mythmaking | (no subject)

[It's a cloudy mid-morning on THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, and the town is bustling as always. Many people are quite excited about the second batch of new arrivals; though they're not getting quite the celebration the first round got, they still might find themselves being greeted by bizarrely friendly folk.

Out of place is a number of geese scattered around town, each with their own little messenger bag packed full of rolled up parchment. They're putting the papers up all over, on fence posts and market stalls and storefronts, even stuffing them into mailboxes and leaving them on benches. Each paper is nearly identical, with large, blocky font and the occasional inky feather mark.

LOST
SEVERAL ITEMS OF GREAT IMPORT

SOMEONE HAS STOLEN FROM OUR HOMES THE FOLLOWING THINGS

ONE GOOSE-SIZED NIGHT CAP
THREE TEACUPS (PINK AND YELLOW FISH PRINT)
EXACTLY SEVEN AND A QUARTER LEFT SOCKS
AN APPLE CRUMBLE

IF FOUND PLEASE CONTACT
ADELICIA VON FARTHINGTON (THE FIFTH)
AT THE NORTH BANK OF THE LAKE

If stopped, the geese will be more than happy to talk at great length about how terrible this all is. Strangely, there appear to be a few other people and animals poking around as though looking for something, or acting a bit sullen for such an otherwise joyful day.]

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[Starscream doesn't explain the terminology, especially since the human seems to have gotten the gist of his question.]

[He thinks he understands why she's doing this now, though.]

So you were bored.

[He shrugs.]

Well it's no concern of mine how you choose to spend your time.

[And Starscream's about to turn back to the tower, but it occurs to him that since this human obviously isn't one of the locals...]

What is your name?

... Or I wanted to help.

( She thinks he doesn't understand it though but she'll just leave it at that. Arguing will just waste both of their time, to be honest, and she hasn't found a single item on this list.

She's about the walk away too to resume her search but turns back at the sudden inquiry. )

It's - ( She nearly says her fairy tale name but manages to stop herself before it came out of her mouth. ) - Yui Kusanagi.

[By this point, he's decided Yui's quest has little to do with him, so he doesn't really respond to her comment.]

[Her hesitation is, however, noted, and Starscream assumes she's not being entirely honest about her name. But at least he now has something to call her. He lifts his hand to his chest and bends forward in a lazy bow.]

I am Commander Starscream. Have you been here long, Yui?

It's nice to meet you.

( She bows her head slightly too, more as an automatic reaction than anything. She's getting used to it, people coming up and introducing themselves to her (though mostly to profess their undying love). The name makes her stop for a bit as well, only to remind herself that he's a robot. She supposes that they have rather strange names compared to people.

'Commander' though ... )

Around a month. We also arrived around the same time of the month too.

[This human is remarkably polite, Starscream notes.]

[...He wonders what she's hiding.]

What is the current date? I was... not present on this planet until today, and haven't been keeping track of the human calendar.

[Starscream's still sticking to the theory that they're not on Earth, but everything here seems to be trying to imitate Earth's customs, so.]

The date? ( She pauses at that, thoughtful.

Judging the last full moon and moon last night, it should be ... )

January 9th.

( She's never been a person who relies on moon cycles to predict the date (and considering it was summertime back in the Garden before she got here) but her role seems to be more attuned to it than she is. )

Hm. Then perhaps in another month, there will be another batch of new arrivals.

[He holds up his hand, idly examining his claws.]

Not that I intend to stay here that long.

Probably. I'm sure there's a lot more characters that need replacing one way or the other.

( Like the Emperor from her story. )

Do you have any method of getting out then? ( Curiously asked since she wants to know too. )

...Replaced?

[Yeah, he hadn't heard that part yet.]

[At Yui's simple question, Starscream smugness leaks out of him like air from a balloon.]

Well, I... that is to say, I'm working on it. I've only just arrived, you can't expect me to know everything yet! [The last part is said with an obviously defensive snap to it.]

For the characters in the stories. That's what they said. Characters in different stories are disappearing so they needed someone to replace them.

( Or robots, in his case. For how long, she doesn't really know. Father Time wasn't too specific and was pretty much dodging the question when she had asked about it. )

Huh. ( So he doesn't know. Well, she's not judging. ) Good luck. No one's ever really tried to leave yet, I think.

[That sounds vague.]

[...And ominous.]

[As a result, there's just a hint of panic in Starscream's voice when he says:]

People are disappearing? But... How? When? Why? And how do we know it won't affect us?!

[His wings flip back a little and he swallows, realizing that he probably was looking a bit foolish there. He clears his throat, but he still looks a little wide-eyed.]

Er-hem. Anyway. If there's an entrance, that means there's an exit. All I have to do is figure out how Father Time and his council got us here, and the rest shall fall into place.

But you were asleep when that happened, right? Them bringing us here.

( ... No, she is not pointing out the flaws in your plan, Starscream.

So many questions but the answers are so few. )

I, I don't really know. That's everything that Father Time and Lamb told me.

( She even made a little girl upset in the interrogation process so she didn't want to push it further. )

I said I'd have to figure it out, didn't I?

[He isn't pouting. Because he's an esteemed military commander and esteemed military commanders don't pout.]

[He folds his arms and stares at the ground for a moment- he's out of his depth here and his only hope is that he'll somehow find a clue that can reverse all this, return him to a world where cats don't talk and humans are small enough for him to step on and he isn't followed by turnips and things make sense...]

[He huffs, then looks back at Yui.]

What can you tell me about Father Time, and this Lamb person? I assume the latter is part of the council?

R, right then.

( She'll just stop right there and let him figure it out on his own. He's a commander of something (a robot army maybe?) anyway.

Instead she'll move on to his next question. Which isn't really that easy to answer, considering their lack of information in this place even after a month. )

Not sure what you mean by council but Lamb is a little girl who seems to have the power to control flowers. ( Or nature. She hasn't really seen the extent of her powers yet. ) And Father Time is an old man who likes to feed ducks in his spare time. He also seems to know more about the mechanics of this place than Lamb.

( She pauses for a moment, trying to think of other people ... ) There's another one, someone named Death. I've never really met them personally but apparently, she or he isn't very happy with us being here.

I've been informed that Father Time is part of a council of similar individuals. [He shrugs.]

...Lamb controls flowers?

[Okay then. Makes about as much sense as everything else.]

[At least he has a description to keep an eye out for- although Märchenstraße isn't exactly lacking little girls and old men.]

[Death is what really catches Starscream's interest. There's a speculative gleam in his eyes.]

If the one called Death is part of the council, then that means there is dissent among the ranks. That could prove very useful to us.