...

...Connecting...

...Connection verified. Begin search.

Search parameters: Compatibility with Crest virtues.

...Scanning...

...Search complete. Compatible individuals located.

Begin transfer.

---

---

The wind swept hotly over the open summer sky, buffeting against the windows of a small, but decent hotel located around the Saitama district of Tokyo. A young woman with a petite yet curvy build in a tubetop- little more than a white sports bra, really- with a high cropped bomber jacket, rather short shorts, several belts, and tall boots rose from a crouch, stepping in behind a decorative tree, and up against a brick wall encircling the building. The duffle bag around her shoulder rustled as she crept towards the nearest window. Peering inside, she subtly passed each one, checking for items that were out of place. Finally finding a room that was empty, she pressed her hand against the lip of the window, and began pushing upwards.

A quiet cough behind her signaled that her efforts had, unfortunately, not gone unnoticed. She slowly released her grip on the window, turning to find a… little girl? Or boy? And not so little, either- just very short in stature, but with a bearing that radiated authority. The girl(?) was dressed in a sort of uniform- very official-looking, aside from the tinted goggles she was wearing over her eyes, and the black leather jacket draped around her shoulders. The tag on her shirt read, “Security.” She leveled an angry scowl at the intruder behind her tinted lenses.

“Y’know,” began the girl, in a surprisingly-deep contralto voice, “the front door is easier.” She gestured at the intruder to move away from the window. “Show’s over, kid. Come with me. You can explain why you’re skulking around here to the owner. Maybe they’ll be sympathetic, but I doubt that.”

With a shift of her heel, the dark haired girl leveled her gaze, though not directly at the shorter individual. Instead, she rolled her eyes, if only slightly, before stuffing her hands in her pockets and kicking her foot idly. “Can’t a girl get a shower? I mean, how could you make someone pay just for water. It’s a necessity, after all,” the purple haired girl responded, doing her best to stress her need and feign innocence.

The security guard was unmoved. If anything, the scowl deepened. “Can’t find a bathhouse for a few hundred yen? Pull the other one. Last chance, girl- come with me and you’ll probably be let off with a warning. Don’t test me on this.”

In response, the girl’s hands raised yet again, this time making eye contact with the security guard- almost. “Fine, whatever you say. Can’t blame a girl for trying, can you?” she then reached down and turned her pockets out, somewhat emphatically. “I’m broke,” she muttered, almost to herself.

“Does that look like my concern?” snapped the guard. “My concern is keeping intruders off the property. You're an intruder. So off. The sooner I get you to the office, the sooner I can go on break, and the sooner you can… I dunno, turn a trick? Can’t think of much else you’d be doing in that getup…”

In lieu of a verbal response, the would-be intruder simply gestured broadly with her arms, as if to say ‘after you’. There was no point pushing it any further, nor did she have anything to say- nothing that seemed like it would help her case at least. The security guard walked over to the intruder, grasping her firmly by the shoulder as she started to wheel her out from behind the hotel, but… something seemed… off. A strange weight in the air, like the gravity had increased. The guard shook her head.

“Whew. Must be hotter out here than I expected. At least that’s some silver lining for you, getting to go in—"

Her sentence was interrupted by a glowing ring suddenly etching itself into the ground around them.

“What--” exclaimed the guard.

“--the shit??” the taller girl exclaimed incredulously, her downcast gaze able to catch the strange markings now opening up into a bright void that suddenly swallowed the girls up with nary a sound. The circle closed and faded away, the ground the two had stood on unmarked, as though neither of them had been present at all...

---

...Transfer successful.

Bearer/Courage: acquired.

Bearer/Love: acquired.

Begin transfer of remaining Bearers...

---

((OOC: For this first post, do as we do; have your characters go about their day, up until the glowing hole in reality eats them. Happy trails~))

The sun's heat and the humidity rising off the pavement was enough to make any creature go racing through it. Radio's stations could be heard shuffling through. Heeeeyyy there good afternoon everybody of NewYork City! It is 90 degrees with high humidity so if you're out for long periods of time do make sure to stay hydrated. Now back to th- The station was switched again with a groan from the one tussling with its knob. "Christ! Why does it have to be so hot! It's a PERFECT day for the A/C to break!" He shouted from behind a counter and a glass box surrounded by various foods and items.

A dark brown complexion with a bit of facial hair. A thin frame under a black shirt and red sweats with brand designs on them. His sneakers were grey and sort of worn. They were off his feet including his not so white socks. A red jacket wrapped around his waist.

He sat on a bar stool with sweat visibly running down his cheek past his bandana. He sighed leaving the radio at a rock song. He looked over with tired, nearly nauseous, eyes at the road where the cars and his customers zoomed past. He looked as their windows were closed. Likely enjoying a cool breeze inside. "Must be nice." He groaned. He grabbed a cool water bottle from a mini fridge and popped it open. He then spun the chair and observed the cameras.

Taking a gulp of his water and letting a little drops on his head gave him a smile. "Aaaaaahhhh! Much better..." He shook his wet hair dry and opened his eyes to see the monitor was sprinkled with water. "Crap!" He took his jacket and wiped it. It covered the camera for a moment but when he was done a person was standing at the counter behind the glass. The person knocked to gain his attention frightening him for a moment. "Hey let me get a pack of 1922s and a box of condoms, rifle size."
His items were scanned for across the small space within this gas station's inventory.

"Alright this will be thirteen seventy five, anything el-" As he spoke something opened up beneath him. A strange light beneath his booth. Suddenly he began sinking in along with his seat. He began screaming in terror trying to grab onto something but missing the counter by centimeters. His fading voice could only be heard saying. "IM GUNNAA DDDIIIIEEEEE!!" The customer could only watch as the man disappeared. "Uhhh... What..?"

---

...Transfer successful.

Bearer/Hope: acquired.

Begin transfer of remaining Bearers...

As the hollow wind blew outside his house, Aaric softly sipped his warm white tea. He was calmly reading a book assigned to him earlier that day. Apparently, it wasn’t particularly interesting. To Aaric, the book invested too much of its value in its characters rather than on literary mechanisms for conveying its meaning.

“It’s a shame,” Aaric thought as he began to finish the last of the words, “this book had so much potential wasted on the characters.” Aaric placed the plain porcelain teacup onto an colorless plate located on the table in front of him. With both hands clasped onto the weighty edges of the book, closed it, and then placed the heavy object upon the same table. Unsatisfied by the supposed emptiness of the book he had just read, Aaric got up from his chair and slid across his large library with his cotton socks. With a hard stop, he reached to an pale rollable ladder. As he reached out to climb the ladder, he stopped for a moment to take a look around the room.

The library was immaculately clean and sterile. Other than the dark-colored books that sat on the shelves, the room was white and sparse. Practically, the only actual furniture was the pearly set in the center of the room: A geometric table, a cushy armchair, and a small tall vase which needed its wilting gladiolus to be replaced. It was always here that Aaric would read his books.

After looking around the room for a second, Aaric finally climbed the ladder and then browsed the shelf for anything that piqued his interest. If nothing in the vicinity was to his satisfaction, he would kick off to another section of the wall. Suddenly, it struck him that he was assigned two essays, one on researching the meanings of mythological creatures in literature and an argumentative on artificial intelligence. Deftly, Aaric propelled the ivory ladder to the appropriate locations, picking book after book and placing each one into a compartment located on the side of the ladder. Satisfied, Aaric climbed down the ladder and began transferring the many books to the central table.

As he placed down the last book onto the table, he had an odd feeling. He looked back to where the ladder was. He missed a book. He glided to the ladder and then in one motion picked up the book as he stopped. He motioned to glide back, but he paused. He didn’t remember taking this book down, or having this book in the library for that matter. Out of curiosity, Aaric rested the book onto his forearm and opened it up to read it.

“Fascinating,” Aaric whispered. Inside, the contents contained unknown creatures paired with strange hieroglyphics. In addition, the pictures were exquisitely drawn, almost to the point that they popped out of the book. Aaric slowly shuffled towards chair instinctually. Aaric quickly flipped through the pages to see if there was any language he could read. None at all. A small ring of light formed around him. Aaric sighed softly, still fixated on the book. Although this might count as being a somewhat scientific book, Aaric was always a sucker for lor-

Immediately, Aaric began sinking into a small ring of light. Shocked, the only thing Aaric could do was clasp the book to his chest and dart his head around. In seconds, Aaric was consumed by the light, leaving no trace that Aaric had been pulled into another dimension.

---

...Transfer successful.

Bearer/Knowledge: acquired.

Begin transfer of remaining Bearers...

A frustrated sigh escaped the small brunette's lips as she sat on one of the swings in the park that was about a block or two away from her home. Despite how hot it was outside, she wore a navy blue long sleeved shirt under a short sleeved over sized t-shirt that stopped just above her knees, navy blue shorts peeking just under that, and red sneakers with pearly socks. With an opaque white hat covering up most of her highlights, and the scowl etched onto her face, most people would have though Alex was just a shy little boy playing by himself. Unfortunately for her, that was the least of her problems.

Her parents just had to have the idea of forcing her to 'play in the park and socialize with people her age'.
"...Just because I look 12 doesn't mean I have to act like it..." She mumbled under her breath as she swung back and forth slightly, using her very tippy toes to achieve this. Knowing full well that she wasn't gonna walk up to some kid and ask to play with them - no, that would only make her parents happy - Alex instead watched. First she watched the kids and how they were playing around with each other so happily, despite how hot it was. Then she moved on to the people walking past the park, where some of the teens and adults gave her a sorrowful look before waving, a wave that Alex almost always returned.

Alex's attention was finally brought down to her lap, which was covering by the white shirt she had on. Yellow green eyes squinted in faint annoyance as she wiped her slightly sweaty neck with her sleeve. If she was going to be forced to sit out here in the heat with nothing but this park to occupy her time, she was going to use it whether she liked it or not. Adjusting herself quickly into the swing seat, Alex began pumping her legs back and forth until her momentum was just strong enough that she moved back and forth on the swing with ease.

It was refreshing having the wind blowing past her body as she cut through it. A small smile managed to force on the brunette's face as this slowly became one of the very few occurrences where Alex was happy she could enjoy doing something without receiving odd stares or anything for it. She remained swinging for quite a while until a familiar vibrating coming from her shorts pocket brought her back to reality.

Letting out another frustrated sigh, seeing as everything she did that was at least remotely fun always had to be tarnished by her parents - not that she entirely minded since they got her anything she needed or wanted at the snap of her little fingers - Alex pumped her legs a bit more with the intentions of catapulting off of the swings and sticking the landing.

Just as her bottom left the swing, a ring of light just big enough to envelope her whole body appeared in the air directly in front of her. With very little time to react, Alex brought her arms up to her face as she practically leaped into the unknown ring of light, the swing slowly coming to a stop in the process.

---

...Transfer successful.

Bearer/Reliability: acquired.

Begin transfer of remaining Bearers...

"Steppin' on the beach..." A young man hummed to himself upon arriving at his destination. It was cooler than most days, it probably would have been nice if he were anywhere near a beach. Unfortunately, life didn't have such a plan for him, and no amount of work brought him closer to his dream of being in the sky.

He shut off his car and opened the door, taking a breath of that northern air. At least he could still wear his jacket up here compared to back home. It was actually somewhat tolerable with full clothing on. Maybe he should call Alexa. Her birthday was nearing soon, and he didn't know when he'd be in a city again. Service was always spotty out on the road.

With a sigh, he shook his head. "Probably just send her a text, like every year." He spoke to himself, locking up his car. He had a job to get to. It wasn't a nice one, or a permanent one, but it brought in the money for now. He wasn't on the best of terms with his older sister. Not since he left home. Carrie, now he could still talk to her, she seemed to understand his plight, but his stuck up older sister would never get how some people had to work for things in life. Sometimes, those hard workers never got it.

He probably shouldn't have locked his car, at least not yet. The package was still in the back and he was on a bit of a time crunch. A quick click fixed the situation, and he grabbed the package and locked up once more.

It was only a small box, about the size of his head. Whatever was inside was plenty heavy, not that Carter was one to judge. He just needed to dins a discreet place to put this discreet package, tag it in his little device, and be off. He was able to find a place just next to the patio, a little corner behind a bush. Setting it down, he stood up to ring the door bell.

Just as he pressed it, the ground below began to glow. He took a cautious step back, but was unable to move much more than that. "What..?" He was able to get up before the light swallowed him whole.

---

...Transfer successful.

Bearer/Friendship: acquired.

Begin transfer of remaining Bearers...

Lizzy took a swig from her water bottle and glanced back at her companion trying to remember his name. It definitely started with a 'D' right? He was an American, but wouldn't have looked out of place tending a farm in the south of Spain. She looked him over for a moment as he hiked the heavily wooded trail in her wake, his polyester blend workout shirt hugged his shredded torso tightly, leaving very little to the imagination, his shorts were just short enough to exhibit that he didn't skip leg day either though they did leave a lot more to the imagination. "You still keeping up back there."

His eyes rose to meet her gaze, "Yeah, just waiting for you to step up the pace, too hot for you?" Lizzy chuckled for a moment as she considered a double entendre which finally brought his name into her mind, it was 'Dominic'!"Not even close mate, just makin' sure I don't lose ya."

Lizzy brought her attention back to the hiking trail ahead of her, it had taken an upward turn but she could see the break in the trees ahead. Just a little bit further, she clasped the water bottle at her hip and stepped up her pace.

It was only a few minutes before she came to her destination. The trees cleared as Lizzy came to the top of her climb. Finally she found herself at the edge of a massive canyon. "Aye it is pretty damn Grand innit?" She took a deep breath as Dominic came up at her side. "I told you it'd be worth the hike, no view like this anywhere else in the park."

Lizzy pointed to a rocky outcropping about eight feet below and a few feet out from, her position. "How much to get you take make the leap?" Dominic's response was almost immediate. "Gonna need more than money." Lizzy smiled a slyly and glared at him, "Too late now." Lizzy leapt for the outcropping and was briefly conscious of her skirt flying up as she fell, probably not the ideal clothing choice for today in retrospect. Better enjoy the view, all you're gonna get. She thought in the split seconds before landing. Except she wasn't going to land on the rocks, instead the rocks were suddenly enveloped by a bright white circle of light, there was no avoiding it. "Oh-"

---

...Transfer successful.

Bearer/Sincerity: acquired.

Begin transfer of remaining Bearers...

Though the buses were rarely ever full during this time of day, usually there were a few other students on the public bus. A few fellow fuck ups and rejects trying their best to cram as many courses as they could through summer school and speed through their education so as to focus on their careers sooner rather than later.

After all, whether she liked it or not, Dorotea was growing up, and she was growing up fast. Only two more years until she turned 18, and after 18 there was no obligation for her group home to keep her, and the last thing she wanted was to end up on the streets or leeching off of a distress center. The sooner she could get school off her plate and work full time, the better.

Why the hell the windows were designed to be permanently closed, she would never understand, especially in this sort of heat. She rarely parted with her oversized hoodie, but today was an exception - it lay atop her backpack, which was set beside her. She let out a quiet sigh, absentmindedly looking out the window, cheek pressed against the frame. Her trance was only broken by a fuss up at the front. Curiosity getting the better of her, she popped her earbuds out and listened in.

"I'm going to miss class, please!"

"Sorry ma'am, I can't let you on without a ticket or pass."

Ah, there they were. Overstuffed backpack and tired eyes. Fellow fuck up? Fellow fuck up. Welp, there goes lunch. She shook her head before digging into her pockets.

"Oi," Dorotea waved, reaching her arm over her seat to pass her fellow student a handful of coins, "I've got'chu."

The girl looked at the driver, then Dorotea.

"You sure?"

"We'll all be late if you don't hurry the fuck up."

Both the girl and the bus driver looked a bit shocked at her words, but the girl gave a flustered "sorry," before placing the money in the ticket box. To Dorotea's surprise, the girl sat in the seat in front of her, head turned to speak.

"Thanks for the money - I'll pay you back tomorrow. I-If you're usually on this route."

"I don't want no money. Just be more careful with your shit."

"R-Right..."

An awkward silence fell over the two. The other girl turned away, and Dorotea popped her earbuds back in. It wasn't until much later that the two talked again. She hadn't even realized the other girl had gotten off on the same stop or went in the same direction until she tapped her shoulder. Dorotea turned around, popping one earbud out.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry to bother again, but, uh...You, uh, a student? At Crestwood?"

"Well, if my reading comprehension hasn't gone to complete shit, that does appear to be the name of the building we're in, yes."

The girl let out an exasperated sigh.

"I mean outside of summer, jackass!"

"Take a fucking chill pill, jeez, I'm just messin' with ya. What's up?"

The girl looked just about ready to roll her eyes and leave, but the school was near barren and Dorotea was the closest help nearby. So with a huff, she continued:

"Can you help me find my class? It's room 237."

"Probably. Ain't far from my old homeroom. Here," she mumbled, leading the other down a series of intersecting hallways. The girl followed close by, trying not to lose her cool as the other began to prattle on.

"No, but really, you should be more careful. We're lucky that the schoolboard pays for our passes at all y'know..."

Good lord, will you shut the fuck up? Please, find your class, leave already, goddamn!

Luckily for the other girl, it wasn't long until they were at room 237. She was silent with repressed frustration, and only once the door was open halfway did she speak again. Asshole or not, she did help, and it was only fair she say goodbye, and then they hopefully wouldn't have to cross paths again. By the time she began talking, Dorotea was already twisting the knob of her own classroom door.

"I'll, uh, seeya a...uh? Hey? You!?" Panic suddenly washed over her, both the blood draining from her face and the bright light pouring out of the now open door painting her white.

"HEY!"

Dorotea turned around, and for a split second, their eyes met.

And then there were no eyes to meet. No girl, no light. Just a simple, empty classroom.

The girl was plagued by the irrational thought that her wish came true. Already, she was regretting it.
.............................................................................................................

...Transfer successful.

Bearer/Kindness: acquired.

Begin transfer of remaining Bearers...

No further Bearers found.

Bearers acquired.

Landing zone: located.

Begin delivery.

---

The pastel blue sky shimmered over a strange and different world. A golden ring shone as its toothed gate opened, and eight bodies fell, quite literally, into adventure. The gate then vanished in a shimmering sparkle, leaving not a trace of its existence, leaving eight very confused individuals to ponder what had just become of them...

---

She was falling. They were falling. And screaming, too, There was plenty of that. Inwardly, a part of Haruka was surprisingly calm about that. She supposed it gave her time to digest her situation.

What the hell happened? I was escorting Little Miss Red Light to the office, then that weird hole opened up and… There wasn’t much more to it than that. Sudden drop, and here they were, falling through a kaleidoscope of lights.

Certainly the strangest day on the job she’d had so far.

The rational segment of her brain noticed that they seemed to be falling toward a destination- a darker spot in the distance that was only getting larger as they accelerated toward it. She really hoped she wasn’t going as fast as she felt she was- it would be a really shitty way to die, especially without getting an explanation as to why.

The darker spot grew closer, and she could almost see things on the other side.

Time to find out how screwed I am, I guess. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see her probable death approaching as she passed through the other side of this kaleidoscopic nightmare, then gasped as she suddenly lurched to a stop in midair, limbs clumsily battering against the girl next to her as they stopped. Haruka opened her eyes, just in time for whatever force had stopped her to release them from its grip, causing them both to fall the last couple of feet onto the ground.

Ow. Fuck. Ow. Haruka touched her nose gingerly (not broken, thankfully) as she stumbled shakily to her feet, taking in her surroundings. Some kind of woods, it looked like. And she wasn’t alone, aside from Stripper Girl. At least half a dozen people were in the same clearing, one of whom was in a chair, for some reason. Haruka blinked, looked around, took her goggles off, then blinked again.

Okay… haven’t gone insane, I don’t think. Haven’t gone weirdly blind. Don’t think Kinky Boots over here had time to drug me with anything, and I’m pretty sure I’d have noticed if she had, so…

...Exactly what the fuck is going on here??

---

A pale hand clenched against the… grass? Something didn’t feel right. Slowly, her dark purple eyes opened. Pushing off the ground, she took to her feet; her boots pressing into the loamy ground, forming a rather solid grip. Wait a second- this wasn’t the manicured ground of, well, anywhere in Tokyo. Her almond shaped eyes flicked around- a forest? Rather shrewdly, her hands began inspecting various parts of her body- the crooks of her elbows, the back of her neck, behind her knees, her thighs and calves… no visible marks or pin pricks, and she’d barely had anything to eat or drink- let alone something she had taken her eyes off of; and she felt fine otherwise, which is weird, because she was sure she had fallen.
“Alright, wasn’t drugged at least...” she muttered to herself, now seeing how illogical it was- first the bright ring and the feeling of falling, then being outside some forest; “Okay Biance, time to wake up,” she half chided, tapping her curled knuckles against her own head.
It was then she noticed bodies around her, alive, yeah, but in the same condition as her- and one in a chair… Okay. As much as Biance wanted this to be a dream, she had the sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t, especially with there being others here; and as weird as it was, this made sense. Sort of. At least events seemed to be following sequence.

---

”Okay… on the count of three… I will wake up from this nightmare… one. Two…”

Instead of actually saying three, Haruka slapped herself. Hard.

”Ow. Fuck. Okay, I’m awake now, right— SHIT.” She was still here. The nightmare was still happening. And now her face hurt. Which meant…

”Oh. Fuck. This isn’t a dream.” Haruka sank to her knees as she pondered this development. She was wide awake. Which meant that hole in the world was real. This place was real. These yahoos she found herself in a clearing with? 100% real. And that? That was a problem. It meant she had no fucking clue what was going on.

“Seems so, trigger,” Biance answered, strutting towards Haruka. Her response was met with a glare from the diminutive security guard.

”Don’t call me ‘trigger.’ Unless you’d like to hear some of the nicknames I have for you,” said Haruka as she stood, brushing her knees off, ”Speaking of, you got a name I can call you? Other than ‘Gypsy’ or something?”

For a moment, Biance simply looked over the other, as if assessing her. She took a crossing step in front of the shorter individual, then turned to face her again. Taking in a breath, the dark haired girl shook her head, then proceeded to adjust a few hidden ties in her hair, shifting it from a side ponytail.
“Ya’ know what,” she mused as her fingers nimbly worked, “-you’re pretty. You’d look a lot better if you weren’t mad all the time.”
Finishing her remark, Biance now had her hair sculpted into a bob, with a long thin braid at the back of her head holding it all together. Her visage then shifted from a distant look to a closed eyes smirk at some inner humor.
“I don’t mind nicknames, but I don’t give without there being anything to get. I give my name, you give yours first.”

Haruka was still dumbstruck at the girl’s candid comment. Pretty? Eventually, the shock died away, and up came the hackles once again. She huffed, clearly not amused.

”Going through the roundabout, huh? Cute.” She turned away, glaring at the ground. A minute passed before she spoke again.

”Haruka. Just Haruka for now.” She looked back up, disdain etched on her features. ”Satisfied? Alright, spill, Moulin Rouge. I’m running out of musicals to call you.”
The taller girl nodded, “Biance,” she answered, then pointing her thumb behind herself and Haruka, “Who are these kids?”

Haruka shrugged. ”Beats the fuck outta me. But we’re all here for whatever reason, so… may as well see if any of them know what it is that brought us here.” Without waiting for a response, Haruka turned away from the taller girl, raising her voice as she directed her attention and voice at the rest of their little motley crew.

”Hey! Random other people! Anyone get the license plate number of that truck that hit us? Looked like a fucking glowing hole in the ground?”

...As was becoming increasingly apparent, subtlety was not Haruka’s strong suit.

His life flashing before his eyes Franky remembered the time he saw an episode about portals on x-files or something. He turned to look at his surroundings whilst falling. The weightless feeling causing him to curl and start spinning uncontrollably. His steady yell going from high to low depending on his spin. He finally steadied himself to fall while laying flat. His hair whirling over his head like black fire that can't be put out. "What the crap!?" Were his final words he supposed. He felt sure a fresh hell of doom like no other awaited him and the other souls with him. At least he thought they were souls.

Eventually he opened his eyes to see what his fate was. He was too scared to open his eyes and though he heard voices from others he assumed it was something terrible awaiting him. Though due to curiosity his mind couldn't help but awake from his trauma induced coma. He moved his head and found pieces of grass in his mouth. He lifted himself up with a groan. Was I dreaming? He thought looking around while sitting on his knees with half open eyes. He tilted his head at the sight. A gang of young people around his age, what was this college?

He was okay though. He touched his body to see if he was in shock and thus couldn't feel his wounds. But nothing. He looked around to see the chair he was sitting on right next to him. Then the pack of cigarettes were next to that. He scratched his chin in thought and felt something in his hair. His eyes opened wider now to see that they were in a forest or jungle of some kind. Is this what taking iowaska is like? He then held his head and felt something again and his time he went for it, digging in his hair to find it.

”Hey! Random other people! Anyone get the license plate number of that truck that hit us? Looked like a fucking glowing hole in the ground?”

@EnterTheHero

As she spoke Franky produced a box of condoms and blinked looking at them. It took him a moment to process what was happening and the fact he was just at work. His items from work being here. He stared at the sky trying to decipher the meaning, the sun still being in the air but it didn't feel as hot. He then grabbed his hair and shouted in an anxious upheaval. CRAP IM TOTALLY GOING TO GET FIRED FOR STEALING! He looked distressed and his jaw dropped. He fell to all fours and sulked. He then looked up at the girl and the box of condoms which fell in front of him on the ground. He gave a forced awkward smile with closed smiling eyes.

"Uhhh... I work at a gas station. The names Franky but you can call me Z."

The fall was quick and sudden, but Carter found it interesting to note that as he fell through this epileptic nightmare he didn't feel much wind resistance. He was just falling, moving downwards. At least, that's what his body told him. Despite all this, he found it useful to pull his almost-lucky goggles over his eyes to keep himself from shutting his eyes from what little wind he could feel. The only downside was that he had no idea how to fall properly, and fear flooded his veins as he realized that there was no way to keep himself from hitting the ground. His eyes widened briefly before shutting preparing for that impact...

That never came.

As if he were being pulled up by something, his torso stopped moving completely. His head, arms, and legs shot forward from the sudden stop. He was about as close to the ground as he could get before actually hitting it, then whatever was holding onto him let go and fall the rest of the way without worry of injury.

He rose and looked around. Carter saw from the fall that he wasn't the only one stuck in this situation, but everyone else as as much of a stranger to him as they were to each other. At least, that's how it seemed.

Two of the girls were getting ready to start a screaming match, and Carter was somewhat disappointed that he didn't wear his goggles with the attached headphones. At least that would help him tune out when they inevitably started to argue again.

For now, they seemed to be asking if anything else knew what was going on, to which Carter only shook his head.

"No," he answered to them, not bothering to take off his goggles. "I was out on business, then I'm falling through the physical form of LSD." Only now did he realize that they were giving out names. It was probably for the best if he introduced himself as well. Everyone was equally confused, but at least they all seemed to be like rational adults. "I'm Carter, by the way." He still didn't take his goggles off, and he intended to keep it that way for now.

It seemed most everyone else took a lot tougher tumble through the multicolored hellscape before reaching wherever she was. However, it didn't stop her from being dumbstruck for a good minute, processing the disconnect between walking into a classroom and ending up the woodlands with a bunch of grown ups she didn't recognize. At the very least, she had some semblance of an idea as to why the girl with the missing bus pass sounded so panicked when calling out to her.

In most cases being in a group of grown ups, especially ones she did not recognize, would not be an occasion for smiling. Yet she couldn't help but give a bemused snrk at the box of condoms, softly muttering "classy," under her breath when she caught sight of them. She didn't even bother trying to hide her amusement - her eyes remained of the box the entire time she spoke.

"Name's Dorotea. Tey's fine too. And there wasn't no fucking hole in the ground for me. I turn around while stepping into my classroom, and suddenly years of all the fumes from my druggie of a father are catchin' up to my dumbass self. Like I was reinacting some cheapass Alice In Wonderland or Narnia ripoff."

She finally pried her eyes off of the condom box, but not before looking at the man who called himself "Z" a questioning look, raising her eyebrows as she glanced back to the box and then him again, before turning away to address the others.

"As for how the fuck we got here or why? Best not ask the homeless queer kid, 'cause she don't know shit. All she knows is God's probably pissing himself laughing at this fuckery. Just having himself a good ol' fucking chuckle up there."

The feeling of zero-gravity completely consumed the brown haired girl as her eyes remained closed shut. She only opened them once more when she felt herself falling followed by the screams of those that were probably in the same predicament as her. Once she got a good sight of what was going on, fear and anxiety began pumping into her veins as she used both hands to grasp on to her cap to keep it from flying off her head. Honestly, she would have been completely fine with anything else, but heights? Tears immediately pricked the brunette's eyes as the scream she wanted to let out evaporated before she could do so. She wanted to close her eyes so badly, but doing such made her stomach lurch as her impending doom quickly became more questionable without her vision. So Alex opted to keep her eyes open, tears now spilling out of her eyes against her will.

Just as she thought she was going to collide with the ground and turn into a bloody mess of limbs and muscles, Alex felt her body come to a halt, as if something was suspending her in the air for a brief moment, before dropping her once more, letting her fall without the fear of death. Landing on her side, Alex quickly rubbed her watery eyelids before sitting up on her knees. Now feeling grass tickle her sides of her shins, Alex couldn't help but gawk at the scenery before her. What happened to all the cars, the park, and the building complex? It was pretty clear that she, no they, weren't home, but where were they then?

Alex's head soon turned to face where most of the noise was coming from, two girls it seemed. And while the brunette was mostly ignoring what they were actually saying, she only focused when the shorter of two girls directed their voice to the rest of them.
"Hey! Random other people! Anyone get the license plate number of that truck that hit us? Looked like a fucking glowing hole in the ground?" She blurted out to them, only to have the small girl lower her head. Geez, that was subtle...what was she talking about anyways?

Turning her attention to the first one that spoke up, he didn't really answer the question, but instead gave his name and occupation. Z, huh... Alex could remember that. His appearance - mostly his hair - was also quite a sight to behold, as he pulled out the strangest things from them, but it wasn't like she was gonna comment on it. Next came a guy with shimmery silver hair and wearing goggles. This guy actually answered the question, but it didn't really help when it came to figuring out what was going on. He referred to himself as Carter...it was a nice name. The last person to speak up, and who was also intrigued by how Z managed to pull out such weird things from his hair, was Dorotea, who was probably even more vulgar than the first girl that spoke up.

A little nervous to speak up after Dorotea and her little...monologue...Alex lowered her head once again, the cap covering most of her features once again.
"U-Um...I was playing on the swings and when I jumped off, a light swallowed me up and I e-ended up here." She mumbled, giving another, different occurrence than what the first girl was talking about. "...J-Just call me Alex." She concluded with a frown before looking up slightly to meet eyes with the first girl quickly, only to bring her gaze back down to her lap mere seconds later.

Alaric's mouth was opened wide as he fell away from the skies above him. What happened to him? Where was he? Who were these people around him? All Aaric could clearly think about amidst the myriad of questions going through his mind was the symbolic nature of this fall from the skies.
“...Could this be hell?” To Aaric, it didn’t seem like it, but it didn’t matter to him in a very short time; Aaric was rapidly reaching terminal velocity. The speed alone was enough to make him terrified, not to mention everything else. Nervously curious to how high in the air he was, Aaric shifted the weight of his body to place his gaze towards the Earth. A big mistake. Jolted by the sight of being thousands of feet up in the air, Aaric sporadically opened his arms, allowing the book to fly out of his hands towards a destination unknown. Surely, it wouldn’t hit any poor creature. As Aaric grew closer and closer towards the ground, he tightly shut his eyes and his mind began to race.
“Literature is seeping into my dreams again. It’s that quote of descension. After the fall, I’ll ascend from this nightmare. Waking reality. Waking real…” Suddenly, the wind that blasted against his face stopped as he felt himself being gently laid upon the ground, face first. Quivering, he lifted his head from the ground while his eyes reluctantly opened. What they saw was a peculiarly grown forest, though, not any forest to the likes illustrated in the books. He darted his head around to examine the scenery further. Around Aaric, a lush, verdant forest surrounded the sunny clearing that the people had just landed in. In the sky, soft, white clouds gently swam towards an unknown destination, the wind blowing west with a promise for adventure. Aaric did not care for the fates of the clouds. He was too busy looking at the people who landed alongside with him.
”Hey! Random other people! Anyone get the license plate number of that truck that hit us? Looked like a fucking glowing hole in the ground?” One of the girls yelled out, slicing through Aaric’s moment of shock like a cold knife. After some time, he propped himself up into a sitting position with crossed legs, carefully observing the other people. It had been quite some time that he encountered people of such a wide variety, especially with the differences in language. In an unconscious effort, Aaric's psyche made a rare attempt to categorize these people. It failed spectacularly, making few yet very incorrect assumptions, but nonetheless, it tried.
As the other people began to introduce themselves, Aaric felt no need to introduce himself. In most cases, he never introduced himself nor made greetings unless prompted to. He always kept to himself. However, as more and more people began to introduce each other, Aaric began to feel pressure. Somehow, he slowly felt compelled to introduce himself by action of a mysterious force. (called character introduction, but he didn’t know that) The blood rushed into his face as he began to introduce himself.
“Salutations. I-I am Aaric Mitaski.” He said in a robotic-esque voice.

"-Shite" Lizzy glanced around for a moment as she fell. Taking in her surroundings, she was apparently falling through a refracted rainbow with several others. It was in that moment the ridiculousness of her situation dawned upon her. This is impossible right, I went from the Grand Canyon to falling through the damn sixties with a bunch of strangers... She took the time to consider the possibilities, she could be dead. It'd make sense, perhaps she just hadn't made the jump and her mind had hallucinated as a coping mechanism as she fell to her death, seemed possible. That'd mean she was falling to hell at the moment, not a pleasant thought. But it was just as likely something as yet inexplicable had happened and she still had a few more seconds until she hit the ground. My last words are gonna be 'Oh shite' if that's the case, can't have that.

Lizzy thought hard as she watched the ground coming towards her, it was a terrifying dilemma, to think of one's last words but she felt somewhat assuaged by the fact that there was literally nothing she could do but fall. It could be something profound, witty, religious, or really anything at all since the only people that would hear it was herself and a few others who were similarly about to splatter on the surface of whatever they were plummeting down to. Whatever it was, she had to think of it fast as the ground was now encompassing her entire vision. The ground was getting closer and closer and she still didn't have it, she thought back on her life, it had been full of lies manipulation and deception. "D'agh, I guess I regret bein' a bit of a conniving bitch." She blurted out, it wasn't quite the good Catholic confession her parents would have wanted but she figured it would still serve the purpose and it was all she could think to say as the final few meters of the fall came to a close. She was still finishing her sentence as she came to a halt just above the ground.

The sudden safe stop didn't really process for her until after she had dropped again. Reflexively after hitting the ground she reached for her glasses adjusting them back to their optimal position on her nose as she rose to a sitting position. She took a moment to take in her surroundings. She appeared to be in a forest, not very hellish and while she didn't recognize any of the others around her, none looked like they were immediately threatening. Finally she stood up, being sure to smooth out her skirt as she did so. Once on her feet Lizzy noted the others had begun introducing themselves, though she had other concerns, her attention had been drawn to one particular item she had noticed.

"Hey gas station guy, Franky or Z or whateva, name's Lizzy McShea, how much for those cigarettes?" She pointed at the pack before putting a hand into her hoodie pocket and pulling out a leather wallet filled with plastic cards and euros. "Not a smoker, but now seems the perfect time to start eh, you take euros?." A small realization hit her immediately and she spoke up again. "Aw shite, nevermind I haven't a damn flame" Lizzy slapped her hand against her head in a display of disappointment at her own error and muttered under her breath. "Eejit." Before turning her attention towards the sky, hoping it held some hint at where she was.

Biance flicked out her thin braid, before stepping away from Haruka and towards the rest. For a moment, she observed. Three kids- one really short, one talking like something from a sci-fi movie, and the other a self proclaimed "queer"- one guy who looked like a deadbeat, another who had an air of military brat- 'Gag me,'- and a girl who looked about her age, or older, with glasses and light hair. Eight total strangers. Great.
Having had an eye on the items that had fallen off of Franky's head, she began to approach as they skittered on the grass- which, to be honest, didn't feel entirely like grass. So, as this 'Liz' girl asked for the pack of cigarettes, while sporting an accent that Biance had to do a bit of work to keep up with, Biance was already close by. With a quick snap of her hand and a sway of the hip, she snatched up the pack of cigarettes, as well as the box of condoms at which she noticed Dorotea had been staring, holding them triumphantly fanned in her hand.
"Rule number one kids: You want it, you take it," she declared, tucking the boxes into her dufflebag while passing her hand over her jacket pocket.
She then strode to have her back away from the group, keeping her body between anyone else and the bag, with the others as well in sight as she could keep them. She then locked eyes with Liz. The deep, dark purple therein burned a challenge, as if daring the other girl to try and take the pack from her. However, the sharp gaze made it clear that it was more of a warning against it. Obviously the rules only applied to things that weren't already hers.

Lizzy raised an eyebrow at the girl who had snatched up the cigarettes and was now staring her down. Her stare seemed almost hostile, Perhaps not the time to give up those conniving bitch ways just yet. She thought as she mocked striking a lighter with her right hand, hoping the other girl similarly lacked a means of lighting the cigarettes, that would just make her day. Or at least it would somewhat make up for the whole falling from the sky to a foreign land thing that had happened.

And perhaps Dorotea would've followed this gesture as well. Perhaps she'd even try to put her foot down, had she not been taken back by the triumph Biance showed. It was impossible for her to hold back her giggling at this point. Was it immature? Probably. Was it uncalled for? Most certainly. Was it a complete mood killer? Absolutely. But if she cared at all, she did little to show it. Once the series of choked, disbelieving giggles were more or less successfully smothered poorly by a hand in front of her mouth, she lifted it away with a single finger raised.

"Hold--hold up. Put those things down man. Why you bringing this from a zero to a hundred?"
She took a deep breath, trying to drown out a second bout of giggles.
"I mean, shit, I ain't judging if you need that many, but c'mon. Who's you gonna use them with even?"

Lizzy stifled a giggle at the girl who had introduced herself as Dorotea's comment. A young lass probably still in secondary school by the looks of her, and a fellow ginger, perhaps a kindred spirit - though it was still far too soon to make such judgements. She followed pausing for a moment, she didn't want to cause an escalation of hostilities, but the opportunity was there and she couldn't resist."Don't listen tah her darlin', nothing wrong with bein' a bit 'adventurous' I'd probably not advertise it so readily though."

The younger ginger gave a small snort.

"No kiddin', least take the lucky guy to dinner before y'all start fucking. Or gal, sure ain't no judging from me."

"Aye but perhaps it's just another case of the Irish Catholic Institute producing a sexually repressed frigid prude on my part."

Lizzy snickered at her own comment. In strange company the joke lost a bit of it's luster, but she still amused herself and it got a chuckle out of Dorotea. Though the thought struck her that maybe there was some truth to it, she doubted it, but just maybe wherever this stranger was from the cultural differences were so vast that she actually was a sexually repressed frigid prude to her. A terrifying thought.

"I..." Carter was dumbfounded. Cigarettes? Condoms? What the ever loving fuck was going on? "Ok, ok. First off, Language. Please. For the love of god." Being raised among the military, Carter knew a couple things about a few swears here and there, but all of that was put away when he was around his parents. Even now he still tried not to curse in front of people, despite the fact that it was all too easy to slip into that sort of language. "We need to find out what's going on. Smoke if you want, but nobody's using those condoms. We don't have time for that." Maybe it was something inside Carter that was naturally against the thought of sex. Maybe it was his own previous experiences that lead him to being somewhat adverse to it.

Some of these people looked around his age, some looked a little younger, and some looked really young. Carter didn't want to make any parents mad or see any judges, so it was best to try and keep things as clean as possible. Just for the sake of safety. He looked to each of them, moving his hands around to offer them a chance to speak. He certainly didn't have and ideas on where to start, but maybe one of them was a boy scout or something."Ideas, anyone?"

Franky was clearly on the receiving end of some weird looks due to the infamous box of condoms. The worst offender being a girl whose face looked comfortable being upset. She looked like a goth to him, and she called herself Dorotea. His literal first time hearing that name. He wondered where she, or hell anyone else here was from. The first ones to speak sounded fairly western but as more of them spoke up the subtle hints of where they came from made this a sort of melting pot. Still dazed by what the hell was happening Franky still held the box in his hands, though he clinched it bending the paper wrapping. "Hey." He said lowly to her and her strange looks, a warning that she was steering down a wrong path in her idea of who he was. Though he sighed immediately afterwards, shrugging emphatically as if to show he was letting it go. Though this was for himself more than for her.@Loony

"...J-Just call me Alex."

Z took the time to sit with his legs crossed. Clearly frustrated but meditating it out. He looked at the child Alex who spoke up. She sounded like a girl so he safely assumed it was. But the child body made it hard for him to tell either way. He felt truly unlucky now. It was not good to have kids around wondering what sex was in what might be a alien planet waiting to devour them. He didn't need to feel anymore anxiety. Speaking of anxiety I do have those cigarettes. I'm not a smoker but.. He began to reach for the pack but felt a shadow loom over him from another person who was in this group.

"Hey gas station guy, Franky or Z or whateva, name's Lizzy McShea, how much for those cigarettes?"

"Huh?" Not often does he come across a foreigner. Or at least one from upstanding Europe. Normally from south of the boarder and a lot less pale. "Oh uh nice to meet ya. Yeah it's Z to make it easier." He smiled at her. She seemed clean and her accent was kind of attractive. Definitely more classy sounding that the NY accent from the Bronx. He thought about the price while rubbing his chin hairs. "Euros? Nah you're good. Just tak'em." As he spoke he reached for them to hand to her. He felt nothing but grass and air as he touched where the pack was. She looked up to see the girl from earlier who addressed everyone taking the condoms and the cigarettes.

"Rule number one kids: You want it, you take it,"

Franky couldn't help but shake his head at this girl. She was a fiery one and a trouble maker. A lot like the girls at his old inner city highschool. Best to ignore them and flow with it. That's how he got by their infuriating behavior and there was seldom chance things will change by arguing. They were only good for a few things and it was made more clear by the amount of pregnancies he saw. He thought this as he watched Biance's petite rump from behind as she walked away.

The other girl Dorotea began giggling uncontrollably and making passing jokes. It didn't infect him with laughter instead he looked to the east of their location and sighed placing his hands on his hips as he lifted to his feet. Standing taller than the two girls now he looked down at them but briefly before scratching his head. He felt at a loss of what to do. When asked by Carter if anyone had ideas he could only shake his head. "Just what kind of fucking day is this turning out to be...?"

Aaric had remained as stiff as glass, his face still tinted with red. As he shifted his eyes around, he realized that nobody had paid attention to him. Relieved, Aaric’s body became flexible once again, allowing his head to rest upon his shoulders and his blood to settle down.

“What was I thinking? I’ve never done that to complete strangers!” A moment of contemplation of his recent actions was taken. Slowly, his focus began to shift towards the conversations being thrown around in the group, but upon hearing subject, Aaric immediately placed the simple ideas of those things into a mental box labelled “forbidden fruits.” His blinds were immediately closed and his doors were locked, Aaric withdrew within himself, applying himself to observe the scenery over rather than listening to the offensive conversation.

Aaric looked up into the pale blue noon sky. Aaric found it quite refreshing despite having fallen down to the earth. Aaric continued to stare at the sky. Then he squinted his eyes and cocked his head closer towards it. The heavenly being that always watches over the earth was absent. Mystified, Aaric began walking around the clearing in a circle, looking in multiple angles. The sun was still absent. In order to clear his confusion, Aaric began his ascent up a tree. It was a clumsy climb, but he was invested into it and his curtains open to discovery of knowledge. Higher and higher, he climbed, pushing through the branches, twigs, and leaves, eventually popping his head out into the open canopy. The same gentle breeze that moved the clouds brushed against his face. Refreshing after a cramped and stuffy climb.

Aaric refocused himself. He perused the open horizons, confirming that indeed, the sun had vanished. This caused Aaric’s eyebrows to furrow. Aaric then looked down into the clearing. He could see everyone from his vantage point. There was some commotion down at the bottom, but he couldn’t care less about what was going down there. His setting was much more important. Aaric continued to stare down at the clearing, observing the beige, compacted earth present everywhere on the ground. He suddenly noticed a feature of the ground; it appeared to be printed with very light wirelike engravings. It was now the ground that called Aaric. Aaric began his descent from the canopy through the leaves, making a similarly clumsy movement down the trunk. Immediately after touching the ground, he scrutinized the ground to ensure that his observation was correct. There was no doubt that the ground had etchings, and in fact, the wires were on nearly everything. The trees, the leaves, and the flowers, perhaps the sky were ladened with wired impressions.

Aaric’s eyebrows furrowed. His mind began to leaf through his mental library, gathering and connecting all the relevant information he had in his expansive collection. All outrageous and even unlikely possibilities were immediately discarded, but however, informational voids halted this progress. His mind combed through the data once again, only to have the true realization pass underneath his nose once again. He could smell it, but he could not see it. The fact that this truth had eluded Aaric incurred a juvenile frustration inside of him.

"Ideas, anyone?"

A person’s voice requested, cutting through Aaric’s thought process. Aaric wasn’t too keen on sharing his knowledge with others. However, with the gap in his knowledge, Aaric was a little bit more inclined to do so. However, he wouldn’t do it with those unconcerned hooligans but with the person who actually cares about the situation. Aaric meandered towards the the militarily dressed man.

“Hey” Aaric said, catching the attention of the military man. “I have not the slightest idea where we are.” Aaric said calmly as he finished walking towards person. Whenever it came to business and information, Aaric could manage talking with people. “However, I did make a few observations that might help us indicate where we are. I’ve noticed that…” From there, Aaric recounted only his observations he had made.

Biance simply smiled and took it all in. She didn't expect the kid to get it, but Elizabeth was being a bit too dismissive, or dense, maybe. Her remark about "a sexually repressed frigid prude" brought a dry chuckle from the girl's lips, as she twisted slightly. With her bag held over her shoulder, she leveled her gaze back towards the two girls and Franky.
"Nothing wrong with being prepared," she retorted, then moved in, crouching until she was eye level with the younger red-head, who all things considered, just looked a year or two younger than her, "They usually buy me dinner sweetheart," she added, her voice wading in sickly saccharin, the tone somewhere between sarcastic and pandering, "and then, I get paid."
Standing straight once more, she indicated the seated Franky with her eyes, whose gaze at her body had not gone unnoticed.
"This guy gets it," she fired back, with some allure woven into her voice.
She then turned to Carter, walking up to him with only mildly veiled annoyance. At this point, Biance didn't notice the younger boy scamper off into the tree line, nor had she seen him looking to the sky. Carter, however- he was exactly what she thought. Definitely a military brat, and the worst kind too- he was stuck up. Or so it seemed. He needed to not take things so seriously, whatever the case.
"As far as I can see, Boyscout, we have all the time in the world. However we got here, we're here. We're not dead at least," she retorted, for a moment becoming distracted as she could swear the bases of the tree trunks looked like wall sockets, "Why not make the best of it?"
Biance's thoughts then turned inward. There was safety in numbers. And no one here really looked dangerous- or at least like Biance couldn't handle them, except maybe Haruka. That one was like a bear with a flower crown. That, and now she had some patsies in case things turned sideways. It was about then when the younger boy approached Carter, and Biance drifted away once again. Her train of thought had downed out anyone else's words, but now she was more receptive. Out of some paranoid need, Biance did a quick headcount. Eight. Still Eight. A slight rustle in the bushes, then, was brushed off (no pun intended) as simply the wind.