The Ninth Trial

[advisories]

Who: everyone
When: Day 18, starting just after dawn
Where: The Hermit's Tent, and all around

[This morning as the sun begins to pour through the train's windows, there's the tremor that signals a Trial.]

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth. Or something like that!

[It's the same older man's voice from the sixth trial, and outside is the same fortune teller's stall. Today the front flap is lifted to show a normal interior -- there's a wooden table, carved with geometric patterns and painted in bright colours, lit by teal-coloured carved candles.

At the table sits a man of indeterminate age, somewhere between 30 and 60. He's wearing what appear to be monk's robes, teal with patterned trimming. In front of him is a crystal ball and a stack of bingo cards, along with a stand-up sign bearing the rules of this Trial.

Across the top in large font, it says:

Icebreaker Bingo

Good luck and have fun!]

Comments

[voreaciously]

[Honestly, she isn't going to judge. She's a weird person even if she doesn't always get all of why and she cannot like, begrudge someone esoteric preparation.

It's a little endearing actually.]

No, I suppose not. It is good to be prepared.

[bad_crowmance]

[ It's not endearing, it's PRACTICAL. ]

Exactly!

[voreaciously]

What sort of toys do cats enjoy?

[bad_crowmance]

Let's see... Mice with catnip inside, those teaser wands you can dangle at them, a ball, springs....

[voreaciously]

[Stuffing a dead mouse with catnip sounds reasonable. Cats like dead things, don't they?]

I see. You are quite the connoisseur.

[bad_crowmance]

[ 80H, no. Toys! Toys! Dead mice aren't toys! ]

I'm sure there's some that I'm missing. After all, those are just ones I can carry.

[voreaciously]

[tell that to cats!!]

You carry all of them?

[bad_crowmance]

Not generally at once.

[voreaciously]

Well, seeing as how you can manipulate space for no discernible reason I was not certain.

[SERIOUSLY.



HOW DO YOU DO THE THING!!!]

It really is unfair and a mystery...

[bad_crowmance]

Haha, it's really not that mysterious.

[voreaciously]

It is because it is something you are used to! Even now, you cannot give me a satisfactory explanation for it, it is simply something you do, instinctively. And I cannot sense anything odd about it, myself.

[Honestly, she's not mad at him, and that is clear, but it's infuriating in that it is a mystery that is being kept from her that she likely cannot investigate.

Fuck you jrpg mechanics!!!!]

[bad_crowmance]

That's because there's nothing odd to sense. It's not like it's magic or anything, I'm just putting my guns away.

[voreaciously]

Normally, when someone puts their guns away, they holster them. They do not disappear into parts, places, or planes unknown.

[She sighs, a little defeated, but makes herself feel better with fish.

Yummy, yummy fish.]

The fact that you do not understand how strange it is is exactly my point.

[bad_crowmance]

I am holstering them.

[ Just into parts unknown-- to her, anyway. ]

[voreaciously]

[ok u know what

she's turning on her magic eyes and her voice goes all spoopy and layered and echoing.]

Mes yeux voient vers les cieux infinis!

[she will probably see nothing BUT SHE NEEDS TO VERIFY THIS.]

[bad_crowmance]

[ It depends on whether or not the spell can see through JRPG mechanics. If it can't, then there's just nothingness as far as the eye can see. If it can, then she'd see the guns holstered by his hips.... in nothingness. ]

What's that one do?

[voreaciously]

It expands my perception. [Among other shit.] I used it the first time I gave you a massage, as well.

[I'm gonna say it does




so she's just like. more baffled.











HOW IS THIS A THING??]

This simply makes even less sense...

[bad_crowmance]

[ He can't help it, he laughs at her confusion. ]

I told you!

[voreaciously]

[She clicks her tongue.]

It must function by some means that I do not yet comprehend. That is fine. I will return to this conundrum.

[She will let her eyes fade to normal--not that they were terribly visible in the first place because BLINDFOLD!--but not before looking at Crow, getting a feel for how his tension's been doing.]

But it is a very advantageous method. Is there a size limit?

[She would actually shit a brick and xeno and leo]

[bad_crowmance]

[ He shrugs casually at that. ]

Well, I won't be holstering anything too much bigger than I am.

[voreaciously]

[See, he MENTIONED that and now she is thinking, chewing methodically and staring intently. Blindfolded, but staring.






Can he?

And does it have to be a weapon? What constitutes a "weapon"?]

Really, what a fantastic advantage, too.

[bad_crowmance]

You're really into this, aren't you?

[voreaciously]

Well, consider! [The answer is yes! Yes, she is! And she gestures idly with her chopsticks for emphasis.]

If someone or something suspects you unarmed, you could exploit that readily if you've skill enough. Of course, it is not foolproof and the strongest individuals can adapt, but it is not something to be discounted, either.

[Considering her own preferred fighting style, at times, that is particularly attractive.]

[bad_crowmance]

I've definitely got the skill.

[ And the confidence to back it up. ]

[voreaciously]

[Ah, did he remember that he could fight, then? Curious.]

If you face someone, I would like to see it.