TEST DRIVE.

[futurologists]

test drive Firstly, thank you for your interest! Secondly, since the game hasn't begun and therefore characters haven't actually gone to a world yet, this test drive is going to be a little different. It's intended to be presented as a mini-mission of sorts, on a much smaller scale and timeframe than a real mission in-game but with a somewhat similar feel. Because of this, if you join the game, you're allowed to count this as game canon, so make sure you make choices you want to follow your character into the game! You know how this works, so go forth and have fun, and don't forget to reserve! BASICS Anwick might have been a beautiful town once. It's hard to tell now, since most of the buildings are scorched and crumbling, but they do resemble some rural modern-day buildings. Likewise, the people don't appear to be living too much in the past; several are carrying intimidating guns. For years, Anwick has been terrorized by dragons, living in fear of the next attack. Not anymore. The people have just ended a bloody battle. Several people limp towards the outskirts of town, holding their bleeding wounds or new burns. In the center of town lies a slain dragon, the last full-grown one left in the world. To be honest, it looks like they've already taken care of their own problem. A monotonous voice comes through your communication device to explain. You aren't here to help the townspeople; you're here for the dragons. The one motionless on the ground may have been the last adult, but it certainly wasn't the last dragon. Her children are located in a nearby cave, alone and orphaned. They're the ones you need to protect. WYRMLINGS The wyrmlings are still growing up, only the size of a small dog. Each has a slightly different appearance, but all of them have at least a few bright copper scales. They're beautiful, and they look a little bit harmless... at least, until they notice you. These dragons have never been exposed to humans before. Or anyone outside of their family, for that matter. They're small and scared, and they don't know any other way to protect themselves than to attack. Luckily, because of their tiny size, they can't do much more than small burns at a time — but make no mistake, it still hurts like hell. The cave they're located in is pitch-black and labyrinthine. Every footstep echoes throughout it if you aren't light enough on your feet. It'll be difficult to navigate if you don't MacGyver yourself a torch or other form of lighting. Cell phones will work decently, at least until their battery dies, but you don't want to get stuck deep within the cave with no light. If you do manage to get through the cave and rescue some without getting burned to a crisp, the trouble's not over yet. You'll have to find a safe place to stash them until they can be relocated; the townspeople aren't done with their dragon-slaying yet, after all. Walk into town with one in tow, and you're putting a target on your back. (Of course, this doesn't mean you can't do it.) PROMPTS ONE ✗ GOING ROGUE Not feeling too obedient? Maybe you're ignoring the orders and helping the wounded people in town instead... or just coming to gawk. Maybe you're coming to slay the wyrmlings yourself. Whatever it is, at least try to be sneaky about it. TWO ✗ THE DRAGON'S CAVE Try to navigate the cave, fail to navigate the cave and get lost, or try to take the wyrmlings without getting barbecued. Somehow, you get the feeling that you aren't alone. Those footsteps are probably just your imagination... or they could be townspeople coming to kill you and the dragons. Of course, they could also be an ally, but you'd better hope you don't find out. THREE ✗ HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON You've gotten the dragon(s) to a secure campsite out of town, but the fun's not over yet. They're kind of freaking out a little. Some of them are still spitting fire. Even the less aggressive ones are crying shrilly, bound to attract townspeople or at least annoy everyone nearby. It can't be too hard to calm them down; they're basically scaly, fire-breathing babies, right? FOUR ✗ NIGHT TIME It's been a long day, and now it's time for the crew to sleep. Get to know your tentmates, try to ignore them, pray that they don't want to bring along a wyrmling to cuddle... or maybe you've been put on night watch with a few others, in which case you'd better find a way to pass the time until your shift's over. FIVE ✗ CHIT CHAT Network option! Maybe you've got a little downtime and you're bored. Or maybe you're frantically asking the rest of the team how bad a dragon bite is. Maybe you're just trying to figure out how the hell this magical jewelry thing works. No matter what, you get one username to identify you and one only — if you don't enter one, it will default to your real name (for example, Voldemort's would be tomriddle.) Choose wisely... or make it assfarts69, if that's your thing. More information on the network is here! SIX ✗ WILDCARD Do whatever the hell you want. Explore the ashes of the burned city, try to run as far away from this crap as possible, or try to teach a wyrmling tricks. The world is your oyster.

Comments

malia tate | teen wolf

[animalize]

TWO | THE DRAGON CAVES

[ malia doesn't have a flashlight, but she's making her way through the dark tunnels with ease. supernatural night vision works wonders. she isn't exactly happy about following orders, but she does want to see a real live dragon, so she sucks it up. plodding somewhat grumpily through the caves, she stops when she sees and hears something in the distance. far distance.

then near distance.

and then it's a person practically walking right towards her, not that they'd know she was there if not for: ]

Did you find anything?

THREE | HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

Shut up.

[ malia is far from nurturing. quite frankly, the wyrmling went from 'cute' to 'annoying' in ten seconds flat, and now she's pretty much done with it. but it keeps following her around, flapping its tiny little wings and screeching. her screeching back probably isn't helping the situation. bystanders may want to kick them both. in her defense, she's at least spreading the irritation around the campsite rather than staying put. that's something. finally, she's had enough. she stops in front of the nearest person and turns to the crying dragon. ]

Here. Play with this person.

[ unsurprisingly, the dragon just keeps crying. why did she have to get stuck with the crybaby? she should've just left it on the side of the road. she still sort of wants to. with a huff, she turns back to look "this person" in the eye. ]

How do you make things shut up without killing them?

three.

[teleo]

Not yelling at them to shut up would be a start. You should probably avoid issuing death threats, too. [There isn't a trace of sarcasm to Kaworu's soft voice, but something about his widening smile suggests it. He looks over at the poor whiny wyrmling, wondering how hard it can be to care for it, really. Back home, he had to look after an impulsive penguin with an independence streak a mile wide. A baby dragon can't be that far off from a penguin...

Either way, most living things have at least one thing in common: they like to eat other things.]

Do you have any food on you?

[animalize]

[ Even if there had been a trace of sarcasm, she wouldn't have picked up on it; she's blunt, and she makes the mistake of assuming everyone else is, too. In response to his question, she raises an eyebrow. ]

No, [ she says like "duh." It's not like she carries beef jerky around in her pockets. Apparently, that's frowned upon in the civilized world. Malia shrugs her shoulders and looks Kaworu up and down, somewhat discerning. ]

Do you?

[ It's both a question meant to ask, "What, do you carry beef jerky around in your pockets?" and, "But seriously, do you have any?" ]

[teleo]

As a matter of fact... [The secure campsite offers more than a bunch of bedrolls for them to partake in. Kaworu reaches into the pocket of his jacket, jostling something metallic, something else that's squishy. His hand emerges again, clutching at a few rickety pieces of meat-looking jerky. The jerky is a little too weirdly pale to say it's beef, and he hasn't felt adventurous enough to try it for himself. (His stomach is still clenching from the sheer anxiety of homesickness.) If it's been officially issued, it should be plenty edible.]

Here you go, [he says, offering the meat jerky to Malia.] Why don't you try feeding it? [He values his own fingers a little too much to feed a hungry baby dragon. Sorry.]

[animalize]

[ Malia's fingers might actually grow back if they got bitten off. Like a lizard's. She's almost curious, but not enough to risk it. She reaches out and grabs the... something jerky, holding it up and sniffing it.

Even by smell, she can't tell what sort of meat it's supposed to be. She throws it in the dragon's direction, and... it hits the creatively-named Thing in the face. It doesn't look pleased. For a moment, she thinks it's going to start crying even more, but then it sniffs at the jerky cautiously. If only for now, it's distracted. ]

Have you met a dragon before or something?

[teleo]

[So far, so good... Kaworu's smile loses some of its caustic edge as he watches Thing (which must be the most fitting of names) go about inspecting the meat jerky. The town they were sent to has been terrorized by dragons for who knows how long, but Kaworu has to admit they're beautiful creatures. Just because they're different, even hostile, doesn't mean they're inherently awful.]

Oh... [His eyes, red and a bit distant, shift over to Malia.] Not really. I've only ever seen them in movies or read about them in books. That is to say, they should be fictional. [Honestly, he's taking cosmic displacement and literal dragons pretty well. Maybe he's still in shock.] I'm guessing you're not familiar with them, either.

[animalize]

I know what they are.

[ That's about as far as her familiarity goes. Dragon Tales. She crosses her arms, face a bit unsure; of course, she looks like that a lot. This time, however, her eyebrows are furrowed a little more than usual, and she's biting her lip a little harder. ]

Lots of things that are supposed to be fictional aren't, though. At least where I come from. So we might have them.

whups, threeeee.

[inert]

Whoa, whoa—chill, Jailbait. Heeeey, here --

[ however drawling the words, however sharp his laugh, at least he's stopping, crouching, beckoning to the thing. a moment's thought sends a hand fishing through his pocket as he waves. another moment, and silver rolls over his knuckles as he works a coin between his fingers, flashy in hopes of snagging tiny draconic attention.

whether or not this succeeds -- ]

She been fed or anythin', so far?

[animalize]

[ the aptly named thing quiets a bit, eyes fixed on the coin for a brief moment. she has a tiny desire to knock it out right there. not to be mean, just because she didn't realize how much she missed silence, and she's not looking forward to losing it again. malia rejects the animalistic urge, which is an accomplishment in itself. ]

No. I don't know what dragons are supposed to eat.

[ she stares at thing, narrowing her eyes and inspecting it. it's too little to eat animals, except maybe rabbits or something. she could go catch one... ]

Do you know what dragons eat?

[inert]

Huh. . .

[ the coin flicks in a bright arc to the other hand, lands with the thoughtful hum of a boy seriously considering the question. ]

[inert]

Y'mean besides virgins, or.

[





maybe not that seriously. ]

[animalize]

[ thing lets out an interested squawk-y sound, which is still pretty annoying. but it's better than the crying, at least. she watches as thing inches a little closer to the coin; malia considers ripping a button off of her clothes to entertain it with. or maybe someone else's clothes. some of these people have more buttons than they need, really.

she meets his eye when he makes his virgin comment, looking unimpressed, but probably not for the reasons one might think. ]

Well, do you know any virgins here?

[inert]

[ their eyes catch. his smile gleams brighter than the coin, easy and pleased.

but he's kind of a shit magician, so the next flip wobbles and nearly spills the coin onto the dirt -- focus, sora, focus. ]

Nah. Not yet, I guess. Unless you wanna drag her over the camp, see if she jumps somebody for dinner.

2!!!! X(

[dreamcatcher]

( Emma, for one, does not have night vision. she has power screaming through her veins, practically demanding she use it. it'd be easy as breathing to light a torch, throw flame, something to make it easier for her to see in the simpering dark, and she is refusing to listen to that particular voice. she doesn't know how to reconcile what she is and the addition of the darkness she took on, and it's sort of like closing her eyes to floodwaters and hoping it will all work out, but not using the magic seems like a good idea.

right?

she stiffens sharply at the voice. she's heard footsteps too, off and on, mostly distant — and her paranoia is so strong at this point it's hard to shake the idea she isn't facing someone friendly. that's a pretty normal idea for her, it's hard to blame being the dark one for being untrusting of strangers. )

No. ( her voice is gruffer than usual, like she's been avoiding talking. probably because she has been. ) I'm guessing you didn't, either.

[animalize]

[ Malia isn't exactly a big fan of strangers, either; she's not the type to fear them, but at the same time, she isn't the friendliest girl around. Emma's gruffness, however, doesn't faze her — she's not one to read into tone that much. her only indicator of something being wrong is a mix of strange chemosignals coming from her, but Malia chalks it up to being out of place. ]

Not yet, but I will.

[ she holds up a hand as if to tell Emma to stay quiet and listens intently for a moment. ]

We're definitely close.

[dreamcatcher]

( lbr compared to Derek Emma is Ms. Congeniality. sorry Derek. she crosses her arms, as if she didn't seem standoffish enough, but hey, it could be worse. she could walk away from the conversation instead of finishing it. it feels dangerous to be too close to people, it means she's on edge all the time, even more than usual... but the chance is she probably will do better if she works with others.

she may be the Dark One now, but she still has no idea what she's doing.

Emma has decent hearing, she likes to think. she can't hear any indication they're close. she frowns and glances in the direction Malia was looking in. )

How do you know that? This place is like a maze, I've been wandering for hours.

[animalize]

[ Malia shrugs; she's not a good liar, and she's not particularly fond of telling lies, but there's no way to tell how this woman will react — so she tells the truth, technically. just not the whole truth. ]

Good tracker.

[ she steps forward, beginning to pass Emma. ]

You don't have to come if you don't want. But I know we're close.

[ if Emma wants to trust her, she will; if Emma wants to follow Malia against her better judgment, she will; if Emma wants to run off screaming, she will. there's no way to control other people, so Malia doesn't even try. she's on the right path, she must be, because the sounds are closer than they used to be.

she sounds impossibly sincere, if nothing else. ]

[dreamcatcher]

( even the best of liars tend to be sniffed out by their present company. Emma has been around too many, seen the worst of the world in action. she tends to spot insincerity a mile away, even if she doesn't always call out on it. suffice to say she doesn't at all buy that is the entire story.

still, now is not the time to pester for specifics. she hesitates a moment because she doesn't want to go further and just get more lost. still, the girl seems to have quite a bit of confidence, even if she won't say why. Emma sighs, weighs her options, and follows after her.

she keeps at least a healthy distance between the two of them as she tails her. )

Have a plan for when you get there?

( because Emma knows they have to protect the tiny dragons but she has no idea how to accomplish that. she's only ever seen big ones, and let's just say she wasn't sent to protect them either. )

two

[livedtwice]

Not yet. [Harry's wand remains bright as he draws closer to the girl. He hasn't seen her around, and truthfully, his brief exploration of the cave had been just to get a feel for it.] I was hoping I'd hear something ahead, but I didn't want to go too deep. [Harry's experience with caves tells him to either know exactly where he's going, or to definitely have some kind of a buddy system worked out.

Perhaps he's about to work on the latter right now. That might help, at least.]

[animalize]

[ Oh, Harry. Of all the buddies you could've chosen. ]

I can go with you.

[ She's not really a buddy type herself, but they're already together. They'd just end up awkwardly walking in the same direction anyway. Malia draws a bit closer, finding herself at a normal distance rather than just creepily peering from the shadows. ]

We won't get lost if we go too deep. I'm good at finding my way around.

[livedtwice]

Good, because I've been told I have a penchant for looking for trouble. [Amusement enters his voice. Harry had told himself that he wouldn't look for trouble for a very long time, but now he finds himself here and on this particular task. He's fairly aware of the irony of it all, especially so soon after the final battle back home. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything at all.]

If you know where to go, there should be less of a chance of that, yeah? [Hope springs eternal and all that. Harry doesn't actually think he's bad luck or anything like that, but he does know that he'll be less likely to do the rash thing if he's worrying about someone else.

Even if that someone else is Malia Tate. (Oh, how he'll learn.)]

[animalize]

They're dragons. Aren't they a lot of trouble?

[ She shoots down his optimism immediately, not because she wants to be an ass, but because she views herself as a truth-teller; Malia's not going to lie to him. She's had enough liars in her life. From now on, she only wants honesty. ]

They're probably gonna try to burn us alive.

[ With a nonchalant shrug, Malia breezes past him, sauntering in the direction of very faint screeching sounds. She'd much rather be walking away from that sound, as it's already getting on he nerves, but if there are dragons, she wants to see them in the flesh. She gestures for Harry to follow. ]

Come on.

[livedtwice]

["They're probably gonna try to burn us alive" makes him pause in his steps and raise his eyebrows at her. There is a good chance that fire will be involved, as well as a great deal of pain. Whether it's an active attempt when these are said to be babies is what makes him wonder. Norberta had been both painful and very difficult to deal with, but "try to burn him alive" she did not.

She was too small to succeed.

Come to think of it, maybe he's looking at it the wrong way. As such, he doesn't try to correct her, and instead picks up the pace again at a jog to keep up.]

You should worry less about the flames. They'll hurt, but you can deal with them the same as any burn. It's the bite that should concern you. [At least, without any means of dealing with it. Harry wonders if the townspeople do know.]

two.

[blasphemys]

[ a small fire is cradled in her hands, illuminating only her features and a small area around her. it could be bigger, but anna doesn't want to risk disturbing anything that may be in the cave with the light produced. instead it's just enough to see three footsteps ahead, enough for treading back should there be anything in front that would be unwise to step on.

which is why she jumps when someone speaks, looking up rather than at the floor, knife sliding into her hands. but it's only another person, though she doubts her harmlessness - people tend to underestimate anna, and she can be one of the most dangerous beings around. ]

Nothing worth mentioning.

[ which is true. only the darkness a cave can provide and small creatures that blew flames, enough so that she almost burnt herself after approaching one, own fire aside. she's frowning when she speaks, looking around the cave still before they settle again on the other. ]

Did you?

anna!!!!!

[animalize]

[ malia can sense that anna isn't entirely relaxed. it's okay, because malia isn't, either. her shoulders are somewhat tensed, her brow furrowed in concentration. she has to keep her focus to hear if someone's coming lest she get stabbed in the back, literally. she moves a little bit closer, slowly, like she's approaching a deer. animals, malia knows. humans can't be that much different. ]

Not yet.

[ her eyes draw down to the fire in anna's hands. ]

Did you make that?