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The Misfit Crew

THULILE

A shout - “I’m coming as well!” - suddenly followed them. Thulile swerved herself and Audrey around. Thuly was relieved and pleased to see Asa running after them. She liked Asa. ‘He’s nice’, she thought, ‘and he always smells really good!’ Glad to have another partner in crime, Thuly waved at the young man. “ASAAA… yes do! Come on!”

As the bubbly, blue Asa joined Audrey and Thulile, they tried to make a choice. With so many rides and bites surrounding them Thuly felt completely overwhelmed.

Being in close contact with her own feelings, she sensed that both Audrey and Asa weren’t overly enthusiastic to get into a roller coaster. Seeing the thing go upside down, did make Thuly queasy. Then Audrey asked her what else she saw.

“Maybe we should start with something simple, no?”, she suggested to her companions. “And after that, some funnel cake!” Giggling she towed Audrey and Asa to a nearby attraction.

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THULILE

“Oh, a woman after my own heart", Audrey chuckled. "Let's go thules, let the boys have their fun." Then her companion strolled over and draped her arm over Thulile’s shoulder. "If I remember correctly, you're owed some cotton candy and a funnel cake".

Thuly grinned back at Audrey. “Oui, I can’t wait!” The arm around her shoulders felt so good. It felt warm, it felt like companionship and acceptance. Cautiously Thuly dared to fantasize: ‘It feels like friendship…’. Peering sideways at Audrey she found hope fluttering in her heart. Thuly would love to be considered Audrey’s friend.

Smiling broadly, she waved at Eli and Vincent. “See you later, guys. Don’t get into any trouble… without us”.

As the two girls found their way into the amusement park, Thuly’s lips kept forming an O of astonishment. Well, that actually starts with an A, but the black haired girl was quite overwhelmed by the rides, crowds, smells and sounds. “Oh, Audrey! Look at that rollercoaster. It goes, it goes… upside down!”, she yelped out. “Mon dieu! My god, look at that thing go!” Thulile acted as if she’d never been to a theme park, like ever. Which of course was the truth.

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THULILE

As Vincent turned of the engine of their truck, Thuly looked around. ‘It doesn’t look like much’, she thought. Still, in the past months prioritizing keeping their head down above finding luxury accommodations had proven it’s worth. ‘Well, it’s not like we’re swimming in money anyways!’, Thulile sniggered.

Vincent got out of the car and Thuly did the same. He made a big show of stretching his limbs. Audrey and Eli joined him and Thuly hid her smirk. She did wonder when she’d lose her youthful flexibility. As she’d experienced, Thulile could sleep on a branch, ride a pony barebacked, perhaps even sit on a bed of nails without ending up with little or big aches and stiffness. ’One of the few perks of being a teenager ‘, she concluded.

Peering over the stretching trio, the dark curly head looked at the motel sign. It spelled out the name in bright neon letters: UNSET MOTEL. ’That can’t be right…’, she wondered. Taking a better look, Thuly saw another dark shape in front of the others. “An S!”, Thuly cried out. Surprising herself, she murmured: “Sunset Motel. That’s it.” The first neon S must’ve been broken. Grinning she added: “I prefer Unset Motel. It fits us better”.

It seemed Eli and Vincent would be off doing manly car things. That sure wasn’t anything Thulile could help them with. Audrey seemed inclined to explore a theme park. Smearing her most lovely smile over her lips, Thuly looked over at Audrey: “Hey Audrey, wanna go and visit one of those theme parks together?”
She so hoped Audrey would go with her. Thuly sure wasn’t planning on going there alone. The image of a horror clown smothering her in cotton candy flashed through her mind. She quickly shook the image from her head. “Are you with me?”, she asked briskly.

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THULILE

Thuly found a lot of comfort in the random and not so random chitchat buzzing around the car. The young girl felt most at ease when she could blend into the background. Her looks had gotten her too much unwanted attention too often. That always led to Thuly having to use her power. And that always led to Thulile running her socks off, to get away from the authorities. Slumping in her seat, Thuly mused about all this.

Staring dreamingly in the distance her eyes suddenly focused on the newest pick up. ‘Lucy…’, she reminded herself. As her dark eyes took in the thin girl, the back of her head started to itch. Looking away Thulile wondered what that meant. Her deep connection with her more instinctive nature told her that this Lucy had set off an alarm within her aura. ’But how? She didn’t move from her spot. What did she do?’ Unsure, the curly head tried to figure out, whether she’d sensed it correctly. Stealing another glance at Lucy she noted that the sensation of earlier didn’t return. With a sigh Thuly gave up on her train of thought. She resigned herself to just keeping an eye on the newcomer.

Their truck finally closed on their destination. Thuly’s little nose wrinkled as it was assaulted by sweet and hearty scents. One of those smelled like she’d always imagined cotton candy to smell. Straightening up in her seat, Thulile murmured: “Almost there! Let’s go!”

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OOC: I gathered Lucy got into another truck, not ours, right? So, who is Vincent addressing? *confused* 😅

IC:

THULILE

Her little band of misfits was colorful to say the least, but the friendly banter that went around the car made Thuly feel at home. ‘Well, except for the lack of French of course’, she grinned. The grin broadened to a smile, which made her white teeth flash brightly in the darkness of her face. “Yummm…”, Thulile salivated, “all the candy…err…floss I can eat? Superb!”

Looking at Eli, she wondered about the scary rides. She’d seen pictures and YouTube films, and compared to her life they weren’t likely to spook her. Still, a guide to the parks would be a good thing.

As Audrey mentioned funnel cake, Thuly chuckled. It seemed to her that their crew had an unnatural fixation on food. ’Especially, on the unhealthy kind!’ Well, her companions were unnatural in many ways, this was just another of their quirks. “Funnel cake? What’s that? Never seen or tasted that”, she admitted.

Those theme parks promised to have lots of new experiences in store for her. Thulile wondered how long it would take to get there. At least Bai made sure that they didn’t attract any unwanted attention to them.

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THULILE

She just didn’t get Bai. Thuly wasn’t able to see past her illusions and had often been taken by surprise lately as Bai decided to reappear suddenly. It unnerved Thulile. Still, she did respect Bai Yue heaps, so she tried to keep her neck hairs from rising as her voice abruptly emerged from thin air and addressed Eli.

’Eli’, she thought, ‘isn’t he just a doll? He fusses over me and tries to help me whenever he can’. Thuly really liked him. She’d appreciated how he’d accepted her right of the bat and how he was treating her like his little sister. He gave her the impression that he’d go through extremes to keep her save. That felt really good!

"Sorry. I'm sure it'll be fine. and with the time of year, the theme parks will probably be pretty empty." Eli’s words, although feeling slightly forced, made Thuly calmer. In an added attempt to rid the air of any premonition of doom, Thulile asked: “Do you think they have barbe à papa? I mean candy cotton?”

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@Dragonfly 9
Thanks for the IC. LOVELY!
Christmas threw me off track for a while. Got stuck in a couple of minutes ago. 👍🏼

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THULILE

Thuly woke up startled. ’What, where?’ Then she realized it was Vincent’s voice that had ripped her from her dream. She was so relieved. Relieved to be back in the real world and relieved to be amongst her friends. Her dream had teleported her back to the day that Thulile had been allowed to join this odd pack of misfits.

She remembered that day, three months ago, vividly. The weight of the wounded dog across her shoulders, the police sirens coming nearer and nearer and this same beat up truck driving towards her. She’d yelled at them, pleading them to stop and save her. And they did, they had. She remembered what happened next only vaguely, as the mist of fatigue had weighed her down. When she discovered that her companions had mystical powers, they wanted to drop her off somewhere. Thuly’s natural inclination not to trust anyone, meant she hadn’t revealed her own power yet. But somehow being part of this group of misfits felt right. So, gulping away her nerves, Thulile had given them a taster of her power. It had been rather impressive to see this petite girl lift the back of the truck off the road a good three feet. It had been convincing enough, and they had taken her in.

Now, all these months later, Thuly had proven her worth. Her power had manifested in unexpected and unpredictable ways. She liked the way it felt: being part of a team. It was the first time she’d experienced this.

Then she looked over to Vincent, from her perch on the passenger’s seat. ’What had he said? Theme parks?’, she wondered. Then Eli leaned around the side of the truck: "We need to get a new ride man, this hunk of junk is gonna croak on us someday soon and I'd rather it not be when we're trying to get away from the grunts." Then he snorted: "I give it ten minutes of being in one of those theme parks before we get attacked by some sort of evil clown". “Whoah, WHAT?!” Thulile asked. She hadn’t been in a theme park ever. Eli’s last remark shattered the glittery, pinkish, jingle jangle image she had been painting in her mind. The idea of being ambushed by a terror clown didn’t appeal to Thuly whatsoever.

Still, she had gotten used to Eli’s murky sense of humor since he had joined them these last couple of months. Regaining her composure, she straightened her back and smiled bravely: “Clown or no clown, let’s check out those theme parks!”

The Misfit Crew

Hey Dragonfly,
You’re the GM. Do your thing. We’ll adjust and roll with the punches. 🖖😊

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I am curious how we will become this group that fights for the downtrodden
We'd need a little back history as a group

@EmiliaBaiYue

Good question. But I figure that won't be a problem. Anyone on the run will stick to back roads, dark alles, and stuff. Most Lively that we bunp into each otter. Or save each otter.