brethrencourt | TEST DRIVE 001b

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TEST DRIVE 001b

Try on those ridiculous clothes, sample the catering, and run through your lines. It's time for the Long 18th Test Drive.

ARRIVAL: Characters come to in a dark, tropical forest in a huddle. There are the sounds of strange birds, animals, and insects all around, some of them perhaps worryingly close. With a closer inspection, arrivals realize they're on an incline: Going up will prove fruitless, no matter who they are. The ground there starts to grow rocky the further they climb, and they may find themselves slipping back down to their arrival point, even if they're expert mountain climbers. The ground sloping downward will eventually level out leading toward light, music, and noise. But for the moment, they're simply a group of lost people (or monsters/bipedal animals/robots/etc) with no idea where they are or how they got here. Now's probably a good time to ask, "Who the hell are you? Where am I?" Time to use the buddy system.

TORTUGA: There's a town off the coast of Hispaniola that never sleeps, and that town is Tortuga. It's swapped hands more times than anyone can count, but for now, the French have it. And they do like the extra money the pirates that frequent it bring in; they like it so much that they imported over 1600 prostitutes from Europe to keep them happy. So you might as well relax while you're here, as much as you can with random gunshots and fist fights, anyway. Drop in for a drink at the Faithful Bride, check out the wares for sale (provided to you tax-free thanks to piracy) near the dock front. Visit the warehouse where those ill-gotten goods are stored and distributed. Maybe you're looking for work on a ship? The captains can usually be found - frazzled and busy - in the taverns and at the shipwrights and everywhere in between (just look for the hats), and if they're in a good mood, they might be willing. But the key point of Tortuga is this: Have fun. Some examples might include: A barfight! Wandering into a brothel (maybe by mistake)! Getting duped into joining a crew! There's no end of trouble to get into.

MIRROR POST: When they arrived, every person found, in a pocket or a bag or tucked away somewhere on their person, a little compact mirror. It's nothing fancy: Square, with hinges and a latch that keep it closed, the outer casing carved from seashell, the inner mirror a little spotted with age. But if it's played around with enough, it quickly becomes apparent it works as a communication device. Here you have access to all of the marked folks, no matter how far and wide they might spread. Need to have a heart to heart with a buddy in Singapore? Want to send out a general ad to everyone at large? Looking for answers to questions? This is the quickest way to get all of that.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: The world is open, and it's full of pearls that are just waiting for you to take them. Maybe you want to have some quiet time to scrub clean in a bathhouse in Singapore. Perhaps you're visiting the fabled pirate city of Libertalia in Madagascar. Maybe you've found yourself lost in Mayan ruins or stranded on an island. Or you were shipwrecked in a hurricane. Or you've decided to relocate to Port Royal or one of the American colonies for a quieter sort of life. Either way, this is your story, might as well make it a good one.

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[Harry accepts all of this with a shrug, staring across the beach at the water. He'd never visited the seaside as a child, certainly wouldn't have seen a place like this. Shame he's too distracted to enjoy it.]

I've no idea what's decided on my path. I haven't had much say in it.

[But then he replays that and frowns.]

What, you actually crawled out? Is that sort of like, like a metaphor?

Yeah. [His own school uniform is more conspicuous than the black robes had been, but the wool had been bloody warm. He's still got it under his arm, for all he knows that's what the man had wanted. He's got precious little else.]

Dunno what happened. I was on the train home from H—school, from school, and I just woke up here, in the jungle. [It doesn't seem like the man had any friends about, no one's paying them any particular attention as they walk through the streets. It's unwise, but Harry keeps a hand on the wand in his pocket, ready to draw again if he needs to.]

What about you, what happened to you?

It's not a theory, I've actually done it. Turns out my friend Hermione's been doing it all year, to take more classes.

[That doesn't sound like complete nonsense at all, right? Harry follows Tony's gaze to the water, the ships, the tide, the everything that makes this really real, just as real as when he and Hermione had followed their past selves around for three hours to free Buckbeak and Sirius.]

This isn't like that, though. I don't think it's the same.

[He scowls a little, tapping his glasses up his nose again—it's bloody warm here and they keep sliding down—and glances up at Tony.]

Last time at least I had a reason to be doing it. I was on the train from school, it's the end of term, I was done with everything.

Thank you. [Kara falls silent, concentrating on absorbing everything her rescuer is saying, trying her hardest to learn enough to blend in before she gets in trouble. Or more trouble.

The smell is unbelievable, but by concentrating on what's being said, she can filter it out a little. And the weird constant squelch under the soles of her shoes. At least she's wearing flats, it would be harder to look natural if she had to try to walk through this in heels or wedges.]

Kara, it's Kara. I don't really know...where I am. I should probably know that.

[She huffs and stops limping, although she keeps her arm cradled close to her as they make their way into the tavern. A few people glance up when they walk in, idly curious, but they all turn away again and that buys them at least a little time.]

I didn't mean to do that. ...where are we? [It's still in that stage whisper as she pulls her hair out of a ponytail and starts braiding it back, at least it might discourage the petting that had led to the incident a few minutes ago.] What's going on, do you know what's going on?

I don't, um. I know we're on an island. In, in the Caribbean, I think.

[She'd seen that much when she'd tried flying home and gotten nowhere but put straight back into her footprints in the jungle. But that might not be reassuring. The flying part or the unable-to-fly-away part. It means this isn't random. Something's put them here for a reason.

She looks back at the girl and smiles.]

But wherever we are, at least it's a 'we' now, right? We should stick together. I'm Kara.

[Mary gives this boy a neutral, considering look, as if seeing him for the first time. A future decided for him, huh? She'll have to touch on that later. Never let people push you around, kid.]

It's no metaphor, mate. I truly and honestly bargained my way out of Hell. [Nevermind that she can't remember exactly what. Only that it happened.] I must have been mad.

Though, that leaves the question: who was on the other side o' that bargain?

Kara. [She dips her head in the playful mockery of a polite greeting.]

You're in Tortuga. The Caribbean. West Indies. [Mary spreads her arms wide, hips swaying and a smirk on her face.] The New World.

[She says "new world" like it's a magic phrase, meant to inspire adventure and action. Anything can happen here. Mary isn't one for magic on her best days, or the formless idea of "adventure" on her worst, but when you've spent most of your life on the seas, it's difficult to not find this band of islands home.]

East of Mexico, if that's a help.

Have an idea? [of where they are now, that is.]

[A man in a grimy brown coat that puts the "dust" back in duster glances up the hill, then down slope. It's bizarre not being able to see more than a few yards ahead. Trees are weird and inconvenient and he doesn't like them.]

They could be raiders. [He assumes that any group of people is raiders unless there's evidence otherwise.]

...You could be a raider. [Although she doesn't look like one. Way too clean.]

Are you sure? [She already has a stim in hand. She actually steps back, but it's so she can get a better look. The blood pattern on the fabric looks more like it seeped in, not spattered or something. But... Maybe he was... holding someone?

... against his stomach?

Elle's brow furrows, and her eyes flick up to his face. If he'd lost that much blood, he'd probably be dead. He doesn't look especially pale or anything...]

... okay. [She lowers her hand. She bites her lower lip.] And... um. Thank you. I don't know if he understood what I was saying...

Even if he did understand you, he would pretend that he wouldn't. [That's Norrington's opinion of Frenchmen.

He holds out a bent arm for the girl to take.]

Allow me to escort you to your destination, miss. Tortuga is no place for an unaccompanied woman of virtue. [Although her clothes don't look virtuous at all, but Norrington has travelled sufficiently far and wide to know that people from foreign lands have very different ideas about appropriate dress.]

[... ????? Literally no one has ever done this to her before. Not just the arm offering, that's happened before on occasion, but like -- This entire... chivalric... thing.

... she's definitely never been called a "woman of virtue" before. She has no idea what to make of that.

She starts to reach out to take his arm, but then hesitates before making contact.] I, um... I wasn't really going anywhere in particular. Just trying to get to know the place, really.

[He sniffs in disdain. Not at her, but at the place.]

Believe me when I say that there is nothing in Tortuga worth knowing. Nothing and no one.

[And he spent enough time here, drunk, to know.]

Well... I dunno. I have a feeling there's something going on here. [She doesn't know how much she should explain. He's apparently actually from here -- not... this town, but, this place in general. She doesn't know if he'd believe her.] It's... hard to explain. But I really need to take a look around and see if I can find any clues.

[That catches his suspicious eye.]

If you're seeking the supernatural, abandon your search now. It will bring you only misery if you find it.

[Bitterness you say? Why yes!]

[Blink.

Blllllllink.

Elle tilts her head. And, before she can entirely catch herself, she asks,] Define "supernatural."

Cursed pirates, ocean goddesses, sea monsters, magic compasses, the dead rising from their watery graves.

It's a broad category and far more common in these waters than I once thought. And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay well clear.

[...]

Huh.

Uhhhh. I mean... That's not the kind of thing I'm looking for. I hope not, anyway. So I'm not gonna really... try to seek that out? Not on purpose, anyway.

[Actually, there's a pretty good chance that that's exactly what she's going to have to track down. It's not that she doesn't believe in... supernatural stuff, exactly. The Ghost of She happened, and everything. And she does hope that Joshua's god is real. But... She just also knows that, a lot of the time, when people have superstitions about stuff like this, that there's something else going on. And that level of "we don't know how to explain this other than magic" probably means that whatever brought her here is under that umbrella.]

[Hi, Hector. If you thought you were going to get through your planning without something weird happening, I don't know what you were thinking.

Because right now, there's a strange kid walking up to your table. He's tiny, not even reaching four feet in height, with big pointed ears sticking out the sides of his head. He's dressed in green clothes, including a big floppy hat, with a creepy reflective shield strapped to his back over a sword that's about as big as he is. But as if those things aren't enough, he also has a bizarre black and white spotted... thing on his head. "Hat" is probably closest, but, uh. Can you really call it that? (Also of note would be a cuff on his left wrist, looking like it's made of real gold with real rubies set in it. It doesn't match anything else about his outfit)

He has a very serious expression on his young face as he approaches. But he doesn't say anything at first; he seems to be waiting for Hector to finish whatever it is he's working on, and he waits patiently and silently.]

[Mary gets greeted by blue eyes set in a round young face and... a pair of long pointy ears. The boy is dressed in all green -- green tunic and a long green hat. There's a strap over his chest, securing a sword and a shield to his back.

Link blinks at his mirror.] Listening? [he repeats, curious and a little confused, like he doesn't understand where she got the idea from.]

[Link had initially paused because of Kubo's showy start, but once he starts to perform magical music... He watches with nothing less than rapt attention.

But Link definitely wasn't expecting him to pause and ask for requests. He blinks a few times in surprise, but then supplies,] A dragon, [in a very serious tone.]

[Link had been riding Epona through the Lost Woods on his way back to Hyrule, and now... He finds himself in a completely different forest. The filly tosses her head nervously and pins her ears. He rubs his hand against her neck in an attempt to comfort her, even though he's equally uncertain about their new surroundings.

... but. He may not know what he's doing here, but he can still recognize a princess when he sees one. He urges Epona to approach her.]

I... don't know, [he admits.]

'New World'? Really?

[She sounds surprised at first, mostly because the directions are so precise while still being really distressingly old-fashioned. But "new world" could arguably refer to the whole entire planet, at least for Kara: even after this many years, she still feels like the alien she is sometimes. Being lost and bewildered doesn't help. Which is probably why Mary's excited 'new world' makes her laugh.]

The whole place used to be the New World for me. ...um, I mean. Yes. That, um, that helps. I was in the Caribbean once, actually, when there was a storm and I was helping...helping. That's what I do. I help people.

I suppose, but I think it's a town, they don't sound like—what? I'm not a raider. ...what exactly is a raider?

[She can come up with a lot of ideas, but it sounds like they're something really specific, at least where this guy is from. And she looks like she couldn't raid anything more elaborate than an office supply closet right now. He already blends in better than she does, even if he doesn't look like he knows why they're there either.]

[He doesn't know the half of it yet, but he's starting to suspect. Could be useful in the coming years to have had a few chats with someone who doesn't care for the idea of Destiny though.]

Dunno if you were mad. Could've been, I suppose, but I've seen some weird things, and I know they happened. I'm glad you got out.

[His expression darkens a little as he shifts to sit cross-legged on the log.] I don't know who's decided I'm the one meant to be doing all this, but I know who's on the other side of whatever I'm meant to be doing. I met him last year, sort of. And first year as well. [It's complicated.] But he's not going to win.

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TEST DRIVE 001b

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it'll be the first and last avast she ever tries

GOOD

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insert obligatory "welcome to the Caribbean, love"

Arrival

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the faithful bride

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i

can't even get drunk off the rum ;_;

I'm so sorry friend work ate me this week but it's FRIDAY

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