notes:
shown are the two states the car can now assume
the more lifted one has the road wheels airborne, with only the rail ones being in contact with… well… the rails
the road mode has the rail wheels in the air, obviously
the interior is unchanged from the last iteration
any further pictures will show Robert in road configuration
I believe road rail vehicles are called high railers. Another interesting thing about the rail industry.
I have to ask, did it look like this?
Well, not all Valraadii have stripes, but it’s very possible. Younger Valraadii have been known to paint “Go Faster” tiger stripes on things like sailing boats, so striping a surfboard wouldn’t be out of character for some of them.
TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS
PART 0.1 - A prologue to the prologue
PART 0.2 - Another piece of the prologue puzzle
PART 0.3 - Viva la IP 4Z!
PART 0.4 - Robotman
PART 0.5 - Interference problems
PART 0.6 - Can I play Tetris?
PART 0.7 - Tangerine and familiar
PART 1.0 - Now things got serious!
PART 1.1 - Hello, Thibault and friends!
PART 1.2 - Poor kitty
PART 1.3 - Curse you, Team Oil Crisis!
PART 1.4 - Interlude
PART 2.0 - Bird bird bird, bird is the word!
PART 2.1 - D. Head
PART 2.2 - Good night!
PART 3.0 - Freeway Rockstar
PART 3.1 - DISCO TJO DISCO HEJ
PART 3.2 - Van-Werewolf 1-0
PART 4.0 - Calm after the storm
PART 5.0 - Mirror mirror on the…oh, crap!
PART 5.1 - Hello, little puppies!
PART 6.0 - Speed
PART 6.1 - GIMME OXYGEN! (feat. Madrias)
PART 6.2 - Steamin’ hot! (feat. Elizipeazie)
PART 7.0 - The Kayak
PART 7.1 - Marie the valkyrie?
PART 7.2 - Vegetables
When the Hillbilly Rollers and part of Team Shift Happens had started to dry up, Team Slow arrived at the campfire, and not only that, Izzy had brought a surf board with her. Unfortunately, in some attempt to rival Marie when it came to drinking, her surfing was less than stellar, resulting in water being splashed all over, almost putting out the campfire. One could see that Rukari was NOT satisfied with getting wet once again, to say the least. Another one that was less than satisfied was Marie.
"WHY CAN SHE HAVE A SURFBOARD WHEN I CAN’T HAVE A KAYAK?", Marie asked angrily.
"Because you are drunk as fuck and should not be in a kayak", Andreas answered.
"Honestly speaking, there is not much of a difference, Janne said.
When Marie grabbed the paddle and was probably planning to start a fight by knocking down Izzy from the surfboard, Janne and Andreas stopped her, and threw the paddle on the campfire too which did not make her any more willing to cope. At the same moment Malavera and Kayden was coming back to the campfire.
"Stay here with the others now!", Janne said to Marie. "I am just going back to the van to fix some little stuff and I need help from Andreas, we will be back soon, he continued. “Watch her for a while now, it should not take too long”, he said to Malavera, Kayden and Rukari, knowing that they would maybe not be very keen about it. He and Andreas was walking back towards the van.
"I just can’t stand this! I am going nuts because of all the chaos she is creating all the time! She has been drunk as fuck for a week and she is even worse than she ever has been!", Andreas said and you could hear how he was losing all the hope.
"There is a solution", Janne said. He took a cardboard box that he had filled with some tools and spares, put them on the floor in the van while he put the beer cans in the cardboard box and duct taped it together.
"Seriously? A cardboard box? You think that it is enough to hide beer from her? Are you stupid for real?". Andreas asked.
"Relax, I am not done yet", Janne said. He took a marker and started to write on the box. "V-E-G-E-T-A-B-L-E-S! What do you think?"
"Perfect!", Andreas said and laughed a little. "Now she won’t even look there! What a genius you are!"
Looking more innocent than ever, Janne and Andreas was walking back to the campfire…
TO BE CONTINUED…
Previous Chapters:
“Here Comes the Hound of Death” - Stage 2 Campsite Battle - Written by Elizipeazie, TheYugo45GV, and Madrias.
Fright Night Forest Stage - Stage 3 Run / Stage 3 Camp
The Free Day - Stage 3 Camp (written in collaboration with Elizipeazie) (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3)
Safe Arrival - Stage 3 Camp (Written in collaboration with TheYugo45GV)
The Rescue - Stage 4 Drive and Stage 4 “Camp”
The Rebuild - Stage 4 “Camp” (Written in collab. with Elizipeazie ) (Part 1), (Part 2), (Part 3), (Part 4)
“It’s 6-Fucking-Moon!” - Stage 4 Camp
Breakfast with RK Series Racing - Stage 4 Camp Final (Written in collaboration with Elizipeazie)
Cinnamon and Apologies - Stage 5 Drive and Stage 5 Camp
An Apology / Campsite Stories / I Have Gas! - Stage 5 Camp (Collab with Knugcab - Original Title: “Gimme Oxygen!”)
The Prank - Collab. with SurrealCereal (Team MCP)
A Tent-ative Meeting - Stage 5 Camp
Engine Troubles / Racing Stripes - Stage 6 Drive and Camp
Capt’n Crazy Capsizes - Stage 6 Camp Collab with Knugcab
(@Knugcab Even though I’m only handling Marie for a little while, I’m hoping I played her well enough.)
Malavera and Kayden had both gotten dried off and returned to the campfire just after they’d seen Izzy drench Marie and Rukari quite heavily. Malavera had one of the purple glass bottles in one of his huge hands, and Kayden had a few shot glasses so they could each have measured amounts of the potent moonshine.
Rukari bared his fangs as water dripped through his mane. “That zaruki best hope she doesn’t try that again, or I will personally knock her off of that board,” Rukari said in a menacing voice, his tail twitching slightly and ominously.
Kayden grimaced. “Twin Suns, Rukari, you hit her with that while she’s in the water, she’s likely to drown.”
“I want that surfboard,” Marie demanded, getting ready to get up, but being unsteady enough that she couldn’t quite make it to her feet before she fell back onto her ass with a grunt. However, as soon as the cork left the purple bottle, she recognized the smell of strong alcohol, her mind getting tangled up in two equally strong desires: Either to start a fight with Izzy and claim the surfboard as a prize, or to get her hands on that bottle by any means necessary.
Malavera sat next to Marie and handed her a shot glass of the potent moonshine, which she immediately knocked back, belched, and handed back to him. While Malavera was busy struggling with the small glass and the bottle, and trying not to spill anything, however, Marie put a plan into action and suddenly head-butted Malavera’s right head.
“Fuck!” Malavera yelled, spilling moonshine on his pants just before Marie grabbed the bottle and started gulping from it.
“Well, I’m surprised she didn’t knock herself out doing that,” Kayden said. “You do have a hard couple of heads.”
Not long after Marie had chugged the bottle, she violently head-butted Rukari as well, though this time, it didn’t go in her favor as, it turns out, the Valraadi not only was half expecting this and had lowered his forehead in response, but that the Valraadii in general had a hardened forehead and those horns for a reason.
After that moment, Janne and Andreas started making their way back to the campfire in time to hear Marie’s drunken yell of, “I think my fucking face is broken!”
(@Knugcab, back to you if you need to. I figured it made sense that she got that bottle not by asking, but by being drunk enough to think picking on an 8-foot-tall two-headed werewolf and a horned beast who has seen a lot of combat in his time was a really good idea. Of course, there’s every chance I didn’t get things quite right. If so, just let me know what she might have done differently and I’ll make a change.)
Team Slow
Chapter 2, Part 7.6
(Another Mini Short)
Whilst Marie tried to get Izzy off the board in the form of a fight, Matt was gone back to the Inn, alongside John. Izzy got off the board before she got hit off it, and then picks up the board and slowly goes toward the site, going at Rukari “Who the hell are you gonna knock off the board?” Realising Rukari looks intimidating to her, whilst he is 7’9 after picking on him. and 450lbs “Uhh, OH SHIT, I NEED TO RUN!” Izzy shouts out, and then she runs for her life to the inn, whilst looking back 5 seconds later to make sure he wasnt running the speed of light at her, She then arrives at the inn and desperately finds the keys and then gets into the inn, whilst breathing heavily. (@Madrias)
“What were you doing?” John says
“Uh- I was running, they all wanted my surfboard, and after saying something to an Valraadi!” Izzy replies back and she runs into a room.
“What the, oh nevermind your boyfriend would be pleased to hear this.” John replies back
Matt wakes up to realise Izzy told him what happened, “Oh come on what the hell now, Nearly getting chased to a Valraadi, and people going after the surfboard?” he says.
“Correct, Marie wanted to get my surfboard, i had to run for my life.”
TO BE CONTINUED.
I may be on my way to do that in the RP further down the road.
TEAM BLAZERS
A bright apparition began to glow in front of the blonde man’s eyes as he stood in the deeper part of a forest, where he was sure that not a single soul would have been able to witness him. He took a deep breath, and spoke words of an enchanted language, before finally the apparition stopped glowing and before him a figure emerged.
The figure stood still, its back turned against the man and uttering the same incomprehensible language as it slowly moved its head towards him. Skin slowly manifested around the dull white figure, and deep blue eyes glowed back at the man as its face came into full view. The figure slowly walked with an uncanny elegance, and its hands moved towards the cheeks of the man, grasping them with a cusp whilst still moving closer. Yet, the man stood still where he was, firmly grasping the golden time apparatus in his right hand, where his grip only continued to firm as the figure before him wrapped its slender arms around his neck, and moved its body closer towards his own.
And finally, the figure spoke as its form slowly manifested itself before him, with luscious womanly lips forming beneath the blue orbs, and cheeks of a pale but rosy tint coming into view of the light-haired man. The figure’s head moved closer and closer towards the man’s face, yet he did not flinch at all in the moment, and before long they were there face to face, nearby one another without action as the figure paused its movements. Before it could slip away from him, he quickly moved his hands towards the figure’s waist, and a small whimper came from it as he leaned in towards it.
“Aggressive and sneaky as usual, aren’t you?” The figure spoke with a feminine voice, deep and refined. The man looked closer at the figure’s face as the soft light from the stars illuminated its face. Strands of dazzling blue hair lay strewn about its face from his swift movements, and with his one arm still on its waist, he moved his other to clear it up. “I’m sorry, did you miss the aggressiveness or did you not?” The man said.
The figure pushed him away, and he backed right off. “I certainly don’t miss it when you’re taking a retreat in a world you’re not supposed to be in. Haven’t you had enough sticking your dick into that old fish queen’s slippery hole?”
“Jealous, art thou? Besides, it’s only temporary that I be here. I have a duty to return her beloved possession.”
“What woman wouldn’t be jealous?” The figure yawned. “Even more so, someone like me who only deserves the best men. Couldn’t you be a bit more courteous, stick to one, perhaps? Instead of going on that rampage where you climb into the bed of the first woman you see?” Its slender arms crossed itself with a vague jiggle from atop its chest. “‘Her’ possession. Yeah right…”
“Is that the reason you have came to visit me? You missed your toy boy that much you step out of the realm you mean to guard?”
The figure giggled as it slowly moved around the man. Its slender legs slowly forming around, and creating light steps as it moved across the thick jungle floor. “Why wouldn’t it be?” The figure’s face came into view as it stepped out from the shadow of a nearby tree. The face distinctly curved like that of a woman’s, and with its voice, there would have been no doubt it was one. “However, there’s also another reason I have came to you. You cannot hide these things from me.” The figure came closer, and the man’s arm was lifted by its soft touch as it revealed a golden watch in the man’s hand. “Could you perhaps take better care of the gifts that I provide to you?”
The man remained silent, and his green eyes only looked sharply into the figure’s own blue ones, which were filled with an intense seriousness as he maintained his quietness on the spot. The figure slowly released the man’s hand, and sighed as it shifted its gaze away.
“Are you enjoying your situation as-is? Is that why I could feel your call?”
Again, he stood still, and his gaze slowly fell upon the watch, before rising back up to meet the figure’s own.
“So it may seem.”
…
With their morning routines now over, the team was just about ready to set off for yet another stage. The skies gloomed with an eerie grey as the high clouds rolled over across the horizon. Despite this, a certain feline in the team seemed very much enthused as she looked over the map, marking down a couple of positions she deemed noteworthy.
“The next stage will have us arrive at Samiraie. It’s a lovely town, from what I remember. Great architecture, a great coastal view, and for those of us that can drink, great taverns!” Charlotte pointed out with glee. Upon the hearing of the word ‘tavern’, a couple of pairs of eyes instantly lit up and two tall-headed figures instantly turned their heads nearly in sync towards Charlotte.
“Taverns?” The two men said in near perfect unison upon this. A menacing aura seemed to surround them, and they stared back at one another, and with a nod, seemed to shift towards a high gear as they speedily began to pack things up.
“Those two seem, excited…” Emily sighed as she continued to write, and when she had finished along with Charlotte, they organized their papers back up. Before the girls could start packing the table up, however, the two men swept the table up before they could even lay a finger on it. Left with no choice, they hopped right back into the car and simply waited, with Charlotte in the passenger’s seat this time, to read the notes out instead of Emily.
“Hey Charlotte, what kinda drinks you think they got in those taverns?” Romulo enthusiastically hopped into the driver’s seat. This enthusiasm of his for alcohol was quickly met with a disgruntled retort from Charlotte as she buckled up her seatbelt. “Why would you expect me to know? I’m underage!” She crossed her arms. Romulo scratched the back of his head a bit before turning his head around.
“Well, you do have a point there,” He looked back at Watson. “It’s going to be a treasure hunt!” The men grinned at each other. To the slight dismay of the girls as they dealt with the two alcohol enjoyers as they began pondering about the exotic winery and drinks they could encounter in this world.
Before long, their excitement would be satiated as the bell finally rang out in Raiegarde, and once again the flurry of vehicles would kick their dust up and rush out of the campsite and onto yet another set of precipitous roads that lay ahead of them. Upon heading down to the road, the crew were greeted with delight as instead of the usual roughness of a gravel or mud stage, ahead of them lay a well-maintained and fairly smooth road. It wasn’t asphalt, but it was more than enough for them to relax a little bit and treat this as more of a casual and scenic drive.
Scenic indeed it was, the environment around them reminded Romulo of his hometown, and Watson of the Italian countryside. With lush tropical flora casually strolling along, and small old style buildings along the sides of each road tended to by the basic carriages of the local townsfolk. Here, on these smooth patches of road, Romulo was really able to wring out the Yamada’s engine for the first time in a while, letting the four cylinder rev out to near its redline as the thousands of small detonations within the vehicle’s heart of steel burst into its thrusts of power. The vehicle felt as though it were an airplane, the air around dancing off of the vehicle’s streamlined bodypanels, and with the engine idling near its top speed, everything felt like a bliss in the moment as a dull red flash zipped across the smooth roads. The small engine turned along happily, with no audible faults coming in as it idled around the rev range through the long winding bends lined with the trees that sway in the soft sea-kissed breeze where the grey topcoat of the sky softened up the light.
Sooner or later, the coast would come into view, and their awe-filled stares were simply delighted with the sights of the waves crashing into the saturated tan of the rocks that lay on the shores. The roads with their twists providing multiple views for their eyes to feast on the candy that they viewed.
Too much viewing it seemed for Romulo, however. As without him looking, the vehicle seemed to veer suddenly towards the right, and fortunately for them he had managed to pull the car back straight and avoid falling into a ditch off to the side of the road, but now the steering began to heave and a sudden joly from the front right half of the vehicle shook the steering wheel as it communicated the road, where after an odd flopping noise and the scraping of metal shrieked their ears as the Yamada was forced to come to a stop between two corners. The engine was stopped, and Romulo came out of the car to find once again, the accursed front right tyre of the vehicle had malfunctioned. “Putang ina!” He cursed out loud as he scratched the top of his head.
“What’s the diagnosis?” Charlotte poked her head out of the window. Romulo took a closer look, the tyre was intact, and so was the wheel. Yet somehow, the tyre had fallen right off the edge of the rim, and Romulo only continued to curse indecipherable words in his native language’s dialect as he walked past Charlotte and towards the rear of the vehicle. “That can’t be good.” She commented as she popped her head back into the car, turning her head around the cabin. Watson, like Romulo, seemed just as agitated, and the blonde man unbuckled his seatbelt to assist him, before getting out of the car and onto the area around them.
“Right, what should I do help?” He asked as he approached Romulo. The darker man pulled out the jack stands, and other apparatus and tossed them towards Watson, and with a nod, the two got to work as they lifted the red SUV up from the ground, and one by one they cranked away the nuts that held the front-right problem child of a tyre off of its hub, and slowly they took the wheel and its loose rubber off of the vehicle. Once off, Watson got the air compressor and gave the other end to Charlotte for her to plug into the car’s power system, which after she restarted the engine, sprung right into life ready to be used for reinflating the tyre once it had been refitted onto the car.
After a few quick sprays in between the tyre and the rim from the can of lubricant in the back of the vehicle, Romulo borrowed one of Watson’s matchsticks and lit the tyre up from the trail of lubricant, and a burst of flame quickly came from the wheel, promptly coating it in a small fireball that quickly went away as the tyre popped itself back onto the rim, with some residual flames here and there which they quickly patted down. An impressed Charlotte tossed Romulo the air compressor hose, and he quickly reinflated the tyre back up and the wheel was placed back onto the car allowing for the team to finally set off.
The rest of the drive ended up being scenic as they were forced to go slower to prevent another accident. Romulo was slightly disappointed with the clouds ruining what would’ve made for the perfect sun-kissed coast, but he didn’t complain as he kept his eyes on the road ahead, and before long, a large set of walls not unlike the famous walled city in his home country slowly approached the view ahead of them, and they were greeted with large gates as they slowly entered the town. “We’re in Samiraie now. Lovely city, isn’t it? The beach here’s great too! We should definitely go for a swim, even with the overcast.”
Romulo slowed the car down a bit to look around. They might’ve been in a rally, but every once in a while, a good drink wouldn’t hurt. The CB radio spoke up, with an announcement about a local inn and tavern taking in the rally’s participants under its roof, with free drinks and free meals. “Don’t worry about that for now, let’s get to the campsite first!” Charlotte exclaimed as she quickly muted the radio. With a sigh from Romulo, he continued driving for just a bit more, and finally ended up in the campsite just outside the city’s large walls.
Watson looked around for a moment. “We were invited to the inn, were we not? Can’t we park nearby?” He asked. But Charlotte seemed busy, and for whatever reason it may be, Emily had managed to sense something and leaned in closer towards the feline in the seat in front of her. The two scanned the map, pinpointing their exact location in the campsite, and the other location that they have encircled. “Before that, though, I think we should look around a bit. I don’t think the locals would really mind us going around too much. We’ve also just gotten back from a long drive, wouldn’t alcohol be bad?” Charlotte pondered for a bit, her face in a certain pensiveness as she looked back towards the gate.
Emily looked out the window. “The coast did seem nice. It’d be a waste to simply spend the entire day just drinking indoors. Besides, we have rings that allow our speeches, and the words of the people of this world to be translated into comprehensible language for all of us. Shall we not go?” She smiled at all of them, with Charlotte and Ga’araiya nodding in support. With three of the team wanting to go out for a bit, the boys couldn’t do anything but concede. “Guess we’ll be going then. A bit of a cruise on the shore, then we’ll go and inquire whether or not we can park in the town. I think it’s a nice change of pace from sleeping in tents or rotting log cabins.” Romulo affirmed.
“Just don’t expect it to be like a Vegas hotel or anything.” Charlotte sniggered as she reoriented the map and looked all around her. She was quickly able to discern the landmarks and with that, they started up the red crossover yet again, and onwards did they go for a small tour of the town in their mysteriously advanced horseless carriage, the loud rumbling of the small little four cylinder humming its way along as it cruised humbly to the awe of the townsfolk all around them. The town was much larger than the other ones they’ve driven through, and felt more closer to home for the rest of them as they observed the more modern architecture that sat perched onto the streets. Buildings of many shapes and sizes, arcs of great proportions, and towering bell towers all laid across a neatly planned cityscape, one that Watson thought would’ve possibly made for a great starting point for an industrial workhorse.
Emily felt right at home comparing the town to her own Mediterranean hometown, everything from the reddish-tan roofs, the arches and kitsch ornaments on the window sills of some of the buildings, and even the townsfolk that went hither and thither from their busy workstations as they all stared at the mysterious object that drove through their town with its unusual curved shapes and mystery-filled aura. At times, they felt out of place, like some mystical hero that descended from the mountaintops to greet the people they were about to save, but since Charlotte insisted it was fine, they tried suppressing these thoughts and simply continued onwards as they took turns through the city’s decently tight streets under Charlotte’s directions.
Eventually, a corridor opened up and they found the sea begin to greet them once more. Under the cloudy skies, it didn’t glimmer as much as Romulo had wanted to, but it was still a very pretty sight with the occasional glimpses of blue that would appear from within the grey cover of the sky. “Now that’s quite a sight.” He commented.
It wouldn’t be long before finally, nearby the walls that guarded the city from the sea, a building stood out from the rest. Simplistic in design, with slightly tanned walls and elegantly designed arches that curved around the windows that lifted the tiered and red tinted tiles of roofing that lines the upper and lower sections of the building. A large sign that vaguely looked like that of a tavern or inn stood ahead of the inviting entrance, and all scattered all around were tables and chairs with happy looking folks that conversed with one another with glee, drink in hand or not.
“That’s the tavern, by the way! Queen’s Rest Inn and Tavern, the sign reads.” Charlotte pointed out. Romulo slowed the car down a bit, crawling along to near walking speed as he looked around for a potential parking area, to which Charlotte was quick to speak up. “You won’t be finding a lot of good parking spots around here. The people here are curious, and even more so if you park it right in the middle of the city.” She said as she looked out the windshield, where a large arched gate was not too far away, and gave not only a direct line of sight to the sea from the tavern, but also a way to get towards a nice beachfront where plans were already being drawn out in Charlotte’s mind.
“So where do we park it then?” Romulo slowly eased onto the brakes as the car came to a stop nearby the restaurant, just off the side of the road. As the dusty red SUV came to a halt, townsfolk from all around couldn’t help but stare at the unfamiliar machine, some even getting up close and inspecting it from top to bottom. Unsurprising, as such a machine likely wouldn’t exist in their timeline for another hundred years. Charlotte rolled the window down to stick her head out and peer over into the distance where she could clearly see the beach front. The eyes of the people around them grew slightly wide as they observed a black-pelted cat appear from within the unfamiliar vehicle.
Whispers came from some of the people, something about royalty or another one alike. But she simply ignored them and stuck her head back into the car, rolling the window up and pointing towards the gate. “You can park it towards the beach, maybe even hide it up with some bushes.”
“Won’t it get taken away by the tides or anything?” Romulo inquired as he looked at the bright blue seas. The waters were pretty clear, and the slight breeze made for some relatively fine waves, but still he felt unsure about leaving it there. Charlotte was quick to reassure him, however.
“I’d imagine it’s high-tide right now, so that’s about where the water level would be.”
“If you say so, I guess. You’re the local here, after all.” He shrugged. But before he moved the vehicle, he glanced over towards the tavern, and back towards the gates, and it felt as though a lightbulb began to flash atop his head. A cheeky grin grew on his face, and he looked over towards Charlotte with a certain smugness that made her slightly uncomfortable. Watson noticed this, but it seemed the two had began to connect, and the same cheeky look flashed on his face too. “Is there something wrong…?” Charlotte asked.
“You three wanted to go to the beach, didn’t you?” He asked, and both girls responded with a slightly anxious nod before he continued. “Say, since you’re all going, and me and Watson are… y’know… Why not take the car with you? I’m pretty sure one of you can drive, right? It’d be bad if we drank too much and we try picking you up whilst not in the best of spirits. Plus, you can use the car and it’s amenities as a small beach shack!” He said his proposal. Watson nodded at him with agreement, but both girls simply looked at him with a dismaying look in their eyes.
“Well, as long as you check in a room for us at the in, we can do that.” Charlotte sighed.
“So which one of you will be driving?” Romulo asked as he rolled the windows down slightly. Charlotte immediately shook her head, and a sudden anxiety was sent down his spine. Thankfully however, Emily raised her hand, much to his relief. “I had been taught by my uncle to drive his truck whenever we needed to move things around at his workshop. I’d be willing to take the wheel, if it doesn’t bother you.”
“Well, that’s settled then. I’ve heard everything’s on the house, so that’ll be fine.” Romulo looked towards Watson. “Hope you don’t mind doing the talking for me.”
With that, they emerged from within the vehicle, and Emily moved into the driver’s seat. Romulo knocked on the window for her to roll it down, and after a bit of fiddling, she found the switch and the window slowly whirred its way downwards. “Yes?” She asked.
“You know what to do, don’t you? You know where the parking brake is, how to turn it off, whatever?” He leaned over the window. “Yes, I’ve been quite observant of everything in this car. I believe I’m qualified enough to do so.” She nodded at him with a smile, and he smiled back at her. “That’s good. I guess we’ll see you later at sundown? The car can be left at the shore, right?” He asked Charlotte before he sent them off, and she simply nodded. With a thumbs up, he sent them off, and the Yamada moved its way towards the gate, still having eyes peer at the unusual carriage with seemingly mysterious forms of propulsion as it sped away towards the gate.
Romulo and Watson on the other hand, began to be greeted by the people around, which they greeted back with smiles and affirmatives as they walked into the tavern, preparing too cool themselves off after yet another tough day of rallying.
…
Local time: Somewhere in the afternoon (I don’t know, this time thing is confusing sometimes.
Weather: Still hot as hell
K’mino looked behind him to see Pavel and Aedan returning with Orlan in tow. He sighed. It took them long enough, but it didn’t matter, the whole team was back together again. It was no longer just the slumbering Magistrate, Malcolm and him. The day had been exhausting, and likewise everyone needed rest and to eat. In a few short minutes, Pavel had a fire going and the camping stove was on and dinner would be ready in an hour. Gunther and the Dyres were sleeping in the shade of a tree on the far side of the car and Whiskers was in a loaf sit on one of the lawn chairs.
There were a few splashes from the lake as people went for swims. Nothing but peace. At least until a distant feeling became a sudden surge. A sensation that would make any Jedi go on high alert, and it was focused near the Bricksley. Forcing himself not to run, K’mino began to walk in the direction of the pickup truck and he saw Kivenaal’s demonic stature, and steam rising from his hands. Was this the cause of that disturbance in the force?
“Are you alright?” He asked.
Kivenaal’s eyes snapped open and he looked up at K’mino, whilst still keeping the blue flame going. It was clear that it was taking the tiger everything he had to keep it going.
“I am… Fine.” He replied, hesitating on the latter part of the sentence. He appeared to be relaxed but still showed some discomfort of his presence here. Kivenaal returned some of his attention back to what he was doing, intensifying his mystic flames, pushing harder with his native magic to add more compression, letting his Aetheriian magic flow freely to create as it once had done tens-of-thousands of years ago, letting some unseen, unknown power guide him.
K’mino simply watched as Kivenaal closed his eyes for a second time and continued his project. Then, almost as abruptly as Kivenaal had started his project, it came to a sudden end. “I don’t know what inspired me to do this,” he admitted, moving his lower hands apart for the first time in many, many long minutes. There, resting in the palm of his lower left hand, was a crystal still glowing bright red from the intense heat he’d formed it under.
As it sat in the open air, it slowly cooled down crackling and sizzling, losing the red glow and revealing a translucent, faintly purple crystal. Resting on his palm, the crystal went from a faint hint of purple to a vibrant, translucent color that nearly matched Kivenaal’s eyes.
The brown eyes widened in surprise and horror. “A kyber crystal?” K’mino said almost too loudly.
“You know of these?” Kivenaal asked, picking up the still-surprisingly hot crystal and studying it. “I would hand it to you to look, but… It is still quite hot.”
“I do.”
Kivenaal moved slightly to offer a bit of room for K’mino to sit down, making sure that both of his tails were out of the way as well. “That look on your face says something is wrong, yes?” Kivenaal inquired, again relying on an instinct he’d closed himself off to a long time ago to get a feel of what was happening in the moment.
“I’m not sure if anything is in fact wrong or not.”
A brief flash was all he saw, K’mino’s hand reaching for something on his belt, a possible future, one of many ways something could go.
Kivenaal’s eyes flicked between K’mino’s right hand and the shining metal hilt on his hip, and it became clear that Kivenaal, even as relaxed as he was right then, was somewhat preparing himself to defend himself if he had to. His body language showed that he was anticipating an attack, even if one never came.
“I felt something, an overwhelming sensation. One that I needed to investigate.”
K’mino knew that this was Kivenaal using the force, but creating a Kyber Crystal out of practically nothing was unheard of. How was it possible?
Kivenaal studied him for a moment. “The… Energy I was working with, you felt that?” he asked.
“I sometimes get feelings that something is happening, but I… For the longest time, I have closed myself off to it. Right now, I am relaxed and at peace, but it means I can’t block this energy, either. I apologize if I’ve disturbed you,” he said, struggling a little to find the right way to describe things.
“It was the cinnamon rolls. My kind shouldn’t have cinnamon, it’s… Not the best for us. Must have been something else in them, though, because today, I heard a voice, calm and cool and mellow, instructing me on what to do. A few items from nature, because nature is made from carbon, and from carbon, diamonds form. Valraadi magic to produce the heat and pressure needed to form a diamond. Aetheriian magic from my mother’s side of the family to change the form of the diamond into a crystal. This unknown third energy flowing through me to define what the crystal would become,” Kivenaal explained softly.
Again, he studied the purple crystal, then looked to K’mino. “You called it a ‘Kyber crystal,’ but I don’t know what it is. Jayde wears a crystal similar to this, but his is green. Are they different?”
“No, they are pretty much the same except for the colour. A Kyber Crystal is a crystal, used in the construction of a weapon called a lightsaber. A blade of light that can cut through almost anything. A weapon of a Jedi, a warrior who utilizes something called The Force. These crystals are bound to it.”
Kivenaal nodded softly. “The weapon of blue light you wear on your hip,” he said, in response to K’mino’s explanation.
K’mino sighed. “I’m surprised you managed to create one of those crystals out of nothing and a purple one no doubt. The only way I knew of how to find one, until now, was that kyber crystal could only be found on a planet called Ilum.”
Another Jedi had been amongst the leading team all this time, but something told him Kivenaal would be skilled as a Jedi.
“Do the colors have a meaning?”
“Yes, but it is only an indicator of which side of the force you are on.”
Kivenaal thought for a moment, but didn’t say anything.
“Ilum…” he said, thinking as he tried to remember whether he’d heard the name before or not. He leaned down, drawing with a claw in the dirt a crude star-map. “Fifth planet in that star system, brutal cold, yes? With crystal caves?” Sure enough, in the dirt, while it wasn’t a perfect map of the area by any means, he had mapped out the system.
To K’mino’s surprise, Kivenaal had managed to somewhat draw a correct map.
A moment later, the dirt shifted and the map vanished without a trace.
“I… Saw something about it in the logs before I was put into cryo-sleep,” he admitted, speaking softly.
K’mino looked in the direction of the Bricksley. “Jayde also possesses the ability to use the force. But there is something different about you the way you wield it.”
“I’m not a pure Valraadi, if that would make a difference,” he said. “My father was a Valraadi, but my mother was a Light Aetheriian.” However, after a few minutes, Kivenaal then asked, “Would this Force, as you call it, be why I felt when this planet died, so many years in the future? Because it was that moment that made me try to shut it out.”
“Possibly, I still have a long way to go before I can feel something like that.”
Kivenaal held his purple crystal in his lower right hand, more or less casually studying it while some old instinct started figuring out what he’d need to make it into a lightsaber as well. In the back of his mind, he could picture the mixture of titanium and brass that would form the hilt, but the internals were more complex than he could easily come up with on his own. “Not sure how I’ll manage to make one of those,” Kivenaal said, motioning to K’mino’s lightsaber. “My instincts tell me it’s more complex than making the crystal.”
Relaxing, K’mino looked toward the lake where the sun glinted off of it… “If you can find the parts for it, you’d be able to without much knowledge.”
Studying the crystal again, Kivenaal sighed.
“Anyway, I’ve got to go back to my team, I don’t want to be late for dinner.”
To Be Continued (Like Always)
I actually wonder what zaruki means.
Loosely translated, “Zaruki” is “idiot.” Translated literally, it is “Dead Head” or “Dead Spirit Vessel.”
Might ask if rukari could start chasing her at the “speed of light” after picking on him, well as in back talking him.
Unlikely. Rukari is able to control his temper. Plus, if he chases after Izzy, she’s likely to get in trouble with the townsfolk for agitating a rather well-known Valraadi from a fairly-infamous family line. It also doesn’t help that he’s next-in-line to be Emperor of Valraad, if he wants it.
Suffice it to say that if Rukari wanted to settle this, he would likely have done so with either his venomous tail while Izzy was back-talking him, or by drawing weapons, depending on how much of a threat she appeared to be.
So, the TL;DR on this is: You don’t want Rukari chasing her, because there is no good ending on that situation.
TEAM HILLBILLY ROLLERS
PART 0.1 - A prologue to the prologue
PART 0.2 - Another piece of the prologue puzzle
PART 0.3 - Viva la IP 4Z!
PART 0.4 - Robotman
PART 0.5 - Interference problems
PART 0.6 - Can I play Tetris?
PART 0.7 - Tangerine and familiar
PART 1.0 - Now things got serious!
PART 1.1 - Hello, Thibault and friends!
PART 1.2 - Poor kitty
PART 1.3 - Curse you, Team Oil Crisis!
PART 1.4 - Interlude
PART 2.0 - Bird bird bird, bird is the word!
PART 2.1 - D. Head
PART 2.2 - Good night!
PART 3.0 - Freeway Rockstar
PART 3.1 - DISCO TJO DISCO HEJ
PART 3.2 - Van-Werewolf 1-0
PART 4.0 - Calm after the storm
PART 5.0 - Mirror mirror on the…oh, crap!
PART 5.1 - Hello, little puppies!
PART 6.0 - Speed
PART 6.1 - GIMME OXYGEN! (feat. Madrias)
PART 6.2 - Steamin’ hot! (feat. Elizipeazie)
PART 7.0 - The Kayak
PART 7.1 - Marie the valkyrie?
PART 7.2 - Vegetables
PART 7.3 - Time to tie things up
Janne and Andreas went back to the campfire from the van, hoping that Marie wouldn’t have made too much of a mess of everything.
"Now we are back", Janne said to the crew members from Team Shift Happens, "I hope she didn’t make too much of a…"
Janne spotted a swollen, bleeding Marie sitting there mumbling.
"Oh…", he said, looking at Rukari and Malavera that seemed to be less excited about everything.
"MARIE, WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE NOW?", Andreas yelled.
"It was not my fault, a kangaroo hit me.", Marie mumbled.
"You know what, I am not going to take that discussion…", Andreas said to Janne.
"What the fuck did she manage to screw up in this short amount of time?", Janne asked Rukari, Malavera and Kayden with a sigh.
"I WANT TO RIDE IN MY KAYAK!", Marie yelled in a high pitched voice that probably could cut through armed concrete.
"Now, keep fucking quiet!", Andreas said, "Or I will make a pontoon out of your goddamned ass!"
"WHERE DID THAT…" (hyuuuurghhhh…) “BITCH WITH THE SURFBOARD GO? SHE’S GONNA DIE!”, Marie yelled before passing out and falling to the ground.
"Oh well, at least she won’t disturb for a while now, but she better wake up in time tomorrow", Janne said.
"By the way, I guess she will be in severe pain, probably well deserved but…if we find some mercy bush, is there some…how should I say it…SAFE amount to use?", Janne asked. "I don’t really want to ride with Lucy in the sky with diamonds again, haha, so just enough to relieve the pain for her, I thought"
Needless to say, neither Janne nor Andreas was very excited about the back-breaking experience that would follow, by carrying Marie back from the campfire.
TO BE CONTINUED
Previous Chapters:
Cinnamon and Apologies - Stage 5 Drive and Stage 5 Camp
An Apology / Campsite Stories / I Have Gas! - Stage 5 Camp (Collab with Knugcab - Original Title: “Gimme Oxygen!”)
The Prank - Collab. with SurrealCereal (Team MCP)
A Tent-ative Meeting - Stage 5 Camp
Engine Troubles / Racing Stripes - Stage 6 Drive and Camp
Capt’n Crazy Capsizes - Stage 6 Camp Collab with Knugcab
Not the Face! - Stage 6 Camp Collab with Knugcab
The Saber of Light - Stage 6 Collab written by TheYugo45GV
When Janne asked about a safe amount of mercy bush to use to relieve Marie’s pain, the three looked around at each other for a moment, before Kayden flat up admitted first, “I don’t know, honestly. Before you three showed up as high as the clouds in the sky and hollering something about “bird is the word,” I didn’t know that existed.”
“If I knew, I’d say so, but I don’t know and my right head is damned sore,” Malavera said, baring his teeth at Marie for a moment before giving a grimace. “She has a really hard head.”
Rukari sat there for a few moments longer, then said, “Considering she clashed heads with me, I normally wouldn’t say anything, but… In the interests of keeping on friendly terms between the teams, you could probably give her one quill-like leaf to ease the pain. But I don’t know where you could find them. Jayde might know, he’s mentioned using it for his leg. Of course, you might also find some at the side of the road again. It does tend to grow in forests.”
Malavera looked around, then pointed toward Jayde. “He’s over there, meditating, if you want to ask him about it.”
(@Knugcab - Forgot to tag you to start with. Anyway, if you do go to Jayde, he’s likely to just give you one of the two jars of quills he has.)
#RK Series Racing; Stage 6 Camp; Part 2
As they approach the station, a big, mediterranean looking building emerges. A slew of platforms can be seen poking out of either side, as one of the menacing trains of the Longitude Express pulls into one of the platforms. The car is parked by the side of the road, in a spot in which they think they won’t obstruct anything.
Three of the four team members disembark their newly modified contraption, which now is a massive chore for the driver, as he has to climb over the gear lever into the already-cramped passenger seat before exiting. Connor is left behind and tasked with keeping the boiler in check for the time being.
After that, the car is “locked” and the team heads inside. Two trains are already stood there, with the third from earlier just coming to a stop, leaving three additional platforms empty.
The team has to ask around a bit before managing to locate the station master’s office.
They politely knock on the office door before being told to come in.
Sat behind the desk, shuffling about some extensive paperwork, is a rather tall, pale-skinned person with glowing, amber eyes. Well… tall from Tim’s perspective, as both Constantin and especially Valentin are still substantially taller than the station master.
“Need anything?”, he blurts while he is flipping through a stack of paperwork, not looking up at Valentin and the others at all.
“Greetings…”, Valentin pauses to check the name sign on the desk. “Mr. Rallidan… i’d like to ask as to how one could arrange the use of rail here.”
“If you managed to acquire a train, then how did you even get here? Running the train along the roads?”, Charles replies, still deep into his paperwork and not really paying attention. Valentin sighs in response, shrugs and runs his right hand through his massive hairdo.
“I mean… you’re not wrong. We recently finished it at the local steamworks and it’s now parked out in front of the station.”, Valentin mutters, unsure of how one could explain a high-railer to someone a century in the past. At this point he looks at Valentin and realizes that the “train” in question may be the steam-converted Dione. He walks over to one side of windows, and looks down onto the road in front, spotting the not-so-brightly colored car out front. He then heads back and throws the stack of paper onto the desk, scattering them in the process, followed by him frantically digging around in a drawer. Valentin, despite his head being more than 7 feet off the ground, bows down to collect the scattered documents for Charles. He pulls out a massive stash of semi-loose documents in a small and flimsy-looking wooden box. He shuffles through them a bit before pulling out a pack of pages.
“So. You need rail?”, Charles asks, with Valentin nodding in reply.
“When?”, he adds.
“We get up tomorrow at dawn and then head over to the steamworks for railing. Not 100% sure as to when, bu…”, he is interrupted by Constantin, who has pulled out his pocket watch to investigate.
“We leave camp at 1 sun and drive across town to the steamworks.”
“Errr… yeah, then we transition to rail and are good to go.”, Valentin finishes.
Charles is seen shuffling through the small pack of pages, reading through a table of sorts.
“Earliest i can do is 2-15 sun. How fast does your… contraption go?”, Charles inquires, as too slow a vehicle will hold up following trains. Valentin sheepishly shuffles around a bit: “I’m not exactly sure… we just went back and forth on the yard a few times. Being good people we didn’t speed there, topping out at the 20MPH limit there. Though a colleague of mine is currently keeping the boiler in check. He surely can say something with more certainty.”, Valentin admits, as he mostly worked on making it reasonably reliable and not necessarily overly fast.
“Let us head on out there then, shall we?”, Charles responds.
They head out of the station and towards the Dione. Connor was sat on the passenger seat with the door open, watching the assortment of gauges. A small crowd of citizens is surrounding the vehicle and immediately approach Valentin upon spotting him.
It takes some stern talking from Constantin to get some piece and quiet.
“Hi Connor. This is the local station master and he want’s to know how fast Robert will go.”, Valentin explains.
“Yes. I will gladly offer you access to the line, but i have to make sure to not impede the existing train schedule. Otherwise the crews are gonna be pissed at me.”, Charles explains, holding up the pack of pages.
“In ideal conditions, with no wind and on a straight and level track of adequate quality, we could theoretically achieve speeds of 140 miles per hour.”, Connor explains, calmly, followed by a bit of a pause as he processes the digital version of the track maps against the expected performance of Robert the Roadgoing Railcar. “We should be able too keep pace with the posted line speeds and schedule.”, Connor adds, working the valves a bit to add some more water to the boiler.
“Well if you think you can keep pace, then i’ll coordiate your… contraption as a class 2 train from here to… where are you headed?.”, Charles inquires. “That info will be useful to announce further use to people up the line, if necessary.”
“Our Destination is Tapari, with the next scheduled stop at Vallengarda. We will need to refuel once on the way to Vallengarda, somewhere in the middle third of the journey. The stop will only take a few minutes.”, Connor replies.
“Then we have that sorted. Wish you a nice journey on the Longitude Line!”, Charles exclaims excitedly and heads back into the station building, leaving the team at the car.
As they enter the car, with Valentin contorting himself to get to his seat, they head back to camp to spend the remaining evening. While they were aware of the invitation to the inn, it is decided that they won’t attend due to the reputation they seem to have garnered among locals.
The remaining evening is pleasant, with the shut-down of Robert being followed by setting-up camp, dinner and a few games of cards before heading to bed.
to be continued
OOC:
cba’d to do a segment at the inn in ~4 hours before stage 7 drops
If anyone wants to do interactions with me, my team is staying at the campsite until next stage possibly unless if the car needs something.
that next stage is scheduled to drop in less than five hours
if you want, we can cooperate a minimal encounter of the next driving segment (assuming our times are close enough) or something in the next camp (stage 7 camp)
