...

...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~))}

Somewhere else, on Earth, in an urban area, a loud disagreement could be heard from the street. A cat screeched and ran away as a young man stormed out the door, slipping into a denim jacket, and quickly moving down the steps at the front. He moved like he was in a hurry, but determined.

A middle aged woman in scrubs leaned out the door after him, “Monty, don’t you have to get to your job? The prescription can wait, really! I can call a colleague of mine to get it-”

He dismissed her with a wave, and called back over his shoulder, annoyed, “Nah, it’s fine! You should have taken care of this before coming in, today, but I’ll work it out! You stay here; taking care of my mother is only your job, after all!” He shook his head, frustrated. Shouldn’t have said that. Should NOT have said that.

Turning a corner, not far from his front door, He thought about how he was going to apologize. It slipped her mind, that’s all. This wasn’t even going to make him late; he didn’t have to blow up at her, like that, he thought. He had everything under control. He pursed his lips, and sighed, to himself, "Okay..."

He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t notice the glowing ring that opened up beneath him, and before he knew it, he’d felt like he was falling!

An older man with a walrus mustache, a dirty face, and paper bag in hand had been walking by, and saw this. He gave a start, and watched, incredulously as the young man had vanished, moments before the.. Whatever, did, as well! He blinked, looked at the bag in his hand, and resumed walking as he tossed the bag into a trash can, shaking his head…

“We’ve really got to stop meeting like this, teach.”

In one nonspecific high school in Japan, a short teenager had her feet up on her desk, chair stretching back as far as it could. She was short, dark skinned, wearing the boy’s school uniform, and covered with dirt and bruises.

“Takahashi-san, get your feet off the desk. And yes, we do have to stop meeting like this.” The teacher looked at his student, concern and a small amount of anger in his eyes. “So – when is it going to stop? This is our third meeting this year and you are no closer to-”

“It wasn’t my fault this time, teach.” Jin put her feet down and leaned forward, adamant. “There were four of them this time, they ambushed me on the club practice grounds. I was actually gonna sign up for a club! I swear – look!” Without waiting, she dug into her leather school bag and dug up a torn piece of paper with “Club Application” written on it. “See?”

The teacher took the paper and hummed thoughtfully.

“Look, they tried. But it’s not my fault I’m a better fighter, okay? It’s so damn stupid what they wanted me for, too. Said that Honei-san had been smiling at me too often, and that I had to ‘know my place’ or some shit, before I stole him away. One, who cares that hard about some guy, and two, no one smiles at me. He was probably just staring for no reason. I told them that, they still tried to maul me. So I fought. And I won.” She sniffed, proud despite the trouble she was in. “You should see what those bitches look like.”

“Watch your language.” The teacher sighed softly. “Give me their names. I can help you.”

“Nah.” Jin muttered softly. “It won’t work, just like last time. I’ll get punished and they’ll get off because their families are rich and old.”

“Takahashi-san - ”

“Just.. leave it. Give me my punishment so I can go.”

There was silence for several moments.

“No punishment this time, Jin-chan. Just… clean up and go home.” The teacher was obviously concerned. “You know, if you didn’t have some of the highest grades in the school, they would have expelled you by now.”

“Yeah, I know. Sucks for them. Bye teach.” Jin rose up with a wince and a sigh, heading toward the nurse’s office. As she was on the way, a great glowing ring opened up beneath her feet. Before she could react, she was tumbling down and down, to an unknown fate.

In the playing field of a certain private academy, the final seconds of an intense Soccer game ticked down like the timer of a bomb. The home team for this game was in the lead, 3-0. The visiting team was about suffer a devastating shut out unless they could pull off a last minute shot. The ball was in their control, having been kicked to the away team's Captain as he prepared his last shot. The home team had become mostly relaxed, knowing full well there was no way they could possibly lose. Well, all except for at least one of them. A certain player came dashing for enemy captain and swept right under him, throwing him off balance and effectively stealing the ball from him.

"Over here!" cried a teammate who was a bit further down field, but a few enemy players were already moving to prevent a pass, desperation making them fight harder than ever. The indigo-haired player with the ball chose instead to disregard his teammate and instead take a "calculated long-shot" at the goal. The other team's goalie was apparently caught off guard by this and was unable to dive for the ball fast enough. The buzzer sounded the end of the game, final score: 4-0.

Later, in the home team's locker room, the players were all changing out of their Soccer uniforms into their normal clothes. But just as the indigo-haired player finished dressing himself and putting his glasses on, his team's captain suddenly forcibly turned him around. He looked angry.

"What the hell was that, Kougawa?" asked the Captain with a livid tone, "You ignored a perfectly good pass and stole the glory for yourself? Or did you forget this was supposed to be a team sport?"

The player, Kougawa Ando, said nothing. At least at first. Instead he just glanced down at his captain's hand as if merely expecting him to let go. He and the Captain did not get along. Namely because, despite being Captain, the captain himself was not the Ace on the team, Kougawa was. And that fact angered the team's captain to no end.

"You arrogant bastard! Think you're too good to answer your Captain when he addresses you?" the Captain fuming, his free hand clutched into a fist, and he did make a lunging move as if to throw a punch. But unfortunately, Kougawa had always been good reading the movements of his opponents on the soccer field, and this was hardly any different. Kougawa suddenly ducked down and swept the captain's legs, sending down to the floor.

"They swarming him right from the start you fool." said Kougawa in a blunt, matter-of-fact tone, "Besides, my accuracy is superior anyway, so why bother risking someone else taking the shot and missing?"

"What would it have mattered?" asked one of the other players, "I mean... we were gonna win no matter what, right?"

"Tch, idiot." said Kougawa, "One who becomes complacent becomes the first to be caught off guard." there was his usual ruthlessness. He wanted to crush the opposing team, dominate the game regardless of how assured victory was.

"Damn you, Kougawa!" shouted the Captain, his buttons thoroughly pushed. Everyone knew the Captain would have thrown Kougawa off the team long ago, but couldn't, the coach wouldn't allow it due to how strong a player he was and how many wins he helped them get. But it looked like his patience had run out and he was lunging for another punch of some kind. But this little altercation never concluded. Golden rings appeared at Kougawa's feet and the captain's fist would have ended up punching the empty air were he once stood.

Elizabeth can hear sounds of the crickets while she's opening up her window, she grab her suit case and throw it out of the window. Beth stick her head out to see if the case is broken or something that makes all of her clothes and stuff pop out but thank goodness, they didn't pop out, nor her case is not damage. Beth grab her blanket that is tie to fabrics from her bed, when she chuck that out of the window, Beth heart stops when she hear something outside of her room, could it be someone?...Is that someone her mother? "...Oh no...Oh no, no, no, no!" Beth whisper panicky, her legs shake when she step on the edge of her window "If they do this on tv...Then I can do it too!" Beth say to herself as she carefully climb down from her room and into the front yard. Elizabeth grab her case and dash toward the front gate, as she is running, she can hear someone scream and yelling that Beth is missing, she wonder if that was one of the maids or her mother but she doesn't care, she pull out her key of gate, unlock and there she goes, Elizabeth "Beth" Azurine is out of her cage!

As Beth runs toward the forest, she start laughing and doesn't know why but she doesn't care, she's out! she's free! she is....finally free. when realization that she is out, Beth doesn't know what to do now, her only plan to break out, she doesn't know what hotel she is going to stay at nor how much money she have on her. Beth sit down on the grass while she put her hands on both sides of her head, she sigh ".....What I'm going to do now?...." Beth thoughts of a next plan were short however, as she spot a glowing ring opened up beneath her, she didn't have time to react, she just fell into the ring, falling into whatever waits for her below.

A day like any other day. Wake up, brush your teeth, take a hot shower, towel yourself down, get dressed, go to school, go to work, go home, sleep. Wake up and do it again. Every. Single. Day. Was this the life Ryoko had always wanted as a little girl? The future seemed so much brighter when papa was supporting her fully but now it was like they wanted her to suffer. Homework, stress, financial requirements, there were a dozen balls to juggle in the air and it was starting to make her arms ache almost as much as it made Ryokos back hurt! But what else could one person do.

Bills had to be paid and papa was right. It was her responsibility to understand life was not always going to be easy. There was nothing left to do but buckle down and get it done! Ryoko was tired but their determination to see the job done trumped any feeling of exhaustion lingering around as they stretched leisurely. The apartment was cramped but it was only twenty minutes from the University grounds and the coffee shop was just down the street, which made it ideal. Rent was also very cheap! Papa took care of the school fees and expected his daughter to pay her rent and manage enough finances to pitch in on school costs, for the most part it wasn't that difficult.

Just meant less meals some days.

In five years time it would all be a dream, a bad one sure, but a dream. An empty belly once in a while wasn't a bad price to pay considering how much tuition costed. Just had to work harder, get more hours, live a little more frugal. Sewing taught online was helping with the clothing issue when anything got a tear, Miss Fuji at the shop was also very supportive and pitched in where they could for the young med student. Maybe they were alone in the apartment but Ryoko knew deep down they had people watching their back! Disappointing them wasn't an option.

"Ok.." Staring at herself in the mirror, Ryoko saw the bags under her eyes and ignored the zombie staring back at her. "A new day. Friday. Work needs you in early! Uniforms on the counter, you have enough to get a small lunch today, wear the big jacket. Don't mess up. We can do this. You and me, me! We're a team. Mind and body as one." Pepping herself up was an important routine in the mornings. Without it they would be nothing but a ghost going through the motions. It broke the endless nothingness permeating the room.

Dressing in her usual attire, white longsleeve undershirt, blue vest, blue skirt, long socks and comfortable running shoes, her great big puffy coat, their hair was done as the alarm went off.

"Right! Time to seize the day. What could go-" Something was on the floor! Glancing down at her feet was a ring of some kind, a massive one! glowing with light it was like it was- IT WAS SWALLOWING HER! "-WRONG! WRONG WRONG WROOOOOOOONG!" Down the hole went Ryoko. To where was anyones guess.

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- 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.

Monty rubbed his side, groaning as he sat up. "D'ow, shit, I think I fell on a rock!" he grimaced as he looked around. Man, there aren't any woods near my house! Where are we?

One of them was shouting a lot, now, and swearing, also alot. He couldn't help but hear some of the conversation, He pointed at- "Bianca", he thought, "Hey, who are you calling 'kids', huh? I'll bet you hassle guys like me outside the 7-11 to buy you beer!"

Crossing his arms across his chest, with a stern expression, directed at the one doing all the cursing, "And as for you, Princess Potty-Mouth, the name is Montegomery; friends call me Monty, for short. If I let you keep it short, you think you can pronounce it without saying 'fuck' at least twice?" He looked a bit sheepish, suddenly, and looked away as he muttered under his breath, "Shouldn't have said that..."

He made a move to help one of the others up, "I don't recall any truck, myself; I was just walking down the sidewalk, and before I realized what was going on, I was falling through... I guess it was like a tunnel, or something? No clue how it could have opened up in the sky, though... Maybe we're in a park, or something?"

After whoever it was that he helped was standing, he held his own head, a look of worry on his face, "ugh, how'm I going to explain this, at work?"

"...Ugh." Ando rubbed his temples as he staggered to his feet. What happened exactly? He remembered the locker room, the team captain throwing a punch at him, and then... the bright golden ring! And then... falling, a lot of falling, and a lot of swirling colors, like a rainbow tunnel? Hard to describe, hard to think. Now there were voices, obnoxious-sounding voices that sounded like they belonged to a handful of annoying people. He pinched the bridge of his nose a moment, trying his hardest to block out the distractions so he could hear himself think.

Is this some kind of nature park? Ando's first instinct was to retrieve his cellphone from the backpack that had fallen through the ring with him. He flipped it open, and it still turned on. Cell service? Nothing? He shut the phone off, clearly it wasn't going to be of any help right now. That meant the only thing left to do was at least get his bearings. Ando looked up, wanting to figure out the sun's position so he could least figure out which way North was. Once he had a decent enough idea of that, he decided to take better stalk of the surroundings.

A clearing in some woods? Wait, woods? Was this part of a park or was it outside the city limits? Either way, this meant he pretty far from his district, which would only mean he was going to be late getting back. That was just wonderful. His father didn't tolerate tardiness, or anything really that wasn't exactly on schedule. He was a perfectionist like that, which meant that Ando was in for some fiery lecturing when he got home. And still the voices of these strangers was irritating him. Finally he looked in their direction, unable to stop himself glaring at them as if shooting daggers out of his eyes.

He didn't stay anything yet. His glare was focused primarily on the bickering young women, who were proving to be the most annoying of the bunch right now. Then he just shook his head, "Use your heads for something other headbutting each other." his tone was snappy, and he obviously sounded like he was in no mood to deal with anyone and their annoying quirks, "There's no cell service. I'm guessing that means we're all equally far away from where we're supposed to be. Honestly all it takes is a moment to check your surroundings you could have figured that out for yourselves." he rubbed his temples, as if this was physically giving him a headache. It was like he'd died and ended up in his own personal hell or something.

No... The only way this would be Hell is if he were locked in his father's office and chained to a desk with him standing over Ando like a demonic taskmaster. But whatever this was, he needed to figure out how to reverse it. Which meant he was stuck for now, and stuck with these... people, by the looks of it. "How vexing."

Elizabeth eyes slowly but surely open up and find herself in a world that is not hers. This is a dream? This is heaven? Or Hell? Beth pinch herself, ok, this is not a dream. Beth check her pulse to see if she is dead and she feel a heartbeat, good, she is not dead either but one question still remain...What is this place? First she was in the wood right next to her house and then the next she in...Well, she is still in the woods but trees are in the different color, included the sky, let's just Beth hope and pray that she is not the only one here but who she kidding? She probably is only one, all alone...But this horrible thought turns out to be false when she hear other people talk, with no time to hurry, she gets up, grab her suite case and speed walk toward the talking.

When Elizabeth finally made it where the noises are, she spot three, no, four people! There two girls, one with purple hair and the other with goggles on her head, and two guys, one with glasses and the other freckles! Without hesitation, Beth pop out of the bushes and excitedly walk toward the strangers "Oh thank god! I thought I was the only one here! I thought I was going to be alone in these wood, nobody but my thoughts, slowly going crazy and then make friend, who will be a rock, named Wilson-" Beth finally stops herself from talking even more and then calm herself down "...Ahem..Hi! My name is Elizabeth" Beth happily say to the strangers

Jin groaned as she picked herself off the ground. “What the hell was that..” She mumbled, checking herself all over. Now she was even more bruised and dirty. Fantastic. She quickly realized she wasn’t in Tokyo anymore, and slowly approached the other people who, from the looks of it, were just as lost as she was.

There were two catty looking girls arguing with each other, one guy yelling at them, another guy standing there looking pissed and holding his head, and one irritatingly cheery girl who’d done the dumbest thing and introduced herself to a bunch of strangers like someone cared.

“No one cares what your name is.” She managed to say, before brushing leaves off her backside. Then she started to walk, determined to get out of the trees and to somewhere where she could at least see civilization. She already missed the city.

She didn't quite know what she was expecting, but it probably wasn't this. Biance was practically swarmed by the majority of the group. Well, it'd be more apt to say that she was being addressed by a few more people at once than she had wanted. No matter, she would deal. She rolled her eyes and extended her hand in a dismissive manner, choosing now to address each individual one at a time.
The boy in glasses was the first to be addressed, "Listen sweetie," she began, her voice dripping with a false saccharin tone, "First off; what I do with my head is my business. I doubt you have enough money to change my mind. More importantly- I have... no idea what you're talking about space cadet. But thanks for the weather report, captain obvious," she continued, her tone gathering more sarcasm as she went.
Biance then turned to the blonde girl who seemed to be speaking English. She gave a bemused smile with half-lidded eyes, and reached out with her hand, curling her index finger and bringing it just below the other girl's chin.
"You don't get out much, do you?" Biance more stated than asked, "Do yourself a favor and hang back- let me handle things, okay?"
Her final remark would have sounded kind, were it not smeared with a coating of derision. She passed her eyes over the scene once more, and promptly did a double-take in shock. This was probably the weirdest thing yet. One of the other girls, just... standing there in stark silence, looked eerily similar to Biance herself. Their eyes were almost the exact same color, as was her hair, which was styled in a way that she could easily pull off. But what was most chilling was the difference in posture. It was like looking in a warped, frosted mirror. Despite being almost the same age, she looked drained to an extent that made her look almost dead of old age, completely devoid of vitality. It almost froze Biance's heart solid in fear.
She was snapped out of her stupor when she noticed the girl with the fashionable red jacket walking away. Her instincts kicked in as she lashed out verbally.
"Fine, get yourself lost- more lost. Less work for me to do," she called out, waving in half-hearted salutation, before taking a quarter turn away from the crowd, and letting out an exasperated sigh with her hand in her face.

"Oh!...Um..I was just introducing-...Ok, sorry" after saying that, Beth feel rather disappointed. finally meeting someone that is what she looks like her age, the girl with purple jacket just brush Beth off in the meanest way. Did Beth did something wrong? What did she do to make this girl hate her all sudden? Maybe her mother was right, maybe Beth wasn't ready to go out into the real world....Whatever this world is.

Beth was almost about to retreat into the bushes until the other stranger, the purple hair one, walks toward her, Beth was about to say hi to her but then, all sudden, the purple stranger reach out with her hand, curling her index finger and bringing it just below the Beth's chin. While Beth cheeks turn red, the purple stranger ask her if she don't get out much, Beth try to say to form some words but all she could say was some ums and ers. Purple then tell Beth to hang back and let her handle things, "Ummmm, Er, Ok!" Beth awkwardly say

Among the bickering stood - or rather, sat - a very, very still man. He had made no sound besides the impact of his body hitting the ground, and he barely moved since then. Given his blank expression and how long it took for him to shift his legs into a proper sitting position, or even blink, there was a good chance he hadn't even registered what had happened to him at first. Even now, as he began to stir, eyes wandering from one speaker to another, he looked off - sleep deprived, or perhaps just high. Which was more than just a little uncomfortable to consider given the conversation at hand.

As he listened to the group, three things became clear:

1. Everyone here is either an asshole, as maladjusted as I am, or both.
2. My head hurts too much for me to be high.
3. I wish I were high.

This might've been the most exciting day of his life had he been ten years younger. New people, new place, time away from home. There was that girl - Elizabeth - who had the sort of excitement he might've once had. He feels bad, but he says nothing. As it was, it was a headache, it didn't make sense, and he wanted to go back to sleep.

It's not long until he's just staring at his own shoes while the others continued their bickering. Dread fills his stomach and his mind aches. He registers footsteps getting further away - someone is leaving, or at least putting some distance between themself and the group. He decides to follow suite, avoiding eye contact and pocketing his hands as he walks in the opposite direction.

The longer the youths stood in the forest clearing, the more apparent it would become that this was far from a normal place. The sky looked like a mat painting with tiny black flecks stuck in it, stretching to the horizon. Those heading towards the trees could notice a few odd things. Firstly, what appeared to be a plastic molding was set around the base of each tree, and on further inspection, the angles of the branches all seemed identical, as if all the trees were the same, just rotated slightly.
Another strange feature, though hidden in the underbrush, were oversized, loose cables lying on the ground, capped with colorful ends, making them look like giant AV cables that came from nowhere nearby. Something that those entering the woods, and moving away from the voices of the others, would notice soon enough was the strange silence. Despite being a deep forest, there was neither the sound of birds, nor running water, nor the rustling of creatures in the leaves, or even the buzzing of insects.

Kougawa chose not to dignify the girl with a reply. He'd already grown bored of dealing with her. Instead he eyed a couple of the others. Clearly they were as lost as confused as he was. That meant none of them had any clues or knowledge of what was happening. A couple of them were choosing instead to leave. No words to anyone, and while normally Kougawa was of that kind of mind, now was definitely one of those times when going off alone was a stupid idea.

"Going alone is a terrible idea, you know." he said, making sure he was loud enough for the lot of them could hear. Also his angry tone was completely gone. He in fact sounded rather calmed down now, whatever frustration he had earlier was pushed aside in favor of logical thinking, "You've no idea where this is, no idea what kind of wildlife is waiting for you out there. Unless..." he narrowed his eyes with suspicion, "...you know something that you're choosing not to share with the rest of us? In which case, I'm going to have to insist that you clue the rest of us in." it wasn't a threat, not really. But an athlete like him would have no trouble chasing someone down who tried to run. Especially if they themselves were not as athletically inclined.

Jin crunched into the woods, pushing aside tree branches and bushes as she did so. There was someone talking behind her, but she figured it was more arguing. Easy to ignore.

About 5 minutes of determined trampling into the forest, she realized she'd made a mistake. She was not some floaty mori girl in tune with nature and things like that. No, she was an urban girl, born for concrete and tall buildings, and neatly manicured bushes and trees. She turned around to go back, and realized that she didn't know exactly where she was. All of the trees looked the same, and there wasn't even a bird's nest or a squirrel to show her where she had been.

"Damn. Ain't these places supposed to be full of life or something?" She turned again. Forest in front. Forest behind. A note of fear twisted her stomach, but she batted it down. No time to be scared in the middle of the day. Removing a pencil from her bag, she stuck it into the loamy soil. The yellow made is a beacon among the brown and green.

"Good." She started off again after picking a direction. A minute later, she was at the pencil again. She tried again, in a different direction, and soon heard voices. Finally, a way out! She rushed toward them, smiling. "Hey! Civilization..." But it was the same crowd. Now probably all staring at her like she was insane.

"Um." She jerked her thumb back at the trees.

"There's something wrong with the forest. Ain't no bears or boars or deer or any shit."

This caused the frail looking man to pause a moment, nearly tripping over himself. To speak or not to speak? To be honest or to suck up? While he really didn't want anything to do with the group, the man brought up a point. Going alone was probably a poor idea.

Not that he was really planning on going anywhere in particular besides away. Less headache with more distance.

Speaking of headache, the girl who has been mouthing off earlier had returned. But at least she didn't seem to be pissy anymore. He turned to her, then back to the group, and raised his voice - something that clearly was uncomfortable for him.

"Finding - not finding boars and stuff is pretty normal in the amount of time you were gone. Deer especially. Deer hide quickly."

Especially from loud and reckless girls like you. He kept that thought to himself, briefly wondering if the girl had ever been in a forest.

But her words began to turn the rusty gears in his brain. Little pieces of information began to fit together.

"But, uh, now that you mention it, it's quiet. Other than you guys, I mean, it's very quiet. Wind, water, birds? Nothing. And no bugs. I've been staring at the ground almost this entire time, and there's not been a single bug."

He still hasn't taken a step back towards the group, but he had been facing them the entire time.

"I don't think wildlife is an issue, but I do think we should stick together if we're done doing, doing..." he make a vague hand gesture.

"Doing whatever you guys were doing before," he pauses, giving a sheepish smile, "No offence. My head hurts."

"Hmm..." Kougawa closed his eyes a moment and focused. All the bickering had managed to distract him from realizing it sooner. The other guy was correct. No sounds, other than the talking. No buzzing, no chirping, not even any leafs rustling. "I'll be damned." he finally said after a pause, "He's right, not a sound to be heard other than us." this also gave Kougawa the idea to get a closer look at their surroundings. Nothing looked particularly natural around here. If he didn't know any better, he'd swear they were on the set of some movie or TV show or something. The are just looked... artificial, or had some quality to that effect.

And then, well, Kougawa happened to look up. The expression on his face went from mildly intrigued to the first look of shock he'd shown to this group of strangers, "What the-? LOOK UP!" he quickly pointed straight up toward the sky, or at least what was supposed to be the sky. It looked, well, fake or artificial like the rest of the woods. But while the surrounding environment could have been written off as some kind of set somebody built. How in the world could anyone explain what the deal with the sky was?

"I was ready to right this off as someone's idea of a sick joke or kidnapping, but... what the hell is happening here?" for once the normally cool-headed Kougawa was caught completely off guard. And just for a fleeting moment, a glimpse of true personality peeked out from behind his mask. But it was only that, a peek, and only for a moment. He took a breath and recomposed himself, once again presenting himself as cool and level-headed, particularly when one of the others finally suggested they stick together.

"Finally, an idea that makes sense. I can agree to that." he took a step or two in the direction of Shan to solidify his agreement with him, "Oh, right... you'll be needing to know who I am, won't you?" he gave bow, though not a typical straight-armed bow, instead it looked a little more like a butler's bow, his right arm held across his torso as he bent forward. "My name is Ando. Kougawa... Ando."

Look up? Slowly, the boy turned his head upwards. His face showed little change as he stared up at the sky - a slight twitch of his lips, a widening of his eyes, a brief fiddling with his glasses. But only moments later his eyelids drooped back down, and his hands went away from his glasses and into his pockets. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, still looking up.

"...Huh. Alright. That sure is a thing."

Perhaps he should be panicking, but he was simply too dumbfounded to do much more than simply stare up at the sky. Any nerves he displayed simply came out as an awkward chuckle to himself once he did lower his head to face the speaking man. An agreement sounded nice - hopefully that'd fly by everyone else as well. As the man called Ando stepped towards him and introduced himself, so did he.

"Shan," he said simply, giving an uncertain wave - Shan had a feeling the expected gesture would've been to bow back, but it'd feel incredibly unnatural for him to do. Much less of a good look on him than it was on Ando.

"It's Shan."