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Post by Vapovile on Jun 14, 2019 4:13:06 GMT
February 2nd, 2018
Located in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the annual International Groundhog Day Festival was currently in full swing. A chilly breeze passed over the buildings set up for the event, though despite it being -11 degrees C, the group of mages running the event set up a large force field that warmed the area to around 10 degrees C. Along with the heating field, the mages also put on a shield that isolated the area to any non-HW denizen, essentially acting as an overlapping dimension on top of the existing one.
Inside the carnival were several buildings lined up along the street, decorated in festive browns and golds to commemorate the celebrations. Every year, the festival would host the famed Punxsutawney Phil, a magical groundhog who could predict the weather in the coming months. But there were many other attractions.
To the east of the entrance, a small area was fenced off and filled with various cages, some containing creatures, but many were empty as their inhabitants roamed freely around the area, interacting with the people inside the petting zoo. A short twin-headed serpent with anteater-like mouths was currently being pet by a small boy one one hand, holding out a little dish of ants for the other head to eat. Other inhabitants included a few baby chimeras, several phoenix chicks, strange goat-like creatures with webbed feet, and a tiny panda-like creature that appeared to be partially transparent, sitting in the lap of a red-headed girl who was brushing it.
Ashlea had decided to volunteer at the festival’s petting zoo because she enjoyed working with these neat animals, and Gateway was giving her credit for coming here! With Ashlea were several other volunteers making sure everyone was treating the animals respectfully, the volunteers periodically switching out what animals were free to roam around.
---
Near the west side of the festival, rows upon rows of games were set up along the street, each with a different way to ‘test your skill’. Near the middle was a large contraption set up inside of a building, with a woman standing outside with a cane motioning inside. “Step right up and take on the fearsome hydra in a game of ring toss! Fully animatronic, and guaranteed to challenge! Who is strong enough to beat the hydra once and for all?” The red-headed woman called out, a small pang of dread washing over her. Why did she sign up for this? Right, to finally have some spending money this month. Why did rent always cost so much?!
The attendant wore a small open black coat over her red leotard, with a pair of black socks on her legs. She also wore a small black hat with a red stripe going around it, thinking it’ll attract some more attention. A shaggy man wearing a simple black t-shirt and a rugged pair of jeans walked up and looked at the redhead. “Hydra...huh? What’s it look like?” Sid asked with mild interest. Amelia beamed and pointed toward the building’s window.
“Right through there! Do you think you’re brave enough? Only 1 dollar for 5 rings! Sink all 5, win one of our grand prizes!” Waving her cane, Amelia motioned to a few person-sized plushies, mostly in the shape of groundhogs but some of more magical animals. “Win a small prize with only two! Is there anyone else who wishes to try as well?!” She called out. God, this was awful.
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Post by othus on Jun 14, 2019 6:35:53 GMT
February 1st, 2018
Like every February, Mai and Soon were out of the castle for vacations, they often decided to travel and do as many things as they could together. Valentine's month they called it. Now that their relationship was approved by her mother, Mai was decided to make things work a lot more. For their first destination, Mai had chosen NY. It was a big city, and it had plenty of stuff to do. Both had decided to travel all over the US for the entire month, as neither had spent any significant ammount of time in that country.
"Man, I'ts kinda crazy Ann let us stay at her penthouse, she has been extra good to me lately"- The Musashi said as she lied on the king size bed.
"She has been very supportive, I'm actually quite happy she is with us, you know?"- Soon replied as she entered the room with two cups of coffee.
Mai looked at her girlfriend holding the mugs and extended her hand, one of them slowly floated towards her. She gave her a gentle smile in return.
"So, where should we go? this is a big ass country you know? we are probably not gonna be done with it in a month"- Mai told Soon as she had a sip of coffee. It was extremely sweet, like anything Soon made, but Mai never complained.
"Looks like you are ready to go! well,if you check the calendar on the phones we bought, there is some sort of festival in Pennsylvania tomorrow, I kinda wanted to see what that was all about"
"Penn what? Is that far from here?"
"I think it was five or six hours away from here, what do you say? wanna go?"
"Hmmm...yeah why the fuck not, let's go buy a truck and some gear for the cold, we can even spend a day or two there if we like it!"
Today
Mai and Soon had arrived and stayed at the first hotel they could find. they had breakfast together and went straight towards the festival.the moment they entered the dome, both swapped their clothing to something more casual, Soon wore a white jacket with black leggins and sneakers, while Mai sported a black jacket,jeans and boots. Soon's eyes shone the moment she looked at the animals and the activities, Mai just had a big smile as she held her hand.
“Step right up and take on the fearsome hydra in a game of ring toss!"
Both heard.
"Hey, let's go check that out!"- Mai told Soon and proceeded to move with strident steps towards the attraction, Soon followed by calmly floating behind her, still baffled by the ammount of new stuff around her.
"I'll give it a try!"- Mai replied to Amelia as she handed her a five dollar bill
"How about you give me a hand huh?" Mai thought in her mind, which Soon immediately caught.
"Don't start cheating! we just got here!"
"Do you want the big prize or not?!"
"...fine"
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Post by RedLenai on Jun 14, 2019 12:45:14 GMT
It was that time of the year in a small apartment hidden in the urban area of NY, it was extremely quiet and clean. There was only one member of the occupants of said place, she was all alone as she made sure every inch of the rooms were clean and perfect. Gallerian has went off to make his reports in Heaven, Thomas was having a Physical Exam in the Vatican while Derek went hunting for a demon and since it was a weak one if Chloe was around it would run away immediatly. So she was all alone, it was only at that times that she felt the small apartment so big... no running, no someone clinging to her, no yelling of the two boys, no family dinner... She was more lonely than bored. Maybe she could take a moment for herself.. but there wasn't anything she needed. Was there something interesting to do these days? She checked her phone where all Hidden World news were being collected and found a Festival... if she flew there it would be only a 3 hours trip... The boys will come after the end of the week, so maybe she could spend some time there... It seemed interesting, and maybe she could find new recipes to try, or buy something for those three. So it was decided, she put into warm clothing before leaving the place.
Andrew Starfield decided to take a vacation in Brookville, Pennsylvania. Someone may say what is doing a hunter in a small borough like Brookville? Well, it was a nice place where he could rest and even visit the Cook Forest without having to pack his bow and arrows. So he stayed already for three days.
He heard as well that a HW Festival was happening in the whereabouts, so maybe he could go... Thomas said that he needed to interact with more people so maybe it wouldn't be that bad. He left his motel room and decided to take a taxi, 30 minutes was enough for him, thankfully he decided to go the Brookville in Pennsylvania and not the one from Ohio... that would have been around 6 hours.
Once he arrived, the first thing he did was to put his winter clothes in his bag then he be began to walk around the place, it was a bit crouded, and there was interesting stuff as well, he though of visiting the zoo later as he noticed the games... maybe Thomas would like a human-sized groundhog, the boy already had an unicorn.. maybe a Hydr-- no, the groundhog was fine, Thomas liked cute things... it was a bit weird but maybe it was because he was still a child.
He took one dollar and gave it to Amelia after Mai did - I have to sink them in the Hydra's neck? - He asked, his voice was a bit deep with a serious expression, his poker face looking at the rings... it was his first time doing some of these games...
Finally at the entrance, in the moment she crossed the dome her wings felt warm once again, she decided to never fly with such low temperatures. Before hidding them she changed into more suitable clothing. A vintage light blue dress with a floral design on it that reached to her knees and white lolita shoes, her hair tied in a ponytail by a white ribbon.
The angel began to roam around the festival, walking to the zoo first. Adorable animals were around and she could pet them, first thing was to buy some food for them. Noticing the panda-like almost transparent criature she decided to approach it, a girl was brushing it... H-How should her interact? Just go "Hi, can I pet it?" wasn't that too rude or informal? What kind of reaction will the boys have? Derek would just give a glance? Thomas... no, he would scare the animals with his energetic personality, Gal would just try to hold them and kiss them... ugh... it was right to bother the girl right now? she seemed bussy... B-Better to just go to an animal who wasn't already with a person.. yes that seemed right.
She turned around and awkardly moved towards the phoenix chicks, they were small and red. She liked them
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 15, 2019 20:16:55 GMT
Loveline and Hazel Cromwell passed booths and pens with drinks in hand. Love snuggled in her ashen cardigan. The carnival was warmer than the weather outside of it, but it was still somewhat chilly. Her pants were the same gray as the cardigan and she was wearing a red blouse to go along with it. When she removed some stray hairs from her face, she revealed her earrings, red jewels embedded in them. Her sister, now appearing about 11 despite not even being 3, sipped her coke carefully so as not drip any on her cute black dress with a dark purple streak wrapped around the middle. She wore a leader jacket over it and black leggings. She plodded along in flat, rubber ankle boots with butterfly-patterns over them. She didn't have any issues with her hair since she tied it into a bun.
They came here for the games and the cuteness. Well, Loveline mainly came for the groundhog plushies. She could add those to her stuffed animal collection and she heard the big ones here were properly giant! Hazel came for the petting zoo. Their first stop were the animals. The girls went inside the fenced off area with all the other animal lovers.
A lot of the animals looked a lot more dangerous than Loveline was comfortable with. Not so much because of herself or Hazel, she knew the two of them were more than capable enough to deal with accidents, it was the other kids running around that troubled her. Of course, that was probably very condescending. A lot of these kids were probably like Hazel, ie. capable of beating Love in every show of physical might imaginable. But still! This place housed various serpentine creatures, chimeras, and even phoenixes, alongside other beasts.
Love was struck by a pang of guilt that Ariana couldn't come with them. She would have loved this place.
"Well, go ahead and look around, Haze. Pet something you like," Love said with a smile. But Hazel was already gone. She was standing near the girl with the spectral panda, her drink close to her chest, chewing on the straw and gathering courage to ask about the panda. It took a few moments, probably enough to make the girl notice and feel awkward about it. But finally she figured out what to say.
"T-that's a pretty bear," she stammered out. "C-can I pet it?"
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Post by waybig1010101 on Jun 16, 2019 3:59:12 GMT
Chase yawns in boredom as he walks alongside his employer, Smith. "Do you think they have anything good to drink here?" he asked as he scans the carnival for any signs of a stiff drink. "Not sure. But they have plenty of games. Maybe you can try doing that instead," Smith suggested sincerely. "I'm currently involved in a game I know nothing about. Does that count?" Smith stares at the soulless man for a moment before replying, "You need to start trying to find some enjoyment in life." "Is that why you..."
Chase immediately stops talking once he notices the magical creatures. Without pause he rushes over to pet one of the strange beasts. Though in the process he appears to have frighten some of the magical creatures' younger admirers with his sudden appearance. Smith smirks as he watches his usually sullenly bodyguard express some interest in something besides a bottle. Even to this day it still somewhat baffles him that someone like him could have so much affection for animals, but such a hateful demeanor towards most people. Whenever Smith talked to Chase about his opinions on people, he would normally express utter dislike and disconnection to the human race. Well today he will try once again to try to help him understand the good parts of mankind, and hopefully help him to regain, or develop, his own humanity.
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Post by Vapovile on Jun 20, 2019 3:23:45 GMT
While continuing to pet the semi-transparent bear in her lap, Ashlea noticed a woman walk into the petting zoo, briefly observing the cute outfit she wore. Was this lady someone important? Just as she witnessed Chloe awkwardly turn to play with the phoenix chicks, two kids entered the enclosure, the younger one in the black dress making a bee-line for her and standing still. This girl obviously wanted to pet the panda, right? Ashlea opened her mouth to offer...and Hazel finally managed to speak.
The adorable way she asked to pet the creature made Ashlea beam with pride, sitting up and turning the bear so it faced Hazel, its beady grey eyes staring at the youngest Cromwell. “Of course you can! Her name is Frankie, by the way.” Ashlea bent down slightly so the bear’s head was within petting range. “She’s known as a Crystal Bear, since their fur is covered in little reflective furs that reflect light to make it look almost invisible. Interesting, right?” The small bear cub groaned groggily. “Aaaaw...she’s sleepy. Well, the reason she’s only semi transparent is because she’s still a cub, and the full coat hasn’t grown in yet. At maturity, you could barely see them in the wild!” She explained. Squinting her eyes slightly, she noticed that these two girls also had cute outfits. Why were people dressing up to attend a carnival?
Her attention was then pulled away when she noticed a strangely buff man sprint into the enclosure and begin petting some of the animals walking around, scaring away some of the kids who were admiring them. A small frown descended on Ashlea’s face as she prepared to call out in annoyance...but one of the other attendants managed to redirect the kids to other animals. Seeing that the situation was resolved, Ashlea turned her attention back to Hazel. “Anyway, my name is Ashlea. What’s yours? And would you like to feed her?” She asked, trying to appear as nice as possible, holding out a long green root that became white at the bottom for Hazel to take.
The little phoenix chicks numbered 5 in total, each hopping about the enclosure with their brilliant red feathers slowly growing in. They noticed Chloe approaching and gave little hiss-like chirps, one flapping its wings enough to let it land on top of a nearby box that went up to Chloe’s waist. It cocked its head, looking at her with curiosity.
Nearby to the phoenix chicks, a strange creature that appeared to be a mix of a coyote and a sheep reeled back slightly at the sudden arrival of Chase, but calmed down when it began to be pet. Standing near the edge of the pen, one of the other attendants pointed to a board. “Five minutes until the wyvern hatchling exhibition! Come learn about the various wyvern we’ve rescued!” He called out. Ashlea nodded in his direction, knowing she had to help out over there soon.
---
Amelia took the $5 bill and lowered her right eyebrow slightly. Did this girl want 5 shots at this? Before she could say anything, a serious-looking boy approached her and asked the rules of the game. So now she had 3, potentially 4 people who wanted to play?! Andy paid her the dollar, and Amelia motioned her hands toward the door. “Perfect! Everyone step inside the building, please.” She said with fake enthusiasm. Once they all entered the building, they’d immediately be met with an imposing blue mechanical hydra that was nearly 1 story tall. The heads looked more cartoon-like than a real hydra, with glowing yellow eyes and several rows of fake teeth. Amelia stepped up and pointed to it with her cane.
“As you can see, there are five heads to this hydra, and you get five rings! You have to toss them so they go around its heads! No extra points for making it around the same head you got before. Sink two and you get a small prize, sink all 5 for a big one! But be careful…” Amelia twirled her cane and put on an evil smile. “...there is a trick here. Who wants to try first?”
“Let’s do this!”- Mai replied, determined to win at once, she grabbed the first ring and carefully aimed at it, then with a powerful throw aimed for the first head.
Suddenly, the machine roared to life, letting out a hiss as the heads began to move in seemingly random directions. The first ring landed perfectly...though the machine then began to pick up speed greatly, making it more difficult for Mai to predict where each head was going.
Mai narrowed her eyes the moment the mechanical beast began to speed up, it had gotten slightly faster, but still was no match for her skill, she backed down a little in order to gain some momentum, then tossed the ring with all her strength, Soon, who was paying attention to every little detail, began to focus in order to gain 3 to 4 seconds of precognition. Surely that would give them the edge.
“Doing great so far hun, next move, aim to your right and bend the knees slightly, it’s gonna go even faster” Soon remarked. The heads did indeed pick up even more, moving much faster than Sid was expecting. “Congratulations! You got two! Can you slay all the heads?!” Amelia egged on, surprised at how fast it was going. This girl must have great reaction timing. The strange way her companion gave instructions made Amelia’s eyes narrow slightly in suspicion.
Mai slightly froze when the heads sped up again, she was following, but now she had room for failure. Still, she trusted soon. Mai bent her knees slightly and threw the ring to the right, the ring slowly floated as the tornado of heads moved with incredible speed, Mai just prayed Soon’s precognition was right, even though it had never been wrong. The third ring managed to hook around another head, the hydra picking up more speed. Now even Sid and Amelia could barely keep up with its movements.
“Another one! Can she make the last two?!” Amelia called out. If the instructions she got were correct...the heads should be moving at the exact reaction speed this woman had.
Mai smiled, it was sort of impressive to see the heads moving that fast, it was almost like when Akane swung her blades at her.
“Fuck! I’m not about to be beaten by a machine”
Mai initialized her virtual machine, no armor appeared, but the invisible interface was there. She looked back at Soon slightly nervous, but her girlfriend made it clear she wouldn't be helping her on that one.
“I trust you can do this, believe in yourself!” - She said with a big smile
Mai scanned the machine, and began to display the data on the speed and RPM. she made the calculations in her head and swung with all the strength she had.
“GO!!!”
A small shockwave was created the moment she tossed the ring, which went flying straight into the blur of heads, where, miraculously, it landed on the 4th head!
“She gets the fourth one! Will we have our first victor for the day?!” Amelia called out, being genuinely impressed now. But now the machine should be going faster than Mai could react to...effectively making this a random throw. At least in theory. Amelia and Sid could barely make out the heads now from the blur of limbs that was flying around, kicking up wind around the room.
Mai was impressed, she never guessed that thing could go that fast, it was faster than Akane, maybe Ann would be able to tag it, or Osechi...but this clearly was beyond her reaction speed. The only way to do it was through sheer luck, and maybe some calculations…
Mai grabbed the last ring, ready to throw it with all of her strength, it was at that moment that Soon held her hand.
“It’s fine if you don’t win, you know?”
Mai looked at her eyes for a second, then sighed.
“Eh, i suppose...let’s go get something to eat.” She said as she tossed the ring towards the hydra without putting too much thought into it. Miraculously, the ring lands on the fifth head and a light puff of confetti erupts from the two small cannons on either side of the machine as a small jingle started to play.
“Erm...congratulations! You managed to land all five rings! Take your pick of one of the prizes!” Amelia pointed toward the wall of massive plushies of groundhogs and various HW animals. How the heck did this lady land that last one? Ah well...not like it mattered to her. Turning to the others, Amelia teleported over to the now-stopped hydra and took off the rings one by one, and offered them to another person.
“Right, who wants to be the next one to try! Don’t worry, I doubt it’ll be anywhere near that fast for anyone else.” She stated. Sid walked over to the prizes Mai could choose from and poked a giant whale plushie. “Soooo...how’d ya do it? Ya got a mind palace like Sherlock or...something?” Sid asked, leaning against the building’s wall.
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Post by othus on Jun 20, 2019 4:24:19 GMT
"huh?"- Mai replied as she looked at the last ring set in place completely dumbfounded by the result.
"You did it!!"- Soon told her as she hugged her, slightly floating to Match her height. She quickly flew to the wall and chose a Golden groundhog plushie, which she promptly Made it float like an oversized balloon. The esper was as happy as a child on christmas, she quickly floated back to Mai's side and Kissed her on the cheek, something that made the Musashi blush.
"W-well...let's go out and take a look at the rest of the event"- Mai said. Soon nodded and held on to Mai from the arm. As they were leaving, a man asked Mai about what just happened.
"Eyeballing can only get you so far,to be honest, that last one was pure luck"
Mai looked at him and wondered why he had approached them, maybe he wanted to win too?
"I'm Mai by the way"- she said pointing confidently with her thumb towards herself.
"...Soon"- The esper told Sid without letting go of Mai.
"Your name is?"-Soon inquired as she looked at him in the eyes.
After he introduced himself, Mai would ask him some more stuff.
"So? Are you gonna try your luck on this thing? We are gonna go grab a bite, if you get bored, we could hang out after you win"- Mai declared while winking at him. Soon simply smiled and made a peace sign at him.
"See ya!"- Musashi told him as they left the stand.
"So, have you seen any food stands? What do the people here even eat anyway?"- Mai said as they walked around the place, Golden groundhog floating right above them.
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Post by RedLenai on Jun 22, 2019 13:06:34 GMT
Andy observed the game, it looked difficult from what he saw. That girl was pretty talented tho and even won a big prize... he glanced at Sid too, but it seems he didn't wanted to play. Taking the rings after Amelia took them off from the Hydra it was his turn. The machine began to move, its movements were ok, he only needed to focus a bit and think if there was a "pattern" like Thomas used to say when it came to the old arcade games. He threw the first ring and... Good! it landed. The speed began to increase, a bit unexpected... it was like it went three times higher. He threw the second ring, failing. His tired turquoise eyes tried to follow the machine once again, this time he threw puting a little too much strenght in his hand, it rebounded in one of the heads and even when his face didn't show it he panicked a little but thankfully it landed in the other head. Now he had only two rings left... he knew that he couldn't win the big prize anymore. The moment he glanced again at the Hydra it was moving at a incredible speed, not as fast as when Mai was playing... but fast enough to confuse him, he couldn't follow it anymore... What was it? Did he m,ade a mistake and this game was for non-human people?
He threw the fourth ring without sinking it, dammit.
If the stupid blonde were here he'll be able to sink it easily, after all he could teleport and all that crap, Thomas also could win it, he had good reflexes... but a driaochta and... a human with holy powers? of course were different from a normal person, Andy felt frustrated.
Throwing the last one without enthusiasm it landed in the horns of one of the heads... Andy wasn't sure if that was valid.
He sighed and observed the small prices, they didn't seem bad but he really wanted to gave Thomas a bigger one.
Chloe blinked a few times when she noticed she had an adorable phoenix chick in front of her, what a brave little one. So small and oh!
M-Maybe you're hungry - She said looking at the bag she bought with food, and took a small piece to give it to the friendly chick - Here - She said with her voice soft enough to don't scare it, a small blush on her cheeks was arising as she nervously waited for the baby phoenix to eat it. It was a long time since she saw such majestic creature, back on the years when she was still human a phoenix was the symbol of her family.
Her "father", even if they weren't related, used to tell her stories about them and how every life, every soul, reincarnated like the Vermillion phoenix. She also remembered how the people used to say that she had the phoenix feathers on her eyes. It was a bit matching now that she thought of that, since she reincarnated as an angel and even if she died, she'll still be back as one, angels don't die but their memory or even some traits of their personality could change or went missing... But thankfully that didn't happen to her.
She observed the other creature near the chicks, it was a weird... sheep like creature. It looked fluffy and it was being pet by a blonde man, glancing at him a bit she noticed that the man wasn't a normal one, he was a soul eater. For as long a being like that didn't cause troubles it was all right she guessed, but even if he did, she won't interfere. That was the work of other angels, not hers.
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Post by waybig1010101 on Jun 25, 2019 20:43:11 GMT
Chase continues to pet the the strange coyote sheep mix, while Smith walks up to his bodyguard. "What an interesting creature," said the billionaire as he approaches to analyze the beast. Appreciating its unique anatomy. As he hears the announcement of the wyvern hatchling, Smith looks up and spots the board. He gestures towards Chase to get his attention. The soulless man looks up with an annoyed expression on his face as he didn't want to be bother with at the moment. But his expression changes as he finally sees what Smith is pointing to. "Sure, I guess we can check it out. After I'm done petting this thing."
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Post by TimePuppy on Jun 27, 2019 20:49:47 GMT
Hazel touched Frankie's fur. It was very soft and fuzzy, with small smooth beads littering its fur. Hazel retracted her hand when the cub groaned, but it was only yawning. The girl holding the panda started giving more details about its species, pausing only to glare at the big scary guy running into the enclosure. Haze got scared he'd try to hurt one of them, but he ended up being quite gentle with them. It was a weird sight, but a heartwarming one.
Once the other employees calmed down the scared animals and visitors, the girl turned back to Hazel and introduced herself.
"I- I'm Hazel. And that's my sister, Loveline," she pointed at Love who waved at them before starting to look around for eye-catching animals nearby. Meanwhile, Ashlea offered Hazel a chance to feed the panda. "Can I?" She asked excitedly. "Oh, I'd love to!"
Hazel took the root Ashlea offered and brought the thinner part close to the panda's mouth.
Nearby, Loveline walked around the enclosure looing for anything appealing. Aside from the standard beasties like phoenixes and weird snakes, there were plenty of other weird animals. And one caught her eye almost instantly. A small floating thing, covered in white. Its seal-like snout twitched light as Love approached. Loveline gently grabbed it out of the air, mesmerized by the fluff. She had no idea what the creature was, but she was in love. She proceeded to rub it and tickle it all over.
She was snapped out of her trance by an announcement for the wyvern hatchlings. Her eyes grew wide and sparkly like a mountain-top spring. Her grip on the seal loosened and she clapped in her excitement. She's gonna see real-life dragons again! Babies, too! Oh, she could already tell they would be adorable!
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Post by Vapovile on Jul 4, 2019 12:17:36 GMT
The semi-transparent panda slowly reached its head forward and began to munch on the outstretched roots. Ashlea sat up and placed the bear cub down on the chair she was sitting on, the bear slowly making its way down the roots. “Well, great to meet you Hazel! I gotta help with this wyvern thing, so free to ask if you need anything else.” And with that, Ashlea began to walk toward the cages along the back.
The fluffy cloud seal Loveline grabbed let out a soft purring sound when she began to tickle it, the creature shifting around in Loveline’s hands. When Loveline finally loosened her grip, the seal floated out of her grasp and began to float around the rest of the room slowly. She saw Chloe feeding the phoenix chick, the creature happily accepting the offered food. When she finally got to the cages, Ashlea joined the other employee in sorting the cages and organizing them in the order they were going to be shown.
After a few minutes, Ashlea clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Hello! We’re about to start the wyvern showcase, so if you want to take a look, gather around please.” Reaching down, she grabbed a nearby cage and placed it next to the chair she was about to sit in. Once everyone who wanted to be there had gathered, Ashlea opened the cage and took out a small grey wyvern with hints of silver in its wings.
“This is called a Scandinavian Frost Wyvern, anyone want to guess where they are from?” Ashlea joked. She then proceeded to explain details about the creature, what it would grow up to be, how its egg was stolen by poachers but recovered by the Välstånd police before it could be snuck out of the country. After the explanation, Ashlea let people come up and feel the wyvern’s head and wings, the creature looking at them with a confused expression. Once it was finished, the employees showed a few more wyverns, gave details about them, until finally they were all back in their cages.
“Phew...well would you look at the time! The prediction is going to start soon...so we’re going to close up shop for the next hour or so. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!” And with that, Ashlea helped finish packing up the cages and ushered everyone outside, making sure the door was locked and guard on duty before heading off to the center of the carnival, nodding at some of the people she saw inside the petting zoo as she walked by.
---
Seeing the strange floating woman kiss the plushie-winner, Sid shrugged his shoulders subtly and waited for them to address him. Mai introduced herself, and hinted that he’d win the challenge as well. Sid scratched the back of his head as he thought of a response.
“Sid, nice to meet ya both. Yea, might try to win something...doesn’t look too hard, right?” He casually said, waving as they began to leave. “Might take ya up on that!” He called over. Least there seemed to be two cool people at this festival. There didn’t seem to be any work in the area, so he figured he’d check out the festival and see what this business about a weather-predicting groundhog was about. Making a long stride, Sid walked back into the building to see Andy’s attempt.
“And that makes three! Congratulations, you win a small prize!” Amelia chimed, presenting the rack of small plushies for Andy to look through. The speed was much lower this time, meaning that boy had significantly slower reaction time compared to the woman that came before. Once Andy chose his prize, Amelia approached Sid.
“So, that was two winners in a row! You up for a try?” She asked, Sid shrugging his shoulders. “Sure, why not? It was...a dollar, ya?” “That’s right!” Amelia responded, Sid reaching into his pocket and producing a dollar. His first throw was simple with the slowest speed, easily making it around the machine’s neck. But then things started to get difficult. Being primarily a kick-focused fighter, Sid’s coordination with his arms wasn’t nearly to the level that he’d like. As such, the next three rings failed to meet their marks and clattered harmlessly to the floor. Since the machine was tailored to his reaction time...it was now spinning nearly to the level of Mai’s run, making it near impossible at this rate.
“Just one right left! Can he do it?!” Amelia challenged, Sid shrugging his shoulders. “Eh, I’ve kinda accepted the loss already. Soooooo…” The kickmaster mindlessly tossed the ring into the air and watched with amazement as the ring found its way onto a head. “Hey, you did it! You know the drill, small prizes over here!” Amelia chirped. She had to hold back several giggles from escaping. How did someone with that reaction speed have that bad of hand-eye coordination?
Strolling over to the prize rack, Sid picked up a small black groundhog plushie and began tossing it into the air like a baseball. “Well hey, that’s cool. Sooo...gotta ask. What brings a chick like ya to a carnival?” He asked, leaning against the side of the building. Amelia let out a small sigh. “The usual; got bills to pay and it seemed like an easy position for the weekend. I’m actually suuuuuuuper tough, I’ll have you know. Amelia LaBlanc, strongest person at Gateway before I graduated? You might have seen me on TV.” She said while rolling her eyes at her exaggerated confidence. Sid simply shrugged his shoulders.
“Can’t say I have, dude. I guess this Gateway thing is a school?” “Yes! It’s focused on summoning magic, and I was part of the doubles team that won in the tournament. So yeah, I’m kind of a big deal.” Amelia said, voice clearly indicating sarcasm. Sid let out a few chuckles. “Well hey, that’s still cool. My school was more...normal fighting, ya know? People use some weird weapons though...some dude used a motorcycle.” He detailed, Amelia looking on with surprise. “A...motorcycle? You’re joking, right?” “Can’t say I am, my dude.”
Before Amelia could reply, the intercoms began to speak. “Attention everyone! The mystical Punxsutawney Phil will be making his appearance in exactly 10 minutes! Please join us on the main stage for the event live!” A male voice rang out. Amelia motioned toward the door. “Welp, looks like the rodent’s going to do its thing. Come on, I gotta close this thing up anyway.” Letting out a sigh, Amelia led Sid out the door and locked it behind herself, pocketing the key. The two then began to make their way toward the stage, along with most of the other park guests.
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Post by othus on Jul 5, 2019 5:23:56 GMT
Mai and Soon managed to get a hold of a couple soft pretzels and made their way towards the main event, the esper saw Sid walking by the side of the woman who was in charge of the stand
"Looks like he is going too..."- She said while pulling Mai's sleeve a bit, Musashi turned to listen to her
"Huh? oh, that guy! well of course, this is supposedly the reason everyone came here, right? Let's go say hi!" Soon lowered her golden groundhog just enough so she could seemingly ride on it, as they reached them Mai saw the small groundhog plushie he had won and confidently smirked
"fufufu, looks like luck was not entirely on your side!, oh, what up ring girl? I guess we didnt introduce each other back there. She's Soon, I'm Mai"
The esper was looking elsewhere as introductions were done, there was such a crazy variety of animals, she couldnt help but think out loud
"So what's so special about phil anyway? all these animals seem pretty special to me"
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Post by TimePuppy on Jul 6, 2019 8:57:51 GMT
Hazel continued to play with the crystal bear after Ashlea left while Loveline went from animal to animal, barely able to contain her excitement. When the waiting time finally ended and the announcement for wyverns finally came, Loveline practically teleported over to Hazel and led her to the exhibit. Love knew basically everything Ashlea talked about already, but she never saw the creature live. And she certainly never got to pet it. She memorized the surface of its scales and its leathery wings for future reference and was finally satisfied. Now she could move on to the main event with no regrets.
Hazel's reaction was a bit more tame, although she petted the cute dragon, too. Soon after came the time for the namesake of the carnival to shine. Punxsutawney Phil. When they arrived, the crowd was already gathering. Loveline happened to overhear someone ask what's so special about the rodent and she smiled confidently. She did some research before coming here.
"Excuse me, you want to know about Phil? He's supposed to tell what the weather is supposed to be like. He can tell if we're getting an early spring or if we're getting a few more weeks of winter. You know, some think he's a very rare case of a regular animal getting superpowers like hidden worlders tend to." Loveline nodded knowingly while Hazel uncomfortably stared at her sister. Why was she bothering this lady with these facts?
"Others say he's actually a magical creature like all the rest and that he can actually control the weather. Some even say he can talk."
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Post by waybig1010101 on Jul 7, 2019 5:45:39 GMT
Chase and Smith watch in silence as Ashlea reveals the small grey wyvern with a bit of silver highlighting its wings. They listen to the the creature's story. Smith with little interest. Chase on the other hand is much more intrigue. When the souls man hears the part about the poachers, Chase proceeds to spit on the ground and mutters, "Scumbags." Smith takes a mental note of the comment, but doesn't make any remarks. He wants to show his bodyguard the good side of humanity. And rather then pay attention to the actions of the rescuers, the heroes of the story, he was fixating on the villains. He knows Chase judges people from a negative perspective, and he also seems incapable of being able to recognize the good in them. Though he has tried on a few occasions to help Chase see the good in people, these past few years he hasn't been able to make much progress.
At the conclusion of the story, the workers appears to be letting people walk up the the small grey wyvern. Without a moment of hesitation, Chase makes his way over to the magical creature. Meanwhile Smith remains in the back, and waits for his bodyguard to finish petting the Scandinavian Frost Wyvern. Unfortunately, Chase appeared to be determine to spend as much of his time as possible with the wyvern before the creature and the other wyverns are transported back into their cages. Smith couldn't help but smile as an annoyed Chase walks back to him. Complaining about the lack of time he got to spend with it. "Don't worry. The main event is starting soon. Come on, I hear this one is really special." And with that the two of them make their way to witness the legendary Phil.
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Post by RedLenai on Jul 8, 2019 18:18:24 GMT
Andy sighed as he walked to where the small plushies were, he wanted a big one... but well, maybe Thomas would still be happy with a small one... The only problem now was the stupid blonde, he would mock him for not being able to give his friend something better! That stupid prince was arrogant even when it came to gifts... How Thomas tolerated him anyway? He didn't knew.
He glanced at the plushies and took a groundhog, he then walked to the main atraction. The Wyvern was a weird creature... what did it taste like? A part of him was quite curious, the other part knew that asking that would bring troubles. He observed it from a certain distance, his face expressionless as he listened to the careteekers and the people surrounding the animal.
Chloe by other hand waited for her turn to touch it, so this creature could tell the wheater? and talk? Was God... drunk when he made it? She never understood why some creatures were so strange... one thing was making cute or fluffy creatures... others that had weird abilities... was weird, like platypus being venomous... just... why they had to be like that? Well, that was an absurd question for an angel... things are like that because God wants it like that... she never liked that phrase. After petting the creature before it goes back to it cafe, Chloe went closer to see Phil, someone was behind her, but that probably was because people was interested on seeing it.
I never thought you would come alone here - The cold, or more like, emotionless tone of Andrew Starfield startled her. What was doing that kid here? A hunter would get their ass kicked out of the place knowing how dangerous they are for these creatures
S-Same for you - Was the first thing she could think of... Derek never liked him, but Thomas did, she had... conflicted feelings about the boy, she didn't knew what he was thinking and his stoic face wasn't helping at all.
I won a groundhog for Thomas... I wanted the big one - The boy said, showing to her his prize
T...That's actually pretty kind of you... he doesn't have a groundhog - She panicked, Gallerian wasn't here to be extremely friendly... so she didn't knew how to interact.
I knew - The boy said shortly and almost instantly "Ah, so he really CAN be expressive" was what the angel thought when the boy's eyes lighten up a bit, probably proud about how much attention he payed to his friend.
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Post by Vapovile on Aug 13, 2019 5:18:44 GMT
Both Sid and Amelia turned when they heard a familiar voice address them. Sid casually gave Mai a wave, while Amelia lightly poked the massive golden groundhog Soon was riding on, seeing if she could make it float backwards.
“Yeah, it was kind of a bummer. But hey, I still snagged this cool little dude.” Sid said, holding up the smaller plushie he won. Hearing herself being addressed, Amelia turned to Mai and nodded her head. “Hey Mai, my name’s Amelia. And despite what the job may imply, I am in fact not a professional carnival game host. Shocking, right?” She said sarcastically. While this job was slightly more tolerable than her coffee shop or department store jobs, it was still not ideal for someone who just got out of school.
Before they could further give their introductions, the duo overheard a little girl’s explanation about who Phil was and what he could do. Giving the floating plushie another poke, Amelia looked at the girl with amusement. “That’s what they say, huh? Must be quite the groundhog. Maybe he can bring Spring in super early...like say...today?” She said with a smile, humoring Loveline. Just as she finished talking, the loudspeakers turned on once more.
“Ladies and gentlemen! It’s time for the main event! Please turn your attention to the main stage!” A jovial male voice rang over the speakers. The stage was a mostly standard wooden platform with steel beams holding up rows of lights up top. Standing on the stage were 6 men dressed in black suits with bow ties, and large Victorian style top hats. Amelia couldn’t help but chuckle at the display of fancily-dressed people about to handle a rodent, but it mostly manifested as a snort, which she cringed at.
“Thank you all for coming out here today! In just a moment, we’ll open Puxatawney Phil’s mythical cage and politely ask him to give us his prediction! We ask everyone to stay as quiet as possible, wouldn’t want to miss his prediction, now would we?” A white-bearded man on stage joked. Walking over to the middle of the stage, he motioned toward a strangely elaborate miniature two-story house, with oval windows on either side and a door big enough for a small dog to fit through...or indeed, a groundhog.
Opening the front door, the man called Phil’s name while leaning down close to the ground. On the third call, a grey groundhog lumbered to the door and climbed into the man’s right palm. The man appeared to be whispering to the creature away from his microphone, so it was inaudible to everyone listening. The groundhog stared at the crowd with a blank expression on his face. Suddenly, the groundhog leaped out of the gentleman’s grasp, swiping the microphone with it.
“So you wanna hear my prediction, aye?” A deep voice rang out from the rodent’s mouth, the men on stage looking surprised at the gesture. “Well tough luck. I’ve been doing this for way too long, and don’t care anymore. So how’s about youse people entertain me this year, aye? Take a trip inside my…” Raiding his little hand upward, the earth began to shake as a massive metallic structure began to emerge from the ground. The frame was taller than a 6 story building, coated in a shiny silver metal that matched Phil’s. It soon became apparent that it was...a massive mech stylized after Phil himself, standing on his hind legs. A single door could be seen at the side of its right foot.
“That’s right, I got a Mecha Philip! Yeah, shorten that again for marketing, why don’tcha?” The groundhog then disappeared into a flash of light. His voice reverberated through the cockpit inside the head. “If any of ya think you can entertain me for a bit, step right in! If not...maybe Spring will never come? Or I could start stomping around. That should be fun, aye?” Letting out a deep laugh, Phil cut the communications.
Sid stood watching for several seconds, waiting to see the punchline of this joke. “...sooo...winter’s sticking around I guess?” He asked in jest. When the men on stage stopped murmuring among themselves, it was obvious that this was real. Amelia looked at her current group. Mai was obviously strong and fast, so she could probably help entertain a mythical groundhog. She had no idea about Soon yet, and Sid seemed like he...could be entertaining? “I uh...should probably go and help with that. You guys up for catching a groundhog? Maybe it’ll let us drive the mech.” She asked the group.
Nearby to Chloe, Vlad, Smith and Chase, Ashlea looked on at the scene in surprise. “He...can talk?! Wait, so this wasn’t just a dumb joke?!” She asked in frustration. What was going on here?! Looking around, Ashlea recognized three of them from the petting zoo. “Well if any of you want to try and help with this, you have the option. I should probably go help though.” She said, strolling toward the giant mech. Was that just sitting in the ground all this time?
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Post by othus on Aug 13, 2019 6:39:32 GMT
"Don't worry, You'll do better next year" Mai said with a fake tone of pity as she set her hand over sid's shoulder, completely unable to eliminate the smile on her face. In the meantime, Soon drifted around as Amelia poked her precious plushie. She slightly pouted.
"I understand it's not the best job in the world. Besides, you are probably better suited for modeling or something like that anyway, right?"- Mai told Amelia
"...wanna fly?" Soon told Amelia in a shy tone the second time she was sent drifting away due to the poke, to which Mai immediately turned around.
"Don't. Anyway, is this thing starting soon?"
The moment the rodent began to speak Mai lifted a brow, Soon just went from not paying attention to having her eyes set on the creature.
*The fuck?*
As the mecha began to rise from the ground both Mai and Soon went completely speechless. Mai looked at the Mech for a couple seconds, then loked at the rest.
"Nobody is wondering how a rat managed to build a mech this big under everyone's nose? no? Why am I not allowed to build Mechs again?"- She finally told Soon.
"I don't know, but it might have to do with nobody in your family trusting you"
"Whatever, let's get inside, if that rat is getting cocky I will beat it to a pulp"
She told Soon as they moved towards the Mech.
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Post by RedLenai on Aug 14, 2019 18:53:53 GMT
when the massive mecha appeared everyone went shut, so this wasn't planned at all. That furr ball was clearly doing their own bussiness and that was quite dangerous if you think about it. Spring never coming? Why such useless creatures had to be gifted with stupid amounts of power? That was what Andrew Starfield was thinking, but his actions were telling otherwise, he was trying to find his cellphone on his pockets. It was quite difficult with just one hand so he gave the rodent plushie to Chloe who stood in shock staring at what Phil created.
Found it - The hunter expressed while still having his poker face. He tried to step backwards so he could have a descent view of the robot to show Thomas, the little fella was going to flip when he saw it and would ask him everything about it. Even the stupid blonde was going to drop his yaw when he saw it.
H-How on God's name no one noticed that thing was underground? - The angel spoke once she finally processed everything, looking at the people near her, someone must know something - I-I guess I should help too... - She said following Ashlea, she had the feeling she met that girl before... but wasn't sure, she met a lot of people the past years... That reminded her
Are you going to help? - She stopped, glancing at the hunter, while still holding the rodent plushie
He looked at the robot and then back at Chloe, then nodded and walked forward. This was going to be hard with him...
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Post by TimePuppy on Aug 16, 2019 21:23:28 GMT
It wasn't long after the announcement that the main attraction stepped out of his hole. At first everything seemed to be going as planned, but then it hopped off of the speaker's palm and grabbed the microphone.
"Hey, it can talk! The internet was right!" Loveline beamed with pride for not falling for stupid lies on the internet. The fact that she knew some Hidden World things were real always made it harder to doubt whatever apparent nonsense people spouted online. And from what he said, in quite a rude manner might she add, maybe she was right about his weather controlling ability.
At the end of his speech, a giant mecha popped out of the ground and Philip invited those brave enough to come in. An adventurous spark shone in Loveline's eye and Hazel knew exactly what her sister was thinking. But this wasn't their problem to deal with! One of the people there asked if they were up or catching the groundhog.
"Heck yeah!"
"Hold on, Love! We're not here to do the employees' job for them. Just let them handle it."
"Come on, Haze." Love answered, grabbing Hazel's hand. "It'll be fun. Just think, if we entertain him like he wants, maybe you'll even get to pat a famous groundhog!"
"He doesn't seem like the type to want pats though..." Hazel mumbled. She knew this was going to happen the second the mech showed up. She knew she couldn't stop her sister from doing this, especially after that adventure she went on with Ariana and the other girls some time ago. But at least Hazel could help her out inside.
The Cromwell sisters ran toward the enterance into the mech, Hazel being almost pulled along.
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Post by waybig1010101 on Aug 31, 2019 22:43:57 GMT
As Ashlea runs towards the disgruntle groundhog, the dumbfounded duo remain sitting in silence for a few moments before the soulless man speaks up. "Hey Smith." "Yes Chase." "You didn't put anything in my drink did you?" "No." "So what I'm seeing is actually happening." "You mean that a talking groundhog is operating a mecha groundhog?" "Yeah..." "Well, the first thing we should do is make sure everyone is safe, and considering there is only a single threat- " "-I think they will be fine." "Oh, and how do you know?" "Truth is I don't really feel like getting up and dealing with this." Smith frowns as he replies, "We aren't sitting this one out. Now come on, before someone gets hurt." And with that the two men get up and make their way towards the mecha groundhog.
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