just do it, go for it.

[superordinary]

Who: Makoto Naegi (superordinary) and Kyouko Kirigiri (freshprints)
Where: The Ruins of Alph.
When: September 3rd.
Summary: An ordinary guy and a mysterious girl walk into a bar some ruins.
Rating: PG-ish at the most. Spoilers for Dangan Ronpa will probably happen.
Log:


[ The music changes the second his Arcanine sets foot on the site of the ruins, the change abrupt as always. And for some reason, he finds himself liking this new song despite how melancholy it sounds -- possibly simply because it is new to him and not something he's already heard a thousand times over.

Naegi dismounts his Arcanine with little difficulty and gives the large dog a treat and affectionately scratches it behind the ears for a job well done. He then plucks an empty Pokéball from his belt and gently taps it on the Arcanine's head, making it return to the safety inside the ball where it can rest. ]

It's quiet here, don't you think? Other than the music.

[ He lets his eyes wander over the ruins, taking in the sights. The ruins are bathing in sunlight and the vegetation is lush and beautiful, but the fact still stands that these are mere remnants of a civilization that once was. Much of its splendor must have been lost to the passage of time.

...

Maybe he's just feeling a bit poetic today. ]

Comments

[freshprints]

[Thankfully, Kirigiri's spent the past better part of a week working extensively with her Moomba, to the point where he's thankfully not inclined to just UP AND RUN OFF every time she takes him out of the box, and also to where he's at least generally amenable to carrying a rider. And frankly, she's glad for it, because it's nice to be out of Violet, and nice to have something new to occupy herself with, and nice to be spending time alone with Naegi-kun.

(Particularly that last one, though she's not going to admit it.)

When he dismounts, she does also, ending up subject to a lot of slobbery kisses and affection from Moomba before she can ultimately get him back into his ball, and so she's rather unattractively wiping a bit of slobber off her face as she comes up next to Naegi, Pokeball still in hand.]

Mm. I'm sure it won't be long before we aren't conscious of the music anymore, either.

[She glances over at him, then looks out over the ruins herself.]

I've heard that the Pokemon here are...unusual. We should be careful.

[superordinary]

Mm. I think we'll be okay. We have each other, and our Pokémon.

[ Worst comes to worst, he'll have to rely on Kirigiri to save his ass again. He looks at Kirigiri, and then back at the ruins. ]

Let's go inside.

[freshprints]

[This from the guy who once took a Detention for her. God forbid something like that ever happen again — not just for Naegi's sake, but because that feeling of being indebted and needing to atone for it isn't one she enjoys.]

Speaking of our Pokemon, let's make sure to have at least one out with us while we go exploring.

[She counts absently through her Pokeballs, taking account of what she'd brought with her.]

I have Chevalier and Baskerville, but I don't know how much help they'll be. And Moomba is too big to take inside any of these structures; it'd just be more trouble than it's worth.

[superordinary]

[ Naegi counts through his as well; Yumie, Miki, Marie, Taiki, Midori and Yukitaro are all inside the row of Pokéballs clipped to his belt. ]

Yumie's both small and strong. [ He removes one of the Pokéballs and a few seconds later, his Togetic emerges with a flash of white light.

Kirigiri, meet birdthing. Birdthing, meet Kirigiri. c: ]

[freshprints]

[Birdthing! More importantly, she remembers he'd mentioned that he started out with a Togepi — presumably this is it, in its evolved form.

Undaunted, she offers up her arm so the Togetic has a perch upon which to land, if it so desires.]

So this is your starter. You're right; she does suit you.

[HELLO, BIRDTHING.]

[superordinary]

[ The birdthing circles around Kirigiri a few times without flapping its wings even once, looking her over curiously before landing on her arm with a pleased noise. ]

I think she likes you already, Kirigiri-san.

[freshprints]

[That lack of wing-flapping makes her frown a bit, not out of any particular displeasure but just because she's still getting used to the idea of logic only sometimes working the way it's supposed to around here, but she can't help but smile when the Togetic finally lands. Because birdthing.]

I'm glad. If she's watching out for us, I feel better already.

[She looks back to the ruins.]

That one first, then?

[superordinary]

Yes. Let's go. [ He clips Yumie's empty Pokéball back onto his belt and starts walking toward the entrance. He doesn't know what awaits him inside, but with Kirigiri around he's sure they'll solve the mysteries of the ruins in no time. ]

[freshprints]

[It's a reasonably short walk in to the ruined building, and Kirigiri's in no particular hurry at this point; she's busy looking at everything, both for the very practical reason of wanting to make sure the building is structurally sound and isn't going to collapse in on them, and for the more inquisitive reason of wanting to make sure she doesn't miss any of the nuances for the sake of the bigger picture.

Not that it's particularly difficult to figure out what that bigger picture is, once they're inside; the archway lets them through into a winding hallway that veers off to the left, boxed in on all sides by worn stone walls covered in Unown symbols.

A few of them are probably real Unown, frankly, but being camouflaged so well against the rest of the script, it might be difficult to pick out which ones are which without actually tripping over them first.]

[superordinary]

[ The atmosphere inside the ruins is more intense than it is on the outside, and his steps echo off the surrounding stone walls. Naegi stops to look at the walls and pulls out a camera from the bag hanging off his shoulder. This particular wall doesn't interest him enough to snap a photo, but he wants to have the camera ready. ]

These are Unown symbols, I think... [ He recalls the name from one of those nights when nightmares kept him from sleeping and he passed his time reading the entries in the Pokédex. ]

I wonder what came first; the Unown or the alphabet.

[freshprints]

[Meanwhile, Kirigiri is wasting no time in walking right up to the symbols and running her gloved fingertips over them, tracing the shapes as though the extra attention will help her make sense of them.]

There must be some meaning to it. Inscriptions like these aren't placed without intent; it might be a history of some kind, or biographical information of some sort. Or details about what this structure was intended for.

[Because of course, they know all about the importance of messages left on walls for others to find and the meanings behind them, don't they.]

[superordinary]

Maybe it's a tomb or something like that? Like the pyramids in Egypt. [ He looks over a line of symbols, trying to decipher the Unown hieroglyphics. ]

[freshprints]

[She flashes him a wry smile.]

In a world where death doesn't exist? That would be an oddity worth investigation.

[She pokes at the symbols a little more, drawn mostly by the curving O shapes as she studies them.]

If it is a tomb, or something like one, that'd suggest that these hallways are designed to keep out intruders. Whatever this was built to protect would be found in the innermost chamber — the one most shielded from discovery.

[superordinary]

I'm pretty sure death exists here to some extent, at least. I think there's a graveyard in Kanto...and wouldn't this world be a lot more crowded if no one died?

[ Unless the natives are all infertile to keep the population at a fixed number. ]

Let's keep moving. Maybe we'll find something.

[freshprints]

Or maybe it can only affect natives of this world, but not people brought here from others. Maybe the rules of this world are different for us than they are for the people who call it home.

[But she nods her agreement, leaving the wall she's been examining to fall into step next to him.]

It looks like there's a corner up ahead.

[superordinary]

Maybe...this world probably wants to keep us guests alive.

[ If he were a different character, he would've suggested killing a member of the local population to see if death affects them. Fortunately, Naegi is not a different character so instead of making morbid suggestions, he's going to move ahead and round that corn--

--oh hey, that sounds a lot like the battle music and that thing floating in the air looks like a D. ]

[freshprints]

"Guests" has a better sound to it than "refugees" or "prisoners", doesn't i—

[Well, hello, battle music, you sure are a thing, all right.

Kirigiri carefully resists the urge to step ahead of Naegi and put an arm out to keep him from advancing any further, partly because she has better control of her instincts than that, and partly because it's kind of silly for her to try to be the one shielding him when rationally, his team is going to stand a better chance in a fight than hers would.]

Is that one of them?

[superordinary]

Looks like it. Yumie, are you ready? [ The birdthing chirps as if to say "yes" and darts forward to put itself between the wild Pokémon and Naegi. ]

Use Ancientpower. [ Conveniently enough, there are some stones scattered haphazardly on the floor. Yumie waves her arms, causing the stones to float up before launching them at the Unown. The attack connects and the Unown promptly falls to the floor without fanfare. ]

[freshprints]

[...Well, that was...surprisingly easy. And it's got Kirigiri experiencing a fresh wave of appreciation for the fluffy birdthing in their midst, because her previous attempts at training her roster have never gone so...smoothly.]

That went well.

[Meanwhile, she reaches for her gear and takes aim at the downed Unown, activating the Dex.]

"When alone, nothing happens. However, if there are two or more, an odd power is said to emerge."

[superordinary]

An odd power... [ He looks at Kirigiri, and then at the Unown on the floor. Its eye is still open, but the pupil is unfocused. ]

Maybe this place is dedicated to the Unown, then. I wonder what sort of power they possess.

[freshprints]

I wonder if we'll be in trouble for...

[She pauses, trying to find the right word — because "assaulting" is the one she wants, or possibly "attacking", but those both sound a little more aggressive than what she's actually comfortable with.]

...waylaying this one. Should we move it? Or just be on our way?

[From the tone of her voice, she seems to favor the latter, given the fact that the "odd power" the Dex mentioned sounds fairly ominous indeed.]

[superordinary]

We should probably move it so no one steps on it, at least. It is a living thing.

[ Naegi thinks about it for a seconds before bending down to pick up the Unown. He then props it against the stone wall. ]

[freshprints]

[Such is the life of the protagonist: always doing the jobs the supporting characters won't. Meanwhile, Kirigiri's keeping a close watch on the Unown to make sure it doesn't lash out while Naegi's moving it, but then after a minute she cocks her head and throws a glance further down the hall like she's just heard something.

Briskly, she unclips one of her own Pokeballs and brings out her Nincada, which scuttles enthusiastically up her sleeve and settles in comfortably on her shoulder.]

Another one's coming. One of the symbols on the wall just moved.

[superordinary]

Where? I don't see-- [ He's cut off by the shrill noise an Unown makes when it detaches itself from a wall and lunges forward, bright orbs of light forming around it as it prepares to attack. ]

[freshprints]

I've got it. Chevalier!

[This time, she's anticipating the attack, and her response is smooth and practiced — something she'd spent time cultivating, clearly. As she sidesteps to confront the oncoming Unown, the Nincada springs nimbly from her shoulder and swipes at it, chattering insistently the whole way.]