archishellago | Test Drive Meme #001

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test drive meme

Test Drive Meme #001

KHU IODUAN; TEST DRIVE MEME #001

I. THE VERDANT SENTRY - Attention, New Recruits!

It's clear that all of the city's law enforcement is handled by the various branches of the Sentry: from Mounted Division handling street patrol, to the Aerial Corps provided airborne support for tactical and rescue operations, to the Nautical Branch undertaking regular sea patrols as the first line of defense along the archipelago's borders. But everyone interested in joining up has to go through their basic training program, and that starts today with a general skills assessment. There's quite a mix of attendees today, spread across nearly every race represented in Aifaran and including other Dreamfolk, but whatever the recruiter is saying is getting lost in the two chatty Igheeri who seem to think they're too good to listen to the standard welcome speech... time to interrupt by signaling the person in charge? Take care of it yourself? Gripe about it to the person in line beside you?

II. KIRIN RODEO - Place Your Bets!

At the end of every month, the Mounted Division of the Sentry holds their skills competition. When they're not on the field, their steeds are often the subject of much admiration from children and more than a few adults. Astride many breeds of kirin, some lithe and fleet, some stockier and stronger, these off-duty officers demonstrate their control and bond over the notoriously strong-willed and intelligent creatures with complicated maneuvers. There's a surprisingly in-depth system for betting on one's favourite to win the various matches, and just about everyone's willing to explain the odds to newcomers. There's only one rule: all proceeds go to funding of the city's charities. (Bragging rights on winning are still yours to keep.) Two bells ring loudly over the crowd - last call for wagers!

III. WE HAVE REGULATIONS ABOUT THIS - Munga on the Loose!

Munga are ill-tempered, rat-sized spiky lizards with a gift for camouflage, and whose venom in their spines and teeth is also highly hallucinogenic. And... they're on the loose. Fortunately, keeping them is highly regulated, and pretty much everyone in Aifaran knows about them, but loose Munga are uncommon enough that the reaction is more likely to be startled flailing at a hint of spines and skittering. Today someone's exotic pet has slipped out of their hands, and it's trailing a harness and lead as it zigzags away, prickling and hissing and going for the ankles. It's given a wide berth, except by those who don't notice until it's too late or those too preoccupied by something else. Hopefully the proper authorities have been notified to catch and return the creature, but maybe someone helpful can keep it from getting too far away?

IV. A SURPRISE WINDFALL - Officer, This Isn't Mine...

There was a loud thud as someone tosses a heavy bag from the window of a dilapidated building. Five seconds later there’s smoke pouring out the windows and your holding what seems to be someone else’s luggage. Opening it, you find carefully wrapped bricks of some very illegal drugs, and someone down the side alley is pointing at you and yelling. A mounted Sentry officer is giving you a rather peculiar look as well while he calls in the fire brigade. And among the people fleeing the building, there are five Kin’nal looking at you, wide-eyed, as it suddenly dawns on them that they messed up. Take your new prize and split before reinforcements arrive? Try to explain the mistake? Take note that the building is still on fire?

V. INTO THE UNKNOWN - Watch Your Back Out There

The sea patrol discovered the new irregularity a few days ago, reporting that it looks like a series of tall and jagged stone towers rising up from the ocean. It's incomplete as these planar-shunted locations often are, as if something massive had taken a bite of some mysterious city and then spat it whole into the seas of Konryu. Having been chosen as part of the exploration team, you've been working your way through the complicated labyrinth of stone tunnels and dead ends, searching for what the Opara engineers had enthusiastically described as a potential new power source. "Trace the green glowing power lines," was their (sort of helpful) instruction. However the lean, dark and toothy thing you've just glimpsed should probably be a more pressing concern... warn others? Take it on yourself? Pray it hasn't spotted you?

VI. WILDCARD - Because You're Not The Boss Of Me

Anything else that doesn't fit the above prompts is welcome, just keep it within the game setting please!

Applications • Reservations • Taken List • Game Navigation

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IV. A Surprise Windfall

Well, well, what have we here?

Naesala's world wasn't particularly modern, but given that he was holding a bag full of an unfamiliar substance and quite a few people giving him odd looks, it wasn't difficult to put two and two together. Whether this was a drug, poison or spice, it had to be quite valuable to be the first thing rescued from a fire. Yet there it was, having fallen right into his arms like a gift from the goddess. And who was he to refuse such a gift?

Naesala looked one of the Kin'nal right in the eyes as smirked, spreading his wings. There was more shouting from the alley as Naesala launched himself into the air, only needing a few powerful beats of his wings to clear the rooftops, his prize in tow. He had quite a view of the growing fire from here... but given that he didn't hear any crying babies in the midst of all that, stopping to do his civic duty was the last thing on his mind. He was rather hoping that the Sentry would have their hands full enough to forget all about the winged Dreamperson that was also fleeing from the fire.

Of course, those wings made him stand out quite a bit, given that he otherwise looked nothing like an Igheeri. There was no doubt in Naesala's mind that he'd have someone of the criminal persuasion eventually paying him a visit... which made it all the more important that he tuck himself out of sight as fast as possible. He promptly flew in the direction of one of the less seedier districts of the city, leaving the scene of the fire behind him. Four blocks and a quick glide underneath a Skyway rail later, Naesala landed in the back alley behind a store, taking a moment to shake out his wings and brush his jacket down before shouldering the bag.

When he stepped out of the alley and onto the crowded street, it was with a casual air, as though he were on his way home from a sparring session instead of carting around a bag full of enough drugs to kill someone. Or so he assumed, anyway. If he could get a good price for it, he didn't care if his pilfered goods were something as mundane as a Kin'nal foot powder.

VI. WILDCARD
[Also up for anything else!]

It had taken awhile for Leo to catch up to the flying man with his tiny, short legs, but if god eyes were good for something, it was keeping track of a person even when he couldn't normally see them.

Thankfully, the guy slowed down after awhile and had a unique aura from the natives, which was how Leo was able to find him in the crowd. He was out of breath, but knowing that the fire was under control and nothing he did could really help the fire brigade, he went to do the next best thing; catch the asshole running away with very illegal contraband.

Leo reached out with one hand and attempted to latch onto the thief's arm. "Hey! Where are you going with that??"

It might've been premature for Naesala to be enjoying his stroll, but why not? His newfound prize had been a complete accident, but it was still a getaway well done, as far as he was concerned. He didn't expect that any of the natives could easily catch up to him, and if there was pursuit, he counted on a Sentry or one of those Kin'nal to be doing it. So, it rather took him by surprise for a young human to suddenly show up and grab onto his arm.

Stopping in his tracks, Naesala gave his hanger-on a disdainful look. The pilfered bag in question was still securely hanging on his shoulder by its strap. "Excuse me? Are you lost? If your broodmother left you behind, I'm sure I can't help you."

"My what-wait, what? That's not important. I saw you! You just took off with those drugs while everyone else was panicking about the fire. That shit is illegal, you know!" And very expensive too. Leo had a sinking feeling that once again, he's found someone with less than pure motives, but hey. Even if he got the crap beaten out of him, he'd have good description of the guy.

"Drugs?"

Naesala peered down at him with more interest now. He was fairly sure he hadn't had a little sparrow hovering over his shoulder, so how did he know what was in the bag? Was this some street urchin that was involved with whoever owned this merchandise? Now this was getting interesting.

"You ran all that way, did you? No wonder you're so sweaty." Naesala made an attempt to shake him off of his arm as he continued, "I'm afraid you have me mistaken, little human. I was just on my way to deliver this to the Sentry. I couldn't very well do it where those dangerous criminals might have jumped me to get it back. After all, they set that building on fire!"

He was lying like a rug, of course.

Leo wasn't letting go now, and he was giving Naesala the best version of a stink-eye you could, if you never actually opened your eyes. "Don't give me that shit-I saw you by the building and you totally looked at them and just walked off! This is NOT the direction you go to the Sentry anyway!"

He knew that he probably wouldn't be much of an obstruction to the guy just pulling him along, considering how comparatively little he weighed, but Leo didn't exactly want to use his eyes for something so stupid and mundane.

Scowling, Naesala finally rounded on him, facing him now with the black wings on his back partially spreading outward before tucking back in again. Oh, he was tempted to just take off and fly away, but 'argued with the culprit' is rather more incriminating than 'glimpsed the culprit carrying something'. It wouldn't take much for this human to decide to be a snitch and give his description to the Sentry, and that was trouble that Naesala very much wanted to avoid getting tangled in.

"Quiet down, or you'll cause a scene! If you want to talk, then let's talk about how you knew what was in this bag. That's a little too suspicious for you to start lecturing me on what's illegal here."

"You're the one causing a scene!!" Leo hissed, just tightening his grip to hold on for dear life. Please don't let this guy suddenly take off and fling me into the air,he thought to himself.

"Look, I have really good eyesight. So I saw what was in the bag and I may not know exactly what it is but that absolutely looks like drugs!! Besides, you're the one doing illegal shit right in daylight!! How am I the suspicious one??" He asked.

"That's what it is? You have good eyesight?"

It certainly sounded preposterous - if this kid was a hawk laguz, he might have believed it. But from a human? Still, his words had a ring of truth in them that gave Naesala the sinking suspicion that he might not make it home with his windfall after all.

Naesala sighed, leaning over him with an annoyed ruffle of his feathers. "Fine, little human. You caught me. Now what is it you want out of this? Take a moment to think before you pick the boring option. A cut of the profits could do you some good. You might even be able to afford a comb."

He wasn't a very good liar, and he was pretty sure this guy knew it; if he was half the criminal Leo thought he was, anyway. At least the birdman wasn't a volatile, violent type, but Leo wasn't sure that made anything better or not.

He was also going to have to try a lot harder to intimidate the small man. "Don't think you can bribe me with dirty money-I'm not that stupid, and I'm doing just fine on my own! You're the one who needs a morals check."

Naesala just barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. What was it with some humans that made them so uptight?

"You wound me! It might be true, but tell me, do we owe anything to these people?" He sweeps his free arm out towards the street in demonstration as he continues, "They might want us to come be quiet, productive members of their society, but none of us Dreamfolk had a say in even arriving here. If we're going to be passing through like a breeze, why bother caring? We're not citizens, and they haven't earned our loyalty. You're just getting your feathers ruffled over something that doesn't affect you in the slightest."

Leo's expression twisted to one of more anger, but he stopped himself from doing anything more than still clinging to the birdman's arm. "We didn't get a choice in the matter, but it's not their fault either! Are you really going to take your anger of your unfortunate situation on people who had no influence on it? Besides, acting like that won't get you anywhere-that's not how people work."

"Anger? You're assuming I care that much. I'm not here to make friends."

Yet the human was still holding tightly to his arm... well, what else had he expected? It was never so easy to convince the stubborn. Naesala briefly scowls, shrugging the strap off of his arm and pushing the bag towards him.

"If you insist on turning this in to the Sentry, so be it! But you'd better not delay, little human. The owner of these goods will be wanting them back, and I'm sure they won't be nearly as accommodating as I am. Do you understand?" Naesala's tone was more serious now than it had been throughout their entire conversation. Taking off with the drugs himself hadn't been such a risk when he had the means and ability to fight off an attacker. He didn't expect it would be nearly so easy for a human with 'good eyesight'.

Getting into this bag had been the worst decision Arietti had made in her life. First it was thrown out of a window, then it was picked up and flown through the air. It was a horror roller coaster as she was thrown around, dodging shifting blocks the size of buildings. At least once she'd been crushed against the side of the bag by one. Her entire body was sore, but nothing seemed to be broken.

Finally things calmed down and she managed to get back to the top of the bag. Fortunately, Naesala had left half an inch of opening when he'd sealed the bag up, and that was all she needed to slip out.

"Hey! Do you think you could be a little more gentle?!" She shouted up at the person carrying the bag.

Naesala looked towards the voice, paused, then did a double-take. He thought he might have bumped into someone, but no, there was no one next to him. The only person he spotted was the tiny one sitting on his bag.

That strange sight was enough to shake the normally unflappable Naesala, to the point that he was starting to look panicked. He took a hurried look around the area, then leaned down in closer to the bag, staring down at her with consternation.

"You're... speaking to me? Are you-" He paused, tone going more hushed, "Are you real?" Naesala's first assumption was that he was hallucinating. Perhaps some of the drug he was carrying had shaken out of the bag and onto his skin. Or even into his feathers. How was he supposed to know what was in those wrapped bricks?

"Well, yes, I'm speaking to you! You're the one whose been flinging this bag around like salt in a shaker!"

Her frown was quite pronounced, but she was calming down fast. Arietti didn't hold on to things that much. She looked Naesala over, noticing the large crow wings.

"What sort of bean are you? You're part bird."

"I, ah, yes. My apologies."

Naesala still wasn't particularly convinced. Of course a hallucination would claim to be real, so what else could you say to it? You couldn't just ask it to go away, could you? Mindful of the fact that he was speaking to this figment of his imagination right in the middle of the sidewalk, he stepped over next to a nearby building. Carefully so, not wanting to annoy her with more jostling. Who knew what might happen then?

"I'm a bean now, am I? Well, my people are called laguz. I'm of the raven tribe, so yes, in that sense I am part bird."

She grabs onto the strap to give her some leverage as she stands up. She's a little bit more used to being on carried objects now, although it's still so fast.

"A 'laguz.'" Arietti lets the word rattle around in her head for a second.

"That makes you another dream person right?" She's not an expert by any means, but she didn't remember that being any of the names for the natives.

"I'm a Borrower," she replied. "My name is Arietti."

"Yes, that's right. I'm Naesala. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The longer their conversation went on, the more Naesala was starting to realize that she might actually be real. Their talk was just too coherent for what he'd expect from a hallucination. That was... rather embarrassing, but he was at least more reassured that he hadn't somehow gotten the drugs spilled on himself. Probably hadn't, at least.

"So tell me, Arietti... do the contents of this bag belong to you? I can't imagine it'd be very safe for you to be in there with such a substance."

"Such a substance?" She looked back in the direction of the bag. "What are these blocks, exactly?"

She might have assumed some kind of flour maybe.

That was quite the loaded question, wasn't it? Naesala was hardly eager to let on what exactly it was that he was carrying. Not to mention that Arietti seemed young, though it was quite hard to tell her age when she was so small in the first place.

"Ah... I think it's a kind of medication. It did just fall into my lap, so to speak." See, that was true in a sense. It was always easier to slide a lie past when it was at least partially true. "I don't know who owns it, so I intend on getting rid of it. I wouldn't recommend taking a taste when neither of us knows exactly what it is."

Arietty nodded. She'd gotten into her mother's collection of herbs once and had taken quite ill. Her father had made her swallow some horrid substance to make her vomit it up.

"We should give it to someone who can use it, then." It seemed wasteful to throw medicine away when it could be useful.

Oh, that made him smile. "You're absolutely right. It should be given to someone that'll find it useful. It might take me some time to track down who's the most in need of it, but you can leave all of that to me."

Noting her somewhat precarious perch, Naesala offers his hand to her, his palm upwards. "Now, were you on your way somewhere? I can carry you to your destination, or your home if you'd prefer. I owe you that much after jostling you around."

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Test Drive Meme #001

Naesala | Fire Emblem 9/10

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IV

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was totally spelling her name wrong before

oop that's okay!