Test Drive Meme | #49

[ironwood]

TEST DRIVE MEME - TU SHANSHU EDITION!

Itching to try out writing a character? Then rev up your engines, grab your accounts, and slam your way into this meme! Here is a venue for you to try out whatever character there might be tickling your fancy, from fandom to OC, for as few as one and as many as MANY. Seriously, there's no limit. How do you partake in this fantastic congregation of character testing? Why, by following these simple steps: → Comment with the journal of a character you want to test; put their name and canon in the subject line for added sparkles. → Tag around with everyone! → Profit like you live on a the back of a turtle! → Maybe even RESERVE so you CAN live on the back of a turtle! But wait, there's more! For the low, low price of $9,999.99, you can even use one of our handy prompts when you tag someone. You could even pick one with a Random Number Generator to help decide which prompt to go with! Haggling Over Something in the Marketplace! Maybe someone else saw the exact same shiny thing you did at the exact same moment! However shall this be resolved? Remember: blood is extremely hard to scrub off of turtle shell! Dramatic Chase Sequence! You're running away from something! It could be anything, from a rampaging kirin to a gaggle of overly enthusiastic children! One way or another, you can't stop, and much like a katamari ball, you feel obligated to grab everyone in your path along the way to keep them out of danger! Or perhaps you're more the sort to try and knock them into it as a distraction...? Where there's a will, there's a...? The Life and Dreaming Planes have been merged, and sometimes what starts out as wishful thinking becomes lured into reality. That slick new motorcycle or pile of kingly treasure you were just daydreaming about? Surprise! It's just appeared in front of you. Though, it may only stay for a short while before it disappears again, so make it count. Hopefully you're not the type to daydream about terrible things befalling people you don't like... Let's play cops and robbers! Local law enforcement is handled by the Keeliai Police Department, an organization of both Foreigners and kedan dedicated to keeping the peace in the turtle... and they're about to make a raid on a large, illegal gambling ring! Are you going to collar the nearest bad guy, or are you one of the high rollers now looking to make a quick escape? Or a bookie who's now getting booked downtown? Wait... you want my what now?! The kedan are a curious folk, and the Foreigners are entertainment in conveniently arriving packages, especially when they come along with unique items that the kedan might not have seen before. Maybe it's your cellphone... or maybe it's your knickers! How badly do you want to keep your stuff from some overeager native shapeshifters who want to buy, bribe, or burglarize it right off your person? Sea prunes, get your sea prunes right here! Life in Keeliai can take a little getting used to: the chickens have scales, the cows have feathers, and the fruits come in more colour and pattern combinations than your average tye-dye shirt. Not to mention that meal you just ordered from the food vendor? Has arrived on the plate, and you're pretty sure you just saw it move. Everybody needs a little darkness... The Great Enemy may have been defeated over two years ago, and people are even willing to speak Malicant's name aloud now, but there remains a taint in the city never fully purged. Those who consider Malicant a dark god whose end was unjust are the cultists of Keeliai, and they aren't always so easy to identify as one might think. Sometimes their presence is felt in the growing urge to give into one's darker instincts, especially in such a foreign place... Illicit substances, anyone? Every city has its vices, and Keeliai is no different. Perhaps you actively sought it out, or perhaps an opportunistic dealer saw you as a potential customer needing a free sample, but you're now in possession of a packet of Lucid, an emotion-enhancing drug. Interested in finding out what happens when you crush that colourful crystal and ingest it? Incoming! Tu Vishan's latest landfall stop has brought an unwelcome problem to its residents: enormous, toothy creatures who look more like pterosaurs than most people are comfortable with! With a twenty-foot wingspan, these aren't exactly harmless local wildlife, and they have a nasty habit of swooping down on targets both Foreigner and kedan! How are you going to fend them off, or help someone who might have been injured by the latest dive bombing?? (Please note: This scenario isn't applicable to becoming game canon if you choose to app your character, as an alien pterosaur attack is a major event.) WILDCARD! Go nuts. Suddenly your character is fighting dragons! Good God, they've found the Millennium Falcon drifting in the ocean! Do you really feel the uncontrollable urge to polish every paving stone in the Earth Sector? Anything goes!

Comments

Fai D. Flourite || CW: lots of blood || voice testing, please be gentle~

[flowrite]

» Arrival

[It's a cold, grey, drizzly day in Keeliai. The Central District looks much like it always does, the Midnight Hotel spotted here and there with the evidence of repairs ongoing since the hurricane last month. Kedan come and go along the lanes, and no one seems to notice when another Foreigner arrives.

At first he looks like a mass of blood-spattered fluff. Huddled on the cobblestones up against the base of the Hotel's outer wall, he's dressed in a heavy blue and white fur-trimmed robe that's liberally covered with bright, fresh blood--it's not soaked in heavy pools, to suggest that he himself is injured, but rather it looks as though someone has sprayed him with it here and there. Even his face, when he finally lifts it, is spattered with blood. Beneath a mop of wild blond hair there's an eyepatch covering his left eye. His right, a brilliant blue, is red-rimmed and wet; he's been crying.

Now that he's awake he looks panicked. Disoriented. Nothing new for a Foreigner just waking up.

...maybe a little more panicked than usual. He levers himself to his feet, shaking, scanning his surroundings and not finding what he's looking for. Who he's looking for.

A new world, but no sign of Mokona or Syaoran. No sign of--

So much blood, too much, the wound was too much, he's going to die if we don't--]

KUROGANE!



» Wandering

[The tall, rail-thin blond man with the eyepatch looks utterly dazed as he walks through the streets of the city. Still no sign of Mokona or Syaoran, or Kurogane. Kurogane's sacrifice saved him from the curse in Celes, but now he's alone. Lost and alone. He probably doesn't even have enough magic left to travel to another dimension, but what if he did? There's no telling where the others have gone. There's no guarantee he'll ever find them again. He may never see Sakura again.

Never--

He stops walking, leans wearily against the side of a building. After a moment a muffled sound escapes from beneath the gloved hand pressed to his face. Laughter.

If I never find them again, I won't survive long anyway. I'm sorry, Sakura. You wanted me to promise, but it can't be helped.

He... may look as though he's completely lost it.]



» And Now for Something Completely Different

[Fai really needs some new clothes, given that his own are spattered in blood. He also has no money, and nothing of any real value to trade. So what's a guy to do?

He's in a bar, hustling people at darts.]

Go easy on me. My depth perception isn't what it used to be~

[His voice is light and high, with a hint of laughter in it. He even manages a small smile--with his face washed and having shrugged out of his robe (which bears most of the blood stains), he doesn't look half bad.

Don't let him fool you.]

Arrival

[bigdogninja]

[In comparison to Fai, Kurogane looks a lot better in his black and red outfit than the mage might think he should. The left arm of his is not missing and even appears as if he's never lost it in the first place despite the amount of blood that's soaked Fai's coat. That blood is definitely his own. Honestly he could hear the mage yelling from an entire sector away if he'd been that far in the first place.

Still the shout does allow for him to pinpoint the direction to go in and Kurogane appears from between two buildings, out from an alleyway. When he lays eyes on the other man, he freezes in place and takes in the whole picture. The eyepatch, the cloak, the blood and Kurogane can figure out the exact time and place that Fai is from. It was back there on Celes when they were trying to leave but the curse wasn't going to let the mage come along. So he'd made the choice to cut off his own arm in order to satisfy the curse's need for Fai's magic.

A lot has happened since that day, including Kurogane's current physical changes. Since then he's gotten a replacement for his left arm and it's now coated with a synthetic flesh so that it doesn't stick out in certain worlds. His sword is resting gently on his right shoulder, held in his dominant hand as he moves to close the remaining distance between them. Moving silently like the ninja he is.]

You don't need to shout. I'm fine. [Kurogane is very aware that Fai is probably going to be angry at him, angry for making that sacrifice - for deciding about his life again. But he can't help but put his left hand on top of the mage's head to reassure the other man.] Calm down, everything is all right.

Re: Arrival

[flowrite]

[Of course he could be heard from halfway across Keeliai, silly ninja. That was the whole point of shouting!

In his present panicked state, with kedan still passing here and there (a few of them slowing to stare at the blood-covered man near the Hotel), it takes Fai a little longer to spot Kurogane. If anything he senses the ninja before he spots him, feeling/hearing/smelling Kurogane's blood--aside from the blood coating his clothes. When he does manage to pinpoint Kurogane his one blue eye goes wide.

He should be happy. Kurogane is alive. And he is, of course, except--

Why does he have two arms?

Relief and confusion and joy and fear all collide, making for one very addled mage. Something isn't right. He just saw Kurogane cut off his own arm and yet he's approaching as if nothing happened, as if the most he might be sporting is a papercut. Fai stares up at Kurogane as the ninja rests his hand on his head, shock still plain on his face, and then very carefully reaches up to grasp Kuro's wrist with his own gloved hands.

His voice is very small when he manages to speak again.]

How?

[bigdogninja]

[It certainly did the job because he certainly heard it. Understandably he can understand why Fai would be freaking out.

The world after Celes was supposed to be a safe one but so far they have no idea what this one is like. Not instantly hostile but time certainly would not have been in their favor with the way Kurogane was bleeding out after taking off his own arm. Even after all this time he still believed the sacrifice was worth it.

Having been together through everything, Kurogane can practically see the mage's thought process.

Can see the shock expressed in that single blue eye along with everything else.

That's why he allows the other man to touch it, to leave it loose and pliant within Fai's grip. He already knows exactly what he'll feel in his gloved hand - how the flesh is soft and squishy beneath pressure but not very much. Underneath is a hardness that can only be described as steel that is merely shaped to mimic the way an arm is supposed to be. It doesn't look out of place at all though if one were to look at the place where it connected to his shoulder, they would see a seam - as if it was a scar that went all the way around the limb.

Kurogane looks down at the mage.]

You traded away the rest of your magic for a replacement. Made the deal when I was unconscious after Celes. [He doesn't know how much of the events that follow he should talk about, but that much he can say at least.]

[flowrite]

[It's immediately obvious, even before Kurogane explains, that this isn't a real arm made of flesh and blood. There's no give to it. Even through his gloves Fai can feel the difference--it's like a soft glove covering an arm made of cast iron. And yet it moves the way it's supposed to, responds the way it's supposed to--]

My magic?

[He can't help it; it doesn't make any sense, and yet Fai instantly moves one hand to his own face, leaving the other on Kurogane's wrist. He hasn't traded the rest of his magic away, he can still feel it. There wasn't time. He doesn't remember making that deal with Yuuko... though he would have, gladly, had he simply had the time. Had he even known Kurogane was still alive, been able to see him after escaping the prison of his own magic.

It doesn't make any sense.]

I don't understand... I never made that deal. You pulled me from the curse and then... I was here. It can't have been me.

[Unless something has gone very wrong with their ability to cross worlds. Or something has gone wrong with time itself. He drops the hand from his face, still absent-mindedly clinging to Kurogane with the other.]

What is this place?

[bigdogninja]

[He isn't entirely sure what's happened, why they've been pulled into this world from different points in time. Kurogane can't even say that Fai didn't come here after the events of Celes because he'd been unconscious when they arrived to the next world - to Nippon. Though he's pretty sure it never happened because no one ever talked about it.]

You haven't made the deal yet. I'm not sure what's happened but we've come from different points in time.

[Whatever this world was, whatever had happened - it was powerful enough to change history.]

Celes was months and worlds ago for me. A lot has happened since then.

[But he still has the arm so that means it's probably going to still happen for Fai in the future.]

The natives said this city was on the back of a giant turtle. [And why not? They've certainly been stranger places.] Definitely not a world either of us are supposed to be. You're the only one I've found so far.

» Wandering

[purered]

[Klaus is nothing but a bleeding heart when it comes to the lost and confused and visibly upset, so when he spots Fai having a breakdown, he stops what he's doing. He knows that kind of humourless laugh, though he doesn't recognize the person it belongs to.

Shifting the large pot of flowers he's carrying to his other arm, he autiously touches the man's shoulder.]

My apologies - are you alright?

[Probably not the best question for a new arrival, but if possible he'd help Fai get his bearings.]

[flowrite]

[Fai's past the point of worrying about himself or who might be approaching. He doesn't so much as flinch at the unfamiliar hand on his shoulder, despite the fact that Klaus approaches from his blind side. When he looks up (and up, and up) dropping the gloved hand from his face, there are obvious tears in his one blue eye--and yet he's smiling as if he hasn't a care in the world.

He's also still covered in splashes of blood, including now-smeared patches on his face.

Despite the somewhat gruesome appearance, his voice is light and cheery and effeminate.]

Me? Oh, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about here.

[purered]

[That was clearly not the case, and while Klaus wasn't a naturally skeptical person, he wasn't stupid either. Still, it hadn't been the best question to ask someone clearly in the middle of a breakdown.]

Truly, I am sorry. May I ask what's the matter?

[flowrite]

[The mess in Celes is too fresh in Fai's mind to let him be as cheery as he might have been, once upon a time. He hasn't been able to reach that level of false enthusiasm since Tokyo. But he's too stubborn and determined to fall to pieces in the middle of the street here, and certainly not all over some nice man just trying to help. So Fai keeps the smile plastered on, wipes a hand over his one eye quickly to dry the lingering tears, and makes an obvious show of glancing down at his clothes.]

I appear to be covered in quite a lot of blood, actually. Not mine! It's not mine, I promise. But I could probably use somewhere to clean myself up. You wouldn't happen to know where I could...?

[purered]

[Well, this was off to a great start. Klaus, having more than a passing familiarity with people who had the unfortunate habit of smiling through an internal crisis, was now quite concerned. Still, he knows that feeling of being covered in blood - either his or otherwise.]

We're not far from the Midnight Hotel - you are more than welcome to the facilities there and I can see about getting you a change of clothes.

Wandering

[annihilist]

[It's the smell of blood that Devin notices first - the hint of copper and iron in the air, but it's diffuse, like the person bleeding is mobile. He decides to follow the scent, and when he finds the source the situation becomes a bit clearer.

Devin approaches slowly, leans against the same wall a few feet away from the stranger, sporting a bored look on his face.]

You look like crap, [he says by way of a greeting.] Need some help?

eeeee :3

[flowrite]

[The thing that strikes him first about the voice isn't the fact that he can understand the man's words--without Mokona to translate. Fai isn't paying enough attention, is too dazed and heartsick to think about it right now. Mostly what strikes him is the bluntness of the man's words, even while offering help in the same breath. Very much like someone else Fai knows, and would very much like to see right now.

But it isn't him. Fai looks up, first through gloved fingers and blond hair that hangs in his face no matter that most of it's tied back, and then hastily wipes away the tears to look up at the man properly with his one good eye.]

Do I?

[His voice is light and airy, both his tone and his bearing fairly effeminate. Without looking down at the blood covering himself, Fai puts on a smile and laughs a little.]

Yes, I suppose I do. I don't want to be a bother--

[It won't matter in the end anyway, if he can't find Kurogane--]

--but I could use some help, yes. I've just arrived in this world, and I-- [there's a slight hitch in his voice] --I can't find my companions.

[annihilist]

[Devin spots the tears; not such a surprise to see, since the man is also covered in blood. It doesn't look like his, given the splatter pattern.

The vampire studies him for a moment before replying.]

You don't have to pretend you're not a wreck, [Devin tells him. It's neither gentle nor biting: simply a statement of fact.] And your companions are most likely not here. We tend to arrive alone; I've been told time stands still until we return to our place of origin. Some of them may show up eventually, [he assures the stranger. Devin straightens then and moves a little closer.] I'm guessing you were in a fight.

[flowrite]

[Fai looks stricken for a moment, the forced facade of cheeriness dropping. How many times have Sakura and Kurogane told him basically the same thing? Told him not to smile if he doesn't feel like it? He blinks, wrapping his arms around himself in a sort of hug. The last few hours of his life have been so terrible, he doesn't know what else to do but smile to cover it up. He can feel the edges of himself cracking under the pressure.

Smiling is at least familiar. Smiling keeps the pieces together a little while longer.

So that's what he does.]

It's fine, really. The... blood isn't mine. Barely a scratch on me.

[Not that there would have been anyway, thanks to his vampire blood.]

But at least one of my friends must be close, otherwise I'm guessing I wouldn't be able to understand you at all. That's usually what happens when we lose track of Mokona.

[annihilist]

[The fact that the stranger still tries to keep up appearances, even something so small, is telling. It speaks relatively well of him, in one way.]

I didn't think it was yours. But this-- [The vampire gestures up and down Fai.] --this is not fine. [He still looks like he's about to fall over. Again, Devin's tone is just pointing out facts, and not criticizing him.]

Part of the magic of this place is translation. Otherwise we'd never understand each other and there'd be little point in bringing people like us here. [He offers Fai a small, brittle smile, though it is genuine. There are details he should know, but now is not the time.] I understand the instinct to worry about your friends, but I assure you that you'll see them again, someday. For now, it may be advisable to worry about yourself.

wandering~

[shopworn]

[That's a man who looks as though he's completely lost it.]

[Ghastly can sympathize. It's that sympathy which makes him stop, instead of continuing to go figure his way around this world. ...and how strange is it that another world is the part of this he's had the easiest time wrapping his head around?]

[Regardless: that sort of laugh does not a hinged person make. Having some experience with the unhinged, Ghastly stops just out of arm's reach and puts on a careful smile.]

Are you all right?

[Stupid questions will get stupid answers, but maybe he'll get somewhere.]

[flowrite]

[Fai's breath freezes in his throat, the laugh dying along with it. For a moment he stands completely still, as if he's been caught out doing something he shouldn't.

Laughing about your own impending death, maybe?

Kurogane would surely deck him for doing this.

But this is a stranger, someone just trying to help. After a long moment of hesitation Fai drags in a ragged breath and scrubs his hand across his face, which helps him feel a little more put-together but has the unfortunate side-effect of smearing the spattered blood across his skin. When he looks up, the smeared blood and the wild blond hair and the slightly manic look in his one good eye don't really help his case, nor do they match at all with the pleasant, warm tone of his voice. If he notices Ghastly's scars he doesn't let on at all.]

Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. I'm just... having a rough day.

[He looks down at himself, what he can see anyway, and laughs again.]

Actually a 'rough day' might be a bit of an understatement.

[shopworn]

[Ghastly isn't going to complain about people not staring at him, honestly. And it looks like the man's having a worse day than it usually looks like Ghastly's had, which is saying something. He is aware of what he looks like.]

It might be less rough if you were inside and cleaned up a bit. Do you need a hand?

[Sometimes, Ghastly thinks, you just... need someone to offer. ... Granted, it's also possible this man is an axe-wielding maniac and that's where the bloodstains came from; but the laugh sounded more hysterical than crazed.]

[At a guess.]

That's an offer of help, not limbs.

[...Just in case.]

OH NO HE DIDN'T

[flowrite]

[Some part of Fai wants to argue. What's the point in getting himself cleaned up and presentable if he's doomed anyway? He's wandered around this city for the better part of the day now and there's still been no sign of any of the others. He can't live without Kurogane--in a very real, literal sense, and never mind the panicked twist in his stomach at the thought. He can't live without blood, not for long anyway, and it has to be Kurogane. But the ninja doesn't appear to be here, or he's so far away that it might as well be the same thing.

But he's scaring the locals. He's tired and emotionally exhausted and covered in blood. Maybe getting cleaned up isn't such a bad idea after all.

The offer of 'a hand' doesn't immediately stir anything painful in him. It's just an expression. Fai nods, smiling at the man, and he's just opening his mouth to make a proper reply when the second part of that offer comes out.

Fai blinks.

It's probably meant to be funny, or charming, or something, but Fai goes still and silent. Cold.

It's just a joke.

It's just a joke, he can't know--

--can't know that all this blood--

--Kurogane--

--to save me, why did you do that, you idiot? Why did you have to try to save me? I didn't want this for you, I wanted you safe, not bleeding to death somewhere I can't reach you--

A sob breaks loose and Fai claps his hand back to his mouth to stifle it. It's about the only damage control he can muster, though; the strength in his legs gives out and he collapses to the cobblestones, weeping and terrified.]

he's really sorry i promise

[shopworn]

[That's-- not the reaction Ghastly expected. That should have gotten a laugh, or at worst a weird look. That shouldn't have made the man collapse into tears in the street.]

[...but he's been a soldier, in his time. After a fashion. Sometimes it's the strangest things. Ghastly makes a note about no more limb jokes, and he comes over and kneels, putting them on the same level, trying to make sure he's in the stranger's field of vision all the while. More difficult with a one-eyed man, but he's trying.]

[He hesitates -- sometimes touch is grounding, sometimes it's bad -- but eventually sets a hand on the man's back gingerly, reasoning that at least this way he'll have a chance to recoil and then Ghastly will know for sure.]

Hey-- hey. It's all right.

[He has no idea why that sparked this reaction, but he's very sorry.]

You're safe. I'm sorry, I didn't mean--

something completely different!

[missileimpossible]

[What is a dog doing in a bar?]

[He's no more than shin-high and exceptionally fluffy, with a plumy tail going about a mile a minute. He's chasing the darts, as much as a little dog can when they're flying far above his head, and barking at every single one.]

[And when he spots Fai, who is a New Person, he bounds over to issue an appropriately enthusiastic greeting, putting his paws up on Fai's shin and barking exuberantly.]

[...There are words underneath the barking. Hello! Welcome! Who are you! Can you hear me?!!]

[flowrite]

[Fai noticed the adorable little floofdog barking at the darts nearby, though it doesn't throw him off of his game. When the pup eventually makes its way over to him he calls a halt on the current round and leans down to scratch the dog behind the ears with a smile.]

Well hello there, little one. Where did you--

[...there are words. Fai looks surprised, but not shocked. Let's face it, he's seen some weird shit out there.]

Yes, I can hear you. My name is Fai. Who might you be?

[missileimpossible]

[Excellent! Someone who can hear him! Not everyone can. It's probably something to do with how he is and isn't a ghost, but Missile honestly doesn't know how that works. So there's no point really thinking about it. Right now he is what he is.]

I'm Missile!!!

[He is very, very loud and exuberant about that, even if only mentally. He leans into the ear scratches with a big doggy smile in turn, letting his tongue hang out. Mercifully, the barking stops at this point.]

Have you seen Miss Kamila? She wears a ribbon in her hair and she smells like home and cinnamon! I'm looking for her!

[This last is fuzzy, like however Missile's making himself understood is a lot more about the concept then about the word.]

[flowrite]

[The ear skritches don't stop; Fai just grins at the little dog's enthusiasm.]

It's very nice to meet you, Missile. I don't believe I've seen your friend though, I'm sorry.

[He looks around for a moment, obviously weighing his options, before looking back down at Missile.]

Do you think she's around here somewhere? I wouldn't mind helping you look for her.