The Midnight Train to Nowhere

[Fox of Hearts]

Ran stared at Victoria's impassive face, but her eyes betrayed her slightly. He allowed his hand to remain outstretched for awhile longer then withdrew it. The man smiled a little more and removed his hat in one fell swoop. He bowed. At least she didn't seem offended. Well if she was, the female soldier wasn't showing it.

"Well, guess we can always shake hands next time."

The artist was about to retreat to the safety of the far-end of the room when Toby prostrated himself before the woman's feet. The boy apologized for almost everything he said ever since she kicked down the door. There was an awkward silence.

"Toby, I think we should go." Ran said softly as he urged his young friend up.

They really should give the Nobody some space. His eyes searched the wall for a … ooops… he forgot there was no such thing as a clock in Nowhere. Well none other than that strange chimera in the forest surround Aven. He noticed a couple of beautiful plates on display and he felt inspired. Bingo!

"Hey, shall we have some tea and hot chocolate? We can even have some croquette pies if you like. I found potatoes under my bed this morning."

There was no response. Awkward, but well it gave him an excuse to leave. Slowly Ran inched away from the silent widow. His fingers remained wrapped round Toby's arm. They were practically in front of the kitchen when Ace spoke up. Ran turned to the girl and grinned. He let go and gave her two thumbs up.

"Love those ideas! Flames will really suit you. Shall we have some snacks first? I'm famished."

He was glad no one pointed out that they had breakfast not too long ago. If he could call that breakfast. It was just an odd meal consisting of assorted donuts, pasta with meatballs, cereal, cheese tarts and lemon soda. The adult opened the door leading to the kitchen. He was puzzled for a moment. There wasn't any door yesterday. Maybe he was thinking too much. He found potatoes under his bed after all. Ran glanced round the room.

"So anyone want to join me? Cooking spuds can be fun."

He allowed his voice to trail off. He doubted Jasper and Inadi would follow. They were sharing a cute couple moment. He wasn't too sure about Ace either. Toby? Where was the boy? Then he spotted Lelia. She was closer to him than the rest were.

"Lelia! Would you like to come?" He asked cheerfully. It would be nice to get to know another of the humans. Frankly he hadn't talked much to the rest other than Toby and Riley.

 

[Warden]

Gary whistled as she glanced around the living room. Talk about tension. The cool soldier lady seemed really chill with everything though. With her neutral expression and straight mouth, it was almost as if Victoria didn't have anything to say about the matter. What nobody knew was how much it took for her to keep up that mask of impassiveness as she boiled inside.

Her hand clenched around the hilt of her sword as she recalled Inadi's words. So, he acknowledged that her loss was valid yet at the same time unimportant? Oh, she was being overdramatic! After all, they were all going to lose whatever identity they had if they failed to get out of Nowhere, while she just simply had a "loved one" pass away. No big deal. She can mourn him! On the other hand we're going to turn into bunnies so you shouldn't be mean to us, you crazy redhead! Her eyes narrowed. It was as if… It was as if they were dismissing her pain! They were underrating his death! And this boy said that it was his onus to bear, yet how could he do so if he can't even realize how great the impact of Avian's sacrifice was?

If what that glasses-toting boy wasn't enough to fan the flames of her wrath, a girl stepped up and added a few more words of her own. She went on about how Victoria shouldn't underestimate the humans because they have iron will and how she lived alone when she was a kid… Blah blah the same old story of determined underdogs trumping over everything else. Let's see willpower stop a sword from embedding in your eye socket.

Before she could make good on her overwhelming urge to punch Inadi, Victoria's attention was snagged by a boy- the same one who called her a baker earlier. This one had guts, she had to admit, and one corner of her mouth twitched up. Toby had her full attention.

​

"I'm sorry for your loss. I've felt your sorrow before, and I don't want to feel it ever again. I really like all of my weakling friends here and I don't ever want to see them suffer the fate your husband did. I'm a weakling too, probably the biggest one. I've never even held a sword before."

"I want to be as strong as you Victoria! Actually, I want to be stronger. I want to protect everyone I love so they can continue living and I can continue loving them, and being around them y'know? Because they're the greatest."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, can you help me not be a pathetic weakling and instead be a strong, tough weakling? Also, I'm sorry for calling you a baker. It's Luke's fault."​

​

Oh… The bounty huntress took a second to absorb all of that in.

"I won't go easy on you simply because you look like a stick of cotton candy," Victoria crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at the one she called a child- and will continue to do so. Her lips were pulled up in the barest modicum of a smile, though it seemed genuine enough, and it disappeared as Ran pulled Toby away. She turned towards Gary who, for all this time, had been staring at her with wide adoring eyes.

"So, are you going to show me my room or will I just stand here oozing mud all over the carpet?" Gary didn't need telling twice; she disappeared along with Victoria through the tunnels and resurfaced later. The huntress had clean boots now and they were armed with mops.

Numair followed Ran into the kitchen. He watched Jasper and Inadi with some interest, but he'd rather chow than watch couples do couple things. "Hey Leila, c'mon! You wouldn't want to be a third party in the smooching, now would you?" the surfer cheerfully gestured at the girl before squeezing in inside the kitchen. There was no actual smooching involved, but oh well. "By the way, Toby. I think she liked you. You too, sir Niran. Hmm, she's probably just shy or really angry." Numair was easy around both the Hooded Figures and the Lost Souls, so it was equally easy for any of both groups to chat with him.

​

 

[four]

Leila cringed internally when just as she thought the atmosphere, which had been terribly tense up until Inadi finishing speaking moments ago, would have time to cool down a little, Ace stepped forward and took her own turn in starting to speak.

Leila moved back, shoving herself behind several other humans as if looking for protection in case Victoria did anything out of her anger.

Maybe she shouldn't have tried to have Inadi stop talking. Maybe there was something off with the way she said that thank you. Leila worried herself with the possible interpretations of the events and of Victoria's reactions, only hoping dearly that she didn't do anything too wrong.

She didn't see that thrace of a smile creeping into Victoria's expressions, and only rested remotely reassured when it was arranged for Victoria to pay a visit to the other corners of the Hobbit House.

"Lelia! Would you like to come?"

She then turned around to see Ran and Numair heading towards the direction of the kitchen; then turned back at Victoria who was just done talking with Toby. Then back at the folks at the kitchen. She switched between the two a couple of times.

"Hey Leila, c'mon! …"

Still not completely convinced that things are already okay, Leila ushered forth a series of gestures that were bows and nods, in thanks and in apology; before finally having to follow Numair into the cooking room at the back of the house, while Victoria was led meanwhile down the tunnels to another section.

-​

The kitchen was terribly small, and with all of them in there, crowded.

Leila stood in a corner, taking the time where the two men chatted to observe the interior of this place. Stoves, pots and pans, shelves stocked with all sorts of jars and canisters. All the things she expected from a kitchen.

Honestly, though, she had never been in a kitchen before.

She wandered around for moments, catching glimpses of Victoria and Gary headed back up through the tunnel and starting to clean up the floor. Ever easily distracted she found herself removing containers from where there were places, hoping in vain to acquire knowledge of their contents through the text on their labels, which described things she had never heard of.

What do you even do in a kitchen?

Collecting the threads of thoughts back from the million different directions they were headed in, Leila focused on trying to recall memory of hearing someone saying anything about why they were there. Moments later she turned to look at Ran.

"Under your bed," She mumbled, confusion present in her expression, "You said you found...potatoes last night?"

She could have misheard.

 

[Fox of Spades]

What the cabbage cake? Despite C's flailing, Luke grinned. So it turned out the baker wanted to join them? Wait, he was beginning to doubt Victoria's baker status. Toby was kneeling before her and he was pretty sure bakers didn't have servants. Plus that Inadi guy and the rest of the humans were apologizing to her for an Avian? What was an Avian? A cupcake shaped like a bird?

Luke had spent the last few moments attempting to restrain C and as a result, most of the conversation had flown in one ear then out the other. To say the least, he was as confused as hell.

"Uh, welcome to the family!" Gary was already leading Vicky to her room, but Luke continued to talk. The young man turned to Ace and begun rubbing his chin in though. "We have another baker in the family, you guys met him yesterday, he was Mr. Cuddles." Once again, the young man paid no attention to the non-existence of time. "I wonder which one of them makes a meaner cupcake...C?"

The leader of the hooded figures was crouched beside the door. She ran her finger over the muddy carpet, looking like she had watched her puppy get run over by an eight wheeler truck. "Sacha," she picked up a broken dolphin figurine. "It broke." And as soon as she had spoken the words, rage flashed across her face and her hand fingers tightened around the decoration.

If there was one thing Luke remembered about C, it was that she held grudges.

"I...uh, I'll make the new recruits clean up." She looked at him with wide eyes and he raised both hands in surrender. "Yeah, and we can buy all the curtains we want too, as long as you don't hate on the baker."

C got to her feet and nodded slowly, but before Luke had time to laugh she grabbed a mop from on of the many drawers and passed it to him.

"I'm going to recruit Nums and the other to join this righteous cause." The young man poked his head into the kitchen and noticed that a couple of humans and Numair were there already. "Perfect! Hey, Leila, and Ran, right?" He held up the mop and beamed, "we're cleaning up so catch!" And with that he tossed the mop at Ran and made his way to one of the refrigerator.

Luke pulled it open and pulled out five feather dusters. The boy handed one to Leila then passed another one to Numair. "Sorry, Nums, it was the only thing that would appease C." Their leader could get quite scary when upset and she tended to flip whenever something involved home decor and the hobbit hole. He remembered the time he had accidentally gotten ketchup on one of the curtains. C kicked them all out so she could clean the house spotless, and his poor roomie had to stay and help.

He and Gargar lived on the streets for a little while, but thankfully ever since Numair joined them, thing became less complicated. He was good at solving things and talking. The guards were less aggressive when Numair answered the door, but maybe it was because he never ever threatened them with poles or brooms.

"I don't think we can leave until the house is spotless, so..." Luke began using the feather duster on the sink. "Go team!"

Meanwhile, Riley gave Jasper and Inadi a knowing smirk, followed by a subtle thumbs up to her fellow writer. Those two could be adorable when they wanted to be and she made a mental note to tease them later. "Well said, Ace, we've tamed dragons and that's not exactly something an average 'weak' human being can do. Y'know what? Those symbols you're talking about sound pretty good, there's Harper right now."

The boy was carrying all sorts of cleaning materials. Three brooms, a mop, pestiside, a bunch of rags...just how much cleaning equipment did the HF own? "Hi, guys." He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "C made me grab all the cleaning materials, said we couldn't leave until the place was spotless. Sorry, but I'm going to have to," his eyes flitted to Luke, he was using his feather duster to sweep the floor now. "Recruit you to join the cause."

Riley laughed, "6/10, that was a pretty poor imitation." Harper passed her two brooms and she passed one to Ace. "I think I miss the castle, the queen never made us clean the place." She was kidding, Riley didn't really mind where she went as long as they kept trying to head home together. She thought about Victoria's speech and while the guilt was there, she tried not to dwell on it. Now that the ex dragoon was working with them, they'd have a chance to show her they had meant their apologies, it would just need a bit of time.

"Ace, Riley?" Harper lowered his voice. "What do you think of all this?"

"It's a lot to take in," Riley admitted. "We'll figure stuff one step at a time, Harper." She tapped the younger boy on the shoulder then left him with Ace. With a mischievous smile plastered to her face, she made her way towards Jasper and Inadi with two feather dusters. "Sorry to interrupt love birds, but mind helping us with some cleaning?" She hoped Inadi and Jasper wouldn't take her teasing the wrong way. "The crazies," she thought Ace's nickname for them fit quite well, "they're kind of sentencing us to manual labor."

It wasn't so bad, but despite all the jokes and grins, she did worry about the road ahead.

The question wouldn't leave her mind; was this the right decision?

 

[Capt. Blu]

"I've never cooked before. Sorry can't help you there Ran. But snacks sound great." She shrugged and then looked at Riley with a smile. Before she said anything, she noticed Harper carrying cleaning supplies towards them. "Cleaning??" She gave an exasperated sigh before reluctantly taking a broom. "I didn't come all this way to clean some crazy person's home. If I wanted to do that, I would probably have a job or something." Ace had jobs before- two to be exact. One, she was around 16 and managed to get her first job at a small clothing store. Though, she was fired when she got caught taking some of the merchandise. It was a clumsy mishap, but they never found all the other items or money she stole. With no evidence, she was free to go.

Her second job was given out of pity. An old man that ran a coffee shop decided she needed the money and the food. Ace like it and found the old man weird and funny, but it had been time for her to move on. This, was also the same time she had found the train station and got swept up by the Midnight Train. And here she was now, being told to clean for [rainbow]The Crazies[/rainbow]. Despite disagreeing completely on cleaning, when Harper asked she huffed and took the broom from Riley. "Fine, fine..." Even though she agreed, she sort of swept in one spot until Harper called her. "What do I think?" Ace leaned against the broom and stared at the little piled of dirt she made.

For a moment, she didn't respond, still thinking of what to say. This was all pretty crazy, especially with no one to trust but themselves. Of course, that wasn't going to deter the redhead. With her familiar grin, Ace stood straight and patted Harper's shoulder. "Like I said! We'll survive. We are tough cookies. We've got this far, so let's go farther." She laughed lightly and looked back down. "But, it's right for you to worry... That's understandable. Just don't let your worry get in the way of what's important. Getting out of here. What you should worry about is how you plan to celebrate when you get home. Even if you don't remember it, there's people waiting for you... So of course you should have a big party when you get home! That'd be fun, wouldn't it?" Ace looked down again, thinking about pushing the dust under the couch. But something told her that, C, or Crazy Number One would spot it instantly. So, she continued to pile until someone realized they'd have to pick it up.

"And you know what else? I'm also wondering what kind of cool aquatic creature I could be."

 

[MixedUpGuy]

Inadi looked back as he continued talking to Victoria and saw that it was Leila that grabbed onto his shoulder as if trying to prevent him from speaking the rest of his sentence. Staring at the girl he saw that she was a bit unnerved and her grip was tightening on his skin. Normally she wasn't so abrasive and straight forward with her actions, but this time it seemed like she was focused on getting the boy to keep his mouth shut. Rather than scoff at the action Inadi smiled at her and nodded. He knew she meant well by it. He was saying a lot of harsh things about himself and he guessed she was just trying to be supportive in that quiet Leila way. It was interesting to see all things considered.

While Ran and Leila began the apologizing to the woman, a bright white figure stood in front of him. He knew it was Jasper, but he wanted to keep his head down in case she was going to get mad about his whole little scene. Inadi had caught her more than a few times getting a little uncomfortable watching the whole scene. Though probably not as uncomfortable as he was delivering the whole thing. Suddenly though a quick lift of his chin and stern voice caught his attention as he found himself staring up at his girlfriend like a sad dog who had been caught tearing up the carpet.

She was cold. Serious. Agitated. Everything he had been only a few seconds prior. Yet something about it all seemed....loving in some way. While he took in her words he noticed that she was leaning in ever so closer the longer she stayed in front of him. Inadi's face grew hot as he began smelling the girl's breath tickle its way up his nose. The boy could hardly imagine what would be coming next from the woman standing only a few centimeters away from his face.

Suddenly a flick on the forehead brought his mind out of his fantasies and back to reality. Quickly wincing at the sudden sting he reopened his eyes to see a finger hanging just a few inches from his head and realized the girl had just thumped him a good one for being a fool. A chuckle caught in his chest. And then another. And another. His shoulders continued to shake due to the humor he found in the situation. As the laugh died out, he stared back up at the girl, still standing ever so close to him. He had to admit, she was truly one of a kind.

"I don't know how you put up with me. I'm impatient. Edgy. Dramatic. And maybe overall pigheaded," Inadi said as his smile never disappeared as he said the descriptions out loud of himself. He kinda had a feeling a lot of them were legitimate and had some bearing overall. He hadn't been the most agreeable human being recently, and maybe not the most approachable one either. Over the last few days he had practically alienated himself from the others, not telling them what was wrong or why he was doing what he was doing. But in the end at least he could admit it to himself.

Suddenly he placed his hands at Jasper's waist, being careful not to go any higher or lower than that. Though it was difficult not to try and see if he could wrap his arms around the girl's now suddenly noticeable and attractive waistline. He was a man after all, but a gentleman more so. Once he had the grip he wanted, he pulled the girl into his embrace and pressed the right side of his face into hugging the girl's stomach. He had no idea what Jasper's face was showing or even what the others were going to say or look like at the action. Inadi could care less though.

"But you still are able to find that patience. That calmness. That straight forwardness to stay with me. And most of all you find the right way to reach me when I can't even reach myself at times Jasper. I can't tell you how much that means to me," He said in a hushed tone as his embrace only tightened, but he made sure to keep it just light enough that it wouldn't hurt the poor girl. "Just bear with me a little longer if you can. I'd sure appreciate it." He told her as he buried his face into her stomach, as if trying to hide his shame. The boy never really had a lot of people he was close to back home from what he could remember. He certainly didn't want to throw away what he had now in the other humans and Jasper.

Toby eventually seemed to throw himself into training with Victoria, which Inadi felt was nothing more than a death sentence for the kind. But he wasn't about to tell him he shouldn't do it. If that was what Toby wanted to do then he should do it. Though Inadi did think about maybe trying to train Toby just a bit himself before he went to Victoria. No reason to throw the goat to the wolf before it learned how to kick and all. Inadi put down a mental note to try and find some time to train here prior to them all leaving for the last item.

Ace seemed to love throwing little jabs at him again after a while as she claimed he was emoing up the room with his attitude. Pulling away from his hug slightly he looked over to the red headed girl as she walked over to the broom Riley had handed her and simply chuckled. "From gangster to janitor. Oh how the mighty hath fallen," He told her as he looked up at the duster he was handed and looked up at Jasper. Almost with a pout he let go of her and looked back at the hat wearing girl now doing her job on the floors. "Not like we got enough people sweeping up the joint anyway. Thought I think it would be good for little miss fireball over here to do most of the muddy part of the floor. What with me being emo and all I may just sit in it and sulk." He said in a very sarcastic tone as he nudged the girl with a smile. Sure he was exhausted, but not too tired to give Ace a little bit of trouble here and there.

While he began wiping up some of the higher counters in the room, Inadi gave Riley a little bit of a raised eyebrow as he continued with his work. Had be been more energetic he might have gotten flustered at the whole love birds thing, but let it just slide over his head as an annoyance. At one point while Riley was sweeping up near him he decided to giver her a little bit of a 'dust bath'. After taking care of a pretty dusty section of dish space, he waved the feather duster out just over the writer's head and watched her cough slightly with all the dirt now swimming around her. "Oh, sorry about that Riley. I didn't know you were right there. You know its so hard to concentrate when I'm thinking about Jasper and all. You know how people get when they are 'love birds' and all that." He told her in a rather sing song voice as he continued wiping across the counters. Maybe being this tired wasn't so bad after all. He was funnier. A better speaker. And all things considered he almost got a kiss had it not been for the previously mentioned speech. Inadi began thinking about skipping naps altogether from then on. Of course that quickly changed as soon as his head began to nod off and he found himself eating a mouthful of dirty feathers. Quickly coughing it back out he looked out into space with an annoyed look. He desperately needed a good eight.....no......fifteen hour rest before they did any adventuring.

 

[Kimchi]

Ace said:
"I agree with Jasper, Inadi. Sure you got angry, but that didn't mean you killed him. The witch did. We all know that. The witch killed Haku and Leon as well. There was nothing we could do about it. We tried, but we are only human. New experiences are bound to have failures. We can only learn from them. Not sit and emo up the place."

Glad to hear someone agreeing to her statement, Jasper squinted at Inadi as he chuckled to himself. Brows knitting together in frustration as she tried to grasp what he found so humorous; her lips curved slightly southbound into a pout and she crossed her arms while towering over him. Once his laughter ceased, he was finally able to communicate the thoughts in his mind.

Inadi said:
"I don't know how you put up with me. I'm impatient. Edgy. Dramatic. And maybe overall pigheaded, but you still are able to find that patience. That calmness. That straight forwardness to stay with me. And most of all you find the right way to reach me when I can't even reach myself at times Jasper. I can't tell you how much that means to me. Just bear with me a little longer if you can. I'd sure appreciate it."

Hands reaching for her waist, she jerked a bit in surprise as he suddenly pulled her in, face pushing up to her stomach in an affectionate manner. Soaking up his words like a sponge, her cheeks flared up yet and arms drawn up as she glanced down at him, she eventually returned his warm gesture as she wrapped her arms around his head and embraced him back. "Of course I can."

Riley said:
"Sorry to interrupt love birds, but mind helping us with some cleaning?"

After a few cherished moments of being in each others arms, the grasp was over and in her hand was a feathery duster. There was nothing more she detested in the world than germs. If anything,she was more than happy to join the janitorial team in making the place squeaky clean! Scanning the room, her keen eyesight located each and every area that could possibly have accumulated dust at some point in time and she mentally took an image of their precise spots in the room. Then one by one, she approached each dusty destination and swiped furiously with her duster until each section was literally speck free. Crinkling her nose, she would stare at her recently cleaned area for a good minute just to make sure it was perfect.

She recalled overhearing Toby's determination in being trained by the former dragoon and she could foresee future combat training sessions with the group and Victoria as the instructor. Jasper grinned, the next couple of days was definitely going to be fun.

With one last swish, the room was utterly dust free and she smiled in triumph as she observed her work with pleasure. Shaking off her duster outside, she placed back into the cleaning closet and headed to the kitchen to help out with cooking. Potatoes were already baking away in the oven and she took the time to survey the pantry for anything that looked potable. Spying a jar of dried leaves, she popped the cap and took a whiff. It smelled somewhat like a mixture of vanilla and mint. Satisfied with the scent, she heated up a large pot of water, enough for everyone in the family, before crushing the crisp foliage into the water. Taking a ladle full, she poured some daintily into a cup with a chipped rim and beckoned Leila over.

"Here give this a sip. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but do you think this will be good to pair up with our meal?"

Meanwhile, she looked over to Ran and Numair who appeared to be whipping up dinner for the lot of them. Many of the ingredients did not look familiar nor appetizing, but she was sure they'd turn out some enjoyable dishes. Checking up on the potatoes, or what looked like potatoes, they seemed fully cooked so she withdrew the tray from inside the stove and placed it onto the counter. Peeking into the living room, the others looked just about done with "mission clean up". A pleasant feeling settled into her chest as she really started to feel like this mismatched party was truly a family with every individual working for the benefit of the household. A mild smile pulled at her lips as she let out a sigh of content.

"Foods' almost ready guys. Good work!" She beamed with a thumbs up before disappearing into the kitchen. Blinking at Leila with anticipation, she took a drink from the same cup as well and her visage lightened up. "Hmm, I like it."

 

[Fox of Hearts]

"Yup I did. Well this morning actually." Ran replied as he dunked the dusty spuds into the sink.

The man picked up a sponge. He scrubbed a particularly huge knobby tuber. "According to someone I shall not name… if I put a mini spud under my pillow the potato fairy would come visit me."

His mouth quirked a little as did his eyebrow. "Then in the middle of the night when I thought I was about to finally sleep the door slammed opened. Several fairies entered the room and one sat on me. The fairy got off and another whacked me with a pole."

He loaded the clean potatoes into the strainer. Ran poured the drained spuds into a pot. He filled it to the brim with water and then placed it on the stove. "They continued bickering as they poured a bag of potatoes under my bed."

He shrugged. "At least I got what I wanted. Still don't believe in the -"

"Perfect! Hey, Leila, and Ran, right? We're cleaning up so catch!"

Ran caught the mop tossed at him. He tilted the stick downwards as he pretended to use it as a microphone. "Good morning kitchen crew! I'm Ran and I shall be your DJ for the day."

He cleared his throat. "So… anyone has a song request?"

The cheeky human kept up the act till Luke stepped out. Quickly he ditched the mop and waited for the other two to do the same. Judging from the state of the kitchen the cleanup can come much later. He whistled innocently as he avoided Nums' eyes. "You know what, I'm rebelling. Let's cook even more. What would you like to eat Lelia?"

"Don't worry. I will clean up after we are done," he added to reassure Nums and Lelia when he saw the look on their faces. "Promise. It'll be spotless."

"So yeah. What do you guys want to eat?"

Assorted ingredients crowded the tables and kitchen counters as the trio planned a total of 15 dishes. Ran shouted to Nums from across the kitchen as they chopped, sliced and diced. They trusted Lelia to help them with cracking the eggs and removing the stems from the mushrooms. Meanwhile the breaded croquettes were baking in the oven. Amazingly there was no oil to be found. Not a drop except for engine grease and several sticks of butter.

"Hey Jasper!" Ran called out cheerily. "Guess what! We'll be doing a bbq. We are gonna wrap all the food up in foil and then toss it into a bonfire. Or we could always bury it underground and then light a bonfire over it."

He craned his head a little trying to see if C was around. "Errr… roasting everything would buy us time to clean up the kitchen."

 

[Gossamer]

"I won't go easy on you simply because you look like a stick of cotton candy,"

The boy's eyes opened, meeting Victoria's. That was a yes, right? The bounty hunters minuscule, poise smile could only mean she had agreed to his proposition. Or she thought it was ridiculously stupid. He could only hope it was the former. "Yes ma'm!" He shouted, and smiled big, even as Niran dragged him away.

He wasn't really sure where his friend was taking him until they entered the kitchen. Even then he was too jittery with excitement to really focus on what the agenda for the day was. Although he did manage to hear Numair's comment regarding Victoria. "She likes me?!" He asked in a mixture of happiness and surprise. "You really think so? Oh, should I call her Victoria Sensei?"

Then Luke had to walk in, which wasn't particularly a bad thing, but he was holding brooms. Toby ducked behind a counter. He was radiating excitement and the last thing he wanted to do at the moment was clean, although that could release the wrath of C. Maybe he could just sorta hide for a few minutes.

Toby? Where was the boy?

Crawling. He was crawling. Specifically from under the counter towards the hallway. Half of his face was poking out, spying on everyone in the kitchen. It seemed as if they were part cleaning and part...cooking? He felt his stomach suddenly growl. There wasn't a sense of time in Nowhere so he couldn't recall the last time he ate. By now he was used to no longer having a breakfast lunch and dinner cycle, and kinda just ate food whenever he felt like it.

Right now, he felt like it.

As much as he eagerly wanted to tug on Numair's sleeve and ask "What are you cooking?" In a high pitched puppy voice, it would blow his cover and before he knew it there would be a feather duster in his hands. At some point between crawling from underneath the counter towards the hallway Toby decided to try his absolute best not to clean whatsoever, for really no reason at all. Just for fun.

But now they were cooking, and cleaning. And he wanted to satisfy his hunger. Toby's eyes were beaming all over the kitchen for something he could munch on just for a moment until the cleaning ceased and he could assist with breakfast lunch and/or dinner. He almost didn't believe his eyes when he spotted the jar of cookies on top of the refrigerator. The boy took a double take and realized what he saw was true. Unfortunately the refrigerator was on the other side of the kitchen, and the kitchen was filled with all sorts of family.

"Now or never," He muttered. Niran was closest, Toby waited for him to turn his head before crawling back underneath the counter. He poked his head to the side briefly before quickly shooting back behind the counter when he saw Numair's shoes not five feet away from him. The boy shuffled to the other side of the counter and poked his head out to see Leila mutilating mushrooms and Jasper placing a tray of potatoes on the counter.

Toby was genuinely attempting to remain unseen as he moved with stealth throughout the kitchen. The amount of effort he was putting in made it feel like he was invisible, but he could probably be 100% wrong. Leila wasn't facing his direction and Jasper had poked her head into the living room. It was the moment of truth. Toby remained crouching as he bolted straight for the fridge and hopped onto the counter beside it. The boy snatched the cookie jar and removed the lid.

He pulled his t-shirt up which revealed his belly and spilled about six or seven cookies onto his shirt, using it as a bowl. He plopped one more into his mouth and held it there with his teeth. Toby looked like Smeagol from the Lord of the Rings. He was crouching on the counter, hunched over as to not spill any cookies. His eyes glistened at the satisfaction of making it this far.

One hand placed the jar back on top of the refrigerator, the other held his shirt up. The whole thing had occurred in about ten seconds. Carefully he hopped off of the counter. As his feet met the floor he accidentally bit down on the cookie, causing half of it to fall to the floor. "You are not worthy," He murmured to the cookie, his voice muffled due to the broken cookie in his mouth. A mere casualty of war. Toby had grown tired of the Mission Impossible act and sat criss-cross on the floor, eating away at the cookies using his shirt as a plate.

 

[four]

"...the potato fairy would come visit me."

Leila held her confused stare at Ran throughout his delivery of his absurd theory about how he had acquired the potatoes under his bed - the same ones, allegedly, as the ones that he had just poured into the sink.

Potato fairy.

Leila failed to comprehend, but tugged the corners of her mouth up, putting up the best "I know what you're talking about" smile. Then Ran mentioned the part about being whacked in the head with a pole, and her smile was instantly replaced with an expression of concern.

A person's brain was everything! It must be protected. Not to mention them being in a place where a functioning memory meant...meant staying alive. And sane.

"Oh dear. Ran - Ran are you okay?"

Concussion was never good. She frantically wondered what she could do to help, for long not bewildered by the fact that Ran's forehead appeared to be perfectly unscathed. What were the symptoms, how could she check - she didn't remember enough, and that made her feel even more helpless.

"At least I got what I wanted. Still don't believe in the -"

It took too long for her to finally notice the look on Ran's face and the tone of his speech to realize her misinterpretation.

Leila quickly apologized, turning away to hide her expression, until she recollected herself and then looked back at him with a straight face:

"Potato fairies." She furrowed her brows, but this time in amusement. She threw a brief glance at Gary before continuing, her eyebrows raised:

"that's what we're calling the ...group now?"

* * * * *​

Why were they suddenly cooking?

She only wondered as she dumped the final pile of poorly chopped pieces of edible fungi into a nearby bowl.

* * * * *​

"...mint?"

Halfway through struggling with the cleaning equipment which she embarrassingly found herself with no idea how to work with, Leila's nose picked up a faint trace of a familiar scent, accompanied by the smell of water vapour and warm air.

"...I'm not exactly sure what it is, but do you think this will be good to pair up with our meal?"

Leila trotted over to where Jasper was standing, and peeked over her side to look at the pot of water, with the saturated plumes of warm, white mist floating gently across her face.

Leila muttered a few words of thanks as she took the ceramic cup from Jasper and allowed for a moment for the fragrance to seep into her breath.

"...mint." She said again, in confirmation.

Mint, and many other things. A sip of the liquid and she felt the refreshing scent rush up the back of her throat. A little too strong for her taste, and the underlying sweetness a bit too overwhelming.
But, mint.

"He used to -" She looked up from the cup at Jasper and started, but realizing that she no longer remembered his name sent her stuttering into a pause. Who was he? The old man? The...steward? Or was it something like grandfather, or uncle? Brother? … she shook of the thoughts, gulped, and carried on: "...I used to have this. ...back home."

Not exactly like it. It tasted...something like it, but not exactly. She stared idly at the chips of dried leaves swirling at the bottom of the cup trying to recall and ending up not being able to.

"Hmm, I like it." Jasper. That was what pulled her back from her thoughts wandering off.

She only smiled in agreement.

Leila then again fell silent as she still absently poked at the floor with the broom in hand, somewhat frustrated. The broom because she was still that bit conflicted about not following the orders to clean up, the poking and the frustration - well, because she still didn't know how a broom was supposed to work.

She also didn't notice Toby in the background this whole time.

 

[Capt. Blu]

Ace smirked when Inadi retaliated and all of a sudden became oh so happy. "Keep it up glasses and you'll have some nasty marks as red as my hair." She laughed a little and shoved him over to do his job. "Sheesh Jasper, he's all giddy now, I'm sure he would've been on cloud nine if you kissed him. Good thing you didn't. Heh, he still has a bit of sense...somewhere in there." She cleaned up alongside Riley, Harper, and Inadi while the others decided to head to the kitchen to wreak havoc.

It sounded like a disaster waiting to happen, and honestly, she would've much rather cleaned up. At least, while she was cleaning up, she could mess with Inadi every once and awhile. "You're suppose to clean with those I do believe." Ace grinned and patted Inadi's head playfully. "But what do I know? I'm just a gangster and all." She then would occasionally poke at Harper, only because everyone was calming down a bit for the most part, except for him. "We'll have answers to questions. And we'll be free of all this. So stop worrying and just live for the now." She grinned and continued to sweep until it was clean.

"Hey Vicky, how'd you even find us?" Ace decided to ask since they themselves had such a hard time. She set the broom aside, wondering what was going on in the kitchen. Her small job had been done, but now it was left to [rainbow]The Crazies[/rainbow] and whoever else wanted to continue cleaning. Her sweeping had soon become her sparring with the furniture and Riley, causing dirt to rise and a continuously upset C...So, she took a timeout and watched.

"I don't think we can clean a burnt kitchen..." She mused. The idea of burning down anything peaked an interest in the redhead, but she didn't want to feel C's wrath so she pushed the thought away and waited for something interesting to hapen...

 

[Fox of Spades]

Ace was good at making things seem less frightening than they really were, and Harper was very thankful for that. "You're right, we're a force to be reckoned with." Okay, maybe they were squishy humans compared to most of the Nobodies, but they were still alive and that was saying something. "We're a little fleshy and mortal, but we're going home together." Ace began talking about how they all had people waiting for them back home and he thought of his mom's spaghetti and his dad's roaring laughter. "I'm sure you've got people waiting for you too...and even if you don't," he gave her a smile, "you'll have us."

The Lost Souls were all from different parts of the world, but it was 2013. All he really needed were their names and he had those, so if--no, when they got home, he'd add them on Facebook or Skype. It didn't matter, there was no way they weren't going to keep in touch, not after the SSF, not after the bunny guards, and not after this. "We'll throw one big party and introduce each other to family and friends."

Thinking about home left an empty feeling in his chest, but he ignored it and laughed when Inadi began joking around. Riley was swatting away at dust clouds, but she was laughing too. "I'll let it slide," the girl's eyebrows were drawn together in irritation but soon enough, she was laughing too. "It's good to see you all cheery again, Inadi."

Harper couldn't help but agree.

Maybe joining the hooded figures wasn't the right choice. Maybe, in this upside down world of yellow hummingbirds and star fishers, there was no right choice at all. These things troubled Harper, but it didn't matter.

Leila and Jasper were sipping tea.

Toby was eating cookies as sneakily as he could.

Ran was cooking, Inadi was smiling, and the hooded figures were somehow their allies.

Each one of these people were in one way or another his friends. It didn't matter what side they were on as long as things could go on like this for just a little longer. The more he thought about home, the more empty he felt. Harper realized that Florida would be really lonely without them.

 

[Fox of Spades]

​

KRRRAK! KABOOM!

The wooden boat lurched forward with a loud creak as it threatened to topple over. The humans and Victoria were up to their knees in water, if they didn't start emptying the boat out with a bucket, they would be pulled under and dragged beneath one of the many waves.

It was impossible to see anything in the storm, just endless miles of depressing gray clouds and the roaring seas. A thick fog hung over the ocean as rain thundered in the background. Another wave crashed into the boat, causing it to sway. One of the oars was knocked into the water and Luke watched sadly as it begun to sink. It was an endless assault of waves, and before he could say anything about the situation, another wave crashed against the boat's side, sending everyone to the floor with a thud.
​

​

"I think we're lost," Luke yelled.

He staggered to his feet all soaking wet, but still smiling. He held onto a catatonic Harper for support then made his way towards the side of the ship where he stared at the onslaught of waves. "Nope, can't see a thing." He pressed the map to his face and sighed. "Everything looks the same--AGH!"

"Don't stand so close to the edge," Harper reached out to grab Luke by his hood, but the boy staggered back and ended up crashing into Riley.

The girl yelped but managed to steady the both of them. "We're good," she exhaled, "still alive."

Meanwhile, Luke continued staring out at the ocean. And as soon as the next wave hit, he fell back, the map flying out of his hands and into the sea.

Riley face-palmed then turned to look at her friends. "It was nice knowing you all. Hey, Vicky, by any chance do you have any survival tips for situations like these?" She clung to one of the wooden seats. The waves were growing more violent by the second and the wind whipped fiercely at their clothes. If they didn't drown out here, then they were probably going to freeze to death.​

​

"We aren't going to die." C leaned against the side of the boat, her expression was blank, but her eyes had a determined spark to them. She focused on the pitch black sea, "we're almost there." Without saying anything else, she made her way towards the others, nearly tripping, but regaining her balance in a flash.

Harper swallowed his worry. The hooded figures were strange, they were human, but unlike them the hooded figures had adapted to Nowhere. How long had they been here? Even they could no longer remember.

"Potions. Drink them." C pulled a box from under one of the wooden seats, but the boat swayed violently and the box slid across the floor, slamming into the boat's side. For a moment, there was a flicker of doubt on C's face, but soon enough she had the box in her arms and Luke had a firm grip on her hand. He grinned nervously, his hair plastered to his forehead in wet clumps.

C flipped open the box, and inside flasks of brightly colored potions lay side by side. "Drink. We jump soon."
​

 

[Warden]

​

Time with the Hooded Figures weren't as stressful as the humans probably thought it was. Firstly because they weren't actively hunted down like, let's say, police trying to root out the mafia. Secondly because… well, it was almost impossible to annoy the Hooded Figures with the sole exception of Gary. They basically cooked great food and chatted cheerfully about stuff, so it was more like talking to a bunch of toddlers. Victoria's joining was obviously beneficial; she and Numair more quickly amassed supplies that, if bought by Gary or Luke, would've emptied the group's coffers seeing how easy they were to dupe. The bounty huntress also delved deep into the Dark Side and did returned with a handful of useful objects that were used by the hedge witches living within the heart of the woods. How she procured them and returned alive was a mystery, but she did bring her swords along.

It was a miracle how they all managed to fit inside this tiny boat. Victoria had her doubts and was thinking of throwing one of the humans overboard halfway through the trip to make space for her legs, but at least nobody kept asking if they were there yet or if they could stop for a pee break. However, their otherwise tranquil journey was interrupted by a storm. Now furious black waves threatened to overturn their dinghy as the sky cracked open in blinding flashes of light. As if these weren't enough to make her head pound along with the deafening roar of thunder, Numair was catatonic. The poor young man was sitting on the floor of the boat, his knees up to his chest and his face hidden by his arms. Unlike his usual choice of apparel, the surfer chose to don the traditional Hooded Figures green cloak, and the fabric was all but sticking to his skin thanks to their time in the rain. Victoria was absolutely sure that bringing him along was a recipe for disaster- Gary mentioned several times that Numair had a near death experience in the sea and the very sight of it triggers him- and it looked like she was right.

"Survival tips? Get out of this boat as fast as we can," the huntress sighed and met C halfway. Like everyone else she was soaked to the bone but made no complaint of it. She suffered worse conditions tracking criminals across Nowhere. The redhead fished out three potions, one for her and the other for Gary. The last one was promptly tucked into the surfer's elbows. The boat rocked violently and everyone ended up crashing against each other.

Yep, it was more likely they'd die out here than permanently turn into a fish.

Victoria uncorked her potion and gulped down the contents in a second, then stood up and jumped overboard. Her bright red hair, turned a darker shade by the relentless pelting of the sea spray and the rain, disappeared quickly under the water. Gary watched in awe before she turned towards her friend.

"C'mon Numnums, drink up! If you don't drink up we're going to die! Do you really wanna die?"

Numair lifted his face up, pale as a corpse under his tan, and fumbled for the bottle. He had his eyes tightly screwed shut.

"Atta boy! Ooh, it doesn't taste half-bad!" the pink-haired girl waved at Toby- she had a lot of occasion bumping into him since the two of them were basically Victoria's children now- and followed after their mentor. "Wait, Gary!" Numair yelped in a hoarse, tiny voice before hiding his face again. At this rate it was going to take forever to force him to even look at the water!

"Ugh," Victoria suddenly resurfaced from the raging seas and grabbed the surfer by the cloak, then hurled him overboard. Dripping wet yet effortlessly holding herself up over the edge of the boat, the huntress turned towards the other humans. Her skin was glimmering, though it was faint under all the rain. "Who else needs a little friendly convincing?"

 

[MixedUpGuy]

Inadi watched as everyone continued to do their work and enjoy the spoils of their new alliance with the hooded figures. He however continued to work and wonder what the future would look like for them all with the new quest ahead of them. It would no doubt be a difficult journey and turbulent for them to wade through the trials before them. While his vision was blurred, his muscles sore and his mind befuddled, Inadi's drive and determination were not shells of themselves. They were as strong as ever and would continue to grow in his gut. He needed to make sure that they did so. If they didn't he would not be able to do what he knew was his duty. Protect those whom he had grown to view as more than companions. His family.

--------------------------------------------------

The entire ride Inadi had stuck Kain deep into the wooden floor of the boat but kept it from penetrating it fully. The framed man went from having red eyes back in the shack of a house the hooded figures had to being as green as the trees they had seen in Sol. Often he would leave for the side of the ship and release what little food he had swallowed prior and felt nothing but the worst illness he had ever experienced. He had no idea that riding on a boat would grow so terribly on him.

Once the storm had started, Inadi had kept to himself while on the boat as much as possible. His grip on Kain left his knuckles white and his breathing rapid. The spear being lodged so deeply in the wood made the movement feel almost non existent but knowing that they were close to dying if one wave hit them in the wrong way. His eyes kept focused on the ground and they rarely traveled up as to avoid seeing the boat lurch in each and every way possible.

Throwing his head up slowly, he felt the sickness coming upon him again and quickly brought his head back down again. Hearing the screaming of his friends though outside only made him regret his next decision. Letting go of Kain, he began slowly walking out towards the edge of the boat and saw the terrors of nature in the deep and terrifying sea. The black ocean that seemed to stretch for days and days crashed violently around him and the rest of the boat. Seeing the swaying made him hunch over and dry heave at the entire scene.

Straightening his back he looked at Riley and Harper struggling to stay on their feet. Slowly walking over to them he began straightening Harper out after landing practically on top of Riley. "Last thing we need is someone drowning before we even reach the right spot Harper. Now get those legs straight and get a grip will you?" Inadi said yelling over the waves and storm surrounding them. Staring out into the horizon he saw nothing but danger. His knees starting to go weak he figured he would do well to take his own advice.

C then began handing out potions for the humans to drink. He watched as Victoria quickly downed her potion and then took off into the ocean. While Numair seemed to have a bit of difficulty getting along with the idea he quickly found that there would be no patience with this concept. Victoria suddenly shot back out and dragged him into the ocean. Seeing her hold herself up on the edge of the boat made him realize just how strong this woman was. She was holding herself up. On the edge of the boat being beaten with the power of nature itself. Yet she looked as calm and collected as a child walking through its own home.

Slowly walking to the collection of potions in the chest that C had presented to them Inadi took up one and saw the contents inside. It looked similar to the liquid found in the pendants they had when they had come to Sol. Though he knew it was not the same. Nothing was the same as other things they had already been a part of. There was no comfort to be found in anything these days. The boy was being thrown into such terrible places and situations these days. It was a miracle he wasn't dead yet. Staring at this potion in his hands, he figured if he was going to die he would rather choke on the terrible taste of the liquid than to drown on the salty taste of the sea that was out to kill him. Turning to Toby he held the bottle up in the air as if to cheer. "May this go down as smoothly as the mint tea we had on cleaning day, eh?" Inadi joked as he looked towards the other on the boat with a laugh.

He popped the cork on the bottle and began pouring it in his mouth and gulping it as it touched his tongue. It was sweet somehow, yet carried a tang that remained well after it had traveled down his throat. Once the bottle was empty he shook his head, trying to remove the flavor from his memory. Looking back out at the ocean surrounding them he sighed and turned back to those who were still on the deck. "To home!" He yelled at them as he closed his eyes and gripped his glasses tightly and began running to the edge of the boat. Leaping over the beaten and wet wood he landed in the cold and turbulent ocean, waiting for the potion to begin its work.

 

[Capt. Blu]

"Avast ye mateys! Yohoho and a bottle of rum!" In the storm, Ace was happily singing away and in her own little pirate-y world. She was having a fun time, seeing as though she had never been on a boat before. "Argh! You landlubbers! Sit yer tushes down before ye fall overboard!" Ace spoke to Harper and Riley who were stumbling around. "This is exciting. I've never been deep sea diving nor have I ever been on a boat! Just accomplishing goal after goal around here." Despite telling the others to sit down, Ace was leaning against the side, watching the water crash against the ship. Not many of the others really seemed to enjoy the trip save for Toby, but Toby didn't count, he was always happy. When the boat rocked, there were a few times she could've fallen overboard, but it was as if she and Death had some sort of agreement with how many times she survived dying in Nowhere and back home.

Her hair was wet and covering her face even after she continued to wipe it away. The cloak she was wearing did little to protect her from being soaked like everyone else. Yet, there Ace sat, still watching the waves crash. To her it was an exciting thing to watch. The danger of it made her adrenaline rise. There were many times where the group fell into dangerous situations and her adrenaline triumphed reasoning- if the redhead actually had that. The waves were like the vicious dragons they had countered, roaring and destroying everything they could latch on to. But their boat was taking the beating of the waves and she patted the edge because of it.

There was something about being lost and Ace laughed. "Of course we would get lost in a storm like this! Yohoho!" She looked around at the others before holding on to the side again. "Alright! Time to party." Ace took one of the potions and looked over at Jasper and Leila. "C'mon you two! Drink yer poisons! No need to sink with the ship! More chance of survival when we jump!" Ace would have to work on her pirate impression. Her attention then turned to Riley and Toby. "Let's jump! I hope I get a cool animal." Inadi was the first to go and she watched him. "No way, I wanted to go first." The redhead waited a little longer just to see who would need to be pushed off the boat.

Eager as she was, Ace stood on the edge, nearly forgetting to drink the potion. "Oh right. Hmph, not that bad." Ace teetered and tried to keep her balance, only for her to salute and then put a thumbs up as she quite literally fell off the ship and into the water. Oh she couldn't wait for the transformation to start kicking in.

 

[Gossamer]

The sea was absolutely terrifying, there was no denying that. To set sail on such a tiny boat hoping to combat this storm of biblical proportions? Madness! Granted, that was the decision they had agreed upon. Madness. You really had to hand it to The Crazies, there was a plethora of reasons that they should be dead, and yet here they all were.

All in all the boat seemed to be a bad idea, however the combination of The Crazies ridiculous luck and the Lost Souls ridiculous luck seemed to be merging together quite nicely.

The wave that knocked everybody to the floor sent Toby reeling from one side of the boat to the other, giggling the entire way. He couldn't afford to be scared or cling onto Niran for safety. Both Victoria and C seemed completely unfazed by the situation before them, at least on the outside. Not to mention Ace seemed to be enjoying herself quite a bit. She wasn't a bounty hunter like Victoria or a seasoned Nowhere veteran like C, but her willpower was spectacular. He had to meet their poise halfway and tough it out. Fortunately, he was surrounded by family. That made him feel invincible.

There was, however, a chink in the armor. As Toby pulled himself up from the ground, his eyes grew wide in horror.

"Gah! Oh no, no no no" Being knocked to the ground caused his cloak to shift into an awkward position around his body. Frantically he adjusted the clothing in search of the sunflower Niran had painted on it. His fingers grazed the texture of the dried paint and he whipped the cloak around, letting out a big sigh of relief to see that it was intact.

"Drink. We jump soon."

With haste he wobbled through the water and helped himself to a potion. "Thank you Cake!" He shouted over the sounds of the waves. Curiously he observed the bottle, then looked up to see Inadi facing his direction. "Mint tea?" the boy thought to himself in confusion regarding his comment, but smiled and held his bottle up regardless. If Inadi was smiling that was a good sign. Toby placed the bottle in his mouth and chomped on the cork, pulling it out with his teeth before spitting the cork out and downing the liquid in synchronization with Inadi. The boy grimaced, then smiled and turned to C.

"Yummy!" He shouted. It wasn't actually yummy and left a rather odd taste in his mouth that he ignored. "Wait, do we get to choose what we turn into?" Toby asked Ace curiously as she beckoned him and Riley to jump. "Ace should be a swordfish! And Riley, I think you should be a starfish. And Cake will be a Cakefish." His brain was flooded with images of sea creatures that spoke and looked like everyone onboard.

A wave from Gary snapped him out of the brief fish dream and he wobbled through the water over to her just as Victoria pulled Numair to his death. He hadn't even seen her jump into the water and the next thing he knew Inadi and Ace were out of the boat as well. The boy was hoping for a more dramatic departure into the sea but instead leaped overboard, crossing his fingers in hopes that the sunflower didn't fade as he collided into the ocean water.

 

[Kimchi]

Shuddering in her cloak, which was completely soaked, she knew that their current situation could go three possible ways— they drown, die from hypothermia, or live and have really terrible colds later. The sea was throwing a raging fit, waves increasing in height every minute and their boat was filling up to the point that it was literally unreasonable to stay and keep trying to bucket the water out. Their vessel wasn't going to holdout much longer and she could already feel it gradually beginning to sink. Thigh deep in water and suffering a faint panic attack, it was then that C began whisking potions from a box and handing them out. Downing one, Cake tossed herself overboard and was soon followed by the others. Leila and Jasper wobbled like noodles as they remained on the boat which was about to go down under. Swimming over to the container, she hastily snatched two potions and waded furiously towards Leila.

"I don't think we have any other options," she said, her voice shaky as she placed a bottle into Leila's grasp. Eyelashes heavy with seawater and watered to the bone, Jasper untwisted the cap off of the flask and bit her lip wearily as she eyed its mysterious contents wearily. Glancing at Leila with 'here goes nothing' sort of look, the albino hesitantly tipped the liquid into her mouth before jerking the glass in order to finish off the concoction quickly. Making some tasting gestures with her mouth, she grimaced slightly before raising an eyebrow at Leila.

"Well, it wasn't great, but that liquid right there is basically life," Jasper stated as she remained by the dark haired female's side.

Vision blurred, she wasn't entirely sure when she lost her glasses, but her spectacles were gone now. Probably somewhere at the bottom of the sea. Straining to spot the rest of the group among the flurry of rain and thunderous ocean movement, it was difficult to pin point the line between sky and water. Luckily, she was able to locate a mismatched crowd of heads bobbing a little ways from the boat. If they didn't pick up the pace and join the group, Leila and herself could easily become separated. By now, the actual body of their miniature ship was completely submerged and Jasper was merely clinging to the sail.

Hearing talk of possible creatures to turn into, the first aquatic life she came up with was a goldfish(aquatic life my arse), but she knew that it would be to their benefit if they transformed into fishes of a much larger size and maybe sharper teeth? Besides, this was Nowhere. For all they knew, a giant sea monster could be lurking underneath them at that very moment and mutating into an animal with some natural line of defense was a much needed line of confidence.

 

[Cephalogod]

One downside of being so tall was the inability to fit comfortably in small spaces. The rocking of the boat coupled with this particular problem had Sacha clinging to dear life to the side of the boat and trying his hardest to not fall overboard with every wave. He spluttered as another wave hit him in the face, hair wet and clinging tightly to his scalp. He was actually quite thankful that the boat was crowded, it made it a lot harder to fall off if he was pressed so tightly against the side of the vessel by a few bodies that had been thrown against him by the last wave.

Over the past few days the humans had integrated into their lifestyle quite well, and he was more than happy that there were more hands to help around. It even made up for the extra food and laundry he had been doing, not that he was complaining.

"Drink. We jump soon."

He obediently grabbed a bottle from the case, uncorking and downing it before he could spill it everywhere. It tasted faintly of lemons... and soy sauce? He winced as he caught sight of Numair going overboard. Hopefully he wouldn't choke before the gills kicked in. He could feet his toes tingling already and he allowed himself to be tipped over by the next wave. The salty water filled his mouth and he grimaced, not enjoying this transition. He held his breathe by reflex, and only when felt his lungs burn did he finally take a breath. Then another. He opened his eyes, blinking as the stinging subsided. Other figures were floating around him, the water much less turgid than the surface. From what he could see everyone had successfully changed due to the lack of flailing and drowning bodies. He tried to kick his way towards a familiar head of pink, only to feel a few too many limbs.

Now this was new. Usually mermaids- oh. He peered down at the mass of tentacles that was his lower body and sighed, running a hand through his hair. This was going to take some getting used to.

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Rain splashed his face as the Ran stared at the swirling grey clouds overhead. It was the perfect setting for the fight between Captain Ahab and the whale. He whipped the excess water out of his eyes. The stormy waters was making him freak out a little. There was no telling the sorts of demons that lay beneath the surface – Kraken, Godzilla, Leviathan and Charybdis – all of them freaky and lethal. Oh if only Lesley was here to see it.

He might appear calm on the outside, but if anyone were to look, Ran was actually gripping the side of the boat till his knuckles turned white. The man began to talking. "The choppy waters remind me of my trip to James Bond Island. My long boat capsized midway in the swamp lands."

He laughed a little even though no one seemed to have heard him. "It didn't help when the guide mentioned there were crocodiles around. I practically froze in the water till … well I survived didn't I. Boy won't a nice cup of hot coffee help right now."

C practically shoved the box into his face. Ran picked a random bottle and swirled the colourless contents around. He undid the cork and sniffed. A heady aroma tickled his nose and he smiled. It smelled like red wine. The man inhaled once more.

"Imagine if the entire lake was actually made of Champaign. Won't that be… oh wait, Harper … is too young, I think."

One by one the kids jumped overboard. The adult downed his in two greedy gulps and jumped in after them. Somehow he was glad he didn't have a cloak or a hoodie to worry about. His clothes felt like they were weighing him down. He threshed about as his primal mind panicked. Bubbles rose around him.

All of a sudden the drag lessened and the water was gently caressing him. He felt as though he was on land again. A light blinked into existence overhead. Ran stared in awe as he was finally able to see more than 10 feet in front of him. He pulled his hands in front and noticed nothing visible different.

"I wonder…"

He had a tail. He felt round himself. Okay he wasn't quite the typical merman. There was this weird dangly light attached to his forehead. Like an angler fish! He brightened up as he thought of the cute 3D fish show he watched long ago. Everything became brighter. Ran was amazed.

He thought of a maroon and immediately the light changed to a warm red. Amused he thought of cerulean and the entire area was bathed in a soft blue light. Then he thought of two different colours at once and the lights all over his body split evenly between yellow and green. Finally he pictured a flashing disco ball in his mind. The lights began pulsing erratically. Gradually they slowed down to form a steady beat. The rhythm was similar to the song in Ran was humming to himself.

"Now that's settled. Let's find the rest." He muttered as the light changed back to the original glaring white light.

A trail of bubbles came from his mouth as he spoke. Gently the adult experimented moving his tail to and fro. Left to right. After struggling with swimming backwards, Ran finally managed to move forward. He spotted someone up ahead. That black was awfully familiar.

"Lelia!" He exclaimed. "What are you? Looks like I'm an angler fish."