isleofavalon | Allura's June Catch-all [OPEN]

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Allura's June Catch-all [OPEN]

🧙 WHO: Princess Allura and YOU!
⚔️️ WHAT: Some last minute quests
🕒 WHEN: After the dust has settled from the big fight this month
🗺️ WHERE: Wherever danger lurks
⚠️ WARNINGS: Violence is always possible

Trowmies got my Homies

"So, what exactly is a Trow?" Allura's asking this aloud, even though her attention is still on her phone and the QuestBoard application which she's pulled up to review the details of the task ahead of them. "I gather that they're underground creatures of some sort, but beyond that..."

The meeting point is not far from the entrance to the tunnels. Allura lifts her head and looks over her shoulder towards it, as if she's still debating whether or not she wants to go in. But in case there was any doubt, she continues to explain: "There's going to be a lot of civilians in those tunnels as well. Hopefully the Trows won't look too similar to humans; I would hate to mix them up."

Overgrowth

It feels odd to be walking around someone's house, looking to exterminate a monster. In fact, Allura almost asks if they're certain this is the right place.

However, before the question can pass her lips, she turns on a flashlight and points it around the first room of the house: A giant hole has been punched through the floor, accompanied by smaller openings in the walls and ceiling. And the giant hole in the middle doesn't command the most attention just for its size. The sound of splashing water can be heard coming from the bottom. Splashing as if something long is moving through it.

"Jumping down after it would be a bad idea," she mutters, trying to keep her voice low enough that the sound of waves will cover it up. What? You never know if the kraken can understand what they're saying. "Luring it out might work, but... we might have better luck if we make it to the back, and confront its main body in the pool."

And she points her flashlight at the route she has in mind. The only problem is that it's a bit of a narrow walkway around the edge of the hole.

Wildcard

[OOC: Want to take a prompt here in an entirely different direction? Want to do something else entire? Send a PM — let's work something out, and I'll write up a new prompt or closed toplevel for you!]

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Keith stared down into the hole, too. Honestly, he probably would have just jumped down into the hole, but Allura had a point. If the main body was in the pool, then that meant that this was just the tentacles down here, right? And he's seen too many bad anime movies to know what that meant. He nodded.

He moved as close to the wall as he could and started to carefully inch his way around the edge of the hole. It was a little wet from the splashing, and the floor wasn't exactly secure because of the damage, making it creak and wobble under his weight. He cringed a bit. This wasn't going to just be a test of balance, was it...?

~~Wow, Keith's secret anime watching habits come to light.~~

It seems like a bad idea to start walking across that narrow strip of floor before Keith's finished, so Allura stands nearby — close enough that she might lunge over and grab him if he does start to slip — and starts pointing the flashlight down the hole.

Not straight down. Depending on what's down there, something could catch the light and reflect it towards the pool. But slowly, inching it down the side, illuminating one spot at a time...

And she manages to catch the end of an octopus tentacle right before it retreats into a hole.

"Did you see that?" she whispers, leaning forward to get a better look. Hey, there's probably nothing wrong with Keith looking down, right?

"What?" Oh, Keith didn't mind looking down in general. He had absolutely no fear of heights. However, leaning too far forward might be a problem on the rickety remains of the floor. It creaked slightly under his shifted weight, warning him not to do that too quickly, and he pressed himself back against the wall. "Okay... probably not a good idea to lean forward. Let me know if something springs up, and then I'll keep watch as you come across." He started moving again, silently hoping the floor held long enough for both of them to get across.

"Right. I'll keep watch..."

And as if taking the cue, she sees the kraken's tentacle slither back into view like a large snake. Allura tenses up, but doesn't say anything yet. After all, it's way down at the bottom of the hole, and bringing it to Keith's attention just might make him panic needlessly.

Or so she tells herself. But it gets harder to justify keeping quiet about it when it starts rising up the hole, feeling its way up the wall like someone searching for a lightswitch in the dark.

But... it's still not too close to him, right? So she clears her throat, and suggests, "You might want to move faster."

Keith shifted his gaze long enough to see if he could spot what Allura was talking about without leaning over the hole in the floor. Oh, yep. That was bad. Okay, so... he was just going to try going a bit faster... He didn't have much further to go before he was on more solid footing beyond the edge. There just wasn't anything along the wall for him to grab if it were to collapse under him, and that would probably be a bad thing.

The floor wasn't liking this at all. And that tentacle could probably easily snag a rough edge and yank if it wanted to...

And it's around that time that the tentacle finally emerges from the hole, and hits the ground with an aggressive slap — closer to Allura than Keith, thankfully, but even he'll feel the floorboards shake and rattle underfoot.

"Keith, hurry! You're close to the other side!"

And truthfully, Allura's not sure what it's doing. It still seems to be feeling around for something, and it stretches the appendage back behind Allura — grabbing onto the frame of the door they originally came through. And then, the whole tentacle starts to arch, like a big arm muscle getting flexed, as if it were trying to pull something towards it... no, more like it's trying to pull itself towards them.

Hey, Keith, you know much more about Earth animals than Allura. Did you know that octopi can squeeze their whole bodies through incredibly tight spaces?

Oh, he definitely felt it. He cringed, tensing up a bit as he tried to keep his balance and not slip or fall into that hole, but clearly slow and steady wasn't going to win this race at this point. He decided to just jump for it, basically throwing himself towards the more solid flooring, landing in something of a sideways roll and winding up in a sitting position with his back against the far wall. This put him in perfect position to see that tentacle grab the doorframe and start to pull.

Keith's first thought was that it was trying to pull the wall down, and he legitimately looked confused. Why would it do that? He didn't know much about octopi, to be quite honest, but then he heard something like mumbling... like someone talking to themselves...

If I could just... pull hard enough... This should do it... Just a bit more...

With a little focus on the direction, he realized it was coming from underneath him. His eyes widened in realization.

"Allura! It's trying to pull itself through the hole!"

It's actually sort of a shame that he hasn't heard of it. There's a lot of stories out there about octopi escaping their tanks and causing trouble for whatever aquarium or other humans tried to keep them there. It's an entertaining read, but there might not be many of those kinds of articles around Avalon. Do they even have an aquarium here?

Anyway. So, yeah, their target is about to show up, and they're going to be on opposite sides of this giant hole. Time for some quick action.

Allura draws her bayard and — deciding that the whip is not likely to be as effective against the tentacle, which is somewhat like an oversized whip itself — she forms it into her glaive, and skewers the meat of the tentacle in hopes that the pain might make it draw back.

But it doesn't. Nor does the appendage budge when she tries to use the stuck weapon to pry it off the doorframe, as she's trying to fight against the hold of many giant suction cups.

"We may have to fight it in here, Keith!"

Edited (I almost used the same icon twice and I'm pretty sure that's illegal in RP land) 2021-06-29 21:08 (UTC)

Of course... and he was stuck on the other side now... with melee weapons. Keith grimaced. This was going to have to rely on his magic for now. He stepped close to the edge, trying to avoid the more rickety areas of the floor, and then he set off a small fireball to try getting the creature to release its hold and pull back into the floor.

"Who—oa!" The fire is effective, and suddenly the tentacle releases and retreats back into the hole. And, since her weapon is stuck in the tentacle, Allura nearly goes with it.

But luckily, her reflexes are still sharp, and she releases the bayard's transformation at the right time — and allows the tentacle to send her flying to the other side of the hole.

You may want to duck, Keith.

Duck? Why would he do that? Keith's natural instinct was to catch. Though, that kind of resulted with the both of them going down in a tangle of limbs with a series of grunts and oofs... but Keith was quick to roll Allura to the side (not dropping her, just moving her) and get back to his feet to see if the creature had pulled back through to the pool. So far, it looked clear.

"I don't hear it," he said, not hearing any splashing or mumbling. "I think it's back in the pool." He turned back to her. "You okay?" He offered a hand up if she wanted it.

She takes the offered hand to get back up on her feet. "Yes, I'm fine." Though she's wincing a bit even as she says that. Unfortunately, it was still a rough landing despite Keith's best efforts to cushion the fall with his entire body.

But she takes a moment to dust herself off — because thanks to how much the house has been torn up, the floor is filthy — before taking similar note of their surroundings. "And I think you're right — your spell made it retreat back to safety. Nicely done."

And then, producing the flashlight again, she checks their route to the back door. "We should hurry, though, since it absolutely knows we're here now. Let's go!"

Keith nodded, having noticed that wincing. He'd double-check on her later. The two of them were a lot alike, and he knew Allura would continue to brush off any concern until the situation was taken care of... just like he would. There was no point in pushing it now. Besides, he had a feeling he was going to have a few bruises of his own to take care of, too.

Moving quickly, he followed the path out the back door. The floor was more stable away from the hole, thankfully, and that made it easier to get out to the pool. The creature was definitely agitated, making quite the stir in the water, but it was staying near the deep end for now as it figured out how to deal with its new burn injury.

"Do you have anything for being under water?" he asked.

Makoto nods, gazed still intensely focused on the holes.

"Trying to think if getting rid of the water would do any good, or maybe tying it up with vines. We don't know how mobile this thing is."

"Can you get rid of the water? Because if it's an aquatic animal, that should give us a significant advantage in our favor..."

She frowns. "... well... shouldn't it? The description said it was mistaken for an octopus. Can those walk on land...?"

"Uh... kinda? I haven't seen it outside of documentaries and pictures at the aquarium, and those octopi are a LOT smaller, but they can be pretty speedy. Like spiders... made of noodles. I don't know how long they can last without water either."

She crosses her arms. "It sounds as if it would be worth draining it, then. Even if it only slows them down, that's an advantage I would rather have than not."

"Though I'm interested in knowing how you plan to do so. It sounds like there's still quite a lot down there." And as she shines her flashlight at the walls of the hole, it's easy to see why: There's pipes that have been split open, and water running down the walls to replenish the pool below.

"Good question. Trying to think of somewhere to put all the water... or if the kraken will give us that kind of time. He really did a number on the plumbing, didn't he?"

What would Ami do--Wait. Waaaaaaiiiit...

"Okay, this is gonna sound crazy and it might take some time but... what if we try to lure it where we wanna go? We could make a tank or cage for it, put some bait in, and wait for it to move in before springing the trap. Then we can like... see if there's some aquarium or other science or magical study group that wouldn't mind housing it. Hell, they could probably even pay the family to cover house repairs."

Looks like the rock-moving trial last month paid off. Work smarter, not harder.

Allura considers it, surprised at how sensible it sounds. If she knew the first thing about octopi, she might suggest they try a pot, in fact.

"That could work. We might need to sneak over there first, though, to get a better sense of what we're dealing with. Otherwise, we won't know how large to make our trap."

And so, Allura starts walking around the hole, treading lightly, heading towards the next room.

"What sort of bait do you think we ought to use?"

"Seafood, probably?"

Give her a second to look it up as they walk, god it's such a luxury to be able to look up stuff on her phone instead of having to search for the nearest computer or library.

"Okay yeah! They're predators so basically any kind of fish and shellfish should work. Probably a lot of it if it's going to get that guy's attention."

Edited 2021-07-04 16:14 (UTC)

"Do you know where we'll be able to get enough? Or are we simply going to have to catch it ourselves?"

Because Allura doesn't know how to cast a line, herself. But on the other hand, the reward will only cover so much of their costs on this quest — and even if the seafood's quality doesn't matter, it's still going to add up quickly with the volume.

It might take some time, too. But it's a plan Allura wants to see work. Avoiding a fight meant avoiding collateral damage — wouldn't that be worth the extra effort?

"Might be a seafood restaurant that has leftovers or scraps we can use? The big ones probably go through a lot of fish in a day."

Who knows, maybe that'll bring down the price too.

"It's worth asking. I'm not sure who else would, unless we found the fishermen who supply the food... in which case, we should still ask those restaurants."

As she continues to move through the house, she points it around, identifying more of the holes that had been punched through the floor, walls, and even the ceiling. But eventually, she comes across a glass door flanked by windows...

"There. That looks like the door to the backyard. Are you ready to see this kraken?"

Makoto nods, switching to sturdy, focused stance even before she finishes putting her phone away.

"Ready when you are."

"Maybe they're like dwarves?" Nash was picturing distinct, squat and round humanoids, well-armed with shovels. Easy enough to distinguish from human— they'd probably be offended if they were mistaken for a human of any sort. "The QuestBoard said they were little."

He follows her to the mouth of the tunnel, and then he has an idea. He isn't sure if it's a good idea.

"Maybe there's a picture on the… phone?"

Nash says it with a twist of uncertainty, like he's not entirely sure what phones are capable of.

"Dwarves...?" Despite looking an awful lot like an elf, Allura looks puzzled by the term. It's one she's heard before, but usually as a description of something else; for example, a dwarf star.

So the only mental image she can conjure up is a small, generic creature. Which seems somewhat redundant, if they've already been described as little.

"That's not a bad idea. Let me see what I can find." She pulls out her own phone, and after a moment of searching: "Wait, is this supposed to be it?" And she turns it so Nash can see the video playing on the screen, where someone recorded their an encounter with a small, stringy-looking goblin creature.

He doesn't feel relief, exactly, when she follows up on his suggestion. But he isn't used to this world yet, and especially not its technologies. Quests, missions, possibly-violent problem solving? That he could do. It was a large part of what led him to this tunnel in the first place.

Watching the video, Nash squints, and shakes his head. "That doesn't look like a dwarf at all."

But the creature looked easy enough to distinguish from a human or an elf.

Well, Allura officially has no idea what a dwarf looks like.

But she also scowls at her findings. Not through the method, since the technology is actually somewhat below what she's accustomed to — but rather what their target looks like.

"It doesn't look like much of a threat, either. Though I suppose the description did call them mighty little... erm, mischievous sort..." Looking over at Nash, she continues: "How do you feel about fighting them? Because we could try sneaking in and freeing the captives without their knowledge."

At that, Nash has to smile. "Milady," he says, with too much sunshine in his voice, "Discretion is my favorite part of valor."

Truth be told, he'll always prefer a plan where he doesn't have to fight. Still. "But we can't assume that just because something is small it's defenseless. That's a good way to get captured ourselves."

After a minute, he adds. "I'm Nash, by the way."

"I'm Allura, princess of Altea." After some thought, she decides to add, "... and paladin of Voltron," just in case the idea of her being royalty made him think she wasn't cut out for this mission.

"Moving through the caves undetected is going to be a problem. Especially since right now, we don't have any sort of map. Maybe if we could distract them, or better yet, lure them out..."

She's mulling over possible options. So far, nothing is jumping out as the best possible approach.

He raises an eyebrow at the qualifier— Nash comes from a context where royalty still leads troops into battle, though his own country has no kings or princes. (He does sort of assume Allura is an elf, though.)

"No fancy titles for me, I'm afraid, but I used to be a scout." But even if he's curious about what, exactly, a paladin of Voltron is, she's right to focus on the problem in front of them. "Still, I bet they see in the dark better than I do." It'll be hard to just sneak up on them, the way a bandit ambush might a lone traveller. "Maybe a spell?"

Something flashy could be distracting, but he hadn't done much with magic here outside of practice.

"Maybe. Neither of my magical types are exactly the sort for distractions. Although I did pick up the recipe for another one... 'Cool Firework'."

Said with a sort of rigidness in her tone, as if she finds something weird about putting 'Cool' right in the name.

"It creates a sort of light missile that explodes in a burst of flashing and sparkles. That's sure to draw their attention, assuming they see it. It's typically fired into the sky..."

Which raises the question of whether or not they're watching outside the cave.

"Could you fire it into the cave?" Nash knows a little bit about gunpowder, enough to know it could be risky to use indiscriminately in fragile quarters. But maybe magic fireworks are different somehow. Maybe that's what makes the firework cool?

"Even if they aren't watching the sky now, they'd probably come out if there was a commotion, right?" Hang on a sec. Nash tries to remember the quest posting. "They had to have come out to kidnap those people. Maybe we just need to seem sufficiently drunk."

"Yes, I can shoot it anywhere that I point my fingers. Even in the face of an enemy, though it doesn't do much more than stun them." So yes, it's certainly safer than gunpowder fireworks. Huh, maybe that is the origin of the name.

"Acting drunk? So rather than distracting them long enough to sneak past, we would get ourselves kidnapped and let them bring us right to the prisoners..."

She covers her mouth thoughtfully. "That might just work." Though she doesn't have much experience with drunkenness, at least she has recent memories to draw upon.

"It isn't very difficult." For a moment, it isn't clear whether he means being drunk or pretending. "Polite people like to ignore drunks." And if you're faking something, you don't want anyone to look at you too hard.

"I guess kidnappers aren't very polite, though. But they'd still probably bring us to the other prisoners."

His fingers tap his chin. He won't pretend it's a perfect plan, but he likes it better than just charging in.

"Because it makes them uncomfortable, right? So, as long as I'm embarrassing..." She puts a hand on her chin thoughtfully. "All right. I can manage that."

She might not like making a fool of herself, but at least there won't be much of an audience. Besides, heroism before pride.

Allura takes a moment to ready herself, taking a deep breath in and out, and stretching her arms and shoulders to make them loose and limber. And then... she gestures him in invitation. "That being said, you don't mind starting, do you?"

Come on. 'Ladies first' obviously doesn't apply here.

"Starting?" A quirked eyebrow. "I haven't been acting like an idiot already?"

He runs a gloved hand through his hair, messing it up a bit, and frowns. "Do you mind if I touch you?"

Nash wouldn't describe himself as a gentleman, not anymore, but he also doesn't want to offend a woman he just met who might stab him.

"... where?"

Fear not, she wouldn't stab him. Her style is more martial arts, so what he needs to watch out for is being thrown.

But she recognizes it's for the act, so she's quick to concede to trusting him: "If it's somewhere like the arms or the shoulders, that's fine. You know... just... not anywhere inappropriate!"

"I'm married." Which has never stopped anyone from being inappropriate, unless they want to. "My missus would do unkind things to my corpse if I tried anything."

Honestly, for a moment he misses her.

Then he doubles over, like he's about to throw up, one of his hands clutching her shoulder.

Well, that's a relief to her. Really, though, it's a reasonable conclusion to come to. Not everyone would ask consent for casual contact — especially not in her culture, where touching and hugging are fairly normal. And there's probably a fascinating discussion to be had about it, since their empathic abilities are primarily conducted through their hands...

But before she can give her immediate response, he's suddenly putting his weight on her.

"Hey! Get ahold of yourself!" In surprise, she has briefly forgotten about the act, despite the fact that she literally just agreed to it. Don't worry, she'll catch on soon enough.

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Allura's June Catch-all [OPEN]

Overgrowth

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Hahaha - I know some people who very rarely use different ones, so it's all good with me.

oh I know, I just like changing it up when I can

<3

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Overgrowth

oh hey fancy seeing you here

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1/2

2/2

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trowmies

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sorry, this got lost

it happens! I've got a lot to catch up on

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