A Journey's Beginning

[kuponuts]

Daybreak Town, in the few months that had passed since the first coming of the forces of darkness now threatening the world, has become quite the little hub of activity. People from all over - People who wanted to travel and stay put, have peaceful lives and adventure - have gathered here, formed groups and alliances and joined unions. Started lives and shops and all sorts of things.

There's the different Unions, with their headquarters scattered around town. There's the inn, with comfortable rooms and a dining area on the ground floor, a marketplace where shopkeepers hawk their wares (and there are plenty of things people might need in these dangerous times), a tavern where people can meet and hear about jobs and problems they might be able to help with (for compensation of course!).

Perhaps you're in one of these places. Or perhaps you're even in the fountain main plaza, a common meeting location. Whatever the case, there's plenty to do, even if you aren't out on an adventure yet.

Later in the day...

Darkness falls over the village itself. Not a from clouds, or the sun setting, but an unnatural darkness that obscures vision and fills the unwary heart with dread. The villagers seem used to this. Many of them go inside, lock the doors, close the shutters. This is clearly something that has happened far too many a time.

However, it's up to those who are left outside, willingly or not, to actually fix the problem. Find and enter the pathway to the enemy itself, and defeat it.

Who knows what it might be, but it's definitely too big to be taken on alone.

Comments

[biggerthings]

[Daley is on a mission.

A mission to find her best friend. Because a certain someone is missing again. Ava had just gone out to get some groceries for the dinner they were gonna cook. And never come back. So, it's up to Daley, who actually has a sense of direction, to go find out where Ava actually ended up "exploring" (seriously if she had 5 munny for every time Ava tried to dodge around admitting she'd gotten lost...)

So she's running around. Peering in storefronts, catching the eyes of most people she meets. And occasionally, in more open spaces like the main walkway of town, she asks for help]

Hi, I'm looking for a friend of mine?

[glowing_embers]

[Pernelle has learned the fine art of walking and chewing gum. She has not, however, completely mastered walking and rummaging through her messenger bag full of letters from various moogles across the worlds. Thus as she rounds a corner, her attention on the letters instead of where she's going, she finds herself colliding with something and staggers backward with a yawp of alarm.]

Aa--! [There's a fluttering of paper as a handful of letters escape from the bag, and she quickly dives after them before turning to address the other girl she's bumped into.] Oh goodness, I am so sorry. Are you all right?

[biggerthings]

[And Daley herself stumbles, though she's able to get her feet back under her before she falls completely, thankfully. Despite this, she actually dives for the ground when she sees all the letters that the person she crashed into dropped. Daley helped knock them onto the ground after all, she can help pick them up!]

No, no I'm fine. I should've been watching where I was going. [She sounds incredibly sheepish as she holds up the letters she's picked up.] I'm sorry.

[Here's hoping they don't get caught in an infinite apology loop]

[glowing_embers]

[Did someone say infinite apology loop? Accepting the letters from the other girl, Pernelle shakes her head quickly.] Good grief, you're right, what was I thinking? Why in all the worlds' names couldn't you see through that building around the corner so you would know I was coming?

[And then a grin as she swiftly places the letters back in her bag and extends a hand, expecting a shake in return.]

I'm Pernelle. You can just call me Nel. I think I've seen you around the square before, haven't I?

[protoshard]

[Someone's a bit overwhelmed.

This world is entirely different than anything he's used to. A'rayum's natural sense of orientation is useless, as it's not a matter of elevation. It's an odd feeling, to not innately know where one is. Structures tower up out of nowhere, not natural things... not at all like the plateaus and mesas he's used to.

He's managed to steal some clothes from a line somewhere. The shirt was easy enough to figure out, though the buttons are a mystery. The coat seems almost redundant and he lets it hang open because the buttons again. However, he's currently staring down a pair of pants... he's not really sure what the function of them is. He's quite pleased with the leather skirt-thing he has going on, even if it looks very out of place in the town.

He frowns at the pants and sighs, turning them over. One leg goes in one hole, the other leg goes in the other, but... there's not a lot of room in there. Maybe these are for women instead? That might make more sense. Ladies don't need extra space in the crotch area of their garments.

A'rayum prods the pants again as though they'll explain themselves, sitting back looking doubtful.]

[glowing_embers]

[As Pernelle passes an alleyway, she thinks she sees something odd out of the corner of her eye. Pausing and backing up, she stands in the mouth of the sidestreet and peers at the figure therein. She's quite sure that she's never seen anyone that looks quite like this fellow does, even in all her travels. More than that, he's holding up a pair of pants and looking quite befuddled by them. The whole presentation is a bit peculiar, and she can't quite help but stare curiously.]

Uhm... excuse me... are you lost?

[Or in need of the fashion police?]

[protoshard]

[There's the prickly feeling of being watched and he quickly turns his head. There's someone there, someone with the same sort of sickly pale skin that many of the people here have, and hair of a colour he's never seen before. He stares for a moment, before realizing that he's been asked a question.

He thrusts the pants in her direction.]

Excuse me, whak are fese?

[glowing_embers]

[She stares right back, noting the odd stripes on this man's face and then tearing her eyes away so he doesn't think she's being rude. When he turns toward her and gestures with the pair of pants, she is grateful for the context, because she isn't certain she would know what he'd asked otherwise.

[She blinks, then gestures at her own pants with one hand.]

They're... pants? Trousers? You wear them on your legs. [Or, well... most people do, so far as she knows. True, some men in other worlds wear robes (men of status in her own home world wore them, at that), and in some worlds it was very unusual for a woman to wear pants instead of a skirt, but... she had yet to come across anyone who genuinely didn't know what pants were.]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that you're from out of town.

[protoshard]

[Well, he'd gotten that far. Perhaps they were on the same page about these pant-trouser-things. Then again, she was wearing something vaguely similar... perhaps his earlier idea was correct.]

So, fey are for womem?

[That's... an odd way to put it, but it's more than correct and he nods in response, the arm holding the pants drooping a little as he considers them again.]

Yes, you coulg say fat. Fis is mok my kown.

[glowing_embers]

They're for both? [She scratches her head.] Both men and women can wear pants. In some places it's unusual for women to wear them, though.

[Okay wow what is up with that accent? Who said anything about fat? Did these pants make her look fat? No, wait, that wasn't what he... Oh.]

Not your town. [It's less a correction and more an affirmation that she understood what he said.] Well, then... welcome, I guess? This place is called Daybreak. [She steps forward and offers a hand to shake.] My name's Pernelle. Where are you from?

[protoshard]

[The pants will remain a mystery, and he shakes his head.]

Fey rook umcomforkabur. Where goes ik all go?

[Yes, he's looking down into the pants as though there's a magic pocket in there.

You're one to talk there miss, but your accent is light and pleasing even if you're making some really odd sounds at times.]

Ah, are you from here? Fank you. Gaybreak... ik is very prekky... buk so gifferemk.

Permer... [He would apologize for pronouncing it wrong except he can't figure out that weird sound at the end okay...] Ik is mice ko meek you. Ah... we car-ed our rang Mar'ash.

[It's still weird to think of these places as worlds.]

[greytilia]

[He isn't the only one not quite used to this peculiar town - really, she was much more accustomed to small village life on the edge of the lotus forest. Though she could not help but stop when she saw someone in a....loin cloth? no, that didn't quite cover it. It more looked akin to a skirt.

Shaking the thought from her mind, she thought she should at least greet him - poor dear seemed lost and there was no purple cat to help. :C]

Oh, I do hope I'm not being a bother, but are you perhaps new to this town as well?

[She smiles. Fashion tastes in other worlds are so bizarre-

So saith the one with a literal flower hat.]

[protoshard]

[He looks up quickly from his pants dilemma, staring at the girl curiously. Pale skin, like so many here... and what was wrong with her head? It looked like a plant was trying to eat her head! His eyes went wide and he dropped the pants, pointing at her in alarm.]

Your heag! Fere's somefim om your heag!

[greytilia]

[She blinks, tilting her head slightly. What on earth was-?

Oh.

Ooooohhhhhhh...

Right. She giggles, as if it were some joke, before taking off her cap.]

Not to worry, sir. It's only a hat-- see?

[She holds it out to him. See? Completely harmless and nothing in it but some cloth lining the inside.]

[protoshard]

[He doesn't trust the hat at first, shuffling a little closer as though it's going to leap from her hand to try to bite him. Of course, it doesn't, and eventually he gets close enough to finger it and feel that it's made from the same sort of cloth that the clothes he's stolen are.]

Oh. My aporogies. Ik remimgeg me of somefim...

[Namely, one of the various trap plants that consumed other creatures in an attempt to gain nutrients. There hadn't been one large enough to eat a man, but one never knew on other worlds...

Which of course reminds him of his other quandry, and he points at the abandoned pants.]

How go fose work?

[greytilia]

[She watches him examine it for a moment, smiling just a bit more before placing it back on her head. It's been a while since she evoked such a strong reaction - reasons she quite missed her old clothes before she abandoned the skirt for a more battle-appropriate pants and shirt.]

Quite alright, kind sir.

[Though she is wondering what he could mean. After all, there aren't trap plants in Wonderland... The area she's from, anyway.]

The pants?

[How queer... she never knew anyone who didn't know how pants worked. o:]

Why, you place one leg in each pant leg, of course! [Wait, if he doesn't know how pants work? ...May want to tell him one last thing.] Preferably so the metal zipper is in the front so you can zip it up.

[protoshard]

[He makes a slightly frustrated gesture, as he's already figured that much out.]

Mo, no. Where goes ik all go? Fere's mo room im fere... fere's jusk kwo hores!

[greytilia]

[..................................

Well, this a bit awkward. At least it would be for those in this town. She has heard so many strange things that were "normal" back home, though this is definitely a first for this sixteen year old girl.]

I do believe youjust put them in and it falls into place naturally?

[Mind: blown. Oh, how she wishes her father had come with her to explain this...]

[protoshard]

[Well, he'll trust her judgment on these things, since clearly she has some experience with pants.]

I see. Wer, famk you for your imsighk. Ik seems a bik og, as fere goesn'k seem ko be much room... maybe ik's more spacious fam ik rooks...

[starlux]

Shards again?

[They'd become useful eventually, sure, but at the moment Meira doesn't need them, she needs Mythril Stones. She's going to have words with these Moogles next time she sees them, because she's convinced the mission rewards aren't random. No, the Moogles are messing with her. She's sure of it.

It's a Moogle conspiracy.]