The best plot hook ever.

[WindStruck]

Friendship.

Friendship is what brings us together this fine evening.

A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself - and especially to feel, or not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at any moment is fine with them. A friend might help you move. A really good friend might help you move a body. But only a true friend will, when you show up at their door with a dead body, say nothing, grab a shovel, and follow you.

Unfortunately, we aren't quite there yet.

---

Date: Friday, May 25, 2012
Time: 8:10 PM
Location: Jeanette's home
Chance of misfortune: 88%

It was Anime Night. Not that it was a well-established thing. This was only the second running of it, and in the first no one showed up. The Western Animation Club wasn't really a thing in Dave's high school, due to a lack of members. The only one who had ever really consistently shown interest was Jeanette, who had actually graduated from that high school two years prior. This being the second week after school ended, and a Friday, it was time to give it another go. If it didn't turn out well, then maybe they'd have to cancel the whole thing.. again?

Accompanying Dave was Jabin, who had somehow managed to acquire the group's entertainment tonight: the new Airbender movie. It was the sequel to the 2010 movie, but animated. Also technically a prequel, called "The First Airbender". How he got his hands on the DVD copy is a mystery. But Jabin probably wasn't here so much for the movie anyway but for the food and company. Mainly the food. He already felt famished. And if his hunch was correct, there would be a lot of leftover pizza.

Jeanette's parents were out of town for the weekend. Even morticians get a holiday every now and then too, you know. So it was as good a time and place as any to have a nice little party. The three of you begin settle in on the couch and recliner and put in the DVD. The lengthy opening credits begin to fade in and out every now and then, accompanied by desolate landscapes, overworked peasants, menacing men throwing around water, stone, and fire...

Over all the scenes, a baritone Japanese voice speaks... suddenly the doorbell rings. You put the movie on pause. Was that the pizza so soon? You didn't expect it for at least another ten minutes. Dave goes to open the front door, closely followed by Jabin, who can't wait to have some pizza but doesn't really want to pay for it. But it's not the delivery man. Nor is it another member of the Western Animation Club. It's Solstice. Quite a surprise for them to see her here.

But it's not such a surprise for Jeanette. She forgot all about the deal they had. Solstice still had many questions about the trappings of modern society. Jeanette likewise was in the dark just as much when it concerned any sort of supernatural matters, maybe moreso. Tonight, Solstice was to meet and exchange this information... and what better way to get a taste of bold fresh humanity than watching anime? Ok, this may have actually been a terrible idea...

Now the four of them sat down, watching the movie. Jabin took to the recliner, and the others sat on the couch precariously. After the intro is over, it becomes apparent that the movie was never dubbed, nor even subtitled. The whole thing was in Japanese. This made watching the movie a confusing, awkward experience, especially Solstice who was not used to movies in the first place. The movie seems to drag on for hours... but only 30 minutes have gone by.

Wait, 30 minutes? Now the pizza definitely should have been here! Just then, there's a banging on the front door. Stupid pizza guy, doesn't he know the doorbell works? This time a tall, gaunt man stands at the door. No delivery car parked outside, no pizza in his arms... it's Harold. And he doesn't look too great with a big gash going down his neck.

Turns out Winter Faeries made a raid on Domino's, Pizza Hut, and Godfather's. Mind you, they were only pixies, but there were a lot. What's more, there's actually sleet falling from the sky. In southern Miami.

So the pizza is all gone and everyone's still hungry. The movie night is officially ruined. Harold's taken a beating and needs some stitching. And Winter is running pellmell all over Florida!

This looks like a job for... a warden. Or something. But I guess this ragtag troupe will have to do, if they want dinner today.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

We're currently still at Jeanette's house.

Harold has just told everyone about the incident and has started the game with a mild consequence: torn throat. He's kind of hard to understand at the moment.

The pixies were last seen at Godfather's, where they drove away Harold, but not before he turned a few into paste. Now with no more pizza places in the nearby vicinity, it's hard to know when or where they will strike next.

Please feel free to RP and make any checks.

[Iceseer]

We can still watch the movie why don't we just get popcorn from a grocery store instead? Heck we could still get pizza if there is an oven nearby. Jabin wasn't expecting this to work and was planning on relying on his stealth to infiltrate a pizza shop if it didn't.

[Konatsat]

While Jeanette hadn't been surprised by the appearance of Solaris, she had indeed been surprised that Harold showed up on anime night. After listening to his account of the events on the outside - and feeling disappointed at the lack of pizza - she hurried to get the gash on his neck sewn up exclaiming "Oh no Harold, we're going to have to patch this up as soon as possible. Meet me down in the operating room, I'll go fetch a sewing kit." before rushing down the stairs to prepare for stitching him up once again.

[Celticbear]

If any of you laugh about the fact that I was downed by a bunch of pixies, I'll punch something. grumbles Harold in a rasping tone.
Stupid yellow one with the butter knife just wailed into me while the rest threw pies. If you were there, you would know it was horrible. says Harold as he follows Jeanette.

[WindStruck]

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Solstice! Not Solaris!

It was a pretty warm and muggy night at the end of spring, at least before this sleet started. Solstice learned to blend in enough around here to dress like a "normal" teenage girl. Flip flops, tiny shorts, a frilly cute top that exposed too much skin for a concerned father's liking. She had small backpack, a purse, and a shoot of bamboo kind of like a walking stick. The reality was it was all glamoured anyway and not really what she wore nor held.

She was a bit surprised to see Harold as well, though the man had a knack for showing up around her, and especially around this lot. She was sure he watched them in his spare time. But this wasn't exactly his free time, it seemed to be a bit of an emergency.

Solstice looked over at Jabin, who would rather get popcorn or pizza and continue on as normal, a bit worried. "I could not comprehend what we were watching in the slightest. I do not mean offense, to come off as a rude ungrateful guest, but I thought these 'movies' were supposed to be.. 'entertaining'? Ah, but perhaps I lack the knowledge to understand it better..."

That was about as much objection as you were going to get from Solstice. She had no clue what she was looking at the whole 30 minutes, wasn't enjoying herself, and learning nothing. She hoped Jeanette would understand her polite objection as well, but the would-be doctor was already running off to get the tools necessary to fix Harold. She really hoped Jeanette was just caught up in the urgency of fixing Harold and not trying to brush her off.

Solstice watched Harold as he stomped by, a smug, subtle, yet knowing smile on her face. He was extremely dangerous and yet even pixies could give this one trouble, given the nature of his being. Perhaps it was a little payback for what she went through before, having to give in to his demands, as well as his interfering with her business with Dave. Well, it was no matter. They had a truce, for now.

[Konatsat]

"Alright then, one two one two and through and through... you're good to go." Jeanette manages to turn the gaping wound into a bloody line held together by stitches, hopefully good enough to fix his speech and remain there until it manages to heal up. "Now that that's done, let's head back upstairs. We should probably decide what to do next since the pizza guy won't be coming." she mutters, waiting for Harold to follow her up to the living room where the others would be waiting.

[Celticbear]

Harold, like a shadow, walks back up to the rest of the gang, glaring at Solstice's smile.

[WindStruck]

"So, some wee folk bested you with food and dinnerware. I wish I could have been there to see it," Solstice said, returning Harold's glare with that same smile. Granted, there were actually a lot of them. Not like she knew that though.

"But now that your wound is stitched up, what will you do now? Will you lay low and wait for them to get bored of terrorizing the area? Or were you going to fight them again?"

[Celticbear]

I heard from a source that it was your... ah what do call it? Any-may night. I figured that since you were all here we can do a combined assault. Answers Harold.

[Konatsat]

"I dunno guys, it seems kinda dangerous. Jabin's idea is fine if we just want some food right?" Frankly, Jeanette was kind of scared to go out and fight against pixies. She had been prepared to spend a quiet - if awkward - night watching anime and eating pizza, a brief respite from the stresses of medical school, and fighting magical beings was not her idea of stress relief.

[WindStruck]

"I for one would like to drive them off. They don't belong here," Solstice said, peering out a window at the overcast sky and scowling. Something wasn't right about this weather. If it was just a bunch of pixies, why was the weather affected here?

"Jeanette," she said, turning to face the young woman, "You had promised to help me understand your culture a bit more, but I can't make heads or tails of that.. that 'movie'." And it was literally true. Solstice wasn't used to seeing animations, and the disproportionate heads, bodies, and faces of the characters made her squint and tilt her head a while until she realized those were actually supposed to be people being represented.

"If you intend to stay here, may we at least do something else?"

[Konatsat]

"Oh well um, seeing as it was supposed to be anime night and all I... I didn't have much else planned really." Awkward silence fills the air before Jeanette breaks it with a sigh. "I guess it is important to clear the pixies away, especially as we actually have the means to fight back against them. Also, sorry about the anime, next time I'll show you a live action movie, something without many special effects, maybe something like the Pursuit of Happyness or a classic movie like Citizen Kane."

[Celticbear]

Pictures shouldn't move. grumbles Harold.

[Iceseer]

Ah well had to hope right. Do we have a computer or board game that we could do instead, Before we harass some pixies that might be observing an important ritual to protect themselves or this world? After all the snow can't be caused by the pixies now can it? Sure they love pizza but they don't do this on a daily basis. Jabin asks. He never did well in a fight where he was seen now knocking out someone who wasn't aware of him on the other hand was easy. As such he didn't like fighting others with a group as he felt useless. How being a scout was easy for him and he would often delegate himself to that position.

[Speeddemon87]

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Sorry for the delays, but here's a post

Dave manages to tear himself away from the movie, pausing it to rejoin the debate that's going on about what to do. Dave may not have understood any of the words to this movie, but compared to the travesty that was the live action film it was so, soooo much better. Without dialogue, there were a few points of difficulty in understanding the plot, but the overarching points were easy enough to comprehend from the body language and action and the animation was actually quite good. It was great to see the new bending scenes and the obvious differences that came from the first users compared to the far more modern benders in The Last Airbender.

When Dave hears the comments from the peanut gallery Harold and Solstice he just mutters Philistines glaring at them.

Dave walks up to the rest of the group. Jabin and Jeanette aren't too interested in doing anything about this, and while he can get where they're coming from, it sounds like it's big enough they should at least check it out (anime night can always be rescheduled so we can finish the movie later).

Dave says "Look, I can get that we're kinda divided on what's up, but it is pretty big and truthfully we don't know much about what's going on. Maybe we can look into fixing that and finding out what's got the pixie's so riled up before we start trying to 'drive anyone off'?" He finishes that question looking at Jabin. He knows Solstice is very into the 'fey' scene given who she is, but Dave's not exactly sure he can trust her to be fully objective in this case (he doesn't get the Winter/Summer thing too much, but Harold's told him enough the Dave can understand that they are a little biased against each other). Jabin's always got a pretty good ear to the ground and an uncanny way to find out what's going on with the supernatural side of things.

[Iceseer]

Jabin sees Dave was looking at him and accepted it. Look he's right. I am unbiased and well have the best skills for the job. With any other additions I might not get the information we need. So how about I go off for a little bit to the closest pizzaria. Investigate what I can then report back here as soon as I'm finished. So does anyone have a coat I can borrow? resigning himself even more If anyone else wants to come they can just head to the front door and ask the pixies when I tell them to move. He finishes. Hoping someone would talk him out of it.

[Celticbear]

It's dangerous out there. I will accompany you, Jabin. says Harold.

[Iceseer]

Course it is that's why if I have to do this I'd prefer to be alone I don't want anyone else with a slit throat like you and I have the skills to avoid that. He replies kindly. not mentioning the fact that anybody who accompanied him would actually slow him down in what he was planning to do. If he had to have anyone he would prefer jeanette with her excellent investigation skills and barely passable stealth. Harold was good muscle so would be able to pass himself as a distraction at least.

[WindStruck]

"They're trespassing and making a ruckus, that's what they're doing," Solstice says, visibly agitated.

"If you want to investigate, that's fine. We may be able to figure out where they are going. Maybe we could take a diplomatic approach and get them to simply leave. Although..." she points at Harold, "if he attacked them or killed any of them, surely they will want revenge."

[Celticbear]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

"if he attacked them or killed any of them, surely they will want revenge."

Did I kill anyone?

[Speeddemon87]

Dave smiles when he hears Jabin agree to look into it. "Sure, let me grab my coat." He goes to the closet and proudly takes out the authentic waterbender coat he had made. "Here ya go" he says as he passes Jabin the coat.

"I think I'll just stay here, I'm not really good at sneaking around. Or investigating. But if you get in trouble or need any backup just call me and I'll be there as soon as I can!"

[Iceseer]

Jabin silently cursed realizing no one was going to stop him. Jabin replies Thanks, it is very much appreciated. taking the coat from David and putting it on.

[WindStruck]

"You wish to go out alone without any of us?" Solstice asked. Perhaps it was foolish, but perhaps not. If he didn't do anything stupid to anger or scare them, he'd probably be left relatively unscathed. Maybe they wouldn't really notice him at all.

"And if you don't mind my asking, where exactly do you intend to look? Where the pixies have already been?"

Spoiler: ooc for Jabin

Show

Please designate the location you will go to and your method of transportation.

Also, when you step out of the house, I'll need an Alertness roll.

[Iceseer]

Jason replied to Solstice What I want and what I am doing are two completely separate things. Fact is I am going to be needing to sneak around to avoid a spot throat and everyone else is well not that good at it and might die as a result. I do not want a friend to die on me! So I am willing to risk my life to find out what is going on for my friends. Of course I am not going to oppose anyone else joining me because they do have the same right to risk their life as I do. I just doubt the skills they will bring to the table with their lack of stealth will be as valuable as potentially losing them. Of course does anyone have an idea on where to go because I am just going to check the nearest pizzeria otherwise.

[Celticbear]

You don't need to fear for my death, but he does have a point. They are dangerous, as you can clearly see. says Harold as he makes a slitting motion with his throat.

What we have to do now is vague. The way i saw it, they were just hungry. Perhaps if they get their meal they'll leave. Of course, winter Fae in a place that belongs to summer, Harold glares at Solstice, is definitely an anomaly worth looking into.

[WindStruck]

Speaking of anomalies, as Jabin looks outside, he notices something quite off. He sees some green-eyed crow looking things... Grackles, that's what they are called.

Well, normally their eyes are green, but these ones have distinctly bluish eyes, somethings not quite right about their feathers, and they all seem to be staring intently at the house, watching everyone...

[Iceseer]

Once Jabin saw the creatures. Jabin says, Course the blue eyed grackles that are watching us should probably be dealt with first.

[Celticbear]

Wait, what? says Harold.

Are we being watched?

[Konatsat]

"Hold on, what's a grackle? Is it dangerous?" As usual, Jeanette was out of the loop whenever they talked about the supernatural.

[Celticbear]

Spoiler: OOC

Show

"Hold on, what's a grackle? Is it dangerous?" As usual, Jeanette was out of the loop whenever they talked about the supernatural.

A Grackle looks like a crow, but their "caw" is much more raspy. They are EVERYWHERE in Texas.