by Freezair » 03/19/2011 4:53 PM
((Can I make a suggestion here about post order? Can we maybe make a rule that, like, if someone hasn't posted in, say, 48 hours, we're allowed to "skip" their turn? They won't get kicked out of the RP, no, but they will be temporarily skimmed over. I've done enough RPs with a ton of participants to know that systems are good, or else the whole thing gets clogged up.))
It was a fairly normal day in the Suenyan royal palace. Which was to say: The servants were hard at work maintaining the place, His Majesty King Alvaro the Second was busy chatting with his advisors, and "Archmage" Cora Dorado and Prince Jasper were screwing around with the World-Warping Gate despite being repeatedly told not to.
Wilde-tamer Mariselle Johanesdatter, who ought to have known better, stood lookout in the hall in front of the Archmage's office. She ought to, but from her fingertips dangled a stringy bathing suit even scantier than her normal attire. "Come on," she hissed. Inside, the Prince fiddled with the knobs on the machine hurriedly. Cora's eyes scanned the flickering images through the gate, each one a different world.
"No... No... C'mon, Jas..."
"I'm going as fast as I can!" Jasper replied. He froze on another image briefly, and flew away at a dismissive cough from Cora.
"Wait," she breathed. "Hold on." The gate froze on the image of a swathe of green, framed by blue and glittering silver. A tree swayed in a salty breeze.
"Smell that...?" She huffed deeply. "Smells like the sea. I think we might have a good one."
Jasper peaked over the control panel into the gate. "Oh! Wow, look at all that water! Wanna check it out, Cora?"
"You bet I do!" she said, jabbing the air with her fists. "Woohoo! Surf and sun, here we come!"
Exuberantly, she popped through to the other side of the gate. A cool breeze lashed her face, and the smell of salt filled her nostrils. And, strangely, that of farm animals. A farm by the seaside? Maybe. She stood on a rocky plinth above a calm, shining ocean, but, without turning around, she reasoned a beach must not be far off. At that moment, all that was behind her was the window back to the Archmage's office, anyway.
In the room, Mariselle suddenly ducked back in, making a frantic sign. Wide-eyed, Jasper's panicked head suddenly poked through the gate. "Sorry! We'll come back for you! Boyse is coming!" Before Cora had time to register what was happening, the window blinked shut.
Her cheeks reddened and her eyebrows narrowed. "HEY! What's the big ide--"
She spun around angrily, only to collide with a tall, wide, thick-set man of whom she saw nothing more than shining armor.
"Oof! What the--" He had a rasping voice like sandpaper. Cora bounced away with a clang, chest ringing from the contact. He suddenly put an arm on her shoulder, trying to stabilize the both of them. She looked up into his unfamiliar face with horror--this wasn't part of the plan! Though confused, she realized that his greenish eyes were assessing her--he knew, automatically, that she didn't belong here, and, from the way he gripped her shoulder, she could be a threat. He wore what looked to be a hundred pounds of metal and leather, and his muscles bulged in a thick brown tunic. She did not want to be a threat to him.
Sweating, she tried to chuckle: "Uh, sorry, I'm just a little lost--I'll be going right now, if you--"
And then the world twisted around them. The man's head swerved as, for the briefest moment, they were somewhere beyond both time and space--
And then they both fell, in a heap, somewhere on a distant city street. His armored body pressed on top of hers, but she could see well enough to know that they weren't anywhere on Earth, or in Suenya, and probably weren't wherever he'd come from.
Jasper's echoing voice rang through the streets from on high: "Sorry, Cora!" he flinched. "Boyse hit some button or something! We'll figure out how to get you out of there! I promise!"
The man hefted himself to his feet with jangles and groans. "I--what the heck just happened?" He rubbed the back of his neck and shook his knees.
It was only then Cora realized that she'd brought him with her.
"Oh... Oh no. Oh no no no. ...Mister, I am so sorry." She ran up to him with horror flitting through her eyes. "This was not supposed to happen. This was definitely not supposed to happen. I--walk with me, and I can try to explain it to you as best I can, but this was definitely wrong." She gazed around the strange, city-like landscape. She'd been to enough different worlds to know that she didn't know this one, either. "Definitely."
The strange, armored man squinted at her. His mouth moved incredulously. "...Who are you? And what were you doing at the Lighthouse?"
"Uh... Cora. Call me Cora. And I didn't know it was a lighthouse, and I didn't know it was yours--well, come on. What's your name? Let's see if we can find out where we are."
He stared at her as she began to walk off. But eventually, he seemed to give in, and shrugged. "...They call me 'Double H,' miss Cora."
She paused. What kind of a name is THAT? What is he; some kind of spy?
Then she moved forward. I get the feeling this is going to be a really, really long day.
((Long post is looong. I promise my other posts won't be so verbose; I just needed to set things up. XD))
I'm so cool (too bad I'm a loser).
I'm so smart (too bad I can't get anything figured out)!
I'm so brave (too bad I'm a baby).
I'm so fly
That's probably why it feels just like I'm falling for the first time!
I'm so green (it's really amazing).
I'm so clean (too bad I can't get all the dirt off of me)!
I'm so sane (It's driving me crazy)!
It's so strange
I can't believe I'm falling for the first time!
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