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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 18:38:08 GMT -5
It's been six months.
Six month since a human took a step, or a breath, aboard Destiny. Since then it's roamed alone - traversing the same path it was always programmed to. Still off on the quest its makers had set it on so many years ago, now once again unchanged by the presence of people.
But not for much longer.
No one could've predicted that Destiny would drift through THAT galaxy, on its way to recharge from THAT sun. And no one could've predicted that it would decide to dial THAT gate, just to check that it was still working. But nevertheless, that's how it happened. And, soon after the dialing was complete, Thomas Scott came tumbling through it.
Rain's:
Thomas Scott Marian Wallace Eleanor Rush Sara Young
Hawk's: Toby Greer Steven Young Jaavi
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 18:46:08 GMT -5
Jaavi was sitting alone, pretending to read a book while she sat poised inconspicuously near a few of the humans, her eyes following their movements unblinkingly. To anyone that saw her, she might have been studying for a particularly difficult school assignment from her expression.
Toby's hand slipped, his eyes widening in dismay as the pile of vegetables he had been dragging around in a cart-like object spilled sending its contents scattering. "No, no no no oh no...." he muttered, kneeling to clean his mess.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 18:54:11 GMT -5
Sara sat sprawled lazily across a nearby bench, touching up her cat-eye makeup in her little hand mirror. She was frowning slightly as it smeared - she never could get this right. The inks she had access to never seemed to stick properly to her skin. How did Jaavi always do hers so well, anyway?
Thomas hastily stepped backwards as the soft vegetables smashed against his shoes. "Ugh...not again." he sighed, staring at the pile of ruined food, then at the bump in the road that had caused the spill. He wiped his shoes against the ground, trying to get the fruit guts off.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 19:01:20 GMT -5
"I'm really sorry." Toby apologized, grabbing the smashed fruit before he could stop himself in an attempt to clean up before any got ruined and pulling his now-messy hand away in disgust. "It's that stupid bump, it always gets me...I wish I could remember it was there."
Jaavi, her own makeup flawless as usual, reached up unconsciously to touch the ridges along the side of her face as she studied Sara. The human girl worked so hard at getting the paint right, yet the mistake was obvious. Still, it didn't even occur to the alien to point it out.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 19:08:34 GMT -5
Sara finally gave up and tucked the makeup bag back in her leather jacket's pocket. Good enough. She ruffled her short blonde hair to make it stand up more and heaved a sigh, leaning her head back. Today had been boring...she could go bridge jumping again, but if her parents caught her in that river again she'd be grounded for sure.
"Don't say sorry to me." said Thomas, scowling at the fruit. "You know my mom's not gonna let me come over later if this stuff doesn't get home."
"Boys?" called Marian, poking her head out of a nearby door. "Mama says she's almost ready - " She cut herself off. "Oh, please don't tell me that's dinner!"
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 19:16:29 GMT -5
"It's only a couple." Toby defended himself, a slight blush appearing in his cheeks as he was ganged up on. "Besides, it's not like it's the main course...right?" He reached up and ran his hand through his hair anxiously, realizing too late that his hand had been stained with fruit juice he pretended he hadn't remembered.
Jaavi stiffened, her cold, dark blue eyes, following the girl's hand movements exactly. Technically, no one had told her to watch the aliens, but someone had to as these people never seemed to be able to control themselves. Bridge jumping, for instance. Why in the stars would anyone want to jump off a bridge?
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 19:24:50 GMT -5
Marian fixed him with a strict stare that she kept up for exactly five seconds before smiling, rolling her eyes, and closing the door behind her. "It's fine." she said pleasantly, a murderous look behind her smile. "We'll just have to go get more. It's not like I had anything else I wanted to do today." She walked past them, grabbed the cart handle, and started back up the hill. Thomas fixed Toby with a now look what you've done stare.
"Brother of mine?" called Sara into the house she was next to. "Marian's going on a walk. I'm going too, wanna come?"
H&R)
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 19:31:08 GMT -5
Toby shrugged, started after Marian. "She's not telling Mom, I'm not complaining." He explained over his shoulder.
The tall blond boy appeared in the doorway, grinning. "Definitely. If you go, I go, and she goes, something's bound to happen. Maybe we can even get Ellie for some real sparks."
Jaavi sighed, closing her book silently and standing, trying to remain completely inconspicuous.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 19:33:44 GMT -5
"Aw, hell yeah." said Sara, grinning back and trotting to catch up to the others. "Where is she, anyway?"
Thomas shook his head and followed Toby.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 19:41:56 GMT -5
"Probably wherever most of the others are." Steven pointed out, pulling a chunk of rough, dark bread out of his pocket and tearing into it hungrily. "Bet were gonna be late for dinner." He added in explanation.
"What else did you want to do today?" Toby asked curiously after they had been walking for a minute. "I mean, you were being sarcastic, right?"
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 19:47:54 GMT -5
"I was gonna go check on the new lambs." said Marian matter-of-factly. "I haven't been down to see them in a few days."
"Hey guys." called Eleanor, breaking away from her circle of friends and running towards the group. "What's up?"
"Thomas and Toby ruined dinner again." said Sara bluntly. "We're helping them fix it so we don't all starve."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 19:56:21 GMT -5
Right, because no one else would ever trip. Nope. Especially not over a large bump in the middle of the street. The sarcastic response rose to Toby's lips, but somehow he couldn't actually say them out loud. "I haven't actually seen them yet." He said instead, focusing on Marian.
"Wanna come?" Steven added to Ellie, raising his eyebrows. "Unless your pack would miss you too much."
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 20:02:35 GMT -5
"Nah...they're cool." said Ellie. "Veggie picking it is."
"Yeah, they're - wait." Marian turned around in a circle. "Hang on...did we take a wrong turn?"
"Oh, great." said Thomas. "So we're not getting dinner, and now we're gonna be late for whatever Marian's mum does cook up. No more games for me, not for at least a week. That's awesome." He sat down on a rock, attempting to come to terms with his imminent grounding.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 20:09:28 GMT -5
Toby frowned, turning around in confusion. "I've never been here before." He said nervously, taking a couple of steps forward and poking around the grass with his toe. "Have any of you been here before?"
"I knew something was going to happen." Steven picked up a small rock and threw it, seemingly on an impulse, he was grinning now. "C'mon Marian, how many times have you been through that route? And you still manage to take a wrong turn."
Jaavi folded her arms, watching from afar. Unfortunately, since she wasn't making herself visible, she also couldn't really hear them, so at the moment she was guessing at some kind of weird secret meaning.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 20:16:23 GMT -5
Marian sighed. "Yeah, funny." she said patiently. "Does anyone know which way to go?"
"You got me." said Sara. "I never go this way."
"Hey, what's that?" said Ellie, looking down the hill. "There, right at the bottom of the valley. Some kinda weird shaped rock."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 20:20:19 GMT -5
Toby turned, sharing his eyes and catching sight of the "rock". "What, that?" He asked, shaking his head slightly. "What about it?"
"Come on." Steven began to God directly towards the object, not waiting for the others to follow.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 20:24:14 GMT -5
Steven began to God directly towards the object Steven's now a Greek god) Ellie followed, then Sara. "Wait, guys!" called Marian. "Come on..." she sighed impatiently, reluctantly following them down into the valley. "Holy stars..." said Thomas, examining the object. "What do you guys think it is?"
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 20:32:15 GMT -5
XD Steven get over yourself. )
"Guys, what about...." Toby trailed off, discovering that everyone else had left. "Dinner." He finished regretfully, starting after them. He supposed his family would save him something as long as he was back before dark, but after that they knew he knew he should know better. In other words, no stew.
"Not natural." Steven put in, reaching out and touching it. "Wow...the others can't have built it, can they? I mean, if they could build stuff like this, they wouldn't still be using broken down carts."
Staying unseen became less of a priority the closer Jaavi got to the giant wheel, she stopped farther away from it then the others but didn't bother hiding her presence. Instead, she glared at the thing mistrustfully while scanning it for clues as to its origin.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 21:22:10 GMT -5
Suddenly, the circle made an ominous groaning sound and began to rotate counterclockwise. Thomas hopped backward, watching it with fascination. "It's doing something!" he exclaimed.
"Thanks, Captain Obvious." said Sara, backing away. "Maybe we should go..."
"Are you kidding?" said Ellie, walking a circle around it as it ground to a halt, then began to rotate clockwise. "This is incredible!"
"Incredibly weird and creepy? I agree." said Marian, retreating back to the cart. "Guys. We've heard the stories. Remember history lessons? The drones had tech like this."
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 21:36:27 GMT -5
"Let's at least let it finish." Steven offered his opinion, watching the huge thing curiously. "I mean, what if it's something really cool and we never find out? You've gotta live a little, sis."
"Really guys...maybe we should just go." Toby sounded scared, he gave a little cough to try and even his voice out. Now if only his hands would stop sweating long enough for him to convince them all to leave.
"What did you do?" Jaavi spoke for the first time, her tone accusing even though she had been there the whole time.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 21:46:51 GMT -5
"Yeah, and I'd like to keep living past today, if it's all the same to you." snapped Sara as the thing spun another counterclockwise rotation.
"Nine symbols." said Thomas. "Three more to go."
"Okay, really guys. We don't know what we're dealing with here - we need to get home." said Marian. "Come on." She backed up a few steps.
"We didn't do it." said Ellie offhandly, noticing Jaavi. "It just started up by itself." She watched the rings, fascinated. The sound felt...familar somehow. Like she could swear she'd heard it before, but she couldn't place it.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 21:55:18 GMT -5
Toby glanced at Marian, then Thomas. Truthfully, he was curious about what was going to happen...but he wasn't that curious. "I'm with Marian on this one. Come on, please?" He pressed, eying the symbols anxiously.
Jaavi unsheathed a long dagger, holding it in front of her as she stared at the turning wheel. If something happens, I'm not risking my life for theirs. They'll have to figure it out on their own.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 21:59:41 GMT -5
The wheel stopped spinning with a soft click as the stone arrow slid into place. The sound activated something in Ellie's brain. Some warning in the back of her skull, like some old voice from beyond her memory was warning her of that noise. "Get back!" she warned as she and Sara backed up at the same moment.
Thomas scrambled backward, running into Jaavi.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 22:08:23 GMT -5
Steven scrambled backwards just in time, getting the same internal sense of danger. "Don't worry, it's fine, it's fine." He reassured the group in general, keeping dangerously close to the gate.
Jaavi let out her breath in a huff of surprise, kicking forward in an automatic attempt to knock him down, then giving him a raised eyebrow look that was reminiscent of an offended cat.
"What is it?" Toby backed away as well, turning to stare at Ellie. "Do you know what this is?"
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 22:14:00 GMT -5
"No." said Ellie simply. "I just...I just had a feeling." she said, feeling a little sheepish.
"Steven, get back." said Sara, pulling him back to where she was anxiously. Just then, startling the whole group, a watery, billowing substance shot out from the gate with a WHOOSH, then pulled back and settled in the circle, looking like a vertical puddle.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 22:20:28 GMT -5
"Sara-" But whatever Steven had been about to say, it was cut off when the....whatever it was happened. He took another step backwards, stiffening. "Woah. What the..."
Toby gave a little squeak, scrambling away and falling over backwards. "Okay. Okay. Can we go home now? We should really, really report this...like, five minutes ago..."
Jaavi's posture shifted, her dark blue eyes widened as she stared at the puddle. Whatever it was, it wasn't natural. Which meant it was created by intelligent beings. Which mean it was probably dangerous.
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 20, 2016 22:27:10 GMT -5
"Try ten minutes ago." said Marion, glancing nervously about. "Guys, we need to be gone. This could be really bad. THOMAS!" she shrieked, alarmed, as Thomas stuck his hand through the sideways puddle.
Thomas's eyes were very wide as he watched his hand disappear. "No, look. It's fine." he said shakily, a small smile on his face. "Feels normal."
Ellie flinched as he stuck his hand in, half expecting him to start screaming at any moment.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 20, 2016 22:33:11 GMT -5
Toby gasped, now very pale. "You're hand is still...well, can you still feel it?" He asked when he got his voice back, eyes wide with both fear and wonder.
Steven came over eyeing Thomas's lack of a hand. "That's...Really amazing." He admitted, putting his own hand through. "He's right, it's okay."
Jaavi moved around to the other side, but the two boy's hands were nowhere to be found there either, even when she carefully looked in the exact place they should be protruding. Was it witchcraft?
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Post by <Raintalon> on Nov 21, 2016 11:23:44 GMT -5
"Yeah...see?" said Thomas, unaware that his hand had vanished. He pulled it back out and promptly stepped through the portal. "It's fi-"
"Thomas?" called Marion. Ellie immediately ran around to the other side but there was no one there.
Sara ran her hands through her hair, trying not to panic.
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Post by ®Hawkpath® on Nov 21, 2016 11:33:29 GMT -5
"Woah." Steven jerked his hand backwards, grabbing it as if expecting it to be burned. "Thomas? Hello?" He called, walking around to the other side while calling the other boy's name. After he had gone all the way around, he went behind the gate again, jaw set. "Screw this." He muttered, and with a running head start he too went through, vanishing instantly.
Toby's mouth flew up, clapping over his mouth in horror. "They're hands were alright..." he pointed out shakily, his insides freezing up in a panicky sensation. "Maybe they'll come back."
"The idiots." Jaavi backed away, staring at the gate in disbelief.
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