[open]

[windowsftl]

who ; Sakura and Skarmory Staryu Ensof
what ; Gotta catch 'em all How did I forget there is a logging comm Trying to find a way out of the space station. And failing, of course.
where ; Kurzweil
when ; Nighttime
warning(s) ; Uh

Comments

[techno_rockstar]

Edward wasn't as interested in going back as everyone else seemed to be. Sure, it would be nice if it happened, but considering it meant going back to Gothman city and all its problems (and realistically speaking, the asylum) he wasn't in any hurry. He was too fascinated with the station's technology to be thinking about that, anyway. Dangerous or not, he had never seen anything like Hypatia before and being the scientist he was, Edward was determined to find out more about her and the station in the best way he knew--by going out in the middle of the night, in full costume.

After three or fours hours he had wandered pretty far (into park, he guessed) and not having found anything useful, was ready to go back. Seeing a figure in the distance actually caught him by surprise, specially when he realized that it was a girl. Now, Batman or any of the not-so-normal people he had heard over the network, he would have found normal. A girl, not so much. He walked over there until he was near enough to clear start a conversation without

[windowsftl]

A voice.

That's why you were shaking, Sakura thought. She squeezed the creature a little more tightly, trying desperately to calm it down--no easy feat, when its fear was only a reflection of her own. She didn't have time to disguise it as a backpack. A child's discarded toy--right, that would work. She mentally willed it to assume a motionless form in her arms. Ensof's shuddering ceased.

Steeling herself, she turned slowly in Edward's direction to respond to him. His costume took her by surprise. She thought quickly. Why would a man wander about in such an outfit? But his voice was recognizable. He's right. I talked to him before.

The programmer?

"Nighttime's...easier for exploring."

[kidfromthevault]

The kid from the vault was still getting used to this strange new world. It was odd, to say the least. Too much grass, too many trees, too many new and odd creatures that put him at unease. He knew what would kill him back at home. Here, not so much

[windowsftl]

Alerted by the sound of an unexpected voice, she whipped around as though she'd been shot. She relaxed--slightly--when she saw the person to whom the voice belonged. She recognized his suit the moment she saw it. But his tone sounded different than she remembered; tense, perhaps, or more uncertain.

She meant to inquire, ask whether he was alright; but instead she asked, "W-What are you doing out here?"

Stupid question, that; but she was still a little too startled to process anything more coherent.

[kidfromthevault]

"I'm just- looking for a place to sleep." And he was. He hadn't exactly gotten the memo that there was a common house somewhere nearby he could bunk; Vaultie had been sleeping outdoors, under trees, in the stoops of buildings. He didn't mind it, he was used to it. But the lack of a secure roof over his head was slowly starting to get to him.

He rubbed at his chest, cocking his head as he continued to stare at the creature in her arms. Obviously not dangerous. Odd looking, but if she held it as calmly as she did, then it wasn't dangerous.

"I don't have a house yet, so I've just been..." He gestures vaguely around them, shrugging. "Sleeping out here, and all."

[windowsftl]

"Out here?" she repeated, obviously stunned. Instinctual worry kicked in. "You can't sleep out here. That's..."

Dangerous? But he seemed accustomed to danger. (Even so--) Uncomfortable, she certainly thought. And a little bit degrading.

"Why aren't you staying at the youth hostel?" she asked. "Or...you don't know where it is?" She let go of Ensof; it hooked its arms and legs around her shoulders and slid onto her back in the shape of a backpack.

[ridgedstructure]

Dinobot was doing was Dinobot did best in out of the way spaces- skulking. Well, he had been, anyway. Now he was curled up in his beast mode, nasally snoring because the barracks felt more like a prison and he was exhausted. There was comfort in the familiar, areas like the gardens and recreational areas were the closest thing to the landscapes of pre-history Earth he could find. And while he'd never openly admit to missing that planet, it wasn't like he was going to find anything like home, Cybertron, here.

He just continued to lay there and snore. Loudly.

[windowsftl]

It was not long before, walking, she came across the--the--

Is that a dinosaur?

...So he was sleeping. And while common sense dictated that you do not stick around a sleeping dinosaur, lest said dinosaur ultimately wake up, Sakura did not exactly possess what one would consider common sense.

Burdened with growing curiosity, she crept closer to Dinobot, allowing her dragonet hang off of one of her shoulders for the sake of its comfort.

He looked quite cute, she thought, crouching to get a better look.

[ridgedstructure]

Dinobot's hearing was still dictated by machinery and tech. It was common to judge him entirely organic when seeing him prone and in beast mode like this. But he was still a machine, cybernetic bits and all, picking up on tiny noises at got to close.

"RRRGH," Dinobot's head lurched up like someone tossed cold water on him, "INTRUDER AL- !"

Before he had the chance to transform, and running the risk and slicing and dicing anything within striking range, he saw it was another of the primates. A small one.

Dinobot just stared at it, and the strange thing on it's back.

[windowsftl]

Sakura's reaction to Dinobot's awakening was a short scream--promptly followed by the girl falling rather heavily onto her posterior. She could have sworn her heart was beating erratically, echoing in her ears--but maybe it wasn't, she couldn't exactly tell, because her ears were still ringing from the combined volumes of their voices.

...Ah! But the dinosaur wasn't attacking!

"...Oh, y-you talk."

There were talking dogs here. She wondered why talking dinosaurs managed to surprise her at all.

Do you mind if I tag this? We can say it's after his intro/separate timeline from the other threads?

[tsuru_maru]

Takeo was hoping against hope that Sakura and Ensof would be in Kurzweil's youth hostel. He knew Akira well enough, as Hoshimaru, to know she didn't like to wander very far on her own. She would still be in Kurzweil, he hoped. He doubted she would gather enough money ("work credits") to rent an apartment, so the hostel made sense.

The nineteen-year-old leaned back against a counter in the public kitchen and folded his arms comfortably while he waited for the clicking of doors outside the kitchen to signify whether someone was entering or leaving. The hostel itself seemed almost bleakly vacant. He wondered whether Akira was here after all. Maybe not. If not, he would have to send Hoshimaru to find Ensof. It was the only way to track her down. At least, the only way available to Tsurumaru.

i don't mind!

[windowsftl]

She had considered using her work credits to buy cat food for Ensof. Ensof, ridiculously, liked the taste of the thick sauce. But Sakura was linked to Ensof; anything Ensof tasted, Sakura tasted; and the taste of cat food made her sick to her stomach.

She compromised and bought groceries instead, with a heartfelt apology to the baby dragon.

Ensof clung to her back now, rubbery arms and legs wrapped around her shoulders. In this way, the creature was perfectly disguised as an eccentric, star-shaped backpack. Of course, Sakura couldn't actually put anything inside him; but...

She elbowed her way into the desolate little kitchen, a grocery bag clutched in one arm, and reached out to turn the lights on.

The unexpected sight of a man caused her to drop her grocery bag in fear. Ensof sprang off her back, landing on hind rubbery legs on the floor, and expanded to Sakura's height, arching its arms over her like a shield.

"...Hoshimar..."

She didn't know the human by name. Just by the nickname her friend Shiina had given to his

^o^

[tsuru_maru]

"Calm down."

He unfolded his arms and leaned away from the counter. The actual dragonet behind him, shaped exactly like Ensof (like a star) but with yellow and orange coloring, froze in the middle of eating frosting from a tin. Like a deer caught in headlights, the dragonet lowered its stubby hands and stared at expanding Ensof. Hoshimaru leapt off the counter and charged over to Ensof.

"I know you don't want to be bothered, so I'll make this quick. Do you want to keep Hoshimaru with you?"

[windowsftl]

But you're Hoshimaru, she wanted to say. It wasn't the same, now that she knew that the dragonet was linked to a stranger, a man. Not Shiina. Ensof lowered back to a smaller size and started dancing in ecstatic circles around Hoshimaru. Sakura paid no notice. You're Hoshimaru. And you know everything.

Hoshimaru. Hoshimaru...

Wait.

"If Hoshimaru is here, who's protecting Shiina?"