• player/ooc name: ema
• character tags: Cassandra Kubrick Lutgarde Dijkstra Fenelle Miller
• dropped characters' tags (if applicable): ---
• ic posts for characters: cass, lutgarde, fenelle
• are characters in directories?: Y
• any notes/comments: thank you so much for your hard work, shiv, spiral and crow !! and thanks as well to the amazing community of writers here <3 looking forward to what's to come!

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Cassandra blinks as she looks around at futuristic lights, a city so vastly different from everything she knows in her day-to-day. But, given her father's disappearance, she is not a stranger to it entirely - it seems to be Megalopolis, the origin of their guards. However, the texts that she's read on it ... this is a thriving version of it, and ...

Is this a dream? At least here, she's not chained, and her clothes are not this prison garb either. Her hair still feels like a wet, air-drying mess, but at least it's not that bad.

"What the ..." she murmurs, looking around. "Huh," she says in surprise, then waves and approaches a familiar figure - Thea. "Hey, Thea! Are you... Thea?" This is a dream, after all. ... PROBABLY a dream. Are they dreaming together, or is this just a fragment of her imagination?

Thea Naito

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After hearing that there's a space-time distortion, Cass immediately has been on her way, hoping to still catch it in time. There's almost no hesitation as she enters the dome, this weird space distorting reality in inherently violent ways - or inherently natural ways. After all, the state as everything must be is chaos ... and as everything returns to. Order is something to be maintained, and it is such a fragile thing ...

But she isn't here for anything philosophical today - she's looking around, desperate to find any hint of ... something that might give her any information on where her dad might be, has been, will be. She's surrounded by her pokémon that brave the storm with her. She's looking at Sona, fighting with unusual bravery against the other pokémon, her hammer swinging endlessly. She also feels something shift slightly to her right-

"Oh fu-" she starts swearing, but her sole's actually not pierced by the familiar three hairs anymore. Instead, there's a whole wig of hair it seems, still hard as steel, but ... "You evolved!" she comments, and smiles faintly as she looks at Rina. Rina who has come with because Sona would never say no to more people on a dangerous mission. (Cass wonders why she hasn't declined in the first place; this isn't exactly up her wheelhouse, but there's been some changes recently ...) "Now I won't have to fear for my feet anymore," she grins vaguely, before her steel type's battle cry catches her attention again.

"Huh-" Sona's swinging her hammer again, but instead of a fiery dragon spirit possessin her, the temperature drops amongst the relentless storm winds. She whips up something cold and frosty, using Ice Hammer for the first time ever. "How do you keep picking up those moves?" Cass asks, baffled.

rewards
- 1x green shard
- rina the alolan diglett evolves to alolan dugtrio
- sona the tinkatuff forgets sweet kiss and learns ice hammer

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Cass isn't really actually painting the egg - it's Pic next to her, who swiftly has taken the new canvas in his hand without even giving Cass a chance to draw. She doesn't really mind, however, instead watching Pic at work - a rare opportunity, actually, now that she thinks about it ...

"Are you finished?" she asks then, as Pic proudly almost rubs the egg into her face. "Woah, woah, I can't see aynthing like this, hang on ..." she laughs, bringing a bit of distance. The lines are odd, she thinks, as she takes a look, before ...

"What the hell. That's not a flat surface, but ... if you look at it from here ... what the hell Pic?" A simple, nice rose motif made by straight lines only, and also a drawing that looks entirely flat if you look at it from the front.

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Cass somehow musters a smile at Thea's compliment, even if it also turns out grim, the concern and worry not quite fading. It'd take some time longer for the apathy to stop clinging to her, but maybe- maybe it'd be better that way, too. "I can't ... it's hard seeing it like this," she replies, before it's time for work- and then for a shower.

She'd get to Knight's hair first, smiling faintly as she sorts it out neatly, "Now it's all flat like a bob," she comments with a quiet laugh that gets drowned out by the water pouring down on them. Then, it's Thea's turn, and she gets focused on her friend's hair, too - laying it out flat and neat, with nothing else but water and oil sticking to it (she couldn't do anything about the grime-grime until they've maybe gotten shampoo ... but probably not).

It's a few moments of normalcy that she indulges in, figuring out for a moment that there's a whole person inside of her. It's scary, now that she thinks about it, how quickly she's come to compartmentalise, but ... nothing surprising. (Everything to survive.)

Walking back with Thea and Knight by her side, she feels herself slip away again, but it's nice, knowing and feeling these two close. She's walking close to Thea, welcoming the embrace, while also holding out one hand to grasp Knight's hand somehow. A pile of three, with her eyes fixed on these fleshy tubes ... She turns to Thea, swaying slightly as if indecisive. "But maybe it'll be better to know ..." she says, but does as Thea says - most of the time. Her gaze is still drawn to the tubes, until they reach the end of the hallways.

She looks back again, but is quickly lured away by fresh clothing. "I think so too," she agrees with Knight, frowning slightly. "I'm not sure I'll like them much after this ..." For now, it's nice, however, and she changes clothes. Almost feeling clean and alright, but the wet mess of her hair reminds her of the dire situation. They're also quickly herded back to the cells.

"Will it really be alright?" Cass murmurs, despite also already taking place on the bed. "Maybe we can figure out to squeeze us three up here?" she suggests, but ... yeah, it's a tight fit. "We're not that tall, after all ..." And it's a horrific time. While she wouldn't want to give up a bed if (most likely) both of her friends offer, she also doesn't want Knight to be cold and have an unrestful night ... whatever this night might be.

Ultimately, she'd be too tired to argue or think on much, and she'd drift off to sleep soon enough. Her arms are wrapped tightly around whoever's sharing the bed with her (whether it's one or two), recovering from the ice shower and the tiring, exhausting day.

She wishes for a dark, black dreamscape, but instead ...

A city?

Knight Naito Thea Naito
tl;dr dummy ward
- washes knight & thea's hair
- walking back through the hallway, upon thea's insistence, she'd not stare at the fleshy tubes too much (but she still stares)
- changes clothes, gets back into the cell
- ultimately takes a shared (with thea and/or knight) spot on the bed and falls asleep
- (dream city time, but she's not gonna ask anything of importance)

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"Yeah, I've seen it in one of those RKS simulations I've done-" Cass replies to Knight after Thea's been tackled. She thinks back on the memories she's made with this creature back then, and ... she just couldn't believe it. She throws herself in harm's way, wishing for them not to harm any more, but it's only her who ends up motionless, knocked out.

Something stirs Cass, as she lays motionless after the beating. She's not sure if it's other prisoners or her friends, as she slowly comes to herself, bloddied now and with the numbing pain moving in waves from certain points - her stomach, her shoulder, some more that she can't pinpoint right now. She takes in a sharp breath, before being reminded of the task at hand - clean, clean. Standing cautiously, she turns around, finally snapping back into place.

(Something does, at least.)

"Thea- are you alright? Knight?" she asks, hurrying over to them, before also turning to Andrea Vaneau- "Andrea- Andrea, are you ok-? That was- That was them from the simulation, right? What's-?" she continues her questioning, but ... she really isn't sure what kind of answers she would want. Part of her resigns itself to the clean-up duty again, her movements slow as she's unable to nurse her wounds. Now she's noticing, it's not only mochi remains that they're cleaning up. But, it's ... she finds herself squeezing, and doesn't meet any resistance.

There should be bones.

Are they dissolved- or taken? Turned to dust, and then? She stops the thought there.

It's when the creature is pulled away by chains that she rouses again, alarmed- "WAIT! No- don't!" she shouts, trying to grab the Ogerpon- but of course, she's way too far away, and her own Toxic Chain restricts her movements too much to do anything. She only watches in horror as they're pulled away to arceus-knows-where. (Or maybe Arceus doesn't.)

Her mind's then immediately caught in the icy bath, focusing everything back to her, but there's no escape from the water. She shivers uncontrollably, but she feels the piercing water clean her wounds, her general body from some grime by sheer force. After getting used to it even just a little bit, her now cleaned hands rise to grab her hair. She obviously doesn't have shampoo, but she massages it, gets out loose bits and oozes that's been caught in her hair over the course of the past hours.

"It'll take ages to have it recover from all that ..." she murmurs, finding a piece of herself amongst nothing. A thought for another day that's normal; that's not here, imprisioned. But for now, she taps her friends to get their attention, rubbing their shoulders a bit for some warmth to be immediately taken by the freezing water. "Do you want me to help wash your hair, too?" she asks, disregarding the fact that there's no shampoo here - she'd just be sorting it out a bit, removing the dirt that's clinging to it. But better than nothing, and it's just ... a moment to breathe in icy mist.

The prison routine continues on as they're herded back. She can't help but look back - then shudder.

The creature is back. They've released it again, and it feasts on the things they've cleaned up. She winces, not because of the grotesque scene - she is once more reminded of the absence of her Trubbish, and averts her gaze again. At least the creature won't starve, for better or worse.

The grotesque continues on as they walk through seemingly endless hallways. She'd lean on Thea or Knight for support, and also to support - she eyes Thea worryingly, knowing that she's been dealt a really hard blow as well. Her gaze wanders from her companions to ... everything else. Pulsating, fleshy tubes. As if giving birth. Something below here ... something's going on, but she can't tell what it might be. She finds her eyes fixed on some of the tubes, trying to discern what's moving inside - or maybe, she's better off not knowing ...

tl;dr dummy ward
- (callback, answers knight's question, then is hit)
- is knocked "out" for a bit before recovering a bit
- asks knight and thea if they're alright; turns to andrea to ask about ogerpon
- gets to clean-up work, avoids more major injuries, notices the lack of bones or anything solid
- shouts after opgerpon as it's pulled away, tries to follow but her toxic chains restrains her
- gets cleaned up by the icy shower, takes extra effort to clean up her hair
- walking through the hallway back; leans on thea or knight
- stares at the fleshy tubes, wondering, tries to figure out what they might contain

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Upon entering the sweltering, pre-historic (pre-written-historic-anyway) heat, Xuan immediately returns to her pokéball despite being the one most curious about this RKS simulation. "And we've lost one," she smiles faintly, calling out her Glimmora Glimmer instead who looks at their surroundings with curiosity.

"I'm Cass, by the way - nice to meet you!" She wonders for a moment if that's a different scenario to before- ah, yeah, no, yep, that scream's still lowkey haunting her, or more the scenario that followed the last time she's been there. She turns to the younger kid, holding her ears closed to mute the sounds just a little bit. "WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?" she screams, trying to be heard over the not-Jigglypuff's screaming.

Eris Halla

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Pic welcomes the congratulations with a content expression on his face, and then also joins in the compliments for Zeus, nodding vehemently in agreement. He wouldn't let Zeus downtalk himself like that, he has been a major inspiration after all !!

Cass smiles at Belle inviting the Pawmo to watch how she'd be taken care of, and laughs fondly while shampooing her, "They really get along quite well, hmm? I wonder if Hammy might even be more shy than Belle at the beginning~" She then turns her focus more onto Belle, since she could not be distracted while taking care of such a precious pokémon!

Pic also is fully focused now, almost entirely unmoving except for his hand and the tail within it. He decided to only do one colour for this, and carefully is assembling differents kind of strokes - first, he fills in a bit of the environment, before placing Gominha. But oh! Ah! She's moving! She's posing! Suddenly hit by a vision, he seems to become even more focused on the drawing and Gominha, composing this absolute master piece ... !!!!!

Martin takes a peak, but honestly seems rather unimpressed. However, he's ... he's just not an art guy, so he doesn't say anything and simply keeps the Smeargle afloat in his drawing position. (He really hopes he finishes soon ... but he'd stay like that for as long as needed.)

Thea Naito

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Cass seems quite content with the reply and grins satisfied - if she were a cat pokémon, she'd probably start purring now. However, that's quickly turned upside down as Pic sketched for the first time and she hasn't been around. She notices Thea's discomfort with her shaking Pic and stops, but still pouts, "Yeah, I suppose. That's very cool, Pic, you did great." Her voice is a flatlining monotone, but she sighs exasperatedly and fondly quickly after. "Don't worry, Pic's very resilient - I've barely stopped him from climbing into the washing machine once." Despite his most frequent shapes being angular with really straight lines, he seems to favour circles and roundness generally.

She also cheers up at the prospect of more soft fur and cooes and beckons Belle to come over as Thea says it's her turn now. "That sounds good to me! Belle darling, come up here please." She'd get the water and shampoo starting gently again, and seems to have mostly gotten over Pic's missed moment now.

Pic, also, is now fully focusing on Gominha now, being in awe of her beauty and cuteness! Even if it's a ... choice to have Gominha settle in-between the vanity care products and teeth brushes on the sink, there's probably some eccentric thought behind it. Pic also is gesturing to Martin then, asking if he could use the flower garland as a swing ... Martin seems a bit uncertain at first, but eventually nods and lets Pic get onto it, before lifting him up so he could get a better view of Gominha. Actually, since he's floating now, he could even! Consider so many angles! But Martin's warning look reminds him of the fairy type's possible wrath, and he simply nods, getting to work the most carefully he's been today.

Thea Naito

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For Cass, there could be worse and better punishments. Clean-up duty and trash inevitably reminds her of her beloved Trubbish again, whose fate is uncertain, but apart from that, she doesn't really have any hesitations about picking up what's on the ground ... ... she better not think too much on it.

The words don't fully register, but unlike some around her, she isn't super surprised that there's been a choice asking one ward to pick one over the other - she barely holds back a snort (muffled by the mask anyway) that this is actually something that makes sense in these messed up mind games. And it quickly also becomes that clean-up isn't even actually the punishment.

The restricted movement is dumb when it comes to efficient clean-up, but as it turns out, this truly isn't the goal here. A creature's set loose, indiscriminately attacking with those chained to the floor having lesser chances of escaping. Cass isn't rooted to the floor because of the Toxic Chains, however - she's just staring at the fleeting shadows with confused recognition, only intensified by Andrea Vaneau's words - and now she also recognises the other inmate as the one who's done the simulation with her before.

So it is this sweet child or pokémon from the festival- and her heart aches as she sees it reduced to feral agression, sending Andrea flying. Her stomach then joins in the whirlwind, but she still couldn't move despite Thea Naito's warnings. Her voice calling for Knight Naito pierces her ears, seeing as the creature tackles him, but she manages to dive in just in the nick of time.

But this means, indeed, that the creature is nearby, attacking mindlessly. "Hey..." she whispers, "What happened-" The creature appears beside her in a flash, and she couldn't- there's no room to move, for one, and she ... "Why-"

The air is knocked out of her lungs as it tackles her, pain flooding her system in an instant. It spreads, blocking out other sensory information, fills her with dread as she struggles to keep her mind afloat in an opening-up darkness.

What happens now?

She knows she can't give up, but it's tempting.

tl;dr dummy ward
- briefly goes to work on the clean-up
- is quickly distracted by ogerpon (recognises andrea and the ogerpon), confused why it is here and like this
- gets hit by it regardless of roll, suffering

- SINCE SHE SUCCEEDED, i'm up for her covering someone who failed! just @ me in the server :3

spYWW3uS