Breaking my back just to know your name...

[moonlit_mirage]

Characters: ES!Uchiha Itachi/Crow (moonlit_mirage ) and OPEN
Date/Time: Any time this week
Location: The Safezone in AD/The Wilderness
Rating: ???
Summary: Crow has gone to explore the wilderness and finds it to be a ruined city. But unlike the last time the Wilderness was a city this city is populated with real people. And killer bunnies.

Comments

OOC

[lethal_scribe]

So we can just post to interact?

Re: OOC

[moonlit_mirage]

Yep! Sort of like the PH log, just post a thread and I'll reply.

Re: OOC

[extantlaw]

May I send Justice to talk to Crow-sensei? XD Or do you want to concentrate on Adstri charries for character development and all that jazz?

OOC

[moonlit_mirage]

Go for it! <33 I won't reply until tomorrow my time, but the more the merrier, Justice~san &hearts

[3:00 PM, near the river]

[bloodseal_soul]

It was raining a little, here and there. Alphonse had his hood pulled up over his head, hiding all the long blond hair. He was taking a short walk to secure his rope bridge -- the water was rising and he wouldn't want it to be destroyed

[moonlit_mirage]

Crow ignored the bird calls, though he hadn't seen any birds. He was more interested in the river. When was the last time he'd seen flowing water? He couldn't recall. He hadn't been in the wilderness at any point it was likely to have running water. Something about the river though... Or the thoughts of a river, triggered that vague headache and feeling of uneasiness. A ping then

[bloodseal_soul]

Al had never once been able to sneak up on Itachi before, and to see him actually jump when he touched him was more than a little strange. What had happened?

Before he really thought about what Itachi was saying, Al had unzipped his coat and shrugged it off. It wasn't big enough for Itachi to wear, but at least with it around his shoulders he might be protected from the rain. "Here," he said with a worried sigh, and swung it around Itachi's shoulders, pushing up on tiptoes to pull up the hood. "You're really out of it if you're apologizing. Are you still a little hungover from last ni-" and he froze when he saw the smile, as well as the glasses.

... and his eyes.

Alphonse stared wide-eyed at him. This... couldn't be Itachi, but his face was...

Fullmetal-san? Sasuke-san?

Alternates? Like Kamui? But he knew Ed's military name, and Sasuke... what...?

Al took a step back, half-raising both hands, not sure what he was guarding for, but deeply disturbed and uneasy. "Who are you?" he whispered.

[moonlit_mirage]

Crow blinked when the boy tried to wrap his coat around him. He knew Fullmetal was sort of entirely a sweetheart, but wasn't this a bit much? He started to shrug off the coat and offer it back to the blond when Al's reaction had him pausing and looking consideringly at the younger boy, lifeless eyes seeming to stare through Al, instead of at him.

Crow folded the coat gently and held it out, non-threatening, to Al, his own expression thoughtful as the boy turned from friendly to wary.

"I have not been drinking, Fullmetal-san." Crow said quietly, examining the boy closely. When asked for his name... Fullmetal wasn't that forgetful. And he hadn't died again, not that Crow was aware of.

"I am Crow." He said, one eyebrow raising questioningly at Al's reaction.

[4:30-Edge of the Safezone]

[lethal_scribe]

Zexion wandered quietly along the edge of the Safezone. He was currently looking for more test subjects. In particular; a Sandworm. He scowled slightly at his lack of success, and continued forth.

After a few minutes of walking at his slow pace, he spotted a figure in the distance and paused for a moment. It wasn't anyone he could recognize, so he had to be cautious. Not that he wasn't cautious around others anyway. He slowly crept closer, until he stood a few yards away before speaking.

"Hello?"

[moonlit_mirage]

Crow didn't look up. He heard better than he saw, anyway. He was writing in his journal--the plain one, not the magical one. He closed it gently and lifted his head, expression neutral and calm.

"Hello." He greeted, bowing his head politely. He didn't recognize the other's voice. But then, this version of the wilderness was unlike others. People. And some of them familiar, some of them not. He wondered if this were stranger than the dinosaurs or not. Less teeth, at any rate.

"May I help you?" Not impatient, merely polite.

[lethal_scribe]

Zexion tilted his head slightly at this man. A journal? Was this man another scribe? His curiosity was sparked.

"Not likely. Are you new here? I do not believe I have seen you around before."

He replied calmly, his Lexicon held somewhat loosely at his side. This place was dangerous, he knew this and was always prepared to defend himself.

"You may not want to let your guard down around here."

[moonlit_mirage]

Crow pushed his glasses absently up his nose. New? How to answer that. He was one of the older people in the tree, but this place was the Wilderness. And it held some... Interesting surprises this time around.

"You might say that." He replied finally. "Thank you for the warning. I am never unguarded in the wilderness. I am aware of the dangers." He thought he was anyway.

"My name is Crow." He added, watching Zexion carefully for any recognition. "I apologize for the belated introduction. Who might you be?" Oh so polite, formal, proper. He was finding the wilderness this time to be... Fascinating. He wondered if the blue-haired man was from the Tree, someone he hadn't met, or one of the residents of this ruined place.

Ingrained caution kept him from asking outright. This could, after all, be one of the traps that would get him untimely killed. He had no wish for a memory wipe.

[5:00 PM--Safezone]

[replica_flame]

A few drops of rain fell down on Luke's head as he made his way toward the Wastes. The redhead had decided that a little bit of rain wasn't a good excuse not to train today. During the last event, he had gone out to see just how far ahead Asch was in controlling his hyperressonance and, to his dismay, he had found that Asch had mastered it completely.

He couldn't let him get ahead of him.

Luke, now with thoughts of Asch on his mind, stomped angrily through the city and toward the area in the Wastes that he had dubbed his training grounds. He was a few minutes away from the edge of the Safezone when he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye.

He looked over his shoulder and saw that the person was Itachi. He had thought that he had heard over the PCD that Itachi was hurt...so why was he wandering this close to the Wastes? Well...maybe Ms. Unohana had healed him already.

Luke stopped walking and yelled over to the dark haired man.

"Itachi? Is that you?"

[moonlit_mirage]

The sound of crows and an unfamiliar voice calling to him. This was getting familiar. Crow stood from where he'd been crouched, examining some strange fungus that looked alive and... hungry, and eyed the redhead. Not Chosen, not Nova, not Honor or Redbird. Those were the only redheads Crow knew or knew of. So, this was probably one of the denizens of the Wilderness.

"My name is Crow." He said as soon as Luke was close enough. Get that out of the way before it got confusing. He'd already figured out that some of these people knew his name--but just like in his memories, instead of hearing his name all he could hear were crows.

And if something was obstructing his ability to learn his own name, then he was in danger. Proceed with caution.

"I am sorry to confuse you. May I help you?" He smiled, polite and calm and watchful as Luke stopped in front of him.

[replica_flame]

"Hm? Crow?"

Luke was confused now. He was sure that this was Itachi. He had only seen Itachi a few times while he was here but he was was almost certain this man was him

[moonlit_mirage]

Crow nodded quietly at Luke. "Oh I know. You know someone here who is another me." The dark haired man said quietly, calm as if this sort of thing were normal. "I won't be able to hear his name--it's all a bit complicated." That was one way of putting it, anyway. He wasn't even certain of what the full situation was himself, and he'd had time to think over the information he and Al had shared.

"Do not apologize. It is bound to be a common misunderstanding." Crow bowed his head politely and looked back at the strange fungus for a moment. "The pleasure is mine, Luke-san." Crow stepped closer to the redhead, curious.

"I see. Thank you for the warning. I sensed it was a bit... Dangerous. What does it do?" He didn't look hugely concerned, just curious as he stopped a polite distance from Luke, looking between the man and fungi creature.

Monday around lunchtime

[lemonshine]

After being excused from work for the day -- something about the sick should not be overworked -- Lucy popped out of the elevator and beheld the sight before her. She'd been in the Wilderness a couple times before but not when it was a city that was full of people. She beamed excitedly before racing off to explore this strange territory. This was definitely different than anything she'd ever experienced.

The people of this city didn't seem accustomed to someone racing about, dipping and darting between crowds of people. It felt nice to run around again after being confined to first a hospital bed and then Chosen's house. She was fairly certain that someone was likely to be tailing after her that day but it didn't matter because she came into the center of a large square and looked above her in wonder. Buildings as far as the eye could see was something she had never seen as far as she could recall.

"What is this place," she asked out loud to herself.

[moonlit_mirage]

Crow had since wandered from the edges of the safe zone to the more populated and safer center of the city. A familiar girl, as energetic as ever, caught his eye and he approached, waiting a short distance, but her words gave him a measure of assurance.

"The wilderness is... Quite different this time, Lucy-san." Crow said softly as he stepped up next to the girl. "Be wary." His voice was soft and low. "Things here are... Different." He raised his voice to a normal speaking tone and settled himself on a bench.

"I've been exploring here for a while. You know you shouldn't enter the wilderness alone, Lucy-san. I hope Chosen-san or someone else has come with you and I just haven't spotted them?" His voice was mildly chiding, his expression said he knew she'd come alone.

[lemonshine]

Of course she'd come alone. She loved Chosen and Seraph but after being stuck inside for just two weeks, she needed some time to herself. Coming to Wilderness was definitely not one of the better ideas she'd come up but it was better than heading home and explaining to either of the two men she lived with why she'd been sent home early from work. Or maybe they already knew, who knew with them? She grinned sheepishly at Crow as she walked over to sit next to him on the bench.

"What about you then?" she countered. "Didn't you come down here by yourself? If so, you're just as guilty as I am. But yeah," she said with a change of topic. "This place is different. There's never been people down here before. Is this normal?"

If he was going to admonish her for being a reckless, foolhardy teenager, now was definitely a good opportunity to do so. She smiled sunnily at Crow hoping to defuse any such notions as she'd been expecting from someone sooner or later.

[moonlit_mirage]

Crow smiled slightly at Lucy and leaned back where he sat, studying the passersby. People was just not normal for the wilderness. Giant pinball machines and toy boxes and dinosaurs and candy, sure, but real people? Not illusions or mannequins or strange puppets?

It was a little unnerving.

"Guilty as charged, Lucy-san. I suppose we are both in the wrong. I cannot recall ever hearing of people in the wilderness before. And they seem to be real, not just shadows or fakes. All the same I'd be wary in dealing with them, if you decide to, Lucy-san."