Orpheus

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

“Hahahahahahaha! That’s the spirit!” Songbird cheered as the giant shark flew out from underwater and landed on top of Brandy, covering the poor bunny in seawater and torn pieces of seaweed as it wiggled about. He deftly stepped away from the two in case the shark had any grand ideas about targeting him next, but that didn’t happen as Charles was sent back to sea after Brandy had enough. “Good job Charles!” The item hunter raised his fist in the air as the creature disappeared under the depths again, and barely realized that Brandy was now free until he heard…

"And as for you..."

Eek! “Waaah, Brandy! That was just a jo-,” Before he could even finish the two of them fell into the shallow water with a splash.

“Hey guys, I thought you were supposed to be setting examples for us, being guides and all.”

Songbird broke through and gasped for air as he and the other guide sat up. “Yeah, yeah, I can’t very well be all nice and polite when he’s trying to drown me, right?” The item hunter joked and tossed a weary salute at the humans, who all seemed to be having fun with Charles. “Guess I deserved that, huh?” Laughing, he pulled his hair back from his face and got up from the ground along with Brandy, “Oh snap, I got sand on the scarf! Martini’s going to skin me alive!” Sand on the scarf, more like sand all over my bum. He didn’t realize that he would get into a scuffle in this place, to be honest. Envisioned more of a chill, under a parasol pose with a coconut drink in one hand as he serenely watched the frolicking humans.

Before he could even remove all the bits stuck on his back, Charles careened towards them and both guides got soaked yet again by seawater. Songbird blew at the strands of seaweed that landed over his face and raised his fist in the air, but this time in an aggressive manner. “You’ll pay for that, you slimy-!!!”

"Hey Songbird, Brandy! Whaddya say we combine forces? All of us against Charles, I bet we could do it."

Just as he was about to agree with Riley, Charles knocked them back into the water.

“CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEESSSS!” Songbird let out a bloodcurdling shriek as he rose from the water. In all other scenarios it might be like watching a mermaid surface from the ocean, but as it was, a harpy seeking revenge after being dunked in the depths would be more fitting. The item hunter waded towards the shore and, upon reaching dry land, unfurled the scarf around his waist. His body was toned and fit due to the activities of his vocation, and he sure felt strong enough to take down that evil shark!

“Aight, let’s take him out!” Songbird yelled and ran towards the humans. Sure, Charles just liked hugs, and this was now turning into a sharkhunt, but eh, who cared. Charles flew out of the water and made a giant splash right beside Toby and then disappeared again, this time heading back at the shore. “Come at me, you lemming!” Songbird hollered and, as if responding to the challenge, the shark burst out from under and landed on top of the poor guide.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

I'll be posting in a few 8D

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

COME AT ME BRUH

Sure! Songbird loves new slaves friends!

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Morris: Circus Grounds

“Oh geez, thanks! I’ll pay you back, promise!” Lute crowed as Lucien covered for his entrance fee. Well this was embarrassing, wasn’t it? “Er, nice wallet, by the way.” He just noticed it now, but the dude liked animal-themed things, didn’t he? Kinda reminded him of the kids back in Thaum. Before he could comment any further on the summoner’s choice of clothing, the two of them sped past the others in pursuit of Trixie.

"Don't trip you two, be careful."

“Yeah, slow down! I’m a walking accident zone, remember?” Lute yelp as Lucien almost choked him when he finally saw the girl. Everyone by now were splitting up to go their own ways but from what it sounded like, they were starting to think of miscellaneous activities instead of their original objective. “Keep an eye out, okay? We can’t just waste our time- Ooof!” This time, it was Trixie who pushed herself in between him and Lucien, effectively loosening the chokehold the summoner had on the poor virtuoso. She walked a ways with them before having her attention stolen by a…

Oh wow, these candies look tasty.

“Hey guys look, it’s a strawberry-” Lute glanced up from his place near the sweets stall only to find Trixie gone. He only spent like a minute staring at the candies offered and this happens? “Lucien?” Looking over to his side he saw the summoner ogling the sweets on display too and sighed, “Where’s Trixie? Don’t tell me we lost her. Hmm… Did she go to that shooting range? Or the ferris wheel?” From where they were, it was impossible to see so Lute approached the throng of people lined up outside the range, which was pretty close to the ferris wheel. Speaking of ferris wheel, Aria said she wanted to go on a ride.

“Oh, can it, Dellie,” Lute sighed and swatted at the air in front of him, “That’s silly. I don't get what you're so mad about.” Anyway, they weren’t going to find Trixie by standing around here making frustrated jokes to each other, so the virtuoso looked over his shoulder and yelled at Lucien, “You about finished with your shopping? Let’s check out this place!” He jerked his thumb towards the firing range. He swore he saw something glittery in front of that guy near the end of the line.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Pffft. Oh well, making a post now!

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Hiii guyssss *hugs*

I'll just be here fangirling about SongBrandu yeah

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Morris: Circus Grounds

Using illusions to mask them? He approved more of Syed’s idea, but what with that tip Eric tossed in… “I guess it’s reasonable for them to withhold entry from armed people. A few stores back home got wrecked by hostiles, so maybe they’re applying the same ‘it’s better to be safe than sorry’ ideology here,” Lute said as he unbuckled his sword belt. The “No Weapons Allowed” rule wasn’t immediately a cause for suspicion, so he wasn’t all that concerned about it.

They were still a ways off from the circus entrance where he can see a girl guarding over a large box. Most everyone in the group took off their armor, while Estelle stashed her things up in the nearby tree. Lute took off his gloves and his jacket, and neatly folded the clothes around his weapon before obediently handing it over to Syed who, like Moira, seemed unsure of this idea … “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll be fine,” The virtuoso smiled at the duo before turning to the others.

“All right, so how do we…? Uh, what’s wrong?” Xandra was glaring at something in the distance and when he followed her gaze he saw Lucien talking to the girl by the entrance, with Estelle and that weird uncle hurtling after him. “Ah well, I guess we have to follow them,” Lute sighed and walked after them. As he neared the entrance he saw Sammie flipping open Lucien’s bag, though she did nothing more than eye it before stepping away from their group.

Okay, so how do they go from here?

He didn’t have to wonder for long because Trixie ran straight past the girl and into a tent, which left them to be accosted by Sammie. “A hundred? O-oh yeah, I got that, gimme a sec,” Lute dug around in his pockets and painstakingly counted out the handful of money he brought for emergencies. “Eighty-seven, eighty-eight… Oh, that’s a ten… Okay, here!” He poured the money onto Sammie’s open palm and smiled. The content expression on his face lasted only only as long as until he realized that he left zilch to buy a ticket for himself.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

By now they were at the Hall of Doors, and while Songbird hoped that they would find the other Lost Souls without having to initiate conversation with one another, Inadi wasn’t having any of it and asked yet another question.

“So the Queen mentioned that we had gotten farther than any other groups prior to this if I remember correctly. Any of the guides ever worked with those who came before us? Or do guides get switched out with each collection of humans?”

“I… don’t know. It’s only my first time as a guide. I haven’t met the previous guides either,” The item hunter looked over his shoulder at the group, “If that’s correct, shouldn’t you be relieved? I know you lost a lot of friends, but some of you are still here, fighting. There’s us guides to help out too. At the end of it all everyone will return to their normal lives. Maybe. I don’t know what encompasses ‘normal’ in the human world.” Yeah, all he wanted was to go back to searching for rare ingredients and tumbling off mountains. That was the life. “If you’re really intent on finding more about the previous batches, you should take the opportunity to talk with Lt. Falkner, because apparently all of you will have to go to the City of Cogs and Gears- everyone just calls it “Cogs” because it’s a mouthful- for the next item. Maybe she knows something. Oh well.”

Just then, a familiar human burst out of a nearby room and headed straight for them. Songbird whiffed up the scent of salt as Lesley waved his hand in the air. “Oh would you- Brandy, it’s the beach room,” He turned to the bunny and whined, but nonetheless followed the others inside out of worry that they would massacre Charles. That shark does have a scary face after all, but everyone knew he just liked hugs.

How does a shark hug someone, anyway?

Songbird sighed and tugged at his scarf. He hated hot and sunny places.

Something caught his eye. Wait, wasn’t that…? “Amiel Brightenburg, your father’s searching for you. He said he’d wait for you in the main hall, so let’s get going,” The item hunter walked towards the other nobody, scowling as bits of golden sand stuck under his shoes. He also saw an unfamiliar face peeking out from behind Amiel, and judging from the company, this must be one of the new humans.

“Hello, my name is Songbird. I’m one of the guides that have accompanied and will continue to accompany you humans for the duration of your quest here in Nowhere,” He recited blandly and by rote and gave the boy a wan smile. A commotion stole his attention and Toby rocketed out from behind Amiel, whom Songbird was now ushering out the door. Ah, looks like Charles made his appearance. Whatever, it wasn’t like he was going to eat them. He shrugged and vanished inside the dressing room for a few minutes, then reappeared wearing a plain pair of swimming trunks with a scarf draped around his waist. In the short span of time he left, the new human was whipping around with a jet ski and everyone was having a panic attack.

“Ugh,” Songbird wiped at the beads of sweat that had popped out on his forehead and walked towards the shore. Although he wanted to torture the humans by watching this play out, it was better if he stopped the drama now before anyone cried and had a heart attack.

“Hey Chaaaaarles! Over here! Brandy wants a huuuuug!” He inhaled deeply and then shrieked, pushing the bunny in front of him as the giant silhouette in the water did a 180 and made for them.

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

I'm not sure, but the fire was quickly contained and extinguished before the firefighters even arrived. ; - ; I was seriously panicking about which stuff to take out of the house first since I was all alone.

I got the happy (normal?) ending in The Cat Lady. Dang it.

The Legend of Heroes: Tales of the World

Guys there was a fire about fifteen meters away from my house I thought I was gonna get toasted ; - ;

To think people were screaming and I was just nonchalantly playing computer games. OTL

Will post!