test drive meme #13

[hadrielmods]

Welcome to Hadriel's test drive, and thank you again for your interest in the game! As always, our reserves page is here, and our applications page is here! Reserves open September 24th, and apps are open October 1st.

Two quick points here as well:

1. Any thread made in Hadriel's test drive will be accepted as the sole Action Log sample in the application.
2. All threads made in the test drive can be considered game canon, either through handwaving or through a shared mental experience while coming through the Door!

Test drives will be broken up into specific god mini-events, during which your characters can see how well they fare under the watchful eye of one of the gods. Choose wisely or just simply pick 'em all, and have fun!

F E A R

SCENARIO ONE: DON'T LOOK AT ME
[The Door brings in all that is chaotic and evil in the world. This may include you, may include the person next to you... and may include the monster behind you.

Watch out as you explore the streets of Hadriel, because you're not alone, and there's always something lurking in the shadows, waiting for the perfect chance to hop right on you and chow down. This time, the Door has brought in several Boos, from the Mario video game series.

These monsters can be menacing, but are also incredibly shy. When looking directly at them, they will cover their faces and fade into the background- however, when turning away from them, they advance on you until they're in the perfect spot to take a nice big bite. The only way to defeat them is to escape this part of the level- that is, run madly away and try to keep up eye contact while you do so. They may look cartoonish, but those ghost teeth can be sharp!]

SCENARIO TWO: YOU'VE GOT RED ON YOU
[Hadriel is home to many things- temples, irate gods, angry citizens and... well, zombies, apparently. Beware as they start to walk/stagger/generally kind of shuffle around the streets of the city, since where there's one or two, there's usually a hundred more just waiting for the right moment to strike.

Zombies attack Hadriel by the dozen for this prompt, and nowhere in the city is technically safe from them! While they're not necessarily fast or intelligent, they have an advantage on you in that they have a lot more friends and they can't feel pain. So saddle up, bunker down, and try to survive the infestation!

This is a mini version of our Dead Men Walking event this month!]

R A G E

SCENARIO THREE: CAPTURE THE FLAG
[Hey, what's Hadriel without a few mind-numbingly stupid games to forget the fact that you're in a murdercave that routinely tries to scare the crap out of you while also maybe killing you every once in awhile? You're not quite sure who came up with this particular mind-numbingly stupid game, but you seem to be playing, so get your running shoes on and grab that inhaler!

This is a game of Capture the Flag, and thanks to Rage, you're really starting to feel that competitive spirit. You're going to win- you have to. So what if you incur a few fouls along the way?

There's a red team and a blue team for this prompt, with both teams trying to protect their corresponding flags. Try to strategize to take the other team's precious flag, chase someone from the opposing team down, or just go all out and full body tackle that poor guy who got a little too close to your territory- it's all on you!]

Comments

Ishida Uryuu | Bleach | ALL OF THE THINGS

[repelling]

.one.option one. spirits are always with you?

[ Curiosity became humor became frustration.

He'd felt it hiding. There wasn't a bit of surprise in it. The reiatsu felt odd, unfamiliar, that particular concentration, but it was reiatsu and it was more than likely a ghost. Uryuu stood at the entrance t a narrow alleyway, which whether or not there are in fact alleyways in Hadriel, there are for these purposes. Entrance to a shadowed space. Roll with us.

Uryuu stood at such place at peered into the dark, his expression, if anything, clinical. ]

I know you're there.

[ And his tone bored. ]

So come on out. Or I'll shoot.

[ No response, which would make him feel a little silly, talking to the air in a strange city, but he can feel it. ]


.one.option two. very superstitious.

[ As Uryuu wasn't stupid enough to walk into said shadowed location, he eventually succumbs to the arrow. After ensuring no other reiatsu was near, no person to see, he concentrated his bow and fired a warning shot just to the side of the reiatsu.

Nothing. He'd like to just finish it, but on the off chance it's a terrified and innocent ghost, he yields, turning away. At which point it moves, because he feels it, and when he turns around, swift, gathering the spirit particles, reishi, beneath his feet to speed him further from it -- he trips, staggers, almost falls, on seeing it.

It looks like a cartoon ghost. It looks fake. Uryuu raises his eyebrows, a jeering smirk starting. ]

Ghosts aren't supposed to look like that. If you're a Hollow -- [ not that it feels like a Hollow ] -- I'd be embarrassed, too.

[ Yeah, now he's just standing there mocking the shy Boo. ]



.two. the fake ones are rotting to pieces.

[ Zombies.

At first, no problem. He doesn't totally get it, but as much as Uryuu would like to understand, he's adamantly not the mad scientist type, thank you. He'll assume for the sake of action that a mad scientist may be responsible -- this is just that Shinigami's sort of thing, and that Espada hadn't been too far behind with those clones, but he'd never have let their clothing go to such a state -- or some ridiculous bankai or ability.

Having spent years compartmentalizing away any issues that might reasonably stir re: Quincy arrows killing Hollow souls that could instead be purified by a tardy Shinigami blade (and so inadvertently somewhat abiding Ryuuken's command that he focus on the living, instead of the dead), he doesn't hesitate, despite the articulations, the human faces.

(What does unsettle -- there's no spirit left here. No reiatsu. Nothing. Yet, they move.)

One spirit arrow neatly through a skull, felling it, then another. Easy. Boring. Pretty disgusting. Only.

Because he can't feel them, he hears it first, the shuffling, the enormity of the sound. Around the corner and it must be a hundred. Uryuu pales, pausing as he thinks, eyes darting along -- when a hand smashes through a glass pane, how had he been so strategically moronic to stand by glass, followed by a hungry mouth. The hand claws at his arm.

Uryuu throws himself back, but a layer of rotting skin streaks down his sleeve. Which it tears, too.

He blanches. ]

As if the smell wasn't bad enough, I just finished this shirt!

[ His hand twitches toward his bag -- a portable sewing kit -- when he remembers.

Oh yeah.

100 zombies. ]



.three. why isn't there a white team?

[ It's mind-numbingly stupid, but it's also competitive teamwork of the sort that Ishida Uryuu a) had never had the opportunity to play as a child; and b) might, in fact, quite enjoy now.

Because the blue team is superior and must win.

Not at all like a creepy creeper who creeps, Uryuu has camped himself on the roof several stories up. He is not, in fact, quite near the flag. He is, however, observing the general vicinity for anyone approaching.

Too bad for you he's totally misusing his extreme spirit sensitivity and not relying merely on his eyes. Because, buddy, unless you're a corpse, you've got reiatsu -- spirit pressure. And if you're a corpse, that spirit that animated you is what's skipping around.

And he's waiting.

A little bit like a creeping creeper who creeps. ]

1.2

[scarletcast]

[ These things that come through the door are tame, but Wanda has formed the habit now of hanging by the colosseum. Watching, if nothing else. ]

They may look like nothing now, but that does not make them less nasty.

[ Fear'd never give them a break like that. She eyes him very critically, up and down, stops on the bow, then back up at him. ]

1/2

[repelling]

[ Her voice startles him. This is a problem on a few levels. The first: he hadn't felt her spirit pressure, or he'd been so focused on the sorry excuse for a ghost. The second: Uryuu's not so good at a smooth recovery from surprise, meaning, he'd jerked back, as if she had also been a potentially offensive ghost, and looked silly doing it.

The second's way more prominent, for a moment, in his mind, then the remaining levels. ]

Wh--

[repelling]

Er--

[ Recovery, and so, the following levels: he'd kept the spirit particles of his bow concentrated, and she definitely just looked right at it, but she also can clearly see the "ghost," so it's probably fine.

Uryuu straightens, reaches with his other hand for his glasses. ]

I, er, know that. I mean, I wasn't -- underestimating it.

[ except he clearly had been because it looks dumb

also its reiatsu is super weak, but he knows that could be misleading, too. ]

[scarletcast]

[ He knows the bow is there, and so she knows where it is. Not that hard to follow. He looks a little silly, yes, jerking back the way he does, but that is temporary. The rest is too put together, too organised. Wanda's learnt to recognise the framework of those minds. ]

Perhaps it transforms.

[ She throws at out as a theory, waiting to see where he runs with it. ]

[repelling]

It could.

[ Easier to maintain legitimate cool when diverted to speculation. Uryuu taps his chin, regarding it. He's loath to say too much, but she at least seems familiar with the dangerous. ]

I've encountered a variety of Hollows.

[ Glancing at her, attempting to gauge recognition. ]

Some could take different shapes. Some had visible and sensible weaker, innocent looking bait.

[liketeenspirit]

[Who's got two thumbs and no spiritual senses?

This idiot.

He's been sneaking along the side of a building, but he's got to cross an open area before he can get under any kind of cover again. His head turns left and right, and the coast seems clear, so he darts across the open area and skids to a stop in the shadow of an empty store. He looks around again, and it doesn't look like he's been spotted. Cool. So far, so good.

Don't ask Ichigo why he's so into this game of capture the flag. He'd insisted he wouldn't. He'd insisted he didn't care. He'd tried not to play along. But he's fired up now, and by god, come hell or high water, the red team is going to get that flag.

He's got no idea Ishida is there, which is pretty par for the course, really.]

[repelling]

[ Kurosaki hasn't got much discernible reiatsu left, either. At least not comparatively, given it had been an insane deluge before.

Still, he's alive.

He's got enough.

And Mr. This-Is-Stupid-Why-Are-You-Playing (Uryuu: I never thought you'd accept your inevitable defeat so easily, Kurosaki) with his enough spirit pressure crosses right over the patch of open space. He doesn't exactly blend into the shadows, either.

There's not technically sufficient light for it, but as Uryuu shifts, his glasses glint.

Uryuu smirks then

...picks up a small rock, more a pebble, and chucks it at Kurosaki's back.

Sure, it's from a roof, but he's got very good aim? Maybe? ]

[liketeenspirit]

[He's listening for footsteps. The whistling of a tiny pebble projectile whizzing through the air is an unexpected sound, and Ichigo's head jerks up as he hears it, looking around --

-- but he doesn't spot it fast enough to keep it from hitting the small of his back, making him jump.]

Nnngk!

[It's probably pretty satisfying to watch from a goddamn rooftop as Ichigo's hands fly to his back, as he turns in a startled circle trying to figure out what happened, utterly confused. It's probably so fun to watch, in fact, that Ishida doesn't get back under cover before Ichigo spots his stupid bespectacled face.

He sees Ishida, and he understands.

The confusion is gone, as if it had never been there. In its place is a grin with murder in it. He picks a rock up off the ground (about quarter-sized, roughly, give or take a few mm) and chucks it right back, hard enough to reach the rooftop. That's what you get for throwing rocks at people, asshole.]

im sorry he's an idiot

[repelling]

[ That's how it happens. He knows he should have ducked out of sight, but it was too good to miss. It's then less that he underestimates Kurosaki's recovery time, and more that it doesn't matter, once he's seen.

He can only just make out the expression on Kurosaki's face, which strikes a satisfying warning bell, as he knows what that flash of teeth means. Just because he doesn't expect a return projectile doesn't mean that, staring right at it, watching the swift arc of Kurosaki's winding arm, he hasn't got time to avoid it. Seriously, he's watching you do it.

So he avoids it, naturally, by walking and subsequently dropping right off the roof.

It isn't something he'd have been able to do in the (a) human world, in their world, two years ago. When he'd understood and mastered concentrating the spirit particles into a platform during the madness of Hueco Mundo, it had been in part helped by the thickness of the particles there. However, give a talented Quincy two more years of training in thinner atmospheres, and it's easy to descend at a quick, but safe pace, a leisurely fall.

Timed just so the rock skirts his hair by centimeters. ]

You're going to have to try harder than that...

Kurosaki!

[ ...yeah, no, with the dramatic pause and everything. ]

booooo...s 1.1 that is

[face_kick]

[There's a different reiatsu approaching, one that should feel pretty familiar, even in this strange cave environment he's found himself dumped into. Distinct from the one he can feel lurking in the alley, yes, but Rukia does like her dramatic entrances.]

[She lands on one of the roofs edging the alleyway--not trying to surprise him, she assumes he can sense her reiatsu--and peers down at the figure there, down at the entrance. Definitely Ishida. ]

Shoot me? I know you say you don't like Shinigami, but I thought we were a little past all of that.

[She's very clearly kidding, with her light tone and casual posture, a little bit of a smile on her face.]

[repelling]

[ As the number one fan and attempter of dramatic entrances, Uryuu especially appreciates Kuchiki-san's arrival.. He'd used reiraku upon arrival, seeking anything, anyone familiar, and noted her red ribbon. The strange pressure of whatever's in the shadows had distracted him, but it had made him both more and less wary of the place. (It's possible to be both things because he's Ishida Uryuu.)

Uryuu glances up, half-expectant, as Kuchiki-san lands. His focused expression eases, mouth close to a smile, which he swiftly tugs sharper, returning her jest. ]

Yet, as the only Shinigami here, you're the representative of my enemy. It's too b--

[ Then looking more directly at her, and so not at the shadows, and so he's interrupted by a stupid looking but fanged ghost flying at him. ]

[face_kick]

[Dramatic entrances and witty banter, ahh yes, it's nice to have another familiar face around. She's all ready to continue the repartee when a ghost interrupts them. Isn't that always just the way of it?]

Ishida!

[She tenses up with a hand on her sword as the ghost-thing she sensed earlier comes hurtling out of the alleyway at her friend, ready to leap down and help out--but only if needed. She doesn't want to insult a fellow warrior by implying he can't handle it on his own.]

[repelling]

[ Whatever it is, it's fast.

He's faster.

As a general matter, the years, the steady training, the brutality of experience, all honed his reflexes. As a more specific matter, he has maybe too much experience of an attack interrupting him. (Not that he talks too much, or something. No way.)

It's reflex to jerk back from the moment, to concentrate the spirit particles beneath his feet, to become the blur, out of reach. As much to, in that movement, also concentrate his bow, the flaring of spirit energy arcing from the pendant at his wrist, a shot ready, arm pulled back -- but once he's looking at it, humor evaporated, it is backing away, cowed. ]

Now, something has terrible manners. You shouldn't interrupt. We're catching up.

[ And he does appreciate her restraint. ]

3

[goodguess]

[ And what if the person was neither a corpse, nor alive, nor being moved by a spirit that might have been a living spirit beforehand? Well, she was running by the will of something, but it was a very, very distant sun. Which is a little different. That might not matter.

Trance was camping inside the buildings, moving through those instead of the streets, while circling around. Almost patrolling and scouting about. Probably because a short purple woman was a lot more obvious out on the streets. Eventually she pops out from the door that was underneath Uryuu's perch, with a blue armband tied over her bicep. First she looked left, then right before bringing her gaze upwards.

With a wide grin, the purple girl starts to wave a hello. So subtle, right? ]

1/3

[repelling]

[ Good question. Technically, some Shinigami and some Hollows -- Arrancar, those in Hueco Mundo -- had also never technically been alive. The Shinigami born to Shinigami, often the royalty in Soul Society.

Distant suns, though, probably don't show up on his "radar" (so to speak, it's no more a radar than the senses of sight, taste, or hearing).

Which makes it a real shock when a purple woman, ]

[repelling]

[ yes that is correct, visual confirmation, after he first jumps so with the surprise of having entirely not sensed a living breathing (not seemingly suppressing her own reiatsu as she's waving??), that he fell back on his haunches, then crawled to the roof edge and peered over, yes,

a purple woman

a purple girl

a purple humanoid

purple is the key thing here ]

[repelling]

[ Only, she's waving, and she's grinning, and most importantly: she's wearing a blue armband.

Still disoriented, all he can manage, at first, is a feeble wave back. ]

[goodguess]

[ The grin widens even further as Uryuu returns the gesture. Then, struck with an idea, she manages to perk up even more.

Just like that, the purple apparition disappeared back into the building. Though because he had trouble sensing her, Uryuu might not notice what she was doing until she popped open the hatch to the building's roof access. Short blonde hair and... Ah, she's not only purple, but had pointed ears as well. ]

Keeping an eye on everything alright? I thought you could use company.

[ Well, she's certainly friendly. ]

1 / 1 you asked what my soul said and i followed it

[payoff]

( there are most certainly alleyways in hadriel. it's all in where you look.

and this one? might just be hanging out in one. in the sense that he hasn't quite fully taken to scoping out his new surroundings, and has been more people-watching than anything else. ( it goes without saying, really, that nothing good could come from this – but only time will tell, really, and for now?

let's just strap in for the ride, shall we? )

he isn't expecting to be called out, regardless of the situation; but when that voice rings out, whether or not it's directed at him is something else entirely, but it does have him stepping out of the shadows with hands in his jeans pockets, head tilted to the side as though he's simply comping across something unusual. interesting.

and far be it from him to look a proverbial gift horse in the mouth. ) Lucky guess.

( his tone is light, airy, even. and doesn't he just look about ten shades of unimpressed? )

You shouldn't go looking for fights unless you're ready to own up. ( says the one in constant search of a fight. but … that might just go without saying. )

gotta do what you want GOTTA

[repelling]

[ ...Oh.

So.

This is awkward.

The man steps from the shadows and Uryuu shifts. It's subtle, small, incremental whispers of the muscles in his face, wrist, thighs. The line of his mouth has not altered, nor of his eyebrows, a superficial continuity, the easy disinterest -- not yet a preening confidence or overconfidence, though his words had doubtless had enough of that by implication -- it is a discreet, restrained tensing.

The reiatsu had not felt human, kept hidden in a strange world, and expecting foul play, Uryuu had assumed.

It hadn't and still doesn't feel Hollow, Arrancar, Shinigami, anything familiar. It's different.

That expression doesn't help Uryuu to feel less like an idiot, but he's enough on guard still to not yet be obvious in it, and it's just the right thing to keep his attitude firm. ]

It wasn't a guess. I have no problem owning up, but it was conditional.

[ Having satisfied the condition of coming out, no need to fight. Right? ]

tru tru also god i'm sorry i didn't mean to write this much???

[payoff]

( is it awkward? nah, it shouldn't be. this is just some kid wandering around in an underground cave city, not knowing a damn thing about where he is or why he'd been brought here in the first place, calling out to the shadows and trying to pick fights with them.

there is absolutely nothing awkward about that.

therefore being called out on it is perfectly within reason. ( don't worry, uryuu. your secret is safe with him. it's not like he's about to go around blabbing your business. )

now, there isn't much about this one that would seem human beyond what's on the surface; he looks the part, sure, but when you come from his background – demon dad, angel mom – you're about as far from human as they come, and while he doesn't think that's going to be of much consequence in the long run, he might be a little bit interested to know that it could be felt.

that's something of a new concept to him. novel, one might say. if one were to use that sort of term.

then again, you may just as easily hear the word weird come out of his mouth before anything else.

of course, he's not really in the mood to start any fights – not right this second, but check back in a few, his mood might have changed to err on the side of bored and therefore find him looking for something to break the monotony – and not with a kid that looks like he's been handed the short end of the stick.

dante hums out a low note, hands sliding into his jeans pockets. ) So you're not just going around, poking your head around corners and taking a shot in the dark that something's out to get you? ( he's being a deliberate shit now, and it's evident in the slide of a deeper grin across the bottom half of his face, not malicious, per se – but maybe just a little bit of trolling.

sometimes, he doesn't know how to be anything but purposely antagonistic. about that breaking of monotony – )

well I was going to tag this with Newt but then, unsurprisingly, this happened. 1.1

[monsterepellent]

That would be unfortunate.

[So...what's coming out of the darkness of that alleyway isn't, in fact, any sort of ghost or Hollow or otherwise. Instead, it's a tall lanky young man, probably in his late teens. He's holding a white kitten. And a school bag. And looking rather non-pulsed by the whole threat thing.]

smh so hard

[repelling]

[ Uryuu must stop himself from stepping back. A swift, tolerable go at composure, reining in everything but his eyes. In a different situation, his surprise might have been more volatile. Now, though his stance had seemed casual, he had been staring at the shadows with tension tightening beneath his skin. Ready for something unpleasant within, that something does come out cannot totally destabilize him.

However, a young man with a kitten threatens to.

His reiatsu still doesn't feel right, not quite human, but -- he's anything but hostile. ]

...Yes.

[ A flash of irritation, defensiveness sparking it -- ]

What were you doing in there?

don't you give me that "smh" this is yoUR FAULT!!!!!

[monsterepellent]

I heard something making noise, so I went to go see what it was. [Doumeki glances down at the kitten cradled in his hand, as if to indicate it] I found this. [yep, looking back up at Ishida now, though.]