iattractmushi | ❦ 13th Record

[Sniper entertained the idea of outright lying, talking about how he was such a great warrior that he did things besides lie there and get electrocuted and scream before deciding against it; if he didn't tell the truth, then maybe Cloud wouldn't tell him what the cause of that flash was--if he even knew. He covered his silence by pretending that he was more fascinated by his new wardrobe than he was.

Although, to be fair, he was fascinated by it. It felt strange; he was more accustomed to wearing loose, functional clothing rather than these bulky robes, but that wouldn't stop him from waving his arms around to see the fabric ripple.] You could call it that, [he said, mostly on account of the fact that fights generally meant that the two were actually fighting, as opposed to one only being ground into the deck.]

I'm not sure why we were fighting... but it wasn't Prince and I fighting, if you were wondering. [He arched a brow at Cloud.] Or else I'd hardly still be looking for him.

[He hummed neutrally, nodding. Sniper could have been looking for Prince to finish whatever fight he'd seen in his memory, but... Cloud didn't see why he'd lie about that. Either way, it wasn't his business... and Prince seemed to have vanished anyway.]

...Sounds more exciting than the memory I saw.

[His hands groped around the robes for a brief moment, before he frowned faintly and tucked them into the sleeves instead. That was the main problem with the outfits here... no pockets. And as a very annoying side effect, no cigarettes, either.

At least the place returned them as soon as he stepped through the doors of the elevator.

He started walking toward the castle.]

Come on, let's keep moving.

What did you see? [The question came out before Sniper could properly think about it, and directly afterwards, he coloured and quickly added,] If you don't mind telling me. I'm always curious about where everybody else has come from.

[He followed Cloud's lead, not even bothering to disguise the amazement slowly dawning on his face.] I mean, Krile can do all sorts of amazing things, and I wonder what sort of place has THAT PAINTING JUST MOVED.

[[ooc: just gonna note here for my own sanity that they've actually been in the castle the whole time, my last tag liiiied.]]

I don't mind. [His tone was mild. Three other people he knew, and a medic he barely spoke to even at work, had seen the thing for themselves already... though he did want to control how many people heard him talking about it, he didn't mind telling Sniper. They had been through the same thing, after all... and he felt he kind of owed the kid anyway, for all the trouble.] It was mostly me, just... talking. I was telling a woman I didn't recognize about... about a kind of mushi. [This might be difficult to talk about, only because he didn't really know what mushi actually were. But he'd try to explain

as much as he could.]

[Cloud looked closely at the walls as they walked down the corridor. He'd been assigned to explore the grounds outside before now, so this was his first time actually being inside the castle. It looked very old, from what he could tell...

He jumped a little at Sniper's sudden shriek of alarm, spinning on his heel to see what was wrong.] Sniper, what...?

[His gaze focused on the painting Sniper was pointing at.] ...that's... a... [Cloud's voice trailed off as the very fat pony in the picture lifted its head and gazed out at him, chewing some of the painted grass. He could see a bit of it sticking out of the pony's mouth.] ...ah.

Edited 2010-09-09 05:15 (UTC)

[Sniper uttered a small groan, carefully maneuvering himself away from the picture without making it obvious what he was doing. Eventually, he decided to simply give up all pretense and staunchly hid behind Cloud, whose height and girth were larger than his--and to face the truth head on, Sniper wasn't about to set the painting on fire if Cloud the Adventurer had a better solution.]

Why is it doing that? [He squeaked.

And why did he feel like he needed salt? He waved one hand in the painting's direction.]

Hello, fair... steed! We come in peace! Do you think it can hear us? Or is it just a trick?

[Despite the shock at seeing the picture move, Cloud cracked a smile when Sniper darted behind him.]

...I don't know. [He finally replied, in answer to all of Sniper's questions. He moved a little closer to the picture, reaching out one hand to poke the painted sky with a finger.

He jumped and snatched his hand away again when a little man suddenly ran onto the field. The painted person drew his sword and waved it around menacingly--if that word could be applied to a two-dimensional creation of pigment on canvas.]

Egad! Trespassers! I challenge you filthy scoundrels to a duel!

[Cloud blinked.] Uh... excuse me?

[Sniper peered from behind Cloud at the painting. The knight looked like he'd be harmless enough, especially since he didn't appear to be popping out of the painting or anything like that. After a moment of scrutiny, he shuffled the tiniest bit away from Cloud and pointed one accusing finger at the knight.]

You will not stand a chance against the mighty Sniper and the--the--

[He paused in his dramatics.]

Oi, Cloud. Do you want to be The Fearsome Cloud? You could probably be The Fearsome Cloud. But that just makes it sound like you'll start thundering.

[He appeared to have calmed some, but notably stood just close enough to Cloud to be sure that he could dart behind him again, should the need arise.]

[Cloud shot Sniper an incredulous look.] The Fearsome Cloud, seriously? [The little armored guy spoke over Cloud's muttered response, still menacing them with his drawn blade.]

Sir Cadogan will not be defeated by a coward and a cloud! Draw your blades, if you be men!

[Cloud shook his head at Sniper, only half-paying attention to Cadogan's declaration.] I'm not that fierce. Besides, 'curious' would fit me much better. Or maybe 'wandering,' I like that one.

And we don't have any blades, [He directed that last at the man in the painting, since it was pretty obvious he could hear them.]

[Confidence bolstered by the fact that the knight seemed to be perfectly harmless within the confines of its painting, Sniper waggled a finger at him before experimentally jabbing a finger at the painting. Luckily, his finger appeared to have escaped unscathed.]

You've got bad hearing, Sir Cadogan. I said the mighty Sniper. Migh-ty.

[He looked over at Cloud as the other man spoke and tilted his head, looking a bit displeased at Cloud's nicknames for himself.]

But the Curious Cloud or the Wandering Cloud don't sound very intimidating at all, [he complained.] You have to strike fear into the hearts of painting-knights everywhere. It sounds kinda like a kid's book, too. You know, "Once upon a time, the wandering cloud... wandered."

[He appeared to consider this.]

But I guess the wandering Cloud could possibly wander fearlessly into adventure and emerge victorious and rain on bad guys and stuff.

[As Sniper poked the painting, the little knight swung with the sword, missed completely, spun around like a top, and landed squarely on his back with a crash of metal-on-metal from his armor. The sword went flying, startling the pony, who sort of waddle-trotted away to the edges of the painting.]

[The knight lay on the ground for a moment or two, either regaining his breath or figuring out how to stand back up in the armor. Finally, he got to his feet with many clanks, clatters, and groans.]

A foul blow, by gad! Zounds, I'll see you pay for that! [He ran over to where his sword had landed with his armor clanking all the while, puffing a little. When he reached the sword, he gave it a few tugs... but it seemed to have gotten stuck in the ground somehow.] Wizardry! Your tricks will get you nowhere, for Sir Cadogan needs no weapon to defeat ones such as you!

[Cloud sighed a little.] Right. I'm sure you'll defeat us no problem. You are aware you seem to be stuck inside a painting, right?

[Turning back to Sniper, he smirked slightly.] Sure, wandering is much better than sitting still. Though I don't know about raining on bad guys... why do there have to be bad guys in this story, can't it just be, I don't know... people?

[As the knight moved, Sniper stared at it and to even his own surprise, burst out into gales of laughter, soon fading into helpless giggles as he clutched at his stomach and wiped the tears away from his eyes.]

Y-you're...

[He paused for another sharp burst of laughter to fall through. Eventually calming, he grinned at the picture.] Okay, so you're not so scary after all, Sir Cardigan. Why do you want to fight us?

[When Cloud pointed out that there didn't have to be bad guys, Sniper shrugged, still too amused to provide much of an argument.] Because that's how stories are.

[Cloud sighed.] Come on, let's just go. Exploring the castle is more interesting than an argument with a... an animated painting.

[Said animated painting suddenly stopped shouting about cowards and clapped his hands together.]

A quest! A mighty undertaking, from which no true man would shrink! And I shall be your guide!

[Completely ignoring Cadogan, Cloud fiddled with the necktie of the outfit he'd been forced into, managing to undo it completely. Much better.] They don't all have to be.

I dunno, [said Sniper, grinning.] I think animated paintings are pretty interesting, but if this appears right when we step in, I wonder what we'll see next. [He waved cheerily at Sir Cadogan, every trace of fear now completely absent from his face.]

See you later, Knight-guy. I don't think you can be our guide, 'cause we're moving away from your painting but it was nice dueling.

[He trucked eagerly onwards, too distracted by his delight with the painting to feel much apprehension about the admittedly creepy halls that greeted them.] I've never heard of any stories like that, [he reasoned. Idly, Sniper ran his fingers across the textured walls and found himself momentarily distracted by a suit of armor sedately walking down the hall.] What sort of stories are those?

Not to worry, my noble comrades! For I shall accompany you wherever our quest might lead! [The knight clumsily ran over to the edge where his pony had taken refuge, but when he tried to catch the animal's bridle it ran right off the edge of the canvas. Cloud found himself staring at the wall for a moment, wondering if the pony would actually appear in the corridor... but when that didn't happen, he turned back to the painting, where the knight now stood alone.]

On foot, then! Forward! In the name of Merlin! [And with that, the knight charged off the opposite edge of the painting than his pony had gone. Much to Cloud's bemusement, he turned up in the next one--actually, now that he was paying attention, there were a lot of paintings in this corridor... and most of them appeared to have moving things in them.]

...he's, uh. Following us. [As if Sniper hadn't noticed the clashing of the insane knight's armor on his own.]

[But the walking suit of armor in the corridor was very distracting. Cloud peered at it, wondering if there was someone in there.]

Stories, [he said, a little vaguely.] You know. About... people, living ordinary lives. And maybe someone... helps them with a problem that was making them unhappy, not a bad guy just a... like a sickness, maybe, and then once they're cured they're... [His voice trailed off as he thought of the woman from his memory. He'd told her there was no cure for her 'disease'... is that what mushi were, diseases? He frowned. It made a certain amount of sense, but at the same time... it wasn't right at all.]

Edited 2010-09-12 06:02 (UTC)

[Sniper's eyes gleamed in awe as the knight followed them, and beat his chest a couple of times, catching Sir Cadogan's eye from behind his armor.] Hear that, Cloud? We're noble comrades. [He pumped his fist into the air.] Pursuing danger and adventure without fear! Brave warriors of the castle, questing for glory, accompanied by a fat pony!

[He ducked his head when he said that and realized that he was ducking his head to dodge a fist to the head that never came. He rubbed the back of his head, still half expecting it, but continued on. That was something that had always struck him as odd--he had regaled many people with his lies already, but none of them had actually hit him.

This was a source of some disappointment to him. It wasn't as if he particularly enjoyed getting hit as he generally attempted to avoid pain, but he liked annoying people to that point. It was one of his main sources of entertainment. Still, he cocked his head to listen as Cloud told him the stories he knew.]

Well, yeah, those stories exist, but there's not much of a point in them, is there? [He shrugged.] All that stuff's just like real life. [He scuffed his shoe against the ground.] Except the healing part, I guess. In real life, people die.

[Cloud chuckled a little at Sniper's obvious excitement.] I think the pony ran away. And I'm just questing for a map, if that's not too much to ask. [He didn't miss the way Sniper ducked his head, as if expecting a blow--he had to look away a little, feeling oddly hurt, though he was careful to keep his face from showing it. Did Sniper think he was going to hurt him?]

But that is the point... [Cloud started to protest, but then stopped and shrugged his shoulder a little awkwardly. That was why he liked those kind of stories, he realized suddenly--it was like real life. They were real stories... and of course, people died in real life. It was something to be avoided, obviously, but... that was just the way things were.] ...no one should live forever, you know. It'd be... too difficult. [Too painful.]

Well, stories aren't about living forever, [Sniper replied, excitement vanishing from his voice only to be replaced with the thoughtful tone that he notably lacked when spewing out nonsense.] But why would you want to hear stories about that sort of thing when all you have to do is look out your window?

[Sniper understood that he was missing something integral to a point--of course stories that echoed reality had a point. He could see that much. But what he couldn't quite articulate was that people needed stories, in much the same way that people needed dreams. And these stories had to be fantastic, too fantastic, larger than life, even because people needed something great to believe in. Because if people could believe in that, then people could believe in anything. Like that King would find a way out of this place, or that everybody who disappeared went back home, or that he, Sniper, had once been a pirate.

It was about faith.

Of course, it was also about fun, and adventures--why else would he craft such ridiculous stories to regale the youth of Edensphere with? He fiddled with the zipper on the bag at his side.]

In stories - the ones that aren't like real life - the heroes die eventually, sure, but not like in real life. [After all, you didn't have to read to the very last page. And when they did die, it meant something beyond being a cruel twist of fate.]

[Cloud opened his mouth to answer, then shut it and shrugged again. He couldn't really explain to Sniper why he liked those stories, not when he didn't understand it himself, and the guy did have something of a point. Ordinary stories about ordinary people happened everywhere--to people with ordinary lives, who didn't wander from place to place. Maybe that was it...?] ...maybe. [If you had a window to look out of.]

Bah! Words on paper, impotent and useless! Stories matter not, it is in deeds that you must prove your worth!

[He shook his head (ignoring the insane knight) and smiled a little. This was a pretty stupid thing to get into an argument over, so Cloud changed the subject while it was still a discussion... though in his opinion death was death, and it didn't matter how noble the goals of the heroes had been or if they died for a reason. Once a person was dead nothing they had done in life really mattered, not to them. That said, of course there were perfectly good reasons to give up your life for others--but he couldn't think of any just at the moment.] You know, I bet this place has a library somewhere in it... it looks old enough. Wanna find it?

[Sniper hesitated when Cloud suddenly changed the topic, but it only took him a moment to get back on his feet and buoy himself back into good cheer. As important as stories were to him, diversions were occasionally even more important and nobody was quite as good at them as he was. He cheered at the thought of going into a magical library, and pointed one derisive finger at the knight following them.]

Oi, oi, don't badmouth stories, Sir Knight. [He leaned over and squinted at the painting in a way reminiscent of somebody intimidating another. On Sniper, it simply looked ridiculous--and as was the case most of the time, it was supposed to look ridiculous. That was the charm of stories.]

Can you tell us where the library is, story-hater?

[Cloud smirked a little at the sight of Sniper attempting to intimidate the painted person. It wasn't really working--Cadogan didn't look the least bit worried--but Sniper seemed to be having fun anyway.]

The library! A noble goal! [The knight seemed to forget his dismissive words of a moment ago, springing into an ungainly run. This way, this way! Follow me! Sir Cadogan will take you there!

[Cloud sighed, and glanced at Sniper.] Want to run after him? Or let him go alone and find some other 'worthy goal'? [Cloud kind of hoped they'd seen the last of the clearly crazy guy in armor, but if Sniper wanted to go after him, Cloud would come with him. The last thing he wanted was Sniper to go poking around in a dark corner somewhere in the castle without thinking, and run into something big and nasty, probably with lots of teeth. This place seemed the type to have those kinds of things.]

Edited 2010-09-18 05:21 (UTC)

[Seeing the knight suddenly leap into a run, Sniper cackled to himself and clapped his hands together in mirth.] Sir Knight can be kind of annoying, but we said we'd go find the library, right? Who knows what sorts of things they have in there!

[He charged after the knight--and not much more gracefully, but he was fast about it. He waved one arm in the air behind him, and instead of the dull sullenness that had been apparent in his voice only moments before, it was now lively with laughter.]

Come on, Cloud! You heard the knight! We're on an adventure!

[Cloud stared after Sniper as he ran off after the knight.] Oi, oi... don't be so... [He sighed, and started to run after Sniper himself.]

Slow down, dammit! [At least they would be easy to follow, between the knight's armor clashing and Sniper's laughter.

He followed it down a few stairways, along several corridors, up another staircase for some reason, and finally down four more sets of stairs. By the time he caught sight of Sniper, he was completely out of breath and moving a lot slower--you couldn't really call it running anymore. He slowed further to a complete halt, leaned over and rested his hands on his knees, and gasped for breath. The knight was nowhere to be seen, apparently having run off to who knows where before Cloud arrived. Cloud coughed a couple times, then looked up, wiping at his sweaty forehead a little with his left hand, brushing the fringe of hair over his eye almost out of the way as he did.] This... [Gasp, cough. His voice was, not too surprisingly, rather breathless.] This the place?

Edited 2010-09-19 05:52 (UTC)

[Sniper was not good at a great amount of things, but one thing he was good at was running. By the time Cloud caught up, he was already jogging backwards into the entrance of the library, a spark to his eyes suggesting he was subtly amused at how out of breath Cloud had gotten.]

It looks like you're going to have to try jogging sometime, [Sniper teased, but calmed down nevertheless to patiently allow Cloud to catch his breath.] Just don't let Youth see you running, or else he'll make you do ten laps.

[He pointed off into the distance.] The knight guy ran off into another painting shouting about something, so it looks like we're on our own again.

[He turned tail to open the doors to the library.]

And yeah, he said this was a library--whoa. Hey, look at this!

[Having mostly caught his breath while Sniper talked, Cloud straightened up and followed him into the library.] I won't, trust me. [Unless there was a very good reason for it, no one would catch him running anywhere, ever. Walking got you places just as well, if a little more slowly, and it had always served Cloud well.]

[He grunted a little.] Good. Annoying little... [He broke off to stare at the contents of the library. So many books... it was actually kind of familiar in one way, but it was distinctly jarring in another. Interesting...] Wow... how far back does it go?

Dunno. I guess we'll have to see. [He walked down one of the rows, fingers trailing lightly across the books, a thoughtful expression on his face. He wondered if there were any fictional books here, or if they were all history books, as the one he was looking at appeared to be. Sniper was convinced that he knew somebody who would have loved this place... but he couldn't remember. He took the history book off of the shelf on a whim and opened it to somewhere around the middle.]

Hmm.

[He looked up at it, apparently remembering their last conversation after allowing himself some peace of mind to think.] So, [he said, conversationally.] What are mushi, anyway?

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Re: QUICKLOG - oh god LOL

QUICKLOG - they are CHAMPIONS

QUICKLOG - of what, derpville?

QUICKLOG - sounds about right

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QUICKLOG - ffff, this is a depressing topic

QUICKLOG - Yeah sorry about that. XD

QUICKLOG - s'cool!

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