to other concerns. "I appeared, actually. I was in another place, where I appeared after I'd died, and suddenly, I was here. Someone left me a note telling me that I now run the place." He pauses. "I don't actually know what Wrackspurts or Nargles are, actually. So, uh, they might be around here?"
"Half of it's yours. Eat it. It's good." And so saying, she takes a piece and starts munching on it herself in obvious enjoyment.
The part about him having died takes a few minutes to register. She gives the Inn a long slow considering glance. It doesn't look like any afterlife she's ever heard of, but of course the universe is under no obligation to agree with her on the subject of spiritual realities. "I didn't realise this was the afterlife. Or is it your afterlife, and the rest of us are just visiting?" If so, she wonders if it's possible to visit her mother.
"And yes, they might be," she add, fortifying herself with more fudge. "Wrackspurts are a bit wispy physically. They fill people's brains and get them horribly confused. And Nargles infest mistletoe. Dangerously."
She couldn't possibly look more intense or more sincere.
"Well, if it's anything like the place I came from, it's some peoples' afterlife, and not others." He shrugs, and takes a bit of fudge. "Kriff, this is good." He munches for a moment, pondering. "Huh. No, I don't think I've seen either of those." When you're familiar with womp rats and banthas and Hutts, anything's possible.
Luna would be thrilled beyond words if she knew about womp rats, banthas and Hutts.
The idea of a place that contains the living and the dead intrigues her, particularly as Mr Darklighter looks infinitely better off than the Inferi she's heard about.
"Where did you come from? Before here, I mean? And before then? If it isn't rude to ask. I came from Hogwarts."
It still hasn't dawned on her that he might not be a wizard, or be from her planet at all.
"I started in a bar called Milliways. And before that a desert planet called Tatooine." He shrugs. "Where's Hogwarts? It sounds, uh, interesting."
"It's a school in the Highlands of Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe, the Western Hemisphere, on the planet Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy."
Well, he did ask. Ravenclaws like to be precise.
"What's Tatooine like?"
She asks this with a huge smile and very bright eyes. Honestly, this day couldn't get any better. Her very first alien! And he's NICE.
"Oh, well, that's rather precice. Good for you. Technically Tatooine's in the Outer Rim Territories." He pauses, then wrinkles his nose. "Sand. Lots of sand. There's some banthas, and Hutts, and other creatures, but it's not really exciting."
"Banthas? Hutts?"
A small scroll of parchment and a quill in an inkwell just materialised in front of her...in case Luna wants to start taking notes.
Biggs blinks at the writing utensils, but shrugs. "Banthas are... big creatures, furry with huge horns. Hutts are nasty. Worms that think they're gangsters."
She's definitely taking notes. And biting the top of the quill as she does so.
"How big are Hutts?" Because a little furry worm being a gangster could be cute or funny. A large one, she's not so sure of. "And what do they use for weapons?"
Oh, she's not dreaming of a huge tome about the universe's cryptozoological specimens. Not at ALL.
"Huge. Taller than me, and their tails curl around them." Biggs puffs out his cheeks. "And they're nasty-fat too." He pauses. "They use mercenaries and bounty hunters for their weapons, mostly. I think they're too fat to really fight, but they've got all kinds of money."
***
It's not the presence of something other than a supply closet that gives Carl pause so much as the fact that it's not what he was expecting to see.
"...What, another one?"
"Another what?" Biggs raises an eyebrow. "You been to any other weird inns lately?"
"More of a weird bar. But I was at least looking for that one."
"Oh, you been to Milliways?" Biggs grins. "Yeah, I was there too." Beat. "Unless you mean another weird bar I don't know about."
"No, that'd be it." He... really hopes there aren't too many more of these things. "I'm Carl."
"Nice to meet you. 'm Biggs Darklighter." He holds out a hand. "It seems that I run the place. Or something like that."
"Oh, so you're just as confused as everyone else? Good to know." And actually, it is kind of comforting.
"Kriff yes. I just appeared here from Milliways with a note telling me that I now run this Inn. I don't get it."
"...Okay, that's weird." Somewhere in there, he returned the handshake. Honest.
"Really kriffing weird, if you ask me." Biggs shrugs again. "I can't complain. I keep getting food and things to drink."
"You do? Where from?" There doesn't seem to be anything like Bar... though there is that restaurant thing.
Biggs waves his hands. "I was sitting on the sofa, and a drink appeared on the table. I was sitting here and food appeared on the counter. I don’t get it. I didn't even -ask- for it."
"...Sentient furniture is hard to top, but that just might do it." Now that he thinks of it, something to drink would be a good idea. Even if it's just water.
And lo, water appears in front of him. "Like that. You don't even have to kriffing -say- anything."
There are so many dots. "...Okay, yeah, that beats sentient furniture."
"Hell yes." Biggs grins. "I still want to know why I'm running this place. I'm just a pilot."
Carl shrugs. "Clearly someone thought it was a good idea."
"I guess. I'm rather liking it, though."
"That's always a plus."
***
Read First: http://community.livejournal.com/outsideinn/1013.html
"This is like no building I've ever seen...clearly this is either a high level genjutsu, or Naruto's finally driven me completely insane."
All that can be seen over the back of the giant chair is a bit of pink, and all that can be heard is a stream of incoherent muttering, perhaps in another language.
Biggs blinks. "It's a damn strange place, really."
"It seems that way... Where, exactly, is this? One minute I'm walking towards the training ground, arguing and sparring with Naruto as usual, the next, boom! the gate lands me here."
WIP, waiting for Biggs
First Post ( http://community.livejournal.com/outsideinn/257.html)
The inn is calm tonight, a gentle breeze blowing out back. A small fire is in the grate, the restauraunt is open, with appetizing smells wafting from it, and behind the vast wooden desk is a man. He is alternately munching a fruit and reading something on a small datapad.
Welcome to the Outside Inn. We hope your stay is comfortable.
Cast: Anakin Skywalker, Biggs Darklighter, Luna Lovegood, Carl Arbogast, Sakura Haruno
Anakin was looking for a cantina. Gaarlan V was a backwater planet, only interesting because of the high number of Separatists that used it as an information clearing house. After spending hours on stakeout with Obi-Wan, Anakin needed a drink. Badly. And so, he was looking for a cantina.
That wasn't exactly what he got. "What the kriff?"
Biggs looks up from the datapad. "Oh, hey. Company." He grins, easily, a bit roguishly. "I just got here not long ago myself, man. I'm still not exactly sure what it is, but according to notes someone left me, it's the Outside Inn. Or something."
Anakin sighed, gritted his teeth, and rolled his eyes. "Now I really need a drink."
A glass appears on the desk in front of Biggs, whatever drink Anakin was thinking of at that moment. Biggs, for his part stares. "That's really kriffing weird. I wish it would stop doing that."
Anakin staaaaaaaaares at the glass, then cursed long and fluently in Huttese. "How did that happen? Or do I not want to know?"
Biggs raises an eyebrow at the Huttese. "Damn. Those were some nice ones. I should take lessons." He pauses, shrugging. "Really, I don't know. All of a sudden, I just appeared here. And I'm already dead. And I was already in some other strange place."
"Dead? Stang, Obi-Wan is going to kill me." Anakin swallowed the entire drink in one gulp.
"Now hold on a moment, there. You mightn't be dead. If it's anything like the place I was, only a few of the people weren't alive." He shrugs. "If you don't remember dying, you're probably fine."
"Good." He looked around before starting to pace. "Now I've just got to figure where the hell this place is and what I'm doing here."
"I couldn't tell you where it actually is. As to why, your guess is as good as mine." Biggs shrugs idly. "I wish I had more information."
"I wish there was someone I could ask." Anakin fidgeted with his lightsaber.
The lightsaber gets a confused look, but Biggs doesn't say anything. "If you find someone to ask, man, let me know? I want to know how the kriff I got a job."
Anakin raises an eyebrow. "Job?"
He shrugs. "I run the place. Or at least the note I found said so." Kriff if he knows what he's running, though.
"Better you than me. You can't save the galaxy and get stuck running this place at the same time."
"Oh, so you're one of those guys who goes off and saves the galaxy?" Biggs smirks, and leans back in his chair. "I tried that. Got vaped in the process."
Anakin gave him a skeptical look. "No one can vape me. I'm the best pilot in the galaxy."
"Sure, sure. That's what they all say. Then again, there's a friend of mine who's that damn good, so I probably shouldn't say anything."
"You're friend ever race pods?" Anakin is young and arrogant. Of course he's going to get into a pissing contest with someone he doesn't even know.
"Nah. He's the best damn bush pilot in the outer rim territories, though." Grin.
"He wouldn't be able to take me. I raced pods when I was nine. Won the Boonta Eve race, actually." Why yes, Anakin's... lightsaber is bigger than yours.
"Damn. I didn't even know they let humans in that." There's a bit of admiration in Biggs' eyes. "Although, Luke might give you a bit more of a run for your money than you think." He's a loyal friend.
"Fine. Get him in an Aethersprite and we'll see."
Biggs grins. "Next time I see him, we'll have to see what we can do. Well, that is if he comes in here." He holds out a hand. "Biggs Darklighter."
Anakin shakes it. "Anakin Skywalker."
"Huh. I didn't realize Skywalker was that common of a name." Biggs blinks. "Luke, my friend... that's his name." He shrugs. "It's a strange galaxy, man."
"Oh yeah. You see a lot of weird things when you're a Jedi."
"Jedi, huh?" Biggs raises an eyebrow. "When are you from, anyway?" He can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Kriffing Imperial propaganda.
"When?" Anakin is puzzled. "The start of the Clone Wars. Don't you know there's a war going on?"
"Oh. Um. I probably should have mentioned that people from different times come to places like this." Biggs winces. "There's a bit of a different war going on in my time."
"Well, that explains your question. When are you from?"
***
This doesn't look like any part of Hogwarts that Luna's ever seen. She was just heading back to the Ravenclaw common room after commentating on a Quidditch match. She could have sworn she turned the right corner. The Ravenclaw common room should be straight ahead. Only it's not. Luna glances around carefully and decides that this place--whatever it is--is in dire need of exploration. You never know what strange creatures might be lurking in a place capable of materializing spontaneously. She looks toward the gentleman at the desk, trying to decide if she wants to ask questions first, or just start hunting for Wrackspurts and Nargles.
The man at the desk raises an eyebrow. "You look lost." He pauses. "Then again, I'm still not exactly sure where this place is anyway."
Hmmm. A place of uncertain location? That sounds promising. Definite potential here. She can worry about how to get back to school later.
"I suppose I am a bit lost," she says with a smile. "But that's all right. Getting lost can start so many things. I don't suppose you know when we are? Or the name of the place?"
"I have no clue when we are. I was somewhere else, and I just appeared here. According to the note I found, this is the Outside Inn. And I'm supposed to run the place. I have no kriffing clue, though, how to do that."
The Outside Inn. Well, someone likes puns. Luna grins in appreciation.
"It doesn't sound too hard," she says. "Just think of how you wouldn't want someone to run the place if you were a guest, and then do the opposite.
"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Luna Lovegood."
She bows her head slightly, and the wand stuck behind her ear clatters to the desktop. For a moment, a radish earring is clearly visible.
"No, I don't think it will be that hard. Things just seem to keep appearing." He blinks at the wand. Who keeps wood behind their ears? Must be some custom he's never heard of.
Nodding, he smiles again. "Biggs Darklighter, nice to meet you."
Luna picks up the wood and sticks behind her ear again. It hasn't really occurred to her that he doesn't know what it's for.
She just nods at the name. No one named Luna Lovegood will ever make comments about other people's names.
"How did you get here?" she asks with what might be called scientific curiosity. "And where were you before you were here? I don't suppose you saw any Wrackspurts, did you? Or Nargles?"
A platter of fudge appears in front of her. It gets a stare, because judging from the smell, it's her mother's recipe. The one the house elves of Hogwarts never get right. And her mother's been dead since Luna was nine.
"That smells really good." Biggs blinks at it for a moment, then goes back to other concerns. "I appeared, actually. I was in another place, where I appeared after I'd died, and suddenly, I was here. Someone left me a note telling me that I now run the place." He pauses. "I don't actually know what Wrackspurts or Nargles are, actually. So, uh, they might be around here?"
"Half of it's yours. Eat it. It's good." And so saying, she takes a piece and starts munching on it herself in obvious enjoyment.
The part about him having died takes a few minutes to register. She gives the Inn a long slow considering glance. It doesn't look like any afterlife she's ever heard of, but of course the universe is under no obligation to agree with her on the subject of spiritual realities. "I didn't realise this was the afterlife. Or is it your afterlife, and the rest of us are just visiting?" If so, she wonders if it's possible to visit her mother.
"And yes, they might be," she add, fortifying herself with more fudge. "Wrackspurts are a bit wispy physically. They fill people's brains and get them horribly confused. And Nargles infest mistletoe. Dangerously."
She couldn't possibly look more intense or more sincere.
"Well, if it's anything like the place I came from, it's some peoples' afterlife, and not others." He shrugs, and takes a bit of fudge. "Kriff, this is good." He munches for a moment, pondering. "Huh. No, I don't think I've seen either of those." When you're familiar with womp rats and banthas and Hutts, anything's possible.
Luna would be thrilled beyond words if she knew about womp rats, banthas and Hutts.
The idea of a place that contains the living and the dead intrigues her, particularly as Mr Darklighter looks infinitely better off than the Inferi she's heard about.
"Where did you come from? Before here, I mean? And before then? If it isn't rude to ask. I came from Hogwarts."
It still hasn't dawned on her that he might not be a wizard, or be from her planet at all.
"I started in a bar called Milliways. And before that a desert planet called Tatooine." He shrugs. "Where's Hogwarts? It sounds, uh, interesting."
"It's a school in the Highlands of Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe, the Western Hemisphere, on the planet Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy."
Well, he did ask. Ravenclaws like to be precise.
"What's Tatooine like?"
She asks this with a huge smile and very bright eyes. Honestly, this day couldn't get any better. Her very first alien! And he's NICE.
"Oh, well, that's rather precice. Good for you. Technically Tatooine's in the Outer Rim Territories." He pauses, then wrinkles his nose. "Sand. Lots of sand. There's some banthas, and Hutts, and other creatures, but it's not really exciting."
"Banthas? Hutts?"
A small scroll of parchment and a quill in an inkwell just materialised in front of her...in case Luna wants to start taking notes.
Biggs blinks at the writing utensils, but shrugs. "Banthas are... big creatures, furry with huge horns. Hutts are nasty. Worms that think they're gangsters."
She's definitely taking notes. And biting the top of the quill as she does so.
"How big are Hutts?" Because a little furry worm being a gangster could be cute or funny. A large one, she's not so sure of. "And what do they use for weapons?"
Oh, she's not dreaming of a huge tome about the universe's cryptozoological specimens. Not at ALL.
"Huge. Taller than me, and their tails curl around them." Biggs puffs out his cheeks. "And they're nasty-fat too." He pauses. "They use mercenaries and bounty hunters for their weapons, mostly. I think they're too fat to really fight, but they've got all kinds of money."
***
It's not the presence of something other than a supply closet that gives Carl pause so much as the fact that it's not what he was expecting to see.
"...What, another one?"
"Another what?" Biggs raises an eyebrow. "You been to any other weird inns lately?"
"More of a weird bar. But I was at least looking for that one."
"Oh, you been to Milliways?" Biggs grins. "Yeah, I was there too." Beat. "Unless you mean another weird bar I don't know about."
"No, that'd be it." He... really hopes there aren't too many more of these things. "I'm Carl."
"Nice to meet you. 'm Biggs Darklighter." He holds out a hand. "It seems that I run the place. Or something like that."
"Oh, so you're just as confused as everyone else? Good to know." And actually, it is kind of comforting.
"Kriff yes. I just appeared here from Milliways with a note telling me that I now run this Inn. I don't get it."
"...Okay, that's weird." Somewhere in there, he returned the handshake. Honest.
"Really kriffing weird, if you ask me." Biggs shrugs again. "I can't complain. I keep getting food and things to drink."
"You do? Where from?" There doesn't seem to be anything like Bar... though there is that restaurant thing.
Biggs waves his hands. "I was sitting on the sofa, and a drink appeared on the table. I was sitting here and food appeared on the counter. I don’t get it. I didn't even -ask- for it."
"...Sentient furniture is hard to top, but that just might do it." Now that he thinks of it, something to drink would be a good idea. Even if it's just water.
And lo, water appears in front of him. "Like that. You don't even have to kriffing -say- anything."
There are so many dots. "...Okay, yeah, that beats sentient furniture."
"Hell yes." Biggs grins. "I still want to know why I'm running this place. I'm just a pilot."
Carl shrugs. "Clearly someone thought it was a good idea."
"I guess. I'm rather liking it, though."
"That's always a plus."
***
Read First: http://community.livejournal.com/outsideinn/1013.html
"This is like no building I've ever seen...clearly this is either a high level genjutsu, or Naruto's finally driven me completely insane."
All that can be seen over the back of the giant chair is a bit of pink, and all that can be heard is a stream of incoherent muttering, perhaps in another language.
Biggs blinks. "It's a damn strange place, really."
"It seems that way... Where, exactly, is this? One minute I'm walking towards the training ground, arguing and sparring with Naruto as usual, the next, boom! the gate lands me here."
WIP, waiting for Biggs