[Alright. When last we went off almost 6 months ago, Arisa, Julie, and Sheila were trekking back up to the former Crystal room, where Taki was doing strange experiments. Because her ice formation stuff was acting weird. Yep.] [Arisa was all stompy, too. Isn't that Taki's job? Oh well.] [Uh... ok, right. So people walk in the room, and Taki is in the midst of forming ice platforms in the water. She has two formed so far, and is working on a third.] [That's more or less it. Oh. And Julie's wearing boots. And it's cold and windy.] [And since nobody's talking, The Game... WITH NO NAME. Session 11. No, really, 11! Starto!] * Taki is standing on the second platform, it's a pillar of ice that comes up an inch or so over the surface of the water, and staring into the water where the third one is forming. She doesn't seem to have noticed the other three come back, and her axe is on the ground near where the stream comes out of the pool. * Arisa finishes stomping her way out and looks at Taki. Boy, she looks miffed. She puffs out her cheeks and crosses her arms, watching Taki but otherwise doesn't do anything. * Taki continues to stare down at the water, concentrating on her pillar as it slowly grows up to the surface. [Julie and Sheila follow. Sheila looks bouncy, Julie slightly puzzled. The fiery one asks, "You found anything yet?"] * Taki doesn't respond, or even look like she heard the question. Even if she has, she wouldn't bother to tell us. Honestly. [Sheila walks around the room, looking at things with a small smile on her face.] * Taki concentraits and concentraits and then... crouches down to watch the last few inches form. [The last few inches do indeed form. She's only a short hop from the middle of the 15 foot wide pool or so, now.] * Khalil has joined #wnn * Taki vanishes from the second pillar and appears on the third before she stands up. She looks intently at the middle of the pool of water and starts to freeze a much narrower pillar into place from the bottom up. * Arisa has quit IRC (Ping timeout) * Khalil is now known as Arisa -herring.sandwich.net:@#wnn- Mechalink invited Dicesuke into channel #wnn * Dicesuke has joined #wnn 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-2) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 8. (DR1) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-2) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 7. (I guess I'll keep that.) [The pillar starts to form from the bottom, but as it gets higher, it suddenly cracks and dissolves in the middle, disconnecting the top-half from the bottom.] * Taki 's hand clench into fists and she takes a sharp breath. Then she closes her eyes and lets it out slowly. Two breaths later she opens her eyes and starts to concentrait again, but with her hands still clenched. * Arisa watches carefully and drops her pout, uncrossing her arms and sighing. "I guess the balance of water is still very fragile here." * Taki pays no attention what so ever to the pointy-eared person. [This time it goes a bit better! Whee thin columns. While Julie shakes her head and walks over to one of the windows at Arisa's comment, Sheila says cheerily, "It's still very beautiful."] * Arisa speaks quietly. "Beautiful for a dead place." 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-2) and gets a natural 10 for a result of 8. (I get no love from dicy) * Taki regrows the fourth pillar after it cracked off, but when it reaches a few inches above the surface of the water it suddenly stops. She blinks and then smirks evily. "Found you." * Taki glares into the empty space above the pillar. [It's empty space! Ooooooo.] * Taki raises her right hand and tries to get the pillar to grow again. * Arisa watches Taki's insanity curiously and tries to see if she can see whatever Taki can. [Sheila bounces over and says in a chipper manner, "Oh, you did Takishimiru?" She peers where Taki is looking.] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-2) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 7. * Arisa looks over at Sheila for a moment. "Do you even know what she is looking for?" ["Um... nope?" She says in an almost embarassed manner, before finishing, "But I'm certain it's good!"] [Julie looks back from her brief looking outside to the contest of icy wills and walks over slowly.] With her, who can tell. * Taki grits her teeth as her pillar actualy starts melting a bit. * Arisa glances back at where Taki is, trying to get a feel for things. [Sheila gasps a little and says, "Careful, Takishimiru! Your ice isn't staying icy!"] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-2) and gets a natural 3 for a result of 1. (...) [Taki's efforts suddenly manage to solidify! No wet Taki contest today.] * Arisa sighs and looks at Taki for a moment in sympathy before murmering to herself. "I wish I had the materials for Sleeping Drought about now..." [Julie glances over to Arisa and quips, "Bored enough to nap?"] * Arisa eyes Julie. "No. For her." She points her thumb over at Sheila. * Taki drops her hands as the pillar comes to a stop three feet above the water. She stares at it for a moment and then shakes her head. "There you are... but what are you?" (Julie has yet to realize that "bored" is not in Arisa's vocabulary.) * Taki crouches down and cups her hands in the water. [Julie manages a little laugh, while Sheila looks over at Arisa and protests, "But I'm not _tired_! And Takishimiru's so close to... something! I'm sure of it!"] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-2) and gets a natural 9 for a result of 7. * Taki scowels at the water and then rises and splashes it the top of the pillar. [The water is splashed and seems to hang in the air for a second, above the top of the pillar, before continuing on to fall.] * Arisa smiles slightly at Sheila. "I know you aren't. That's the point." She looks over at Taki's splashing. "There is something there, certainly. But what it is, for good or ill, I have no idea." [Sheila blinks, then hmphs and looks back at the weirdness. Julie says, "You said... essence of the crystal, maybe. We can hope."] * Taki snorts at it and vanishes back to where her axe is. She blinks as she finaly notices the others and points an accusing finger at Arisa and Sheila. "How long have you been here?" * Arisa takes in a deep breath, letting her shoulders sag. "I did, didn't I? And whatever it is, it is up to her to get. I only pray that she does right in the end." [Sheila looks at Taki like she's crazy. How could Taki not notice her?] (Sheila doesn't realize that Taki's crazy has nothing to do with not paying attention.) * Arisa looks at Taki calmly. "Long enough. Do you know the nature of what exactly you found?" * Taki side glances at the the central pillar. "Whatever's left of the crystal." The glance deepens into a glare. But it is invisible? * Arisa blinks and peers at the area. "Or at the very least, very tiny." Maybe. I'm not getting close enough to find out. I don't think it likes me much. [Whatever's left of the crystal doesn't glare back. It doesn't much look like it's there at all. Sheila leans over the edge of the pool and peers. Julie mms and goes, "It did... make the water hang for a moment." Beat. "Unless that was you?"] I doubt she would waste much time in such a pointless endeavor. * Taki turns her glare to Julie for a second. "That wasn't me." * Arisa looks at Taki. "Have you tried touching it?" [Julie looks back a moment and then huffs. "By Or'ma'kal, you two are in horrible moods."] * Taki focuses on Arisa. "No, no I haven't." (I have to do another laundry run. Be back in a few. *sighs with annoyance*) Perhaps you should... If you want to find out what an enraged and desperate entity that's lost everything is willing to do to the next thing that it gets in its power... well it'll be your arm. * Arisa sighs deeply and looks at Taki. "I know very well what--" She stops herself and blinks at Taki. "Wait. Are you talking of yourself or the essence of the crystal?" * Taki deadpans. "Both." * Arisa puts her finger to her mouth. "Odd. I'd never considered that the crystal could be a living entity." (Damnit, I can't remember if Taki was around when Julie explained how they were made) (Well, the Human story of how they were made everyone was around for.) (Which is to summarize, god sex makes crystals. Go humans, always boiling things down into sex.) (They're usually right though.) * Taki gestures at Shiela. "The product of the love of the gods." [Sheila walks around the outside of the bowl towards Arisa and Julie. She smiles and nods. "The great result of K'lra'k and Shr'mi'wry's mating..." then she trails off a moment, "Alive for itself? I always was tought the life was the people..."] [Julie purses her lips before saying, "It... makes sense, doesn't it?"] * Arisa blinks and snaps her fingers. "Oh! Yes. But still, that doesn't necessarily mean it would have a consciousness. Still..." She purses her lips. "What if we told it that we were going to try and help it come back?" * Taki shrugs. "I don't know. You're welcome to go over there and find out." I mean, short of that, it seems the only way is to get the gods to have sex again. (... Stunningly blunt for Arisa.) ( I approve of this plan!) (She can be that!) ( Yeah, gods best get to fuckin'! *smacks one hand into the other*) (...not THAT blunt.) (I know, but that's a funny image.) * Arisa then takes in a breath. "But...Miss Taki Shimiru. It seems to me that you would be the best candidate. It is your element more than mine." * Taki closes her eyes and then opens them again. "If I die here, all three of me are going to haunt you untill the ends of time and space." [Julie does grin a bit at Arisa's proposal. Sheila looks surprised a moment before nodding with the 'your element' thing. "Yeah, Takishimiru, if it's alive..." then she trails off with a confused look.] * Arisa shakes her head at Taki. "But. I am not real. So I suppose it does not matter." * Taki vanishes back onto the third pillar without a word, and thn thrusts her right arm out twords the center of the pool. [Julie glances over at Arisa, then pinches on her on the arm with a grin.] * Arisa drops her head. "Besides. I-- * Arisa yelps at the poking and looks at Julie surprised. "Ah! What? What??" (poking=pinching) ( Dithering is for other people.) [Julie grins. "Checking if you're real."] * Arisa pouts and rubs her arm, blushing furiously. "You know what I meant!" * Taki tilts her head and leans forward a bit. [Julie looks back towards Taki and says with a tinge of exasperation, "It doesn't matter what you meant. You're here, aren't you?"] [Nobody else looking on sees anything weird at Taki's hand.] * Arisa smiles slightly. "Yes. And no at the same time." * Taki tries to teleport onto the fourth pillar. [Poof! Taki displays her ability to balance on a pillar barely big enough for her.] [Sheila eeps at the suddenly balance act and stares upward.] * Taki demands of the world at large. "This all you've got left?" * Arisa has quit IRC (Ping timeout) * Arisa has joined #wnn [Careful onlookers start to see a slight shift in Taki's skin-tone. You may all be a bit blue from the cold (except Julie), but Taki's taking on a bit more of the blue tinge, slow bit by slow bit, all over.] * Taki snorts. "A bit better. Do you want our help or not? Left yes. Right no. Just keep this up if you don't understand." * Taki eyes her bare arms. "I think not." Then she vanishes and reappears at the edge. * Arisa nods slightly. "Just like the other crystal." * Arisa lets out a little sneeze from the chill. * Taki looks at Arisa. "What was that?" [Julie shakes her head out of stunnedness and says, "When Arisa touched our Jumo crystal, it..." she glances over to her.] * Taki looks at Arisa. "She seems to have survived." I felt somewhat of the same thing when touching the fire crystal. I never held on long enough to sense a consciousness though... * Taki shakes her head. "There's not much there if at all." * Arisa has quit IRC (Ping timeout) * Arisa has joined #wnn [Sheila smiles more. What a smiler. "Then it might not be gone!" Beat. "But... no crystal. That makes it hard!"] * Taki holds out her arm and watches to see if it starts turning back to pink. "Yeeees." [Yeah, it reverts pretty quickly.] [Julie eyes Taki's arm and then nods to herself before glancing around. "I think I'm going to go downstairs for a moment... can you all meet me where we came in to leave?" * Taki shrugs and walks over to her axe. We go to the wind village next, right? * Taki looks at her. "What makes you think anything would be different there?" (I thought the plan was to go beat on Vrmy.) (From log remembrance, anyway.) (That's Taki's plan) * Arisa looks at Taki. "Nothing. But this changes things. If the essense of the crystals remain, then perhaps the wind crystal may be different." (Although Julie probably wants to find the local library) (The plan was to speak to Vabul's Arm, but that was before Arisa knew the essense of the crystal still existed.) [Julie glances over at them a a moment, then heads downstairs, arms wrapped around herself because dammit, the wind sucks here.] * Taki picks up the axe and says, "It's your life," before she vanishes. [Shelia blinks at her disappearing, and then pouts. "She's gone! She always moves so fast!"] * Arisa sighs and waits, sitting down crosslegged. "And people have called me naive..." (Waits in the throne room?) (Well, crystal room.) [Sheila walks over to Arisa and says, "I wished she wasn't going places all the time." She sighs, then goes, "I guess we all have to be busy, though..."] (Yes.) Especially her apparently. * Arisa looks over at Sheila. "Why does it matter to you, I wonder..." [Sheila says, "Because there's no reason to disappear! We're all going to the same place, right?"] * Arisa takes in a deep breath. "We should be. I have a feeling we are not." [Sheila blinks and taps Arisa on the shoulder. "So you're just gonna sit here?"] * Arisa looks at Sheila. "There seems not much else to do at the time." She looks about at the atmosphere. "I would try the crystal myself, if I thought it would accept me..." [Sheila blinks, then laughs a little. "Arisalockheed, we have to go down to the place where we got here from!"] * Arisa looks up and blinks at her. "Oh." She blinks again and snaps up. "Oh! Right!" She dusts herself off and hurries. [Sheila laughs a bit more and follows cheerily, humming to herself. And rubbing her arms. Brr!] [It's easy to get downstairs! Taki's probably doing something by herself. Perhaps moping. Julie... not there!] * Arisa murmers a bit to herself. "I thought it was up.." She looks embarrassed but, surprisingly, she's not blushing." (Arisa has the power of go!) (Zen direction, and all.) [Sheila is still cheery. God, someone give her a sedative.] (She does. But only when she gets moving.) (* Taki cuts her head off.) (* Arisa glares and works on cleaning up the mess.) (Taki gonna desc?) (Oh! Sure) 2d6-4 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Taki (2d6-4) and gets a natural 3 for a result of -1. (Thanks dicy!) * Taki is in the circle room, and down at the bottom of the moat, once again making something out of ice. The details are still unclear, but it looks like it's going to be a life sized statue of a girl with shortish hair and a bit taller than Taki herself. * Arisa looks at it for a moment but doesn't comment. Because it's personal! [Sheila 's eyes widen and she goes, "Woooooow..." before sneaking that way.] * Arisa sticks out her scythe casually to trip Sheila. (The handle, I mean.) * Taki keeps concentrating at it, most of the time she just stands back and watches, but ocasionaly she'll step up to the work and run her hand across part of it. The details of her skirt and blazer are becoming clearer, even though the face is still unformed. [Mecha rolls in another window and Sheila doesn't see it. She trips over it and her arms windmill. "Aaah!" WHUMP. She looks up at Arisa, with a face full of mud. "What was that for?"] * Arisa stares at Sheila innocently. "What?" * Taki starts and looks over. * Arisa waves to Taki calmly. "Hello." [Sheila says hurridly, "This is what!" And she wipes mud off of her face, onto her hand, and then flicks it at Arisa. "Hmph!"] * Arisa takes the mud in the face and then blinks at Sheila. "Now wait one moment! Just because you humans are used to mud doesn't mean--" She sighs and looks at her clothes. "Now I need to bathe again." * Taki looks at both of them for a moment. "We going yet?" I know I am ready. [Sheila stands up and runs her hands over hearself, smoothing mud in some places and getting rid of it in others, before flicking it onto the ground. She looks pouty.] [Julie is still not there yet. Oh, wait, there she is, across the landbridge.] * Taki turns twords her unfinished statue, takes a step, stops, turns twords her axe and keeps walking forward untill she can pick it up. (As Julie walks and Sheila smooths, I'm running for my second to last laundry thing. Aiyah, laundry. ^^;) (Right, back. Oy.) [Julie crosses the landbridge, yep! She looks more or less herself. "We... all ready?"] Yes. * Arisa nods and walks forward towards Julie. (Here I was expecting Taki smash.) * Taki turns and walks to the center of the circle. [Julie stretches a bit before saying a bit weakly, "I... did you want to go to Om'ha'na or back to see Va'bul's Arm?"] I feel now we can gather all the information we can about the crystals before seeing her again. If the essence has survived...